II: Harrowing
Twilight closed her eyes, focusing on the essence of the black magic. It was not a pleasant process, for she had to draw on the emotion of hatred, an emotion so terrible that ponies shuddered at the thought of such a pointless, malicious emotion. But she had no choice. If she was to escape, she had to draw on the power of hate… and she had the perfect target.
She thought of Sombra, what he’d said of her friends. She imagined him torturing and enslaving her friends, her family, the crystal ponies, and her rage grew. Her horn began to absorb light instead of radiating it, and then a mass of purple energy began to form around her horn as purple trails seeped from her eyes. As before, there was that revulsion at the magic that was overtaking her, but also a strange sense of euphoria... a sense of pleasure as darkness coursed through her.
At last her emotions came to a peak, and she unleashed a blast of black magic at the crystal barrier, the target of her hatred shifting in that moment to the jagged spikes that dared block her progress.
With a terrible cracking and shattering, the blast of magic smashed through the barrier like a vicious battering ram. Quickly, Twilight darted through the opening, using her telekinesis to lift the shards in her path out of the way.
The first thing she saw was the orange sky. When she reached the edge of the tower, she gasped at what had become of the Crystal Empire. What was once a beautiful portrait of green fields and bright crystals was now a hellish landscape filled with jagged black structures, twisted mockeries of the buildings and gems they once were. Crystal ponies in fearsome-looking guard armor patrolled the streets. There were no signs of civilians – or slaves. Perhaps the population was not yet completely subjected, a thought that gave Twilight hope.
Twilight’s thoughts turned to how best to escape. Going over the edge of the tower seemed both unwise and likely to attract attention, while going back the way she came would be longer, but stealthier. And so she proceeded to confront her first obstacle on the way out: stairs.
As formidable as an obstacle as the stairs down were, they were no match for Twilight’s magic. She simply teleported down each circle of stairs to the landing below, repeating the process with ease until she was at the bottom.
Progressing through the doorway, now with no fear of the nightmare-inducing illusion on the other side, she came across… the other huge set of circular stairs. This she would handle similarly to the way she had “climbed” the second set of stairs on her way to the Crystal Heart: She simply reversed gravity for herself and slid down the stairwell.
Or at least, she would have, if the underside of these stairs were smooth. Instead, they were rocky and jagged. Out of panic, Twilight called upon the black magic again, creating a wave of darkness before her that swept across the surface of the stairwell and disintegrated the rough spikes, leaving a smooth path before her. Onward she slid, feeling the rush of adrenalin and dark magic as she plowed a path in front of her, until at last she reached the “top” – and a wall. Thinking quickly, she teleported herself to the top of the stairs, motionless and at last at the top. The pit leading back down disappeared behind her, leaving a solid floor.
Once again, she stood in Sombra’s throne room. But this time, it was completely different. Where once had stood a symmetrical chamber of vibrant crystals, there was now a dark chamber lined with jagged, corrupted onyx. Most urgently, sitting in the throne was Sombra himself, telekinetically holding a crystal goblet – the only thing in the room that didn’t radiate an aura of fear and malevolence – and looking rather pleased with himself.
Too late, Twilight realized she’d been led into a trap. Sombra chuckled and said, “Well done… you’ve progressed quite far, young one.”
“Sombra!” Twilight tried her best to seem brave, a formidable task when it came to an evil sorcerer and somepony who quite possibly had defeated all her friends. “Where are my friends, Shining Armor, Cadence, Spike?!”
Sombra took a long sip from the goblet before answering. “Silly foal.” He glanced at the goblet. “You know what the problem with crystal is? Crystals not enhanced by my magic, of course. The problem is that, while beautiful… they’re also brittle.” With a crunch, he crushed the goblet into shards with his telekinesis. “Weak. Fragile. I can’t stand weakness.” And with that statement, the shards suddenly zoomed towards Twilight.
Startled, Twilight fired a magical blast at the shards, disintegrating them. Immediately, Sombra launched a wave of magical energy from his horn, a crimson ring of force that swept across the room, shattering several crystal spikes around the room and knocking Twilight off her feet, slamming her into the wall opposite Sombra. She jumped to her feet in time to see the shattered crystals rising under Sombra’s power and flying towards her. She closed her eyes and teleported just in time to dodge them, the shards shattering against the wall.
“Impressive,” Sombra said, rising to his hooves and discarding his robe, his metal armor gleaming. Twilight fired a short magical blast at him, only for the missile to reflect off his armor. A pair of similar blasts met the same fate as Sombra laughed, mocking her. Twilight let out a growl of rage and fired again, this time at his grinning face. But Sombra merely dissolved into shadows, the magical blast shattering the throne behind him, before the shadows faded away.
Sombra’s voice called out to Twilight, from directly behind her. “Over here!” Charging her power, Twilight spun towards him, spotting him on the other side of the room. But as she fired a laser of searing magic, he was already dissolving into shadows as the crystal on the wall behind him melted.
“Where are you aiming?” His voice said mockingly. Once again she spun to face him, beam still firing and scorching a path across the wall, only for him to vanish once more as her power faded.
When he reappeared, she could sense him, as shadows congealed right next to her. She expected a magical attack, but instead he swept his foreleg towards her, hitting her legs and tripping her. Swiftly, he followed that up by spinning and bucking at her, but she teleported away just in time.
This time, it was Sombra who turned to face her, but his attack was far more terrible, as he unleashed a massive blast of black magic, half a dozen trails of darkness arcing towards Twilight on the other side of the room. Swiftly, Twilight put up a magical barrier to defend herself. Against five of the blasts, it held, but the sixth broke the shield and knocked her to the ground, stunning her.
A moment later, Twilight felt a push on her side and she was flipped onto her back. When her vision cleared, she saw Sombra standing above her, as a hoof pressed down onto her chest and held her down. His horn glowed, and she felt herself gripped by his magic, unable to teleport away.
He grinned, licking his lips. “Not a bad performance… but you’re holding back.”
Twilight knew he was right. There was only one thing she could do – summon the powers of darkness. It was the only hope she had.
Twilight summoned up every last reserve of power she had, drawing on her fear, her anger, and focusing it into her magic. But this time, something was different. Something weighed heavy on her heart, wormed its way inside her.
Atop her, Sombra grinned, and began to concentrate his own magic. Twilight could sense the power build up within him, and redoubled her efforts. At this, the feeling in her heart intensified, and then changed. It was as though a dark slime had entered her heart, clinging to her veins. Even as she built up her power, her heart began to race, pumping liquid shadow throughout her body like a poison.
Twilight’s eyes stung as their whites changed to green, the iris to red. Even as the darkness began to consume her, she had no choice but to use this power to save herself. She closed her eyes, for just a brief moment, too afraid to open them, too afraid for her life. She wished she wasn’t in this situation, that she was back in Canterlot under Celestia’s protective wing, or in Ponyville, laughing with her friends. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
She opened her eyes, and they stared deep into Sombra’s, his face mere inches from her own, his horn also charging black magic. And as their eyes locked, both her body and mind were paralyzed.
“Well done… Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra’s voice sounded. But this time his lips didn’t move. The voice was completely in her head.
“Please…” She begged, the only word she could manage. Even now, her power continued to surge, independent of her will. The darkness was no longer just in her blood, it was her blood, and her skin, too. It was as though she were immersed in magic… and fear.
“You’ve done everything I’d hoped for, Twilight… especially mastering black magic. Or rather, letting it master you. You’ll make for a fine student…” He took his hoof off her chest. “Now… let it inside you. Let it all inside you. The fear, the hate, the power.”
He bowed his head forward. His curved horn met hers. The masses of magic they were forming merged together and swept over both of them.
It was as though she was swimming in a sea of boiling darkness… burning with a fury and passion that no longer felt disgusting. It felt good, and in that way it felt wrong, for she didn’t want it to feel this way. Hatred wasn't supposed to feel this way, evil wasn't supposed to feel good...
Sombra’s voice washed over her with the darkness. “Enjoy your last thoughts, Twilight… for you will soon be mine.”
It was as though she was drowning in darkness, desperate to breathe in but not caring whether darkness or light entered her body. She could see nothing but Sombra’s eyes, feel nothing but him upon her and the magic around her. At last she let out her last breath of free will, the thought of her friends. Then she breathed in, and the darkness consumed her.
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MOAR!
I liked it
Will read later. this seems promising.
I like this a great deal.
I kinda hope the next chapter is from her friends' point of view. I woudl like to know how they are going to handle Dark Twilight. Ooooh, and especially Celestia's reaction. 
2959889 I thought about that, I really did. Of course, I have no idea how I'd handle that. It's hard enough writing things from Twilight's point of view...
Keep it in Twilight's point of view. Everyone wants to write a diverse story, but with a story like this, I think it would be more compelling, not to mention unique, to focus exclusively on Twilight's POV.
I know what it was... Hehehehe....
lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-132942998239747/logo-2.gif
Let the haters swarm... Hehehehehe
2991667 Boo! get off the stage!
*Chucks rotten tomato*
Oh damn.
You did that scence beautifully I actually saw in my mind's eye Twilight get corrupted and I saw the dark magic take ahold of her
Awsome sauce‼‼