Lost

by Psyduck64

the Rise

SECTION 3, SPIKE

"Umm, Twilight, what did you just say? I didn't quite catch that" Spike was backing away slowly. He'd heard excatly what Twilight had said, he was just hoping that he'd heard wrong.

"I said that I'm going to kill you now, doesn't that sound like fun?" Twilight was slowly approaching Spike now.

"Uhh, not especially, cause I'd be dead then" Spike pressed himself against the wall, he was cornered.

"That's exactly the point you silly little dragon" Twilight smiled "Celestia told me that I should kill you, It's right here in this letter" Twilight held up the piece of paper for Spike to see. Spike read the letter, which didn't take long because...

"TWILIGHT! THIS LETTER'S BLANK!" Spike screamed at Twilight, who just tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"Don't be silly, It's written right here:

My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

Recent word has come to Canterlot of that baby dragon of your's causing trouble in the town of Ponyville. There have been several unexplainable fire's lately and most suspect Spike to be the cause. It would mean a great deal less conflict if you could dispose of Spike yourself. Killing would be the most optimal solution, as it would eliminate the chance of any more accidents.

Your most beloved Princess,

Princess Celestia

See silly, right there, signature and everything" Twilight continued to look questioningly upon Spike.

"Now, let's get this over with" Spike tried to shrink further into the wall as Twilight slowly approached. Twilight was beginning to channel her magic while Spike began to weep, tears falling freely down his cheeks. Twilight paused for a second and shook her head furiously.

"Spike, run, go to sugarcube corner, and DON'T LET ME FOLLOW YOU!" Twilight began to convulse and fell to the floor.

"Twilight..."

"Spike, listen to me, this... Thing, it's an infection, it can control your thoughts, make you do things, make you see things, go to sugarcube corner, get Pinkie Pie to gather everyone up, find Rarity, when you do, don't trust her, she's infected as well..." Twilight had to pause, because the writhing had become to much "GO! tell the others! make sure this doesn't spread" Twilight stopped shaking and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were pitch black, marked with a red X.

"Considering the amount of suffering this pony is going through, it would be a nice thing to do if you could at least let her save you" Twilight looked down at Spike, who was frozen in place by fear. The words had come out of Twilight's mouth, yet they sounded nothing like her.

Twilight shook her head again, more furiously this time, she blinked, her eyes had returned to normal. "GO!" she yelled, Spike couldn't help but obey. Out the door, he turned to shut and lock it, and the last thing he saw of Twilight was her ram her head against the wall, shattering her horn and as she fell to the floor, Spike locked the door.

---

SECTION 4 TWILIGHT

"Hmm, you are much stronger than Rarity was, before I broke her"

Twilight was sobbing, gathering up the pieces of her shattered horn, while trying to stop the bleeding from the jagged stump where those pieces used to fit together.

"You are not going to win this, whatever it is you're trying" Twilight managed to choke through her sobs. She was in immense pain, never had she heard of a unicorn who had purposefully broken their horn, and was in fact slightly surprised she was still alive.

"Oh, but you see I already have won, ever since that freak accident in the forest when Rarity had released me, I haven't lost"

"Rarity released you? Rarity would never do something like that, I don't believe you"

"Oh not on purpose, no she wouldn't, but accidentally, she's done a great job, don't you think"

"What are you?" Twilight was tired of these games. She was in fact very tiered, but she knew she had to stay conscious, otherwise this being would drive her insane.

"My my, straight to the point, i like that. I'm what ponies like to call 'Insanity', however that is a fairly general term, i prefer the term 'Internal Chaos'"

"You sound like Discord" Twilight mumbled, delirious from the loss of blood.

"Ha! You insult me! Discord is nothing compared to me, he has but a piece of the power I posses. He knows nothing of true chaos, the actions a pony will take if they are pushed along the right path. While Discord can sit atop a hill and murder as many ponies as he likes, he will be stopped. I on the other hand, take control of a pony's deepest desires and darkest fears and have them act out my will, I can cause ponies to kill each other while Discord is being turned to stone. I am more powerful than he because the hardest thing to beat is one's self, although you see to be doing a pretty good job"

"Don't... This isn't... You can't...." Twilight could no longer concentrate well enough to form a sentence.

"Shhhh, you company" Twilight could hear pounding hoof beats above her.

"Spike, I told him..."

"Don't strain yourself" Twilight was losing conciousness "Well I'll be off, don't die on me now"

Twilight closed her eyes and fell to the floor.

---

"Twilight? Twi, there's somepony here to see you" Twilight's eyes flickered open.

She was once again lying in the hospital, surrounded by the concerned faces of her friends along with...

"Princess Celestia..." Twilight was exhausted, she could barely get out the words.

"Yes Twilight, I'm here" The Princess was looking the most concerned of the crowd, starring fixedly upon the stump that used to be Twilight's horn.

"I had to Princess" Twilight whimpered "I had no choice"

"I know Twilight, only, I've never in a thousand years seen a unicorn break their own horn, and live" Twilight looked at the Princess blankly.

"You mean, I shouldn't be alive?" Twilight was beginning to tear up "I thought I was, I had planned on it, I told Spike to get everyone together and... Wait, why am I alive?"

"Well, Twilight, Spike, being a smart dragon, sent for me immediately, and it was good he did, otherwise I might not have been able to save you"

"You... You saved me? But... what? why? The thing was in me! It's still here if I am!" Twilight was becoming frantic.

"No Twilight, that thing is not a part of you, strictly speaking...."

"Uh, strictly speakin'? An what's that supposed to mean?" Applejack interjected rather rudely.

"I mean it is a part of all of us equally, but held in check by happiness and friendship" Celestia replied "It is the foundation of depression and insanity, the absolute loss of hope, for even a moment can give it sway over your entire mind"

"Then how did it infect me?" Twilight now looked frightened, like she wanted to crawl down a hole and hide forever.

"There is another way for it to gain sway over your mind, the way you Twilight succumbed to its influence" Celestia turned to look at Twilight, her eyes radiating kindness and sympathy. "You see, the only other way is for you to acknowledge that it is a present force within you"

"You see Twilight, in reading that book, you gained knowledge, and that knowledge sat and infested your mind, feeding your insanity"

"Umm, Princess, I'd like to ask, if that's OK with you, but if it gains power when we learn of it, why are you telling us this? It seems like that wouldn't be such a good idea" Fluttershy spoke up from the back of the room.

"Well, my dearest Fluttershy, against an opponent whose strategy is to infect and destroy the sane part of your mind, the best way to defend yourself is to knowingly defend against it" Celestia replied. "If i told you right now that if you didn't defend your mind you will go insane, but didn't specify what or how this thing might attack, you will not be able to defend yourself properly"

"Oh, ok.." Fluttershy responded quietly.

"Well Princess" Twilight spoke up from the bed "Defending ourselves against this is certainly very important, but what exactly are we going to do to resolve the problem?" Twilight was very concerned at this point, the being they were fighting was not something she'd ever read about or heard of in any way. The way Celestia put it was that this thing had no body, it was simply a part of everypony, in which case, now that it was here, there was no getting rid of it.

"Well the only way to stop something that has no form is to give it form" Celestia responded confidently.

"And how are we supposed to do THAT exactly?" Rainbow Dash piped up from the back. "You've told us a lot of useful information and all, but none of it gives us any idea on how to do what your asking"

"RAINBOW" Applejack turned to her "Ah'm pretty sure the Princess is gettin' to that"

"Thank you Applejack, indeed I was" Celestia replied with a smile "From what I know about this, this Insanity, the only host you can successfully trap it in, is it's original host, it's point of origin"

There was complete silence in the room here. Then name was on everypony's mind, yet they refused to admit it. They had never thought it would come to this. They had been together for so long, faced so much evil together, how could this break them apart. They have finally been beaten, split apart, the Elements of Harmony were no longer existent.

"Rarity..."

---

Spooky!

The chapter is a little shorter than i would have liked, but I feel like there should be a break between here and the next part. The next chapter I'm hoping will be over 3000 or at least very close.

Psyduck! waddlewaddlewaddle

Comments

[Psyduck64]

192082 thanks! the mistakes, well, i don't check my work over all too carefully, although, now that other people are reading it i think i might have too