Twilight's life as a princess is becoming stressful, so she tries to find relief in a small red potion. Chaos ensues.
Twilight Sparkle. Her life has become stressful since becoming a princess, and she just can't seem to adjust. When a travelling salespony gives her a book on potions, she finds one which she thinks will make her life better. We all know how this will turn out. Warning: Scenes of murder.
Credit to Dragnmastralex from deviantART for the 'Nightmare Twilight Sparkle' image used for the cover.
The blanket of Luna's night covered Ponyville. Princess Twilight Sparkle had decided to spend a week or so in the quiet town outside of Canterlot. The princess in question was awake in the local library, pacing back and forth. The stress of her duties as princess were slowly driving her insane.They had stressed her so much over the short time she had her princess-hood for that she was developing insomnia. The floor was littered with various books, claiming to be able to relieve stress, but to know avail. Maybe all she needed was some time away, be like a different pony.If only that was possible, that would be a welcome idea. She soon gave in and decided to try to fall into a restless sleep.
~Ponyville Library, April 6th, 06:45 AM~ Twilight awoke as the night was fading into the day, and the early-awakening ponies were just getting prepared for their day. In the distance, a silhouette of a pony and a cart could be seen, making progress towards Ponyville. After a short while, the pony moving towards Ponyville could be identified as a dark grey, nearly black, unicorn stallion with a silvery-white mane and deep blue eyes the colour of sapphires. The cart he was pulling was intriguing as well, having what seemed to be no roof, but plenty of room inside of it. The faint sound of glass bottles clinking against each other as the cart moved was audible, however it was almost covered up by the sound of the cart.
The new arrival stopped outside of the few shops in the center of Ponyville. A few ponies were making their way slowly towards the stranger, who seemed to be setting up some kind of stall. An impressive banner with the words 'Spirit's Spell Books and Alchemy' was hung above the entrance to the cart, the new stallion, seemingly named Spirit stood outside of the cart, for a few moments, admiring the odd, brown, old looking cart in front of him, before moving inside and taking out some contents.
Twilight, too, was intrigued at this sight and exited the library and headed towards the newcomer's stall. Luckily Pinkie Pie was not awake, otherwise the fragile glass instruments the unicorn was taking out of the cart would be dropped in surprise and presumably broken. After about a quarter of an hour, the stall was completely set up, with long tables behind it as well, showing a respectable collection of rare ingredients and advanced spell books.
"Come, one and all to Night Spirit's shop of Spell Books and Alchemy!" The new stallion said "Today only, half price on your first purchase! If you ever wanted to do magic and were not gifted with a horn,or want to use stronger magic, you will find everything here!"
A few ponies walked up and asked about various topics, Night Spirit bringing them a certain book every single time. Twilight thought for a moment. 'What if there is a way for me to be somepony else whenever I become stressed?'. Twilight waited for a short while, thinking it over.Finally she decided to take the plunge and walked to the stall.
"How may I help you, miss Twilight Sparkle?" Night Spirit asked, his deep voice sowing a hint of interest. "How do you know me?" Twilight asked before remembering she was a princess "Never mind, Don't answer that. To answer your question, do you have a way for a pony to become a separate pony whenever they feel they need it?"
Night Spirit was silent for a moment, looking Twilight over. "Yes, but it is very dangerous. However, as you are an alicorn, I suppose you can handle it." He walked over to one of the furthest tables and walked back with a package. "Inside this package is an alchemy book and all the ingredients required for two brews. You can find me if you need anymore. That will be 25 bits please." Twilight nodded and headed over a small bag of bits. Spirit counted and smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you, princess".
~Underground Chamber Underneath Ponyville Library, April 6th, 11:30 PM~
Twilight focused. This was the moment. If this worked, she would be free from all this stress and she could relax. Twilight started, pouring in some various amounts of plant extract. She then proceeded to add in some rare ingredients from far off kingdoms. After all the ingredients were added, the mixture turned a crimson red. Twilight gulped, held a vial of potion in her magical grasp and drank it down.
~Twilight Sparkle's Journal, Ponyville Library, April 7th, 12:00 AM~
I have consumed one serving of the formula, and suddenly, I have a tingling sensation in my legs, and I feel unable to stand up for a long period of time. Did I put too much of one of the ingredients in? Only time will tell.
~April 7th, 1:05 AM~
My head has started pounding. I feel as if the entire world around me is going to collapse in on me. However, I feel extremely joyous for an unknown reason. Is this what it feels like to embrace death as if he were a friend?
~April 7th, 1:20 AM~
The world around me has dissolved into darkness, and I feel a loss of control in most of my body, as if I am becoming some pony else whom I cannot control. This unexpected development could mean that I am becoming another pony, and my grasp on certain subjects seems to be loosening. I cannot help but feel less than the mare I was before. Another side effect, perhaps? Hopefully, it does not last long...
~Ponyville Library, April 7th, 1:25 AM~
Not long after Twilight had written her last diary entry of the experience, she started to feel loss of breath, and the world started spinning. She collapsed in a heap on the floor, writhing in agony. Twilight thought about the situation as best as she could, and she once again thought about the possibility of death.
She saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but then she felt another presence inside her head. Her body, which had been still now for about five minutes, stared to change. Her body seemed to become larger, and became darker in colour. Her features changed, so that she looked nothing like the princess Twilight Sparkle. She felt, different. She felt as if chains which had bound her since her birth had finally been broken, unleashing the beast inside. Everything about her was different now, even her cutie mark.
"What is this?" The pony that was once the element of magic asked. Her voice was more rugged,like the voice of one whom had spent their life rummaging through the streets. "Can it be? I am free! I must think of a name for myself... Fallen Star."
Fallen Star walked towards Twilight's wardrobe, and took out a cloak which she had worn one year for Nightmare Night. Surprisingly, it still fit her larger body without much trouble. She glanced out the window, at the quiet and peaceful town of Ponyville, and a smirk spread upon her face. It was time for her to try out her new body.
The only sound that could be heard after that was the faint sound of night animals, and the laugh of Ponyville's newest resident.
Fallen Star paced back and forth. Thoughts were flying through her head. She wouldn't be disturbed for a while, as Twilight was exhausted inside of her, meaning no resistance to her actions. She looked around the library and spotted a photograph hung on one of the walls. The picture showed Twilight and the other elements of harmony, and something stirred inside of Fallen Star, feelings of hatred being the most significant, but something else could be felt by her as well, though she wasn't quite sure what it was. Could it have been jealousy? Then Fallen Star realized that her body was reacting oddly, and she could place a name on it after then. The feeling was described as a sin among the ponies of Equestria as a rule of thumb, though some indulged in it. The feeling of lust.
Fallen Star seemed to be more of a predatory creature than a peaceful herbivore, like a dragon in the guise of a pony, the fire within trying to break through by any means necessary. Who cared if the ponies she saw were females? The fire had to be quenched, or burst forth.
"If I find one of your tonight, I will make sure you enjoy your last night alive" Fallen Star said to herself, facing the picture. She licked her lips, as if tasting the blood of one of them. She walked towards the door, and grabbed an umbrella from a coat rack which was placed near the door recently in her, now blood red, magic grip. "This should do well" she smirked, sneaking out into the cover of night.
~A Back Alley, Ponyville, April 7th, 01:45 AM~
Fallen Star moved through the streets like a shadow, and saw a white-coated unicorn mare looking around a slightly larger area of the back alleys of Ponyville. She seemed to be distracted, searching for something. From this distance, she was hard to distinguish, however, Fallen Star focused enough to pick out the unicorn as Rarity. What was she doing out here? Only she knew, however, this was perfect. When Rarity was searching in the corner, Fallen Star moved slowly towards her. The white mare turned around just in time to see Fallen Star use the umbrella like a baseball bat to knock her out with a strike to the head.
~Outside abandoned house, Ponyville, April 7th, 02:30 AM~
With her blood-lust and lust sated, for now, Fallen Star walked out of the old, run down, stone building, the blood of her first murder on her face. She smirked as she thought of how she had exhausted Rarity and proceeded to stab through her throat with the umbrella she wielded behind her.
She picked up the pace when she felt Twilight awaken inside of her. She also didn't want any ponies seeing her. However, a piece of her cloak was torn off by a small bush which had found it's home just outside of the scene of the crime. She burst into the library as she felt her body starting to change.
~Ponyville Library, April 7th, 07:00 AM~
Twilight awoke with a start on the floor of the library. She headed towards the bathroom for her daily routine, seeing something red on her face. The colour of it unnerved her, but for some reason, couldn't say why. It seemed like the colour of dried blood. Could she have injured herself in the night, causing a small gash on her in which her own blood had dried on her? She thought of this and thought back to the nightmare she had had during the night. She shivered. She never had dreams including those activities, especially the murder of Rarity.
A knock on her door cut into her thoughts and she headed to the door after washing off the blood. She opened it up and saw four of her five best friends at the door. The one missing just so happened to be Rarity. "Hello guys. Where is Rarity?" Twilight asked. Applejack looked up at her. "That's the thing, sugar cube. Rarity... Her body was found covered in blood in an old house in one o' the back-alleys" The orange farm-mare said.
Twilight almost fainted at the news, her face becoming pale. 'Did... Did I do this?' was the last thought to run through her head before the world went black.
The blurred world came into focus before the purple alicorn laying on the hospital bed. "W-what happened?" she muttered, barely audibly, which caught the attention of one of the nurses. "Oh, good, you're awake" the nurse said. The nurse was a pegasus mare of a small, lithe build with a cream coat, and caring brown eyes. Her mane was a mixture of red and white, and her cutie mark could not be seen because of her uniform. "You fainted, and seeing the blood on your face, we thought you might have had blood loss".
Twilight looked at the pegasus nurse. Her eyes were showing her confused emotions."Last I remember, I was in the library, and one of my friends told me..." she started, then her eyes widened as she remembered the news. "My friend Rarity was killed last night".
"That would seem to explain the lack of blood loss" The nurse said. "It seems you are under a lot of stress, and any shocking news seems to be able to make you faint. You should maybe learn to relax."
Twilight mentally face-hoofed. "I've been trying that. I have been having some insomnia recently, and also, I've had strange tingling sensations under my skin."
The nurse looked confused. "I've never heard of anything like that... Stay here for a little while, if you'd please".
Twilight sighed. It looked like she was going to be here for a while. She watched as the nurse disappeared, leaving her almost alone, but then she started hearing a voice, though faint, it sounded like it was coming from the same room she was in. "Hello?" she asked quietly, her voice starting to leave her, as if her body was frightened, but her mind was sharp. The voice came again, clearer this time. "Twilight. I think you know what happened."
The voice was strangely familiar, and she saw movement in the corner of her eye. "What is going on?" she muttered, unable to speak properly now. A familiar figure stood in front of her. It seemed to be similar to that of her late friend Rarity, but with many injuries on her. "Rarity? I - I didn't do anything!" Twilight said, her voice returning slightly, but her mind had started closing in fear.
"Twilight, darling. I'm sure you know what happened. Don't try to hide it." The figure said.
Twilight was about to say something, but the pony before her had vanished. Was she hallucinating? Was she seeing things? Was Rarity haunting her? She could not wait to be out of this place, away from the spirit of her friend, though she knew it would not be that easy.
"Let's see here" the stallion said, looking over the crime scene for roughly the third time. This murder seemed to come out of nowhere, no rhyme or reason to it. The letter had come in roughly three hours earlier. The victim was one miss Rarity, fashion designer and shop owner in Ponyville, but they were at a loss as to who the assailant could be. They had found a scrap of cloth near the scene, the only identifiable on it was blood belonging to the victim. The cloth had some hairs on it, but no pony on their database had similar DNA.
"Sir, we seem to have identified the murder weapon" a rather pale blue unicorn said, his voice breaking the silence of a few minutes.
"What could it be then?" the stallion in charge of the operation asked.
"It may sound strange sir, but it seems to be an umbrella. A puncture wound in the same shape and size as the most popular umbrella brand's metal tip. The victim seemed to be restraining the murderer as long as possible until being exhausted, as shown by marks on the victim's forelegs, and then the murderer pierced her throat with the umbrella. A lot of force would have been required, and as the victim was restrained, it must have been a unicorn, as all hooves were occupied" the pale blue pegasus, a coroner, said, looking down at the ground.
"A unicorn who has never been investigated for a crime, or been a victim in any sort of crime, then. That narrows it down a lot." the stallion said, nodding his head. Most ponies here were unicorns and just by glancing at them, they would be ale to figure out who it may be. "We will continue our investigation later on, when there are more ponies moving about. I will get a decree from princess Celestia to have all unicorns report for a blood test in the town square at midday. If we don't find a match, then we search the rest of Equestria."
