Seeing Double
By a stroke of coincidence, or chrono-spatial bleed through if you were of the Twilight-Sparkle Collective, both iterations of the royal chariot touched down at the same moment, despite carrying different passengers. By the same force, both sets of passengers had the same instructions from their respective teachers. And by no coincidence whatsoever, the latter member of the TSC was exiting an express train in time to see the chariot touch down.
Sparkle had no interest in the blue mare that stood in her sister's place; instead, she and Thorn pulled up the hoods of their cloaks and trotted swiftly to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Or, they would have, if they hadn't been waylaid half way there by something.
Or rather, somepony. "SPARKLE! THORN!" a voice called out, too late to give adequate warning to avoid the incoming hyperactive, pink missile.
Impact.
From her position atop the downed Sparkle, the bubblegum pink mare said, "You left without saying goodbye!"
She racked her brain for her assaulter's name. Breaking eye contact, Sparkle asked, "...Pinkie Pie, right?"
The thusly names Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeepperoni! That's me. I'm really glad you remember. I know we only met once, but I really want to be friends with you!"
"Friends wouldn't pin friends to the ground. Please let me up."
Pinkie blushed in embarrassment. "Whoops sorry about that. Here." She held out a hoof after hopping to the side to help Sparkle up. When the unicorn had risen to her feet, Pinkie asked, "So Sparky, Thorny, why are you in Ponyville now? Not that I'm implying that you shouldn't be here, but I'm curious."
Sparkle raised an eyebrow, while Thorn answered for her. "We're looking for some powerful artifacts to save the world from Nightmare Moon!" Sparkle nodded in agreement.
"Can I help?" the earth pony asked.
The unicorn shook her head. Still without resuming eye contact, she replied, "No. Not now, at least. Just do what you can to keep ponies calm and happy in case something goes wrong. Though hopefully nothing will. I'll let you know if there's more, if you're still willing to help."
Pinkie saluted. "Okie dokie lokie! Calm and happy, I can do. Oh!" In a motion too quick to follow, Pinkie pulled out a piece of paper from her mane and shoved it into Sparkle's hooves. "You two are invited to a surprise party for the new pony that arrived today. It's tonight at the library. Come if you can make it."
"We'll try, but no promises."
"Ok! I've got to go find the new pony anyway." With that, they parted ways. Sparkle and Thorn turned towards the forest, and Pinkie towards the town.
Twilight Sparkle, the unsplit filly, was very smart, as were the two mares she became. Often stressed by her mentor's tests, Twilight was a very practical mare who thought in terms of facts, theory, and data. She had lived a relatively sheltered life, until the Princess realized that her status as a natural white mage made her an excellent protector of harmony. Coupled with her "ability" to find trouble and be in the right place to fix it, she gained a reputation as sort of a minor hero.
Conversely, Sparkle was a very practical mare. She had to be. Sparkle was, courtesy of her talent and curiosity, drawn to the shadier side of Equestrian life. Most of the goings on there were downright ordinary compared to some of the horrors she'd witnessed. And though she could help her sister solve the problems Twilight encountered peacefully on the other side, Sparkle often had to take matters into her own hooves for her versions of the problem, and often not bloodlessly.
Thus, when the hour was late, the sun was setting over the dark Everfree, and predators were on the move – not all native to the forest – it was a manticore that, unfortunately for it, made the first wrong movement.
Sparkle reacted. The words, unnatural to pony kind, rolled far too easily off her tongue. It said much on Sparkle's life that she could command those words, when Twilight shuddered at the mere thought. And when she spoke, the gathering dark magic made the words, barely more than a whisper, reverberate the bones of all who heard them. "Thorn, kill."
"With pleasure." The drake, originally equal in height to Sparkle, began to stretch and grow, fueled by her magic. Bone grew faster than muscle, leaving the dragon, now half the size of the manticore before him, with a skeletal appearance, further accented by growing and sharpening spines, claws, and fangs. His eyes, disturbing to ponies before, ignited with horrific flame, casting an eerie green light across the forest floor.
The manticore was seriously rethinking its choice of "easy meal." By the time it realized its mistake (a very quick realization, mind you), the dragon before it had expanded to its size and was still growing. It didn't ponder why that was. In fact, it didn't ponder anything at all at that point. A life-draining, hoof-length claw to the brain tends to be rather distracting, you know.
Now, the standard belief among unicorn scholars is that naturally dark unicorns, those whose core inherently possesses the in-spin of dark magic, are "magically incorruptible," yet inherently evil. The truth of the matter was: it's complicated. While immune to the psychic side-effects of casting dark magic, such ponies – like all ponies – derive pleasure from casting talent magic. Add in the fact that dark magic is used almost exclusively for personal pleasure or the pain of others – and most ponies know that – the combined effects of classical conditioning and social pressure tended to succeed where the twisted magic failed.
Thus, to Sparkle's subconscious mind, riding on a dragon that fed her stolen life-force as a method of clearing a path through a dark forest seemed like a decent idea. The forest itself would complain if it could, but only after a trail of death stopped being carved into it.
The downside was that Sparkle singlehandedly killed several acres of forest, flora and fauna alike. The upside was that she and Thorn made great time, and got dinner in the process.
"SURPRISE!" The crowd gathered in the library cheered, stunning the newly entered unicorn in the process.
Beatrix Lulamoon, ever the showmare and the personnel protégé of Princess Celestia, composed herself before most ponies could blink. "Well, isn't this pleasant." She smiled, perhaps a bit wider than her mood would indicate, but was otherwise genuine.
"Isn't it?" Pinkie asked as she trotted up to Trixie. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw it just for you; this is your Welcome to Ponyville party!"
"Thank you. But, as much as Trixie would love to celebrate herself, Trixie must do research."
"Only an egghead would turn down a party for dusty old books," a new voice chimed in. The owner of said voice landed next to Trixie.
Trixie raised an eyebrow at the rainbow-maned mare, the one who had soaked her earlier that day. "Trixie is no egghead, and while she may be a bit of a showmare at times, Trixie is quite pragmatic when there is trouble brewing," she retorted.
A worried look crossed Pinkie Pie's face. To the ponies who knew her, especially Rainbow Dash, this was especially troubling. "Does this have anything to do with Nightmare Moon?"
Trixie's thoughts ground to a halt. "You know about Nightmare Moon?"
"Yep, my new friends said they were looking for some artifacts to help stop her or something. She told me to keep ponies happy and calm if something went wrong, another reason to throw this party," Pinkie answered.
"Nightmare Moon? I thought she was just a story to scare foals on Nightmare Night," Dash commented.
"She isn't," Trixie somberly replied. Looking Dash right in the eye, she summarized what she knew of the situation. When she was finished, Trixie turned to Pinkie and asked, "Those friends of yours, do you know where they are?"
"Nope." Pinkie shrugged. "Sparkle and Thorn left before I met you and went *gasssssp* and ran off."
For the second time in nearly as many minutes, Trixie's thoughts came to a screeching halt. "Sparkle and Thorn, as in the Sparkle and Thorn? Purple unicorn, Purple dragon with soulless eyes? Creepy looking? Uncomfortable vibe from their very presence? That Sparkle and Thorn?"
"Uh, yes?"
Trixie pulled off her signature pointed hat and rubbed a hoof through her mane. "Buck... Buck buck buckity buck. There's no time." And with that, Trixie galloped towards the bookshelves, carelessly shoving party going ponies aside as she did so, and began magically pulling down books in a frantic search for something only she knew.
"Err... You think she's alright?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know. We should probably help her."
"Right."
Deep in the Everfree forest, a search of a different library was starting. Sparkle, dismounting from the shrinking Thorn, strode into the Castle of the Two Sisters. Her horn erupted with corrosive magic, and a dark black fog, which more resembled ink in water than smoke in air, spewed forth from every pore and every orifice of Sparkle's body. Almost as fast as it appeared, it condensed into dozens, then hundreds of vaguely pony-shaped figures.
Specters. They were the closest things to ghosts, poltergeists, and demons there was without actually being any of those things. They had abilities comparable to those things, but were limited to the caster's strength and animated by the caster's will. Specters had numerous uses for necromancers, including: spying, communication, possessing ponies weaker than the caster, animating corpses, animating inorganic matter, and serving as semi-intangible vessels for disembodied souls.
"You know what to do." Sparkle's words sent the specters racing through the halls, walls, floor, and ceiling, eager to follow their mistress's will. In a second, none of the specters remained before her. "Now, to find those Elements."
Thorn looked around for a second before pointing a claw at a structure in the middle of the room. "Could those be the Elements?" the drake inquired.
Sparkle turned, looked, and promptly face-hooved at the very obviously placed objects. "Yes. They're full of light magic, I can feel it from here." Her horn darkened and levitated the orbs down from their pedestal. She set the five objects down with a gentle click of stone touching stone. "Hmm... Weren't there more?"
"I can't remember," Thorn commented, shrugging his shoulders. "We still don't know if we can use them, or even how."
"You're right. Specters! Report."
Soft giggling voices echoed around them, without any visible sources. "We found books!"
"Many books!"
"Secret books!"
"Cursed books!"
"Book of Blood–"
"–and book of Bones!"
"Four and five! Four and five!"
Sparkle blinked. "Volumes four and five of Dread Necroptica? Blood and Bones? They're here?!"
"Yes! And more!" the specters cooed. "Come and see! Come and see!"
Known to dark magicians around the world, the Dread Necroptica was considered the single most comprehensive and dangerous dark spell book series in existence. Rumor had it that an information demon - a being literally made of thought and information - existed within and between the pages of the seven volumes, and was fed by the knowledge gained from its chosen hosts. Further, the rumors said that the books called out to its chosen host, leading him or her to it over the course of their lives.
Sparkle possessed the first three volumes: Soul, Mind, and Flesh. With the addition of Blood and Bones, she would have nearly the entire set, even if she was as of yet unable or unwilling to perform the spells within.
Thorn too possessed an interest in the series. Being unable to perform most of the magic, but far more willing to than his equine mother, he excitedly charged after Sparkle and her specters towards the books.
The mare's silhouette on the moon vanished. The sun failed to rise.
“The Everfree Forest? You're not actually going in there, are you, Darling?" Rarity inquired of Trixie.
Applejack said, "That place ain't natural. Plants grow–"
"–animals care for themselves–" Fluttershy added.
"–and the clouds move–" said Dash.
"–all on their own!" the three chorused as one.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie is not scared of some forest," she replied, though even she wasn't convinced of her words, "and she definitely doesn't need your help."
"Ah think ah speak for all of us when ah say that ya got our help whether ya want it or not." AJ smiled sincerely at the blue unicorn.
"AJ's right. We'd never leave a friend hanging," said Rainbow Dash.
"Mmmhmm," the others agreed.
Together, the sextet set out into the dark woods.
“Trixie wishes she could have done that before," the unicorn commented, the last traces of laughter fading from her lips. "It would have made lessons with Sparkle so much easier. That, by comparison, was nothing."
"Hey, you kinda freaked out when you heard her name earlier. What's up with that?" wondered Dash.
"She is a convicted dark mage," Trixie replied. The declaration elicited confusion from four of them and a shriek from the last.
"That's barbaric! How could someone like her be allowed free?" Rarity cried.
"Mind filln’ us earth ponies in, Rares?"
"Dark magic twists the user's mind. It doesn't matter if you use it for good, use it enough and you will go bad. Very bad. Any willing use of black magic by a unicorn on another living thing is a felony." Rarity shuddered in disgust. "Why, then, is she free?"
"She isn't," Trixie answered. "Well, not completely. She's a natural born, meaning her magic is dark, period. Sparkle can't change her very nature, and so gets a pass. It helps that she's mostly incorruptible because she's a natural. But, one of the conditions she has to follow if she wants to stay out of prison is that one week every three months, she has to help train the Royal Guard – or Princess Celestia's students, like Trixie – in Defense Against the Dark Arts, for minimum wage."
"And how did that go?" Rarity asked.
"Painfully," Trixie stated, made nervous by the memories. "There's bad blood between us."
"That doesn't-"
"AHHHH!"
The shrill scream of Fluttershy, who had been silently walking at the back corner of the group, made everypony jump. Spinning around, the members of the group turned, ready for a fight, only to see her hurrying towards a large lump on the ground. It only took a second for them to realize that it was the corpse of a manticore, and a second more for their noses to catch the stench of rot.
The cause of death was obvious, if mysterious in nature. "What kind ah beastie kills and leaves the body tah rot?" Applejack asked, only partially rhetorically.
"It's worse," Fluttershy whispered, tears of sorrow streaking down her face. "Its blood is still fresh. What could kind of monster could rot a fresh corpse in hours?"
Unlike the rest of the group, Beatrix Lulamoon was not looking at the body of the fallen manticore, but the now visible trail of rot leading away. "Thorn did this."
"Thorn? But he's a tiny little guy. And a baby dragon. Roar, fire, blargh! That kind of thing," Pinkie said, doing her best imitation of baby dragon noises.
"He's also dead, and, from the looks of things," Trixie pointed to the rotten path, "hungry for life."
Applejack took one look at the rotten trees and underbrush and then promptly fainted. When she awoke, the voice of Dash sounded from below her. "Welcome back, sleepy head."
Dismounting from Dash's back, she was about to speak when her hooves touched the ground. She hollered instead. "What the hay! The ground's dead!"
"I knowwww..." Pinkie wailed in agreement. "It feels soooo wroooong!"
"Come on then," Trixie implored. "The faster we get to the castle, the sooner we can get out of here."
The study habits of Twilight Sparkle had only grown better after she'd been split into two ponies. And, like her light counterpart, Sparkle often found herself oblivious to the rest of the world. Thus, the whoosh of suddenly displaced air and the subsequent staccato of metal-encased hooves on stone failed to arouse her.
The spoken words that did break her concentration were, "That book, 'tis mine own creation."
Sparkle jumped and spun round, magic charging at the base of her horn so as to be ready without appearing as such, only to come face to face with the sinister visage of Nightmare Moon.
"Please, I had no intention of startling thee," the dark mare placated, contrary to all of Sparkle's expectations.
"Oh, umm, 's ok..." Sparkle mumbled, her brain still two steps behind reality. "Sooo... Your book?"
"Indeed. I would often write in my nightly solitude, before I rebelled against my sister."
"Nightmare Moon," Sparkle realized, "you're the lost princess?" The unicorn took a step back and lowered her head respectfully. Silently though, she utilized the magical connection she had with her creations – less telepathy and more like empathy – to still and quiet them, so as to not give them away.
Oblivious to Sparkle subtle machinations, Nightmare Moon replied, "Indeed again. Tell me, what fate has befallen my palace, and why art thou here when the signs of disuse span so long a time?"
Sparkle thought, and then answered, "Self-preservation."
"I'm sorry?"
"Self-preservation," Sparkle reiterated, "to both, I mean. The Everfree was declared too inhospitable to pony habitation and I'm here looking to improve my magic, to extend and improve my career." The 'which depends on my being alive' went wisely unspoken.
The alicorn raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see how a treatise on dark magic would extend a career."
"Know your enemy, know yourself," Sparkle replied, although the utterance barely qualified as a whisper upon escaping her lips. Her eyes, which had yet to look directly upon the Nightmare's own, darted to the side, catching a glimpse of the pillars behind which Thorn hid.
"Child," Nightmare Moon's prehensile mane scooped up Sparkle's chin, lifting it up until as the alicorn bent down, until Sparkle had no choice but to look the dark mare in the eye. "Are thou... afraid of me? Tch, thine eyes tell no lies; thou fear me. Why? Does the Night truly terrify you so much?"
"...yes," Sparkle eventually answered, deciding honesty was the best move. "You have an imposing figure, and your reputation does you no favors, but I don't fear the night."
"Then why?"
"I fear the cold. The sun is warm, the moon is cold, and an eternity of either would kill us all."
"Tch," Nightmare Moon went again. "The moon is not nearly as cold as you seem to think." She sighed, disappointed. "The first real conversation in a thousand years is this..."
Before more words could be spoken, the sounds of faint, disembodied laughing echoed through the room, barely on the edge of perception. Sparkle closed her book and stood from where she had been seated. At nearly the same time, perhaps a second later, the mistress of the night looked towards the front of the castle. "We are not as alone as we had thought."
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You keep approaching this rather nicely. Yet with enough shifts and fun differences, and I hope the muse runs this well for this.
Neat to see the talk between the darker halves.
5526716
Sparkle and Thorn still will live in Canterlot for this story. As such, most of what happens in canon will not be seen by Sparkle, as Trixie will be taking her place. The biggest changes will come from the two-part episodes.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike will be mostly following canon.
I've got most of the big changes planned out, except for it's about time. I either need to make a stable loop that involves both timelines, or I need to crash time again, leaving them with no memory of time travel and a splitting headache.
5526789 Ah! So thats how you plan on going about through it. The interactions between luna and sparkle should be very fun. But you've also got trixie as a person to use here you could tie into another show perhaps? or of something she does in another episode if the time line works out in planning?
This is pretty good! At times I felt it was a bit rushed, I wish you would have explained just a little bit more about how these universes work in general, but other than that a pretty marvelous job was done :3. Looking forward to the next chapter!
5526813
I'll show Trixie or Twilight explicitly when their actions contracts the show. For example, boast busters is coming up, but Twilight will only know the Trixie that is Celestia's student, not the show mare. Also, Owlowicious in this timeline will be named Gizmo.
If it's not explicit, then the events will pop up in dialogue or newspaper articles or the like.
5526911 Looking forward to it. I hope the muse stays strong here.
5526898
I have a long time to get into the nitty gritty of those details; I don't want to bogg you down straight away.
5526918 Ahh, see I was under the impression for some reason that this was just going to be the Nightmare Moon arch. Well then, I'm not doubly excited to see where this will be going! :D
5526924
I have plans that extend through season 4.
Funny thing, the usual trope of White Mages fits more along the lines of a Divine casting Necromancer than anything else. Also funny is how Necromancy is usually this horrible and dark thing.
Oblivious
You have an excellent editor!
5532948
Fixed, thank you.
Shift that comma a space to the right.
Well-defined.
What about his right? Which right? Right side? Maybe you meant You're, which is 'you are,' instead of your, which indicates posession.
Wishes.
Requires commas around 'then.'
>By the time it realized its mistake, a very quick realization mind you, the dragon before it had
How about:
>By the time it realized its mistake (a very quick realization, mind you), the dragon before it had
Abort, Retry, Fail?
>A life-draining, hoof length claw
*hoof-length
5526911
>I'll show Trixie or Twilight explicitly when their actions contracts the show
y u no 'contradict' ;-;
Sparkle and Thorn are just so casually dark and vicious, I love it. In fairness, this does sound like a good way to get through the Everfree completely unscathed.
Shouldn't it be; You two are invited?
5838850
Fixed.
Wait... Beatrix took Twilight's place or is it just on Sparkle's side? I'm kinda confused...
5844887 i'm not. of course, i write from multiple perspectives... so of course it would make sense to me...
5844887
I think Trixie became Celestia's student in Sparkle's timeline.
Man, this story has me stumped. I just don't quite know what to think about it so far. It's different, I'll give you that, but this is quite a lot of information given all at once. It's nearly hard to follow.
5872364 Elaborate then, you selfish jerk.
This story is pretty hard to follow. I'm making a lot of connections that I should have made earlier as I read though.
It is enjoyable so far
Well at least NMM isn't a a hole
6900504 For some reason, your avatar reminds me of the Ninety9Lives robot.
This is so interesting and so hard to follow
Sorry, no offense meant, this story is great and really caught my interest, but damn is it so confusing. Half of the time I barely even know what's going on. I'll keep reading to try and piece together what's happening. I don't wanna give up on a potential like this.
Darn, I was so excited when Trixie first showed up. "Ooh, is this Faithful Student Trixie actually different because of Celestia's tutelage? Oh, wait, no, she still speaks in third person. Oh well."
NM is quite pleasant at conversation... Why did they originally fire a rainbow at her?
Contrary to what many people are seeing, I'm not finding this all that difficult to follow. & it is pretty interesting, to boot. Loving it so far.
Ah!!! It's so BORING.
Well ain't this an interesting story to find.