The cold rain of the night was as unforgiving as it was uninviting. Standing alone in the empty streets of Manehattan was a small, cloaked figure of a filly. Her body was steadily getting worn down by the torrential rain, which had been assaulting the city since she started out on this journey. She knew from how she had maintained her schedule, and from the estimated time slots on each meticulously written item on her checklist (in water resistant ink of course), that the journey had taken her approximately a day and a half to complete. Her teeth were chattering, her body was shivering, and her stomach was growling out for food as her appetite suppressing potion wore off. If there was one thing that living a pampered and fairly wealthy life as a foal had disadvantaged her for, it was running away from home.

She anticipated this though. She knew going through with this plan was not going to be easy, and that she simply could not go to her family (even her brother) to help her with her plans. They tried to comfort her. After she had failed the test for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, a light seemed to have gone out of the filly's eyes. The first few days of her being back home were spent with her seemingly wallowing in self pity, wrapped up in a pile of blankets as she shut herself off from the world. Twilight had never been a sociable filly. She was known for being distant with others her own age, and she only seemed to talk to her brother with any warmth or friendliness in her voice. Even her parent's had to get used to a certain stiffness their daughter had towards them, almost as if she were forcing herself to interact with them out of a sense of obligation more than anything else.

Twilight's three family members took shifts speaking with the young filly, trying to work her out of her depression. They told her not to worry about the test. They told her that she could take it again when she was a little older. They told her that a lot of fillies her age didn't even get the chance to take the test, much less pass it, and that she should feel honored for being invited to it. They tried everything from placating kindness, to stern admonishments of her not taking care of herself, and even threats of getting a therapist involved if she continued to cut herself off in this manner. None of it had gotten any kind of reaction out of her. They were almost on the brink of calling for professional help when the filly had stepped out of her room, washed and smiling as she greeted them for breakfast. What they had not known was that while she was huddled up in those blankets, she had used every bit of her considerable brain power to figure out what she was going to do next.

That day had been such a source of humiliation for the filly. She had worked so hard to gain entry into that exam. While other fillies had stronger natural control over their own magic, Twilight had to force out her own power with visible strain on her face. She could feel its power deep inside her, waiting to be channeled through her horn, yet it seemed so unyielding to her mind. She suspected that it had something to do with the nature of Harmonious magic, the type of energy that ponies were naturally born with. Harmonious magic were the most pliable to ponies whom were harmonious of mind. Only issue was Twilight only saw value in the virtues of harmony in as much as it gave her access to her magic. Honesty was not always advantageous to practice. Kindness prevented certain experiments from being carried out despite their importance to finding new magic. Loyalty to friends and loved ones left a pony vulnerable to betrayal. Generosity was only useful when it had long term personal gains in one sense or another. Laughter, the most useless out of all these virtues, was the absolute hardest for her logical mind to wrap around. Since she had such a tentative, almost artificial connection to Harmony and its virtues, it was reflected in how much magic she had access too. Even with such restrictions however, she still had far more raw power at her disposal than most ponies at her age.

She pushed herself through these restrictions on her magic. While she struggled with things like harmony, her aptitude for magical theory was something to marvel at. She could see a spell performed only once and be able to mimic it with her heavily restricted magic. Even though it felt like she was only getting ice cubes out of her horn when she had a glacier of magic at her disposal, the things she was able to perform with what she could squeeze out was more than enough to land her a spot on testing day. Everything felt like it was leading to that moment. She felt like this test was going to be the day that her magic was finally going to spill forth and dazzle everypony with the power and skill she knew she had. Instead she could only let out meager sparks, and watch as judge ponies looked upon her pitiable display with expressions that communicated their disdain for having their time wasted.

She left no note for her family to find, nor did she take anything but the barest essentials for the trek to Manehattan. Anything too over the top would have alerted them that there was something up and they would have caught up to her days ago. Her whole plan would have been ruined. She had put too much time and prep work into planning out the route she would travel to this particular shop, accounting for every contingency and scenario she could possibly conceive that would halt her mission. She had mapped out how search parties would generally operate, how much time they would spend checking her usual locations that she frequented, and even devised subtle false leads for them to chase while she slinked about out of sight. Her parents were not extravagantly wealthy, but they were rich enough that she would have to put this much effort into running away to make sure one of the myriad of hired hooves did not find her. In that regard, this stage of her mission had been a complete success.

One of her saving graces on this journey was her extensive knowledge of potion-making. It was a type of magic that did not require horn magic, but rather a skilled meticulous mind with an eye for details and a willingness to experiment with volatile substances. She had made enough appetite suppressors to last her awhile longer, and some rations of dried food and water still left beneath her cloak. It hadn’t been ideal, but it had lasted her the entire trip. She had almost been impressed with how predicable the journey had been. She had practically predicted everything from the guards joining the search parties to the missing filly posters adorning the walls down to the hour on her meticulously crafted checklists. Her studies into the procedures of missing filly cases and the precedence set by thousands of reports proved to be quite valuable for this venture indeed.

Yet with all her planning, with even accounting for the hesitation she would feel about the next step of the plan on her checklist, she was still frozen stiff outside this shops door. She was dreading doing this next part. Her conscious was screaming in the back of her mind to simply turn around and let herself be caught. Up until now, she had not done anything all that wrong just yet. If she were to turn back now she would just be labeled as an emotional little filly who ran away for failing a test. Nopony would have to know what she had been planning. She could turn back now and it wouldn’t end in anything more than a grounding at the very most. If she went through with this next step though...there was no turning back from that.

Still, this is what she came for. She had formed this plan after going through an extensively long list of pros and cons, taking up an entire scroll of parchment. Normal ponies found their strength in harmonious magic. That was their calling. By rights it should have been her own calling as well, yet no matter how hard she tried using those types of spells, it felt like her body was actively rebelling against it. Yet there was one spell she had found that worked perfectly for her. A dark and fascinating spell that she had found in the restricted section of the Canterlot library. It felt so right when she performed it, the dark magic channeling through her with an ease that was entirely removed from the arduous, painful, infuriating slog Harmonious magic was to her system. That was when Twilight knew, if harmonious magic wasn't going to cut it for her, wasn't going to yield to her will, perhaps she should look into disharmony instead. Many of the most powerful magic users in history had been disharmony users. Perhaps she was destined to follow the paths of Sombra, or Catrina, or Grogar.

It didn’t make holding her makeshift blowgun in her hoof any less daunting however. Though it was such a light weapon, it weighed heavily in her hooves as she thought about what was inside it. She had tested these potion-tipped darts on mice over the course of weeks, refining the formula to make sure it worked perfectly. This concoction, one of her own making, would eliminate any real evidence and prevent her of getting caught. No one would miss a shady pawn shop owner anyway, she had rationalized. Besides, she simply did not have the bits, or the age requirement, to grab what she had came all this way for legally.

No. If she wanted that Amulet, it needed to be taken, and it needed to be taken swiftly.

The search parties that were looking for her were still in the Canterlot area, but she didn’t want to risk getting caught, so close to her prize. No matter how terrified she was feeling at this moment, standing on the edge of no return, she needed to act now. No matter how hard it made the filly’s heart thump in her ears, she had to do this to become the unicorn she knew she was capable of being. She was going to show the world that Twilight Sparkle is the greatest mind in magic they had ever seen, even if she would live in infamy instead of fame.

All it would take is one well aimed shot, and everything would be hers for the taking. She had been practicing so much with tiny scurrying targets that hitting a surprised Stallion would be like aiming at a wall to her. It would be so quick, she just needed to get it over with.

She steeled her nerves and rushed forward, forcing her chilled limbs into motion as she threw the door to the shop open. The tinging of the shops bell sounded as the thick door swung wide, though it lost momentum due to the lack of strength in the filly's limbs. The shop owner looked up from polishing one of his wares, adorning a smarmy smile as he did so. It was the kind of expression that one gave to simpletons that he planned on squeezing as much bits out of as possible. Puzzlement flashed across his face when he didn't see anyone at first glance however, and it wasn't until his eyes trailed downward that he saw the small damp cloaked filly standing in his doorway. His expression quickly lost all of it's civil veneer as he glowered at the child.

“What are you doing out this late kid, its dangeroHKNGK!” The dart barely made a sound as it flew out of her blowgun, silently cutting through the air as it stabbed straight into his jugular vein. His hooves shook as he gripped onto his neck, his face blanching at the lack of blood reaching his head. When he had pulled his hooves back they were covered in dust. It was no coincidence. His body was being converted at the cellular level to those untraceable little specs that fell to the floor. He wasn’t even able to scream as his throat muscles were rapidly deteriorating and falling away as little gray particles.

He looked at the filly in confusion and terror. She watched his mouth hung agape as he tried to form words. He tried in vain to hold his hooves up to his throat and face to prevent his body from leaving him, but doing so made his jaw fall apart like someone had kicked a sand castle. The shop keepers gaze grew glassy and lifeless as his head fell right off his body, hitting the ground with a plumb of gray dust. His body went limp and followed suit, the potion working faster now as it converted the rest of the stallion into nothing more than a pile that someone could sweep with a broom and dump in the trash without ever realizing it was once a living breathing creature.

The world had never felt as oppressively quiet too Twilight as it did in that moment. She sat on her haunches and grounded herself as she stared at the floorboards, trying to calm herself down. She had planned for panic and remorse. It was even on her checklist just under "take out the shopkeeper." She had researched dozens of coping mechanisms and exercises to calm herself down, even tested the effectiveness of them as she started her experiments on the mice. She counted the individual grooves of the wood planks, trying to hold back her tears and worked to get the adrenaline pumping through her veins down to a reasonable level. Now was not the time to freak out, her plans needed to happen, she could not turn back now.

She didn’t want to be in this shop any longer than she had to be. She knew it was irrational, but it felt like he was going to claw his way back up from the dust and take his vengeance on her. Her cloaked body had created a puddle of water from where she had been standing, and there was still much more water clinging onto her tiny body besides.

What would Shining say if she saw her do what she just did? What would Cadence say? What would her parents say? Would they be angry? Sad? Betrayed? Part of her wanted to go back home and curl up in bed and cry, but she had no time for that. Now was not the time for a guilty conscious. now was the time for action. Now was the time to be decisive.

She wiped her eyes with her fore hoof and shook her head to get some clarity before scanning the room for the amulet. To her surprise it wasn’t hidden away but out on display right on the counter with an exorbitant price tag on it. How had somepony NOT made a move on this thing already? It boggled her mind that it had been so easy to trace this dark artifact to this specific store on her own as a filly and yet nopony else had even dared look for this powerful item. Sure it didn’t have the most savory history, and it tended to bring out the most disharmonious elements of a pony’s character, but those were necessary steps for her much bigger scheme. She crouched on the ground, putting as much effort as she could to bunch up her muscles before bounding onto the counter like a cat. She almost hadn’t made it, but she had gotten a firm hoof hold on the surface and managed to clamber her back hooves and drenched cloak up onto the surface with her, albeit not in the most graceful manner possible.

Despite her better judgement, she peered over the edge to the other side and winced as she saw a clear imprint of the stallion’s body made with the mounds of dust, or rather that’s what she thought she saw. Perhaps her mind was just seeing it like that because it was telling her to stop what she was doing.

It was too late to turn back now though.

She had to act quickly. Eventually her family and the search parties would find her, and then everything she had planned for would of been for nothing. His death would of been in vain. She needed to do this now more than ever if she wanted to make this whole journey worth it. .

Her eyes fixated on the display as she slinked over to it like a cat. Its simple design and beautiful red gem called out to her. She wanted this thing around her neck. It made her mouth salivate a little just thinking about it. She needed it. It was hers for the taking. It was the best disharmonious artifact she could find that was in a relatively simple travel distance from her home. The rest of the artifacts she desired were overseas and resided in the most perilous locations. A normal filly would surely die on such a journey. Yet in just a mere moment she wasn’t going to be just a normal filly.

She lashed out violently and suddenly, smashing her hoof through the display, trying not to flinch too bad as the shards of it ripped into her flesh. She breathed through the pain and bit her lip as the blood from her cuts trailed down the length of her foreleg and onto the Amulet, which let out a little crimson glow of appreciation. She let out a nervous giggle as her hoof grasped onto it, gingerly pulling it out of the broken glass so it didn’t cut her any more than it already did.

Her leg silently protested in throbbing agony as she shakily used it and its sibling to fasten the amulet about her neck. To her surprise it moved of its own accord as it drew closer and adjusted its size to snugly fit around the young filly’s neck. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head in that moment. She sighed in ecstasy as she felt the Amulets influence flow through her body for the first time . She could feel its magic coursing through her now, filing every vein in her body and freeing up all that locked up energy that had been trapped away from her. The feeling was intoxicating, she wanted to feel like this forever. It made everything she had done to get here all the more worth it.

She held out her injured leg before her and glanced down at it as it dripped blood onto the counter. Her grin grew wide as she watched the injuries seal themselves up and make her leg brand new and healthy once again, twisting it about too and fro to watch the progress of the healing as it happened. That was advanced magic she had only read about, and it had taken no effort to duplicate its effects. No longer did she have to question if she truly understood the texts she had ravenously combed through, now she could tell for sure that her mind was built to understand magic, and the amulet had freed up her ability to use it.

This was a brilliant start to be sure, but this was only the beginning. If the rest of the artifacts on her list were as wonderful feeling as this powerful relic, then she was more than ready to follow through with her plan.

The Necronomicon of Grogar, The Varunastra of the Elephants, The true recipe of the philosophers stone of Scorpan, the Rauðskinna of the Umbrum, and so many more things besides. All of it was just waiting for her to claim it from the various places they resided throughout the world. A small filly might not of been able to do it, but empowered with this Amulet, she might just have what it takes to gather them all and achieve ultimate power for herself. She had been so lost in her revelry that she didn’t even notice the figure shadowing the door as he let himself in.
.

“What are you doing up there? Where’s the store owner?” A shifty looking stallion walked in through the open door with a bunch of useless trinkets in hoof. He was probably going to try and pawn it off for drugs or something.

“I’m afraid the stores closed mister.” she cooed as she stared off in the distance. The stallion felt a little creeped out by the filly’s aura. She didn't feel right. She felt twisted and strange. Then he noticed the smashed display of glass and that trinket the old stallion kept wanting to sell for an unseemly amount of bits gone from it. Nopony had wanted that thing. It had a dark aura that made the whole shop feel difficult to visit, yet the shop keeper insisted on keeping it out there on display, calling it a valuable relic.

“I...I’m gonna grab a...cop… and be right back...you stay right th..there…”

He froze as the filly’s head violently turned to his direction. Her face bore on it the most bone chilling expression he had ever witnessed. Her youthful skin seemed almost stretched to its limit with the psychotic grin, and her irises were the size of pinpricks. He stood stock still, blanching at the sight like a frightened little animal under bright light. He wanted to scream as her eyes flared with a crimson glow, but he couldn’t.

That horrifying expression on the purple fillies face was the last thing he saw, because his vision all of a sudden went entirely black.

The soft tissue of his eyes hardened into stone the longer the red glow of Twilight’s gaze stayed upon him. His hooves rushed to his face in a panic to find out why he couldn’t see. He made increasingly alarmed whinnies as he felt patterns of stone spiderweb across his face, converting even coat into little stone points as it went along. He tried to irrationally dig the stone out of him to make it stop, but it just kept spreading on his face, making him squeal even louder as it became harder to move his muscles and articulate himself. It wasn’t until the creep of stone had reached his brain that he finally toppled over, silenced but not quite dead as his hardened scalp hit the ground, shattering against the floor as he gasped for air like a fish out of water.

A staccato of giggles erupted from the filly as she watched the twitching stallion on the floor. Casually she pranced off the counter and alighted onto the floor. She levitated another of her specially made darts and stared at it a moment as it hovered before her with her crimson aura firmly grasping it. Twilight let it sail through the air and strike the suffering stallion, allowing his body to crumble into dust, leaving only the cracked head of him left with that pained expression forever frozen on his face.

Any sense of remorse she had been feeling moments earlier were being worked out of her by the amulet. It was such a useful little tool for her, and it was going to help her so much for the years to come as she made her little journey around the globe. It didn’t quite feel as daunting as it did when she had initially plotted it out. Some tiny part of her still wished that her test had gone right, that maybe things could of been different, but she would never stomach being just some normal pony living a normal life. She would gladly risk everything just to avoid that now.

She pulled out a map of the globe and peered over it in the dimly lit pawn shop by the dust and stone that had once been a bystander.

“Let’s see, twenty seven point three four five seven degrees north by thirty five point seven two four three degrees east should place me at least in the general area of where I need to be. I know the principle of teleportation, let's see if I can make that principle an actuality.”

She smiled under the red glow of her horn, loving the feeling of power brimming through her veins. It was intoxicating. It was exhilarating. It was everything she had ever wanted. Her time was coming soon, she could just feel it.

She stooped down and looked at the stone head of the dead stallion in his vacant eyes. She had snuffed his life out with the merest glance thanks to this amulet. Imagine what she would be capable of doing after she grabbed everything on her list. Now she had one final test to see if she was truly ready.

“...there is one other thing I need to collect before I leave Equestria.” she cooed to the dead stallion, not caring if he could hear her or not. Casually she focused her new found power to one destination. Right in front of the egg that had started it all.

Her body flared up and blinked out of the pawn shop in a glow of crimson light. The most ponies would suspect was there was some kind of botched break in or that the owner just up and left, and even if they did try to investigate, there wasn’t any evidence worth gathering save her blood on the counter. Even then she would be long gone before that came into question.

She didn’t even need to know the exact location to teleport to where she wanted to be, she knew exactly what she was looking for. After she had flared into her destination, the brief light that had came off of her teleportation revealed that she was in a treasury and the egg was sitting atop a pillow in the center of it. She fired up her horn to give herself more lighting and aimed it straight at the thing that had cost her her dreams.

“Let's see if you’ll open for me now…”

Her red magic snaked out of her horn and onto the Dragon egg, lifting it up and rotating it in the air with ease. It shook violently in her corrupted aura, the pattern on its egg darkening and twisting in unnatural ways before it started to crack open. The little baby drake inside was crying and twisting in the air as its scales darkened into a deeper shade of purple and its spines grew sharper and its body grew larger. The magic it had come in contact with at that moment had altered what he was and made him into something entirely different, something meaner.

She let it thump to the ground on all fours, its undeveloped mind gazed upon the filly before her and smiled a toothy grin at her. His instincts imprinted himself onto her. She was his leader now, he would follow her anywhere she went and do whatever she asked. It made him happy to do so.

The bond had been made, and Twilight smiled for it. She had done what she couldn’t do before, and now she had a dragon to call her own, a dragon that would prove to be quite useful in the coming years. The first of many followers to come.

Her ears twitched to the sound of hooves filling the hallway outside. They were yelling orders, something about an intruder. It was her signal that it was time to leave and very soon.

“Its time for us to make our leave my little dragon, we are not ready to reveal ourselves just yet after all...so many things on the checklist left to go before that.” Her voice had a slightly deranged tint to it, her young mind already being warped by the Alicorn Amulet.

The infant didn’t understand what she said, but his tail wagged in appreciation of her voice. Before the guards had burst into the room the two of them had already vanished in a flash of crimson light.