//------------------------------// // The Darkest Day // Story: The Witch Queen // by Unicorncob //------------------------------// With a flash of magic, Princess Twilight appeared in the throne room, looking frantic. She swallowed, wiping sweat from her brow. “Anything, Spike?” she asked. “At all?” “Nothing,” said the large purple Dragon. “No letters from anypony, even Celestia and Luna.” “I checked all their homes, and nopony is there,” Twilight murmured as she began pacing around the room. The guards watched her, frowning. “Starlight isn’t in her castle either, or the School. It’s like everypony just vanished.” “I sure hope Rarity’s okay,” Spike admitted, then upon seeing Twilight’s face quickly added, “a-and everypony else too, of course.” The ruler of Equestria bit her lip. “It isn’t like them to not let me know if something’s wrong.” “Maybe they’re just planning a surprise party for you?” Spike suggested. “You know how Pinkie Pie is, even now.” “I don’t know,” Twilight sighed. “Something about this feels… wrong. There’s something in the air.” She and Spike jolted when the throne room door burst open, and a griffon clad in armour rushed in. “Twilight, you gotta come quick!” he cried. “This crazy mare just showed up and started taking out the guards, and she said she’s looking for--!” He was cut off by a grunt of pain as a dark purple aura surrounded him. Much darker than Twilight’s. “Crazy?” a mare’s voice repeated. “I’m very mentally sound, I can assure you.” Twilight steeled herself as the intruder walked inside. A violet Unicorn, about as tall as Luna, her long black mane draping down her face, her body mostly covered with a dark cloak. A pair of icy blue eyes locked onto the Princess of Equestria. “Put Gallus down,” demanded Twilight. “You’re hurting him!” “Am I?” the mare asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She sounded almost like she didn’t belong in this plain of existence. “I am so sorry, I had no idea.” She callously tossed the griffon toward Twilight, who caught him in her own magic and gently set him on the ground. “Who are you?” the Princess asked. She almost shivered; the longer she looked at this mare, the stronger her uneasy feeling got. A feeling that grew more and more familiar as she thought about it. “I suppose it has been a long time,” the mare chuckled. “We met at your mentor’s old haunt.” “Haunt?” Spike gasped. “Princess Celestia’s a ghost?!” “Spike,” sighed Twilight, “don’t be ridiculous.” “I should be so lucky,” the mare scoffed. “Both old crones are alive. I need them to be, for a little longer at least.” “Wait,” Twilight muttered, sweat trickling down her face as memories surfaced from many years ago, “I know who you are.” “What’s my name, then?” “Night Spark.” “Oh, you do remember me! I’m touched, truly.” Twilight took a step forward. “What do you want here?” “A Pony can’t come to visit an old friend?” “We are not friends.” “Not something you’d hear every day from the Princess of Friendship,” Night Spark chuckled, sauntering toward the Alicorn. “And here I thought your other friends would put in a good word for me.” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes wide with terror. “What?!” She and Spike looked at each other, immediately catching on. “I swear, if you did anything to Rarity,” Spike snarled, green embers spitting from his jaw. Night Spark tapped a hoof on her chin, furrowing her brow. “Rarity, Rarity… forgive me, which one was that? The other purple one?” “You don’t even know their names?!” “Is that important?” Spike went to charge the Unicorn, but Twilight raised a hoof to hold him back. “She knows who they are, Spike. She targeted them all specifically. She’s just doing this to get you angry enough to lose focus.” “Very good, Princess,” said Night Spark. “You definitely are the smart one of your little group.” The praise made Twilight’s skin crawl. “What did you do to our friends?” “Oh, don’t worry about them,” Night Spark said, getting close enough to Twilight that their noses almost touched. “You’ll see all your precious friends very soon.” Twilight didn’t back down, fixing the Unicorn with a glare. “What do you want with me and my friends?” “I just wanted to see how different Equestria is with a new Princess,” Night Spark said, starting to slowly pace around the Alicorn. “I’ve been to Ponyville, Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire and more. I even paid a visit to our old mentor. She was certainly surprised to see me.” Twilight swallowed. The longer this went on, the more uneasy she felt. “She even left me with a parting gift. Would you like to see?” Not waiting for an answer, Night Spark’s horn glowed a dark purple, the same hue covering her cloak. It unclasped itself and fell to the floor.  An icy dagger of pure terror shot through Twilight’s heart when she watched a pair of violet wings open with triumph. “What do you think?” asked Night Spark. “They rather suit me, wouldn’t you say?” “How…” Twilight whispered. “How did you…?” “Why just tell you? I’m sure you’ll love the surprise.” Her horn began to glow once again, the hue large and intense with growing magical energy. “But for right now, I will show you what this new power of mine can do.” Twilight had no warning, and just barely ducked beneath the huge blast of magic. With a crash, the ceiling above the throne had all but disintegrated, the sun shining through the large hole like a natural spotlight. The guards standing by the throne were nowhere in sight. “Oops,” chortled Night Spark. “No matter, I plan to do a bit of redecorating anyway.” “Alright, that’s it!” Spike growled, stomping forward. “Alicorn or not, nopony messes with my friends! Especially Twilight! And especially Rarity!” The dragon lunged for Night Spark, fangs and claws bared. Before Twilight could grab him, he was already wrapped in Night Spark’s magic, helplessly floating in the air. He swung his large arms around to try and attack, but to no avail. “Your loyalty is foolish, but admirable,” the new Alicorn simply said. Her horn charged up once again. “Spike!” Twilight called out, and shielded her eyes as another blast of energy shot out of the new hole. She looked around, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen. “No…” “I dislike disposing of nuisances in such a manner,” Night Spark sighed, “but his bravado was misplaced.” A blast of lighter purple magic struck her, sending her into the wall by the door. The impact left a small crater, and she fell out onto the floor. “Why?” Twilight demanded, stomping on the floor. “Why target me and my friends?!” Night Spark got onto her hooves, shaking off the rubble. “A necessary evil, unfortunately. I happily would have left you alone, but you and your friends have a bad habit of throwing the magic of friendship at whatever you deem to be problems. I simply can't take any risks, you see.” “How can you talk so casually about what you’ve done?!” “Oh, calm down. You don’t even know what I did to them.” “I know enough to see that you have to be stopped, right now.” “I suppose if you must, you’re welcome to try.” Twilight fired another magical blast, but Night Spark was prepared this time. She threw up a barrier which easily absorbed the attack, then the shield condensed into a dark purple orb that she flung at the Princess with a flick of her horn. Twilight spread her wings and leapt into the air, avoiding the orb and swooping outside through the hole. Night Spark followed, the two Alicorns taking the battle to the skies above Canterlot. Beams of purple shot in all directions in the sky as they duelled, occasionally colliding in a small-scale blast forcing them back through the air. Using the lull in the conflict, Night Spark’s horn glowed and she flipped onto her back to fire into the sky. The blast dissipated into multiple clouds of purple smoke, which darkened into what looked like black clouds that grew and grew until the afternoon sun was blocked out by darkness. Twilight halted her charge toward the other Alicorn when thunder rumbled around her. Drops of rain trickled onto her mane, before she was assaulted by a sudden torrential downpour. “A bit more fitting, wouldn’t you say?” she heard Night Spark over the rain. “I’d be careful, Princess--this is the kind of storm where lightning can strike twice!” Twilight yelped as a bolt of purple lightning crashed next to her. Determined not to be intimidated, she continued her assault of magical blasts, which Night Spark deflected and shot back. Stray shots struck towers and roofs in the city below, causing passers-by to run for shelter if the flash storm hadn’t already deterred them. The Princess of Equestria refused to be intimidated. She charged and fired another blast of magic at Night Spark, swooping and swinging around bolts of lightning. Her horn glowed, and copies of her split from her body until they surrounded her opponent. A bolt struck one of them, and it popped into purple smoke. “Trying to confuse the storm, are you?” asked Night Spark as she ducked and weaved past a flurry of blasts. She grunted as one struck her wing, blackening its feathers. “Hm, well, I have my own solution for that.” A small bolt trickled from her horn into the clouds. In seconds, multiple strikes cracked the sky, eliminating every clone at once.  Twilight yelped and grunted as purple lightning shot through her body. She was singed and in pain, but she was prepared for the next strike. Her horn glowed as she pointed it toward the sky. A bolt came down, her horn acting as a lightning rod, and it turned a shade of pink before she fired it toward Night Spark with a direct hit. Night Spark was sent reeling, her own face slightly scrunched up. “Pain,” she said. “Now there’s an unfamiliar sensation. I’m glad you’re at least not as much of a pushover as our mentor.” Twilight grit her teeth. The idea of having any kind of affiliation with this Pony--no, this monster--filled her with rage. Normally she would weaken her opponent just enough to get them to listen to reason and change their ways, but it was clear, after what she did to Spike, and no doubt her friends and loved ones, Night Spark was too far gone. “Celestia banished you once,” she growled. “I can do it again!” “She needed the Elements of Harmony to do that, to my recollection,” Night Spark pointed out. “The Elements that were destroyed by King Sombra. So, what’s your plan, Princess?” She was quickly answered with a flurry of fast magic strikes. Twilight sped toward her, firing as she went, knocking Night Spark further and further back through the storm. Since she was familiar with the Princess’s meticulous planning, Twilight was certain a sneak attack would take the other Alicorn by surprise, and it seemed to be working. She grabbed the delirious Night Spark in her magical grip and threw her against buildings, slammed her against the castle towers. She swung her up into the air, and her eyes turned a sickly green, firing similarly coloured magical blasts at her before throwing her back into the throne room. Twilight grunted and held her head as her eyes returned to normal. She hated doing that, but it was going to take everything she had to take Night Spark down. She looked and saw the rain begin to lighten up, deducing the magical storm relied on its caster’s focus. Something to note for later. She flew back through the hole, landing on the soggy carpet, and watched Night Spark slowly stumble onto her hooves. “That was dark magic just there,” the other Alicorn muttered, her body burned and stinging. “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises. Perhaps you’ll be the only one who will listen to reason?” “I’m not listening to anything you have to say,” Twilight snapped. “One last chance, Night Spark. Surrender and face the consequences of your actions, or I will destroy you and wherever you may have placed your black soul this time.” “She told you about my little trick, did she?” Night Spark chuckled. “You’re a lot more pragmatic than she was, that’s for sure. But I’m afraid that if you won’t listen to my plan for the future, then we have no more to say to each other.” “All I will say to you now, Night Spark,” Twilight said, her eyes glowing white, pupils fading, “is that I do not need the physical Elements anymore. The Elements of Harmony are within me, and you will see their true strength! As Princess of Equestria, I sentence you to banishment!” Her horn glowed lighter, its purple hue mixing with shades of pink, blue, orange, yellow and white into a cascading orb of raw strength like nopony had ever seen before. The ground shook, rubble rising from the floor. The clouds parted and the sun shined down on the Princess once more, giving her the air of authority and dignity she deserved. With a mighty swing of her head, a rainbow-like blast fired from her horn. Over the loud hum of magic, an otherworldly chime rang out. Twilight felt… odd. A little lightheaded. Her knees began to shake. She couldn’t keep up the attack much longer. The beam got smaller and smaller before it completely fizzled out, and she collapsed on the floor. She could barely lift her head, but she could see Night Spark. The Alicorn was standing tall, the burns and wounds on her body fading away. “Much better,” she said, sauntering toward Twilight, holding something in her magic. “Tell me, my fellow scholar; do you know what this is?” Twilight’s eyes widened and a lump formed in her throat. “That’s… the Bewitching Bell!” “That’s right, the one used by Grogar himself and tucked away into Mt. Everhoof by Gusty the Great. That reminds me, I must thank Cozy Glow again if I see her.” “Cozy Glow?” Twilight repeated, trying to get up but slipping on her hoof. “But she’s in Tartarus. H-how could she…?” “Oh, that’s right,” chuckled Night Spark. “I may have altered the past a little bit. Star Swirl was a genius, but he should have been more careful with his scrolls.” “B-but I destroyed the scroll,” Twilight grunted. “Dear, did you forget?” Night Spark murmured, kneeling down and propping up Twilight’s chin with a hoof. “I was around before Luna went on her little interstellar constitutional. I made my own copy and tucked it away centuries ago. It’s not hard when you know the tricks.” Twilight scrunched up her face, but her horn did nothing. She had no magic left. All she could do was watch as Night Spark balanced an orb similar to the final attack the Princess had tried. “That worked so much better than the last time I tried it,” she chuckled. “The power of the Elements… a bit saccharine for my tastes, but I will make do.” Twilight watched helplessly as the orb on Night Spark’s horn grew larger. The same colours circled around it, but now with a hint of black and green. “Now then, let me have a go at that spell.”