//------------------------------// // Something's Not Right // Story: Hour of Twilight // by Animegx43 //------------------------------// Hour of Twilight: Chapter 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While Twilight Sparkle did have noble intentions, as she learned first hoof by me that running the Kingdom is not easy and many need help just to live, she didn't truely understood the power she could gain from the Arcane Tower. I haven't held any hard feelings about it though, since in my youth, I had used it to restore my power after my battle with Discord, as well as my sister Luna. What Twilight didn't fully understand though was that the Arcane Pedestal and Magic Drain spell she was using was made to restore weakened unicorns, not to increase one's magic powers. Although it could theoritically be used to obtained an untold amount of power. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, after somehow finding a way to sleep comfortably, Pinkie Pie sprung up from the spot she slept on like she had a week's worth of sleep, and marched on to find Twilight. She wasn't in the same room as Pinkie was, so Pinkie assumed she fell asleep up in the library, which is something that even I would expect from Twilight. After a quick run upstairs, Pinkie Pie reached the top of Arcane Tower, where the library was, expecting to see her friend. Not only was Twilight still in there, but she was in the exact same spot as the night before. "Morning Twilight! Have you been up here all night?" Pinkie asked. "Oh! Morning, Pinkie Pie." Twilight greeted. "Ever since I started the Magic Drain spell, I just haven't felt tired. It's like new magic is keeping me up and active." 'So you've been standing there all night? That must be boring, even for a bookworm like you." "It very well could've been. But then, I found out that I can still use other spells. While I've been raising my magic power, I've been reading so much. I've learned a few new spells, I've looked into a bit of history, I've even-AHH!" Suddenly, a strike of pain came to Twilight in the form of a headache. Her magic dropped the books she was levitating and she held a hoof up onto her head. Pinkie Pie got scared when she saw her friend in pain all of a sudden and rushed to her side. "Twilie! Are you alright?" "Ugh...I'm fine. It's happened a few times, but I'm okay." Wight tried to assured. "That...doesn't sound healthy. Everything's fine." Despite being told that things are fine, Pinkie Pie wasn't convinced. Especially after she saw something that horrified her. As Twilight turned her head, Pinkie noticed a red liquid dripping down Twilight's right eye. It's amazing, she can bravely bury a body, yet can't handle the sight of blood. Although, if my best friend was suddenly bleeding from the eye, I'd be worried too. "TWILIGHT! YOUR EYE IS BLEEDING!" Pinkie panicked. "Is it? I guess it's a small price to pay to help Equestria." Using some of her newly gained power, she removed the blood off of her face and quickly repaired her eye. Despite the fixed up eye, Pinkie was still worried. "Twilight, if this whole thing is actually hurting you, then maybe it's not worth it. I've sure you're already really strong now." "Really strong? Pinkie, I feel incredible. But I know for sure that it's not enough to help everyone. Since I can still hold more magic, I'm going to see if I can take in even more." Convinced that she could handle, she increased the power of Magic Drain and began to absorb even more magic. Before, she was taking in magic by in the form of magical dust going into her horn, but after increasing the intensity, the magic was being absorbed in the form of electrical streams. It's like firing a strong beam of magic, only she gained magic instead of spending it. "Twilight? Maybe you should stop this. I Really, REALLY don't want to see you hurt yourself." "No Pinkie. Not until I'm strong enough to help everyone." "But if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together haven't been able to-" "Then I guess I'll have to become more pOWrfUL then BOTH of them." Twilight answered, which horrified her friend. "Pinkie Pie, are you alright?" Although still scared by what Twilight had said, or to be more exact, HOW she said it, Pinkie Pie smiled awkwardly and nodded. She was right to of been afraid, because as abnormal Pinkie is, she knew it wasn't normal for Twilight's voice to of sounded like that. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll go a little more into Twilight a little later. Mean while, back at Ponyville, I was waiting to return to outside the Arcane Tower's barrier with the rest of Twilight's friends. At the time, I had Rainbow Dash go south to deal with a drought at a farmland, a job Twilight recommended Rainbow Dash for. She also brought Fluttershy along, so I had to wait impatiently for the both of them. I had stayed at Twilight's home with Spike, as I found it inconvenient to simply go straight home myself. While I mostly stayed inside to avoid being seen too much, I would occasionally take a step outside for a breath of fresh air. I at one point went out at a perfect time, for as I looked to the sky, I saw a group of pegasi, each as black as night. They were the Shadow Bolts, the escorts of my sister, Princess Luna. I found it odd for them to be flying at the time of day, so I flew up to speak to them. "Stop!" I ordered to them. "Where is your Princess?" Before the Shadow Bolts got to answer, my sister flew to me from behind her escorts and stopped as soon as she saw me. Again, I did not want to bring any attention to myself that day, but naturally, pony folk from below got excited when they saw both of their rulers flying above their town. I think I suck at subtly. "Sister, where have you been?" Luna asked me. "There is trouble at the Arcane Tower." "Relax, Luna. I've already sent Twilight there to restabilize the tower. Assuming nothing has gone-" "I already know about it. Shining Armor told me about you sending Twilight to Arcane Tower. The problem is that something else is happening at the tower." "Oh my. Did Chronos manage to stop Twilight?" I asked in fear. "Wait, Chronos was...never mind. The tower has seem to of stopped destabilizing, which leads me to believe that Twilight had succeeded." "Then what's the problem, sister?" "I'm...not quite sure how to explain it. Since early last night, I was detected that something was off about the tower's barrier, and ever since this morning, I found it to be weakening. I returned to the castle to inform you, but Shining Armor said that you didn't return, so I'm off to investigate." "Impossible. Without the Elements of Harmony, you will merely be rejected by the barrier." "At the rate it was going, I could probably knock it down with one hoof." That was disturbing news. I had no idea what was happening at the time and fear that something may of happened to Twilight. I still wanted to wait for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to return, but knew that I couldn't leave the Arcane Tower unwatched if something was going wrong. "Alright. Just stay safe." I told Luna. "I don't wish to lose you again." "I'll return here soon. Come, Shadow Bolts!" With that, my sister headed out to observe what was happening at the Arcane Tower. Never had I ever felt so worried about the well being of twilight and Luna. While the tower itself would cause a huge backlash onto Equestria should something happened to it, it was my student's and sister's well being that was on the top of my mind. It was one of the few moments in my life where I didn't care that I was a bad ruler.