//------------------------------// // If you like this, I might make a sequel (I wrote one) // Story: Subconscious Being // by CrossRedstone //------------------------------// Twilight was going through the halls of the local library, simply looking at all the books on the shelves. Truth to be told she had no "real reason" to be there other than looking for a book of course. She just didn't need to research something or other this time. Maybe she would just get a good adventure like a Daring Doo novel or something new for a change. She found the sign above the adventure section and turned around the corner, finding- Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, the screeching halt of a record player could be heard in the background. Standing right there in the middle, with an open book in her arms, stood none other than Midnight Sparkle, seemingly enjoying the book she was reading. Before Twilight could do as much as make a noise, Midnight slammed the book shut and looked up, directly into Twilight's eyes. The girl couldn't help but freeze up and stare right back at the dark angel. "There you are." she stated, smiling her usual evil smile. "Y-you?!" Twilight shouted, slowly going backwards. Midnight reacted by approaching Twilight at a normal pace. "But the magic...! My friends...! You-" "-are supposed to be gone?" Midnight asked with a wave of her hand. She let out a low chuckle, using her magic to put the book back to its proper place on the shelf. "It's not that simple Twilight." The girl gasped when she hit a bookshelf with her back. "B-but..." Twilight was trembling now. She wondered how Midnight could be in her dream. Hadn't she accepted the magic inside of her? Didn't her friends help her control the magic inside of her? Midnight stopped in her tracks, just barely being one step away to coming face to face with Twilight. "What's wrong, Twilight? Still afraid of the magic inside of you? Ah, I see, it's not you who controlled "me", but your friends." Twilight dared to look up, seeing her evil self, arms crossed and smirking. "But they're not here, are they?" Midnight asked rhetorically. "Face it, you will never be able to handle it. You're weak, pathetic and all alone. You should just give up and let me handle everything." the dark angel laughed, her wings flaring and her laughter echoing through the entire building. The girl, who was leaning against the bookshelf looked up. Was this really happening? Were all her efforts of finally facing her fears all in vain? No! A voice screamed in her mind. HER voice screamed inside her very subconsciousness. This is just a dream. My dream! I am the one who is in control! "In control..." Twilight echoed aloud. Midnight stopped her laughter and looked at her counterpart with genuine curiosity. "What was that?" "In control," Twilight repeated, not shivering anymore. She straightened her posture and glared at Midnight. "I am in control here! Not you, you demon!" The girl shouted. "Oh?" Midnight titled her head, a small still plastered on her face. "What do we have here? Are you actually standing up to me? Or are you just playing strong, hoping one of your "friends" is going to miraculously appear out of nowhere and save you?" Midnight chuckled. "In case you have forgotten, here a little reminder. You're dreaming." Midnight snapped her fingers and all of the sudden the two Sparkles were standing in front of the broken Canterlot High statue. "We are inside your subconsciousness. None of your friends can help you here." "You're right." Twilight agreed. "This is a dream. But it is also my dream!" The girl shouted. "Just like the magic inside of me is MY magic, you're just a creation of MY imagination!" "Hmm? An imagination, you say?" Midnight asked impartially. "Back in Everfree I realized...you" the human pointed her finger at the angel "represent my fears. The fear of magic, the fear of losing control, the fear of hurting my friends, my first friends. The fear of becoming a demon." Twilight looked to the ground for a second, her face showing hesitation. Yet she shook her head and managed to look into her counterpart's face once again. "But that is a thing of the past. I do not fear magic any longer. My subconsciousness created you, because of the traumatic experience at the Friendship Games." the girl managed to suppress a shudder. "But no more! My friends' belief in me! They showed me that I don't need to fear magic! That I don't need to fear you!" Twilight closed the gap between herself and Midnight and stared into her the angel's eyes only inches away. Midnight stared right back, showing no emotion whatsoever. After a while that seemed like forever, Midnight closed her eyes and took a step back. She raised both of her hands and clapped. Slowly. "Huh?" Twilight almost lost her footing, having not expected this kind of thing to happen. "Wow." Midnight said nonplussed. "That was cheesy and yet at the same time just bland. Really? That's the best you could come up with?" "H-huh? What...?" Twilight was confused. Midnight was being totally out of character right now. The evil smirk was gone, her dominant posture vanished. She was just looking at Twilight the same way Rainbow Dash did, back when she tried to teach the girl the basics about trigonometry. "But I guess I can be glad that you stood up for yourself so soon. I honestly thought I needed to give you a bigger push." "A push?" Twilight repeated. Midnight just smiled, a genuine, honest smile this time. Snapping her fingers, she and Twilight found themselves in their bedroom, the moonlight strangely strong enough for Twilight to see almost perfectly. "I guess you're surprised at my behavior, aren't you?" "Y-yeah?" Twilight replied carefully, eyeing the dark entity closely. The angel chuckled a little before she began explaining. "The reason quite frankly is because of you." Midnight pointed a finger at Twilight. "M-me?!" the lavender girl pointed a finger at her chest. "That's right." Midnight smiled. "You see, you are at least partially right. You Twilight Sparkle created me, Midnight Sparkle insight your very subconsciousness. However, unlike what you believe, I was...for the lag of a better term "born" long before the friendship games." "Born? That... does not make much sense." Twilight pointed out. "In a metaphorical way, it does." Midnight countered. "And let's not talk about technicalities right now. I mean, theoretically, I am not supposed to have a mind of my own." Midnight held up her hand and inspected it like it was a clue to a puzzle. "Yet, here I am. Talking to you, as if I was a completely different person. Or an evil twin." the angel grinned mischievously. Twilight looked at Midnight from top to bottom, before speaking herself. "But...how is this happening? Oh no!" she put both hands on her temples. "I am not developing some form of Multiple Personality Disorder?!" "I highly doubt that." Midnight stated. "Rather I think it has something to do with the magic you absorbed. But that doesn't matter right now." "Huh? Why? What does matter?" "What matters is that you understand what I represent. You were right I represent your fear to magic, which still isn't completely gone." To these words, Twilight hardened her stands. "I do not fear magic," she stated. Midnight sighed, shaking her head. "It's no use lying to me, you know? In a way, I am you. Yet at the same time, I am not." "What? Now you're making no sense at all." Twilight pointed out. Midnight sighed again, her wings flaring slightly in agitation. "How about you let me explain first and judge me afterwards?" The other girl thought about those words. On the one hand, Midnight might try to get Twilight to question herself and take control, once she lowers her guard. On the other hand, Midnight was being out of character. Plus the girl with the not burning glasses was curious about why Midnight was behaving like she was. "Fine," Twilight said. "But you won't be able to fool me." Midnight smiled, nodding. She was about to comment on the half-hearted threat, but let it be. "As I already told you, I have been a part of you for far longer than you think I am." Midnight looked over to the bookshelf for a second. "It's kind of hard to explain. Back then, I technically still was you, but not...obvious. I wasn't really there. Or better said, you suppressed me." "Suppressed you? But how? I mean, if you weren't there, then-" "That's why I want you to let me finish explaining first." Midnight deadpanned. "Oh, sorry." Twilight smiled sheepishly. "So that's why Cadance called me "adorkable". Anyways, to answer your questions, I was inside your subconsciousness. To be more specific I was and still am all the emotions you suppressed for a long time, but even more so when you entered Crystal Prep." "Suppressed emotions? You mean like...!" Twilight trailed off, realization dawning upon her. "Rage, hatred, jealousy, even sadness." Midnight listed with her fingers. "You kept all those things to yourself, burying it time and time, again and again. When you were bullied, when no one appreciated your efforts, when you were used by other people, simply because you were smarter than them...the list goes on. In a way, every time you suppressed your true emotions, I became stronger." Midnight looked at the empty basket that was Spike's sleeping place. "I was a bomb, waiting to be set off, but you somehow avoided that. I suspect mostly because of Spike and all the times you cried yourself to sleep." Twilight cringed. The last part brought up not so happy memories. "Of course, I was just that. A bunch of emotions, memories and here and there a dark thought. But this all changed when magic came into play." Midnight said sternly. "Specifically, when you unleashed it all during the Friendship Games." "That's when you became...you." Twilight realized. "I lost control because not only was I scared, but also angered by Cinch, forcing me to do this." The girl looked down. "And mixed with everything else, somehow...you were born and took over." Midnight nodded. "It is weird, you know? I have all your memories, yet I am completely self-aware. Up until recently, I thought of you as someone weak, as someone who needed to step into the background and let me show you how to handle things. The only reason I lost control back then was because I think your love for Spike is bigger than was your hatred for the world. I mean, back then who did you have? Shining Armor talked you into competing in the Friendship Games, despite knowing how much you loathed the very idea. Cadance was always talking about friends this and friends that, despite knowing what kind of "friendship" you experienced at Crystal Prep. And your parents...well..." "I never told them anything." Twilight sighed. "I said everything was okay, but at the same time blamed them for not seeing how much I was hurting on the inside." she sniffled holding back a tear. To her surprise, Midnight stepped forward and pulled her into a comfortable hug. "After the Games, I was angry, you know? As your subconsciousness, I could only communicate with you in your dreams. After you gave up on this power, one with which we could have just left this world and all our problems behind, I was even more angry with you. Slowly realizing I was actually no longer..."you"...I no longer wanted to just show you how it was "supposed to be done". I completely wanted to take over your body." Twilight tensed up. Midnight stroked her back gently, trying to calm her down. "But you know what changed me?" Midnight giggled. "This will sound really cheesy, but your friends did." "My friends?" Twilight repeated. "What are you a parrot?" Midnight asked, pulling away from Twilight. "How often are you going to "echo" me today?" "Er..." "Hehe, relax." the angel winked. "But, yes. Your friends." she closed her eyes. "When they helped you control your powers, I could feel it." "Feel what?" "The magic. The magic of friendship. It was like all my hate, all my anger was slowly floating away and was replaced by this warm, fuzzy feeling. For the first time in my life, I was not angry." "What do you...? Wait. Since you're my negative emotions come to life..." Twilight gasped. "You felt all of this...until just recently." Midnight nodded, a happy smile on her face. "Don't beat yourself up over this. Normally someone like me wouldn't even exist." Just then, seemingly out of nowhere, Midnight's body became transparent. "What the- ?! What's happening?!" Twilight shouted surprised. Midnight looked down onto herself and sighed, a sad smile appearing on her face. "I see. So this is it, huh?" "What do you mean: this is it?!" Twilight shouted. Midnight continued to smile. "Twilight, listen. Just listen." she held up her hand in order to stop the girl. "Remember? I told you every time you suppressed a negative emotion, I became stronger. However, those emotions have dimmed on a drastic level." "S-so...that means..." Twilight didn't really know why she felt like crying. After all, she just got to really know Midnight and plus she couldn't really be sure if she could trust the dark angel, who almost destroyed the world. "I don't know if I'm going to die or just go back to being your basic emotions, hidden in the depths of your mind. But whatever happens, I need you to answer me a question." "B-but-" "No buts, I have no time!" Midnight shouted, her wings flaring and her burning glasses flickering for a second. Twilight cringed but shut up. Twilight's counterpart, put her wings back in place and took a deep breath. "Twilight Sparkle, I know you have many reasons to hate me. I deeply apologize for what I have done to you in the recent past and wish I could somehow undo it or make it up, but alas it is not within my power. That being said, do you forgive me Twilight and allow me to be your friend?" Midnight held out her hand. Twilight just stood there stunned for the next couple of seconds. "This" she began "this is so much to take in! I mean, I have so many questions! I mean is this even real or-!" Twilight stopped herself, seeing as Midnight's body became more and more transparent. "Yes, yes, I will be your friend!" It may have been a rather hasty decision, but in this situation, it appeared appropriate. Midnight smiled, a single tear escaping her eyes. "Thank you." And the dream ended with Midnight disappearing. Twilight splashed some water on her face and then proceeded to rub her face dry with a towel. Looking into the mirror, the girl saw the fuzzy image of herself looking back. She had had some kind of dream last night and for some reason, it left her with mixed emotions. She didn't remember what it was about and wasn't sure whether to glad or worried about this. The last thing she needed was another series of nightmares. Putting on her glasses, the image in the mirror cleared, showing herself. "Hopefully this was the last time," she muttered to herself. She was just about to brush her hair, when... "TWILIGHT!" Spike shouted from her room. Knowing that Spike wouldn't risk letting the rest of the family know about his newfound ability to speak without a good reason, Twilight quickly ran back to her room. "What's wrong, Spike?!" Twilight shouted as she barged in. The dog pointed in question pointed towards the desk, where she put her pendant the other day. Said pendant was glowing for some reason. "Why is it glowing?" Twilight asked, picking it up. "I don't know," Spike answered. "It just switched on like a light." "Well, whatever is going on" the girl opened a drawer "I better put it away, before- AHH!" "Twilight! Ahh!" Both canine and human were surprised when a beam of purple light escaped the pendant. Upon hitting the ground, both were temporarily blinded by a bright light. "Whoa. This is different." "You can say that again," Spike muttered. "Spike who are you talking to?" "Why to...you...?" The vision cleared, revealing an angel standing between the two. "GAH!" "Hey, what's going on Twily?" Shining Armor asked, opening the door.