Returning to Dark Water

by ImNoPony

Chapter 1- The Cup of Despair

It was late into the evening and Princess Luna had already risen up the moon. Peace and serenity had filled Ponyville and place it in a calming and worry-less atmosphere. A few ponies are out on dates or strolls, but most of them are inside enjoying the relaxing evening or dining with friends. And at the Castle of Friendship, where the residential princess of friendship lies, things aren't that much different.

In the royal map chamber, 5 out of the 6 council of friendship members was enjoying a lovely dinner that was prepared by their loyal and faithful dragon, Spike. They were having tasty apple pies with ingredients freshly bucked from Sweet Apple Acres and baked to a golden crisp with help from some dragon fire. And in the middle of the lovely meal, the girls were busy chatting and sharing their individual stories.

"... And then, after we did our "Double-Tornado Barrel Roll", I did my iconic Sonic Rainboom to end off the show!" Rainbow Dash explained.

And Rarity then adds: "Yes, yes, it must have been spectacular. I've even heard the shocking boom over at my boutique."

"Yeah, sorry Rarity."

"Oh, no need to worry about that dearie. It was quite alright."

Rainbow Dash and Rarity had previously gone to Canterlot for their own respective careers. Rainbow for fulfilling her Wonderbolt duties and perform at the Wonderbolt Flight Show and Rarity to attend to her Canterlot boutique.

Once she was done with their story, Rainbow face Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack and ask them: "So, how was Ponyville while we were away? Any action that we missed out on?"

"No, nothing much" Twilight sighed in disappointment. "Everything was mostly quiet here at Ponyville."

Detecting Twilight's misery, Rarity worriedly asks her: "What's the matter, dearie?"

"Oh, she's just upset that there was another map mission and the map didn't pick her this time" Applejack explained.

Intrigued, Rainbow Dash enquirers: "A Map Mission! Who was picked?"

Fluttershy answers: "I think it was Pinkie Pie and Starlight."

"Which is absurd since she just had another map mission!" Twilight moaned.

And then, almost on queue, all of them suddenly heard a loud door shutting in the next room. When all of them turn towards the room's entrance, an energized Pinkie and a de-energized Starlight enter the room.

"Hi, Everypony! We're Back!"

"Yeah... We're back... woo hoo..."

"Hello, girls. How was the mission?" Rarity greeted.

Pinkie explains: "It was great! We went to a far off village on the edge of Equestria!"

But then Starlight adds: "And we had to hike half of the way because the trains didn't reach that far."

And Pinkie continues: "And we had to deal with a couple who had problems with their magical studies and spending time together!"

"Which involved several hours of tutoring and sleep-depriving time managing" Starlight moaned.

"And we ended up facing an Ursa Minor!"

"Twice!"

After hearing their story, everyone was understandably amazed. Twilight remarks: "Well you guys. That sounds like a really tiring story."

"You can say that again" Pinkie replied... before collapsing down on her chair.

But then Starlight states: "Actually, I think I will. It was really tiring!" And then she collapses onto the map table.

Everyone instantly senses the anger and frustration in Starlight Glimmer's voice. "Oh, you poor, poor pony" Rarity exclaimed as she patted Starlight's back. "Here. Have a rest on my fainting couch." And then with her magic, Rarity lift Starlight to her couch (which suddenly appeared from hammer space).

Once she was on the comfy couch, Starlight's tense body finally relaxed and unwind. "Thank you, guys. And sorry for yelling."

"That's ok, Starlight" Fluttershy replies. "But I must say, that was a mighty yell."

Applejack then comments: "Yeah! Has there been a lot on your plate lately?"

"Yeah" Starlight answered. "First, I helped Maud in her rock stone research. Then I helped Trixie in improving her magic show. And... I will admit that I may have stayed up too late practicing spells."

Rainbow secretly rolled her eyes as she expected this from "Twilight #2". Everypony else was a bit more concerned and Rarity suggests: "Well do you know what you need? A Trip to the Spa!"

However, Starlight disappointingly responds: "That's a nice thought Rarity, but unfortunately my money is currently all tied up and I can't really spend too much at the moment."

After that, all the ponies became stumped. They all want to help Starlight to relax and get remove some of her stress, but none of them could think a good alternative that is cheap or doesn't require much hard work. But then, with a light appeared over her head, Pinkie shouts:

"Oh Yeah!"

"What is it Pinkie?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie turn to Twilight and ask back: "Twilight, is that new spring resort ready yet?"

When she said that, everyone didn't know what she meant and was confused. As she was trying to figure it out, Twilight mutters: "Spring resort? Do you mean... OH! You mean those springs."

And like that, everypony else realize and remember what Pinkie's talking about, except for Starlight. However, instead of being happy or jovial, everyone became upset and moan.

"Oh, don't remind me of that" Rainbow Dash moans.

"That was a time that is best left forgotten" Rarity agreed.

"Mmm Hmm" Fluttershy sounded.

Starlight was lost. She could see that she's out of the loop of something that must have happened before she came to Ponyville. But whatever it is, it must have caused much discomfort if it causes her friends to be this upset. Hesitantly, Starlight asks: "Um... What you all talking about?"

Rainbow Dash cover her face with her hooves and moans: "Oh, Don't Get Us Started!"

Eventually, Twilight build up her strength and tells Starlight: "Quite a while ago, we all found these magical springs on the edge of Equestria and we all thought we should go in for a dip. But when we get out, we were......... evil."

Starlight froze with a shock expression on her face. "Evil?"

"*Sigh* Yep..."

"Like "Evil" Evil!? As in taking over Equestria kind of evil!?"

Applejack explains: "We weren't all weren't quite that bad, but some of us did think about conquering."

And then softly, Rarity moans on the side of the table that Starlight noticed. However, Twilight openly raised her hoof she admits that she was also a conqueror.

"Yeah, well, fortunately for me, I just got over confident and I just made Sonic Rainbooms all day" Rainbow Dash admitted.

AJ admits: "I was some maniacal business mare who might have disowned her sister if I was left for too long."

"Wow" Starlight exclaimed. She turns to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and says to them: "I bet you two weren't that bad, right?"

But then Pinkie blatantly admits: "Oh No! We were quite bad. I set up bombs all over Ponyville and force ponies to watch my bad comedy."

And Fluttershy embarrassingly confesses: "And I may have... Led a charge of Everfree animals to attack Ponyville filled with angry bears, deadly deer, and bunnies playing war drums."

Starlight was left astonished. She thought that she was the only pony with a questionable past and found this revelation quite comforting (even though she knows that they were influenced by dark waters). "Wow... I guess we all were bad at one point or another."

"Yeah" Twilight admitted softly. "If it weren't for Spike, Princess Luna, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who know what we would have done."

"But still, I'm amazed somepony managed to stop you all. If you all worked together and were evil, I would think you all would be pretty much unstoppable."

"Funny enough, that's what Princess Luna said" Rarity responded. "Fortunately for all of Equestria, the dark waters had actually ruined our friendship and we spent as much time fighting each other than with other people."

But then Rainbow Dash ponders out loud: "But you have to wonder? How far all of us would have gotten if we really tried to conquer Equestria?"

Worried, Applejack gave Dash a suspicious eye and says: "Dash... You aren't sayin' that's something we should have done, right?"

"What! Of Course Not!" Dash angrily denied. "I'm just saying!"

However, even though the conversation has become a little more light hearted again, Starlight asks: "So anyway, why did you bring up the waters that made you all evil?"

"Oh Right!" Twilight exclaimed. She explains: "Well after the incident was sorted with and Zecora made us the antidote to turn us good again, we went and purify the springs. The springs are now harmless and we're planning to upon up a new resort there in the near future."

"Oh Wow" Starlight responded. "And... have they already made it yet."

Twilight answers: "Well... no, I think they're still preparing the ground work. But if I were to give them a message to let them know you were coming, I'm sure they would let you in for free."

"Hmm... I think... that actually sounds quite nice. I think I might actually go there in the morning."

"Well, it's settled then" Rarity happily proclaims.

And with that, everypony in the room began making joyful sounds of agreement and celebration (even though it was for one small thing). Starlight is especially curious about the waters that cause her friends, who she sees as the most paragon of ponies, evil.

But within the celebration, Twilight suddenly senses something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like a cold draft that entered the room. She eventually got over it in a minute, but she still hopes that it was unwarranted fear.

---

Later that evening, everypony has returned home and were in bed. The castle was sound asleep and Starlight's room was half messy with her preparation for you excursion in the morning. However, even though everything was peace and quiet, Princess Twilight couldn't get to sleep.

As she was rolling around in her bed, she couldn't shake the bad feeling that she felt earlier. It was like her instincts are demanding her to get up and investigate the bad presence or they wouldn't let her sleep. Eventually, Twilight couldn't take it any longer and get out of bed.

Twilight quietly left her room and softly sneak down the hallway. She still thinks that it was only her imagination acting up and didn't want to disturb either Starlight or Spike. The princess explored her crystalline castle for a good solid 10 minutes before she felt like that she had enough and want to get back to bed.

However, as soon as Twilight was about to head back, she notices a slime light protruding through a door that was left unclosed. Twilight's nerves shook more than an earthquake as she had thought that she had turned off all the lights before she went to bed. But while the small pony is fearing what may lie inside, she remembers that she is an alicorn princess and had face much worse foes than a house intruder. Twilight stilled her nerves and went into the still lite room.

When she went inside, Twilight was surprised to see and realize that it was the map room. Everything seemed untouched and nothing was out of the ordinary. But as she was looking around for even the slightest sign of disturbance, Twilight then notice a glass of water on the map table. Twilight was confused as she thought all of her friends had finished their drinks and she couldn't imagine a burglar would pour themselves a glass without drinking it. The princess then slowly makes her way towards the glass, being cautious of any traps that may lay in wait.

But nothing happened. Twilight made it to the glass of water without any trouble and no traps sprang out at her. But as she picks it up with her magic and closely examines the contents, Twilight couldn't help but feel that there's something familiar about the water. Just the way that it looks and how she could sense the sinister presence that is hidden under the ordinary appearance. And then, as Twilight looked at it so closely that a bit of it was about to touch her face, she finally recognizes what it is.

It was the dark water.

Twilight slam the glass on the table and quickly move away from it. She couldn't believe what she had just found and she was shocked and horrified by the sight of it. She thought that all the dark waters have been cleansed and the springs have been purified from the dark magic. And while she was shocked, a voice suddenly echoed in the room.

"Well, Well, Princess! I bet you surprised to see the dark waters again!"

The voice readied Twilight nerves and she lite up her horn with her magic.

"Who Goes There!" she shouted. "Show Yourself Immediately!"

And then, appearing from behind the chair that Twilight's normally sits, a pony in a hooded cloak emerges. Twilight couldn't tell if they were an unicorn, earth pony or a pegasus or even their overall appearance. However, she could tell that he was male and see a confident smirk through the darkness of the hood and she light up her horn even more with anger.

"Wow, Wow, Wow!" the intruder pony sounded. "Let me say what I got to say and I'll let you blast me with your magic anyway that you want."

"Ok Then! Tell Me!" Twilight shouted. "Tell me how you got into my castle and why to do you the dark water in your possession!?"

"Ok, to answer your first question, it wasn't that hard. The front door may be locked, but one of the windows was opened and your don't really have any guards patrolling your castle, does it?"

"Shoot!" Twilight yelled in her head. She always knew that she needed guards to protect her castle. It just that the type of guards that she really wanted is already employed to other princesses and ain't quite sure how to manage them yet.

But the intruder then says: "But as for your second question, well that's mainly why I'm here... Can't I move around the table so I can speak to you a bit closer?" Twilight remained silent but did move towards the side. "Good."

As he trod around the map, the intruder explains: "Well you see, I'm your common, every day, bored pony who happen to see you and your friends entering those spring waters when you first discover them. Like you, I initially thought nothing of it. But then I follow you all back to Ponyville and I fell in love!"

"WHAT!" Twilight shouted in disgust. "You Liked Seeing Me And My Friends Becoming Evil and Destroying Our Town!?"

"Guilty" he replied. "I just love seeing Equestria being challenged by harsh monsters and evil conquerors and having "heroes being turned evil" was a nice change of pace. Oh, I'm not evil or like seeing ponies getting hurt, it's just that I'm bored of seeing some old peaceful Equestria and want to spice things up."

Twilight was both speechless and horrified. She couldn't believe how blatantly honest the intruder is to his malevolent intentions. She even thinks that he could give Applejack a run for her money in the honesty department.

"So... What!? You want me to take the dark water and turn evil again!?"

"Well if I didn't, I wouldn't have rushed back to the springs and saved whatever water that I could before you cleansed it" he nonchalantly and jokingly replied.

"And you expect ME to willingly drink it? Fully Knowing what will happen to me!?"

"Well, I know it wouldn't be that easy, but just look."

The intruder then picks up the glass of dark water and show it in front of Twilight's face. At first, she didn't know what she needs to look at. But then, as she spotted her reflection on the glass, Twilight notice something off about it. The eyes of her reflection were bright red and had a much more serious look than the surprised and confused face that Twilight was making.

"Didn't this make you confident?" the intruder confidently asked. "Didn't it give you new goals to strive towards. Didn't it give you the perfect image of Equestria that is much more safer and smarter than Celestia ever could? And what is "evil" really, asides to support an ill conceived notion of "objective morality?"

As the intruder pony continues to speak, the more tempting it is for Twilight to succumb to the darkness. Let her dark intentions run wild and let her be the destiny of her own life. Her voice of reason was shouting and reminding her that this isn't who she is. However, she does want Equestria to be safe and be better than what it currently is and starting to think that the dark water will help motivate her.

"And think of it this way; If your friends do stop you, you can always blame the water for whatever action that you might do.

And with that, Twilight held the glass with her magic. The dark water, mere centimeters away from her lips truly corruption her to the dark side. With the intruder waited with baited breath, Twilight makes her decision.

Comments

[Alphamon_Ouryuken]

It's about time somebody made a story centered around that story arc from the comic! You now have my attention, this should prove interesting...

[PixelMoon]

Finally! A story of Dark Water! Please continue before Pinkamena comes and takes hold of you for cupcakes.

[Viper Pit]

dun dun DUUUUUNN

[ImNoPony]

8352639
And what is that surprising music for?

[Viper Pit]

8352641
twilight not dumping the water on the floor like she should of done instead of drinking it