//------------------------------//
// Creatures and Nightmares of Creatures 
// Story: The Origin of Magic 
// by holy flamingo 
//------------------------------//

	While Twilight slept, she dreamed.

And the creature spoke to her.

Twilight felt the presence enter her mind, and fear began settling like fog. 

"Who... Are you?" She asked, fearfully.

For a while, she got no answer. She knew it was there though. She could feel it's darkness, it's... Essence. Something about it being near her gave her chills. She knew the feeling, it was... Something. It's essence was something she felt before. But she can't remember. 

"I know you're there! Show yourself!" She tried to act as tough as possible, despite her overwhelming fear. 

"YOU THINK YOU CAN COMMAND ME?." It asked, in a voice that put Twilight on a step below it. It was a creature of great magnitude. Twilight was nothing to it. Twilight felt like nothing; because she was.

The creature took advantage of it.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE CAN DO TO YOU? TO EVERY PONY? YOU ARE DOOMING YOURSELVES, AND I AM THE HARBRINGER."

Twilight felt the voice boom through her body, and vibrate every fiber of her being. She spoke with false courage.

"What do you want with us? What did we do to you?"	"YOU HAVE BOUND US FOR TOO LONG. YOUR PONY KIND TRAPPED US, AND SUCKED OUR ENERGY FROM US. BUT YOU WILL NO LONGER. I HAVE ESCAPED MY CELL, AND I WILL BRING SALVATION THROUGH YOUR DEMISE."	If Twilight thought she knew what was going on, she was at a complete loss now. She wanted to understand. She needed to understand. If anything will save her life, it'll be intelligence. Fighting this thing will prove not only futile, but just stupid.

"We would do no such thing! We ponies are kind! Please! Just leave us be."	
"LEAVE YOU BE? IF I FELT EMOTION, I WOULD LAUGH. YOU ARE EVIL CREATURES, WHETHER YOU REALIZE IT OR NOT. I WILL END YOUR PUNY LIFE, AS I WILL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS. AND THERE IS NO WAY TO STOP ME. YOU. WILL. FALL."
Twilight's fear (at least, some of it) was replaced by rage. Not only was this thing calling her and everyone else evil, but he threatened her and her friend's lives. She went through Nightmare moon, Discord, and Sombra, all for her friends, and the people she cared about. Who is he to call her evil? She would her protect her friends, no matter what.

Twilight tried her best to focus her rage into words, despite the terrible feeling of fear. She needed to be strong here. Her life depended on it.

"We are evil? We have done nothing to you! We are kind, and gentle, while you...! You have taken from me the one thing I'm good at! It's my CUTIE MARK, for crying out loud! My one special talent, the thing that made me Twilight Sparkle! You took my magic away! You destroyed my h-"	Now it was the creature's turn to get angry.

"YOUR MAGIC? YOUR MAGIC?!? YOU THINK THAT MAGIC IS YOURS? ALL OF YOUR "MAGIC" WAS US. WITHOUT MY PRESENCE, YOUR MAGIC WOULD KILL YOU. YOUR MAGIC IS NOTHING BUT BITS OF MY LIFE FORCES FLOWING THROUGH EVERYPONY. YOU ONCE HAD US BOUND. BOUND ON THE OUTSIDES OF YOUR REALITY, LEFT TO BE SUCKED DRY AT THE HANDS OF YOUR UNICORN KIND. BUT NOW. NOW WE ARE HERE, FREE TO DO AS WE WISH. YOU DO NOT ABSORB FROM US ANYMORE. YOU MOVE IT THROUGH US. YOU PUSH YOUR ENERGY THROUGH US, AND MAKE US STRONGER. EVERY SPELL YOU, OR ANYPONY DO, MAKES US STRONGER. YOU CANNOT HOPE TO DEFEAT US. WE ARE MAGIC. NOT YOUR "FRIENDSHIP." "

Twilight was, of course, dumbfounded. She could think of no swift comeback or argument. She has never heard of this before. Friendship was magic. That's what she was taught. Not some mystical force that we couldn't see. There was no way magic was this... dark.

"That.. That isn't true! It can't be! My magic was strong, because of my friends!"	"YOUR FRIENDS ARE NOTHING. YOUR MAGIC WAS STRONG BECAUSE YOU HAD THICKER STRINGS TIED TO US. BUT NO MORE. YOUR MAGIC IS GONE, AND YOU CANNOT HOPE TO EVER REGAIN IT. AND ALL OTHER UNICORNS WILL ONLY MAKE US STRONGER. THEIR ENERGIES FLOW THROUGH US. EVENTUALLY, WE WILL SHOW OURSELVES, AND THERE WILL BE NO HOPE FOR YOU."

Twilight was trying to take all of this in. He is magic? Bound and tied on the edge of reality? We USED him? She had no idea what this creature was talking about. She made a mental note to have a nice, long discussion with Celestia. IF she survived this encounter, that is. 

"... Magic isn't yours. It's ours. We have had it forever. I don't know who, or what, you are, but magic belongs to ponies. Magic is a wonderful thing. It raises our sun, it makes flowers grow. I may not be able to use magic, but the elements of harmony will find a way. You may be magic, but that doesn't mean we can't fight you with it."

Twilight wasn't entirely sure if she was telling the creature, or trying to convince herself. What it was saying was unbelievable, utterly crazy. However... She couldn't help but take in the overwhelming feeling of it's presence, and take it's words as truth. The feeling she has when it's near her... She knew what it was. It is the feeling of magic. The feeling she got whenever she'd cast a spell. A feeling she would never feel again.	" YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING. EVERY TIME YOU USED MAGIC, I WAS THERE. A PIECE OF MY LIFE WAS THERE. MAGIC FLOWS THROUGH ME. YOUR MAGIC WILL NOT HARM ME, ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER."

Twilight was overcome with emotion - at the creature threatening to kill her and her friends, at the sad fact that friendship isn't the true source of all magic, at the fact that she will never be able to use magic again, and that everything she thought she knew was a lie. She was out of options and ideas. She can't talk her way out of this. This creature is dead set on the annhialation of everypony, magic user or not.	"Oh, you think so? Well, if your so powerful, then take me on now! Why do you hide behind shadows, O great and powerful magic thing? Show yourself!"

Twilight was surprised at how angry she sounded. Wow. She never knew she had it in her.

" I WILL SHOW MYSELF IN TIME. AND WHEN I DO, IT WILL BE YOUR DEMISE. BEWARE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE. YOU HAVE MADE ENEMIES WITH SOMETHING YOU CAN'T HOPE TO DEFEAT."

And with that, the creature withdrew itself from Twilight's mind. Twilight immediately felt the pressure get lifted off of her, and the feeling of magic fade from her. Everything went black.