“Twi, there’s no sense getting’ your tail in a knot,” Applejack was reassuring her for the tenth time. “Ah’m sure that whatever Princess Celestia’s callin’ on us for, she wouldn’t be askin’ if she wasn’t sure we can handle it.”

The grand double doors of the audience chamber boomed closed behind them with an unsettling sense of finality. Even with the familiar presence of her five closest friends trotting confidently ahead, of Spike perched on her back, Twilight couldn’t shake her apprehension.

Ordinarily, visiting Canterlot Castle was a significantly more casual affair for her than any of them. She’d lived there for most of her life, after all, directly under Celestia’s tutelage, and had more than earned her title as the Princess’ personal protégé and most trusted student. But the letter that requested the presence of all six Elements of Harmony had set alarm bells ringing in her head.

Princess Celestia had written to her many times in the past—that in itself was not an alarming thing. But Celestia’s script had been unusually terse in this letter, absent of pleasantries and directly to the point. She ran through it again in her head, the letters on the parchment etched into her mind as if it floated before her still.

My most faithful student, Twilight,

At your earliest convenience, please gather your friends representing the Elements of Harmony and bring them to Canterlot Castle. A matter requiring your presence has arisen and must be attended to with utmost urgency.

~Princess Celestia

The others all seemed convinced that whatever the problem was, the lot of them together could resolve it with relative ease. None of them knew Celestia as well as Twilight, though. They all thought she was just overreacting again, and though they had remembered what had come to be dubbed the Smarty Pants Incident and attempted to be supportive of her, she could tell the five of them were exercising a degree of indulgent tolerance. She was not neurotic, darn it.

At least Spike seemed to be in her corner, if only by virtue of being unusually quiet and clinging worriedly to her mane. Typically the first to make light of a situation, Spike also knew Celestia’s spell-writing quite well, and had recognized the rigid, hasty script for what it was even before showing it to Twilight.

At last, after what had seemed an eternity of walking the plush red carpet—no matter how many times she walked across it, she could never shake the feeling that it was trying to outright swallow her hooves—they stood before her, perched regally upon her throne, itself built into the very top of a two-tiered golden dais. The red carpet continued all the way up the two ramps leading to her seat, and in fact seemed to be part of the very same fabric that made up the seat cushioning and the backing of the throne’s high-arched back. At each side the first tier of the dais, crystal clear water trickled from two wide-mouthed spouts, feeding a pristine blue pool that ran underneath the whole affair. Of note, the two Royal Guard ponies that usually flanked the lower tier were absent.

All this grand, majestic serenity only served to complement the Princess herself, her head held proudly high, such that the long ivory spiral that adorned her brow reached nearly as high as the top of the throne. Her posture only served to make her look even taller than she already was by comparison to her subjects. Her mane and tail, each a rippling cascade of multicolored pastel hues, drifted lazily in an errant breeze that seemingly touched only her.

However, the gentle, motherly smile that she nearly always wore when greeting her subjects was absent, today, her lips pressed into a thin line and her usually laughing pink eyes favoring them solemnly. That caused worried glances to be passed between all six of her assembled champions of Harmony, and turned the alarm bells in Twilight’s subconscious into an outright cacophony of alert claxons, even as she and her friends all bowed low before her.

“Thank you all for coming, my little ponies,” she greeted them warmly nonetheless, offering a very slight smile as she nodded her head gently to each of them, wordlessly prompting them to rise. “I am aware that this is on very short notice, and that I have given you all very little information, but this is a matter that I wish to keep as quiet as possible for now.”

Six heads nodded with varying degrees of trepidation. It was Twilight who dared to step forward and speak.

“Then, Princess Celestia, if I may ask…” she paused to swallow nervously. “What…is this all about?”

Celestia actually gave them a short, tired sigh, as if she were feeling the very weight of her many, many centuries of life in that single moment. Her wings folded at her sides as she rose to her hooves and began to stride down the ramps descending from her throne. The six Elements of Harmony parted for her.

“This is about history,” she answered at last when she stood on level ground with them, turning to face them all. “But before I can tell you the tale, there is something we must do, first.” Celestia turned her head, calling over her shoulder, though even with her voice raised, her tones still sounded serene and soothing. “Please, bring it in now.”

“Aw, man, history?” Spike groaned, sagging against the back of Twilight’s neck. “Can I just take a nap now, then? Twilight already gave me my history lesson today.”

The double doors to the audience chamber boomed open, and the two missing guardponies trotted in. Held suspended between them by large, golden rings balanced on their horns was an oblong golden treasury box, an ivory sun sigil matching the Princess’ Cutie Mark emblazoned upon the lid. Once they had crossed the distance—what seemed like a small eternity later—their heads bowed to allow the golden rings to slide off their horns, depositing the box upon the plush carpet before the Princess and her Elements.

Celestia’s own head bowed, the tip of her horn touching the very center of the sun crest, and with the muffled click of a very heavy locking mechanism within, the chest’s lid slowly opened.

Lying within was something that seemed to deliberately, even maliciously contrast everything that surrounded it. It was a sword, long and slender, that seemed to be forged entirely from one solid chunk of polished onyx-hued metal. The blackness of it went beyond mere coloration; it was as though the thing swallowed all color and even light that touched it, consuming everything within the black void that its outline contained.

Though it never once moved upon the red velvet on which it lay, it seemed almost alive, the three crimson gemstones embedded in a triangular pattern in the hilt glinting like malevolent little eyes. Its grip was very long, likely to balance the prodigious length of the blade itself, but the crossbars were short and squat things shaped roughly like semicircular guillotine blades.

“Now that thing is just creepy…” Applejack was the first one to speak, her green eyes wide and riveted to the weapon.

“Whatever is an unsightly thing like that doing in Canterlot?” Rarity’s right forehoof was lifted in apprehension as she peered at the sword warily.

“I dunno, I think it looks kinda cool.” In contrast, Rainbow Dash was leaning forward, her neck weaving this way and that, trying to examine it from different angles. “Just needs a few minor tweaks here and there to get just the right balance of awesomeness.”

"Oh yeah, Pinkie," Rainbow's magenta eyes rolled. "That's totally what I meant."

Her sarcasm was lost on her pink friend, who nodded eagerly. “Oh, oh! Or maybe a rock!”

That prompted several startled looks, ranging through varying degrees of “perplexed”.

“Yeah!” Pinkie’s enthusiasm was unimpeded. “And then you could put it in the gardens and it could be all like ‘The Sword in the Rock’, and anypony who could pull it out would get…umm…a date with Princess Luna or something!”

Celestia didn’t seem certain whether to be amused or appalled. It was quite a unique expression to see on her usually unflappable face.

“O-or maybe, um,” Fluttershy finally spoke up, timidly breaking the awkward silence that followed, “m-maybe we could just, um…put it back. Where it came from. Maybe? If that’s alright…” She cowered back a little from the box.

But Celestia shook her head somberly. “I’m afraid that simply is not an option. In order to do what must be done, a certain degree of power is required. I had hoped that things would never come to this, but I’m sorry to say that our options are extremely limited right now. Even with the Elements of Harmony available to us, for this we need something very…particular in addition.”

She turned toward Twilight, giving her student a long, searching look. The lavender unicorn gulped again, gazing up at the one being in all Equestria whom she respected most. The two shared a weighty, silent moment, Twilight wordlessly questioning, Celestia searching for something none of them could guess at.

At last, it seemed that the Princess found it, however, and with a slight nod of her head, she gestured toward the onyx blade with her hoof.

Twilight actually jumped a little at the sound of her voice. Nervously, she nodded and approached as her purple-scaled assistant slid down from her back, both trusting in their Princess without needing to be prompted. She did spare an anxious glance over her shoulder at her friends, who all edged worriedly closer, offering silent support.

Finally, taking in a deep breath to steady herself, Twilight focused her power in her horn, directed it toward the piece of shadow that mocked the world of color and light around it. She was startled to find that it actually resisted at first, and that pushed her trepidation back as she stubbornly focused harder. The red-violet shimmer of her magic aura surrounded the onyx blade and it trembled where it lay, but did not budge.

Finally, with a surge of power so great that sparks began to jump from the tip of her horn, the black sword lifted from its box. However, once it did so, she found it moving on its own, resisting her urges to direct it as it rotated so that the blade pointed toward the ceiling, and then swiveled until she was staring right into those three ruby chips embedded in the hilt, which pulsed with energy from within.

Worse yet, she found herself unable even to let go, as though the thing had overridden her own magic and reversed the flow to seize her. She tried to cry out, but found her throat unresponsive to any command save breathing. A pulse of dark power erupted from the sword then, a black shockwave spreading out across the audience chamber, rattling the entire room with the sound of a low, distorted chime. Twilight found herself surrounded by wisps of amorphous darkness, drifting toward the ceiling and fading away only for more to emerge from her own shadow, spiraling around her like tongues of cold flame licking hungrily at the very fabric of reality..

All five of the (un-paralyzed) gathered Elements of Harmony started, skittering back reflexively. The two guards, still flanking the chest, took up defensive postures as their knees tensed and their horns lowered. Celestia, however, only gazed impassively at the black blade as it spoke in a masculine voice that sounded like its owner had scrubbed his throat with sandpaper for hours.

There was a chorus of gasps, ranging from astonished to offended, but Celestia’s only response was for her eyes to narrow almost imperceptibly.

“So, this is my sacrificial lamb?” The sword bobbed lazily in front of a transfixed Twilight, who still found herself unable to speak. “Meh. It’s kinda soft and squishy-lookin’. But I definitely sense potential!” The malignant glee bounced off the pillars that lined the chamber like a tangible thing as the voice echoed around them. “Two thousand years. Two. Thousand. Years, I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“It has been a long time…Gig,” Celestia pronounced the name as if she found it difficult to force it through her throat, like swallowing an emotional lump in reverse. “Somehow I, too, knew that this day would come.”

“P-Princess…?” It was Applejack, once again assuming the mantle of de facto leader with Twilight seemingly incapacitated. She took a protective step closer to her friend, but her eyes were on Celestia, a pair of wide, round, green saucers. “What in tarnation is it…he...talkin’ about?”

“Y-yeah, what’s up with that sword?” Rainbow tried to sound bold, to her credit, but even she couldn’t quite hide the quaver in her voice.

“And what’s it doing to Twilight?!” Spike, on the other hand, was on the verge of panic and unashamed of it.

“Two thousand years ago, when we thought that the end of Discord’s reign meant an eternal harmony for all, Luna and I gazed into a black shadow. And it gazed back. It very nearly destroyed all that we had worked so hard for, not only Equestria but all the world that lay beyond and all other creatures.” Sadness touched her eternal eyes. “Many lives were lost to the destroyer and his three great beasts, but in the end I managed to entrap him in his own wicked blade, and the behemoths fell silent.”

“Th-then this is…?” Fluttershy clearly did not want to know the answer to her own question, but Celestia nodded anyway, causing her to cringe closer to the floor with a whimper.

Celestia stepped closer, bending her head so that the very tip of her horn touched Twilight’s, the warm, golden glow of her magic mingling with her pupil’s aura.

“Twilight,” Celestia murmured quietly to her student, “no matter what happens, I want you to remember that I care very much for you, and I would never, ever intentionally do you harm. Please…just trust me.”

Even if she could answer, Twilight had no time to try. A pulse of magic from Celestia rippled through her, and the world of consciousness faded to black.

Twilight stood in a black void, infinitely vast, utterly featureless. Whatever was under her hooves was solid enough to support her without yielding and utterly flat, but though she could somehow see them, she couldn’t actually make out the floor. It was like standing on nothing, and that alone had fear warring with scholarly curiosity in her mind as she cautiously tapped at the not-ground with one hoof.

Taking an exploratory step forward, and then another, Twilight lifted her head and called out. “H-hello…? Spike? Anybody…?”

That familiar, gravelly voice jerked her eyes upward, and Twilight gawked at what she saw.

The strange creature floating above her was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. He (for it could only be the owner of that voice) was bipedal in posture, like Spike or a diamond dog, but his pale skin was almost completely hairless save for a short, wild white mane that crowned his head.

His face was flat, with no muzzle to speak of, almost simian in appearance but for the shape of the nose. Overall, he wasn’t terribly bulky; his limbs were long and a little wiry, clearly muscled but in a slender way.

Apart from the face and arms, it was actually clothed—which, a clinical, studious portion of her brain observed, made a great deal of sense if the only hair he had really was on his head. A sleeveless dusty lavender tunic adorned his torso, with twin violet wristbands on each arm and a folded down collar and its lower hem split into two low-hanging flaps. They rested against a pair of faded steel blue pants that fitted his legs somewhat loosely, terminating in a pair of deep blue boots whose soles gleamed white at her as she squinted up at their wearer.

Stranger yet, a pair of heavy, metallic blue armored shields floated lazily beside each of his arms, magenta lines running across the surface of each in abstract, geometric patterns. Floating near the pointed tip at the bottom of each of these was a set of three long, bent pieces of darker metal, which waggled independently like eagerly-grasping claws.

“Looking forward to breaking in my new body,” he continued, watching her with eerily glowing crimson irises, a wicked smirk curling the corner of his mouth. “I mean, sure, being a pony’s pretty stupid-looking, but there’s no arguing with this much raw magical power…”

“Who…who are you?” Twilight finally asked, partly because it was just such a relief being able to use her voice again..

“What, me?” the mystery creature inquired rhetorically, a malicious grin splitting his lips. “Oh, I’m just the most hardcore asskicker to ever walk the planet, is all.” He brought up one spidery, five-fingered hand to exhale on his knuckles, brushing them against the collar of his shirt. “The God of Destruction! The commander of the World Eaters!” That name alone sent a shiver running up Twilight's spine. No good could ever come of a creature called a "World Eater". He snapped his fingers, then jerked his thumb toward himself. “But hell, you can just call me Gig. Not like it’s gonna matter for long.”

“Were you really…inside that sword?” she asked him, taking a wary step closer, her curiosity piqued despite her fears.

“Oh, yeah…that.” Gig’s face twisted with distaste. “Yeah, no thanks to that alicorn wench. Had to abandon my body, two thousand years ago…”

“H…how dare you speak of Princess Celestia like that?!” Twilight blurted, incredulous. Gig smirked, shrugging his narrow shoulders.

“Hey, I just calls ‘em like I sees ‘em. She got in a lucky shot, and I thought she was gonna kill me for good.” He snorted derisively. “Dumb hag decided to stuff me in my own sword, instead. No idea why, nor why she kept the sword around, but I gathered my strength, waiting for my chance to get out.”

A terrible, blood-chilling grin spread across his face as his eyes locked with hers. “It’s been two thousand long years, but now I’ve got you! A nice, healthy set of limbs just brimming with untapped magic power! I’m gonna have to do some tidying up, though. I’m cool with purple and all,” he paused to tug lightly at the collar of his shirt, “but the whole ‘pink stripe’ and ‘prissy librarian look’ thing has got to go.”

“What are you…?” Twilight began, confused. But then realization, horrible realization, dawned as her violet eyes widened. “You mean you’re going to…?!”

Gig winked, extending a fist toward her with his thumb pointed up. “Dingdingding! We have a winner! You’re pretty smart, kid. That’s right, I’m taking over your body!” He turned his head up, as though calling to someone else. “Tell ‘er what she’s won, Bob? Yeah, that’s right! An all-expenses paid trip straight to oblivion!”

“What?!” she blustered, stumbling backward as though there were actually somewhere to retreat to. “You’re just…going to kill me?”

“Kill you?” Gig actually seemed honestly surprised, for a moment. Then he sniffed disdainfully. “Feh, that’d be too easy, and I need this body alive. Nah, what’ll happen is your soul will just…disappear.” He made a gesture of one hand, as though scattering dust to the wind, as Twilight’s terror mounted. “And then I can take this meat-puppet full of delicious munchy crunchy magic and blow Celestia straight to Hell! Haaahahahahahaaa!” He threw his head back, his arms crossing triumphantly as he cackled.

“Now…” he began, his gaze turning back to her as his laughter finally died down, “give me dominion over your body.” His voice was deathly serious and cold, but the sick smile on his lips was one of a foal who knew exactly what lay inside the present he was getting ready to open.

Twilight felt like curling into a ball and just willing this nightmare to go away. What had Celestia done to her? Did the Princess even realize? At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to just wake up in her soft, plush bed at the library, for this to all be a terrible dream born of eating too many hay fries during a late night studying binge.

But that wasn’t happening, and if there was one thing she had learned from all her friends and all her studies, it was that she couldn’t just wish for her problems to go away—she had to fight, for her friends as much as herself. Celestia had told her she would never intentionally do her harm. There had to be a reason for all this, and she had to stand up to this…Gig…until she understood what that reason was.

“Never!” she insisted, stomping a forehoof for emphasis. “If you intend to take me over, you’ll have to do it by force!” She hoped she sounded braver than she felt, tried to banish the quiver from her voice by sheer will alone.

Gig huffed, rolling his eyes. “Dammit…I knew this would be a pain in the ass.” Then, however, he shrugged. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I figured things weren’t gonna be that easy.”

He gave a long-suffering sigh, as though dealing with a stubborn foal. “Okay, here’s the thing. We’re gonna have to make a deal so I can use your body.”

Twilight gave him a deadpan stare that would have made Spike proud, eyelids half-lowered. “Uh, didn’t we just go over this? I’m not giving up—”

His extended palm interrupted her. “Shut up and listen, kid. Do you think that hag Celestia just did this for no reason? Don’t tell me you weren’t even listening to her speech up there. You need me. I dunno why, but honestly, I don’t really care. Fact is, Celestia may be a half-crazed old plow-mare, but she ain’t stupid. She wouldn’t be fusing us together unless she has a damn good reason.”

A soft, melodic chime suddenly rang through the air, causing them both to look straight up, where a soft orange glow was beginning to spread through the blackness. Gig smiled coolly.

“Ah…perfect. Fusion’s done.” At Twilight’s startled jump, Gig grinned at her. “Damn good timing, too. Now listen up, kid.”

He folded his hands in front of his chest, cracking his knuckles like she’d seen Spike do from time to time. “Now that your body has been signed over, you can command power totally unknown to the average peon. And considering how much juice you had before, that’s saying something. That should keep you happy for a while.” He smiled an oily smile, like a used carriage salespony.

But then he spread his hands, shrugging. “But maybe that’s not good enough for you? Maybe you’re really greedy. Or maybe you’ll just need even more power. That, powderpuff, is when you give me a call.”

“What, you still don’t get it?” Gig barked a laugh. “I can lend you all the powers of a god!” His right hand lifted toward his face, his fingers slowly curling into a tight fist. Then they opened again, gesturing expansively as he continued. “For a price.” He pointed at her. “The more of my power you use, the more control I gain over your body. You use my power to get what you want…and me? I get a little closer to my own goals. You scratch my back, I crush yours. Pretty sweet, huh?” He beamed at her, chuckling wickedly.

“I don’t want or need that kind of power,” Twilight stubbornly insisted, glaring defiantly. Gig seemed unperturbed.

“Whatever you say, kid.” He laughed a little. “But hey. If you ever change your mind…well, you know where to find me. I’ll be waiting…

Twilight Sparkle & the World Eaters

by Jet Magnum

1. My Little Soulmate