Prologue: Discovery
'Ten to the right, and seven down' Spike counted, setting books on their
appropriate shelves. 'I wonder why Twilight has me doing this?' He thought to himself. 'I
only rearranged the library last week, and she knows nothing's been checked out since
then... maybe it's because she's stressed... I heard her talking to herself yesterday, and
she keeps doing that thing where she paces in a circle.'
Outside the library a light drizzle fell, the occasional thick raindrop smacking
the window, out of tune with the others. The moon hung low over the trees, making its
slow climb up to the top of the heavens and casting a silver glow down on the buildings
below. The crisp autumn wind drove all into their homes, wet leaves absorbing the rain
or dissolving into ruddy brown and copper flecks. Soon snow would begin to fall in
Ponyville, and the winter festivities would begin. The collecting of the leaves and the
warm fires would start. But for now all that seemed worlds away in the tide of the brisk
fall gale.
As painstaking as organizing the whole library was, Spike had the feeling that
something was amiss with Twilight. She seemed different since her talk with Celestia, a
short three days ago in the wake of the personality-swapping bedlam. Every day she woke
up more tense, and whenever he would ask to make her something she would always
turn it away, no matter how extravagant the dish he'd offer to procure. Even tea was
beginning to be turned down. For Twilight that was like forgetting to breathe. As wrong
as it felt, he was beginning to worry for her well-being, whereas normally she was the
one fretting over his. So he'd made a resolution. If things kept getting worse, he would
ask her about it.
With that he picked up the last book and put it away, snugly fitting it between
two thick tomes on the history of pegasus casting rituals. Sighing, the young dragon
descended the ladder, hoping that he could get upstairs in time to catch Twilight awake.
She was sleeping a lot more than usual; extremely odd for a pony as owlish as her. Every
other month she stayed up until at least three in the morning and caught an hour or two
of sleep. Now it seemed to be her most absorbing activity. She slept from roughly six at
night until nine the next day sometimes. Then she always woke up looking awful, saying
she wasn't rested and hadn't slept a wink. The more Spike thought about it, the more he
saw that was askew with his caretaker.
As he set the stool against the wall in the cupboard, he turned to see that the
curtains were drawn. Just a moment ago he'd sworn that they were open, letting in a
small ray of moonlight. Another queer phenomenon that was becoming more and more
frequent as the days went on. Objects would move without warning, with no hint of the
aura that usually accompanied magic. Cups would float up to their respective cupboards,
which would open and then allow its contents to be stacked neatly before closing. Plates
he had to wash would wash themselves, the curtains would draw themselves, chairs
would straighten as you walked into the room, among many others. It was nice to have
the household tidy itself, but in a way it was also bothered him in a way words couldn't describe.
The sudden urge to cough clawed at the back of his throat. That only meant one
thing. Clearing his throat dutifully, he breathed a jet of green flame, which then took
the form of a scroll. Spike expertly caught it and prepared to march upstairs to set it on
Twilight's nightstand for when she woke. But something stopped him. An urge he'd never
felt before. It was strictly against Twilight's rules to ever open a letter from anypony
without her express permission. Despite that, he felt the urge to break the wax seal on
the scroll and read it. Something told him that whatever was written there was the
whole reason why his guardian was acting how she was. Almost against his will and
directly opposite his better judgment, he felt his claw slide across the parchment, separating the two ends of the paper in a seamlessly straight line.
'Dear Twilight,
I know that you're under a great deal of stress right now, but please try not to
panic. As I explained in my previous letter, eventually your body will adjust to the amount
of magic you are now capable of producing. I'm also afraid that, although I put my best
efforts into it and several of my best researchers did as well, I have found no way to
change you into a unicorn again. Even more grim, what I have found is that if you were to
become just a unicorn yet again, you would... meet an unfortunate fate. The amount of
energy you contain cannot be contained in any lesser creature, and there are rare few
whom could hold more. For now it is simply best that you stay as you currently are and
acclimate to your new-found abilities.
On a less civil note, I'm sorry to tell you that there will be a long list of things that will begin to change about you in the very near future. For one, you will begin to feel ill. I have to ask you to refrain from eating or drinking anything right now, as any interference with your metamorphosis could cause unbearable pain. Avoid light sources, as your eyes will be especially sensitive from here on out. Finally, you may have very real physical changes in your anatomy besides the obvious exclusion of having wings. These might be pointing of the ears, mane-color changing, increased strength, sharper fangs, alterations to your Cutie Mark, and finally, much to your displeasure, a heightened sense of touch. It can make something as simple as bumping into a bench excruciating.
Finally, I have to include a few things I found about what may happen to you mentally. My research says that you may lose sight of who you are for a while, in the face of the sudden change to your body and drastically heightened senses. You may have an encounter with the 'Anti-Twilight', as it is. Both me and Luna have an antithesis, so I have no reason to think you will be exempt from this pattern. Also, things you may have found appalling may very suddenly seem like explorable venues. I must ask that you make sure you have a moral anchor, otherwise your dementia may be far more severe, and you might not like what you did during your psychosis.
If you need to contact me personally for any reason, I have imbued a
teleportation spell into the parchment on the scroll. It will bring you to me no matter
what the distance, and may be activated by saying my name three times.
P.S. I beg of you, please keep all of this from your friends and report any
strange symptoms to me as fast as you can manage. I don't remember when I became an
alicorn, nor is there records of my youth, but if there is any way I can alleviate any
discomfort I will do so.
Your Friend,
Celestia '
Spike's head was spinning at what he'd just read. When he'd seen Twilight with
her wings she had told him that it was 'merely cosmetic' and that it didn't really make
her an alicorn. She had lied to him. Since then her wings were gone, but he couldn't
help but think that she was hiding something from him. Now he knew, the whole three
days she'd been avoiding him by locking herself in her room and pretending to sleep.
Feigning illness so that she could spare him and her friends the gory details of her
transformation. As much as he sympathized with her, Spike felt slightly hurt by her
secrecy. If anything, having her friends know would make it all the more bearable.
Biting his lip, he set towards the stairs. He didn't know how he was going to tell
her that he had completely disobeyed her rules and broken her trust. But if she used it
against him he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from telling her that she had
broken his, and what he did was no worse than her crime. Even though inside he knew it
was juvenile, using the 'eye for an eye' argument. Just as his hand was about to reach
for the door handle, it opened.
Twilight was sitting on her bed, in front of the window with the high moon in
front of her, basking her in it's silver light. Spike could only see her outline, standing
down by the door, in the head of her long shadow. As he stepped inside the door closed
silently, the slight 'click' of the lock the only clue it had shut. Twilight opened her wings,
and in response her shadow did the same, the tips of her feathers touching either side of
the room. Her real wings were about three times her width, each flight feather only
slightly allowing the light from the moon to pass through, making a misty, opaque pink
mist spread over the walls behind her.
Spike cleared his throat to begin his explanation when his mentor rose from
her bed, walking down the stairs as silently as a leopard. He gulped down air instead,
fearing that she would be more upset at him that what he'd first thought. As she walked
towards him, a plethora of candles lit themselves on a table that Spike hadn't noticed
before, in the very center of the room. The flames were an eerie purple, revealing
Twilight striding in his direction, a phantom cloaked in mauve. Just as she was in front
of him, she stopped, standing before him and letting out a very tired, lethargic sigh.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times, Spike." She breathed, the scroll
jerking from his grasp. "Don't read my mail."
In a seemingly short two sentences she had summed up the emotions roiling
for attention in her heart. Her tone expressed pain, and she showed it in her eyes as
plainly as if she had written it there. The way she moved seemed slow, indecisive. To say
that Spike was reading her like a book would be a perfect description. He could tell by
the way she kept shuffling her hooves that she was wondering just how much to tell him
about her transformation. How she was going to tell him she was now an alicorn, and
might just be forced into being a princess.
"Spike. I want you to know that I'm still your mentor, and the pony that hatched
you all those years ago. With that said... I'm going to have to tell you something that I'm
not proud of."
"Yeah, I know. You lied to me and-" He began
"No, not that. I need to tell you that I might go away, soon. Very soon. And if you
decide to follow me, you will never see Ponyville again. We'll have to go to Canterlot.
It's the only safe place for me right now. And by default, everypony I call a friend has to come too."
Spike had barely processed the words when he protested. "Why would we have
to leave? You're an alicorn now, what could possibly put you in danger?"
"Chrysalis." Twilight said, bowing her head. "Discord. Luna is having trouble
with her nightmares again. Maybe Nightmare Moon will try to come after me. Anypony
who wants a bargaining chip against Celestia will be on the hunt once news gets out
about this. And it will. The worst part is that, for now, I'm just as strong as any regular
old unicorn. Not even that. I'm weak. I can't eat anything. I can't sleep. Sometimes I
forget to breathe and then realize I've been holding my breathe for an hour. Time
passes... so slowly, it's like the clock ticks backwards sometimes. I see things, and those
are the ones I've experienced so far. I can't even imagine what's going to happen later."
"Why can't Celestia just come here?"
"She prefers the protection that comes with a three millennia of overlapped
protective spells, hard stone walls and an army of guards patrolling at all hours."
Spike fell silent. That was hard to argue with. Twilight turned her back to him
and pulled a book from her bed, levitating it over to him with magic. She felt herself
slipping every second that she spent idling. If she wasn't focused, it was as if a fog would
settle on her mind and she couldn't find the right thoughts. Even words became hard to
locate if she failed to concentrate. She was fighting a losing battle against her own body,
and soon she would have to face it that she would lose control. She didn't know what
would happen when she did, but she knew that she wouldn't be the calm, collective mare
she was anymore.
"Spike... you can set the scroll on the table. That book goes in section A-7."
Just as Spike was leaving she shot over her shoulder. "Oh, and bring me a copy
of 'Binding the Untouchable: A guide on mental manipulations', please..."
When Spike had left she let her composure slip. Tears formed in her eyes the
size of marbles, three days worth of frustration held in the crystalline droplets. Twilight
didn’t know when she'd lose her sanity, or to what degree, but she knew it would happen.
Within the next two weeks, she would snap. She would lose her battle with the mist that
hung at the edges of her mind, and she would lose herself in it. Something in there was
calling her, an archaic beacon that she didn't have the will to resist. All she could do was pray that she was far away from anypony she held dear when she finally lost control.
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i like it hopefully you'll finish it since twice now you've canceled and taken down stories that i liked and hoped you'd finish
' It pays the cost to be a boss. '
Poor Twilight.
Yay
Wow, this really surprised me! Keep on it, sir!
interesting
Q: will this be TwiSpike?
Oh the sweet thrills and wonders for Twilight in the future. I hope to read more!
good!
the household tidy itself, but in a way it also bothered him in a way words couldn't describe.