Seeds of The Alicorn

by MacrossRarity

Chapter One: Twilights Dawn

Lightning crackled as the once majestic sphere of blue surrounding the Crystal Empire dissipated into a flooding darkness. Twilight Sparkle stood at the top of the crystal palace watching in horror, her friends, the inhabitants of this town lay bruised and beaten. It only took her a few moments to escape the dark crystals trapping her, and Spike should have been well on his way with the Crystal Heart...

Why is this happening? she thought to herself. Spike had just ascended towards the bottom and yet ponies were fleeing, being brutally slaughtered as they ran. It was too late; Princess Cadance's magic had run out and King Sombra was floating up a bloody baby dragon in his grasp. Twilight looked up at her foe. She was weak... breaking free from those crystals left her drained and tired. Barely able to hold on to her courage, she mustered all the magic she could, but to no avail. King Sombra was in front of her, dropped Spike to fall from the peak of the tower and closed in. His maw of black fog enclosing fast, and suddenly blackness...

”NO!” Twilight Sparkle screamed as she woke from a nightmare, and not just a random one, but a scenario that had plagued her since she aided in returning the Crystal Empire to its original state. As she got up, sweat covered her mane and she shook it off. She was tired and hadn't gotten much sleep since the battle. To make it worse, the nightmares became more frequent and volatile since Trixie had shown up with her strange amulet. She started to hum to herself as she went back into the library, trying to concentrate, but the lack of sleep made it difficult for her. How long had she searched the library for an answer to these hellish dreams?

Book after book, Twilight absorbed the information. Books were flying around her library in her frantic search. Would she find something this night? Not even the book on the amulet itself had the answers she sought. The only sliver of inspiration she had was from Zecora, who thought it could be a reaction to the close quarters of dark magic and the amulet reacting. “There's no such things as curses!” she insisted. “There is always a logical explanation.” But what could be causing this? Had King Sombra really cursed her? Twilight exhausted her energy once again, all night, until it was morning again. Slumber took her, but as soon as her eyes closed, longing for sweet rest, the nightmares began. Almost instantly, she woke up to another beautiful day in Ponyville. She would not enjoy this day. She was far too tired and attempted to lay back down, worn out from last night's search. Not even a moment had passed since Twilight closed her eyes, when none other than Pinkie Pie herself burst through the door to Twilight's library, screaming obscurities and random tidbits of undecipherable alien code that could solve all questions about everything everywhere. But who, really, could understand Pinkie?

“GOOOOOOD MOOOORRRNNIIINNGGGG TWILIGHT!” Twilight grumbled, half-asleep, and yelled at Pinkie to shut up, that she needed her sleep. Pinkie realized with this that Twilight was still worn out and guessed that it was her nightmares again. Pinkie whispered an apology. “I didn't mean to wake you Twilight but Oh! Oh! Oh! the Princess is here!”

Twilight didn't care much; all she wanted was release. She hadn't even written to the princess in a week. “Only seems natural she would wonder,” Twilight muttered quietly, and stood up. She stumbled towards the door. “Uh, Twilight? You don't look so good.” Pinkie Pie mentioned as Twilight reached the sunlight. Her mane was a dull pastel purple and her skin was an off shade of greyish purple. She looked worse than when Pinkie Pie had last seen her. Twilight was bitching to herself quietly, stepped through the door and slammed it as she went through. Pinkie Pie felt alone, longing for her friend.

Everything was different now. Ponyville was the same, but it was just... different. As Twilight went through town, everyone said hello, and she halfheartedly replied with grunts of exhaustion and annoyance. Yes, everything was different, even though the surface was fine and everything seemed normal. Twilight's behavior had caused stirs of emotions with her friends; ponies were cautious around her. For all it was worth, she was loved and treated as a wild animal at the same time, although no one held the rude behaviors against her, for the nightmares were common knowledge around town. Twilight was walking, head drooped and shoulders low, a scowl parked on her face. To make it worse, she hadn't eaten a good meal in a few days either. Between complaining and various curse words towards various ponies she found herself up at Sugarcube corner, and as if she was avoiding the princess, she went in.

Mrs. Cake was busy at work and turned around. She seemed startled at the sight of Twilight, skin and bones, unkempt hair and an awkward smirk upon her face. “Welcome to Sugarcube corner...Twilight...can I h-h-help...you?” Something seemed off. Even though Twilight was acting weird lately, her movements today were different. She didn't even seem to recognize her own name, and trotted closer. Twilight was hungry, but for some reason she was compelled. She had to act. It couldn't be helped.

“Heheheheh, ha ha crazy...all crazy.” she whispered. Twilight was now talking to herself and moved slowly towards a startled Mrs. Cake. With this, Mrs. Cake was starting to get frightened. She backed away and Twilight rushed forward, pushing the baker through a back door. Mrs. Cake flew through the doorway, landing on some pots and pans. No one else was home. Twilight's deranged smile, flashing widely as she stepped forward...slowly and slowly, laughing to herself. Darkness had overwhelmed Twilight. The visions of the nightmare obscured her view, and instead of King Sombra leading the invasion, it was her.

Dark energy cracked and popped around the room, Twilight standing over a dead Mrs. Cake. She was startled and almost screamed, but a flash of light went across her eyes, a flashback. What had she done? She watched in horror at the view of Mrs. Cake being absorbed into a dark cloud, suffocating her, using her as a rag doll. Just for fun, Twilight threw her around the room, causing a ruckus, bashing her into shelves and onto counters, repeatedly. Baking tools flew around the room, infused with magic and intent to kill. One by one, the tools streaked across the room, bashing Mrs. Cake in the skull, the body, the legs, repeatedly, causing blood to streak in all crimson glory about the room. Mrs. Cake lay there, bruised and purple from this beating, motionless and unrecognizable. This deranged form of Twilight was smiling as she licked some splattered blood from her face and laughed maniacally. “ Now this is a meal worthy of me!” This wasn't Twilight speaking, but something inside of her, something evil, and the will to succumb was growing stronger.

When the vision ended, Twilight again looked upon the scene, half scared and half startled. She did what the other her compelled and re-arranged, cleaned, and sorted the room, using her magic. She then dissolved the late Mrs. Cake into a brew of discolored batter-like substance. Starving, she ate the magic-infused glob of a dead pony, not even realizing what she was doing. She was back to normal now. She looked around the room, seeing everything sparkling as it had been, but no Mrs. Cake to be seen. Twilight wondered how she got in the back room to herself and where Mrs. Cake had gone, but she felt full and that was enough for her, for now. “Oh no, I forgot about the princess!” She rushed out, bumping into a Mr. Cake and Pinkie coming home. They yelled to her as she ran through, to no avail. Twilight was now on the way back to her library. She did not want to miss an appointment with the princess!

A growing headache impeded her travel, and she had a slight day dream of Mrs. Cake being beaten. She shook it off and continued forward. There's no way she could have done something like that. It still didn't sit well with her, and she rushed off once again to meet with her teacher. As Twilight ran, a voice from behind her made her stop

“Twilight Sparkle! My faithful student.” Twilight turned around and faced her greatest inspiration in life, the princess she loved dearly: Princess Celestia. “Walk with me, Twilight Sparkle. There is much you should tell me,” Celestia sternly said as Twilight came up and trotted behind. Although she was still exhausted, the princess had an aura of energy—no, peace—an aura of peace about her.

“Princess, I'm sorry I haven't written to you recently.” Twilight stammered, as she joyfully trotted alongside the princess. Celestia seemed not to mind; she had heard of Twilight's misfortune, which was why she had come. The two chatted idly until they came back to Twilight's library, at which point they fell silent and went inside. Spike was awake by this time and busy cleaning. He also looked worn, cleaning constantly for Twilight, who didn't seem to mind the mess so much anymore. He began to greet the two, but the princess and Twilight were deep in conversation already. Celestia questioned Twilight first about not writing to her and so on until she got to the point, the nightmares.

Twilight didn't know when they began, why they occurred, and much less why the events at the Crystal Empire replayed themselves so vividly; however, she brought up what Zecora said, and this saw a spark form in Celestia's eyes. Of course the Alicorn Amulet was inherently a haven for madness and very dark magic. But why would this have such an effect? Celestia bore a troubled look, her flowing mane seemed to dull a bit, and her eyes grew a bit dim. Twilight picked up on this as well and asked what was wrong, her lack of sleep catching up with her once again. Celestia nodded and told Twilight she would like her to return to Canterlot Castle with her in the morning. Celestia didn't know much about this, but she had her ideas, and knowing the amulet to be in the Everfree Forest close by... she wanted Twilight as far away as she could get her. “For now, rest easy, my faithful student. Know that I will watch over the night for you.” And although the midday sun was shining, Twilight collapsed in a spasm of gasping breath and exhaustion, a deep slumber that she longed for at last.

“MWE HE HE HE.” Lightning once again clouded Twilight's vision, and unlike previous encounters of this hellish landscape, she wasn't witnessing the Crystal Empire, but her home in Ponyville burning, and shadows filling the fresh air with smoke and chaos.

She woke up, startled, and oddly feeling more rested than usual, but not in her library. She had been sleepwalking and stood in front of Zecora's hut. Even though she was herself, pulling at her heart was a feeling that could not be evaded. She snuck into the home of the wise zebra, grabbed the key to the box that contained the amulet, and set off through the forest.

Twilight didn't know where she was going. She didn't even want to go, but this feeling compelled her very soul onwards towards a place, when suddenly she stopped. Moonlight cast an eerie glow across the scattered trees, in the center of them a grassy glade where the earth had recently been turned. She wanted to to turn back; fear was wanting to take control, but she couldn't deny this lust, a curiosity that had summoned her to this spot on this night. Using her magic, she dug. The earth rose around her, and there, clad in mud and disgusting grandeur, was the box that contained the Alicorn Amulet. The box seemed to unlock itself, then the amulet seemed to float up to Twilight and latch itself on her neck. Twilight was gone.

Author's Note:

Thank you Scootareader, best friend a pony could have, for proof reading and the early stage criticism! Thank you for reading everypony!