The change was in her hands. The chants of her peers that prodded her were moments ago. The threat of losing her dream school by her principal were many moments past. The hard words lashed out at her by the girl called Sunset Shimmer were long since gone in what time had gone by. In the moment she held the device that had come to trap the magic she came into contact with this day, she was the sole person in control. All the research she had done and the trials she faced were out before here. And not simply as theories and ideas; but as tangible possibilities.
And that overtook her more than anything else.
A force beyond her imagination fluxed around her; sending waves of energy that frightened others away. Canterlot High looked at her in awe; in fear. Crystal Prep looked at her in fear; in awe. Even as her trapper fell to the ground, the magic still stayed with her. The magic took her; consumed her in a sparking display of magic. Her screams were met with people backing away from her with fear. Her words fell on attentive ears, but bewildered forms. Too bewildered to save her. And she was consumed within all the magic she had stolen; purposely or not. Tears fell down to meet the very device she created and used; purposely or not.
Help... Me...
The magic that enveloped her body did also to her mind. As it did, she felt something outside of her own form and outside of even the magic around her.
...Why?
What? W-Who's there?
Why do you need help?
I... I'm afraid.
Why?
I don't know...
You don't know why you're afraid?
I don't know... That's why I'm afraid.
...I am sorry.
What's going on? Where am I? I don't understand anything. Why is this happening?
You are lost, child. That is the answer to all of those questions and more.
But I was just at Canterlot High. I just used all the magic I... I took...
And now you are here. You are as smart as another who was here. You can piece together well what is going happening.
It's a magic thing... Am I correct? I'm still where I was when I used the magic?
Then where is here?
...Nowhere?
You can't be nowhere. Everywhere is somewhere. So, where is here?
My... Mind?
If it is, why are you confused? Is your mind that lost that when you go into it, you can't recognize it?
...Sometimes. Sometimes I don't want to be alone with my own thoughts.
And yet you wanted more private study time with yourself?
No. I wanted more time to study alone... I wanted to be alone with more books, more ways to learn. More things to busy my mind and time.
Are you afraid of loneliness?
Everyone is in some way...
...I am sorry.
Why?
Your heart is covered in scars... And none of them are closed all the way.
What do you mean?
You're crying on the inside... You're so sad...
Everyone's a little sad... There's nothing wrong with that. It just happens and we have to move on so we can reach a better tomorrow. That's all.
You're so divided on the inside... It's conflicted...
I don't understand what you mean. People need inner conflict, don't they? They have to question themselves, right?
It's a deep coldness on the inside... You have so little warmth...
I do! I have my brother, the dean, my friends...! I'm... I'm not cold on the inside... I'm not.
I'm so sorry...
Why are you so sorry? Why do you keep saying you're sorry?
There were others before you, child.
Others?
They touched the same magic you did. And they achieved a greatness none other could possibly achieve.
...What happened to them?
They reunited a warring country. They banished evil far away from their world. They turned flesh to stone and stone to flesh. They created eternal life. They opened doors none had known could exist. They saved empires. They crushed discrimination and manifested equality in a single form. They created harmony.
That's... Good... Right?
They also drove wedges between one another. They cast out their own blood. They wept themselves to sleep for hundreds of lonely years. They watched as loved ones passed on. They tore each other to pieces. They lied. They drove one another into discord.
That's bad... Right?
I'm so sorry...
Why...?
You will hurt, child. You will hurt like they did... But I swear to you, child. When next we meet, you will be something greater.
I don't understand. What's going on? I'm lost! You said so yourself. Help me! Please...
I was wrong, child... You are not lost. They are...
They? Who?
You are going to hurt, child... But it will be fine.
I don't want to be hurt! I want this to stop!
No... You misunderstand. You are going to hurt. Like they did.
I... I... I don't know what you mean...
They will forgive you, Twilight. I promise you... Even after you hurt them... They will forgive you. Just look to the sunset, and the sunrise will follow.
I don't understand any of this! Why won't you tell me anything?!
Shush... It will begin soon. And when it ends, you will know all that I do... If only for a moment.
I'll... Understand magic?
Yes... We will meet again, Twilight Sparkle. I promise.
The light that filled all the eyes at the Friendship Games faded to a sight none could believe. The Twilight they knew had changed into a monster; a monster in the same vane as the one those of Canterlot High had known once. Only this was Twilight Sparkle, the one who vanquished the same sort of monster once. And she was laughing. Laughing mad with what power she now had.
Her words echoed over the gravely silent field beneath her.
"You were right! I didn't understand magic before!" What occurred after was beyond reason of the human world. Magic split the earth -split the air- and opened way to something -somewhere- else. The rips grew in multitude with each passing second and each toss of one of Twilight's spells.
"But I do now!"
In a single second the battle had ended. Though in a single before the battle was started. For each second before, there were to be another thousand stories to tell. Each of those stories Twilight would come to learn right along with the ones who will share on the future seconds that will one day come and let themselves be known.