Darkness within the Twilight

by Mordy

Ch7: Just a Taste

Twilight glared at Sombra as they sat across from each other. Twilight had been having an internal debate as to whether she should help the insane king or not. The pros and cons were very uneven with the risks and rewards. If she didn’t help him she may never be able to learn dark magic. On the other hoof she could be unleashing one of the most horrible evils in Equestria.

Sombra was merely smirking at her. “Well?”

“I don’t trust you to keep your end of the bargain.”

“Understandable, but I always take good care of family,” Sombra said in defense.

“You tried to kill my sister-in-law.” Twilight deadpanned.

Sombra hummed. “True, but I was talking about bloodlines. Besides, I could have killed your brother when I had the chance, but I spared him.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed at him. “Maybe, but you also didn’t know you were related to him at the time… right?” She asked as she raised the volume of her voice.

Sombra averted his eyes for a moment as he found the nothingness around them more interesting. “Well… I didn’t know for sure…”

“I knew you were hiding something!” Twilight seethed as she poked him in the chest. “What else are you hiding?!” She tried getting in his face to be more intimidating, but Sombra just looked bored.

“Nothing.”

“I swear, if you’re hiding anything else I’ll–“

Sombra merely scoffed. “You’ll do what, friend me? Please, I’m not afraid of you.”

“But you’re afraid of me,” a voice said from behind him.

Sombra proceeded to let out the manliest girly scream as he jumped into Twilight’s hooves and held onto her for his dear life while trembling and staring wide eyed at Twilight’s dark half. To his credit, he had a very good set of lungs and smelt surprisingly nice. None of that prevented Twilight from unceremoniously dropping him to the ground and him giving her a sheepish smile.

“If you’re done being a pansy,” the other Twilight began, “I’d like to discuss your little offer. Frankly, neither of us can trust you and as simple as your request sounds, we both know there’s more to it. So, are you going start telling us everything or do I need to bring out the tentacles?”

Sombra and Twilight went a wide eyed at the mention of the wiggling appendages while backing up from Dark Twilight. With a quick cough, Sombra answered, “Very well, as you know I need to get my horn back to be made whole again. However, I also need it to stay within this mortal plane. If it gets destroyed… well either I disappear or I’m stuck in your head for the rest of our existence.”

Both Twilights frowned at that statement. Neither wanted to share their mind with him at all let alone for the rest of their lives which could be all eternity if Twilight’s ascension had anything to say about it. Her darker half nodded for Sombra to continue as she got closer to Twilight.

“So, another reason you should want to get my horn is that it will also provide a means to separate our minds. You’ll also be happy to know that the spell that will get me out of here won’t bring me back to my full glory,” he grumbled a bit at that last part. “I assure you though, my intentions are pure and I just was to see my beloved family learn dark magic!” He pointed his hoof at Twilight with a wide smile, but frowned when the other Twilight got between the two of them.

“I highly doubt that, but I do want you out of our head. You also say that you will help us learn dark magic, but how exactly are you going to do that?” She inquired while staring him down. This also had Twilight curious as Sombra had yet to disclose what he would give her to help her learn dark magic.

“Well, I was going to give her my private library–”

Twilight let out a gasp and was about to agree without a second thought when she heard the word “library”, but before she could her other half held up her hoof commandingly without even looking back at her naïve self. Twilight stopped in her tracks and the dark her pointed her hoof down ordering Twilight to sit down. She smiled sheepishly and obeyed.

“How big is your library?” she inquired of Sombra as she leaned in closer.

“Big enough, I’d thought I’d let it be a surprise. I think you’ll be quite happy with it.” He grinned smugly at her.

“Not good enough. I’ll need some kind of reassurance that will make us consider trusting you.” She glowered at him and Sombra shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, if I don’t keep my end of the bargain and you don’t find it to your satisfaction what if I let you,” he pointed tentatively at Dark Twilight with a grimace as he forcibly said, “use me in one of your fetishes.”

“DEAL!” the dark half shouted as she got right up in his face with wide eyes and a very deranged smile. This caused Sombra to lean away from her, shaking in terror. He was already regretting his offer.

After giving him some breathing room, Dark Twilight started to lead her other half away. “If you’ll excuse us Sombra, I need to discuss a few things with my other half.” Her eyes wandered lecherously over Twilight while she rubbed her hoof against Twilight’s flank, causing Twilight’s hair to stand on end. “My very sexy half…”

“I need an adult…” Twilight quietly pleaded as she was led through a door that had appeared out of thin air. They stepped into another dark void, but now they were alone which Twilight wasn’t too thrilled about.

“Welcome to the darkest part of your mind,” Dark Twilight announced as she pointed her hoof out to the abyss while holding Twilight uncomfortably close.

“Uh… how is this any different than where we were?”

“Sombra isn’t here for one. Also, I kind of cleaned up before I brought you over. Need you to focus instead complaining and screaming at me about our fetishes,” she huffed annoyingly.

“What do you mean OUR fetishes?”

“Just give time and they will be. For now I need to talk about something serious!”

“Does it involve tentacles?” Twilight deadpanned.

Dark Twilight glared at her. “No, for once it doesn’t. This is very serious! I need you to stop doubting and believe that our ultimate goal is for the best. That what we’re trying to accomplish is a good thing!”

“You mean learning dark magic?” Twilight asked, a little unsure.

“No, that’s…” her other self sighed as she rubbed her head in exasperation. “Listen, dark magic is what we’re after, but it is only the first step towards a more ambitious goal.”

“And that is?”

“Ultimate power!”

Twilight just raised an eyebrow. “Really? You make it sound like I’m supposed to be some kind of power hungry monster. Maybe for knowledge, but–”

“We need and desire power, Twilight!” her dark half roared out.

Twilight wilted beneath her gaze. “Why? For what purpose?!”

Dark Twilight took a calm breath while looking at her steadily. “I’m your darkest desires and I know what you deeply and truly want. The reason you try to suppress these feelings and why you’re afraid of them is because you fear how others will react. You deny yourself this because you think it makes you a morally better pony. I’ll tell your right now, it only makes you weak!

“We are very ambitious and want power, but that doesn’t mean we’re a bad pony. It’s what we do with said power that matters. We could do so much good with it!” She studied Twilight for a moment and then smiled slyly. “Here, let paint you a picture.”

Twilight suddenly found herself sitting on a throne that stood up on an alter within a grand hall as an army of guards bowed to her, swearing their fealty. She blinked and studied the armored stallions and mares, each dressed in lavender armor and bearing her cutie mark as an insignia. She actually blushed momentarily and felt a swell of excitement from such a grand gesture.

It was at that moment a monster made up of shadows broke through the entrance roaring as it stomped in. It towered high enough to reach the ceiling that had to be at least thirty some feet high. Despite how intimidating the creature was, Twilight found herself lacking of any fear or even concern for the beast. She mostly found it to be a minor nuisance at best.

Her guards turned to the creature and charged at it. However, they were swatted away like gnats as they made a futile attempt to quell the beast. It was a very one sided battle with their defeat imminent.

Then, her dark half whispered into Twilight’s ear even though she was nowhere to be seen, “Imagine that you were so powerful that just by simply standing up…” Twilight stood up as if on cue and the battle before her went silent as the guards turned to look at her and even the monster halted at her movement. Then her dark side continued, “…you could make armies stop in their tracks.”

Twilight started to move forward, taking the steps down from her throne one at a time. Her face was calm and serene with a small smile gracing it. It was confidence at its finest and it’s scariest.

As she made her way to the monster the guards started to back away from her and the beast. They eagerly did their best to stay out of her way or move the wounded so they wouldn’t be in her path. It was a mix of fear and respect for her and Twilight found the feeling to be intoxicatingly good!

“Imagine that the only ones who would ever stand in your way would be fools…”

Twilight got closer to the monster and it took a hesitant step backward. She never changed her pace as the creature started to trip and fall as it tried to put distance between her and itself while never looking away from her. When she finally reached the monster, it was frozen in terror.

“Imagine anything that would ever bring harm to those you love…”

Twilight’s horn lit up with unfathomable levels of dark magic that made the whole room shake as it filled to the brim with power.

“…could be crushed in an instant.”

She unleashed her magic and explosion erupted from the monster and the room was blinded momentarily by the blast. When Twilight was able to see again she was back in the abyss, panting with a huge maniacal grin as excitement filled her chest.

“So…” Dark Twilight began as she stood next to Twilgiht. “What do you think?”

“That was… amazing! I never felt so alive!” Twilight declared as she breathed rapidly. “I… want that! If I had that kind of power nothing could ever threaten Equestria again. I could always keep friends safe…”

“How far are you willing to go to attain that?” Dark Twilight asked with an even look.

Twilight considered the question for a moment and took a deep breath as she answered with determination, “I won’t let anything stand in my way!”

Her dark half grinned devilishly. “Yes… that’s the right attitude! Keep that up and nothing in this world will be able to stop you!”

And I mean nothing…