The train ride back home was about as strange as the one before. Pinkie had passed out after she ate two hundred donuts and had to be carried back by Applejack, who had spent her entire day going on a walk. For some reason, Fluttershy couldn’t stop smiling, and Rainbow Dash had a look of pride and triumph on her face, whereas Rarity looked a bit annoyed. Starlight looked a little sad, for reasons only she and Twilight knew. As for Twilight? The previously excited and giddy mare was sitting down quietly, not even making an attempt to talk to anypony. Rarity, after her annoyance towards whatever had just happened, died down, tried to talk to Twilight. "Twilight, you haven't been talking to us at all. Is there something on your mind?" Twilight only then noticed how quiet she had been.

"Oh, sorry girls. Nothing's wrong. I was just tired." Twilight forced a smile, though nopony could tell it was fake. She was the only one of them who could lie so well, to the point where she could even fool the Element of Honesty. The others soon joined in the conversation, except for Starlight and Pinkie, who hadn't yet woken up from her donut coma. Fluttershy still had a look of absolute bliss on her face.

"Well aren't you grininn' like a dog eatin’ hornets? What's gotten into ya?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy blushed.

"Oh, um, nothing."

"It ain't nothing if it's makin' ya' blush like that."

Well, I was talking to Discord today,” she said slowly.

“And?” Rarity said eagerly.

“He asked me out!” Fluttershy squealed. Pinkie, who had recently awakened from her donut coma, grabbed a glass of water, chugged it, and spit it out, much to the annoyance of Applejack, who was right next to her.

“Wow, Fluttershy, that’s, that’s really great,” Starlight said. She was happy her friends had found love but sad that she had lost any hope of finding hers. For a while, there was an awkward silence until Fluttershy spoke up.

“So, how’d your race with Lightning Dust go?” she asked Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, I beat her by a few seconds. It was so epic! But then we talked for a little bit, got some ice cream, and made up. Turns out, she was just jealous of the fact that everypony liked me more than her. We’re totally cool now.”

“I wish I could say the same for me and Suri. She didn’t even bother to show up! I really shouldn’t be surprised. As mean, at heart, she was nothing more than a coward who couldn’t do things herself.”

“Well, what else would ya expect from a city girl like her?” Applejack said. “Ah’ve only met one nice pony from there! Sure, Canterlot ponies can be snobs, Crystal Ponies can be oblivious, and Cloudsdale pegasi can be pretty egotistical sometimes, but Manehattan ponies? Most of them are just plain rude!” After her rant, she got several looks from Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash. “No offense,” she added quickly.

“None taken. But isn’t it just a little racist that one of the cities you described is all pegasi?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“How?”

“Well, it’s just that you’re saying only pegasi have big egos, not unicorns or earth ponies.”

“Now hold on there just a second. Ah never said that. All I said was that Cloudsdale ponies could be egotistical sometimes! Ah didn’t say pegasi were!” After several more minutes of banter, the train finally stopped. As each of the girls went home, Starlight ran ahead of Twilight, who was walking rather slowly.

"Hey, Twilight, you okay?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, just a little tired," she lied.

"If you say so." Starlight walked ahead, while Twilight trudged through Ponyville. She wanted to be able to read the book, without anypony nearby. She came up with an idea, but she would need to get home first. Feeling a little down about her recent discovery, she decided to fly home. As she soared in the sky, Twilight couldn't help but smile at the feeling of the warm sun against her face, the wind in her mane, her feathers brushing against each other. It was amazing. As she descended towards her front door, she heard a voice. Embrace the darkness, it said. Twilight would have plummeted to the ground had she not regained control in time. She figured she was hearing things and was probably just stressed. Probably.

Spike read the note Twilight had left for him on the kitchen table. It read,

Dear Spike,

I'll be gone for the next few hours. I have some things to take care of. Sorry about having to leave on such short notice, continue with your day as normal.

-Twilight

"Wonder what that's all about?" Spike wondered. It wasn't like Twilight to leave with such little explanation. Spike shrugged. At least he got a break.

Twilight followed the path into the Everfree forest. She had mapped out most of the forest in case of emergency. She walked into a small clearing near the center of the woods so that nopony would see what she was about to do. She sighed as she pulled the book out of her saddlebag. She sat down with it, flipping it open. She had already read two of the most important pages, she couldn't forget what those said, but the book was pretty thick, there was bound to be something else. Twilight went to a random page. Her eyes widened as she saw what it was. It was an analysis of the Alicorn Amulet. It showed how it worked, and how it was created. But most importantly, it showed what the amulet was really for.

The Alicorn Amulet was made for one specific wielder, who could use it to its fullest extent and give the same power to others. It would have the same effects as with any other user, only more powerful and the user would have more control. This pony will be the only one whose use of the amulet would not result in insanity if used for too long. It is noted that if anypony used the amulet incorrectly, they would be unable to control the magic contained in it and would no doubt be destroyed. It is recommended that the amulet's wielder use the Alicorn Amulet's power gradually, and only for advanced magic. Other uses would increase the risk and would be ill-advised.

Twilight looked at a diagram of the amulet. It seemed quite simple, a gem with dark magic capabilities encased in a necklace. But then she looked at the small eye on the amulet. That part of the amulet was constructed entirely from alicorn magic. Specifically, dark alicorn magic. It would take years of practice and skill to entirely eradicate the risks of insanity and death. Then again, years of practice would have the same chances of that happening. Twilight looked at the spell used to create the eye. It seemed simple enough, just create a small gem. The only problem was that it required dark magic. Creating crystals was a very tricky spell, and using dark magic would make it downright dangerous. She sighed, she'd have to try that spell later. First, she should try practicing basic dark magic. She flipped the page. It was titled, "Dark Magic Spells for Beginners." Perfect, just what she was looking for. Twilight read the first spell. It was the spell that was used as the base for all dark magic. The book's instructions said that in order for a pony to use dark magic, they had to draw upon negative or dark emotions. She already had plenty of those running through her at the moment. She closed her eyes and sparked her horn. But instead of just using any emotion like she usually would, she drew upon her anger, no, hatred for her brother. She concentrated hard on those emotions and when he opened her eyes, her pupils and irises were red, and the whites of her eyes were now a blazing neon green. Purple swirls were forming on Twilight's horn. After a few more seconds, she released the spell, which then blew a large hole into a tree. The mare yelped in surprise as the tree fell down, nearly crushing her. She suddenly froze as she heard something. Embrace the darkness. The voice was back. "Maybe I should practice a bit more," she said wearily.

Several hours had passed since Twilight opened the book and it was now sunset. In that time, she had learned how to sprout crystals from the ground using dark magic, two offensive spells, and even basic mind control. Feeling ready to try creating a crystal with magical capabilities, she looked at two spells for the task. One required more power but was much simpler and less risky than the other one. She closed the book, then went over to a tree stump she had been using as a table. She closed her eyes once more and created a black crystal about half the size of a sugar cube. She exhaled. The spell wasn't that tiring, and she had mastered it completely in the time she had known it. Now for the hard part. She shut her eyes tightly and concentrated once more on the day's events. She shot a controlled, but powerful blast at the crystal, sweat trickling down her face. The crystal slowly changed from a dull black to blood red, being corrupted even further. Twilight stopped the spell and opened her eyes, which had become red and green again. Surprisingly, the spell didn't wear her out at all. In fact, she felt more alive than ever. She stood there, not making a sound, her eyes slowly returning to their normal state. The mare gasped as she jumped back, somewhat horrified by what she had just done. "I need to take a break." Before leaving the clearing, she created a barrier around it. Only she could come in and out of it, and nopony else could see it. At least one of her problems was solved.

Meanwhile, just on the edge of Ponyville,

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Starlight asked her friend.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will make sure nothing goes wrong!" Trixie replied. Starlight wasn't so sure.

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts about being in a cage with a manticore. Maybe you could try doing another trick inste-" Trixie cut her off.

"Showtime!" she shouted, pulling her assistant on stage with her. "Fillies and Gentlecolts! Tonight you will see me transform my assistant, into a manticore!" The audience gasped. As Starlight finished checking the mechanics of the trick, a worried expression crossed her face. She whispered something into Trixie's ear. Trixie looked scared. The crowd was beginning to whisper. Everypony was quiet. Suddenly, a loud roar was heard. The audience screamed. Trixie ran away, along with the crowd, not even looking for her friend. Starlight was shocked as she was left behind with the manticore. Frozen in fear, the beast swiped at her with its paw. Her face began to bleed. She tried to blast the creature back, but she wasn't strong enough. It scratched her again.

"Trixie help me!" Starlight screamed. Trixie looked back but continued running away. Knowing her friend wouldn't come back for her, she scrambled onto all four hooves and ran for dear life. Fluttershy, who just happened to be walking by, rushed over to help. The Pegasus stared into the eyes of the manticore, which calmed down and fled back into the woods. Starlight had fallen onto the ground, about to pass out.

"I'll go get Twilight, don't move," Fluttershy whispered. She ran into town, looking for her friend. As she trotted near the forest, Twilight crossed her path. "Oh Twilight, then goodness you're here! Follow me, quick!" The already exhausted Twilight didn't have time to ask questions as she followed Fluttershy.

"What happened now?"

"What happened?!" Twilight said, looking at her sister's body on the grass.

"She was attacked by a manticore. From the looks of it, something went wrong during one of Trixie's shows." I am going to kill that mare next time I see her, Twilight thought.

"We need to get her home," she said before teleporting them to Starlight's room. Fluttershy nodded. As soon as the unconscious mare was safely on her bed, Fluttershy checked for any fatal injuries.

"She'll be fine in a few hours," she stated. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. As her friend left the room, she whispered into her sister's ear.

"Please be okay, please."

Trixie rushed to her friend's door, praying that she was okay. She burst through the doors, making a beeline for Starlight's room. As luck would have it, she was already up and heading for the front door. Trixie ran up to her. "Starlight!"

"Why are you here?" Starlight responded harshly.

"I wanted to apologize for last night's accident. You'll forgive me, right?" she said hopefully. Starlight was silent for a few seconds, giving her friend hope that their friendship would remain intact.

"You really think that I would forgive you? You almost got me killed! I told you it was dangerous, but you just didn't listen! And after, when I almost died, you ran away like the coward you are! I never want to see you again!" Trixie was shocked.

"Starlight I-"

"I am tired of you never listening to me! Just leave me alone!"

"Starlight please!" Then Starlight did something nopony expected. She slapped Trixie. "You know what, maybe I should leave," she said, turning around. As soon as she left, Starlight's eyes flashed red and green, with a purple mist coming out of them. She should have felt bad, but she didn't. She only felt anger, no, hatred, towards her former friend. Unbeknownst to them, Twilight had been watching the entire scene.

"Why did this have to happen to us?"

Author's Notes:

I told you I'd work on this. Sorry this took so long, I may or may not have been procrastinating. The story is going to go in a completely new direction than I planned, but I'll try to get chapters out sooner. No promises though. Let me know if you want to know the original story, but otherwise, I think it's best to let that ending be lost by time. A lot of my stories will have secrets that I'll let you guys imagine or theorize about. I'll only tell you guys if you PM me with the question. And the whole manticore thing was based on a real magic trick and how it was done.