Blooming Days

by Hoofprintz

The shadow on me

You really did it this time, Sparkle. I leaned my chin on my hooves, staring remorsefully at my reflection on the glass in front of me. Honestly, I felt like vomiting. If Princess Celestia hadn't shown up when she had, I might have... no... I would have, there's not a question in my mind.

Now I was sitting in my room, talking to myself in the mirror, as if doing so would absolve me of the transgressions I'd committed. As if I hadn't done my utmost to plunge that spear deep into Starlight's skull. I mean sure, she'd undermined my mistress, that much was definitely true, but the all consuming rage that'd possessed me was clearly uncalled for. I knew I'd taken things way too far... even for me.

My gaze lowered down to the desk where the small bauble I was toying with flicked back and forth. With a weak telekinetic spell, I knocked it this way and that, trying to distract myself from all of the unwanted thoughts running through my mind. I had no problem admitting Starlight was able to cast a spell I couldn't with relative ease, but it's not like I envied her or anything. It's not like I was je-

Oh... how very, very sad... my heart skipped a beat at the all too familiar voice echoing in my head. I slowly lifted my eyes to look into the glass before me, my pulse beginning to race faster than any Wonderbolt could ever hope to be. There was something there, in the mirror, something sinister... I could sense it. Poor little Twily, jealous of yet another far more attractive, far more talented mare. It just loved using my older brother's nickname for me. It always had. It was just another reminder of one who'd so callously cast me aside like all the rest. Isn't your unwarranted loathing of Sunset Shimmer enough to satiate your despicable yearnings?

The twisted visage of the dark version of myself hadn't shown it's grotesque face in quite a long time. It looked just like me except much more gaunt and sickly. A wicked grin made up of jagged, broken teeth filled it's crooked mouth. Tiny, unsettling pupils and bloodshot eyes floated in loose sockets. Black bags were hanging under it's eyes like a punished criminal sentenced to the gallows. It looked the exact same as it had before... the same as I had. This... thing came about as a result of the sleepless nights and endless despair I'd experienced all those years ago. I thought I was finally rid of it.

Apparently, I was wrong.

"What do you want?" I tried to remain calm, but there was no real way of convincingly lying to yourself. Similar to when a disease was slowly creeping into your body, this... demon knew exactly how to worm its way into my most vulnerable points and exploit my weaknesses. Sometimes, It seemed as if it knew exactly what I was thinking.

Awwww, don't be so mean, Twily, It's grin morphed into an inequine shape that churned my stomach, so much so that I retched at the mere sight of it. You know I'd never leave such a pathetic, frail 'friend' all to their lonesome... not when they so clearly need my company.

"I don't need YOU!" I slammed my hooves on the desk, gradually beginning to lose myself to the fear. My horn shined brighter in the hopes of defending myself. "I've NEVER needed you!"

Twily... Twily, Twily, Twily, It's expression remained unchanged, it's nauseating grin impossible to take my eyes off of. It's haunting eyes locked onto mine, twitching and unblinking. I know you, Twily... and I know you haven't forgotten. It hissed, a long snake-like tongue squirming out from behind it's teeth.

My skin crawled, an unbearable itch passing over every inch of my body. The memories drifted through my mind as clear as day, as if they were from just last night. The sorrow. The rage. The thoughts of... self-harm. I'd decided then that I was a failure, unfit to even exist in this world any longer. I was a burden, nothing more. I deserved nothing but grief, and unfortunately, there were none to put me out of my misery... so I had to make myself suffer.

"I..." I had to look away. I still couldn't face it or my pitiful past, even after everything Her Highness had done for me.

Just because little Lulu took pity on you doesn't mean you're not the same pathetic little filly as before. Even though it wasn't real, even though it was just a figment of my imagination, I still felt the moisture of it's tongue as it licked away the tears dripping down my cheeks. Ohhhh, don't be so sad, feeble one. I would never leave you alone. You need me.

There was no comfort to be had in it's declaration. I reluctantly looked up to face the demon. I immediately regretted doing so. My jaw dropped, pure terror crushing my heart as if it were caught in a vice. It was centimeters from my face, somehow not contained to the mirror anymore. I could only back away in horror, my chair tilting onto its hind legs precariously.

Just where do you think you got all of that power from anyway? It cackled in my face.

"TWILIGHT!" The door to my room blasted open, causing me to tumble backwards off of my chair. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact of skull slamming against floor, but it never came. Instead, the most wonderful melody of channeling mana filled my ears.

I cautiously opened an eye, searching for the source of the beautiful music, searching for my savior. She stood in all her glory at the door, Her Majesty shining brighter than any other source of light within the room.

"Your Highness!" I smiled gratefully at my mistress. Her horn shimmered dark blue, her telekinetic spell gently cradling my body. It wasn't the first time she'd saved me and I was certain it wouldn't be the last, regardless of my own efforts. As my gaze lingered on her face I slowly came to a harrowing realization. "Y- Your Majesty?" She looked... beside herself, her eyes locked on something in my room.

"YOU!?" Her horn surged with mana, sending a wave of unseen energy pulsing throughout the room. I turned my head to see the remnant of my inner demon quickly fleeing back to it's hiding place. Just as it phased inside the glass, the mirror shattered into hundreds of pieces, a low rumbling laugh the only sound left in it's wake. As soon as I was able to refocus my attention on my mistress a new fear gripped me.

She was... terrified. She was trembling, her eyes frantic as both rage and disbelief flowed off of her in waves. I didn't think it was possible. She was a pillar of righteousness. MY pillar of righteousness. Unconquerable. Flawless. Even while casting such a precise offensive spell she'd managed to hold me carefully in her telekinesis. She was an unstoppable force... yet here she stood in front of me... frightened.

"M- my dearest!" As soon as she acknowledged me and my distress she darted to me so quickly I didn't even see her move. She wrapped me roughly in her forelegs and wings, her telekinetic spell gone in an instant. "I KNEW! I KNEW, and yet... yet I-"

I couldn't move, simultaneously beyond scared and utterly stunned. Her Highness had never been reserved with me before. We'd held one another. We'd shared secrets. We'd even given each other familial kisses. Right now, though? Whatever was happening, my brain couldn't properly process it. She was viscously crying into my shoulder, intense sobs racking her body.

I felt... cold... so very, very cold. It was as if the room itself had taken on the traits of a frozen tundra and my mistress had turned into a block of freezing cold ice.

"I'm so sorry, Twilight. Tis my fault..." As I continued to shiver harder and harder, my body fighting it's utmost to heat itself up, Her Highness shook more ferociously than I. "Tis all my fault..." I tried to lift a hoof to console her, but I couldn't move a muscle...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before her cries finally began to subside. We moved to my bed, sitting close to one another, her wing keeping me firmly in place, like I might try to run away at any moment and she wouldn't allow it. It felt like she'd never leave my side, and to be honest, that didn't seem like such a terrible thing. When she was able to speak again, she did so in hushed tones.

"Around a millennia ago... I fell into a severe depression," she sighed, her frame slumping so dramatically she appeared to become smaller than I. "I was... inconsolable, nothing effective in helping to remedy me of my... sickness."

I'd never heard this story before, maybe because she didn't want me to know of it until now. Maybe I didn't really want to know what'd happened, but I could feel the grief emanating from her, and I'd do anything to get rid of it as soon as possible.

"What happened?" If she could get whatever she'd been holding in off her chest, then it might be cathartic for her... and to be perfectly honest, I was more than a little curious. Depression was hell. I still hadn't fully conquered my own obviously, and learning about how my idol had dealt with her's could be life changing for me.

"I flailed. I thrashed. I struggled with all of my might, but I..." Still, she kept her head low. "That's when the voices began... when that thing first came to me," she shuddered at the thought.

"Thing?" I laid a hoof on her thigh, hoping to soothe her, if only just a little. She jumped at the contact before her look of fright melted into one of gratefulness.

"To this day, I'm still not really certain what it is," she half-heartedly smiled at me, trying to at least convey an air of appreciation, but looking more awkward than anything else. "All I know for sure is that its... mere presence is akin to that of a nightmare."

What an apt description. In the worst of my hours, I'd been completely unable to get a wink of sleep, yet every minute had felt as if I was trapped in an utterly hopeless nightmare. Being awake was torture. Being asleep was torture. Like I said, hell.

"How did you... how did you overcome it?" I couldn't think of the correct word I wanted to use. One didn't simply "overcome" depression, but it was the best I could come up with. Compound the depression with whatever that thing was, and it was that much worse.

"Tia," the mention of her older sister brought a vigor to her that wasn't there moments prior. Even her lips lifted significantly at the utterance of the Sun Princesses name. "When all was lost... when I was at the end of my rope... mere moments away from succumbing to the darkness... she saved me." As she spoke her enthusiasm grew along with the glow that was filling her. It was like speaking of her sister brought renewed life to her very soul. "She abandoned everything. Her responsibilities, her interests, her nation, her very life... all for me. She prioritized me... placed me on a pedestal above all else." Tears fell from her face once again, but these were full of... contentment, joyous even.

"That's... unbelievable," I shook my head. To relinquish everything one had ever held dear for another's sake... could I ever do such a thing?

"And yet, it is the truth." As Her Highness squeezed me with her wing I couldn't help but smile myself. For her... I knew I could. "But it wasn't a one way street."

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" My head tilted of it's own accord. Nothing in life is truly one way, but I wasn't sure what she'd meant in particular.

"I could have retreated into myself... back into the darkness. I had to accept Tia's friendship... had to accept her love," she chuckled merrily. "Fortunately, such heights of friendship and love are not so easily resisted."

"I'm glad," I nuzzled into her.

"My dearest?" she nuzzled the top of my head with her cheek.

"That you're okay," I nuzzled harder. Her comfort, her happiness were a priority for me... maybe my only priority at this point. She sighed, her smile fading ever so slowly into a frown.

"But you... you aren't..." she scooted away from me, the last thing I wanted her to do. She held me at a slight distance, her hooves on my shoulders. "And it's because of me."

"Why would you ever think that, Princess?" I couldn't fathom it. Ever since we'd first met, and even before that, she'd done everything she could to take care of me, to show me that I was loved. Whatever had given her this idea had to be snuffed out as soon as possible.

"That... THING is not merely a state of mind or a hallucination, Twilight," she stared into my eyes, her own unwavering. "It is a spirit... a fiend from times long past. It is a living entity and..." her head fell. "and it was not pleased that it failed to possess me."

"Failed to... OH!" Understanding washed over me like I had been submerged in the freezing water of the ocean. I'd always thought it was simply my own reservations, my insecurities plaguing my conciousness. It wasn't. It was real. It was malicious and... "It's moved on... to me..."

"Correct," she bit her lip. My heart began to pound as a cold sweat spread across my body.

"Your Highness..." An even deeper fear than that of the monster took root in my heart. "Is that... is that why you took notice of me?" It terrified me. Had she only chose me because the same demon that had tried to take her was now doing the same to me? Was I so... lacking? "Because I was the one i-"

"The opposite is the truth, Twilight," she looked away. "I saw. Never in all my years had I seen such a troubled mare. Your dreams, your nightmares, they were beyond even my comprehension. They brought back memories of my struggle," she cupped my cheek with a hoof. "I had to help you. You were fighting so valiantly. You never gave up. You were so..." she chuckled. "Cool." Needless to say, I was completely flattered and in disbelief, but as soon as her hoof dropped along with the rest of her body, I felt cold once again. "It attached to you because you are so very precious to me, Twilight... and because even years before I approached you, you fascinated me."

"W- what?" I blinked repeatedly to hold the tears in.

"Celestia was not the only one observing her little trials," she sighed. "I would have accepted you the first time you were tested. From the first moment I truly looked at you, you've enthralled me, my dearest. That is why it has latched onto you."

"I- I..." As my breathing became more erratic and my head fell, Her Highness' firm voice brought me back to reality.

"Twilight!" she lifted my chin with her hoof. Her comforting smile warmed me. "You are not alone," she cupped my cheeks with her hooves. "That is one of the primary reasons Starlight is here..." My eyes widened at that surprising fact. "And why she's going to be pushing you much harder than she did earlier."

"I... see." She had been trying... to help me? My demeanor sagged once again, the disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach coming back even worse than before. Though I may not have agreed with her methods, Starlight had my best interests in mind.

"We'll get through this, Twilight. I mean it when I say so," she moved her hooves back to my shoulders. "You are my dearest," she placed her forehead against mine. "As my love for my sister shall endure for all eternity... so too, does my heart beat for you, my dearest."

Her words, her kindness was too much for me to take.

Out of joy or out of fear, I do not know, but... I began to sob.

Author's Note:

Stupid Nightmare, why can't it just leave Luna alone? Twilight's in for quite a ride. Will she be able to resist the spirit or will she fall to despair?

Comments

[Foxtrot-Mayflower]

So a love triangle, but without the bottom side, interesting, honestly more of a love line, or an arrow tip.

Pretty good representation of a parasite, makes more sense than ‘Alicorns get angsty phases every once in a while’

The lore implication of these ’Nightmares’, if there is multiple of them that is, is immense, like, are they like the flood from the Halo series, who are basically god-like physical beings who to preserve themselves turned to dust that over time corrupted and turned into a horrible plague and a curse to anything in the galaxy?

So if the above is true, I’d assume these things are just alicorns who got corrupted over time, or something akin to that, or whatever explanation you come up with, I mean you are the writer lol

[The Voice in the Water]

Looks like Luna's nightmare has picked a new victim.

[Hoofprintz]

11677439
Or perhaps it's found a new way to torment Luna.

11677399
God the flood is terrifying. The early cut scenes from the first couple of Halo's are still horrifying to this day.

So there are only 3 true alicorns in my universe. It's elaborated on how this came to be in The End is not the End, my first story.

The Nightmare's origin is also elaborated on there as well. I could elaborate here... but I don't know how to do that black cover text thing. Lol.

[Foxtrot-Mayflower]

11677820
I don’t remember but I’m pretty sure I saw you use different font size so you know that the tool bar exists, now there is a manual way to do this, and a button to do this, I’ll explain manual first, you take the word spoiler and put it in brackets ( [ ] ), then write your message, then write the word spoiler with brackets again, except put a slash (/) before the word and after the first bracket, if I were to write it were every bracket was a parentheses, it would look like this (spoiler) *insert message here* (/spoiler)

Now the other way is to press the 3 lines button on the right of the tool bar and press the white letters highlighted in grey saying ‘Sp’, hope this is readable and easy follow, because oh boy is it disorganized.

[Hoofprintz]

11678101
Alright I got it, thanks!

So just to explain a bit without writing a novel. Justice is the original alicorn and creator god of my universe. She made Celestia first and then Luna to be her helper for the planet. Cadance and Twilight are transformed alicorns and thus aren't authentic. Essentially, they're fakes.

The Nightmare spirit is a creation of Kismet, one of the trio of gods who hates Justice. (Justice, Kismet, and Discord)

[Foxtrot-Mayflower]

11678539
Now that my job is complete, time to RTB, glad I actually did something productive today apart from irl stuff.

[Hoofprintz]

11678541
Much appreciated.

[Foxtrot-Mayflower]

11678543
As I said, I’m glad to help, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary, maybe this’ll help you to rate other fan-works or just discuss lore for your own series’s, or at least that’s my hope. never mind, I see you wrote the explanation already.

[littleman001]

So in this universe, Luna actually accepted Celestia's friendship instead of succumbing to the Nightmare. Really makes you wonder what could have been on the show. And now it's after Twilight just to spite Luna. I hope they will be able to resist it together.

Reading on...

[Hoofprintz]

11682560
Yep, exactly. Best way to defeat the undefeatable? Get to someone close to them and make them suffer.

I hope they can resist too, but that's a mighty tall order.

[Furious Thestral]

I se why there is a plot hole now... it all makes sense for a villain now.

[Hoofprintz]

11701903
Thanks for the comment! Yep, the Nightmare is problematic.