//------------------------------// // Darkness Awakened // Story: Road to Twilight // by ShadowBrony //------------------------------// Twilight was getting tired. It was not a feeling unknown to her but it was surprising when it hit none the less. It really was tricky trying to keep up without magic and unicorns were not known for their stamina. She had been battling hordes of factory workers for the past hour, or at least it felt like to Twilight. Constantly dodging, swinging her head and striking those that got to close. Some had even managed to get a lucky shot in at times. Between the bruises and the constant action, fatigue was starting to set into Twilight’s body. Twilight tried to take a few steps back in order to catch a few seconds of breathing time, but her rear bounced against the railing as she quickly realized she had managed to get pushed back to the point where there was nowhere to go. Twilight gripped the Keyblade harder in her mouth, her breathing was heavy and sweat poured down her face. And yet, it seemed like the workers just kept coming. Some held tasers while others held night sticks. All of them hurt like hell but the tasers were what worried Twilight the most. All it took was some well-placed hits from those things and it was all over. Twilight swung her Keyblade as a pony with a night stick got too close for comfort, she managed to parry it but the strain was really not helping with her growing weariness. Twilight’s vision blurred. Shaking her head to clear her vision, Twilight missed that another pony was taking a swing at her and didn’t notice until he made contact with her right fore-hoof. Twilight cried out and swung hard at the pony. Twilight hit his head and he dropped with a large snapping sound resounding from his head. Twilight then quickly spun and parried another hit. This time it was a taser mallet. Twilight felt her mouth go numb as the electricity hit her Keyblade and traveled down the blade. Having only parried the blunt ends and never the actual sparking ends, Twilight could only blink in surprise as pain shot through her jaw, causing her to drop the Keyblade. As soon as it left her mouth, Twilight knew she was in trouble. What came next was a lot of burning pain as taser after taser struck her in the sides and every exposed part she had. Twilight felt her whole body go numb as she fell to her side. Her Keyblade hit the ground the same time she did. She watched as it disappeared in a small flash of light. Doing her best to focus her eyes, Twilight could see the pegasi moving back as Rainbow Dash flew in a landed amongst them. She slowly walked toward her, a small grin forming on her face. “Well Twilight, I must say you put up some fight today. I can’t remember the last time so many workers were hurt all in one day. I want to say well done, but you never had a chance. The Rainbow Factory is large, and its workforce is something to be admired at. No pony alone could have won against all of them, not alone. So I guess take pride in knowing you managed to go just a bit beyond my expectations.” Twilight did her best to silently glare back at Rainbow. Rainbow’s grin grew as she knelt down closer and whispered into Twilight’s ear. “I have a feeling you won’t disappoint me later as well. You are going to make one spectacular rainbow.” Twilight’s eyes grew wide as Rainbow got up and took a step back. “Get her ready to be processed. We have protocols for unicorns and I am sure no pony will want to miss this chance. Their essence is one to behold.” The other workers standing around looked at each other in surprise and curiosity. Some moved forward and began lifting Twilight off the ground. Twilight tried to keep her eyes open but her eyelids felt heavy. She could not feel anything but she could feel herself being taken somewhere. Twilight did her best to stay aware but soon her mind wondered and she fell from consciousness. * Twilight awoke on the window platform. Lifting her head, she could see that a light, her light, was beaming down onto her. Looking down, she could see a picture she had come to recognize as herself, surrounded by the friends she knew all too well. Looking closer, Twilight could swear she saw something dark shifting underneath. Looking ahead, Aigam hovered in a ball of energy. “What am I doing back here?” To answer that, the dark thing that Twilight noticed earlier seemed to move towards her, but was stopped by the glass separating them. Twilight took a step back in surprise, “What is that?” She got no answer. Only a feeling. Twilight held a hoof over her heart, “This thing, it feels familiar, almost like it is a part of me.” Twilight glanced up again, seeing her light shining down. It was warm and inviting. She then glanced down at the darkness below her. “Hold on, is that, my darkness?” The darkness seemed to rise than fall, almost as though if it were trying to answer. Twilight sat where she was, trying to wrap her head around all this. She remembered Luna mentioning at one point that she could be the bridge between light and darkness. Both seemed to be here but out of reach. Twilight tapped the glass that separated it from her. Twilight then glanced around her. Darkness surrounded the platform, but it just felt like an empty void. The one below the glass felt different. Almost like it was meant to be with her, just like the light shining down. “But how do I get to you. How do I get to either of you?” Silence was all Twilight got. She let out a long sigh. “Could you at least give me a hint?” As soon as Twilight asked this, a bit of pain shot through her head. Twilight cried out as she felt herself regaining consciousness. * “Time to wake up Twilight, you wouldn’t want to miss this.” Slowly opening her eyes, Twilight felt her head swim. Her vision was blurry but there was no mistaking the voice. “Dash…” she muttered. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of her, grinning. “Looks like a good slap on the face did the trick.” The world around Twilight soon came into focus. She was strapped to a metal board. Each hoof was held in a metal clasp. It was almost impossible to move herself, other than her head. Twilight felt awful, her body feeling like it had been set on fire. Still though, she did her best to glare menacingly at Rainbow Dash. “Now don’t give me that look. You forced my hoof. You should have stayed in the cell. Now I have no choice.” Rainbow’s grin faltered for a second before returning, “You’re going to make one amazing rainbow Twi, take pride in knowing that. You’re essence is something special, I know it.” Twilight continued to glare. With nothing left to say, Rainbow turned around and made her way to the control panel. She landed a few inches away from it. Two pegasi stood next to her, each with a hoof on the controls. Rainbow glanced at them before looking up at Twilight. “Prepare the Pegasus Device.” The two pegasi nodded as their hooves began turning knobs and pushing seemingly random buttons. Twilight glanced down at them before turning her head toward the giant needle like device in front of her. Fear began to grip Twilight as the machine sputtered to life. Twilight knew she had to come up with something quick. She needed a plan and she needed one now. Twilight dove back into herself. The darkness surrounding her seemed to shimmer slightly but Twilight paid it no heed. Instead, she began pacing back in forth, trying to come up with a solution. Twilight glanced up at the ring around her horn, it was the thing currently preventing her magic. She was being held and could only move her head. She could summon her Keyblade, but she couldn’t do much with it. Without magic, she couldn’t fire a spell at the machine, much less stop it. If only there was some way to get rid of that stupid ring. “Let’s see,” Twilight muttered, “the ring around my head was meant to suppress my magic. The way it works, it's suppose to stop the magic from leaving my horn by slightly draining it before suppressing it and sending it back to the sender.” Twilight stopped, “So what if I try sending it continuously? Pump as much magic as possible, then hope the magic it tries to feed back into me will be too much for it and overload.” Twilight winced, “This is probably going to hurt a lot, but I am out of options. Luckily, I may have a way to make sure I am able to feed enough into it. If I concentrate hard enough, I might be able to tap into that special form. It might drain me, but at least the magic surge should destroy the machine in front of me. Getting out of her will be trickier than ever, but I am out of options.” Twilight returned to her consciousness and saw the needle begin to start twitching to life. Twilight took a deep breath; her heart was racing at a million miles a minute. She just needed to concentrate, tap into whatever reserves she had. Twilight felt her horn twitch as energy began to build. Twilight did her best to let it build up instead of releasing it right away. She thought about her friends, everything that made her angry, and everything that this Rainbow Dash had done. Suddenly, it occurred to Twilight just how many innocent souls had been lost due to this machine. How many ponies were held at the very spot she was, alone and terrified as Rainbow looked on with little emotion. Twilight gritted her teeth; that was something she would not allow to happen ever again. Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise, not a moment ago it looked like Twilight was slumped against the board, ready to accept her fate. Now all of a sudden, she seemed to be… alive. More than that, she almost appeared to be glowing. Twilight let out a low yell as the magic in her horn began to gather more and more. It hurt, and her mind was screaming for a release. But Twilight knew she needed to take it a step further. Twilight could feel herself get warmer. She opened her eyes for a moment and glanced down; she was starting to turn yellow. Twilight took another deep breath and really started to push herself well past her limits. Rainbow looked on in shock; Twilight looked like she was on fire, literally. The pegasi standing to either side of Rainbow glanced back in shock, unsure what to make of it. Rainbow Dash stared back, unsure what to say or how to respond. This was something she hadn’t expected. But then again, that was something Twilight always was, something unexpected. But it was time to end it. Rainbow shook her head, she pushed herself forward and slammed her hoof down on a large lever. The needle sputtered before drawing back. Twilight opened an eye just in time to see the needle rush toward her. Twilight decided it was now or never and released her magic. The magic around her horn sputtered as sparks flew off the ring, Twilight grinned for second as it seemed like it was working. Then dread filled her as she felt something penetrate her mid-section. Twilight glanced down and saw the needle had almost impaled her. Twilight felt her face go pale as her whole body went numb. Her body felt suddenly cold. Rainbow watched as Twilight went from yellow, to purple, then slowly to gray. Twilight could barely think straight, her magic, energy and even consciousness was fading fast. Twilight frantically dove back into herself. The darkness surrounding her had noticeably changed. It seemed to be swimming around her. The picture of herself on the floor was cracked and darkness was flowing from cracks. Twilight glanced around desperately as the light above seemed to fade. Dark tendrils suddenly shot from the cracks and wrapped themselves around Twilight. Crying out in terror and panic, she tried to swat them away but more soon shot out and grabbed onto her. A hole opening up in the floor and the tendrils began dragging Twilight towards it. Twilight tried to fight them but her body was growing weaker by the second. Twilight could now see that a dark shape was waiting for her in the hole. Twilight desperately tried to summon her Keyblade, but nothing came. Twilight felt her body give out from under her as her vision swam. Her body soon fell through the hole and her mind went blank. * Rainbow Dash took a step back. Black lightning was shooting from Twilight who but a moment ago had gone gray and lifeless, was now turning black. She glanced up and locked eyes with Twilight. But who or what stared back shook Rainbow to the core. It did not feel like she was looking at Twilight, she was looking at something else. Twilight’s eyes had gone completely bright yellow. Rainbow felt her legs give out from underneath her as she fell onto her rump. Twilight or whatever the thing was broke free from the metal board. Her horn soon began to charge up as it gathered energy, before quickly releasing it. It let loose an explosion of energy as the whole room was engulfed in darkness. All the while, Rainbow could only scream in terror as she was soon engulfed in a dark inferno.