Lord Phantom

by GlassAlicorn

Dark Memories

Chapter 5: Dark Memories.

Twilight decided that she must've been dreaming, because she had no idea how she ended up in this dark, foggy area. She could barely see the cold stone floor under her hooves, as the fog was so thick and enveloping. She tried lighting up her horn, but it didn't help her see well enough to be worth it. As if there was anything to see. It was all a vast emptiness. Nothing more.

“Hello?” she dared to say, receiving no response other than an echo, confirming that she most likely was alone like she thought she was. She wasn't sure whether it would be safe to stay where she was or continue forward aimlessly. Neither option seemed helpful in this place. But it was a dream. What was the worst that could happen, either way?

Nervously, she walked forward, the clopping of her hooves echoing with each step she took. She looked around the empty place, a feeling of having been there before eating at her. But nothing was there that she recognized. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her. There was no other answer that she could think of.

Her walking abruptly stopped when she bumped into someone or something, having not been looking in front of herself (she had no reason to before). She backed away a bit and looked at who it was more clearly, letting out a shriek and running away when she recognized him as the one she had seen during the storm.

She hadn't gotten far before she found the tall cloaked pony standing in front of her again, no explanation as to how he had gotten there. “Why hello there...” he said coolly, the cloak hiding his face and rendering his expression unreadable. Twilight chose to run away again, finding him in front of her once again, and the process repeated itself a few more times, before she realized there was no getting away from him.

“Are you done?” it was hard to tell whether his tone was amused or bored as he said those words. “What do you want?” she managed, trying to glare at him but failing.

“I'm here to talk to you about those things you did.”

“What things?”

“You should know.”

The already cold air seemed even colder as she realized what he was talking about. “I didn't do those things!” she protested as forcefully as possible. “Yes you did.” the stallion stated plainly, his voice firm and absolute. Her glare intensified as she tried to think of a way to combat his words, as the simple truth clearly wasn't going to affect him in the slightest.

“If I actually did those things, I'd remember!” she shouted, unable to think of anything else quickly enough, “But I don't! Read my memories, I don't care. And what about my horn? Every time I try to use it, I get a headache! My magic is too weak to do any of those things!” She then felt as if something was probing through her mind, but the mysterious pony made no movement. “You simply erased your memories of doing those things and pretended to be weaker, so you'd appear innocent,” he said, the probing feeling gone, “And you kept a journal of all these things to read and reverse the effect of the memory wipe. Of course, you put it in a place only you would think to look, so no one else would know. You just didn't read it tonight.”

“T-that's a lie!”

“Is it? Well, you can find out for yourself soon enough.”

“That doesn't tell me why I'd hurt my friends or anypony else!”

The stallion then walked a bit closer to her, and she felt something holding her in place. “I will shatter the bliss of ignorance that shrouds your life.” he said calmly,walking closer to her, his horn glowing. “Get away from me!” Twilight yelled in response, as he lowered his head so that his horn touched her forehead.

Any protests died within her throat as it felt as if he was tearing apart her mind and dragging shards of it out, the pain leaving her unable to say anything. She began to feel dizzy and everything around her became a blur as he continued. Soon, the fog disappeared as her vision cleared, revealing a castle courtyard. There was no trace of the stallion anywhere.

The sound of running caught her attention and she turned around to see five guards approaching her, looks of determination upon their faces. Twilight suddenly noticed that she was taller than them for some reason, but that soon became the least of her concerns when the guards each went into an attack stance, eyes on her.

“...Please tell me you're joking.” it was her voice, but laced with malice. The leader of the guards made no response, instead choosing to charge at her. A sigh of annoyance left her mouth, despite her desiring no such action. Though she wanted to get out of the Earth Pony's way and ask him what was going on, it was as if her body had a mind of its own, as she stood there staring intently at him, raising a dark blue hoof and slamming it right into his neck before he got a chance to do anything, and shoving him off to the side, unable to move but still breathing, albeit very shakily.

“I assure you, I can do much worse than that.” she stated with sickening glee as she turned to the other guards, unable to control her own words. A smirk crept upon her lips as she saw the fear in their eyes. Nonetheless, the Unicorns' horns started glowing and the Pegasi flew upward, eyes still on her. A starry, navy blue mist suddenly gripped the first Unicorn's throat and started squeezing, stopping his attack. He tried in vain to pull it off, but his hooves went through it.

'Stop it!' Twilight shrieked within her mind, but her body refused to obey, continuing to choke the unfortunate guard. His partner unleashed his attack and blasted her with fire, making her let go. She gritted her teeth at the pain, narrowing her eyes at him, before tackling and pinning him down in one swift motion, leaving him no chance to counter. She struck the interfering Pegasi with ice, causing them to crash into the ground, before turning her attention back to the Unicorn. Smiling wickedly, she raised her right hoof ominously over his horn, before bringing it down and shattering the horn.

Though she felt frozen inside by the look of horror and pain on the Unicorn's face, Twilight jumped into the center of the courtyard, spread two large wings and moved her body into an attack stance, as more guards ran out of all the doors entering the courtyard. Her horn glowed brightly, and soon a circle of fire began to spin around her, spreading rapidly. She flew out of the flames and watched the guards scramble to get out of harm's way as she hovered high above them.

A lone Pegasus had managed to fly upward and reach Twilight, preparing to slam her hooves into her and knock her down into the flames. Twilight noticed her in the corner of her eye and spun around, kicking her in the face and making her fall to the ground below. The annoyance finished with, her horn glowed again and a large fireball began to form, which she pointed in the direction of the still burning courtyard.

“STOP THIS RIGHT NOW TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”

Though she was filled with terror inside, her expression only showed annoyance and hatred as she turned to face a much younger and smaller Celestia, the fireball dissipating. “That isn't my name anymore,” Twilight responded coldly, “And I won't stop until the night never ends!” Celestia responded with a very hurt and betrayed expression, hovering above the flames. “You're not like this...” she said sadly.

“How would you know? You barely know me.”

“I know because you were forced to be this way.”

“I can only be forced if it is not something I wish to do.”

The smoke rising from the flames was making it difficult for them to breathe, but neither flew to a safer place. They stayed hovering above the courtyard, staring into each other's eyes. “Things don't have to be this way,” Celestia tried to reason, clearly unwilling to fight, “You and Luna don't have to do any of this. You'll gain nothing but hatred from it!” Twilight wished she could answer with her own words, as this was beginning to hurt even more. “Oh, but I think we do,” came an answer she did not want to give, “They have never liked her. And you just ignored her growing jealousy towards you, and her anger towards them, thinking it would be alright. And me? I want you all to pay for the way you've treated her!”

“This won't solve anything!”

“I! Don't! Care!”

Celestia appeared to want to protest, but no words left her mouth. “Your precious 'Luna' no longer exists,” Twilight snapped, before raising her voice so everyone could hear amidst the chaos below, “Hail Nightmare Moon, the true Queen of Equestria! All shall love and obey her! And all who that reject her, shall perish!”

'Stop this, please!' Twilight thought frantically, and if she were able to cry, she would have been. She was met with no response other than a silent rejection, as she unwillingly continued the 'speech' to Celestia and everyone else that was there. “And know me as the one that shall destroy everything you hold dear should you rebel against your Queen!” she yelled, seeing the looks of terror from a few still visible guards.

'I don't want to see this anymore!'

'That's too bad.'

She recognized the voice of the stallion from before, 'Why are you doing this?!'

'I'm showing you how bad you can be.'

There was one last thing to say: “Know me as Twilight Despair!”

All Twilight remembered seeing clearly was the betrayed look on Celestia's face, as the world around her began to swirl and all colours blurred, before she found herself in the fog with the stallion once more. She glared at him, all the tears she wasn't allowed to shed beginning to stream down her face and blind her.

“What you saw was real.” he answered the unasked question, shattering the otherwise torturous silence between them. “I don't believe you!” she protested, choking on her tears, “It isn't real!”

“Yes it is.”

“You're lying!”

“No. That was you.”

Giving Twilight no chance to respond, he turned away and walked deeper into the fog, leaving her all alone. She stood there, practically frozen, trying to convince herself what she had seen was just a lie created by him. She wouldn't hurt her friends, and she certainly wouldn't attempt to burn down a courtyard. And she wouldn't hurt Celestia.

But she couldn't get rid of that doubt...

It didn't take long for her to wake up, seeing that it was still dark outside. She tried closing her eyes, but all her mind wandered to was what she saw, despite her best efforts. It felt too real. But dreams could feel real at times; why should she worry? It was probably nothing. Yes, it had to be...

Her eyes snapped open and her body became filled with a frantic energy, before she practically flew out of the bed and ran to a mirror. She immediately closed her eyes and turned away from it, second-guessing her previous decision, half from fear and the other half from how ridiculous it seemed. It was just a dream; she had nothing to prove or disprove. Worrying about it was pointless.

Content that there was no reason to be afraid, Twilight opened her eyes and looked into the mirror, biting back a scream when the face that greeted her was most definitely not her own face, but the face of a dark blue Alicorn. Her mane was mostly a navy blue mist, complemented by a streak of pink and another of purple. But her eyes were far more striking, and unnerving. They were just like Nightmare Moon's, only violet, and though filled with cold hatred, the likeness they held was unmistakable. They were Twilight's.

Twilight held her breath, and the Alicorn in the other side of the mirror did the same. She then raised her right hoof, and the Alicorn mimicked it. She even mimicked the slightest movement of Twilight's eyes and ears very precisely. Even amidst her hate-filled eyes, she held a tinge of the worry Twilight herself was showing. Twilight turned away from the mirror, and the Alicorn followed suit, and they both walked away from it, looking back briefly to see the other doing the same. No matter how hard Twilight tried, she couldn't convince herself it was just an hallucination.

She decided to look at her hooves for a moment, seeing that they were lavender like they should be. Her mane and tail certainly weren't mists, and she definitely didn't have wings. Nor was she the size of Celestia. The only thing she could not confirm was her eyes, as the mirror would only show her the Alicorn, and nothing else.

Though she knew she would likely regret it, she began to look for the journal the stallion spoke of. It would be easy for him to make that Alicorn appear in the mirror, but he certainly couldn't make a book with such things out of thin air. It just couldn't be done!

“Where would be the place only I would think to look...?” Twilight whispered to herself, looking around. It wasn't the chest, nor was it under the bed. It wasn't anywhere in the room. Of course, nowhere in this room was a place Spike wouldn't think to look if something was up, given the state Twilight had found the room in one not-so-fine day when Spike claimed he thought she was kidnapped by ninjas, which was also the day Shadow first showed up in Ponyville...

Long story short, Twilight was in fact not kidnapped by ninjas; she was just trying to find Shadow in order to talk to her and welcome her to the town, but all she ever got out of the strange Unicorn was her name and nothing more, before she vanished. Spike, however, thought Shadow and some extra, imaginary ninjas were holding Twilight hostage, and frantically searched Twilight's room for any clue to her whereabouts. Why he thought he'd find a clue in her sock drawer was anyone's guess. But he was indeed quite thorough in that search, even if it left the place an absolute mess.

Yes, no place in this room was safe from him...

Twilight shook her head and glanced at the sleeping Dragon, taking care not to wake him as she opened the door and left the room. She then walked down into the library itself, taking a careful look around. No, there wasn't a place only she would think to look amongst all those books, either. It just wasn't the smartest place to hide anything she deemed worth such measures.

'...There's only one other place I can think of...' Twilight thought to herself, walking to the basement door and opening it. Spike, among others, rarely went into the lab, so if she were to hide anything, it would have to be somewhere in there...away from the chemicals, if it was flammable. She gave a quick glance at the large machine sitting there, unused, wincing at the memory of when she had taken Pinkie inside the lab a long time ago, trying to figure out her nonsensical Pinkie Sense.

Shrugging off the memory, she then scanned the room carefully, then decided to walk over to a small drawer. She opened it up and looked through the papers and tools, finding a dark brown book that very closely matched the colour of the drawer itself. She picked it up out of curiosity and began reading it, unsure of what it was.

'...How many trees has it been now? Six? Yes, I think that was it.
If this problem persists, it's going to eventually take its toll on the farm.
Oh, where would Apple Jack and her family go if they had to get rid of their land?
I can't think of any place nearby that could possibly benefit them.
...Well, perhaps I can cut down on how many I kill a night...
But where would be the fun in that?'

The book wavered slightly, as Twilight nearly lost her hold on it, due to both shock and her own continuing weakness. She noticed a small desk in the corner and sat down at it, placing the book on the desk. She continued to read, even though something screamed inside her not to.

'It's a shame that Sugarcube Corner may end up failing...
But the amount of bits they have to spend to repair all the damage done each night is staggering.
How can they have enough to pay for that, and the supplies they need to bake?
It's simple; they can't. They'll end up going out of business.
Which means Pinkie wouldn't have a job, or a home.
Odd how something that seems trivial can really mean so much to one pony.
I do feel a bit guilty, but I won't let that stop me.'

Her ear twitched as she recognized the hoof-writing as her own.

'...Why did I target Rarity? Her wailing is driving me insane!
All those destroyed materials and ruined outfits seem to stress her out so much.
I can hardly blame her, though; her reputation does hinge on them more than anypony realizes.
If they're in ruins, she has to get more, and if she has to get more, that wastes time.
With such a problem, it's obvious she won't have enough time to finish a project.
And what would all those fancy ponies think if she can't finish on time?
She is finished, then. Perhaps I should leave her alone for a bit...
But I honestly don't care about her.'

She bit her lip.

'I'm honestly surprised Rainbow made it through the crash into the windmill without serious injury.
Perhaps she's stronger than I thought. But of course, Shadow did have to ruin the fun...
Oh well, I'm sure Rainbow won't like that barrier I placed around her home.
Now she'll have to find other places to sleep, and I'm sure Tank will worry about her.
But a bruised ego is nothing to worry about. I know I don't care.
But I'd love to ask her; who's the weak one now?'

“...I wouldn't say that...” she managed.

'Oh poor Fluttershy. It must not be nice having her animals hate her so much.
Not even her gentle nature can convince them otherwise.
As far as they know, she's a danger to their existence.
It's almost pitiful how she asked me to help her.
I didn't want to, but what else could I do?
She isn't supposed to know I'm the one causing her this grief.
Nopony has to know I'm responsible for any of this.'

Twilight cried out in both horror and rage, throwing the book into a shelf of empty chemical bottles and knocking it over. Fortunately, it missed the shelves with bottles containing chemicals, but the noise it made as it fell and the glass broke was still very loud. She froze for a moment, then frantically levitated the broken glass and tossed it into a trash can, before putting the shelf back in place. She grabbed the book and then shoved it back into the drawer, taking care to hide it.

Deciding everything was right in the world, she hurriedly ran upstairs and into the kitchen, searching for something she could use to explain the noise, if anyone heard it. And also try to find some kind of justification for why she was up, should she be questioned. She didn't have the time.

“...What was that noise?”

Twilight then turned to face a very groggy but worried Rainbow, trying to figure out some kind of lie. “O-oh, I dropped a few things, but I put them all back in their place!” she said hurriedly, giving the most innocent grin she could muster, “E-everything's fine! Nothing to worry about!” Rainbow gave her a slightly skeptical expression, but seemed too sleepy to fully catch on that her friend wasn't being truthful. “Okay...” she muttered, but decided to ask nonetheless, “...What are you doing up?”

Twilight's ears went flat against her head as she struggled to think of an answer, “Oh, um...”

Rainbow only blinked groggily.

“M-making tea!”

Thankfully, Rainbow bought this, “...Oh.”

Twilight gave her the faked grin again, then proceeded to actually perform her alibi. She figured it may actually help calm her nerves, anyway. Rainbow simply turned around and began walking away, before she suddenly stopped, another question on her mind. “Wait...” she managed, “Why are you making tea...at four in the morning?” Twilight blinked, again trying to think of an answer. “...You ever have one of those days where you feel like you just...can't...win?” she retaliated.

“Not me.”

A glare.

“...Well, maybe that one time with Mare Do Well... Yeah, I've had those days... Why?”

“...I'm having one right now.”

“Oh.”

“...My life feels as if it's in ruins...”

“...Oh... Um, good luck with that...”

Thud.

“...Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight stared at the Pegasus that was now fast asleep on the floor, apparently unable to stay awake any longer. Twilight sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to levitate something so heavy (with all due respect to Rainbow). Seeing no other option besides leaving Rainbow on the floor she had somehow deemed a worthy place to sleep, Twilight attempted to get her onto her back. After a few moments, she succeeded, and carried the undisturbed pony back to the guest room and put her on the bed, leaving the room and standing out in the hallway.

Twilight didn't move for awhile, the words written in the journal eating at her. The dream wouldn't leave her alone, either, as she walked back down into the kitchen. She turned her head towards the window, a feeling of longing as she looked at the moon. She couldn't understand why, but all she wanted was the princess who got her name and title from the celestial body. She wanted her here to tell her everything was alright, and that she had nothing to fear. She wanted her the way she wanted her mother when she was a filly, and frightened.

Twilight shook her head, trying to get rid of the feeling. Why would she want that princess, of all ponies? She barely knew her; there was no reason to think she would help her the way she wanted. It was Celestia she was closest to and knew well; not Luna. It made no sense at all.

Realizing the feeling wouldn't leave, Twilight chose to ignore it, opening the pantry door to find the tea container. She bit back a scream when she found Shadow asleep in there, legs tucked close to her body. It was with this that Twilight resolved that logic as she knew it was officially dead, and it was no use trying to question why anything she had seen and felt had happened. She grabbed the container, took out a packet with her teeth, then put it away and hurriedly closed the door. Shadow didn't respond.

After a few minutes, Twilight sat down at a small table, blowing on the tea to cool it down. Thinking things over, she decided to ask Celestia about this incident tomorrow. Maybe she would have an answer. She was the only one in all of Equestria that Twilight was sure would. Yes, she'd write a letter asking her if she could see her. And maybe Luna too...

(Random Author's Note: I know this is likely very pointless to say, but yes, Twilight Despair looks nothing like the picture I picked. The reason for this is I have no picture of her, so the best I could do was use a dark Twilight picture, and this was the best one I had. Also worth noting it sort of inspired much of her character as well, actually. If I can ever get a picture of her, I'll change it, but for now, I can't.)

Comments

Hmm I am somewhat surprised she would of kept her first name if she indeed went evil somehow in he past. The name Twilight implies that there once was a day, and with the goal of helping Nightmare Moon bring about eternal darkness, having a name that implies that there once was a day seems counter productive somehow.

PS:I am liking the story so far though.

[GlassAlicorn]

57951 Not necessarily, with what I went for. While what you've stated is a good point, that isn't what the 'Twilight' in 'Twilight Despair' means. The definition used for 'Twilight' here is this: "A state of uncertainty, vagueness, and gloom," as well as this, "A terminal period."
I'm going to post the definitions of terminal that are relevant here, to explain further: "Occurring at or forming the end of a series, succession, or the like; closing; concluding," and, "Occurring at or causing the end of life," and finally, "Utterly beyond hope, rescue, or saving."
Though this seems unnecessary, I'm going to post the relevant definitions of despair as well: "Loss of hope; hopelessness," and, "Someone or something that causes hopelessness."
Since it's obvious you read Chapter 5, along with the (albeit inaccurate) description of the entity known as Despair in Chapter 1, you should know that Twilight Despair is cruel, and very violent/murderous. The arrival of Twilight Despair (and arguably, Nightmare Moon) caused uncertainty and gloom (vagueness may be out of the question here, I think, except to those who knew little of both). Twilight Despair wants the day to end, has been the end of many unfortunate ponies, and certainly came across as beyond saving. She effectively killed the hope many had. She was the cause of well, despair.
So essentially, Twilight Despair = End of Day, Life, and Hope, with Despair succeeding it all.
Another fitting explanation for this name is the fact that Twilight Sparkle herself is in despair because of what she had seen.
...Sorry for the ginormous reply.

[janushyde]

I know you can't say much without spoiling so I'll just ask this a bit diffrently then I intended to at first. How long before we get an explanation for Twilight being a unicorn here and now, yet somehow being an Alicorn in the distent past?

[GlassAlicorn]

56826 I can't say for sure, as I don't say 'Okay, this is how many chapters I'm going to make this', because ultimately, I could overestimate or underestimate how many chapters it will actually take. Therefore, the only answer I can really give is I don't think it will be very long. The highest I could see it going is maybe fifteen chapters, but it could be less. It could be more. I can't say for sure.
58966 I have a few plans for this, but haven't decided which one to go with yet. But the best answer I can give is close to the ending, or the ending itself. I'm sorry I can't be much more help than that,

[janushyde]

Not a problem I know that when it comes to a story half the fun is finding out. Really the only reason this came to mind is because of the time travle element involved here, and really Time travle never USED to bug me, this was before I came across TV Tropes years ago. Now I find that time travle tends to red flag stuff for me anymore.

59305

I got one theory, it is a side effect of getting blasted by the elements, and that effect is now starting to wear off, which is setting all these events into motion. By side effects I mean turned into a unicorn foal and thrown almost a thousand years into the future (Twilight is around 20 so it would be 980ish). So with the effects wearing off she will have to deal with an evil alter ego, memories, and an increase in power once she is able to stabilize herself.

[janushyde]

If your idea turns out to be true then Twilight being the eliment of magic is dripping in enought irony to make Q gag. Also story in geniral I wonder how Twilight's for lack of better term "Former" self feels abut being the one to blast Luna with the EoH this time around? Could her guild of being forced to turn such a powerful weapons against Luna be what's driving her to lash out like this?

[Gwenio]

Will this story be continued? It has been quite a while since the last update.

[GlassAlicorn]

171622 It will be continued. I just have been struggling with a bit of a writer's block. I know what I want to do; my problem has been finding the right words. But I promise I won't abandon this story.

[Xduskreaver]

Here is a picture you might find appropriate

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=alicorn+twilight&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=FzR5UJySF9GRiQfJ6YHAAw&biw=1024&bih=672&sei=GTR5ULSHLPGNiAfqxoHQDA#biv=i|5;d|8iB5cn0rR7CwyM:

[Slaughterstone]

How about this image?
media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/133419207680861062_S11hAC0x_b.jpg
http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/133419207680861062_S11hAC0x_b.jpg

[kingthe13]

1449580 oh hell its DARTH SPARKLES. runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,fllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyy or swiiimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm for your lifes.... and while your at it can you pick up some milk and eggs so i can make lemon pie pwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssseeeeee

[Tali_The_Lamia]

What the hell is it with everyone wanting to see Twilight go evil...