Twilight travels to a future where she discovers she has become the most evil pony in the world, known as Dark Spark. Now she must save Equestria from her horrible future and find a way to prevent it.
Princess Twilight Sparkle is having a great life; she has a loving family, amazing friends, and her own castle. But all that is not meant to last; she discovers that five years into the future (much to both her and her friends' shock and horror) she will become the Number One Enemy of Equestria and a ruthless mass murderer. Her future self, known as Dark Spark, has stuck Twilight in the dystopian Equestria and has gone back in time to create the events that will lead Twilight to becoming evil. Now the princess must fight her way back and defeat Dark Spark before it's too late. This is loosely based on the Danny Phantom episode The Ultimate Enemy, but there are massive differences. This is my first fanfic for MLP, so constructive criticism will be appreciated. Thanks to ChingKittyCat for designing the cover photo! :)
Canterlot, the former capital of Equestria, rested peacefully under the magical shield under the half-day half-night sky. Inside the sphere of magical energy, the world was a happy, cheerful place. Outside it, it was a ruined, burned down wasteland.
Big Macintosh had just finished his daily rounds around the still-intact city; as the Captain of the Guard, it was his duty to ensure the safety of it's citizens, as it was currently the only known city in Equestria still in existence.
The last five years has been chaos for the kingdom; The Princesses were gone (which explained the status of the sky), countless lives had been lost, and cities had been reduced to little more than rubble, starting with Ponyville on that fateful day five years ago. The fiend, known as Dark Spark, that caused all of this had been only kept out of the city thanks to the unicorn guards who renewed the shield spell every twelve hours.
"Squad Leaders!" His voice boomed as he entered the former throne room of Celestia and Luna. Immediately, the three soldiers, each of the three pony races, who had been playing cards and goofing off snapped to attention. They knew better than to tick off Captain Big Mac, who had brought it upon himself to defeat the Enemy. It was hard to believe he used to be a quiet farm pony of few words.
"How're the skies, Ray Shine?" he asked the Pegasai Guard.
The leader, who had shed his helmet to show off his orange coat, sky blue eyes, and yellow hair, saluted. "No interference from the sky crews; weather's running fine as usual, sir; nothing spotted from above."
"At ease." The pegasus sat down. "How's the civilians and food doin', Green Donut?"
A green Earth Pony with purple hair, orange eyes, and freckles saluted. "Produce and water levels are stable, sir. Civilians had a practice drill a couple weeks ago if Dark Spark will show up, sir. I must warn you, sir, that the civilians are getting restless."
"What y'all mean by that?"
"W-well, sir, there are rumors going around that Dark Spark has a plan to break through the barrier-"
"Hold on just a pony-pickin' minute here!" The soldier immediately clammed up under the withering stare of Captain Big Macintosh. "Them rumors have cropped up faster then weeds over the past five years an' keep comin' back no matter how fast y'all pull 'em! The barrier is still standin', right, Shield?"
The gray unicorn with silver eyes and black spiky hair, whom the question had been adressed to, nodded. "Yes, sir. The barrier was just refreshed an hour ago, sir."
"See, Green, there's nothing to get yer mane in a tangle 'bout."
The Earth Pony kneeled. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. I'm sorry, sir."
Big Mac kneeled down and gently stood his soldier up. "Don't look like that, Green. You're okay. I just don't wanna let paranoia get to you. First round of cider on me?"
All three of the Squad Leaders perked up and nodded, heading for the door with their friend.
Suddenly, a screech sounded and a magenta light appeared behind the four colts. All of them turned back and saw a shadowy figure, with the only thing visible being cat-like eyes with irises as red as blood.
"Hello again, Captain Macintosh," A low, monotone, and creepy voice said. "I see you got some friends with you."
The squad leaders stared in shock. Big Mac, on the other hoof, just grunted annoyingly.
"You again?! I don't care how powerful you are, Dark Spark. We both know this is just an astral projection, and we both know you can't shatter the shield!"
"Until today." The projection disappeared.
"What the heck was she talking ab--" Ray Shine's question was cut off by a sudden massive, shriek ripping through the air, literally. Sonic waves of violet ripped through the city.
All four soldiers covered their ears as their eardrums throbbed horribly. All around them, glass shattered, buildings collapsed, and civilians were blown away.
The blue shield slowly cracked. Big Mac silently pleaded for it to hold, but it was in vain. After ten seconds, the wall of protection broke, giving way to destruction.
In under thirty seconds, violet blasts of light tore up half the city. Most of the ponies didn't even have time to scream before they were made into a bloody mess. The pony of mayhem flew up to the balcony where the four ponies stared in horror and got a good look at Dark Spark.
She was a head taller than them, with a violet coat and pointed unicorn horn, red cat-like eyes, fangs, nicked ears, and a matted mane and tail of indigo and magenta. She sported a black body suit with a cape and solid gold shoes.
"Like the new spell? Star Swirl the Bearded is the only other pony besides me to pull that off. He called it the Scream of Destruction. You gentlemen are witnessing history; the reemergence of an ancient spell, and the Great City of Canterlot being destroyed." She glowed her horn and made the castle collapse in three seconds flat with a wicked smile. "Too bad none of you will be around to tell the tale."
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All of this was being watched in a scurrying bowl by a unicorn with tan butterfly wings. Tan and jade green made up her coat colors, with an open book and a quill writing on it as a cutie mark. Her white mane and tale was done up in a bun, and her small reading glasses were perched over her scrutinizing gray eyes.
"You see now, Bookkeeper?" The old grandfather clock said behind her. He was twenty feet tall, painted purple, and had purple eves in the face of the clock.
"Yes, I think I get it; Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, grows up to become the most evil pony in Equestria." She turned to her master. "What do you want me to do?"
"Isn't it obvious? In order to save the future, Twilight Sparkle must die! You must kill her!"
On Saturdays at eight AM, things were usually up and running at the local farm of Ponyville. This Saturday was no different, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were devising a new scheme to receive their cutie marks, and Applejack was cooking breakfast for her and her friends. Usually, Big Macintosh would be doing his chores and Granny Smith would be working on the house, but both of them were in Appleloosa helping out with a mold tree infestation. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash touched down at the farmhouse and knocked on the door.
"Come on in! Glad y'all girls could make it," Applejack called from the oven.
"You kidding? I wouldn't miss out on pancakes and cider for the world!" Rainbow said, hovering over to the kitchen and joining Rarity and Pinkie Pie at the table. Pinkie, to absolutely nopony's surprise, had a huge mountain of pancakes on her plate topped with a even bigger pile of whipped cream.
"Where's Twilight and Spike?" Fluttershy asked Applejack as she started to gather food onto her plate.
"They ain't comin'; Twilight's at the doctor's office getting her throat checked out, and Spike tagged 'long. You know how worried the little fella gets 'bout Twi when she's sick."
"I hope the poor darling's alright..."
"Me too; her gullet's been acting weirder than snakes wearin' boots."
"You guys talking about that glowing throat thing that Twi's had for a week now?" Rainbow questioned after a swig from one of the three mugs of cider she had.
"Yeah, about how Twilight's throat has been glowing and hurting really badly whether she does magic for too long?" Pinkie said through her whipped cream beard.
"Yep," Applejack replied.
"Uh, Pinkie Pie? You have a little whipped cream..." Rarity telekinetically lifted the entire box of napkins towards Pinkie. "...On your face."
"Thanks!" Pinkie ignored the napkins and began licking her covered face with her long tongue, much to her joy and much to the designer's disgust and frustration.
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Ponyville Doctor's Office
Same Time
The doctor stared down the Princess's throat, both a flashlight and a tongue depressor held in his green-colored magic. "Throat looks a little red, but I don't see that much of a problem so far. Lift up that chair with your telekinesis, please."
Twilight obeyed, lifting up one of the chairs from her place on the examination table. Spike sat in the only other chair in the room, wringing his tail in nervousness.
In about thirty seconds, her throat glowed magenta, just like her horn. Twilight began coughing heavily from the strain on her throat, and the chair quickly fell back to the floor.
"See what I mean?" She managed to hack out. Some bursts of magical energy came out of her mouth in time with her coughing fit.
The Doctor waited until the coughing subsided to look into Twilight's throat again. It was even redder than before she performed magic.
"Hmm. Let me do a throat swab to see if it's an infection, and we'll follow it up in a couple days. In the meantime, try to refrain from talking and magic. I also suggest seeing Zecora for a potion to soothe that throat of yours."
"So you don't know what this is?" Spike asked nervously.
"Well, I've heard about some unicorns-- or in Twilight's case, alicorns-- developing something similar to this, but it usually goes away in about three weeks at a minimum and never crops up again. So I think you'll be alright in the long run." He picked up the depressor and a cotton swab. "Open wide, then you can go, Princess." --------------------------
The Library of Time (Home of the Bookkeeper)
Present Time
"You actually think Dark Spark can be defeated without having to kill Twilight Sparkle?" The Grandfather Clock asked the Bookkeeper miraculously. Both were over by the scurrying bowl, which was currently clear.
"Yes," was the blunt reply. "You see the obvious answer, Grandfather; just get rid of the problem. But if I kill Twilight Sparkle, it'll cause new problems. Her friends and family will greatly grieve her sudden death, especially Spike, and you and I both know grief was how Dark Spark was born! I bet if you had the ability, you'd have her die of a heart attack at this very minute!"
"I am just a seer; even if I had the ability, I have sworn an oath not to interfere with time, which is why I come to you!"
"What if you had the ability and you didn't swear the oath?"
The Grandfather hesitated. "Perhaps," he finally admitted with a frustrated sigh.
"So you agree with my plan?"
"Yes. And you're sure it will succeed?"
"If Twilight Sparkle makes the right choices, it will."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Then her horrible fate is sealed and I have no choice but to make her die in the two weeks between the Summit and when she becomes Dark Spark."
"Delightful." Grandfather muttered.
Bookkeeper summoned a book on magical beasts. "Now, what monster will I use for the calling card?" --------------------------
Ponyville Doctor Office
Two Days Later
Twilight trudged out of the doctor's office with a frustrated sigh and Spike on her back.
"Cheer up, Twi," Spike said encouragingly. "At least your throat's not infected! You just can't do any magic for the next three days unless it's an emergency."
"Whoopee," was the sarcastic response.
"Maybe we should get home to the castle and make sure it's ready for the Princess Summit."
"Sure," Twilight grumbled. She was upset not just for not being banned from using magic by a doctor, but also for Celestia's response to Twilight telling her about her throat. Her mentor wanted to check it out at the summit held at the castle, and had also advised Twilight against using magic until then.
"Uh, Twi?"
"WHAT?!" She shouted, turning her head. Spike flinched and covered his head.
"I know you have a lot going on, but you don't have to lash out."
Twilight sighed. She knew he was talking about; she's been snapping at her friends at random moments during the past two days. "I know, Spike; I'm sorry," She whispered while pulling Spike into a one-armed hug.
The dragon hugged back. "It's alright, Twilight. But I think you should talk to your friends."
"Yeah, I know. Let's make sure the throne room's clean first." She took off, with Spike holding onto her hair.
It turns out that there was no need to summon Twilight's friends; they were already there, sitting on their thrones and waiting for her expectantly, probably to hear how the doctor's went.
As soon as Twilight and Spike sat down, the winged unicorn shifted nervously and started talking. "Look, guys, I'm sorry that I've been sort of grumpy these past few--"
"Twilight, we understand the stress yer under," Applejack inturuptted. "No 'xcuse to yell at us, but you have to handle a weird throat thing and yer makin' a decision bigger than a ten-story barn in three days."
"I'm just so nervous; at the third Princess Summit for every new Alicorn Princess, they have to choose whether or not they'll become immortal. This is going to be my third one! And it's only a one-time offer! I can't choose it again, even if I want to! And even if I choose immorality, if I decide to give it up at anytime, I'll die instantly!"
"Didn't you already decide you weren't going to choose to live forever?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, and there's been several alicorns that have chosen to remain mortal in the past, but it still doesn't make it any less stressful."
"But even if you decide to accept ever-lasting life, it ain't like you become a god, right, sugarcube?" Applejack said. "I mean, Celestia 'n Luna are ageless, but they can still die if somepony kills them, right?"
"Right."
"And Cadence chose to stay mortal," Rainbow added. "So it's not like you're going to be the only current Princess making the choice not to."
"True."
"And I have a pretty long lifespan, so I'll still be around for a while," Spike offered.
"I still don't want to do it, though," Twilight asserted. "The idea of immorality has always kind of creeped me out, even when I was a little filly. I mean, it's not like I want to die or anything, but also seeing everyone I care about pass on, watching the rest of the world age and grow while you stay young forever..."
Twilight suddenly found herself in the forelegs of Pinkie. "Whatever you choose, we'll be here for you, Twilight. We're not going away anytime soon."
The alicorn smiled gratefully and returned the hug. "Thanks, Pinkie. Don't worry, I'm sure all the stress will be gone after--"
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR"
"What in tarnation?!" Applejack exclaimed. Pinkie lost her grip on the alicorn and fell to the floor.
Rainbow flew out to the balcony and peered into the telescope. About a minute later, her magenta eyes went wide.
"Uh, Twi? What creature looks like a centaur with a dragon bottom, has snakes for a mane, is five stories tall with beast heads all over her body, and has a spiky tail that can shoot poison?"
Twilight's eyes became huge as well. "A kampe?! But those only live in the Hayseed Swamps of Southern Equestria!"
Another roar ripped through the air. Screams from the civilians of Ponyville soon followed as they began to flee.
"I don't think anypony told it that," Fluttershy stated nervously.
The six ponies rushed out to defeat the creature while Spike rushed to help Mayor Mare with evacuating the small town.
Twilight knew Ponyville was in trouble as soon as she saw the kampe.
For one thing, Rainbow Dash wasn't kidding about the monster being five stories high. For another, the bear, wolf, and lion heads on it's body drooled poison that burned five-foot diameter holes in the ground, meaning that close-range ground attacks would be useless. She wore a huge, green stopwatch around her neck.
"Fluttershy, what do you know about kampe?" Twilight asked.
"Well, the lion heads spit poison that paralyzes it's victims. the wolf's poison breaks the bones of whatever body part it's injected into, and the bear head poison makes the victim feel horrible pain."
"Okay. How do you defeat it?" Rarity asked.
"There might be a chance we can cut off it's oxygen for a while..."
"DARK SPARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," The kampe screamed, so loudly that the ponies were forced to cover their ears. "I AM SKULLSMASH! YOU REMEMBER ME??? WHERE ARE YOU???!! I'll make you pay for what you did to my children!! I'm going to avenge their deaths!!"
"Who's Dark Spark?" Twilight wondered out loud.
"I'm not sure, Twi; maybe a poacher?" Applejack responded.
"Somepony poached kampe children?!" Fluttershy asked furiously, being pretty loud even for her standards. "Who would do that?! Kampe don't attack unless you provoke them!!"
"Calm down, Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "Remember, we have to get her away from Ponyville or else she's going to destroy it!"
"Pinkie Pie, can you block up the beast heads so they don't spill poison?" Twilight asked.
The pink earth pony produced her party cannon. "Of course I can!" She instantly started firing cake, balloons, and streamers into the mouths, the teeth either eagerly consuming the party favors or getting stuck together.
"Fluttershy, come with me so we can try to convince the kampe out of here. Rest of you help Pinkie!"
Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack began to gather ammunition for the Party Cannon while the yellow pegasus and the Princess flew up towards the monster head. ————————————— Library of Time
Same moment
The Bookkeeper was watching the battle through the scurrying bowl with only half her attention. The rest of it was lent to the lavender book magically hooked up to it. She flipped to the next page with her silver-colored magic.
“Planning a strategy as always, Twilight. Predictable. The question is, do you have a plan for what will happen next, or for what you will do when you discover your future?”
A sudden streak came from the scurrying bowl. Looking over at it, the Bookkeeper saw Twilight being hung upside down by her tail in one of Skullsmash’s claws. Fluttershy had been knocked to the ground; Fortunately, uninjured.
The deity left the book open on it’s current page and bent over the bowl with her game face on. “Alright, Sparkle, this is your first step towards defying your future. You’ve accomplished a lot in your years of life, and you still have a lot of potential; I’ll be very dissapointed if you die now at this monster.”
Twilight just stared back at the murderous rage in the monster's eyes. She had honestly no idea why this kampe was accusing her of killing her children, or how the Princess of Friendship could’ve been mistaken for a poacher.
“You’re a lot smaller than I had anticipated,” Skullsmash muttered. "Then again, this was your younger self and you were a lot weaker."
“What??!” Twilight asked. "I'm not a poacher!"
“Don’t mistake me for a fool, little pony! I know your face and scent any- AKK!!!”
Rainbow had kicked the psycho in the claws, allowing Twilight to escape and get back in the air safely.
“You got the wrong pony, you big bully!” the pegasus cried. “Get out of here!”
The kampe responded by swatting her out of the sky. Fortunately, Rainbow managed to pull a safe, if bumpy, landing.
Twilight flew up so she could glare into the reptilian eyes of her opponent. It was bad enough that she was being accused of poaching kampe, and had the gall to attack her town but her friends? That was a big no-no. "Leave my friends and this town alone! They're innocent ponies who never did anything to hurt you!"
"Seriously?!" Skullsmash responded angrily. "You're defending this town? You killed all of them in the future! And don't talk to me about attacking innocents, Dark Spark! You're responsible for the suffering of the future and the horrible deaths of many, so I'm making sure your life ends now!"
"What are you talking abou--" The kampe cut off Twilight by shooting a stream of acid from a wolf head at her. Twilight managed to dodge it, but it barely touched her left hind leg. Without thinking, she shot off an array of attack beams, but she had to stop when she began to cough uncontrollably from the strain on her throat. Skullsmash took the opportunity to try to snatch the princess, but Twilight decided to focus on evading the attacks so she wouldn't get killed for something she didn't do.
The rest of the crew watched the scene worriedly from the ground. "Any pony got Plan B?" Fluttershy asked. "Twilight needs our help!"
Applejack's eyes suddenly brightened. "Hey Rare, do you still have that big fake parachute you made for the school play?"
"Yes, why?"
"We can cut off the kampe's breathing enough so she can pass out!"
"Great! I'll go get it!" Rainbow took off while Pinkie and Rarity kept trying to distract Skullsmash from the ground.
The blue pegasus returned quickly with the fake parachute. Applejack tied both the ends of her lasso to it, then gave it to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The two pegasi flew up, covered the muzzle, and began pulling hard.
Twilight stopped in mid-air and watched the plan her friends had created unfold. "Yes!" She exclaimed as she flew over to help with her pegasus friends, but suddenly, she was enclosed in the two humongous claws of the kampe. The Princess formed a magic shield to keep herself from being crushed, but her throat-magical problems made it unstable, and she couldn't attempt to transport out of there without getting crushed.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy screamed. She tried to move in to help, but Rainbow managed to stop her before the parachute fell off the kampe muzzle.
"Fluttershy, keep pulling! We need to make Skullsmash faint if we're going to save Twilight!" The two flyers doubled their efforts on the muzzle.
As for Twilight, Skullsmash's talons were too powerful and the massive pressure began to crack her force field.
"That barrier ain't gonna hold for long!" Applejack exclaimed. "Pinkie--"
"I'm way ahead of you!" Pinkie was already her Party Cannon with huge firecrackers and a disco ball.
The two flying ponies kept pulling on the ropes....
Pinkie Pie kept loading the cannon....
The barrier around Twilight was now nothing but cracks. It was going to shatter under the pressure any second now.....
"Pinkie!" Rarity shouted. "We need a shot now!"
"COVER YOUR EARS!" Pinkie screamed and hit the fuse button just as Applejack and Rarity hit the dirt.
BAM
The Party Cannon shot up a huge disco ball up at Skullsmash's arm. Fortunately, the ball managed to hit the arm of the creature, then ricocheted off her head, stunning her. Skullsmash began collapsing from the injury and limited air, and twilight managed to escape the claws.
Unfortunately, the disco ball hit the green stopwatch button and it began to glow with a silver aura, which spread around and wrapped around the unconscious Skullsmash and the six young mares. Then there was a flash, and they were all gone.
