The Twilight Struggle

by Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch

Epilogue - Twilight Shadow

One Month Later, The Old Palace - newly renamed,"Twilight Hall", Everfree Forest, late one evening.

"You gotta be kiddin' me...this is all yours?"

Rainbow Dash's voice was full of no small amount of awe as she floated around the massive entrance hall, whizzing to and fro to get a closer look at the lush accommodations of the room. The rest of Twilight's friends were undergoing similar actions - with Rarity being the most obviously vocal. "Darling this place is simply incredible! How in Equestria did you end up owning it?" Rarity was in full 'Drama Queen' mode, her eyes bright and practically sparkling with excitement, even as she ran over Twilight's attempts to explain the rather awkward Inheritance Tantalus had left in her hooves. "I mean, this place is practically a palace! Well, I suppose it is a palace but still! Oh do tell me you're going to let me finally dress you up like a proper Lady!" Rarity could even say the word lady with a capital L in it, a painful reminder of the fact that she could not get her new...subjects? Was that even the right word?...to stop calling her Lady Twilight.

Much to Twilight Sparkle's astonishment, Celestia had approved the documents which had formally named her the owner of all of the buildings, roads, and the palace complex that Tantalus had somehow raised out of the very ground of the Everfree Forest. She was apparently so enthused about the idea of reopening trade routes through the forest that she'd purposefully overruled some of her own senior council members in order to have Twilight installed as the formal administrator of the land, so to speak."There is no one else I could more confidently entrust this to, Twilight Sparkle. It will be a good test for your abilities as an organizer, as well." and that had been that.

Twilight could hardly disagree that the challenge was a tempting one - Organization had always been amongst her foremost skills, and the job of re-creating what had once been the most prosperous trade routes in Equestria was a task suited to someone with her particular skill set. It was not, Twilight reminded herself forcefully as Fluttershy engaged in mysterious discussion with a large flock of birds native to the Forest by the window, it was NOT because Celestia wanted Twilight away from Ponyville where she might hurt someone with her dark new powers.

Furthermore, It was not because Celestia was afraid that Twilight might go crazy and actually become a danger to others. Twilight herself was not one hundred percent convinced she would not, but that was not why she was now here - Administering what amounted to a mansion with precisely four inhabitants, and a fairly massive stone city, which was currently in the middle of what Twilight could only describe as a sawdust and hammer-blow storm. True to her word, Winterbright had begun bringing in odd ponies from all across Equestria - unicorns, earth ponies and pegasus alike - who were now in the middle of turning the ghostly stone shell of a town into a proper city fit for ponies to live in.

It had not just been those she had brought either - an entire family of pegasi weather specialists had claimed one of the largest buildings in the middle of town, purportedly to study the effect of the Everfree Forest on weather patterns, and how they might one day be able to control those weather patterns for all of Equestria. Another family of earth ponies had arrived with the explicit purpose of researching the various plants and herbs which existed in Everfree and nowhere else, and apparently were also going to be seeing how much of the forested land they could cultivate with various foodstuffs.

The biggest news of all, at least to Twilight Sparkle - was that Pony Joe himself had come from his personal store in Canterlot and announced to everyone who cared to listen that he was going to open up a donut shop just outside the gates to the newly minted 'Twilight Hall' and that his Canterlot store would temporarily be under the care of his son, Pony Jim. Joe had in fact, marched right into the hall and embraced Twilight Sparkle personally. He had promised her that no matter what happened, she would always be welcome in his store when she needed to get away from it all.

Today though, was her first chance to show her new 'home' to all of her friends. Technically, Celestia was intending to turn over management of the Golden Oaks library to somepony new, though she was being awfully cagey as to who she had selected for the job. Twilight though, would never think of anywhere else as 'Home' for as long as she lived.

If it was not for the fact that Ponyville was actually a pretty short walk from her hall, and were it further not for the fact that all of her friends had been making noises about coming into the town pretty often for one reason or another, she would have been absolutely despondent. Mayor Mare had even been making noises as to possibly uniting the two cities under one metropolitan area, much like Manehatten was set up, so as to allow the burgeoning community building here - no one had yet put forth a name for the city, and Twilight feared she would be the one to be given final say on the matter - and Ponyville to work together to serve the needs of one another.

A sudden noise brought Twilight back to Reality, where Rainbow Dash was blowing raspberries practically directly into her ear. "Ew ew EWWWW!" Twilight squealed out as Dash collapsed into a pile of bright laughter, only to get thwapped on the head by Applejack who rolled her eyes expressively. Twilight tried to hoof the spit out of her ear before glaring at dash and taking a deep breath. "Girls...thank you, I couldn't be managing any of this without you." she poured her sincerity into the words, fighting back the emotions that so often threatened to overwhelm her these days.

Luckily, she had friends. Specifically, she had Fluttershy who laid a bright yellow hoof on Twilight's shoulders, turning her gently towards her and hugging her around the neck. "It's okay, Twilight." She murmured, as she so often did with one of her distressed baby animals. "We understand." her hoof was stroking slowly down Twilight's back, and before she knew it she was trapped in a massive group hug again. It had been moments like this over the last few days which had made all of the stress, the paranoia, the pain worthwhile.

She sat there for that moment and absorbed the love and hope that her friends brought to her before sighing gustily. "You guys had better get back, It's starting to get late." She nudged them all with her hooves. "You can come back in a few days, supposedly we're going to be staffing this place tomorrow so I'll be interviewing the help." she smiled brightly - having more ponies around who weren't as spooky as her Maidens were would be a serious relief.

Applejack noogied her with her hoof and nodded solemnly, a big country smile on her face. She had been so excited about becoming the primary produce provider for Twilight's hall. Something about 'government contracts' being 'big bits'. Fluttershy already lived within the Everfree Forest, so she just fluttered off towards home. Dash zoomed around twilight, then grabbed her up in a tight hug. "You need me for whatever, Twi - You just yell, I'll come in a flash. Even if I'm napping." The solemn look on her face withstood the seriousness for only a moment before it split into a grin and she hugged twilight again "You just be safe, you big egghead." she whispered, and for a moment, Twilight could feel the wetness of tears against her coat, before Dash was out the door and zooming into the distance.

Rarity tossed her mane over one shoulder and smiled at Twilight, resting a white hoof on her shoulder as she passed. "Remember what I said, Darling. Looks aren't worth a clipped copper bit when you get right down to it. What really matters is what's in here.." And she poked Twilight's chest slyly. "And Darling, you have plenty of good in there. Don't you forget it. Oh, and Do drop by the boutique soon, dear heart. I'm so looking forward to making you look even more fabulous." her hoof lifted in farewell and Rarity pranced off out the door.

That left only a somber looking Pinkie Pie. Her hair was as poofy as ever, which was a relief to Twilight who knew that hair to be a surefire sign of Pinkie's real mood, but she still looked kind of sad and serious. She paced - not bounced, but walked like a normal pony over to Twilight and sat down in front of her, looking into her eyes. "TwyTwy, will you promise me you'll never forget how to laugh?" Her voice sounded quiet, which was way, way freaky coming out of Pinky. Twilight quickly decided she had to make her intervention here a good one, so she swept up Pinkie's hooves and squeezed them, smiling at her. "I promise, Pinkie. Cross my heart and hope to fly."

Pinkie's eyes brightened up a bit, as she cautiously finished the oath "Stick a cupcake in your eye?" Twilight nodded solemnly, and Pinkie's energy seemed to burst forth from the seriousness, bouncing up into the air almost three feet before coming back down with a bevy of giggles on the tongue. "Then I'll never ever have to worry bout you!" She hugged Twilight tightly around the neck, and bounced her way out the door - Humming some random tune all the way there.

The door shut a moment later, a bat-winged Pegasus was leaning against the wall, her eyes agleam in the dim light of the entrance hall. "When will you let me play with them, M'lady? There is so much fun we could have together with them.." her voice was still in that habitual purr, with extra emphasis on the S sounds she made. She wore no special clothing save for a thick black collar of some unknown materiel with a dark red gem set just over her throat. Twilight half glared at her, which only caused her toothy smile to widen even further. "Mm...I can tell you've been thinking about it, M'lady."

Twilight wasn't going to admit to that aloud...even if she had been thinking about it. Yet she would not indulge Shadow Dancer in her little fancies. "Now's not the time for that, Dancer. We've got work to do." She turned and strode down a side hall, followed boldly by the night guard, who maintained her slightly predatory smile behind Twilight's back.

In the weeks that had followed the incident, Twilight had come to two inescapable conclusions. The first was that for the time being, she was stuck with this power. Whatever it was, whatever it was capable of, she could not rid herself of it through any magic she nor Celestia knew. The second conclusion therefore followed the first, just as she had been taught long ago as a young unicorn filly. If you did not learn to control your magical power, it would take control of you. Twilight merely presumed the same would be true of this Shadow power.

So she had been driving herself in the lessons with Shadow Dancer - however uncomfortable they might make her, however they might trouble her thoughts and dreams with a perspective on the world that was powerfully primitive and just as powerfully seductive in its promises. She would not allow this power to control her. She would master it, as she had all other forms of magic placed before her. So she tolerated Shadow Dancer's attitudes, and she was working hard to connect to Silent Moon. In spite of the pure white pegasus' incredibly submissive tendencies, Twilight felt she was beginning to make progress with her. Getting Fluttershy used to her had been a similar task, after all.

Twilight pushed the door ahead of them open to reveal the thick ringed magic circle in which she practiced her new abilities - the room made of sheer, unadorned stone with brass mounted torches arrayed along the walls to cast shadows over the ground. Dancer closed the door with a brush of her wing and smiled. "Today, M'lady, we shall be studying how your magic can imbue your body with strength and grace far beyond that of normal ponies. The effect is similar to that which the Princesses use to imbue their manes with the elements of their power."

Twilight took a deep, cleansing breath and focused her mind - drawing at the dark strength within her. She would master this power. It would not be the master of her. As she loosed the power within, something clicked in her mind...

~~~~~One Hour Later.~~~~~

Twilight strode uncertainly out onto her balcony as night poured around her new home - The full moon hung heavy above her head, bathing the land in white light and shadow - Casting the two ponies who stood behind her in sharp relief. Power flowed through her like nothing she had ever felt before. Power that she could, and would master as time went on. But tonight, she was but as a conduit for that power that was her, and wasn't her.

Her mane and tail flowed through the still air like the veriest shadow, licking at the ground and tall stone railing with tendrils of purplish smoke. Her eyes glowed bright violet in the darkness, the pupils slitted to almonds like a dragons eye. Her curvy form seemed soft against the darkness, as though it was difficult to distinguish between where she ended and the shadows began. Twilight was no stranger to revelations of magic, this had just been another one - a sudden insight into the power she now held, just as she'd had sudden insights into the unicorn magic she so masterfully wielded.

Standing here like this, she could feel every shadow for hundreds of yards in every direction. She knew that she could easily meld with the very shadow of the railing and appear in her courtyard below with but a single thought. She knew every hoof-step and wing-beat on her palace grounds. She knew her Shadowbolts waited in hedges and copses all around her, chatting to one another or keeping watch against the night. She knew Captain Winterlight was passing the evening with a handsome dark-skinned earth pony in the hedge maze and that she had devilish intentions in mind. She knew that the two ponies behind her radiated with the dark warm powers of the shadow, and each of them would obey her every command without a single question.

She had feared this power so badly, and now she wondered why she had. There was nothing evil about this power, no more than Celestia's command over the Sun and daytime, or Luna's over the night and the Moon was evil. Power itself was not evil, that had been her mistake. Power was nothing more than a means to an end. It was the vessel by which a pony could change the world. Twilight cast aside her fear. This was nothing more than one more facet of Magic, her special talent.

There was much for her to learn still. She would need to refine her control over this power, of course. There was Tantalus' considerable library to work through. She was far from ready to take on the world, to make Equestria safe. Perhaps Shadow Dancer was right, perhaps she needed to get to know her friends much better, that she might better understand the shadow within. Power flowed from her hooves and mane for a moment, as she simply reveled in the sensory feast that lay before her, absorbing all of the knowledge with a fierce thirst. Everything she learned through doing now would be invaluable to her more scientific research later.

A thought then occurred to twilight - a wicked smile crossing her face for a moment before settling into something more childlike in joy. "Shadow Dancer...you told me that the Touched take new names to use amongst one another when they first taste of this power, did you not?" She turned on the spot, eyes focusing on the night guard pony - her own shadow was practically bursting with pride as she strode forward a step and nodded deeply to her. Twilight turned back to the balcony railing and laid one hoof upon it. "Hmm, What should I choose then?"

Behind her, Silent Moon watched through her sightless eyes. Yet just because she could not see colors or light, did not mean she could not see Shadow. So she watched as Twilight's shadow form spread it's vast wings of power in the darkness and reveled in its new place in the world, and she smiled gently. Lord Tantalus had been right about her. She would be the one. Her own voice came then, and she spoke words full of conviction and faith, like the intonation of a prayer or a battle cry, yet too soft for any to hear but her.

"Twilight Shadow would suit you well, M'lady."

~~~~End of Part 1~~~~

Comments

[Shilic]

... I hate you.
EDIT: Username was previously Twilight Shadow

[Meowy]

2498697

For some reason, reading your comment ruined the serious moment

[Mossflower]

the last three chapter or so were the only ones that had awkward grammar at times, nothing major though.

2498697
that's what you get for chosing a name like that!

[roguesoul]

2498697

[Mur Im A Pony]

2498697 Ha

[Rustled Pages]

I'd make a similar comment to everyone else, but apparently we've laughed about our dear friends stolen name enough. Still, I was expecting something more .... I dunno, god-ish. Maybe Hecate or Seshat.

[SuperSaiyanTeemo]

Awesome

[Misty Spell]

Twilight Shadow...really Silent Moon? Sure you don't wanna call her Twilight Flopple? Creativity of a brick that one.

[MustacheMerlin]

Well this is all awesome and stuff, but what I wanna see is a dimension shattering battle between Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic, and Twilight Shadow, Queen of darkness. That would be so freaking epic. And at the end, when one is standing over the other in glorious victory--Twilight Velvet shows up and grounds them both.

[Tarlek]

5516179

Twilights: But Mom!

Velvet: To your room, missies!

That was literally how I perceived that would go.

[Violet Sky]

4770315

Hay, get enough bricks in one place and you get a wall.

What's the point, you ask?

Spaghetti.

*Walks off like I actually said something smart*