//------------------------------//
// Forever 
// Story: Age of Shadows 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"Twilight? ...Twilight? Oh, you're... Sorry, I didn't see you there."
"Starlight. What brings you here?"
"We... I... We need to talk, Twilight."
"Make it quick. I'm busy, as you can see. So, what is it?"
"It's about... this, Twilight. All of this. This isn't like you. I... I think you should stop this. Now."
"Stop this? When I'm so close to the answer? You don't know what you're talking about, Starlight."
"Twilight, listen! You don't need to do this. We don't need this. Ever since you started working on this thing you've been acting like someone else. We're worried for you, Twilight."
"Worried for me? It's for the rest of Equestria that you should be worried, if you really want to prevent me from completing this project. Stop pretending we can keep relying on the things that have saved us in the past. We've been lucky, and our luck won't last forever. You, of all ponies, should know how easily everything we've worked to build could be destroyed. We need this, Starlight. Equestria needs this. No matter what you or the princesses or any other pony might say, it's only a matter of time before the day comes when everything else fails. This is our only hope."
"What about the Elements? What about the Crystal Heart? What about friendship, Twilight? Why do we need this over what we have?"
"Artefacts. What good does it bring, relying on artefacts? What good can it bring when the ponies that are supposed to use them are so easily disposed of? We've been lucky, Starlight. Artefacts can be stolen, hidden, they can be lost, they can be destroyed. And when even the strongest among us are so easily defeated, we can't afford to let the safety of Equestria rely on a bunch of trinkets. Not after what happened. You ask me about friendship, Starlight? Tell me, why do we need friendship? Why do we need to befriend our enemies? It's because we are weak, Starlight. If we'd had this, we wouldn't have needed friendship to save us. And if it had been any other of them to hold the Crystal Heart, friendship would not have saved us."
"Twilight! This isn't who you used to be! What happened, Twilight?"
"I saw the light. And if you'd been there with me, you'd agree with me right now."
"Stop pretending, Twilight! We both know you never acted like this after what happened there. Not until you found that thing."
"That's because I hadn't realized how big the danger we'd been in was. That thing, as you called it, showed me just how powerless we really were. We never stood a chance to win that fight, Starlight. Do you really think we'll always have the luxury of getting to bribe the leader of our enemies? Do you even know what lies beyond the borders of our nation? I have seen things, Starlight, things that would drive the ponies out there mad with fear. What will you do when what's out there decides that it's had enough and comes to wipe us away? Will you offer your friendship? Will you go hug your friends? Do you think anything of what you could do will save us?"
"And these things you saw, did that crystal of yours show them to you?"
"What if? It's older than ponykind, and it wouldn't need to scare me. The power inside it is enough to make everything we have pale in comparison, and it's not even at its full potential. If only you could see it, Starlight. If only you could feel it run through you the way I did. It's like an ocean, and the pathetic little trick we ponies can do are mere drops of water in comparison. But soon, it will be mine. Soon I'll have finished this, and then everyone will see what real power is like."
"Twilight, this thing, it's... They're changing you, Twilight. I've talked to Sombra about this. I've talked to Radiant. I've talked to Cadence. They all fear that the Umbrum might be using you."
"Sombra. how can you trust anything that idiot says. If he hadn't been so damn inconsistent in his choices we wouldn't need me to do this. Instead he decided to be our ally only after he'd won, and he gave up his powers to save us. And now all we have is another worthless unicorn. They think I'm being used? They're just scared. Understandable, since they were dumb enough to be fooled themselves, but I'm not like them. I won't make the same mistakes."
"Twilight, please. I... I don't want to admit it, but... I saw you, Twilight, when we last visited the Crystal Empire. I saw the way you reacted near the Heart. And when we went to visit the next time you refused to come. What are you doing to yourself?"
"Yes, being near the Crystal Heart hurts me. And so? It's to be expected if I'm working with this. An unfortunate consequence of my experiments, but not a permanent one. I just need some more time, and then the Crystal Heart will no longer be a problem. So get out of here and let me work."
"Twilight, I'm worried for you. Your friends are worried for you. Your family is worried for you. The princesses are worried for you. You haven't come out of this laboratory in the last week, and Spike says he heard you working in the middle of the night. This isn't the pony I knew."
"Things change. I just need more time, Starlight. Why can't you see it? A power so strong that just a small fraction of it was enough to defeat both Luna and Celestia in a single blow, almost at the tip of my hooves. How can you think there's anything more important than this? I just need some more time, and then it will be mine. And then we won't need luck or artefacts to save us. We won't need friendship, Starlight. Equestria will finally be safe, and we will have the power to wipe out any threat."
"Twilight, stop this! Look at yourself. I can't even recognize you, Twilight. How much further will you take this? How much more are you willing to do to yourself for this? You're always hiding, always in the shadows, your voice is different, your eyes... Twilight, please, we can help you, please."
"I'll take this as far as I need to. And if you don't like what I'm doing then feel free to leave, maybe you're not as good of a friend as you think you are."
"Twilight, I... Oh Celestia, Twilight, what have you done to your body? What are you doing here? What are you... What... I..."
"And she ran away. Hmph. I Guess this is what friendship is, after all. Fragile. But it won't matter, not even if she calls someone. Nopony could stop me at this point. Do me a favour and barricade the entrance, I wouldn't want someone else to come in here uninvited like she did. Now I just need a little more time, and then it will be mine. And then..."
"Then we will be free, Twilight, and Equestria will bow before you. Just a little more time, a few days at most."
"Just a few days at most, and then a new age will dawn over Equestria. Our age. My age. nothing can stop us."
"Nothing can, and nothing will. This is our moment of triumph, Twilight. The Age of Shadows will begin."