//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Lesson Negative One // Story: The Twilight Struggle // by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch //------------------------------// The mind of Twilight Sparkle, 3 Hours before Sunrise Twilight felt awake for the first time in weeks. Her mind raced to the speed of her heartbeat, thudding in her chest like a prize racing stallion on the home stretch. She was alone in a seemingly endless void of darkness, no sound nor brush of breeze to disturb her. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and her mind was fully active and aware. Fear was her first emotion, followed relentlessly by a sense of panic. In spite of herself, she was quickly losing control of her emotions in this strange place, lacking any tactile sensation from whatever her hooves were standing upon, it was much like being suspended over some vast pit, No telling what might send you plummeting into the seemingly eternal darkness. So Twilight stood stock still, trying with all of her considerable intellect to keep herself from degenerating into a full on breakdown. Moments passed, feeling like an eternity to her in the silent, still blackness and slowly sense began to reassert itself. She closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths - mimicking the stress technique Cadence had shown her not that long ago. In, and out her breaths went as her mind slowly calmed down, though did not slow down for a single moment. "Alright Twilight. You don't know where you are, you don't know how you got here. Can you use your magic?" That was the first test. A goal in mind, she focused her magic into the tip of her horn, which felt suffocated for a brief moment before the strength of her magic chased away the limitation and burst into pale violet light which provided some illumination to the world around her. Her eyes came down to regard the smooth surface of the floor beneath her, which she could now identify as some kind of igneous rock, polished to the point of shine. The light pooled around her did not extend far, but it was far enough that she knew she could lay down, take a few steps, or otherwise move without immediate fear. One terror dispelled, she set her mind to the task of dispelling the rest. She laid herself down on the smooth, warm stone even as her mind raced in a thousand directions. Why was the stone warm? It felt like it was being heated by something, or that some great creature had laid upon it so long the rock had absorbed a considerable amount of its body heat. Her hoof idly reached back to grasp her tail and pull it forward, stroking it in the manner in which she always had when she was under extreme duress. A Casual glance down to it, however, revealed yet another shock. Her coat had always been a rich lavender color, her tail and mane a dark violet shot through with streaks of pink. Now, her coat had darkened significantly, to the color her mane once had been - a deep rich violet of particularly marvelous sheen. Her tail's colors had changed too - to a ripple of dark purples and blues that ranged into its various subtle shades and gave the look of the horizon just after sunset. There was something...strange about her hooves and flanks too... ~"Why not take a look, my dear?"~ From nowhere, a full length boutique style mirror appeared in front of her, illuminated by the subtle warm light of candles strewn about her like some kind of cheesy romance novel. Her mind continued to examine the small details even as her eyes widened in utter shock, rising quickly to stand she stared at the creature within the mirror, like yet utterly unlike her. She was...Gorgeous. There was no other word for it. Her body and legs had become elongated, slimmed and curved just so. Her body resembled that of the famous model Fleur De Lis, slim and sensual, all long graceful curves and a subtle sexiness that could not be denied by any form of logic known to Twilight. Her mane and tail were styled as though Rarity had just been at her for hours, swept back gracefully over her right shoulder, just the barest hint of mane framing her face and partially obscuring her right eye, her tail was sleeked back and hung to just above the ground in length. Even her horn was longer than before, more slender and to a sharper point. Her eyes though, told another tale. Dark purple eyes stared back at the achingly beautiful unicorn. Irises in a phenomenal range of purple hues, with deep black almond shaped pupils, swept back into the off-oval shapes of her eyes, her lashes styled to within an inch of their lives. The color might have been different, but the style of those eyes were ingrained in her memory like nothing else. They were the eyes of Nightmare Moon. Just like that, her impossible beauty took on a more sinister look. Yet, Twilight could not deny the effect was not all together evil. Intimidating, certainly. Perhaps even forceful, but there was no malevolence in her stance or gaze, no haughty arrogance in her eyes. She looked powerful, and she was reminded of a book which had once described a character as possessing a 'Terrible Beauty'. A particularly apt turn of phrase given the sight before her. Twilight shook herself from this reverie as a male pony, his coat as black as the darkness around her strode into the circle of light created by the candles. His mane, his tail, everything about his color was as pitch black as the bottom of a well, save for his startlingly bright blue eyes. He was built like her brother was, well muscled, heavy in hoof and broad in chest. His cutie mark seemed to be some kind of strange rune, etched in a deep turquoise color upon his flank. He bowed to her, as formally as any courtier in Canterlot. ~"At last."~ His voice purred out, sounding smooth and cultured as Rarity could ever hope to be. But there was a strange tonal quality to it, as though it was trying to decide what kind of vocal tone to take with her. ~"I have so looked forward to this day, dear Twilight. To speak to you directly, a teacher to a student."~ Twilight shook her head again. Now was not the time to let some kind of illusion - it had to be an illusion, no magic could change the pony form so dramatically without alicorn levels of power - throw her off her game. She focused, as she had when faced with every grave threat to Equestria that life had thrown her way. Think, Twilight, Think! This is clearly the voice you've been hearing in your dreams for a month. He's brought you to...wherever this is, obviously, for some kind of nefarious purpose. First step figure out where you are and who he is. Second, figure out how to escape. Third, get to the girls. If he's powerful enough to be invading Luna's territory without concern for the consequences, you're going to need the Elements to deal with him. "Well, you seem to know me pretty well...But I don't know a thing about you, or where this place is. Let's start with that, shall we?" She would ignore her physical changes for now, however real they might have felt to her. Even as the dark pony smirked in a satisfied sort of way, she was doing a full inventory of her body's feelings. Oddly enough, her magic power felt...stronger than it had ever felt before. Like somehow her innate energies had been super-charged through the sudden change in the form of her horn. Given its resemblance to the horn of an Alicorn, perhaps that was intentional. ~"My dear, we're in your mind. Don't you recognize it?"~ His hoof moved in a sweeping motion and the darkness vanished all around them, revealing a seemingly endless library which reached up into the sky - Shelves packed with book upon book, and a massive central area suffused with tiny bright spheres giving off a rainbow of colors and patterns. The walls themselves were covered with doors, labeled things like 'Phobias' and 'Fantasies' and 'Time Spent with Mr.Smarty Pants'. Twilight stared around at the vast room and found that with but a thought, she could tell the title of every single book on the shelves there - every book she had ever read, and books detailing the various lists and minutiae of her every day life. Stories of her epic adventures and tomes of precious memories spent with her friends. As her thoughts raced, she could see what looked like tiny versions of her running around pell-mell, grabbing books from the shelves with magic and skimming through them even as she examined her own memories and knowledge. Her mind and eyes turned to the shadow creature, who was now curled up in a big poufy chair and reading a book labeled "Spa Time with Rarity". It was her mind, and this thing, whatever it was, was lounging around in it, creating things within it that she had no control over whatsoever, and reading her every intimate thought. The being seemed to look up at that with an amused smile. ~"Well, yes. You let me in, after all. Why should I not make myself comfortable?"~ "WHAT?" Yelled twilight, causing every single miniature pony in the place to come to a screeching halt and stare at the pair of them in the small clearing between shelves. "You- I- What- What in the name of Celestia's cake fetish are you TALKING ABOUT?" The Shadow pony smirked again, but Twilight could not get angry at him for that facial expression - she was too busy being angry at him for a whole host of other things. He spoke again in that smooth, ever cultured, ever calm voice that seemed to soothe out the rough edges of her emotions. ~"Let me answer several questions at once. I am Tantalus, of the Shade. At your service."~ He bowed once again, formally in the face of her seething anger which seemed to radiate off of her new body in waves of sparkling violet magic, unnoticed by the mono-focused Twilight. ~"Secondly, it was only you that allowed me in to your mind and heart, Twilight Sparkle. Your concern for your friends, your fear at being unable to please your teacher, your endless, unrelenting thirst for knowledge and above all else, a desire for power. These things call to one like me, especially when we became so closely acquainted not all that long ago. Or do you not remember?"~ Twilight stopped for a moment. The color of his coat, his eyes, his cutie mark, his power to invade her very dreams. Little tiny pieces of evidence piled one atop the other, leading up to a quiet stare of comprehension. The memories she had been reliving, they had been of the first time she had brushed up against this power. "Nightmare Moon." she whispered, quietly into the air, and he grinned in triumph and bowed his head to her again. ~"Correct, my little pony."~ his voice echoed that of Nightmare Moon from long ago, ringing into the air around him with a sense of haughty superiority. Twilight's thoughts raced again, the tales of history, the story of Luna's redemption, of Celestia's unwillingness to engage her in direct combat both before her banishment and after. Historical inaccuracies, emotions, and the like began to pile up. Twilight Sparkle, student of magic and history began to see the thousand little signs everyone else had ignored. It made sense, of course. Luna, even at her core, was not an evil pony. She was not disposed to acts of violence of malevolence, or to think herself above everypony else around her. Whatever her history, Luna was good in her heart. However, many good ponies still had dark cores to their personality. Was it such a stretch to imagine that a lonely, isolated Alicorn might welcome in a dark warm power that promised her the love of the ponies she so desperately wanted? Was it so hard to imagine this power might feed her deepest, darkest desires for recognition and rule, and that those same dark emotions might twist that desire into limitless ambition? Even worse, that someone like Luna might not even care that she was threatening her own sister, believing her to be the one thing standing in her way from receiving the love she believed she deserved? It was a thought so chilling she could feel ice running through her veins. How ancient must this power be? What hope did she, a mere unicorn have against a power this great that had corrupted one of the most powerful beings in all of history? Even as she had that thought, it hardened into fierce resolve that spread through her limbs. Now, she knew what to do. Ancient and powerful, it might be - but she had stood toe to toe with Discord, King Sombra, a Changeling Queen and Nightmare Moon and had emerged victorious every single time. This thing, whatever it was, was not going to conquer her. Then he laughed. It was a bright, warm sound, as cheerful as anything Pinkie Pie might have made and he clapped his hooves together, hopping off the puffy chair and tilting his head to one side in a sort of manic curiosity. ~"Finally. I knew you would be worth the effort."~ The response confused Twilight, but did not shake her resolve. This was Her mind and no wisp of shade was going to make her do anything she didn't want to do. Even with that thought, the spirit kept it's smile, it's rolling laughter going with every moment. ~"Oh my dear! Did you think I was here to force you to do something? I cannot. It is not within my power to force anypony to do anything. I can merely present you with my offer. Give me but a little of your time. If you find my offer to be unappealing to you, I shall be pleased to vacate your mind and dreams immediately, never to darken your day again. I ask only that you hear the whole of my offer before you reject it."~ Twilight knew she should expel him. She knew that listening to him was probably not a very good idea, but the more he spoke, the more she had a chance to learn about him and his motivations. The more she learned, the more likely she would be able to report this vital information to Princess Celestia and perhaps bring an end to his poisonous influence. She hemmed and hawed for a moment and finally glared at him with those oval dragon eyes, sharper than her normal vision, she noted in an off portion of her mind. "Alright. I will listen. Once." ~”Very Good, my most faithful student. Have a seat, get comfortable. I’m going to teach you a little lesson about the way the world really is.”~ He turned and gestured a hoof, the room sinking into total darkness around her once again, save for a pool of candle-light that surrounded them both. The darkness gave way to a panoramic view of Equestria, spreading far out into the distance in every direction. The sun was hanging gloriously over the land and far beneath them, ponies went about their day to day lives. ~”This land is vast, Twilight Sparkle. But it is small in comparison to the world that surrounds it. A world that most ponies, even you are utterly unaware of, and the threats that lie beyond your borders.”~ Suddenly they were traveling to the west, the land blurring around them until they came to a massive expanse of desert. Sand reached off into infinity, waves and waves of it silently crashing against the wind. Buried into this sand though, were vast black cones that reached up into the sky. All around them buzzed a horde of changelings of every shape and size, moving about the hives, repairing chitin, speaking to each other in their strange language, bringing what looked like cages filled with creatures of every shape and size, including ponies. The carts carried them into the dark depths of the hive, never to be seen again. ~”Far to the west, Queen Chrysalis licks her wounds and stews in her lair, plotting for the next time she will invade Equestria and seize it for her brood. She will not have forgotten your interference, Twilight Sparkle. You can guarantee you will be first on her list for removal.”~ Just as suddenly, they were moving again, this time to the southern jungles and islands, each lush with verdant life, and populated by the Zebra people among many others. Their villages seemed to be much larger than Zecora had described to her the one time she had spoken of her homeland, and were bustling with forge fires and the sounds of industry. To the west, fields were being plowed by what looked like ponies, zebras, griffons and more. Bound in chains and watched over by tattooed zebra females carrying sinister looking talismans. ~”To your south, one of the largest of the Zebra tribes leads raids into the outskirts of Equestria, and many other parts of the world seeking slaves and loot with which to continue building their island empire. They have long known of the power of the Elements of Harmony, and know it could defeat them in total should it's gaze ever be turned upon them. How long will it be, I wonder, before they seek to remove that threat?”~ Again, they blurred across the ground to the east – vast pagodas and buildings in the Asian style covered a massive plateau, surrounded by a twenty foot high stone wall. Within, ponies in strange manner of dress and style worked and walked, overseen by a forbidding, bright red tower that seemed to loom ominously over everything. Yet they looked happy, and content, traveling to and seemingly performing some kind of worship at a wide number of shrines. ~”To your east, The Unicorn Empress hatches her plans, forging her people and her armies into a blade to disembowel Equestria. She seeks to add your lands to her nation of Ki-Lin, and isolate Celestia and Luna as the goddesses she believes them to be. She sees the Elements of Harmony as tools of the Gods she worships, and thinks they need to be locked away, reserved only for the messenger of the gods themselves - her.”~ As predictably as the sun, they went north now – But not to the Crystal Empire, but rather to the massive mountain ranges to the northwest of Equestria. Here she saw flying wings of Griffons moving in formation amongst each other, armored griffons directing the maneuvers with crafty, experienced eyes. ~”Who can forget the Griffons? Celestia forced them into a treaty long ago, forbidding them from the gathering of their traditional slaves to serve their military ruling class. So far, they have abided by it – But the day they sense weakness in Equestria, they will happily discard it, and there will be a new era of Griffon Wars.”~ The world was enveloped in darkness again, and a single figure appeared before them – a stone statue of the Draconequus, Discord, shattering and transforming into the suit-and-tie wearing ‘reformed’ discord who had made such close friends with Fluttershy. The dark spirit looked upon him with disgust evident in every feature of his form. ~”Discord. He may be pretending to play the nice, reformed force of nature, but do not be fooled Twilight Sparkle. Give him the least excuse, make him believe he can no longer be challenged by the Elements of Harmony or Celestia, and he will go right back to his wicked ways. Do not think he will have forgotten your hatred, or your attempts to find a spell to force his mind into obedience.”~ The image was banished in a flash of light and magical sparks. The dark pony turned to her, a look of grim resolve upon his face as they were once again alone in the darkness of her mind. There was sadness in his eyes, the sight of near tears threatening to overwhelm his stoicism. ~”Nightmare Moon was a mistake. I admit it, now. I believed by setting up a rivalry between Luna and Celestia that Equestria might become all the stronger for a government that was not so obviously ruled by one all-powerful individual. I underestimated the depths of her hatred, her fear of being alone. She was not suited to the power I could offer. You are different though, far, far different.”~ The pony began to stalk, pacing around her slowly as Twilight watched him move, his head half turned towards the darkness as he spoke in rolling tone, the thunder of decisiveness in his words. ~”You must understand, Twilight Sparkle. Equestria is beset upon all sides by those who would seek to drain the life from her, to conquer her, to destroy her. I have not even shown you a tenth of those threats. I am tied to the very land here. I cannot go elsewhere; my spirit is bound to the living rock on which we stand. I sought to create a champion, Twilight Sparkle, and I created a monster in Nightmare Moon. However, you are not she. You have no hatred, no avarice in your soul. You hold only the fierce desire to protect this land and its people, no matter what the cost.”~ He stopped and turned to her, his hooves planted in the darkness and a fierce look in his bright blue eyes. He looked…implacable. Twilight Sparkle felt, for the very first time, a certain amount of kinship with this dark soul. ~”So this is my offer. I have the power to take that which is at your very core and enhance it a thousand fold. I can grant you access to ancient knowledge and magics long forgotten even by Celestia herself. I can make you a unicorn of such power that no dark force or villain would ever dare your wrath. Celestia has limits, Twilight. There are things she cannot do, that are so fundamentally outside of her nature that her ties to the Sun forbid her from doing them. “~ ~”You have no such limits. You could make your friends, your family, everypony in Equestria safe from harm. You could even go to other lands, outside of Equestria, and bring it’s foes to their knees once and for all. You could free countless ponies from slavery, from destitution, from fear.”~ ~”I will not lie to you, Twilight. You will be changed by this power. Your body, your mind, your soul will be forever marked by the change. There will be those that will fear you, who will hunt and hate you for what you will become. Is that not a small, acceptable price for bringing peace back to the land of Equestria? In so doing, You will always have your friends, your teacher, your love for them cannot be conquered. It may even grow far beyond the way it is now. Is that not a suitable reward?”~ Twilight Sparkle stared at him, numbly. She could not comprehend what she was being offered, the power of the force before her at her beck and call. She stood there, rooted on the spot as she felt all shadows lift from her mind. ~”You must choose, Twilight Sparkle. To remain as you are, and fear the day that you will be gone and Equestria defenseless against the night once again. Or to take up the power and responsibility that is your destiny. We have a little time before the moon is in it's proper position. I shall leave you with your thoughts, for now.“~ ~"When you are ready, Twilight, call for me, so that you can make your choice."~ Silence echoed in her mind, leaving Twilight Sparkle alone, no shadow to influence her. No shade of power weighing on her mind. Only a single, terrible choice, and the darkness of her own soul.