//------------------------------// // Too Far? // Story: Road to Twilight // by ShadowBrony //------------------------------// Twilight kept her eyes glued to the book shelf as the other Twilight and the Doctor quickly got off the floor. Picking up a brush and doing her best to keep from blushing, the other Twilight grunted, “So… What brings you here?” Twilight took deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to get her face back to a normal temperature. “Well, I am currently on a mission to save my world. In order to do so, I may need your help.” The Doctor scowled, “I already told you I am not helping!” Twilight glared back, “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Twilight.” The Doctor groaned and wandered away from them. The other Twilight shook her head, “Sorry about that. He can be really nice once you get to know him.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Sorry, but I’m having a really hard time seeing that right now.” The other Twilight rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, “Anyways, how can I help Twilight?” “Well first, for both our sanities and everypony else’s, you can start by just calling me Twi.” The other Twilight tilted her head slightly. Twi let out a small sigh, “Believe me, I have been in this situation before. It makes talking to myself seem way less strange.” Twilight nodded her head slowly, “Ok, I guess that makes sense. As for actually helping you, I am afraid I won’t be that much help.” “Why do you say that?” “Because I’m currently taking care of a foal and can’t leave him alone for long.” Twi face-hooved, “What is it about me becoming mother before anypony else does?!” “Relax, he’s technically not mine, I’m just taking care of him for a while.” Twi felt her body relax, “Oh, well that’s a bit of a relief.” Both Twilight’s glanced awkwardly around them as silence fell over the conversation. Twi opened her mouth a few times, but no words came. Sure, she had some questions, but for some reason, she couldn’t figure out the right way to ask them. Twi shook her head, “Sorry, I just am trying to wrap my head around this world. Everything is the same yet feels so different.” Twilight nodded, “The Doctor has mentioned other dimensions, I am assuming that is where you came from.” Twi nodded her head. Twilight’s eyes looked away and back at Twi, “What’s it like?” "Light, yet full of darkness." "What do you mean?" Twi was about to answer when a scream broke through the air. All three ponies went wide eyed and glanced at the door. A small cry came from somewhere upstairs. Twilight quickly made her way towards the stairs while Twi and the Doctor rushed outside to see what was going on. Twi scanned the area and saw a white pony standing over a grey Pegasus. Twi racked her brain for names as she ran over. “Um… Blossomforth! What happened?” The red and green striped maned pony turned around looking freaked out. “It’s Cloud Kicker! That… Thing… Did something to her!” Twi got closer and saw she was on the ground unmoving. Her blond mane partially covering her grey lifeless eyes. Twi glanced up at Blossomforth, “Did you see exactly what happened?” The pony's body shook, seemingly in shock, “We were just out here talking to each other when this strange creature, walking on two legs and really sharp claws came up to us. He stared at Cloud Kicker for a moment before reaching out with its hand and…” Blossomforthshook her head, “He stuck his hand inside her. A weird black hole appeared in front of it and the creature dove in. Cloud stood there stock still for a moment. And for awhile, nothing happened. I stood there in shock, unsure what to do when the creature suddenly shot back out of the weird hole. It appeared to be clutching something… It looked heart shaped.” Blossomforth stuttered, “Sh-she… Fell over. The hole was gone but she wouldn’t wake up!” Blossomforth broke down. “I just, I don’t understand! Why… Why did this have to happen.” Twi placed a hoof on Blossomforths back trying to comfort her as the pony began to sob her heart out. Twi glanced over at the Doctor who had a hoof up to his chin in deep thought. Twi quickly glanced back to Blossomforth, “I’m sorry for your loss. But I promise you, I won’t let another pony get hurt by this thing. I have a pretty good idea what did this. I won’t allow it to steal another heart." Blossomforth silently nodded. Twi continued, “It’s not safe out here. Go home and lock the door. Tell any pony you come across to do the same.” Again Blossomforth silently nodded. Twi stood and made her way back to the library. The Doctor, still in deep thought in tow. Twilight was waiting for both when they returned. “So what was that all about?” Twi looked at Twilight grimly, “I’m afraid the Shadows have appeared.” “Shadows?” “They are the dark beings that attack ponies and from what I understand, tend to feed on ponies hearts. One just popped up and seemed to have literally taken Cloud Kicker’s.” Twilight put a hoof to her mouth, “That sounds awful.” “That is why it is urgent that I find a Piece of the Door. It is what these creatures seem to go after and if I can find all of them, we can lock away these creatures for good.” The Doctor raised his eyebrow and gave a small laugh, “Shadows huh? Interesting name for the Heartless.” Twi glanced at he Doctor, confused. “Heartless?” The Doctor shook his head, “Never mind. It's not important and I don’t want to get involved.” Twi growled, “Why are you so stubborn?” Twilight stepped in front of Twi, “Doctor, I know you don’t like helping and I understand. But this isn’t something we can just ignore. From what I can understand, these creatures are really dangerous.” The Doctor stared into Twilight’s eyes looking conflicted. After a brief moment, the Doctor slowly shook his head, “I’m sorry Twilight. But I can’t get dragged into this.” The Doctor turned and quickly walked out the door. Twilight sat where she was, her eyes looking down at the floor. “He’s getting worse…” she muttered. Twi looked between Twilight and door before groaning and running after the Doctor. Luckily, he hadn’t gone far. Twilight caught up to him in seconds. She grabbed him by his bowtie with her telekinesis and sung him around, “Hey, what’s your problem?” The Doctor was now just a few inches from her face. He stared angrily back at her. “My problem is that I can’t seem to get away from everyone’s problems. No matter where I go or what I do, someone is crying for help or something is going wrong and I am sick of it.” Twi raised an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure that’s life Doctor.” “Well I’ve decided I’m not going to be a part of it,” the Doctor said with a sigh. Twi groaned, “You have got to be one of the most self-centered ponies I have ever met!” The Doctor gritted his teeth before shaking his head, “Me? Self-centered? Do you have any idea what my life has been like? For years and years, everywhere I went I came across trouble. No matter what I did, there was always someone who needed me. And you know what, I saved hundreds of lives. I saved thousands of galaxies. But do I ever get a thanks? Hardly ever. I tried to be this amazing hero but heroes always seem to do better in the stories. When have they ever had to deal with the stuff I have had to go through? When have they lost what I have had to lose?” The Doctor was practically shouting, “I have lost my home, my friends, and almost everything I cared about. And I am supposed to just forget about all that be some kind of hero everyone can look up to? I am supposed to keep moving on without so much of a break? How could you possibly understand what that feels like?!” Twi went wide eyed in surprise before her face quickly changed to that of anger. Lifting up the Doctor, Twi dragged him to a nearby tree and pinned him there. Twi stared at him right in the eye. “I know exactly how that feels…” Twi blinked and stared looked down in sorrow, “I lost my home to the darkness. My friends have been scattered to the wind and I have no clue if they are alive of dead. My own teacher has raised her power to me on more than one occasion. I get told that my world will end unless I can find several pieces of a door that is now scattered to who knows where. Yet here is where we differ Doctor…” Twi glanced back at the Doctor, her eyes having changed to a crimson red, “I lost everyone because I couldn’t DO anything at the time. I lost EVERYTHING because of it. I won’t lose another life nor friend ever again. I can’t just sit idly by while the Shadows take over. That grey Pegasus may be lost, but you can bet that I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Because even though you want to turn your back on the world, bad things will still happen, you are only helping them by doing nothing!” Twi stared at the Doctor, breathing hard. The Doctor stared back in surprise. Twilight blinked as she noticed he was staring directly at her eyes. Remembering that Nyx had looked at her in the same way not to long ago, Twilight set the Doctor down and began rubbing her eyes. “Fine, go sulk in whatever box you live in. I am going to find this Shadow, and destroy it. I may no longer have the help I used to have… But I will find a way to stop it.” With that, Twi turned around and ran off, leaving the Doctor on the ground still looking shocked. The Doctor blinked and stared at Twi until he could no longer see her. Carefully, he got to his hooves. Shaking his head, he muttered, “How… How is that possible? Those eyes, that feeling. It just defies all logic. How could she have BOTH?” The Doctor wanted to return to his TARDIS. To forget about everything and just relax all alone. But curiosity was getting the better of him. Glancing quickly at where Twilight had run off to, the Doctor sighed and took off in the same direction; his curiosity and determination for answers fueling him on. * Twilight sighed as she went back up to check on the foal. This day started out so well. Now it seemed that the Doctor was in a mood. She wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t see him for a while now. Quietly she opened the door and peeked into where he was sleeping. Sighing in relief when she saw that he was still sleeping soundly after having been woken earlier. Twilight thought for a moment before casting a sound proof spell over the room. Twilight then quickly, but quietly, closed the door. Making her way back downstairs, Twilight hummed a bit to herself. But when she reached the bottom of the stars, a chill ran down her spine. It was like the whole room had suddenly gotten much colder. Twilight scanned the room but saw nothing. She glanced down sighed at her shadow. Both of them… “Wait…” Twilight jumped back in shock as one of the Shadows popped up from the ground. It stood on two legs. Its eyes were pure yellow and it had very sharp looking claws. The ends of which appeared to be red. For some reason, it also seemed to have a cape and hood. It stared at her silently. Twilight slowly backed away from it. Taking a nearby lamp, she lifted it into the air, ready to use it for self-defense. The creature tilted its head slightly. It quickly glanced up at Twilight’s weapon of choice before shaking its whole body. Twilight wondered if it was silently laughing at her. The creature eventually stopped shaking and soon began to walk slowly towards Twilight. Twilight felt the wall behind her and soon she found herself getting far to close to the creature. Twilight gave a small grunt and threw the lamp at it. Before it could even get within a few inches of it, the creature lifted its finger and pointed it at the lamp. The finger extended outward and impaled the lamp, breaking it. Twilight lit up her horn and screamed. "DOCTOR!" * Twi moved as fast as her legs could carry her, the shout just moments ago reaching her ears. “Why did I have to run so far away?” Twi wondered as she sprinted back to the library. Going off without a clue of where she was going or what she was doing was not one of her greatest ideas. Her thoughts buzzed with alarms as she hoped that her counterpart could defend herself well in this world. Her thought of what could happening to her were so overcoming that she didn’t even notice the Doctor running in the same direction as her. Twi lit up her horn as she neared the library; the door becoming shrouded in a purple haze as she clutched the door and swung it open. Once open, Twi raced inside to find Twilight being pinned against the wall. A strange looking Shadow had its fingers extended outwards and wrapped around her. Twilight was struggling to get free. Twilight looked deep within herself, hoping the Keyblade would come just this once. But it remained as far away as it was before. Twilight groaned in desperation and looked around her before eying the chair nearby. Picking it up with her telekinesis, she threw it at the Shadow. The Shadow flinched as the chair struck him. He glanced back at Twi and shuddered before turning his attention back to Twilight. Twi franticly looked for something else to throw at him. She picked up a book, got ready to toss it, only to stop in mid throw. She glanced at the book, unable to throw such a great piece of literature. Twi shook her head at her own weakness. Groaning to herself, she glanced at a book shelf nearby. Taking a deep breath, she lifted up the entire book case and then shook every single book off of it. Grunting, Twi then lifted the empty book case, turned it until it was facing down, and then slammed it on top of the Shadow. There was a loud thump as the Shadow became trapped underneath. Its fingers retracted on impact and smacked against the side of the bookcase like a rubber band against a wall. Twilight fell to the ground, a look of surprise written all over her face. Twi smiled to herself, “Well, that happened.” Twilight quickly nodded her head as a smile began to form on her face as well. But it was only a small victory, for soon the book case shook and the Shadow shot out from under it. Both Twilights cried out in surprise as the Shadow quickly wrapped both of them in his hands. Just then, the Doctor came bursting in through the door. He locked eyes with Twi and gave a smug smile. Twi wanted to glare at him for giving such a look but was too busy struggling to really care. Instead, she vainly began looking within herself for the Keyblade; begging it to come out so she can use it. But her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. Twilight groaned as the long fingers began to really dig into her, “Doctor, I know you don’t like helping, but this is one of those few times where helping would be very much appreciated.” The Doctor nodded his head, “Don’t worry Twilight, your friend there is going to be enough. All she needs is a little push. I have a theory. Just trust me, I can help you without actually helping." Twi looked at the Doctor, a mix of anger and curiosity played across her face. The Doctor casually walked in to the middle of the room, the Shadow silently watching his every move. “So Twi, tell me about your friends.” Twi would have face-hooved if she could, “This isn’t the place or time!” “Really, because from where I am standing, it seems to me that you are letting them down.” Twi’s voice became almost like acid, “What?” “Let’s face it, you can’t do anything. All you can do is sit back and watch while you lose everything. You are no better than me. You say you want to save those you care about. But those are just words. I have yet to see you use anything to back those words up.” Twilight looked desperately at the Doctor, “Doctor, what are you saying to her?” The Doctor quickly glanced up at Twilight and mouthed, “Trust me.” Twilight quickly looked over at Twi and was surprised to see her eye’s turning red. He took a few steps towards Twi, “You are nothing. Just a simple pony and can’t even save one life.” Twi gritted her teeth, “Shut-up.” “Now, let’s face it, you are nothing but a sham. Your friends will never be saved and your world will fall. It’s all a matter of when. Why even bother fighting, your friends are probably dead now anyways.” “SHUT-UP!” Twi's hair was flickering and faint aura was starting to form around her. The Doctor then casually walked behind the Shadow; his face never changing as he continued to keep his smug look. “Oh I’m sorry, have I hit a sore spot? Perhaps failure isn’t in your vocabulary. Or perhaps, you can't face that fact that you are nothing. I have a better chance then you and I hardly have to try. You have nothing against these creatures and you never will. Your life is over. Your friends are gone and soon everything you hold dear will disappear. Because, Twi, YOU ARE WEAK." Twi cried out, her body quickly changing as fiery wings broke through the Shadow’s grasp. She looked back within herself, and saw her Keyblade. But, instead of calling out, she reached out a hoof to grasp it. A hand made of pure fire and light shot out from her hoof and grasped the blade. Twi opened her eyes and both Keyblades were now were in her grasp. Twi stared at the Doctor in pure rage. The Shadow let go of Twilight and stepped up to face her. Twi rushed forward and slammed both Keyblades into it, sending the Shadow through the wall and several yards outside. Twi then turned to the Doctor, both blades just inches from his face. Twi grinned, “Now,” she whispered, “Call me WEAK one more time.”