Chapter 10 – A Dangerous Mind
“So, obviously Twist didn’t like the fact that you didn’t love him,” Twilight said to Celestia as the blackness disappeared and the three were once more in the study.
“That is correct, my faithful student,” Celestia said, “I believed that my warning to him would be enough to stop his pursuit of me, but it was not. If he didn’t love me, then he would have never committed and became what he did.”
Twilight watched Celestia’s face express a deep sadness.
“Sister, I will not stand by and see you take the entire blame for this,” Luna said as she saw the look on her sister’s face, “We were both deceived.”
“You are right,” Celestia said as she calmed herself with her sister’s words, “we both were. As you can see, Twilight, we may be Princesses, blessed with great wisdom, power, and long life, but we are not without our faults. We laugh, cry, get angry, and even make mistakes just like any other pony in Equestria. That is why I stress upon you so much that you should not become upset when you make a mistake, but learn from it so that you do not repeat the same one.”
“I understand,” Twilight said.
“Now then,” Luna said, “As my sister pointed out, in retrospect we made many mistakes. We spoiled Twist too much with his position as our student. We gave him too much knowledge, beyond that which he could handle. We also showered him with too much affection, so that he became confused, especially with my sister. Yet he should not be left blameless. He took his position, knowledge, and our affections and used it only for himself. Despite our messages to him that he should not feel entitled by the blessings he received, he became so. I guess you can say that his chaotic magic fit his personality as Twist felt that he was somehow above the societal norms, above the law, even above order. The worst part was that to anypony he appeared quite normal. Yet behind the façade, he was planning something darker.”
“Now Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, “What I am about to tell you neither I nor my sister can show in a memory for this is all Twist’s actions, and his alone. We were not able to gather his memories before turning him into stone, and we did not want to risk him using our energy to break free. Therefore, we only can share what memories we had at the time and explain what we learned afterwards.”
A montage of scenes played before Twilight; Twist studying with the younger Celestia and Luna, the three eating together, and the three enjoying their time on the town. It was reminiscent of the scenes when Twist was receiving his early lessons as a colt.
“Now the first thing you must know,” Luna said to Twilight, “is that my sister and I had no idea what Twist was planning. For all intents and purposes, he was as he was before the incident with my sister. In fact he took the news of my sister’s dismissal of his love fairly well as he did not appear angry or saddened. Both the two of us and Twist returned to our normal everyday routine. It took time for my sister and I to recover from what happened, but eventually our worries subsided into calm again.”
“Clearly, this was a lie, as deep down he still harbored feelings for my sister and still felt entitled to her, like an infant foal demanding a toy. To him, it now went beyond just love: Twist felt that he deserved Celestia and that no pony was going to deny him that, not even her. And so, love had slowly corrupted into possessiveness, and unbeknownst to us, Twist began making plans.”
The montage shifted into a scene where Twist was in the study room, the skies outside a midnight blue dotted with stars. He was reading intently a book by candle light when Celestia stepped in.
“Twist, it is late. Why are you up studying at such an hour?”
“I could not sleep Princess, so I am just doing some light reading so that it can help me fall asleep.”
“Well, do try to get some sleep eventually my student. Goodnight and sweet dreams.”
“Goodnight, Princess Celestia,” Twist said with a smile as with a yawn the white princess turned and headed for bed.
“So Twist was spending some nights studying,” Twilight said, “What was he reading? I mean, sometimes I stay up late to study.”
“Yes, but it was not the time that he was studying,” Celestia said, “although it was odd that he suddenly started doing so after the incident with me. It was the content the he was reading that eventually caused concern. For, you see, he was studying, unbeknownst to us, studying very powerful books on magic. These contained spells that in the wrong pony’s hooves could spell disaster. We believed that Twist, on good faith would not study them until he was ready. Furthermore, we believed that even if he did read them, he would be able to do nothing with the spells as they were very complex. Yet his affinity for magic was beyond what a normal pony possessed. In fact he was perhaps the most gifted magic user since Starswirl the Bearded lived --that is, until you came along, Twilight.”
“But what was he looking for?” Twilight asked Celestia.
“He was looking for something, anything, to win my love. I’m sure the thought crossed his mind about casting some love spell, but much can go wrong with love magic. It might target the wrong pony and furthermore my sister or I would know that it was being cast. Sometimes, based on the will of the pony, it may not work at all. It was a chance he was not willing to take. Even with his chaotic mindset, he wanted something solid when it came to his affections.”
“That was when he came up with an idea. He thought that it was that the reason for rejecting his love was not because I did not love him. He believed I did so because I felt I could not love him because he was a normal pony and I a Princess. The fact that I would live longer than him was what he believed for me to not choose him. Of course I didn’t love him, but he was too blind to see that. “
“So what did he do,” Twilight asked.
“The only way he felt that he could be with my sister,” Luna said, “was to become like us.”
“You don’t mean…”
“Yes Twilight. You see, many ponies call us Princesses, as that is our status, but they also use that term as our race. But our true race is called an Alicorn. Now as you may know, an Alicorn is born with the essence of the three pony types. While we share the qualities of these types, we often have an affinity towards one type. I, for example, have an affinity for a Pegasus essence while Luna has more of the essence of a unicorn. Now one is not born an Alicorn, but one can become one. Typically this happens when a pony is chosen and the essence of an Alicorn is transferred to them, making this pony an Alicorn.”
“What happens to the original Alicorn when the do this,” Twilight asks.
“They die, Twilight,” Celestia said, “That is why there are few Alicorns left in Equestria, and why the choice of making a pony an Alicorn is not taken lightly.”
“So if that’s true, then how did Twist think he could become one?”
“Ah, well besides transferring the essence,” Luna said, “there are other magic spells that can do so. But these are very dark, very powerful spells, ones that should not be even attempted as the consequences are dire. If I show you how Twist did so, will you promise me to never seek these spells out, not even to study them… and especially not to use them?”
For a moment, the insatiable drive to learn something new began to well up inside of the purple unicorn. But Twilight quickly suppressed it, as she knew that even attempting the spell would lead to the loss of the Princesses’ trust and even worse, threaten Equestria.
“Yes, I promise not to study or use them,” she finally said.
With a satisfied nod from her sister indicating that she felt it was safe to show Twilight, Luna brought forth another scene. This time Luna and Twist were in the practice room for the stallion’s magic.
“Your magical power and skills have improved, Twist, and so has your control. You are becoming quite an adept at magic.”
“Thank you, Luna. I could not have done it without you.”
Twist then paused as if he was deep in thought and then spoke again.
“Luna, may I ask you a question about magic?”
“Twist, you know you can come to me with any question you may have. So, what is your question?”
“I was reading a book about the spells of Starswirl the Bearded, and I came across the Desired Image Spell. But it was such a complex spell, so can you tell me about it?”
The younger Luna knew the spell very well and she felt unease in the fact that Twist had discovered it.
“Twist, the Desired Image Spell is a very powerful spell. It should not be attempted by anypony, not even one as adept as you. Neither I nor my sister would ever think about using it.”
“I understand, but I just want to know about it, for theorys’ sake.”
Luna paused, thinking about if she should disclose the information to Twist about such a powerful spell.
“Ok, I will tell you this as long as you promise that you will not study further into it and especially not attempt it. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Twist said as he shook the Princess’s hoof.
“Now the Desired Image Spell is much like a shape shifting spell, but it is vastly more powerful. The reason behind this is that it is fueled not just by regular magic, but by love as well. Love, as you know, is the most powerful magic in existence. What the spell does, in theory, is it transforms the target into the form of the one that they desire. So, for example, say an earth pony loves a unicorn and wants to become one. The spell would make the pony into a unicorn. They would not only retain the physical form of the type chosen but the powers as well. So in the example an earth pony would be able to cast magic like a unicorn in their new unicorn form. Now the ability of the transformed will be less than a pony who was born a certain type. So say a pony becomes a Pegasus. Their flying will not be as great as one who was born a Pegasus.”
“So how does one do this spell?”
“Well, one has to collect the blood of all three pony types and the other sentient race types of griffon and dragon. Also, something of the pony one loves, like a hair from their mane is needed to complete the spell.”
“What about a zebra? Why are they not included in the spell?”
“The zebras are in their own lands and therefore their magic is not factored into that of Equestria. But with the blood combined and the spell cast the pony will become the form and abilities of the type of whom they desire. Now there is a great consequence, even beyond that of becoming a different form. If the other pony does love the one who was changed, the spell will become permanent and the pony will remain in that form. If however the pony does not love the one who is changed, the spell will backfire.”
“What happens if the spell backfires?”
“I don’t know. Not even Starswirl the Bearded knew, nor do I think he wanted to find out.”
“So I have one last question about this spell then. Can a pony in theory become a griffon if they love one?”
“I supposed they can,” Luna said, “Although it does not explicitly say.”
“What about say an Alicorn such as you? Can a pony in theory become one?”
“Well becoming an Alicorn would be a very complex process and it would be very painful. It is like dying and being reborn into a new body. Even if a pony can survive the transformation, they still might not be able to cope with the increase in power. But I suppose that it might be possible for a pony to do so. But Twist, do not even attempt to learn such a forbidden spell. It is dangerous in that it meddles with love and it completely alters what a pony was meant to be. And in the wrong hooves, this spell could prove disastrous to the target and all that they know.”
“Oh, trust me, this is only for my knowledge,” Twist said, “You have my word.”
The scene then faded into nothing as the two Princesses and the unicorn returned to the present.
“And now I think that we shall leave the story there,” Luna said, “You can guess what happened next, but there is still a little more to show you Twilight. But for now, let us rest for the day and have dinner. Tomorrow my sister and I shall conclude the story.”