Divergent Destinies

by Leondude

Chapter 5 - Start of darkness

It was a rainy day at the Canterlot Cemetery. Twilight and Shining Armor mourned their parents, with Shining Armor placing his hoof on Twilight's shoulder in sympathy while Twilight struggled to hold back tears. The scar on Shining Armor's eye had cooled down, giving it a maroon colour. Cadence was there covering herself, Shining Armor and Twilight from the rain with a black umbrella as they all stood in front of the graves of Twilight Velvet and Night Light. An elderly unicorn stallion with a tanned coat and a white goatee trotted up to them. He was wearing a leather hooded cloak to shield himself from the rain.

"My condolences regarding your parents, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight turned towards the unicorn, her eyes still soaked with tears and slightly red.

"I am Professor Xindisious, a teacher from the School for Gifted Unicorns. I realize this is hardly the most appropriate time to ask, but I was wondering if you were still interested in furthering your magical studies."

Twilight looked at Xindisious in confusion, though there was still grief on her face.

"You have a very special gift, Miss Sparkle. Your power is raw but untamed. With my help, not only will you be able to learn things not even Celestia can teach you, but you will become one of the most powerful unicorns in history since Star Swirl the Bearded."

Shining Armor and Cadence both eyed Xinsidious with no small amount of suspicion.

"And what makes you think we're gonna hoof over my sis to you?" Shining Armor asked defensively.

"So distrustful. You're just like a pupil of mine, Sunset Shimmer."

"Huh?" Twilight said, ears perked up.

"I taught her in one of my classes. She was an arrogant filly, I promise you that. I suppose being Celestia's personal protege got to her head," Xindisious looked down at Twilight, "you're friends with Sunset, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"While she does have an ego problem, I can see why Celestia picked her. She was very much like you, raw power combined with a desire to learn."

Xindisious looked back up at Shining.

"I would also like to offer you and your sister a place to stay. It would be dangerous for a young lad and lass such as you two to be left alone in your old family home."

"We have Cadence," Shining Armor retorted.

"Yes, the Princess of Love. But, like you, she is just a child. Sure, both of you are older than your sister, but if you were to ever encounter the masked griffin again, you would be putting yourself in mortal danger."

"How did you know we were attacked by Kain?"

"Sunset told me. So tell me, do you and your sister accept my offer?"

---

Xindisious opened the door to his cottage, allowing Shining Armor, Twilight and Cadence entrance into his humble abode. The inside of the cottage was damp and mostly made of dark wood. There were dusty bookshelves on the left and all sorts of skulls and potions shelved on the right. Instead of where one would presume a kitchen would be, there was what appeared to be a lab instead.

"I told you this guy was creepy," Shining Armor whispered to Cadence.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy."

Xindisious led Shining Armor, Cadence and Twilight into the lab. The stallion then pointed to, much to Twilight's horror, the corpse of the baby dragon that hatched from the egg during Twilight's entrance exam. The baby dragon's scales were a darker colour and it had a green glowing gash across its throat. Its eyes were a milky green colour and its jaw hung open like it was gasping for air. It appeared to have decayed to the point that it almost looked skeletal.

"Another casualty of that brute, Kain," Xindisious said "A shame, really. I hear dragons make good assistants, provided it doesn't eat all your books and learning equipment."

Cadence and Shining Armor looked at the dragon corpse with equally disturbed expressions, with Shining Armor looking like he was going to be sick. Xindisious trotted over to one of his dusty bookshelves and telekinetically pulled out an equally dusty book. The book had a leather colour and a silver frame around the cover, with a skull on the top centre of the front.

"Necromancy is usually outlawed but if you have a license for it, you can practice it legally," Xindisious exposited, "however, they do not give out licenses that easily. You have to take tests and participate in mental examinations and psychiatric evaluations to prove that you are stable enough to safely use this kind of magic without being corrupted by it."

"I'm surprised they thought you were sane enough to practice necromancy," Shining Armor deadpanned.

"You and me both," Xindisious retorted before letting out a light chuckle.

Xindisious put the book down hard on the table and turned towards Twilight.

"While bringing ponies back from the dead is a controversial subject, I believe it would be justified in this scenario because the victim here did not lead a full life. I doubt any benevolent ruler would allow such a young thing to die so early if they had a way of preserving that young soul's life."

Xindisious levitated the baby dragon corpse and placed it next to the dusty tome on the table.

"Or in this case, giving life back to the young thing."

Twilight looked at the book and the baby dragon corpse. Is this what her life was to become? Her dreams dashed, her parents dead, and now she was being coerced, albeit gently, into studying morally dubious magic? She wasn't sure what to make of it.

"I understand that you have your reservations, Miss Sparkle" Xindisious said "Resurrecting even the smallest of creatures can be a daunting task, especially for the inexperienced..."

Xindisious leaned in close to Twilight, his expression twisted into a somewhat unpleasant leer.

"...but you want your parents back, don't you? While your magic is unstable, I will be able to tame it. And soon enough, you will be able to cast as many spells to your heart's content. And then, you, your brother, and your parents can go back to being one happy family."

Xindisious looked at Twilight with a menacing smile.

Author's Note:

See? Told you it'd get to dark places.