The Truth Behind Magic
Galloping through the darkness of the Everfree Forest, an older unicorn is scared for her life. Being pursued by three or more ponies for an unknown reason was the most frightening moment of her long life. The darkness clouding her vision prevented her from seeing the rock in the path and felt an extreme pain shoot up her leg as her hoof connected with it. The loud crack of her hoof splitting echoed through the forest, attracting her pursuers directly to her. As her vision faded she saw that she was surrounded by the ponies that were chasing her. Struggling against their grasp she managed to rip off one of their patches which flew into a nearby bush.
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The news about a missing pony spread through Ponyville like wild fire and in a very short time everypony in town knew about it. Twilight Sparkle had just finished reading the Ponyville newspaper and became very concerned about the disappearance. She had heard about other disappearances around Equestria and they all involved unicorns. Not thinking much about it until this latest disappearance, Twilight had continued on in her life and studies.
This event struck a chord in Twilight’s mind that she couldn’t explain, but she had to investigate this further to try and prevent more disappearances. Setting down the newspaper Twilight looked around her study and saw that she had some work to do studying some plant life. These specific plants were located in the Everfree Forest and she had to go now or else it would get dark before she finished.
Lifting her supplies into saddlebag with her magic, she placed it on her back and headed out the door. As Twilight walked through town she tried hard to avoid her friends so she wouldn’t have to talk about the disappearance. This didn’t work to her advantage as she ran into a frantic Rarity.
“Twilight! Did you hear about that unicorn disappearing last night? It’s horrible! I just finished an order for dresses but now the client doesn’t want to pick it up! So now I have to go all the way to Fillydelphia to drop it off so I can get paid.”
“That’s terrible Rarity I hope you have a safe journey now I must be on my way to do some plant studies before it gets too dark.”
“Take care of yourself Twilight I couldn’t imagine life if you disappeared as well.”
As Twilight walked away she turned her head and said “I will Rarity, I’ll try to finish up as fast as I can.” Continuing through town she made it to the edge of the forest without running into anymore of her friends. Walking into the forest was always weird for her, noticing the sudden change of the world around her. The shade from the tree tops darkened everything around her and a mist rose up from the ground further restricting her vision.
After what seemed like an hour Twilight finally came across the plants she was here to study. During her study she noticed that some of the other plants around her looked like they were trampled. Curious she walked over and saw some horseshoe prints on the ground closing into a circle. Inside the circle she noticed a small dark patch in the dirt, that didn’t match what was around it. Looking closer she noticed it very closely resembled dried blood. Frightened she realized that this must have been where the missing unicorn was last night. Looking around nervously her eyes caught a glimpse of something caught a glimpse of something caught in one of the bushes nearby.
The purple glow of Twilight’s horn dimly lit up the area as it surrounded the object in the bush. Pulling it closer she saw that it was a patch with intricately stitched lettering across the middle. BMS? I wonder what that stands for? I have never seen that before in my life. Lifting a folder out of her bag she placed the patch inside and finished her studies, unaware that four pegasi were watching her.
While Twilight left the Everfree Forest she thought to herself, maybe Rarity knows who stitched this patch, I’m sure she knows all the other fashion designers in Equestria. After arriving at Rarity’s boutique she saw the closed sign on the door and started knocking. “Rarity are you in there? I need to talk to you about something.” Silence on the other side was her only response, when suddenly Twilight remembered Rarity was on her way to Fillydalphia to deliver an order. She can’t believe she had forgotten, but decided that maybe this isn’t the best thing to tell her friend about.
Walking home the darkness started to build as the sun lowered and Twilight didn’t want to be out when it got completely dark. Arriving at the library Twilight noticed most of the lights were out when they should have been on. That Spike he must have gone to bed early or something. Opening the door she walked in and placed her saddlebag on her desk and lit a candle. As the light came to be Twilight saw that she was boxed in by four pegasi.
“Wh-who are you? The library is closed please come back tomorrow.” The pegasi didn’t say anything as they pulled in closer, making her unable to move. Too frightened to fight back one of the pegasus pushed a cloth onto her nose and mouth, as another wrapped a strip of black cloth around her eyes preventing her from seeing. She started getting light headed and saw gray start to close in inside her eyelids before finally passing out.
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Twilight started awake as ice cold water splashed onto her face and ran down her chest. The world around her was black and attempting to move was restricted by straps holding her onto the chair she was currently sitting in. A sudden light flooded her vision as the blindfold she didn’t know she was still wearing came off.
As her eyes slowly adjusted she saw that she was in a stark white room with no furniture, and a dark brown pegasus standing in front of her wearing a beret with BMS stitched onto it. The pegasus didn’t say anything, he just stood there looking at her until she finally said something. “Who are you? Where am I?”
“My name isn’t important.” He said before continuing, “You are in one of the holding cells at the BMS Headquarters. I have something to discuss with you before you can go home.”
“BMS Headquarters? I have never heard of this place before, and what do you want to discuss?”
“BMS stands for the Bureau of Magical Safety, it is a well-kept secret. Princess Celestia only knows of its existence but not its purpose, which is what we are going to discuss.” Twilight was at a loss for words, a secret organization that even Princess Celestia doesn’t have full knowledge about? This is crazy. “You see Miss Sparkle we have been watching you for a long time now. You pose to be one of the fastest degrading unicorns we have ever come across. For this reason, and you coming across one of our more messy apprehensions, is why you are here.”
“Fastest degrading unicorn? What are you talking about?”
The pegasus looked at her in silence before nodding his head and explaining. “A unicorn’s mind degrades as it uses magic, usually this is a small amount and they can live long lives before finally losing their minds. We take them and bring them here so they can’t do significant damage to ponies around them.”
“Why are you telling me all of this? What’s stopping me from telling other ponies about what has been going on?”
“If you do tell other ponies and it shuts us down, you are then responsible for the destruction of this world. As to why we are telling you all of this, it is so you know that in a couple of years or possibly less we will be coming to bring you here.”
“But why so soon? You said unicorns can live a long life. Also why haven’t you taken Princess Celestia or Princess Luna? The have been using magic longer than any other pony in Equestria.”
“Irrelevant the princesses are alicorns, the pegasus blood running through their veins cancels out any effects magic has on their mind. You are to be taken so soon because you are stronger in magic than any other pony since Star Swirl the Bearded. The magic has a greater effect on your mind because you use it so much.”
“But what if I stop using magic or not use it as much? Would it help me at all?”
Shaking his head the pegasus continued. “It wouldn’t matter at this point Miss Sparkle, the effect has already taken root in your mind, and it is only a matter of time before complete degradation. Once that happens you become a threat to everypony you ever loved.
"What kind of threat?"
"You will want to kill them all and probably will unless we can pick you up first."
"Oh..."
"Our time is almost up do you have any last questions before we take you home?”
“No, no more questions, but I do have a request. When it is time for me to go, will you let my friends know that I will always love them and miss them dearly?”
“Yes Miss Sparkle, I will make sure they get the message.” At that point the pegasus looked deeply saddened as he replaced the blindfold and put Twilight Sparkle back to sleep.
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Two years later Twilight Sparkle’s life had been as great as she had always wanted. She had gotten married and had two children of her own, a beautiful unicorn girl and a very talented pegasus boy. Her little girl showed much promise to be even more powerful with magic than herself. It saddened her to know that her time was almost up and that her children would go through life without a mother.
Twilight had felt her mind start to slip over some months now and she had crazy thoughts about killing everyone she knew. Then one night as she looked out of the top window of the library she saw the same four pegasi outside. She moved slowly into her children’s room and smiled down upon them before heading outside to start her new life with others like herself.
I will see you again in a few years my dear Star Shine.