Embracing the Darkness

by BlueAzura

Chapter 15

Sorry for being late... There's just too much homework right now...

Twilight jerked awake when she heard a loud hissing sound followed by a loud smack. ‘Somepony is here with me!’ Throwing her sleeping bag aside and summoning a large bubble shield, Twilight cried, “I know you’re in here! Come out so I can see you!” The unicorn flicked her eyes around the cave that she was recently sleeping in, trying to find the intruder.

Meanwhile, two voices seemed to pay no attention to the unicorn and processed to fight amongst themselves. “Why did you hit me you fool?!” There was another loud smacking sound. “Oww! What was that for?”

“Because fool, you had to go and make that hissing sound!”

“It wasn’t my fault that a rock decided to fall on my hoof! Besides, she didn’t wake up until after you hit me and making more noise you idiot!”

“Don’t call me an idiot when it’s your fault the whole plan was ruined, you flea bitten varmint!”

“Oh, its name calling now is it? Well then- hey wait… where did you come up with that?”

“Oh? I heard it at the hospital a little while ago. There was an earth pony that was trying to get inside a wheelchair by herself, but fell over in the process. She was yelling and throwing what I assume were curse words all over the place, not bad huh?”

“Ehh… that’s not really my style, however it does kind of work for you I guess.” They were too busy exchanging different variations of curse words around, they didn’t notice that the unicorn was hovering over them.

“A-HEM!” The two figures hunching in the shadows, turned to stare at the purple unicorn. Twilight glared at the two creatures in front of her, carefully taking notes on their appearance. At first glance they could’ve been mistaken for a pony… if they happen to stand in the dark and very very far away. However with the light still emanating from her horn, the librarian saw a very strange sight indeed.

Their coats were a dark greenish black from top to bottom and looked more like an insectoid shell rather than actual flesh. Both of their eyes where the same shade of aqua blue and seem to have no hair to speak of. The most noticeable thing on them however were the bug-like wings and sharp horn on their forehead, making them look almost like a grotesque version of an alicorn.

“Changelings…” Twilight lifted an eyebrow. “What are changelings doing so far away from the hive?” In all honesty, she doesn’t know where their home was situated. However, she did read a book that assumed that the hive was supposed to be somewhere near Whitetail Woods.

One of the two changelings tried to stammer out words while the other frantically looked around for a way to escape. “Uhh… we were just happened to be passing by and err… we stumbled into this cave and umm…uhh…” Both changelings gave a sheepish grin. “We were actually getting ready to leave and… GRAB HER!” With an almost unnatural amount of speed and agility, the first changeling lunged at the unicorn. With a loud smack, the changeling found itself bouncing against the bubble shield the unicorn had placed upon herself.

Surprised at the sudden hostility, Twilight nearly tripped over her hooves as she backed away. ‘They’re attacking me! What the hay did I do?’ She watched the changeling that attacked her slowly rising off the ground, while the other slowly began flanking to the right. ‘Great… now the other one is blocking the only way out of this cave… Think Twilight think!’ The unicorn wasn’t given much time to think before the first changeling lunged once more, landing a heavy buck to the shield. ‘By the makers, this changeling can pack a punch!’ The librarian winced when her shield suffered another blow. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold back the creature for long and decided to change tactics. ‘Wait for it… NOW!’ The bubble shield suddenly disappeared, causing the assaulting changeling to lose its balance and fall to the floor. Grinning with her results, Twilight poured her magic into her horn and teleported away with a flash.

With a pop and a flash of light, Twilight found herself back in the Everfree Forest. Glancing over her shoulder, the unicorn could still make out the cave far out in the distant. ‘At least I made it out okay…’ She then suddenly realized, “Oh shoot! I left all of my things back there!” The unicorn’s ears flattened on top of her head. “I can’t leave something so important behind, not after all that I went through…”

“Well then… perhaps we can assist you?” The voice was cold, sharp, with traces of hostility within it. “We would also like it if you would come quietly and without a fuss.”

Twilight slowly turned to the direction directly in front of her to see… eyes… many, many blue eyes. “… Oh ponyfeathers…”

Meanwhile at Canterlot Castle, the Element bearers and their escort have arrived.

Stepping out of the chariot, Valor turned to the six mares and said, “You are to meet with the princess; however, she is busy at the moment and will not be able to answer your questions.” The Pegasus pointed a hoof to the entrance of the castle. “She will be in the main throne room, speaking with many of the noble houses. You will stay and behave yourselves until she has completed her work.” Without another word, Valor turned and marched away. The six mares began moving to the castle’s main entrance, with Pinkie Pie pushing the chair-ridden Applejack as if it was a push-cart derby, and the others following behind.

Twilight “Sparkle” narrowed her eyes, thinking. ‘I still can’t believe he’s capable of defying our master so easily…’ She turned her attention towards the castle to see a large amount of sun warriors standing at attention. ‘It looks as if the amount of guards around here have tripled in size… however that begs the question, how did Princess Celestia stay in hiding this whole time?’ The unicorn pondered over this question. ‘And that’s another thing… Why was she hidden in the first place? If I was Princess Celestia, I would’ve just used overwhelming force to take control again…’

“Yo Twi!” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in front of the unicorn’s face. “The other girls already left for the throne. What’s taking you so long?”

“Huh?” Sparkle quickly shook her head. “Oh, sorry… I was just thinking about something…” Following her rainbow mane friend in a slow trot, the unicorn continued to juggle questions in her mind. By the time the unicorn reached her “friends”, the other girls were already waiting in front of the large doors to the throne room.

Seeing the sixth and final pony, the two guards opened the door and shouted, “Presenting, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!” The six mares quietly entered the spacious room to see the princess of the sun, speaking to a small crowd of ponies.

“And when we reestablish Equestria’s wealth back to its former state, we will have completely restored any damages Nightmare Moon may have caused.” The group of ponies responded by clapping their hooves in the most snooty way possible. Princess Celestia leaned closer to the guard next to her and ordered, “Please have your stallions escort the nobles back to their homes and also prepare the morning’s headline.”

The guard gave a quick nod before signaling the other guardsponies with a silent hoof wave. As the guard was busy monitoring the nobles, he noticed a smaller group of ponies standing near the back of the room. “T-twily?” He watched the purple pony jump at the sudden attention before turning her sight towards him. “What are you doing here?”

“Shining Armor, is that really you?” Sparkle tilted her head slightly, speaking with a blank look on her face. “I suppose you were with Princess Celestia while she was in hiding, correct?”

Shining Armor blinked. “Yeees?” He lifted an eyebrow, confused as to why the unicorn sounded as if she was accusing him. “I needed to make sure that the Princess was safe at all times.”

Rainbow Dash walked up beside her friend and tapped the purple unicorn on the shoulder. “Yo Twi, who’s that?”

Rarity walked up to stand on the other side of the librarian. “I also want to know why you would know such a dashing young fellow, darling!”

“He’s my B.B.B.F.F…”

They both lifted an eyebrow. “… Which is…?”

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever…” Sparkle shifted her vision onto the alicorn princess. “He’s also the captain of the royal army.”

“Wow!” Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared and pressed her face against Sparkle’s own face. “Why didn’t you tell me that you had a brother?!” The party pony bounced around in excitement. “We definitely need to throw at least two more parties before the night ends!”

“Two?” Rarity gave a confused look. “I could understand why you would want to throw a party for Twilight’s brother, but what’s the second one for?”

“For Sparkle, of course!” The room became completely silent. “What?” Pinkie looked around, confused. “Is two parties too much?”

‘She knows?! HOW?’ Sparkle decided to immediately change the subject. “So… yes! Shining Armor is my older brother, but I haven’t heard from him for a while… until now.”

Shining gave an apologetic smile, still questioningly watching his sister. “Sorry about that L.S.B.F.F, but I was given strict orders not to send any sort of message to anypony. Also, L.S.B.F.F means Little Sister Best Friend Forever.” He gave a short nod to the other ponies present. “It’s a pleasure meeting all of you and I’m sorry for sounding rude, but who are all of you?”

Princess Celestia, who had been quietly watching this whole time, finally spoke, “I’ve sent an escort to pick up Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” She gave a small regal nod at the six mares. “I trust that these are who they are, my faithful student?”

“Yes…” Sparkle narrowed her eyes slightly. “But, how exactly did you know that we were going to become the Element bearers?”

The Princess gave a gentle laugh. “Oh, Twilight…” She stood and walked to stand in front of the group of mares, with Shining Armor tailing not too far off. “I asked you to make friends… nothing more.” The alicorn looked up at the sudden opening doors of the throne room to see another group of ponies entering. Everypony watched, as Valor and his squad of guards entered, escorting a very timid and very scared looking blue alicorn.

“Nightmare Moon?!” Rainbow Dash immediately jumped up and made to charge at the goddess, only to be halted by the gentle glow from Princess Celestia’s horn.

“Your loyalty to protect Equestria and your friends is admirable, Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia gently placed the Pegasus back to floor, moving forward to meet the newcomers. “But, I highly doubt my sister will be much for a threat to the kingdom anymore.” She leaned in and gave the terrified alicorn a small nuzzle. “Welcome back, Princess Luna.”

The former Queen of Darkness’s expression change from fear to comfort and returned the gesture. “I missed you big sister!”

“I missed you too little sister… it’s been far too long.”

Sparkle silently watched between the stunned expressions on her friends’ face and the natural looks on the pony guards. ‘It seems that every soldier knew that this was going to be happening… even Shining…’ She felt the gears in her head turning. ‘A lot of pieces seem to be falling into place, but I’m still missing… something.’ The unicorn gave a small sigh. ‘Oh master… what has become of you?’ The librarian focused onto the navy blue Pegasus that called himself Nightmare Moon’s captain, rage beginning to form in her eyes. ‘How could he just stand there and let this happen to her? We were supposed to protect and carry out the plan that she trusted us with!’ Her train of thought was interrupted when the same Pegasus spoke.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you, your Majesty, but we still have a problem to deal with…” Valor waited for the sun goddess to look up before continuing. “It has come to my attention that Nightmare Moon’s presence and power still exist in this world.” He turned and stared directly at the purple unicorn. “Isn’t that right, Miss Sparkle?”

The unicorn suddenly felt very cold, noticing that everypony in the room was looking at her now. Sparkle had completely forgotten that Valor knew what she was and mistakenly trapped herself. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She watched Valor slowly shake his head, a smirk forming on his lips.

Princess Celestia stood up once more, an unreadable look on her face. “Shining Armor and the rest of the guards are to leave us. Valor will remain.” She nodded to Twilight “Sparkle” and her friends. “The Element bearers, except the Element of Magic, are to leave as well; Shining Armor will escort you all to Twilight’s old room. That is an order.” Shining Armor gave a cautioned bow before he began ushering everypony out. He looked over his shoulder at his sister, with confusion and worry written on his face. “You should go to your room and rest as well, Luna.” The goddess of the night nodded before quietly disappearing in the shadows.

Sparkle helplessly watched, as the large throne room doors close with a loud echoing thud. The only ponies in the room that remained were herself, Valor, and Princess Celestia. “It’s g-good to see you again, Princess…” The unicorn gave a twitchy smile. “I trust that you were doing well during the time of your absence?”

Princess Celestia gave a slow nod before turning to the Pegasus guard. “Is it true? Has Nightmare Moon…”

Valor gave a curt nod. “Yes Princess, she has.”

The sun goddess sighed. “I have hoped that this wouldn’t have happened.” She looked over to the shaking unicorn. “But sacrifices must be made to win this battle.”

Upon hearing those words, it finally clicked in Sparkle’s mind. “Sacrifice?” The unicorn felt her legs tensing up. “You knew this was going to happen?”

Princess Celestia lifted a forehoof up. “I know how it sounds like, but I shall explain.” She stood up and began pacing around the room. “I knew about the prophecy of my sister’s return was going to be at the time of the Summer Sun celebration. I sent you to Ponyville so you would meet up with the other possible candidates for the Elements of Harmony.” The two non-alicorns silently watched the goddess walking around the room. “Knowing Nightmare Moon, I knew that she would try and stop you and your friends from reaching the Elements by any means necessary. That being said, I also knew that she will attempt to claim one of you in the hopes to forever freeing herself from the Elements’ influence and power. However, the power of the Elements goes much deeper than magic alone. It becomes a part of you and that was what caused Nightmare Moon’s downfall.” The alicorn ceased her pacing and sat down on her throne. “The plan was for you to vanquish Nightmare Moon by simply banding together with your friends and using the Elements. The part where she claims one of you was supposed to be a very distant backup plan… something that I believed will never come to pass. I’m sorry to say that I miscalculated on how this was supposed to play out.”

The Princess gave a reassuring smile. “You have done what most ponies could never accomplish and I’m proud of you. I know that you’re now a vampony, Twilight, but do not lose hope… for there is a cure.”

“To which I would like to happily claim now, Princess.” The navy blue Pegasus stepped forward. “I have fulfilled my end of the bargain and you must now fulfill yours.”

The Princess gave a weary sigh. “Very well…” Igniting her horn with a bright yellow flash, she popped a small bottle, filled with a sort of golden liquid, into existence and floated it over to the Pegasus.

Snatching it out of the air, Valor placed the bottle under his wing for safekeeping. “Thank you, your Majesty.” He bowed. “I’ll take my leave…” Walking away with almost a spring in his step, the Pegasus guard left the two mares without another word.

The teacher and student sat quietly for about a minute before Celestia cleared her throat. “You have been very quiet this whole time, my faithful student. Tell me, is there something on your mind that you wish to talk about?”

“Stop calling me that…”

The alicorn perked her ears. “Stop calling you what, my faithful-”

“That! Stop calling me that!” Sparkle jumped to her hooves. “I’m not your faithful student and I never will be!”

Princess Celestia leaned back in surprise. “What has gotten into you, Twilight?” She stood up as well. “If there’s something troubling you, I’ll be more than happy to help!”

The unicorn narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Oh, I think you helped me quite enough now.” She menacing pointed a hoof at the goddess. “You lied to her and she trusted you!”

The alicorn was completely baffled. “I don’t understand, please, who are you talking about?”

“Twilight!” The name echoed around the room. “The only reason she had to go through all that pain was because of you!”

The goddess of the sun finally understood and narrowed her eyes. “Who are you? No, you don’t have to answer that. I know who you are…” Princess Celestia stiffened her legs. “You’re the dark presence that invades everypony’s mind whenever Nightmare Moon gives her blessing to.”

The purple unicorn stood her ground. “Oh, so you know about that, huh?” She gave a mocking laugh. “Funny how you would call it to be a “dark presence”, while I would like to call it a pony who knows the truth!”

“Enough!” The regal mask of the Princess cracked. “You will tell me what you have done to the real Twilight before I rid your foul presence from this world!”

Sparkle laughed as if the Princess just made the funniest joke ever. “As if she will ever come back to you if she knew about this.”

Princess Celestia gritted her teeth. “I never wanted Twilight to experience what countless others had to go through and I know that she will forgive me for this.” The alicorn was about to launch herself at the vampony, but hesitated when the pony began to laugh.

It started as a low giggle, grew to a fit of laughter, and finally to a cold multi-layered chuckle. Still with her voice acting as if it was ten different voices at once, Sparkle spoke, “Oh, I’m most certainly sure she will forgive you, Celestia.” She almost laughed again when the Princess’s eyes widened, confused as to why Sparkle agreed with her. “You’re Princess Celestia… the most beloved ruler in all of Equestria! A leader who loves her ponies and a goddess to boot, doing everything she does for the good of this land! All you have to do is explain to Twilight that she had to go through such suffering because she’s the only one that can do it… You’ll tell her that because of her actions, the "Nightmare" is finally over and she will be considered a hero! She’ll dive right back into your hooves, believing that she’s making a difference in this world!” The unicorn gave an angry stomp, leaving a spider web patterned crack on the floor. “Except… I know the truth and I plan on showing her that this whole world is a big fat lie!”

“YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THING!” The alicorn’s voice shook the entire castle, using what many ponies have come to know as the Royal Canterlot Voice. “YOUR DARK PRESENCE HAS BEEN A PLAGUE IN THIS WORLD FOR TOO LONG AND I PLAN ON FINALLY ENDING IT ALL!”

Sparkle stared at her hooves, slightly shaken by the amount of force behind the goddess’s voice. ‘Twilight is not going to be happy with me and I could already feel the spell wearing off…’ She looked back up to stare at the angry alicorn with a smirk on her face. “But this is definitely going to be worth it!” Lowering herself low to the floor, Sparkle uncoiled like a spring directly at the Princess. The alicorn was caught off guard with the fact that the unicorn struck first, but quickly defended herself by blocking with her horn. With their horns locked, the goddess watched the sparkling purple eyes turned into a deep blood red. “This is payback of what you’ve done to my master!”