Chapter 4: Darkness

Twilight awoke by a soft furred hoof gently nudging her. She apparently fell asleep after her ‘heartfelt’ conversation with Morning Blaze. The little filly drowsily opened her eyes to see one of the castle’s nurses, she remembered her name being Tender Care.

“How are we feeling, Miss Sparkle?” the white furred mare asked in a soft tone.

“Alright, I guess. My head still hurts a bit though.”

“Hmm, yes most likely a side effect of the physical trauma you received. Give it time, I’m sure it will be gone tomorrow. If not, feel free to pay us a visit at any given time.”

“So… I can go now?” the purple unicorn asked, silently praying she could finally go.

“I believe so, yes. You probably are really excited to get out of here, but please take it easy the next few days. We don’t want you here with another serious injury so soon again. Okay?” Tender Care hoped that was enough to convince the princess’ protege to go slowly the next days.

“Yes, of course. I’ll be careful. Now if you excuse me, I have some books to read,” her last words before she jumped out of the bed and rushed towards the exit.

“Take care of yourself, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight thought about visiting the princess, but she probably had something very important to do. Maybe after dinner, the little filly thought to herself. She still felt kinda bad because she lied to Morning Blaze, but she couldn’t risk to lose her ghost, whatever it was that was inside her head. Without it the little filly would never learn how to control her magic.

It was the right thing to do. The familiar voice chimed in.

Twilight paused in her track for a moment. “You can read my thoughts?”

Why, yes, of course. We are bound to each other. I thought, I made that clear with activating your inner magic.

Well… not exactly crystal clear, but I guess that makes sense, somehow.

Naturally I won’t take advantage of it. We mutually benefit each other, Twilight. I give you control over your magic and you give me the ability to roam this land freely once again.

Why do you need me to walk around? Are you a ghost or something?

No, I am nothing of the sort. And I need you because I am very weak right now. I felt your magic through the Void, it was very much like mine, so I was able to link our souls. I presume Celestia taught you all about links and mind magic.

The Void?

No time to explain, also it is not important for you right now. Let’s get back to my initial question.

Not really. Actually I’ve never heard of it. Also, you know Celestia? Isn’t she the best teacher one could possibly ask for? Twilight practically gasped in excitement about the voice knowing Princess Celestia.

Hmm, I guess it makes sense that Celestia wouldn’t teach you mind magic. Maybe we could discuss this later. And yes, I’ve known her for a real long time, she is quite… special. Yes that is an adequate way to describe her.

Mind magic sounds super cool, you have to teach me someday.

Yes, in due time. But for now, be going, you wanted to read something if I remember correctly.

Twilight thought the last days couldn’t get more confusing, but she was wrong apparently. At least, she could go now, finally getting some peace with her books.

Also, tomorrow would be the Summer Sun Celebration, it was always a nice event. Like a carnival, only Celestia themed. Everything from the carousels to the cotton candy had a sun or the princess’ face on it. Nearly the whole population of Canterlot went there every year.

Although it was always kind of bittersweet for Twilight to attend the Summer Sun Celebration. All other fillies and colts in her age went there with their friends and family. Not that she envied them or anything, not at all, but admittedly it could get lonely sometimes. Her brother was busy training to become an awesome royal guard, her dad being some kind of office worker and her mom was always preoccupied with her newest book. Sure, she had Spike and all, but he was maybe even more busy than herself.

Maybe Morning Blaze would go with her. Surely she could spare a few hours for the little filly. The yellow mare was on vacation as long as she recovered after all. It was totally not weird to do something with a teacher. In a regular school, perhaps, but Blaze was different and she cared for Twilight. She wouldn’t have asked how the little filly felt, if she didn’t care for her.

So, I guess that means no peace and quiet for us?

Her mysterious companion didn’t even bother the young filly anymore. She answered casually, “You can read my thoughts, so you know my answer.”

Do you even know where she lives?

Well, I… uhh…

You can ask the coordinator of the royal guards.

By Starswirl's beard, how the hay are we supposed to find him?!

Left castle wing, second floor, room 327.

Should I even ask?

Sensor magic, young apprentice. Unfortunately in my current state my spell range is a mere fraction of my former power.

Eh, good enough. Then let’s find out where Morning Blaze lives.

After around one and a half hour later the little filly finally knew where her teacher currently resided. Twilight didn’t want to waste any more time so she went right away, towards the heart of Canterlot.

It was a beautiful afternoon in the capital of Equestria. The streets were crowded with ponies and the whole city bustled with life.

The purple unicorn was slowly trotting towards Morning Blaze’s apartment. Good thing that she could convince the guards to let her out alone. She hated being escorted, like she couldn’t watch out for herself.

She observed the everyday life of the market sellers, looked into a few shop windows and had to persuade herself several times to not spent the entire afternoon in a bookshop. All in all, it was one of the better days, despite her stay at the royal infirmary.

Finally the house of her teacher came into view. A relatively plain three stories tall house, in the middle of Canterlot’s downtown. Good thing that the entrance door wasn’t locked or anything, it would have made things a lot more difficult. After climbing the stairs, that had in fact ridiculously high steps, the little filly wished once more to be at least a bit more fit.

Twilight waited for her breath to stabilise and exhaled softly before knocking at Morning Blaze’s door. After a few moments creaking sounds could be perceived from inside, also, the young filly could swear she heard something break. Apparently Morning Blaze was asleep, at least until now.

“Coming!” more rumbling noises before the door swung open.

It took Morning Blaze a moment to realise who was standing at the door. She rubbed her eyes and looked down at the little purple filly’s form.

“Twilight, is that you?” Blaze asked curious what her student might want.

“Y-yes, I...I umm, I just wanted… you know… oh, would you look at the time, it certainly is late. I better go now,” Twilight turned around and darted towards the stairs.

“Stop right there, young lady. You came all the way from the castle to my home, all alone. And now you can’t even say what you want? If that’s true you woke me for nothing and that on my free day,” she sighed before continuing. “You can trust me, remember?”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around again. “W-well, I was j-just wondering what you are doing tomorrow.”

“Nothing important, really. Just some relaxing, maybe visiting the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“I-in that case, do you… you know want to go with me?” at the end Twilight’s whispering nearly became inaudible.

“Come again?”

“Doyouwanttogowithmeprettyplease?” the little filly asked, slightly blushing. Hopefully her teacher would understand her nervous rambling.

To Twilight’s relief, Morning Blaze started to smile. “That was what you were so worried about? Hehehe, of course we can go together! I know you are a bit socially… inexperienced, but please keep in mind that I am not only your teacher, I am your friend. Okay?”

The purple unicorn hugged her teacher, nearly crushing her with happiness. “Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“No problem at all, my dear student. Is around two pm okay for you?”

Twilight let go of her mentor and simply nodded.

“Wonderful! I’ll come to your tower and pick you up. And now, since the sun is already setting, I will take care of your return to the castle.”

“The return…hmm, I hadn’t thought about how I get back.”

“Oh don’t you worry. You will be back in the blink of an eye. See you tomorrow,” her teacher said, smiling.

Morning Blaze’s horn radiated a strong white light and before the little filly could realise it, she was back in the castle.

The yellow mare used her standard thought transmitting spell to inform Celestia about the newest developments. At least her student had more trust in her that she originally thought. Surely a bit of ‘bonding’ with her student couldn’t hurt. That way it was also easier to protect Twilight, well easier than following her in the shadows all day.

“We're back at the castle?” Twilight asked nopony in particular. “At least I don’t have to walk all the way back.

Hmpf, Arkus magic. Quite strong, but dangerous too.

“You mean she is an Arclight?”

No, Arkus magic and an Arclight are two completely different things. Some beings not really blessed with intelligence also call it ‘space magic’, it’s painfully simplified, but the name sort of fits. It is classified as light magic, although some talented magicians can use it without the total control over light. But most unicorns only use it for portals and teleporting.

“Teleporting you say? Like literally teleporting something or somepony from one place another?”

… Yes… that’s why it is called ‘teleportation’.

“Ehehehe… yeah, it’s been a long day. Do you think I can try it right now?”

I wouldn’t recommend it. You could get stuck in a wall or end up somewhere entirely different. The worst that can happen would be that you dissolve your very being into its core components and scatter them into the infinity of the universe. Not very likely, but still a possibility.

“W-well… doesn’t that sound like fun.”

Quite a lot of it actually.

I could get some books on the topic from the royal archives.

Very unlikely, there are very few books on the topic at all and definitely not in the normal sections of the archives. There is no way for you to read them, well unless you are willing to break into the restricted sectors.

B-but but the princess said I shouldn’t go in there. There are all kinds of evil things like dark magic and such.

Ah yes, your mentor, your precious princess. Remember what you have learned, apprentice. There are no such things as ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ kinds of magic, there is only order and chaos. Each with their positive and negative aspects.

“And what about magical wards and barriers?” Twilight asked a little bit frightened by the idea of breaking a rule of her mentor.

No problem, I am quite the expert in terms of sensory and barrier magic.

“I suppose… we can probably do it some time next mon—” the little filly got interrupted by her voice companion.

Why wait? We could do it at anytime. How about this night?

“Okay, I guess. If you think it’s a good idea.”

Of course it is a good idea, my dear Twilight. Now go along, we have some preparations to make.

“Phew, finally finished!” Twilight sighed in relief after drawing the last symbol on her fur. The little filly’s coat was littered with small dark purple symbols and runes. She placed her painting tools back in the cabinet, exactly where they should be.

Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her patience was running quite thin after two hours of tedious body painting. Worst of all was that the little filly had absolutely no idea what all those strange symbols meant. They could do anything as far as Twilight was concerned.

“So… Why was I doing that again?”

A magical disguise, apprentice. Special kind of darkness magic, rather harmless, but just right for our purposes. After I activate the runes, you will be invisible to the magical wards and you will be able to walk through the barriers. It should give you free entrance into all sections of the royal library. Be careful though, it won’t last indefinitely, grab the books you find about the topic and then retreat to your chambers. Also, while it is true that wards won’t be able to sense you, your normal body is still visible. So watch out for any guards or members of the castle’s staff.

“Oh, is that all?”

‘Is that all?’ What kind of magic were you expecting? I can’t cast stronger magic in my weakened state.

The purple unicorn sighed and apologized, “Sorry, I am just a bit snappy right now. Let’s go.”

While approaching the library, Twilight had to hide herself in broom closets several times. She couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation as to why her coat was littered with magical symbols. The castle was now nearly empty anyways, the little filly wouldn’t have to worry about being busted anymore. After closing time most members of the castle’s staff rushed right home. Only a few ponies like the chef doctor or the night shift of the Solar Guards remained in the castle.

Twilight opened the door to the library, the fact that it was unlocked suggested that somepony was still inside.

I will activate the runes now. Invisus!

The runes glowed for a few seconds. There wasn’t really any notable changes, the purple unicorn just assumed the spell worked. She snuck behind a few bookshelves to scout for any possible disturbances. The little filly heard two voices casually talking about their day shift or something, it was probably not really important. Apparently they checked the library and would leave shortly after.

Now the voices were near enough for her to hear, “... she was like really angry you know, only because I—” they were interrupted by what sounded like a filly’s sneeze.

“Horseapples!” she cursed herself for not being more careful. Twilight had always been sensitive towards dust and some of the older books had plenty of it. She pressed herself against the bookshelf as hard as she could. With her darker coat the little filly nearly became one with the shadows.

Guard number one stopped with his ‘tale’ to listen if the sound was coming back. “Did you hear that?”

Guard number two replied, “It was probably just your imagination. Come on, let’s get out of here and meet the others.”

“I… I guess you’re right. Let’s go,” he shrugged and the two finally left the library.

Twilight exhaled the breath she was holding during their whole conversation. “Finally, now where is the door to the restricted archives?” she asked rhetorically.

It took them a few minutes, but they found the entrance to the restricted section eventually. As expected, the steel framed door was locked. Twilight kicked the floor before her angrily. “Great, this is just wonderful. How are we supposed to open the doors without alerting the wards. Disguise runes or not the sensors will still activate if I cast a spell on the lock.”

I know. Channel energy into your horn. I’ll handle it.

Twilight did as she was told, the filly channeled more and more magic into her horn. After a few seconds she felt the familiar tingle of a ready spell. The purple unicorn trusted her companion at least to some degree, it really helped having someone to talk to every time she desired it. “Now what?”

Unleash your magic now. It’ll teleport us behind this door.

“Well, here goes nothing!” with that the little filly expelled the magic her companion used for the teleport. It was the same feeling as earlier this day, only now she was accustomed to teleporting.

She struggled to stand after the teleport, but besides that it worked out pretty well. “Ugh, it didn’t really get more bearable even though I’ve done it twice now. Anyways now that we’re in here, can’t you just use your sensor spell thing to locate the right books, if they even exist so to speak.”

Her traveling companion didn’t show any reaction. After a minute of stillness her patience already began to run thin and after another painfully slow sixty seconds in total darkness she had enough. “Helllooooo? Anypony in there?” she asked while tapping on her head with her right foreleg.

Stop that nonsense at once! I just needed a minute to recover and to search through the books.

The little filly didn’t even think about apologizing. She just wanted to get out of the library before she would get into trouble. “Any luck with the books?”

I fear not, not a single topic is even remotely similar to Arkus magic. However, there are some fascinating darkness spells in here. Imagine what we could accomplish with this much chaotic—

“No books about this topic, too bad, let’s go!” Twilight stated hurryingly. Before she could run towards the door, the little filly felt her whole body petrify. It was so tense that she couldn’t move at all, like her whole body getting crushed by some invisible force. The purple unicorn began to panic, she desperately wanted to run away, to no avail. The more she struggled, the more it started to hurt, her body felt heavier and heavier, at this rate she would pass out from the pain in a few seconds.

“W-what ha-ve you d-done?” Twilight asked while starting to hyperventilate. .

You do not talk over me, Twilight Sparkle. I had enough of your ignorant demeanor for one evening. It seems that you are forgetting who the superior is here. Who would help you out of the library? Who would keep your magic in check? And who would help you to grow stronger?

I-I’m s-sorry! I p-promise I w-won’t talk o-over y-you again! Please, c-can we j-just go.

See? Was that so bad? Keep in mind that we have a mutual benefit here. I won’t tolerate such behavior a second time.

Twilight could feel her legs once again. The second she could move, the little filly fell to her haunches and started to sob softly. This was the first time she actually regretted not telling Morning Blaze. She had to suppress this thought immediately so that her invader wouldn’t punish her again. It took her awhile to calm down, but she got up eventually.

Do you have anything to say?

The little filly was still scared half to death, but she knew that she had no chance and had to get along with it. “Yes, I-I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. If you allow it could we please go before the disguise will deactivate?”

That’s the spirit and yes, we can. I have to apologize myself, I shouldn’t have snapped like that. We have a mutual goal after all, but be more respectful, then we won’t have any problems.

They repeated the same procedure as last time. Only this time she had to use way more magic. There she was, the great and powerful student of Princess Celestia, completely tired after breaking into a library. Great feeling really. It was time to go to bed anyway, that was enough for one day. She was still scared of her ‘friend’ though. Knowing that it could do anything to her, with no chance of stopping ‘it’. The little filly just had to get along with it, then it wouldn’t happen again, hopefully. At least tomorrow would be a nice Summer Sun Celebration for once.

Twilight nearly slept until lunch. Even one hour after waking up she was struggling to stay awake. The purple unicorn was just so tired all the time and that resulted more often than not in mood fluctuations. Having to shower for nearly another hour to get the colour out of her coat was certainly not helping it.

“Ugh, what time is it?”, the little filly asked still not willing to start the day.

According to the position of the sun and the watch that is hanging to the right of you, it is exactly 2:02 p.m.

“WHAT?!” Twilight asked with a shocked expression. “Morning Blaze will be here any moment!”

The little unicorn stopped dead after hearing her teacher’s soft voice coming through the door, “Twilight, I’m here! Ready to go?”

“Yes! I’ll be right there.” She rushed towards the door and opened it with a little telekinetic pull.

“Hello, Twilight. You look a lot better today. I guess that means you had a nice, calm evening yesterday?”

“Hmm? Evening… Oh yes, it was… nice. You also look quite good again.” the purple filly tried to sound enthusiastic and faked a little smile.

“Mhmm, it was a quiet and relaxing day for me. Total opposite of my normal routine I tell ya. Shall we go then?” Twilight was maybe good at magic, but she sucked on faking emotions. Morning could tell that there still was something going on, but that would have to wait again. She didn’t want to spoil the day for the little filly.

“Yes, let’s go,” Twilight agreed with a smile on her face. “You know, I was really looking forward to this.”

“Yeah, me too, nothing better than spending the day in good company.”

It didn’t take them very long to reach Canterlot’s inner city. After Morning Blaze talked with a guard about the safety of the princess, the two of them could finally to whatever they wanted. Blaze was really glad that the guard reported no suspicious behaviour around the celebration. Nopony would even dare attempting to harm the Ruler of the Sun during public events, not anymore, but they could not be careful enough. There was a second chance for everything.

“So,” the yellow mare started. “Wanna watch the circus show? I heard ‘cirque du poney’ is performing this year.”

“Okay, sounds interesting.”

The show lasted almost two hours, but it was pretty amazing. Twilight had never seen such daring tricks and stunts. After that they bought some cotton candy and sat down on a bench in the more quiet area of the festival.

“Pretty awesome day so far. I mean sure, I heard that this group is good, but wow, that topped my expectations.”

The little filly nodded in agreement, “Yep, they were pretty cool. Maybe we could play some games they offer around here now.”

“Or we just wander around a bit to relax. I’m pretty beat after that amazing show to be honest. Also, the speech is starting in less than thirty minutes.”

Ah yes, the speech. Or how Twilight called it, the most boring half an hour of the year. Not to be misunderstood, she loved her mentor to death, but the speech was always the same. About how great Equestria is, that we all are fortunate to live in this flourishing country and so on. The purple unicorn knew from experience that the princess herself didn’t really care much about the speech, but she had to do it apparently. Something about appeasing the dignitaries and continuing the tradition.

Twilight sighed slightly, “Well then, let’s get this over with.”

On the other side of the festival, Princess Celestia finished the exact same sentence quietly to herself.

It was like the little filly had expected it, exactly the same speech like last year and the year before that and the year before last year, but complaining about it won’t change anything. Well, at least it was over now and Twilight could finish the day with Morning Blaze.

“Hmm, the Summer Sun Celebration is almost over,” her teacher stated. “If you want we can get something to eat and then I’ll bring you back to the castle.”

“I’m not really hungry, thanks for the offer though. I can take care of myself you know, you don’t have to escort me all the way back to the castle.”

“Nonsense, Twilight. It’s gonna be dark soon. I don’t want you walking all by yourself at night.”

“Let’s go then.”

They walked silently for quite some time now. Sure, the little filly didn’t mind some peaceful silence at all, but somehow she felt obliged to start a conversation.

“So, Morning Blaze, how did you become a Royal Guard?”

The yellow mare’s gaze returned to the present once more, “Huh? Why do you ask?”

“I… I just want to know more about you. And I guess the princess told you everything about me, so it’s only fair.”

“Fair enough. Well… When I was younger, a bit older than you in fact, I lived on the streets. My parents passed away one year after I was born and they had no relatives that were suited to take care of a child. So the authorities took me to an orphanage, it was pretty bad there. No friends, no privacy, no fun at all. Nothing could be more fun than doing pointless tasks the whole day or sitting around doing nothing. As I got hold of my magic I finally saw the opportunity to brighten my future. I was pretty sure that they had no interests for me, after I ran away the orphanage manager did not even search for me.”

Twilight was taken aback. She hadn’t expected such a sad story. Suddenly her situation wasn’t so bad anymore. “What happened then? What did you do after you escaped?”

“I could leave out all the illegal parts, but to be honest I lived the life of a petty thief. Stealing to survive. Fighting the hunger on a daily basis. You probably aren’t aware, but the streets of Canterlot are quite the rough patch for poor ponies. At least at the time I was forced to live there. Everything that happened is so blurry now, I don’t even remember how long exactly I lived like that. Weeks, months, maybe even years. But in the end it doesn’t really matter, because there was one event that changed everything,” Morning Blaze took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. The yellow mare wasn’t even sure why she felt the need to expose such a personal detail about herself to a filly she barely knew. Maybe to cheer her up, maybe to earn her trust, who knows? Twilight would certainly not tell anyone, Blaze could feel that her little student had no harmful intentions.

“Well? Don’t leave me hanging!” the purple unicorn exclaimed.

“It was just another day in the streets of Canterlot. Luckily I had enough stolen property to survive for another day. I wanted to return to my usual sleeping place as I overheard some other poor kids talking about some kind of festival. My attention span at the time wasn’t exactly very big. So I just rushed right towards this ‘festival’ or as I saw it, a treasure chest. A party or an event would mean big crowds full of ponies and that would lead to more valuables for me to steal. As I arrived unnoticed, the event was almost over. Nonetheless, there still were tons of ‘rich’ attendants. They were all crowded in front of a big stage, with a tall, white pony on top of it. Turned out that it was the annual Summer Sun Celebration and I guess you can tell who that was on the stage.”

“You saw Princess Celestia there?”

“Indeed and what a sight it was, tall, regal and glorious. I had never seen such beauty in my short, despair filled life. After a few minutes of jostling through the thick crowd, I could finally see her even clearer. That is where the story is getting interesting. You know even as a foal I had quite observant eyes. I noticed two ponies with dark blue cloaks among the front row. At first I simply thought that they just didn’t want to draw much attention to them. These two didn’t look very trustworthy, even for my standards at the time. Then everything went down the river, they drew two very sharp looking daggers out of their pockets and started running towards the stage. I knew that the Summer Sun Celebration had not much protection, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten in without being chased by a dozen guards. So I did the single most stupid thing one ordinary pony could do, ever. I teleported in front of Celestia to save her. Don’t ask me how I managed to teleport back then, I have literally no idea. Anyways, since my younger self knew something about hoof-to-hoof combat, I actually achieved disarming one of them. In those few seconds I had the best feeling in my entire life, helping something in need, instead of harming them.”

“Did you win the fight?” Twilight was really excited now. She had to know how the story ended.

“Well, I managed to stand my ground for a whole five seconds before I got kicked into the dirt. After that I woke up in the castle’s sick room, with the princess herself waiting for my awakening. She thanked me personally for my brave actions. After they knocked me unconscious the princess took care of them. Apparently they weren’t happy about how Celestia ruled the country. After a long pause she finally asked what my name was and why I decided to throw myself in harms way like that. And honestly? I didn’t know either. The silence lasted for what felt like hours, before I finally answered, “I’m not sure. I don’t have much to live for and as I saw you in trouble, I… I just had to do something.” She knew that I meant what I just said.

Celestia placed her left forehoof on my shoulder and simply smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, let’s give you something to live for, shall we?” I was amazed, I had no words for how grateful I was. On that very day I joined the Royal Guards, to protect other ponies and to ensure safety in Equestria.

“Wow. And you really saved her?” know it was official for the stunned little filly. Morning Blaze was now the second most coolest pony she knew.

“Hah. Maybe ‘saved’ isn’t the right word for it. I bought her time at best, she would have done it without me too, I’m sure.”

“Nonetheless, you are awesome!”

It seemed like the story had the exact effect on the purple unicorn that she was aiming for. Cheering her up and easing her burden. “Enough with the praise. You’ll make me blush,” the yellow mare said, although smiling the whole time. “Let’s get you home.”

Twilight nodded and they continued their way towards the castle. The day turned out pretty good for the little filly. Now she knew she could trust Morning Blaze. Well… maybe not with everything.