For the first time since I had awoken, I felt... somewhat whole.

I felt... not quite complete, but more fulfilled than I had before. I felt as though a part of me that I hadn't even known was missing had returned... but that there were still other parts of me missing.

I still didn't know just who or what I was exactly, but I now knew that I had never originally inhabited this body.

I had indeed existed before this, and I was something altogether different than what I was now. I didn't know what I was... but I knew my 'words' held power.

Somehow, instinctively I knew... this power was mine to begin with, and—while I didn't know the cause—I now had some control over whatever this was.

Something had triggered a change within me, and I had a difficult time coming down from the strange high I was feeling. Was it a side effect of having this part of myself released or unlocked or... whatever it was that happened?

That too, was something I wasn't quite sure of.

As I watched the new 'friend' I had made trot about the Town Hall cleaning up her decorative supplies, however, something began to shift in the back of my mind and I frowned slightly.

Something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on what it was.

As complete as I felt right now, there was something telling me this wasn't right. The feeling only grew in intensity as Rarity froze midway through replacing the several rolls of streamers and slowly turned to face me.

She frowned at me in confusion, but I ignored that as I took a moment to actually assess what I had done to her. Her eyes were still swirling black masses, and the decorations that were held aloft, bore no colorful magic aura as they did so.

Neither did her horn, which meant that whatever she was using to cast her telekinesis wasn't what she'd been using before. Rarity however, either didn't seem to notice, or if she had, she didn't seem to mind.

Other than that, it didn't look like anything else had changed. She was still the same sophisticated sounding, elegant and dedicated white unicorn mare I had seen when I first arrived.

After we had become friends, she had just... resumed what she was doing as if nothing had happened at all. I knew this power somehow, but just like my own identity, I didn't know everything about it—in fact, I didn't know a lot about it.

Still, I felt like something else had changed in the mare. Something important... something... fundamental, but I couldn't tell what from where I was standing... but then I noticed Rarity hadn't said or done anything since I had focused my attention on her.

It was almost like... she was waiting for me to say something. That's when I began to get a sneaking suspicion of what may have been going on... and that suspicion only caused the feeling of wrongness to slowly turn to dread.

The dread in turn, began to push away the rest of the fog that seemed to be clouding my mind, and I became somewhat more lucid.

I hadn't even realized my mind was clouded until the dread had set in.

I needed to confirm my suspicion, so I did my best to push my dread back down and—remembering the sensation—called upon that 'power' I had used earlier.

Come and stand before me, Rarity... I wish to speak to you.

The first thing I noticed was the clatter of several things falling to the floor. I blinked in confusion and it took a second to realize Rarity wasn't where she'd been standing originally.

I was watching her the entire time, and hadn't seen her move an inch. Yet here she was, standing before me, just as I had ordered—with a warm, expectant smile on her face no less.

There was no magical effect, there was no flash, or pop, or tell-tale hum of a teleportation spell being cast... she simply vanished and reappeared right in front of me in an instant.

"Is there something I can do for You, dear?" she asked with a curious tilt of her head. She frowned and suddenly began looking me over with a critical eye, "actually there just might be... perhaps a dress? Something form fitting, soft yellow to compliment the gorgeous lavender of Your coat... cross stitch finish? Hmmm..."

I gawked at her as she circled around me while mumbling something about fabrics and measurements. I was so completely thrown off balance by her sudden desire to make me an outfit that any residual high or haziness dissipated, leaving me feeling a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

"I... um... that's... that's not really necessary, Rarity," I sputtered, "I just needed to talk to you, that's all. Nothing more than that."

Rarity stopped in front of me and frowned in disappointment.

"Oh very well, then," she sighed, "I shan't argue, but if I may be so bold, my Goddess, I think You'd look quite fetching in a lace dress, though if I were to go with that, I think something a little darker in color might be called for... maybe a dark violet?"

I didn't bother to stop her tangent this time, as I was too stunned and confused by what she had called me to notice.

'My Goddess'? What the hay is she talking about? Why did she call me that?

I decided to ask her just that.

"Rarity."

She cut off her rambling at once and her countenance became much more serious, as though she had sensed the gravity of the situation in my voice.

"Yes, my Goddess?"

I flinched slightly, something inside of me rejecting that title outright, but pressed on nevertheless.

"Why are you calling me that all of a sudden?" I asked, furrowing my brow, "since when did I become a 'Goddess' of any kind?"

Rarity opened her mouth, only to close it once more and frown in contemplation.

"I'm... not quite sure, darling," she replied slowly, "it... just feels right to refer to You as such I suppose, it feels like the respectful thing to do in Your presence."

"But," I swallowed nervously, "we're... we're friends, aren't we? You don't have to call me a... a Goddess, why..."

I trailed off as a horrible realization hit me.

The haze had vanished and I still remembered what I had done to make Rarity this way. It was only then that the sheer weight of what I did slammed into me like a train.

I had killed Rarity.

I killed her, and somehow brought her back to life... not as a new friend... but as something else entirely. Then another thought hit me and I couldn't help but shudder.

Did... did I do the same thing to Minuette and the others back in Canterlot?

After seeing the effect my 'words' had on Rarity, an idea came to me... and I found myself really hoping it didn't work. With a shaky breath, I brought forth the power of my 'words' and called out.

Minuette... Twinkleshine... Lemon Hearts... come now, and stand before your Goddess.

My heart sank as all three mares appeared in the exact same fashion as Rarity—suddenly, quietly, and with no hint of normal unicorn magic whatsoever.

"You called, my Goddess?"

"Heya!"

"It's nice to see You again, my Goddess."

I took a disbelieving step back, slowly shaking my head in horror. Each of them stood there, their eyes just as black as Rarity's. but their demeanor no less vibrant than it had been before.

Each of their smiles were different to some degree, but, like Rarity, they were all looking at me expectantly, waiting for their 'Goddess' to give them a command.

I ignored the thousands of questions rolling about in my head and the shaking in my legs for the moment as I asked the one question I didn't want to know the answer to.

"W-What did I do to you three back in Canterlot?" I asked in a near whisper, before turning to the aqua blue unicorn mare, "and Minuette, how was I able to... use your voice?"

I wasn't sure if they knew what had happened back then, but it was worth a shot. It was Twinkleshine that stepped forward and spoke first.

"I'm not surprised You don't remember, my Goddess—"

"Please," I interrupted, shaking my head, "all of you, just... just call me Twilight, okay? No more of this 'my Goddess' stuff, please."

Everypony in the room seemed to shift uncomfortably before giving various hesitant nods of understanding.

"If You say so, Twilight" Minuette replied with a small shrug, "and to answer Your question, when we came to invite You over to Moon Dancer's party, You were acting kind of weird."

"Right," Twinkleshine continued, "we were worried about You, and the longer we stayed there, the more something began to feel weird... and not in a good way."

"Yeah, we... kind of started to get scared," Lemon Hearts added with a small somewhat guilty frown, "we... it got so bad that we kind of... tried to dissuade You from coming altogether."

"But then that's when You started... talking."

All three of them visibly shuddered at the memory.

"It... I don't really know how to describe what we heard, Twilight," Twinkleshine said, shaking her head with a frown, "but it wasn't Ponish, that's for sure."

Twinkleshine fell silent and Lemon Hearts picked up from where she left off, pawing at the floor nervously, looking ashamed at what she was having to say.

"All I know was that as soon as You opened Your mouth, I felt like my brain was gonna explode, and my heart was gonna burst right out of my chest with fear... it... wasn't a pleasant experience."

"I don't think any of us can really remember what happened after that," Minuette said, scrunching up her face in thought, "the last thing I remember is that You... changed all of a sudden, then there was this horrible pain in my head... and everything went black."

"And... this happened to all of you?" I asked, in a hoarse whisper, "you all... did you all... feel some kind of horrible pain before blacking out?"

I shivered as all three gave affirmative nods.

"I may not remember what happened to You, or the rest of us for that matter," Twinkleshine said with an apologetic frown, "but I do remember hearing a voice whispering in my head at some point."

My mouth was dry at this point. I was desperately trying to keep up, but my brain was running around in circles trying to gather the pieces to the puzzle, and the heart pounding in my chest was a bit distracting.

"A-And... what did this voice say?" I asked, knowing full well that it was probably my voice giving some kind of command, "do you remember?"

All three of them nodded in unison before Minuette spoke.

"I heard my own voice say something like 'You should all rest for now, a new Dawn awaits you... and with it... a new Life'."

"And the next thing we knew, we were all in hospital beds," Twinkleshine continued, "there was nopony in the room, and nopony came when we called."

"We tried opening the door, but it wouldn't budge," Minuette said with an annoyed grimace. Then she smiled at me, "but then we heard Your voice from outta nowhere and... now we're here!"

She finished by gesturing to the room around her. I just sat there and stared at them dumbly, having fallen to a sitting position at some point during the explanation.

They had all fallen silent, something I was thankful for, as it gave me a chance to run the things I had heard through my mind.

I had so many questions I didn't even know where to start, but there was one thing that bothered me the most, and, turning to Minuette I asked the question. my voice quiet and shaky.

"Y-You said I had changed," I began, "how exactly did I change? What did I look like?"

"I... I don't know, Twilight," Minuette replied sadly, "I couldn't describe it then, and I can't describe it now. All I know, was that it... oh, Goddess I'm so sorry to say this, but it... was not a pretty sight. Just looking at You made me want to gouge my eyes out... literally."

The other girls in the room glared at the mare, and she shrunk back with an apologetic smile.

"Hey... She asked, I just told Her the truth," she said somewhat defensively, "you two were there, you saw Her! Could you have described Her any better?"

They must've realized they couldn't because their glares faltered and they looked away in shame. I wasn't bothered by the fact that she had basically referred to me as some kind of hideous abomination unfit to even look at.

No, what bothered me was both the weight she put on words when she was referring to me, as well as the fact that I had changed at all.

Now that I had noticed it, I realized that they had all been putting that odd emphasis in their tones when they were referring to me.

If I had any doubts before, they were completely gone now.

This... now I knew this was wrong, and I... had to fix it before somepony else found out. Who knew what they would do? Who knew what the Princess would do?

Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette had already been found and taken to the hospital. I just had to hope nopony had seen the black eyes and weird magic... or lack thereof.

I had to quell the thunderstorm of questions roiling in my mind and think.

"Okay... as... informative as this has all been, I don't think it's a good idea for all of this to get out," I barely registered the fact that I was now pacing back and forth. I stopped and turned to look at each of them in turn, "do any of you really know what's going on?"

All of them, including Rarity, who had been content to remain silent up to this point, looked to each with varying expressions of bemusement before turning back to me and shaking their heads.

I nodded, trying to remain calm and focused as I began pacing once more. It was clear that whatever I had done to these four had turned them into some kind of... obedient servants that worshiped me for whatever reason.

It obviously had something to do with this power I seemed to have, and these 'words' that I spoke. I could bend them to my will, and the thought made me a bit sick. I don't know why I did what I did to Rarity, and why I didn't remember doing any of this to the other three.

I killed them... probably all of them, and I didn't bat an eye when I snapped Rarity's neck... why? What was wrong with me? Why did they call me a Goddess? Why was I able to bring them all back to life? What did this all mean?

And then there were these odd moments of weakness and disorientation as well. I hadn't forgotten about them, and the fact that I had yet to solve that mystery only frustrated me even further.

There were now far more questions than actual answers, and despite my attempts to stay calm and rational, I was freaking out even worse than before.

A sudden tap on my shoulder made me shriek and scramble away slightly. My wide panicky eyes settled on a startled Rarity who took a sheepish step back.

"I'm terribly sorry to bother You, Twilight dear," she said with an apologetic smile, "but You seemed to be in an... ah... advanced state of intense stress."

I stared at her for a second before letting out a heavy sigh.

"You're right... I'm sorry, Rarity," I replied with a small, but grateful smile, "thank you for getting me back on track," I frowned, determined to sort things out properly, "now then, I'm going to... give you all some commands that I want you to follow."

I can't believe I'm doing this...

They all nodded knowingly and I gave a nod in return before continuing.

"I may not know what's going on here, but I don't want the situation getting any worse than it already is, so for now..."

I took a deep breath and let it out before speaking my commands and silently hoping this would work.

As your Goddess, I demand that you all maintain the utmost secrecy regarding the events surrounding your death and subservience to me. You will all go about your lives as though nothing of note has occurred. Am I understood?

"By Your Will, my Goddess."

All four mares answered simultaneously before blinking. Each of their eyes returned to normal, the swirling blackness vanishing as though it had never been there to begin with.

As soon as that had happened, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts vanished the same way they had appeared, in an instant and with no sound or flashy effects whatsoever.

I briefly wondered for a moment where exactly they had gone, but soon put the thought out of my head as I turned back to Rarity. The mare resumed cleaning the rest of the decorations just as she had been before.

I breathed a small sigh of relief as I saw the normal light blue aura of her magic glowing around her horn and the objects she levitated. Then I frowned and narrowed my eyes.

I may not have actually been Twilight Sparkle before... but I was now, and if my memories and experiences were anything to go by, Twilight Sparkle knew magic.

With a simple glance, I could tell that the aura I had been so relieved to see was nothing more than a simple glamour... an illusion.

There was no real unicorn magic being cast.

Author's Notes:

Now that those questions have been raised it's time to start digging for answers. The prologue is over and now the actual story can begin!

And yes, I'm aware that Spike is still outside, brainwashed and doing who-knows-what. I'll get to that in the next chapter.