Twilight Sparkle is being corrupted in mind and spirit by the Shadow, a dark magical force from ancient times. Now Princess Celestia is in a race against time to find the key to saving her student and her friends from the seduction of the Shadow.
Page generated in 0.083 seconds
Total duration
1,016 users online
360,911 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Another good chapter! At least this time we are shown that Applejack didn't give up immediately, and this chapter showed how Applejack's stubbornness literally is stronger than most ponies. It is fitting really, Applejack is the most down to earth pony in the whole Main 6 and currently, she is the one that is the hardest to convert, just like the earth is hard to be moved. You can, but you need to use a lot of energy and time.
Hm... Shining and Cadence march into the city! And now they found Twilight's... feat. Although they don't really believe it, unfortunately, it's true.
And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are moving in quite a good pace, will they be able to do what they set out to do? Or not? We'll see them in future installments!
This, I liked, especially the bar scene (although the accent was a bit thick).
2545138 Many thanks for the great suggestion! You have unwittingly inspired a whole bunch of new scenes in this fic by the way.
2545046 Take note that the tale was not entirely accurate. ;3 At least, we the readers know it was not entirely accurate.
2545152 Oh. Well, you're welcome... I guess (?)
I liked the mental battle played out in Applejack's mind. I liked seeing Applejack fight to the bitter end, it's exactly how I would think she would go down.
I do feel she was a bit quick to claim that Twilight was already forgiven and that she had no hard feelings because Twilight wasn't herself. Twilight is in control of her actions and ultimate responsibility lies with Twilight due to the fact she accepted the Shadow when there wasn't a real good reason for her to.
I've always felt that Tantalus' reasons for Twilight accepting the Shadow were very weak. He basically showed off some potential threats that may or may not be too much for Equestria to handle, went on about how he doesn't like Celestia, and that was about it. Logically, Twilight should have said, "Thanks for the heads up, but no." Problem solved. The real reason Twilight accepted the Shadow was curiosity. So, she has tortured her best friend, destroyed her entire family, destroyed her mind, and begun murdering random ponies in their homes all because she got curious about a power that she already knew was corruptive. So yeah, to say there are no hard feelings over any of this is just plain wrong. This is all Twilight's fault.
I'm also confused why Applejack seems mad at Celestia about all this. Celestia had nothing to do with anything that is happening, unless Applejack is mad that Celestia trusted Twilight too much, but then again so did she.
I can only assume Twilight will try to turn her brother and Cadence when she gets back to her city. I feel this will be the point when "the shit hits the fan".
Hmm..... I don't have enough words for this. Applejack is not only showing her stubborn power, but also her wisdom. I won't say much on that, maybe people will get it.
Now I did love the short section on the CMC and I am always happy to see them get involved in the dark side of everything. Scoots will be more willing once she sees that Rainbow is part of the crew.
Now for the mass part of the comment. Twilight. Oh my god, Twilight Sparkle. She is still there and that is stunning. I thought she would have completely lost herself to the Shadow by this point. But I was totally wrong. I am rather shocked to see her holding on this strongly, especially since she knows she has to do this sort of thing again to Fluttershy and Rarity. Maybe it won't be as crazy and tough, but I would think at some point she would run away from all this. Now onto the bigger players. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Shining Armor has an emotional place in Twilight's heart as her brother and the one pony she spent the most time with. Princess Cadence is somewhat along the same level. What will TwiTwi do when she talks to them? What will the married couple do when they see Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack along with her? I know that Twilight will try to corrupt one of them or hopefully both of them.
Onto more plot. Jade Tower? Is that a Lord of the Rings reference I see there, or a try at it? It would be funny if it was. If it's from some other book or story then please forgive me, as I'm not that bright in the books world. I am interested in seeing what Celestia and Luna hope to find. Maybe it's a wild goose chase that the Shadow put there to keep them away long enough to put most if not all of its plans into action.
Nice chapter. More awesome action and back onto crazy plot levels. Looking forward to the next chapter, though I wonder how long Twilight will stick in Ponyville. Perhaps she'll collect the other two while she's there. *rubs hands* Oh Mistress Twilight Shadow. May the shadows guide you to your goal. *bows in respect*
2545308 NICE Catch on the reference. You get a moustache for that. Oh, and there's a really good REASON For that reference too. If you figure it out, you'll get to feel awfully smug when the big twist comes.
2545220 You gotta remember, Twilight (At the time) Had been through -weeks- of mental preparing by Tantalus before he cornered her with his offer. Though it was not immediately apparent, notice how the Shadow has changed everypony else it's touched... you think that he wasn't using that same power, long before she took him up on the deal? Trust me - in terms of "Being in her right mind.", Twilight was way, way, way far away from that state.
It should also be noted that Applejack doesn't know most of what you, the readers know about things that have happened. She doesn't know a thing about what really happened to Filthy Rich, or what was going on with the rest of her family, or what Twilight has been doing up to this point.
It's sometimes really hard to remember that information about events so far has been tightly circumscribed to those who have often directly experienced it. This is a theme I often love to play with - how ignorance of events can drive personal decisions.
Of course, there's deeper reasons for AJ to trust Twilight, but we'll explore those... later. Much later.
Also - Applejack blamed Celestia for separating Twilight from her friends and support network by sending her to administer the new City. In AJ's logic, if she had been in ponyville her friends could have worked to help her much sooner, and maybe prevented things from getting out of hoof.
2545376
I hadn't really thought that Twilight's mind had been worked over week's before the offer was made. Either I didn't pick that up at the beginning or the story just didn't convey that very well. In light of that, it does make a bit more sense why she would take such a bad offer.
Ok, I agree with Applejack being mad at Celestia on the part of putting Twilight in the new city. It was kinda stupid. Twilight should have been in Canterlot under 24/7 surveillance because she was infected with the same thing that made Nightmare Moon. Celestia acted way too naive about the whole thing, makes me wonder if why she acted that way is part of the greater plot that will be revealed later.
2545524
I sorry that Struggle didn't get that across - I thought I had written in that she'd been having the nightmares for weeks (Which was Tantalus bucking with her mind). Maybe I needed to be a bit more specific.
Oh and yes, Celestia's reasons will become apparent later on... They're actually not bad ones, though it could be argued that they weren't particularly brilliant either.
2545543
No, you did write about the nightmares. It just didn't click for me is all, not your fault there.
Glad to hear we'll be seeing a bit on Celestia's thinking on this mess.
Other thoughts, unless we haven't seen just how big the Shadowbolts are then Twilight does not have the resources to go to war with the Griffins. Is she going to set up a war between Equestria and the Griffins and then step in to look like a war hero? I'm curious how that will play out.
2545624 Heh Heh Heh Heh.
You will see.
2545717
Oh, you tease you! Have a mustache!
2545376 More mustaches? We really need a Steven Magnet/Sea Serpent face here...
So it's going to be important, huh? I cannot really pitch too clear a guess. It may contain the key to defeating the Shadow or it main contain the Shadow itself.
2545962 Its less about the tower... and more about the reference.
There, that's your last clue. The rest I cannot say (Besides, I know I'm gonna blindside you guys with THIS one.))
Looks like Pinkie wins the prize v Big Mac. He gave it a good shot but Pinkie outlasts (and it sounds like of course can out Kinky) anybody.
2546197 One day, when I feel like writing pure hardcore clop, I'm going to write that scene. One day.
2546200
Yea I could see that. I like that you made it sound like Pinkie allowed Mac to do his fantasies as that is how I see Pinkie being. I see Pinkie trying to make her friends (or in this case lovers) smile and what better way than to do what they always wanted?
Pinkie being a quick study makes sense especially with something like this shadow. The shadow is similar to chaos (or perhaps a different form or type of it) or at least it seems that way to me. Whereas Discord is flat out madness and random the Shadow is more like chaos born of subversion. Change without control by the affected (but the shadow gets to control all). A pony like Pinkie being able to make use of it (and apparently realize what is going on in a way) makes a lot of sense.
2545220 I think the reasoning behind Twilight accepting the offer was more out of fear that his thousands of years of knowledge would be lost if she didn't accept. On top of that, the power was a way to defend Equestria.
Also, what random ponies has she murdered? I only saw that she killed Filthy Rich, and since we all know how flawed legal systems are, I don't exactly blame her for defending her city in such a way.
2546607 The punks in her city that she sent to the shadows. Maybe I'm wrong, but she had mentioned in thought 'I'll have Winterlight take care of them later'
2546662 Yea she sent them to the dungeons or whatever under her castle/palace/whatever it was called. Even if she had killed them though, they wouldn't have been random ponies.
2546607
I guess my wording made it sound like she was killing at random, that's my mistake, sorry.
Filthy Rich and his gang were a problem, but until that point in time there were no real laws laid down in the city itself. Twilight allowed ponies like Filthy to just move in unchecked, then when she didn't like what they were doing she kicked in the door to his house and killed him. Should he have been punished, sure, but not killed outright, especially since, as far as we know, his goons hadn't actually killed anyone themselves.
Of course Winterlight and her Shadowbolts purposely didn't enforce any kind of law, they wanted things to get bad to force Twilight into taking an emotion filled extreme response.
As for Twilight taking the Shadow as to not lose knowledge, well, I'm curious when we will actually see that. So far, Twilight has only learned how to mind rape. There was a hint that she could become an Alicorn, but Celestia has that knowledge as well. At this point in the story, Twilight hasn't gained any "lost" knowledge yet. Tantalus hadn't been around for that much longer than Celestia and Luna, so honestly, how much extra knowledge did he have over Twilight's teacher?
Twilight was played and turned into a pawn. She keeps going on about a plan, but I'm sure the Shadow is just laughing at that thought.
2546814 I feel ya, and I agree. She shouldn't have outright killed him for strongarm business tactics. I would imagine that was just a way to show how far off the deep end she is going.
As for the laws, wouldn't it be safe to assume the same laws would be apply in her city as in the rest of Equestria? Just because he could get away with it through a corrupt legal system doesn't make it an ok business practice. Her logic, I'm assuming, was that he would never see justice for it, since he could always claim plausable denyability and hide behind high priced lawyers. So she just outright killed him to get rid of him and set a real example for others with a similarly underhanded mindset. Still a bit rash in my eyes, but refer again to how far off the the deep end she has gone.
2546814 Laughing at the thought? I don't think so. Way back in the earlier parts, it was said that the Shadow is changed by those it touches. It was with Cabbage Leaf for so very long, a thousand years perhaps and it has absorbed all his thoughts and plans. So it could still be working for good.
But Twilight a pawn? Yes, I will agree with that. As much as I hate to admit it. The Shadow wants Equestria but cannot grab it like Discord or Sombra or any of the villains so far. Which makes me think back to the hint that Lapis-Lazuli has dropped to me in responses. I've not watched Lord of the Ring all the way through or read all of the books, so I might be a little confused, but maybe the Shadow is like Sauron, needing back the One Ring, the true ring. Maybe there is some secret the Shadow buried long ago to keep itself hidden until Equestira was prospering. Now it needs it back, but it cannot retrieve it by itself. It needs someone to get it for it. *hopefully that made sense*
2546879
Yes, general Equestrian law would, in theory, apply to the new city but it is up to the ruler of the city to clarify and enforce said law. Twilight failed at this, rather badly. If Filthy had seen Twilight taking a more direct role in the city, he may have thought twice about strong arming other ponies. If the Shadwobolts had stepped in and arrested Filthy's goons the first time they caused trouble, this would have been a clear message that such action would not be tolerated. I stand by the idea that Winterlight knew what was happening and let it happen to further manipulate Twilight down the "Dark Path".
2546950
I honestly feel that this "plan" is more detrimental to Twilight than beneficial. It is her justification for doing terrible things. All the while she was destroying Applejack's mind, she kept saying it was for her protection and that it was for the "plan". She physically, and mentally, assaulted one of her best friends and justified it as protection, this is why I think the Shadow is laughing at her so called plan.
As for the Shadow being changed by those it touches, we just don't know enough yet what that really means. How much did the Shadow's contact with Luna change it? What was it before the whole Nightmare Moon incident? Remember how Twilight wanted to talk to Applejack but the Shadow had Rainbow Dash knock her out instead? The Shadow simply threw Twilight's idea out the window and enforced it's own idea by having another do it's work for it since Twilight was unwilling at that moment. I mean, we've seen a group of infected knocking ponies out and then shoving the Shadow into them and as far as we know Twilight has no idea that is happening. Twilight simply knows too little to ever control the Shadow in any way.
Your Lord of the Ring analysis might be spot on. The Shadow duplicates and spreads itself to other living things and works like some sort of hive mind. There may very well be a central core to the whole thing that it needs to have it's full power unleashed. It makes sense that it would target very powerful creatures to act as a leader for it's armies to retrieve it(thus Luna and now Twilight).
I'm thoroughly enjoying this discussion, thanks you two!
2547013 Hmm... that is true. But I had thought for a while there that Rainbow Dash had decided on her own, understanding how stubborn Applejack could be. Your point makes a lot more sense though. You mentioned the Hive Mind in the later half and that makes some level of sense. Perhaps when two Touched are nearby, the shadow within them can communicate with each other without their hosts noticing. So when the shadow in Twilight sensed that it told the shadow in Rainbow Dash to do something. Though the line makes me curious. *had to go back to find it*
Dash's answer gives some level of belief to say that the Shadow doesn't always work together or like I mentioned, it was talking to the shadow in Dash.
Of course Applejack was being a true true friend *thinks about that song and dies for a moment* Gah... catchy songs. Anyways, she kept trying to let Twilight know that she believed Twilight was completely in control, which was starting to have an effect, perhaps.
Twilight was still in control, or perhaps the Shadow was influencing her mind making her think she was in control. I'm not too sure and it can be perceived many ways. I like to think that Twilight is still very much in control until she sees how much pain she causes. She knows she causes it and to her closest friends no less. She knows what has to be done but that doesn't make it any easier. So she's tormented and might just decide to let the world end if it meant saving her friends. They mean the world to her.
2547169
Hmmmmm indeed.
It's interesting, we know that the Shadow has an actual voice called Umbra. It has spoken to Twilight and Pinkie Pie very briefly. Yet, here we see instances of the Shadow in Twilight and Rainbow and they seem to act independent of each other. Is this how the Shadow is changed by who it comes in contact with? There is a core Shadow called Umbra, and then variations of the Shadow itself within each person infected?
The Shadow wanted to break Applejack and Twilight kept that desire in check for a while, so in response it pushed Rainbow Dash to attack Applejack and knock her out. Twilight didn't move to stop the attack either, so at that point she lost control and ultimately fulfilled the Shadow's desire. However, the Shadow wasn't described as Umbra, it was described as a Shadow within both Twilight and Rainbow Dash as if they were separate yet connected.
I agree, Twilight would do anything to save her friends and that is a strength turned weakness the Shadow is using against her. I mean, what is she saving her friends from at the moment? There is no immediate threat and there is no evidence of an incoming threat. So far, Twilight has been the ultimate threat. Twilight's last thoughts are how she is going to take down the Griffins. The Griffins haven't done anything to Equestria and yet she thinks corrupting her friends and then attacking the Griffins is somehow helping them in the long run and saving them from....something.
Unless an outside influence makes Twilight realize that she's chasing shadows(see what I did there), then Twilight will be the one destroying Equestria and not some outside force.
2547169>>2547283
You guys are giving me the warm fuzzies right now.
The fact that you're skirting soooooo close to figuring out some major plot points is also quite awesome. I love having smart readers!
2547283
I think this may have been the shadows plan all along.
2547283 As Umbra or whatever main form the Shadow takes wanted, he/she/it showed Twilight false images. Maybe the Shadow is even pulling the strings on everything. Maybe Cabbage Leaf died all those many years ago when he was first possessed and then the Shadow has been pulling the strings throughout all of history to ensure total victory and that no side can even stop it.
I've got a lot of maybes because I don't want to go cementing the story parts in my head. But I can say for certain that the Shadow is feeding off the fear that things are not as fine as they have seemed. Twilight might know Celestia isn't saying anything and that could put the fear in her. "This is worse than I realize, if Celestia doesn't know." Like I said before, Twilight is in total belief that foes outside the lands she knows of are just waiting for one sign of weakness from anypony. Then they will strike and take over.
But I don't think it was her original plan to capture all her friends. Her original plan was to use the power she was given for good. Then Winterlight in the Hospital suggested Rainbow Dash, all the way back in book one. It spiraled from there when she lost it and then that taste of power was more than she had ever felt and it is feeding to her pleasure side, which she is rather inexperienced in. So she is adrift in a sea of pleasure and desire and confusion.
2547507 Glad to be giving you those wonderful warm feelings. I thank you for such an awesome story.
2547560
I agree with that. The Shadow wants to spread itself out as far as possible and starting wars with neighboring kingdoms is a great way to do just that.
2547593
I agree with all your points. Darkness has a way of using good intentions to it's own benefit.
More Random thoughts:
There are still alot of questions about the Shadow we just don't have answers too. For example:
Now, what is this Nightmare Winterlight speaks of? Tantalus said Nightmare Moon was a mistake, so we can potentially rule out the idea of everlasting night, I don't think the Shadow wants everyone to freeze and starve to death. At present, we don't have any real clues except that maybe a world where every living thing is infected with the Shadow would be the Nightmare.
2547507 Glad you're getting all tingly inside
I've read many "Twilight goes dark" stories and most have been bad. This one, and Code's Apprentice, have been excellent. So thank you for a great story!
2547682
I can see Twilight subtly positioning herself or someone similar in the griffon kingdoms, they blame Celestia, and it will look like she started a war with the griffon kingdoms meaning more will move to Twilight's side AND there will be a war
2547714
Rainbow Dash knows Gilda, a simple letter to Gilda stating she wants to "patch things up" would lure her back to Equestria. One Shadow rape latter and you have a griffin spy with no one in the griffin kingdoms having any clue what is going on or what to expect.
Also, if Twilight captures Shining Armor and Cadanece(and I don't see how they are going to get out that city without a fight either) then she will have crippled the Equestrian government. Equestria will have no leaders and Twilight can just step into the role based on her past merits.
Ironically, Equestria's greatest hope may well lie with Discord. The sheer irony of the situation may make him choose sides.
2547727
I can see Discord saving the world having very bad consequences
2547735
It would have terrible consequences! That's what makes it so much fun
2547752
The world would literally be turned upside down by him
2547682 That can only be answered when we find out where Winterlight came from. Was she once a normal peagsus pony turned thestral? That also makes me wonder about the other two, Shadow Dancer *my second favorite Shadowbolt* and Silent Moon *top favorite Shadowbolt*. Winterlight was there for most of Nightmare Moon's reign before she was sent to the moon. But she took a DIRECT hit from Celestia's attack that sent her to the moon. It was almost assumed that she died, but the shadow in her survived. So, what is she? Where did she come from?
Shadow Dancer and Silent Moon were not mentioned, so it is like they came along later, or they just showed up out of nowhere because the Shadow did not trust Winterlight alone to make this mission work. Granted, they could have been with Nightmare Moon all that time ago and Celestia just never saw them, so she would never speak of them. But it makes things interesting. Winterlight wants to see some sort of nightmare come about, like you pointed out. But Shadow Dancer and Silent Moon do not share the same plans it seems. But they have some kind of plan.
It also seems like Winterlight shared some kind of emotional attachment to Luna/Nightmare Moon.
Perhaps they are all envoys of Shadow. Winterlight alone didn't work and so the Shadow was pissed off. So when Twilight came into its sights, it doubled its efforts.
2547772 You're right, it seems like Winterlight, Shadow Dancer and Silent Moon all have their own plan, and these plans may in fact contradict each other.
This may be the Shadow's only weakness. Each person gets infected and has a personal Shadow inside of them connected to the main Shadow. Each personal Shadow is different, hence how the Shadow changes based on who it infects. Thus, the greatest hurdle of the Shadow is keeping all these conflicting personalities on the road to a single goal. Therefore, it grabs a powerful individual, like Luna and now Twilight, to whip everyone into shape and keep them focused towards the same goal.
I don't think Shadow Dancer and Silent Moon were there during the time of Nightmare Moon. They didn't seem to know that Winterlight was alive back then as it seems that Winterlight never told them her own story, just like she withheld the story from Twilight.
i agree that Winterlight seemed to have an attachment to Nightmare Moon. She did try to save her by sacrificing herself. Winterlight may personally want true eternal darkness but I don't think the Shadow wants that, I mean, how can you have super orgies if everyone is starving and freezing to death?
This is how it goes for me.
Read the beginning.
Skip.
Skip.
Skip.
Enjoy actual plot development.
Skip.
Skip.
Look at title of section. (CMC)
SKIP!
Read more plot development.
Comment.
2547560 While that is actually a very interesting point, it is not the plan the Shadow has. As stated in Struggles, the Shadow is the spirit of Equestria made pure. It is a defense mechanism that will do absolutely anything to protect itself and those it inhabits. As immoral as it is, it may seem selfish and outright evil, but it is in truth a benevolent being, just without the ocean of moral red-tape that traditional good guys have to swim through. So in the end, the last thing it wants is to destroy is Equestria. By the way, everything I just stated can only be accepted if what Tantalus told Twilight is true, which I believe, for in the end, not once has he been proven wrong.
Now that is out of the way and out of my head, I can start reading more of the story to inevitably prove myself wrong on every point.
"The Hero of Canter, the mare they call Twi…" Sorry, just popped right into my head.