Corruption of Dawn

by LordLycaon

Choices and Regrets

Fluttershy trembled helplessly in her hiding spot, nervously watching as shadows galloped past behind the door to the closet she was squatting in. She had no idea where Pinkie Pie and Rarity were. They had been separated when the invaders broke into the castle, and she was simply too terrified to go out and try to find them. She just wished that this day would end already. She let out a sigh at that thought. She was a coward, hiding here and hoping nopony would find her. But there was nothing she could do to help anypony. She would only get in the way.

A sudden crash from beyond the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She could here two stallions arguing outside. They sounded like they were about to fight each other. Gingerly and silently, she creaked the door open ever so slightly, peering out with one blue eye at two of Sombra's soldiers, both of them apparently arguing about how to deal with another pony. She couldn't get a good look at the other pony, because the aggressors were standing over her and close together.

"I say we take her as a little prize," the stallion on the left said with a sick grin on his face. "She looks like a screamer! I'd bet that we could have all sorts of fun with her." The mare backed away, but only ended up against the wall, her eyes filled with terror.

"And what if she gets loose?" the second stallion suggested. "I don't wanna take any risks. I say we kill her and get moving."

"But where's the fun in that?" The stallion held a sadistic glare as he grinned malevolently at the helpless mare.

Fluttershy's eyes had widened in horror at the sight. That pony was in serious trouble, and needed help. But what could she do? Her most helpful talent was communing with animals. She wouldn't be able to do anything against trained soldiers. But she couldn't just do nothing! She took a deep, deep breath, bracing herself for whatever she was about to throw herself into.

"Stop!" she called out as she galloped out of the closet, throwing the aggressor stallions for a loop and grabbing the other mare by the mane with her mouth. She galloped off, dragging the other mare across the ground rather roughly.

She finally stopped and released the other mare, and sat down to catch her breath. She suddenly felt somepony wrap their forelegs around her, making her jump before she realized who she had just saved. She easily recognized the purple mane and tail and pure white coat. "Rarity?"

"Oh, Fluttershy, darling!" the white unicorn cried with tears of joy. "I tried to fend them off myself, but they were too strong! I thought they were going to kill me, or worse! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank-!"

"I'm sorry I dragged you like that," the yellow pegasus apologized, noticing a few scuffs on her friend's coat and how messy her hair and hair had gotten.

"Oh, I can clean myself up later!" Rarity stated. "I owe you my very life! How can I ever repay you?"

"It's what friends do, isn't it?" Fluttershy said with a small smile. "I actually didn't even know it was you. I just acted because I didn't want somepony to get hurt when I could've done something to help." Rarity nodded in understanding and released her friend with a nod.

"We'd best get somewhere safe," the fashionista suggested. "Who knows what else might happen?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, Rainbow Dash came crashing through a nearby wall, slamming into the ground in front of the two mares. Her armor had been broken in several places, and she was covered in burns and cuts. She groaned in pain as she sat up, rubbing her head with a pained expression. "That's gonna hurt in the morning," she muttered.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy cried out as she rushed over to her friend's side. "Are you okay? What happened? What's going on?"

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, then up at the hole she had been blasted through. "She happened," she said with a glare. Fluttershy and Rarity turned to see none other than Twilight Sparkle levitating herself through the hole in the wall, descending gradually and landing carefully, her hooves clicking against the hard floor of the castle. She eyed Rainbow and the others disdainfully, clearly expressing her desire to just be rid of them.

"Fluttershy, Rarity," she greeted venomously. "I was wondering where you two cowards were hiding. Right under my nose it seems."

"Oh, dear," Rarity mumbled as she got a good look at her former friend. Twilight's horn had curved and turned red, her eyes had become a sickly green, the irises dark red pools around snakelike pupils, an eerie purple smoke emanating from her now-evil gaze. Her coat had also darkened greatly, having turned from a bright purple to almost complete black. It was just… frightening.

"T-Twilight?" Fluttershy stammered out in fear. The now dark unicorn approached them as Rainbow finally managed to get back up on all fours, holding a battle-ready pose. "Twilight, why are you doing this? Aren't we your friends?"

Twilight sneered as if in disgust. "I know what you all really think of me!" she shouted angrily, making Fluttershy cringe. "You all think I'm a failure! That I can't do anything right! You were all going to abandon me when I failed Celestia's test! I won't let anypony abandon me!"

"So you betrayed us!?" Rainbow exclaimed indignantly. "That doesn't make any sense, Twilight! We'd never leave you! We're your friends!"

"No, you're not!" Before anypony could say or do anything else, the darkened unicorn unleashed a blast of dark magic at the other mares, who scattered to avoid being disintegrated. Twilight rapidly fired shot after shot, trying to destroy the others and ruining the castle with each missed shot. "Hold still!" she shouted in frustration as she began grinding her teeth angrily.

Rainbow Dash scowled as she made to dive bomb the traitor that was once her friend. Twilight had been facing the opposite direction, so she thought that this would work. It didn't.

Twilight turned around suddenly, her horn glowing with evil magic. The unicorn released a pulse of energy that knocked the multi-colored pegasus away and blew back both Fluttershy and Rarity. Twilight approached Rainbow then, her horn still glowing ominously. She stood over the wounded pegasus with a look of hatred on her face.

Rainbow glared right back at the unicorn mare. "You're not Twilight anymore, you know that?" she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Twilight growled at that. She began to charge her horn with dark power, ready to blast the blue pegasus into oblivion.

BLAM!

Twilight was suddenly blasted away by huge wad of confetti, which hit her so hard that she left an indentation on a nearby wall. "Friends aren't supposed to fight friends!" Pinkie Pie shouted from behind her party cannon. "Friends are supposed to understand each other and laugh and play and sing together!"

"Pinkie?" Rainbow asked as she stood again. "Not that I'm not glad that you came when you did, but what are you doing here?"

"I've been fighting off bad guys with my party cannon!" Pinkie replied with a wild grin. "They never see it coming for some reason."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and turned to Twilight again, who was trying to pull herself out of her hole in the wall. "We need to beat some sense into Twilight soon. Can you help with that, Pinkie?"

The pink earth pony seemed unsure. "I don't know. It doesn't seem right to fight her, even if she's all mean and nasty now."

"Pinkie, she's going to try to destroy us all if we don't fight her!" Rainbow shouted right into Pinkie's ear. "Do you want that?"

"But…" Pinkie hesitated. She looked over at Twilight, who was now finally out of her hole and glaring at them all angrily and hatefully. "But… she's our friend…"

"Not anymore," Rainbow replied somberly. "We have to beat her somehow. We have to." The young pegasus tried to look tough, but her eyes held a forlorn look, like she felt as though they wouldn't be able to beat Twilight. The darkening mare was considered to potentially be the most powerful young unicorn in all of Equestria, and was the bearer of the Element of Magic. How could they hope to beat somepony that strong?

Twilight snarled at them all. "I'll destroy you last for that, Pinkie!" She began to charge her horn again, when suddenly, a rope was slung from seemingly nowhere and wrapped itself around her horn and tightened. She was pulled off of her hooves and onto the floor where the rope was flung in a way to tie itself around her legs. Applejack had hogtied the unicorn from a distance, and was now standing at her friends' sides.

"Sorry, Ah'm late, ya'll," she apologized. "When I saw Rainbow get shot into the castle, I had to tussle with a few of Sombra's soldiers to get here. Are you all okay?" The others nodded, to which the blond mare sighed with relief. She looked over at the fuming Twilight Sparkle, who was struggling with the ropes on her legs. "Ah can't believe it. This is actually happenin', ain't it?" The others nodded once again.

Twilight screamed in frustration at the ropes and suddenly teleported herself out of them, delivering a death glare to all of her former friends. "So, the gang's all here," she said darkly. "Good. That saves me the trouble of having to hunt all of you down."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "Twi, you need to take a look outside," she said seriously, everypony else giving her a confused look.

"Why?" the unicorn asked in response. "Are you going to attack me from behind like the weak little cowards that you are?"

"Of course not," the orange mare replied. "Ah just want ya to look outside and tell me what ya see. That's all."

Twilight eyed Applejack intensely. Reluctantly, she headed for the nearest window, occasionally looking back at the other five ponies. She looked out the window, watching the devastation as Sombra's forces sacked Canterlot from all sides. The battle – if it could even be called that – was hopelessly one-sided. "I see King Sombra's army attacking Canterlot."

"Is that what you want, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Do you want Sombra to destroy the city you were born in? The city you were raised and taught in? Do you want countless innocent ponies to have their lives ruined?"

"I… I have to do this," Twilight replied. "Everypony was going to abandon me otherwise. I don't have any choice."

"You always have a choice, darling," Rarity stated as she began walking over to the other unicorn, placing her foreleg around her shoulder. "You could try to make this right."

"There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing!" Twilight shouted, shoving Rarity away with her magic. "This was the only way to stop it from happening! This… this was the only way. He said so."

"Who said so?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight actually hesitated. "King Sombra said so. He said that time only goes two ways. No more, no less. That's all the choice we get. It was either this, or be alone forever."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. "And you actually believed that load of baloney?"

"It's not a lie!" Twilight shouted in denial. "He promised he'd never betray me! That he'd teach me everything he knows! He promised…"

"That varmint's a no-good liar," Applejack said in complete sureness of her belief. "He lied to you, Twi. We would never have left you all by yourself."

"But…" Twilight couldn't think of anything to say. She looked back out at the window. Buildings and homes were up in flames as civilians galloped in terror, while the Canterlot guards tried desperately to fight off Sombra's invading army. She could see the fear and panic in the eyes of everypony below, even from where she was standing. Her eyes widened slowly. "N-no… I… I… this isn't what I wanted! I just didn't want to be alone! I… I…" She could see her own reflection in the window. For a brief moment, her image was replaced with King Sombra, grinning evilly and laughing sadistically. She backed away in fear then and pressed herself against the floor, covering head with her forelegs. She broke down, tears spilling from her eyes. "This isn't what I wanted!"

Her former friends gathered around her, Rainbow Dash being the most reluctant. None of them said anything. They simply stood around her, waiting for her to finish.

After several minutes, she finally stopped crying shakily got back onto her hooves. She looked around at the others and hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I was scared and angry and… I let him talk me into joining him… I'm so sorry…" She was about to start bawling again when, suddenly, somepony wrapped their forelegs around her neck. She opened her eyes again to see Fluttershy hugging her closely. "W-wha…"

"You were tricked and bullied into what Sombra wanted you to be," Fluttershy stated. "But deep down, no matter how much you change, you'll always be our friend. There's nothing that Sombra can do that will change that."

"That's right!" Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly. "You can always count on us! We'll be there to pull you up when you're down!"

"We're the best of friends, darling," Rarity said. "If you need a helping hoof for anything, we're your ponies!"

"And that's the truth, Twi," Applejack stated with a wink and a smirk.

Twilight nodded to that and turned to Rainbow, who seemed reluctant to agree with the others. She glared suspiciously at Twilight for several moments before finally saying, "I guess I can give you a second chance. That's what friends do, isn't it?"

Twilight nodded once more, saying, "Thank you… all of you…" Then, out of nowhere, she began to be engulfed in a bright, white light. The others backed away, watching in awe as the light flashed and burst away, leaving Twilight's form as quickly as it had arrived. "W-what just happened?" she asked in confusion. The others just stared at her with dumbfounded expressions. "What is it?"

"T-Twilight," Fluttershy stuttered. Twilight raised an eyebrow and went back to the window rather nervously. Her eyes widened when she saw… herself. Her horn, her eyes, her coat. She had returned to original form.

"I-I'm me again!" she exclaimed. "I'm back to normal! But how did this happen? How did…?" She trailed off and shook her head. "No. Now's not the time for questions." She turned to her friends, a grateful smile on her visage. "Thank you. All of you. I… I don't know how I could ever repay you all for this." She looked back out the window. "But… it might already be too late. I gave Sombra notes regarding the entire city's defense, and now everypony is in grave danger. I… I have to fix this."

"We have to fix this," Applejack corrected her. "We're gonna help ya fix this mess. We'll beat Sombra together."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you, guys," she said quietly, "but this is something that I feel I need to do by myself. I led Sombra here. I have to stop him now." Before anypony could do or say anything to stop her, Twilight teleported away. She had to face Sombra. She needed to right her own wrongs. She needed to do this.