The first rays of the morning sunshine have illuminated the library building in the middle of the park. Spike the young dragon groaned as the cheeky sunrays pierced through his window and pierced his skin, signaling his peaceful night's sleep was over. Quickly realizing that trying to resist them and falling back asleep would be a losing battle, the dragon grumbled in frustration and got out of bed to get ready for his day.
He made his bed, washed up in the bathroom, made himself a small breakfast before making another one of it for Twilight, and headed towards her bedroom with the tray. He made a small detour to the entrance of the library to also get the morning newspaper, but as he reached down for it, he noticed something curious. Next to the newspaper, was also an envelope. Spike raised an eyebrow. It was barely the middle of the month so they couldn't have been bills and they barely knew anypony out of town who would send them a letter. Spike quickly deduced just who could have sent them that letter and if his theory was correct, then he had no high hopes regarding the fate of the delivery. Regardless, he added it to the newspaper on the tray and continued his way to Twilight's bedroom.
Once he reached the door he knocked, but after a few seconds, he received no answer. Anypony would probably assume that Twilight was still asleep, but Spike knew better. He entered the room and saw Twilight's bed entirely the way it was last night. Well made and perfectly tucked. Like it wasn't slept in at all last night. Spike sighed and walked over to the bedside chest, putting the tray down on it. He pulled out the top drawer and retrieved a book from it. He opened it, revealing a small key lying between the pages which he then inserted into the middle drawer and pulled open. Inside the drawer was another key that Spike inserted into a keyhole in the side of the inside of the chest which directly connected to Twilight's bed. Once he rotated the key, he heard a small mechanism around the bed starting to work and the end of the bed lifted into the air, revealing a hidden staircase. Spike then locked the drawers, picked up the tray, and descended the staircase as the bed lowered back into its place.
As Spike made his way down the staircase, he saw the light at the bottom and already heard the now all-too-familiar sound of bats screeching. Once he reached the bottom, he entered a large room surrounded by a humongous underground tunnel that looked like it had seen better days. In the middle of the room were a bunch of computer screens in front of a rotating chair that was occupied by the pony Spike was looking for. As he approached her, he caught a glimpse of a large glass cabinet from the side of his eye that contained a ponyquinn in the suit Twilight was wearing for her nightly escapades. Even if nopony was actually wearing it, the glare of its white eyes was still an intimidating sight to behold. So much so that it made Spike shudder.
The dragon then made his way to the desk Twilight was sitting at and put down the tray on it.
"Good morning." Spike greeted her before pouring her a cup of coffee. Twilight slightly jumped. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't even hear Spike come in.
"Spike! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" She chided the young dragon, but then her eyes widened in realization. "Is it morning already?" Spike handed her her coffee.
"Time flies when you spend the whole night outside, beating criminals to a pulp, I suppose." Spike replied casually.
"I never said I was out the whole night." Twilight cut back. Spike rolled his eyes.
"You didn't have to." Twilight knew Spike didn't approve of her nightly escapades. He had made it clear during those several times when he fixed up her injuries after one of her hunts. And he never bothered hiding his feelings about it. The dragon rolled the newspaper out for Twilight and put it down in front of her. Twilight's eyes immediately caught the headline. 'Bat vigilante burns up another warehouse in the docks.'
"I take it last night has been productive." Spike enquired. Twilight frowned from both the bitterness of the coffee and the frustration the question brought out of her.
"Just partly. Another alias. Nothing incriminating against Caramel Falcon himself." She complained, returning her gaze to the computer screens that displayed several maps of the city, news reports, and criminal profiles.
"They do say that a wise pony learns from the mistakes of others." Spike said. "It appears Mr. Falcon was wiser than we gave him credit for and learned from how you brought down his rival." It was true. Silver Martini was too arrogant to disguise his operations like that when Batmare first showed up in the city.
"It's only a matter of time, Spike." Twilight told him with her voice burning with determination. "He is becoming desperate. Sooner or later, he will make a mistake. And when he does, I will be there." Twilight was about to reach for her sandwich when she noticed the envelope on the side of the platter.
"What's this?" She picked up the letter and checked it to see who it came from, though she already had a hunch. Which was confirmed when she checked the back of the envelope. "Another letter from Shining Armor." She said, staring at the letter with an unreadable expression. Spike looked up at Twilight's face with anticipation. Every time Twilight got a letter from her brother, a tiny bit of him would hope that this would be the moment when she would finally come around. The time when she finally let go of her grudge and open her heart for forgiveness. But much like every other time, he ended up disappointed when Twilight merely put the letter into a shredder next to her desk. Spike groaned.
"Twilight, how much longer do you want to keep this up?" He asked in frustration. Twilight narrowed her eyes down at him.
"Well, I'm glad you would be able to just get over something that ruined your life and destroyed everything you worked for just like that, Spike, but I can't." Twilight snarled on the brink of tears. Spike backed away and looked down in guilt. He knew he had just cut where he really shouldn't have, but Twilight's inability to let go of the past really irritated him sometimes.
"I... I'm sorry, Twi. I didn't mean to..." But Twilight merely turned away from him and leaned back in her chair. It was too late. The memories have been triggered.
2 years ago
The Castle of Canterlot was buzzing with life. Maids were cleaning like there was no tomorrow, the cooks were sweating their coats off in the kitchen and members of the Royal Guard have been practically knocking each other over to get to their posts. Princess Celestia was expecting a very important guest today. And as her personal student, Twilight Sparkle was also very excited about this event.
Their guest today was a very important member of the Canterlot aristocracy. Crystal Glint was the matriarch of an important family that has maintained a less than favorable relationship with the princess in the past few years. They have been ruthlessly and aggressively expanding their influence and power across Canterlot and eventually, Celestia had to renounce some of their rights and positions in the city to make sure it doesn't spread too far. That generation of the family has never forgiven her for that, but ever since Crystal Glint came to power within the family, she had been working tirelessly to improve their relationship with the princess. Today, they would finally bury the hatchet and start anew.
Twilight was standing beside Celestia at the entrance of the castle as they were waiting for Crystal Glint's carriage to arrive. While Twilight was disappointed that she wouldn't be learning any new magic today, watching the princess work in her court was just as exciting for her. Well, almost. She couldn't imagine anything more exciting than learning new magic, but when she learned that she would be the first of Celestia's students to attend one of her diplomatic meetings, she was over the moon.
Soon enough, the carriage of the matriarch arrived, but the moment she stepped out of it, Twilight could tell that something was off. Crystal Glint was a pure white unicorn with a white mane to accompany it with blue streaks in it. When she got out of the carriage, she gave Celestia a look of jovial greeting, but somehow the whole mare just felt fake. Twilight couldn't quite put her hoof on it, it was just some weird instinct that kept pestering her about it.
Crystal approached the two mares and bowed respectfully. "Your Highness. It is a great honor for me to be welcome in your castle after so many generations of bad blood between the royal family and mine." Celestia returned the bow.
"The honor is mine, Lady Glint. I do hope we will be able to put all those centuries of hostiles behind us and restore harmony between our families."
"My thoughts precisely, your highness" Crystal Glint replied with an ominous spark in her eye that only Twilight seemed to notice. "And as a token of my goodwill, I have brought you the finest gift I could find." She clapped with her forelegs and two of her servants carried out a unicorn figurine made of pure jade. The figurine itself was simple. A lurched-over unicorn with an agonized expression on his face. "The finest treasure of my family." Crystal Glint told them. "It will no doubt be a fine addition to the royal treasury." The figurine looked very familiar to Twilight as if she had seen it before, but Celestia didn't find anything suspicious about it.
"Thank you very much, Lady Glint." She then turned to her pupil. "Twilight, would you please take it to the treasury while I escort Lady Glint to my office?" Twilight was about to object, but before she could, Crystal Glint did it for her.
"No offense, your highness, but are you certain this young unicorn is the best pick for this task?"
"Twilight is my most faithful and capable student. I would trust her with my life." Celestia responded before turning back to Twilight. "Would you, my student?" Twilight was unsure whether or not she should, but she couldn't turn down Celestia.
"Of course, Princess."
Twilight did as she was asked and once she secured the figurine in the treasury, she headed straight to the library. She just knew she had seen it before, which could have only meant that she read about it somewhere. After a few hours of research, she finally found the book she was looking for.
Her instincts have been right. The figure was called The Anguished Unicorn and according to legends, it had the ability to strap a pony of their magic. While this sounded far-fetched, Twilight knew that all legends had some basis in reality. And if this was true, then Princess Celestia was in serious danger. She had to warn her.
As she was about to dash out of the library, the door was opened and she saw none other than her brother, Shining Armor.
"Oh, hey, Twily. The princess asked me to get you for her. She needs you in her office for the negotiations."
"I was about to go there anyway. There's something she must know." This caught Shining's attention.
"About what?" Twilight wasn't sure if she should include her brother in this, but since he was the captain of the Royal Guard, he might be able to help her.
"Have you seen that statue Lady Glint brought her as a gift?" Shining nodded.
"Yeah. It's really creepy, isn't it?"
"You have no idea!" Twilight then showed him just what she found out about it in the book. His eyes became wider and wider in worry as he read it.
"Strap a pony of their magic? Is that possible?"
"I'm not sure, but even if it isn't, Lady Glint might believe so." Twilight answered. "I have a bad feeling about her, big brother. I think she's up to no good."
"Don't you think that's going a little far, Twilight?" Shining replied skeptically. The last thing he wanted was a scandal. "She might not even know the statue can do that. And besides, she was willing to give up on it for Princess Celestia. Isn't that proof enough of her good intention?"
"I don't know." Twilight sighed. "I just can't help but feel it."
"Well, even if Lady Glint would have any sinister intention with that artifact, it is currently locked away in the treasury, which cannot be accessed without my say-so." Shining said in an attempt to reassure his sister. And apparently, it worked, because Twilight's troubled expression immediately brightened.
"Oh, big brother, that's fantastic!" Twilight squealed as she hugged him. "Please, promise me that no matter what happens, you won't let them remove it from there while Lady Glint is here." Shining looked reluctant. He didn't want to make a promise he wouldn't be able to keep, but Twilight badly needed reassurance right now.
"Twilight, I..."
"Promise me!" Twilight insisted forcefully, making Shining jump. He had never seen his sister so agitated before. Eventually, he gave in.
"I promise." Twilight smiled at him softly.
"Thank you. Now then, back to the princess."
Twilight made her way back to Celestia's office, finally reassured that whatever sinister plot Crystal Glint cooked up won't come to fruition. When she entered the room, she saw the princess and the matriarch sitting at the table, still deep in conversation.
"Ah, Twilight! Just in time!" Celestia greeted happily, while Crystal Glint merely shot her a narrow-eyed stare that made Twilight gulp.
"What can I do for you, princess?" She asked as calmly as she could under the matriarch's intense stare.
"Not for me actually. It was Lady Glint that requested your assistance." The princess replied. Twilight's smile immediately fell. And Crystal Glint's ominous smirk she was sending her way definitely didn't help.
"He... Her?" Twilight asked nervously. Crystal Glint nodded at her.
"Yes. Some matters have arisen in my absence that needs some immediate attending to. Princess Celestia has the utmost faith in you, so I asked her if I could enlist your services for the rest of the day." Crystal Glint purred with a fake smile. Twilight had to use every bit of her mental strength not to glare at her.
"Uh... Princess, are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asked nervously. The alicorn frowned with a sigh.
"Twilight, I know you have your suspicions about Lady Glint's intentions, but remember what I taught you. 'Forgiveness is an important part of friendship.' I am willing to put aside old grudges for the sake of friendship. My protégé helping the family of my old enemy will be an excellent symbol of forgiveness and renewal for both of us."
Twilight felt something that she never felt before. She felt a sudden surge of anger at her mentor. Was this all she was to her? Some political chess piece in the pursuit of her goals? Regardless, she will have to say yes.
"I will... do as you ask, princess." Twilight finally said reluctantly.
"Thank you, Twilight." Celestia replied with an appreciative look. "I greatly appreciate it."
"And so do I." Crystal Glint replied, never once dropping her smile. She then clapped her forelegs and two of her personal guards entered the room. This did nothing to diminish Twilight's worries.
"Guards, please escort Miss Sparkle to my residence."
Twilight eyed the two stallions with suspicion, but there wasn't much she could do. She already agreed to go with them. With a sigh, she left the room and the two guards soon followed her. No sooner than the door behind them closed, Twilight felt a piece of rug with a nauseating smell being shoved into her muzzle. Before she could activate her magic to respond, she felt the whole world go dark.
When Twilight regained consciousness, she felt that she was being held by two strong hooves with a piece of metal pressed against her throat.
"Wha... What's happening?" She asked groggily as her surroundings cleared.
"TWILIGHT!" A familiar male voice shouted to her, which she instantly recognized as Shining Armor.
"Big Brother?!" Twilight was about to turn to him but had trouble doing so because when she tried to lift her head, she felt the piece of metal pressing sharply into her neck.
"Now, now, captain." One of the stallions holding Twilight taunted as he pressed the knife harder against Twilight's neck. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your baby sister because you can't play nice, would you?"
"We won't ask again, captain." The other one added. "Open the treasury!" Twilight immediately understood the situation.
"Shining, don't! They're gonna use the Anguished Unicorn! Don't let them!" Shining Armor looked hesitant. But he couldn't just stand by while these bastards killed his baby sister. With a shaking hoof, he reached for the treasury's door.
"Shining, you promised!"
His hoof came to a halt as he looked back at Twilight with a desperate look. The stallion holding Twilight pressed the knife deeper against her flesh warningly.
"You promised!" Shining shut his eyes to hold back his tears.
"I'm sorry." He then opened the door.
"NO!"
Twilight tried to use her magic before things get out of hoof, but she found that she couldn't. His captors must have put a magic suppressor on her horn. Once the treasury was open, the two stallions blasted Shining with their magic and sent him to the ground before doing the same to Twilight.
The next time Twilight regained consciousness, her brother was still lying next to her on the floor beside the open treasury door. This could have meant only one thing. And it chilled Twilight to the core. Gathering all of her remaining strength, she got up and took off in the direction of Princess Celestia's office.
When she burst inside, the worst was already about to happen. Her mentor was in her chair, surrounded by yellow magical energy coming from the Anguished Unicorn statue as Crystal Glint watched on with a triumphant grin. But there was still to act.
Twilight ran up to the treacherous mare from behind and without her magic managed to punch her in the face with enough strength to knock her out before turning her attention toward the artifact. Twilight reached up to her horn and used her might to pull the suppressor off and then used her magic to stop the process before it was too late.
But it was more powerful than she had expected. The artifact was used to take an alicorn's powers. An ordinary unicorn was nothing to it. Twilight managed to break the draining process but at a grave cost. The light from the artifact surrounded Twilight's horn and she felt the worst headache possible which only increased, but Twilight had no energy left to scream. With an explosion of magical energy, she lost consciousness once again.
This time, she didn't awaken for a long time. When she did, she saw Princess Celestia and her brother standing at the end of her hospital bed with grim looks on their faces. Twilight felt the bandage on her head and reached up to see how bad the damage was. When her hoof reached a specific part of her head, her blood ran cold. It was the part where her horn should have been but wasn't. There was nothing.
The world ceased to exist around Twilight. Her horn, her magic, her special talent, everything she worked for so hard in her entire life was gone. Celestia and Shining watched her reaction with painful anticipation. They didn't know exactly what kind of reaction they should expect, but it wasn't the blank, empty expression Twilight was showing now. Eventually, Celestia decided to break the silence.
"Twilight..." But she was quickly interrupted.
"Get... out..."
It was a sharp whisper that stabbed Celestia deeper than any blade could. Knowing there was nothing else she could say or do, she complied, leaving the two siblings alone.
"Twily..."
"That goes double for you. Out." Shining was hesitant at first, he was hoping he could get through to her somehow, but Twilight was having none of it. "NOW!" She screamed, finally getting her point across and making her brother leave the room. With nopony around her left, she could finally weep.
Three years have passed since, but Twilight still remembered every second of that day. Crystal Glint was arrested and had her horn surgically removed before being thrown into a dungeon in Canterlot Castle to rot for the rest of her life. The rest of her family was banished from Canterlot forever. Justice may have been served, but to Twilight, it made no difference. Nothing would bring back what she had lost.
Twilight felt Spike grabbing her shoulder comfortingly. It was the only thing that prevented the tears from escaping. But the sorrow was still the same.
"They ruined my life, Spike. Celestia shoved me over to the Timberwolves like I was nothing and Shining broke his promise to me. I begged him not to. I would have gladly given my life for Equestria, but he was a coward."
"You have a right to be angry, Twilight. But do you want to spend your whole life being angry at them?" Spike asked. "Don't you remember what Celestia taught you? Forgiveness is an important part of friendship." Twilight remained silent. "Couldn't you find it in your heart to forgive? Go back to your family and start a new life?"
"I have a new life here, Spike." Twilight replied before turning to a framed picture on her desk. Spike followed her gaze and saw the photo of Twilight and a male unicorn in a loving embrace and giving happy smiles at the camera. Twilight picked up a golden ring lying in front of the picture and pressed it against her chest. Perhaps it was a desperate attempt to block out some even more painful memories, but it was futile. Once again she found herself taking another agonizing trip down memory lane.
When Twilight was released from the hospital a week later, she didn't even bother to talk to Celestia or her brother. She didn't bother to talk to anypony. She gathered all of her things along with Spike and boarded the first train out of Canterlot. It didn't matter to her where she was going as long as it was away from there. As it turned out, the first train out of Canterlot was going to Manehettan.
Twilight still remembered how nervous she was when she first arrived. Spending her whole life in Canterlot, she was used to city life, but Manehettan was different. While Canterlot was the home of the nobility of Equestria, Manehettan was more of a middle-class city. Granted there were also wealthy families of traditional noble origins, but even they were more modern than the ones in Canterlot. Not only that, but the city was also more modern than the capital, filled with technological advancements that she was not at all familiar with.
And there was also the question of her livelihood. Being as well-educated as she was, she probably wouldn't have trouble finding a well-paying job that paid well under normal circumstances. But since she lost her horn and therefore her magic, she wasn't exactly under normal circumstances. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be again.
But apparently, somepony above was watching over her. It didn't take her more than a few days to find a job offer that was just to her liking. One of the biggest and most exclusive libraries in the city was looking for a new librarian. Being the bookworm she was, she immediately jumped at this opportunity with the utmost confidence. She didn't know at the time, but that job interview would have her meet the pony who would completely define her new, post-Canterlot life. But not in the way she was hoping for.
Twilight was slowly making her way toward the beautiful circular white building in the middle of the park, full of hope for her job interview. As she walked through the park, she felt a feeling of peace and serenity wash over her that she didn't feel in a long time. One that almost managed to make her forget about those tragic events back in Canterlot and set her mind at peace. Almost.
Twilight shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind and focus back on her upcoming interview. Whoever set their library up in such a peaceful and natural place must have held a tremendous love for books. She even noticed a few outside reading areas. A smile formed on her face as she remembered just how much she loved reading outside back in the castle. She was so caught up in the peace that she almost bumped into the library door. She caught herself just in time.
Twilight scoffed under her breath. 'Pull yourself together, Twilight. Is this the first impression you want to make on your new boss? A bumbling mess? Even if you are sometimes.' Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before clearing her throat, adapting a professional pose, and knocking on the door. To her horror, her knock was answered by a huge crash from the other side. Her eyes widened in shock and she instinctively burst through the door to see what just happened.
Next to one of the shelves inside the library, was lying a huge pile of books that looked like they just fell off from above. A ladder was lying on top of them and Twilight could make out one single pony leg sticking out from beneath the pile, waving back and forth, almost as if trying to attract attention. Twilight gasped in horror as she ran up to the book pile and removed them from the top of the trapped pony. In an organized, orderly manner of course. Even in her panicked state, she could not allow herself to misplace books.
"Are you alright?" She asked the poor pony once he was freed. Once she got a good look at him, she saw that he was a unicorn with a light brown coat, messy black mane, and a cutie mark that showed a quill writing in a book. The stallion groaned and placed his hoof against his head in an attempt to ease the pain.
"Would you believe me if I told you this isn't the first time this happened?" He chuckled. "I'll be fine, just need to sit down for a moment. I was just putting away some new books that came in today. Before a knock on the door disturbed and made me drop them." Twilight nearly facehoofed.
'Way to go, Twilight. What a first impression to make! Getting your potential employer to fall off a ladder and nearly crushed by a pile of books. I really am cursed, aren't I?'
"I'm so sorry. I..." But the stallion just held up a hoof to silence her.
"It's alright, you couldn't have known. But if you would help me find my glasses, I would deeply appreciate it." Twilight immediately went to go look for the spectacles. In the process, she picked up several of the books and placed them next to the other ones, once again, not without the proper categorization. She eventually did find the stallion's missing glasses and placed them on his muzzle.
"Here you go, I found them." The stallion opened his eyes and Twilight found herself lost in those shiny green orbs.
"Thank you." His words snapped Twilight out of her daze and she backed away in embarrassment.
"N... No problem." The stallion then looked over the neatly reorganized pile of books beside Twilight. The mare noticed a surprised look growing on his face. "Is there something wrong?"
"You... You managed to sort them out this quickly? After they fell over? It took me almost two hours!" He exclaimed in shock. Twilight smiled proudly.
"Well, not to brag, but books are my greatest passion and I have a thing about organization as well." She suddenly remembered all those times when she reshelved the Canterlot library with Spike, much to the young dragon's chagrin. She chuckled at the memory. "Just ask Spike." The stallion tilted his head in confusion.
"Who?" Twilight shook her head. She suddenly got an idea of how she could turn this little debacle around in her favor.
"Never mind. So, are you saying that you were trying to put them away? I could sort it out for you." She offered. The stallion gave her an appreciative look but shook his head.
"Oh, you don't need to do that." He said as he picked up the ladder and placed it back against the shelf.
"Well, actually, it would be part of what I'm here to do." Twilight replied. "I'm here to apply for the librarian job."
"Are you the Twilight Sparkle I was gonna interview today?" The stallion wondered. Twilight nodded before trotting off toward the book pile.
"The one and only. I know I didn't exactly make the best first impression, but allow me to fix that." She then scanned through the books before picking up a few of them and making her way up the ladder. "Let's see, 'The Life and Reign of Princess Platinum', The Conquests of Commander Hurricane', 'Diplomatic Breakfasts at Chancellor Puddinghead's', these are pre-unification pony history. 'In Search of the Crystal Empire', that's non-equestrian history and... Hey, who put this 'The Basics of Alchemy' book here? This belongs in the science section!"
The library owner watched in awe as Twilight sorted all of the new books and also reorganized the entire shelf in less than five minutes. It was an even more astounding feat now that she no longer had magic. He had magic and he's been doing this for hours much less efficiently. Once Twilight was finished and slid down the ladder next to the stallion, the stunned pony could only say one thing.
"When can you start?" Twilight chuckled.
"Well, seeing as you will be my boss, I would say, anytime you want." The stallion grinned so widely as if he just won the lottery.
"Well then, Twilight, let us kick this working relationship off properly. My name is High Culture and this is the Atheneigh Library. I'm glad to have you here." High Culture greeted, offering his hoof, which Twilight gladly shook.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Culture. And an even greater pleasure to be working in this sanctuary of knowledge." He really must have been highly cultured to name his library after the goddess of knowledge from the ancient nimbusian pegasi. High looked like he wanted to say something else, but was having trouble finding the words.
"Say, uh, Twilight." He stuttered nervously. "Would you mind discussing the details of your employment next to a cup of coffee this evening?"
Twilight didn't mind in the slightest. Her working relationship with High quickly evolved into something more. High Culture was not only a pony of... well, high culture, but he was also one of the kindest souls she had ever met who was very easy to fall in love with. The fact that his dedicated work in the library and very cleverly executed expansions and investments also made him quite wealthy was also nothing to frown at either. Of course, that was the last thing Twilight cared about.
The following year was perhaps the happiest in Twilight's life. She had a well-paying job, a place to stay within the best library in the city, and the stallion of her dreams whom she was deeply in love with. The cherry on the top came eight months later when High proposed to her and she said yes with no hesitation. Thankfully, even Spike immediately approved of their union. Though, he still reminded him that if he ever hurt Twilight, he would find out just how painful it was to heal from dragon fire burns. For the first time, Twilight finally felt like she would be able to move on from the tragedy she suffered back in Canterlot and was fully ready to start her new life with her soon-to-be husband. She even felt like she would be able to let go of her anger and invite her brother to the wedding. Maybe even Celestia if she still cared for her as deeply as she used to. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for her.
In retrospect, she probably should have seen the signs. When High came home badly bruised with a black eye and a bleeding nose, she probably should have been able to tell that there was trouble in paradise. High Culture was one of Manehettan's biggest benefactors. He had donated quite a bit of money for the city's betterment, including several donations that angered some of the more powerful ponies in the city. Such was the donation finally have the old Ace Chemicals building shut down and renovated into something else. High was thinking of a museum. Unfortunately, everypony in the city knew that the Ace Chemicals building was still unofficially working under the hooves of Caramel Falcon. Nopony dared to speak it, but they all knew that was the place where he was running his drug operations from. These were only rumors of course. But Twilight was about to find out just how true these rumors were.
Twilight and High Culture were taking an evening stroll in the park around their library. It was a thing they often did. Twilight was never really into romance before meeting High, but she had to admit their eventing strolls were very relaxing. But when she looked up at her fiance, she saw that he was in an oddly grim mood. He's been like this for a while now. Ever since he came home all battered and bruised. He never said anything about it though. Twilight knew he didn't want to worry her, but by not telling her anything, he was having the opposite effect. They were about to get married. They shouldn't keep secrets from each other.
"What are you thinking about?" Twilight asked, trying not to ask directly. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of him that way. High looked down at her and smiled, but Twilight saw that it was forced.
"I'm just thinking about our wedding, love." He replied, trying to sound happy. Twilight wasn't buying it.
"Is that why you're in such a bad mood?" High's face fell.
"Twilight, I..." Twilight already knew what he was about to say, so she finished it for him.
"You don't want to worry me with it. I know. But I'm already worried about you. Please, talk to me, High. If you don't want me to worry." High looked like he was finally about to give in, but before he could speak, again, another voice beat him to it.
"Yes, High. Talk to your pretty little bride. This might be your last chance." High and Twilight jumped and looked to their side to see an unknown earth pony wearing a black suit and fedora walking out of the bushes, grinning menacingly up at the couple. High stood in front of Twilight protectingly.
"What do you want? Were you sent by Falcon?" Instead of answering, the stallion merely pulled out a gun and pressed it into High's chest.
"Should have kept your muzzle in your books, buddy." By the time High gathered enough composure to react, it was too late.
BANG
Twilight's eyes widened in horror at what she just witnessed. High Culture, her fiance, and her new life have just been murdered in front of her. She fell over the stallion's body. She was too stunned to even cry. She just stared down at him, frozen solid. Everything around her went dark. Nothing else existed right now except for the dead body of her beloved. She didn't even hear when the murderer cocked his gun again and put the barrel against her head.
"Sorry, lady. The boss said no witnesses." He was about to finish the job, but then he was startled by a loud screech from nearby. It was loud enough to even snap Twilight out of his stupor. The murderer immediately turned his gun in the direction where the sound came from, which turned out to be a nearby cave entrance.
"Who's there?!"
The only response he got was a huge swarm of bats that have been spooked by the gunshot flying out of the cave, straight at the murderer. The onslaught of the animals made him completely freak out as he thrashed around to shoo them away. During his wild thrashing, he crashed into Twilight who was watching helplessly what was happening. The mare was pushed down into the cavern and slid down into the darkness where she soon passed out. The last thing she saw before darkness consumed her was the bats circling above her vision toward the exit of the cave.
When Twilight came to a few hours later, she was still inside the cavern. She looked around, but in the darkness, she couldn't see anything. And without her horn, she couldn't use magic to illuminate her surroundings. Twilight laid back on the ground in defeat. She didn't see any way she could get out, but even if she could, the murderer would probably still be waiting for her to finish what he started. She lost the will to go on.
She finally managed to get herself back together. She was ready to start anew, only for things to come crashing down around her again. It looked like no matter how what, Twilight Sparkle was cursed to always lose what she had built up for herself. Just like in Canterlot. She might as well just give up. She closed her eyes and waited for death to claim her.
But the longer she laid there, the more she found that outcome unacceptable. No. This time, she was not going to let everything around her go to Tartarus and do nothing. As Twilight replayed the events in her life that lead up to this point, she felt a fire starting up in her chest. Her defeated look soon hardened into a look of determination and her eyes snapped open with fury. No. This time, she will fight!
Twilight got back on her hooves and despite there not being much light, she managed to find her way through the cavern. She found out that the caverns lead to an old, abandoned network of tunnels that used to be a subway network for the city. And since these tunnels were pretty close to the cave she just fell into, she figured that part of these tunnels ran under the park the library was built in.
Through these tunnels, she eventually managed to find her way back to the surface. Once she did, she made her way straight back to the library. She paid no attention to the citizens giving her curious and concerned looks as she passed them or the police investigation going on in the park when she returned to the library. She slammed its doors open, greatly startling Spike who was pacing around, waiting for the police to finally deliver him news about Twilight. He looked up to see none other than his caretaker enter the building and a huge wave of relief washed over him when he saw that she was alive.
"TWILIGHT!" He screamed in joy as he ran to hug her, but when he got close, he saw the look on her face. Hard as steel and full of burning anger. Spike also felt something inside her. He felt the fever, the rage. It scared him. "Twilight, what... what happened to you?" He whimpered as he stepped back. Twilight didn't respond. She marched straight to her room. Spike thought she was gonna get into bed to finally get some rest, but rest was the last thing on Twilight's mind. She wanted to get started as soon as she could.
High Culture was buried at the end of the month. Twilight was shocked to learn that despite his young age, he's left a will in which he left everything to her. The library, his money, his possessions, everything. And Twilight would make good use of it. In the following days, she started moving several things down to the tunnel she found beneath the library and started excavating a tunnel that led up to the library. Specifically, her bedroom. She was doing it upwards from the tunnel to make sure nopony notices any of it.
Spike was there to help her all throughout the process. But she was still worried about her. She hasn't spoken a word ever since she returned from the caverns. And Spike noticed some strange items she was gathering at her new secret hideout. Among these were computers, the most advanced ones there were, training dummies, and books about martial arts. She also started working out like crazy and on several occasions Spike caught her thrashing the dummies when he entered the tunnel, beating them until they shattered. This went on for the next few months, but the most unnerving thing was still yet to come.
Spike walked down the stairs to bring down Twilight's dinner to her. She's barely eaten ever since she started her vigorous training. Usually, when he entered around this time, he would find Twilight mercilessly beating one of the training dummies, but tonight, she was doing something else. She was putting on the finishing touches on a suit that Spike had never seen before but would come to be very familiar with. When Twilight finished with the suit, she wasted no time in putting it on. Spike placed the tray on Twilight's desk where the computers were standing and turned towards the purple pony, but when he saw her, he jumped in fright.
Twilight was looking like she just stepped out of one of Spike's comic books. Like an equine bat. The pitch-black mask completely covered her head, the dark cape flowing down her back gave her the appearance of sporting huge wings, the bat symbol on her chest looked menacing and proud, but the most frightening part about her new appearance was her eyes. Those glowing, white, glaring eyes. Spike was unsure what to do or say, but eventually, he found his voice.
"Uh... Twilight. What are you going to do?" He asked nervously. Twilight remained quiet for a while. Spike thought she would once again ignore his question, but for the first time since she returned, she spoke.
"Get. Justice." She then reached beneath her cape and threw something at the wall. Spike turned to see a bat-shaped throwing weapon pieced onto the wall, impaling a picture of a pony he instantly recognized as High Culture's killer. Spike really didn't like that implication.
"Twilight, please tell me you're not about to do what I think you'll do." Twilight didn't respond, she just started making her way toward the exit of the tunnel. "Twilight, that's not justice! That's vengeance! If you do that you'll be no better than them!" Spike called out after her. Twilight briefly stopped, as if his words finally got to her. He looked back at Spike over her shoulder. "Please, don't throw yourself away. It wouldn't be what High would want for you. And it's not what I want for you either." Twilight kept looking at him for a few moments before continuing her way out.
A scream echoed through the dark alleyways of Manehettan. Rising Star, a pegasus mare, the well-known singer at The Blue Feather was currently being held at gunpoint by the very same pony who murdered the library owner, High Culture.
"Please, don't do this!" The mare begged, but the hitpony just scoffed.
"Sorry, lady. The big boss paid quite a bit of money for me to stop you from chirping for good." He said as he cocked his gun.
"How was I supposed to know what they were doing in the backroom? It's my workplace! I had to go back there!"
"Not my problem! Just shut up and don't make this any harder for me, would you?" He was about to pull the trigger, but before he could, the alleyways were filled with different kinds of screams. His own. The stallion collapsed on the ground as something pierced into his hoof and made him drop the gun. Rising Star took advantage of the situation and flew off.
The hitpony pulled the thing out of his hoof, but before he could examine it, something hit him with incredible strength. His attacker didn't hold back. By the time they were done with him, he was coughing up blood and having trouble breathing through his shattered ribs. The assault went on for almost a full minute before the stallion found himself laying on his back with a dark figure towering over him, holding the very same throwing weapon it first attacked him with, shimmering with his blood, and was about to bring it down on him, but then something stopped it.
"That's not justice, that's vengeance."
Twilight thought it would be easy. This piece of filth with no respect for the sanctity of life took away her beloved purely out of greed. He deserved everything she was about to do to him. So why couldn't she do it?
"Don't throw yourself away!"
And then she realized it. This scum had nothing to fight for but himself. That's what made it so easy for him to take another life. But she has others to fight for. Spike, the ponies of Manehettan like that mare she just rescued and the memory of her beloved.
"It wouldn't be what High would want for you. And it's not what I want for you either."
In the end, Twilight just punched the bastard across the face and knocked him out cold. She managed to dig up enough dirt on him to get him put away for life anyway. She managed to bring him to justice. That night, The Batmare claimed its first victim. The first of many.
Twilight leaned back in her chair as she recalled that memory. She really wanted to kill him. She almost did. She would have if it wasn't for Spike. He reminded her of what she was. More importantly, what she didn't want to become. She turned back towards the young dragon.
"Thank you, Spike." She smiled softly, to the dragon's confusion.
"For what exactly? The breakfast? I mean, it's good, but not better than what I usually make." Twilight chuckled.
"Well, that too. But more importantly, for looking out for me and making sure I didn't lose myself that night." Spike now understood.
"I really thought you were going to kill him."
"For a moment, so did I." Twilight lamented. "If it weren't for you, I would have." She still entertained the idea from time to time even though she knew she shouldn't. That bastard was currently serving his life sentence after Twilight recorded her assassination attempt on Rising Star and anonymously sent evidence to the police that connected him to High Culture's murder. He wasn't worth any further thought.
"But I didn't. Thanks to you, the Batmare had not become a murderer, but a symbol of hope for the ponies of this city."
"In more ways than one." Spike added. "In more ways than she should have been." Twilight looked back at him.
"Spike are you referring to..." She couldn't bring herself to finish, but she didn't have to.
"You know I do, Twilight. The Batmare had set a dangerous precedent." Twilight sighed. Spike's words brought forward another memory. One of a rather peculiar nature.
The first month of Batmare's activities in Manehettan has been highly successful. She already managed to shut down many of the city's greatest crime lord, Silver Martini's operations. Not to mention stopping a laundry list of smaller crimes. So Twilight should have been satisfied. She was making great progress in a short amount of time. Yet for some reason, it didn't feel enough. Beating up street thugs and blowing up warehouses full of drugs did not bring her the satisfaction she was hoping for. And of all the ponies she saved, many still saw her as just another street menace. She needed to do something big. Something that actually made a difference. Something that the ordinary ponies of Manehettan would never be able to do on their own. And apparently, the force from above that has been watching over her for the past two years still didn't leave her - she laughed bitterly as she thought that maybe it was Celestia watching over her from afar - because once again, it was almost like the universe answered her plea. The radio built inside the "ears" of her mask picked up a police broadcast.
"To any available units, an alarm has been received from corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street. I repeat! Scarecrow is at the corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street!"
Twilight's eyes widened under her mask. The Scarecrow. Reports have been coming in about a mysterious unicorn dressed as a Scarecrow with a hideously grotesque face robbing stores all over the city. According to reports, he was a skilled illusionist, using smoke, creepy puppets, and unicorn mental magic to frighten his victims and rob their stores without intervention. Even the police weren't immune to his mind games. This was it. Her chance to finally give Batmare the debut she rightfully deserved. Without a second of hesitation, she pulled out her grapple gun and took off into the corner mentioned in the broadcast.
The Pearly Gate. A cleverly named jewelry store on the corner of Princess Cross and 48th Street. In fact, it was one of the fanciest of its sort in the city. And as such, its owners didn't neglect its security. It was equipped with the best alarm system and safes money could buy, a direct connection to the police, and even had a contract with a private security company that provided the store with imposing guard stallions that no sane pony would want to mess with. However, at the moment, even these massive stallions were nothing more than quivering colts on the ground along with the shopkeepers and any customer who was unfortunate enough to visit the store that evening, as the smoke overwhelmed the shop and monstrous figures ran rampant inside, tearing the place apart and terrifying everypony.
Amid the smoke, a lone figure approached the glass cabinet that contained the jewels put out for display. Dressed in rags, a grotesque sack covering a gas mask, and a straw hat, the sinister Scarecrow pulled a sickle out from beneath its cloak and pierced it into the glass before drawing a circle into it. Removing the cut-out glass, the Scarecrow removed the jewels and placed them in a bag. He then proceeded to enter the back room of the store where the more valuable pieces were being kept. The shopkeeper was so frightened of his puppets that he didn't even notice when he snatched them. Opening safe after safe, the scrawny figure filled his bags with as many precious jewels as they could carry, before making his way toward the exit.
But before he could reach the front door of the store, he bumped into something he didn't quite notice in the intense smoke around him. The door was opened, but somepony was blocking his way. He looked up to see a shadowy figure with glowing white eyes and tall, pointy ears glaring down at him. But being quite an expert in the field of theatrics and intimidation himself, he was not frightened. Instead, he summoned his nightmarish puppet copies of himself to surround the newcomer. But Twilight would not be fooled by it. Being an expert on all things magical, he knew all about unicorn illusions. Only one of these was the real Scarecrow. The question was which one?
Twilight counted seven of the figures in front of her. All she needed to do was attack all of them simultaneously to make the real one reveal himself. She reached into her belt and threw seven of her trusty batarangs at all seven of them. Neither of the figures moved, but Twilight knew the real one would react defensively. He couldn't keep up the spell around the puppets and deter the batarang at the same time. But to Twilight's shock, all seven of the projectiles struck their targets and the only reaction they emitted were wooden thumps. It took Twilight all of her mental strength not to facehoof herself as she realized what happened. Scarecrow sneaked off concealed by the smoke and replaced himself with another of his puppets.
She was snapped out of her shock by the sound of a door locking behind her. She turned around to see Scarecrow through the window of the store locking her inside. He dangled the keys mockingly in front of the window before throwing them away and waving to the Batmare before making good on his escape. And as if the villain escaping wasn't bad enough, the ponies inside the store were beginning to violently cough and suffocate. With the door closed, there was now no way for the smoke to get out. Twilight will have to do something and quick!
Normally, breaking through the window would work just fine. But given what kind of a store this was, this window was completely unbreakable. But not unmovable. Twilight quickly pulled a vial of explosive chemicals from her belt and poured its content at the four corners of the window before detonating it. That did the trick. The glass remained undamaged but the force of the blast pushed it out of its place, leaving a huge square-shaped hole in the window. The Batmare jumped through it and continued its pursuit of the criminal.
She looked in the direction Scarecrow had taken off into, but he was nowhere to be seen. Twilight pulled out her grapple gun, hooked the top of the tallest building she could find, and launched herself into the air with as much velocity as she could muster. Once in the air, she spread out her cape and glided across the whole neighborhood, scanning every street she could see. The lens in her mask gave her perfect vision in the night and she managed to locate her prey soon enough, trying to make a run for it towards an alleyway.
Gliding towards the same alleyway, Twilight landed on the top of a building next to it and ran to the side to see Scarecrow making his way through it. Twilight pulled out her grapple gun again and aimed at the running criminal below before firing and snatching his ankle. The startled stallion fell forward and Twilight easily pulled him up to the same roof, throwing him behind herself. The Scarecrow groaned in pain, but he wasn't finished quite yet.
He slowly got back on his hooves and pulled his cloak apart, releasing a swarm of crows from beneath it that flew straight at Twilight with savage fierceness. The vigilante was so shocked by this move that she barely had time to react in time and defend herself. Scarecrow took advantage of this and pulled out his sickle, revealing the long rope it was attached to. He then started swinging it around himself and brought it down towards the spot where Twilight was still struggling with the crows. The only way she could escape was backward, so she jumped off the roof and fired her grapple gun back at its edge as she fell. She then started pulling herself back up just as Scarecrow looked down and she managed to sock him right in the muzzle.
Scarecrow tumbled back and fell on his flank. He motioned for his crows to attack again, but this time Twilight was prepared. She pulled out one of her batarangs and as the birds got close, she pressed a button on it, making it release a loud, beeping noise that completely deteriorated the senses of birds. Eventually, they couldn't take it anymore and flew away. The Scarecrow growled and threw his sickle at the Batmare in anger, but she sidestepped and caught the rope in her hoof, before cutting it with her batarang. She then ran straight at Scarecrow to finally take him down, but the criminal had one more weapon in his arsenal.
Before Batmare could reach him, he pulled out a scythe from his cloak. A double-ended scythe with one blade at each end. He began twirling it in his hooves and Batmare was forced to back away to avoid it. She was forced on the defensive as Scarecrow kept closing in on her, twirling the scythe in his grasp. Batmare couldn't attack without getting hit but she had one last batatang she didn't use and she knew just how she could utilize it. She threw the projectile, but not at Scarecrow. Instead, she threw it around him and it twirled back, hitting the criminal in the head and making him drop the scythe and stumble towards Batmare. The hero turned around and bucked his lights out cold.
By the time the police got to The Pearly Gates, they found Scarecrow tied up atop a pile of his puppets and ready for them to take in.
Despite herself, Twilight couldn't help but smile when she recalled that fight. It was her greatest triumph as Batmare yet. A triumph that finally brought her the satisfaction she sought from being the city's defender and convinced her that what she did actually made a difference. She asked Spike to run a little research on Scarecrow after his arrest and was quite surprised to find out that he was ironically a stallion named Sweet Dreams, a psychology student who dropped out of the university. There were whispers that he was expelled at the pressure of the mob when his father refused to pay them protection money for his bar. And Spike found out that every store he robbed had connections with supposed organized criminals. So his primary motive appeared to be revenge over financial gain.
This unnerved Twilight. Scarecrow's reign of terror begin not long after she began her caped crusade against organized crime. Could it have been that she unwittingly inspired another form of crime to rise as the mob was slowly but surely pushed back? She shook her head. Such a thing was preposterous to even imagine. Perhaps Spike was right. The lack of sleep was finally getting to her. She finally decided to call it a night. Or day. She could barely tell anymore. With a sigh, she shut down the computers and spun around in her chair to head toward the exit.
"Come on, Spike. Let's open up for the day." Spike nodded before picking up the now empty tray and following her.
"I suppose with your nocturnal activities, I will have to fill the role of librarian today as well." Twilight rolled her eyes. As she was now the owner of the library, she didn't actually have to work in it, just manage it. And she was doing quite a fine job at it. So most of the actual work was handled by Spike. 'Some things never change', she often heard the young dragon complain.
"You mean you'll have to do the job that I am paying you for? What an outrage." Twilight replied sarcastically. "Besides, I still have some work to do outside the library." From the corner of her eyes, she saw Spike raising his eyebrow. "Before you ask, it has to do with the library. The new delivery of books just came in. I have to pick it up."
"Why didn't you just have them deliver it here?" He asked. Twilight sighed. She knew Spike didn't like to let her out of his sight.
"Aww, come on Spike. I'll just pick those books up and be right back. Then I promise I'll get some sleep. I won't do anything crazy."
"I never said I thought you would do something crazy." Spike replied, almost offended. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"You didn't have to."