Twilie's World

I would do anything to save her.

Anything I could.

But some things are things I cannot change.

All I can do I hide the truth from Twilie. It won't help her to know what really happened.

••••

I can still see it. Twilie was so excited for magic kindergarten. She was so smart too. I knew she would excel above all the other students. But, there was mom and dad. Twilie, being so young, didn't understand the matter at hand. I tried to tell her so many times, but every time I was about to break it to her, I was flooded with the thought of Twilie being absolutely crushed by the truth.

Mom and dad were dead. In fact, almost everyone was dead. Not because of an accident or natural causes, but because of the dark magic. They were trying to take Equestria for themselves. Dad was Princess Celestia's son. But he wanted the power, and when the princess refused, he ravaged all the kingdom. Celestia imprisoned him. However, that could never hold the infamous Notte Buia back. Dad discovered a spell that changed his appearance, and was able to escape when a guard thought he was a false prisoner.

Dad, or Notte, found our mother, Shimmerfall, whom he courted. Mom thought he was sweetest stallion she'd ever met. But dad had darker intentions.

Dad had tried his best to lure mom close with affection, but her moral ideals would not let her follow dad's quest for evil. One night, a few years after I was born, and after several violent and physical quarrels, dad came into mom and his bedroom and cast a devotion spell on mom. With her conscience taken from her, mom followed dads every order. Even the ones that hurt Twilie and me. I know Twilie doesn't remember the beatings and those cruel dark magic lessons, but she has scars that I tell her were from falling off the playground slide when she was a filly.

As Celestia's power grew, dad's hate for her did also. Dad was going to blow up soon, and all of Equestria would surely suffer.

I remember that night. Dad was really quiet during dinner. Mom was gazing at dad as usual, and I was feeding Twilie slowly as she learned how to eat properly. Suddenly, dad got up from the table, took hold of the table cloth with all the dinner content laying on it, and pulled it half way across the room. His eyes were blazing as he stormed into the library. Soon, he returned with a spell book, and set it on the table.

It read,"Dark Magic".

He was going to destroy Equestria no matter what.

I was afraid. I guess I was a little afraid for mom, but mostly Twilie. Mom was already spent. At least Twilie and I had our minds. I told Twilie to go to her room and play with Smarty Pants. But as she tried to scurry upstairs, dad used his magic to lift her in to the air and slam her against the walls over and over. When I tried to stop him, he did the same with me. At least if he was beating me, he wasn't hurting Twilie.

When dad had exhausted his desire to slam us around, he picked up the spell book and thundered from the house with mom at his heels.

I took Twilie to our basement. I didn't want her to be injured when dad went ballistic. I had heard dad's plan. He would burn Equestria. Burn it to dust.

Twilie was crying so hard that she was losing consciousness. I covered her with my body to protect her from what the basement wouldn't.

"Shining! What's happening! Why is daddy so mad?!"

I couldn't tell her exactly what was happening. She wouldn't even fully understand.

"Daddy's just letting off steam. It's okay, baby. It's okay."

Twilie just kept sobbing until she knocked herself out. I could hear the booming and shouting and screaming from above. I could even feel the fires heat.

When it was over, the only sound was the crackling of the flames. Twilie was still asleep, so I decided to take a little nap with her before exploring the outside.

When I awoke, I found Twilie by the basement latch. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she had a terrified expression on her face.

"Shining? W…what h…happened…?"

I was taken aback by the way she looked and was acting.

"Twilie…just…come over here…it's alright…"

"No! It's not! Just look outside, Shining, just look!"

She burst into tears again.

I slowly embraced her as I opened the latch and looked outside.

Equestria was not there anymore. It was just rubble and dust. Dad had destroyed our world along with mom and himself. I spent the next hour or so trying to calm Twilie down. Once again, she fell unconscious from sobbing.

When she woke up again, I took her outside. We would need supplies if we wanted to live. I rummaged through the rubble as Twilie helped me.

Days and days went on like this. Each day, we came up with only about a single meal for the both of us to share. I could see that Twilie was losing spirit. I wasn't sure how long she could carry on.

One day, while scrounging for food, I heard something behind me. When I turned around, my heart dropped. Twilie had slipped down a slope and broken her leg. She was pale with fright as she gazed at her leg. The bone was sticking out. I saw that she was trying to use a healing spell she learned the push the bone back into her leg, but it was causing her inscrutable pain. She was trying to hold back tears.

Twilie was always trying to be strong. When dad was alive, she learned that crying would get her a beating. I picked Twilie up gingerly with as little movement as possible. Twilie still cringed at the pain. I decided

it was time to head back to the basement shelter. I would try to mend her leg there.

After long hours of pain, I was able to partially heal Twilie's leg. However, I wasn't sure how to prevent infection with the sources I had. I would just have to hope for the best.

Now, every time I went in search for supplies, Twilie had to stay back in the shelter. I didn't know how the future would play out. Surely, things could not go on like this forever. I tried to think of a spell to change this world when I went outside, but nothing came to mind. That's when I decided to go searching for dad's old spell books.

Soon, I was finding spells to conjure up food and water, and other supplies. I even tried to spruce up the old shelter. Yet, Twilie's leg was not healing right. Infection was ravaging her body. And for the first time, Twilie was losing her will to live. She was plunging into catatonia. I attempted to get her to talk, eat, or even move, but she would not prevail. Her world was ruined. There was nothing left.

It had been weeks since Twilie had completely become catatonic. I was sifting through the dust for anything- anything at all. With Twilie now unresponsive, and Equestria vaporized, it was like living in limbo. I didn't know what to do or what the future would bring. I was deep in thought when I came across a book. I didn't know what interested me so much to pick it up and bring it back to the shelter, but when I took it back and looked through it, I found something that would change our lives forever. Spells to make artificial landscapes and ponies. I would create a new world for Twilie.

Twilie's world.

Each day, I would read through the spells, and slowly, I created a new Equestria. One that wasn't destroyed. Twilie became more and more responsive until she was almost restored to her former glory. Along with learning the creation spell, I learned how to heal Twilie's leg.

I had made a new kingdom, but there were still a couple flaws. There were no other ponies. It was just Twilie and me. I could see that some sociability with ponies other than me would help.

One afternoon, while Twilie was sleeping, I made her friends. I put as much thought as possible into each character. In result, there became a Rainbow Dash, a Pinkie Pie, a Rarity, a Fluttershy, and Applejack. It was exhilarating to see Twilie's face when she awoke. They all bonded so quickly. However, since all the girls were fillies, I needed a babysitter. I came up with Cadence. I couldn't help putting so much work into her, but I found that I had feelings for Cadence. She was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. There also needed to be a leader, which resulted in a Princess Celestia that wouldn't have a son anymore, but a nephew instead. Branching from the original ponies, I made other ponies. They weren't creations anymore, they were their own character. They developed on their own.

But I could see that something had been lost. When I saw Twilie, I could see a piece missing. Her past was holding her back from this new place. Who knows how this world would turn out if Twilie suddenly needed to tell the past to the others? How would they react?

The clear answer came one day when Twilie came to me. She seemed happier, but there was a slightly hollow look to her.

"Shining. I can't hold this all in…"

I dreaded her next words.

"…erase my memory."

I tried to blow off the words, but she was holding on. I could feel my heart breaking.

"What was that Twilie? Do you want to go to the park? I was just about to head over there…"

Twilie became even more intense.

"Shining. Erase-my-memory. Please. It's for the better."

I felt the lump rising in my throat.

"Twilie…I…"

"Please! Just do it! I just can't go on the way! I can't!"

I knew this was what had to be done, but I didn't want it to happen. I feared that I would lose her if I erased her memory. I would truly be alone.

But there was no other choice. Twilie was right. It had to be done.

That night, I could barely feel my hooves as I walked to the palace I had created with Twilie's help. Twilie was there. I could see she had been crying, but she would never admit it. I looked at her.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"We both know this has to be done."

There was a long silence. I suddenly felt hot tears running down my cheeks. Twilie had tears streaming down her face too.

"I love you Twilie."

She let out a small sigh. "…Love you t-too…"

"Goodbye Twilie."

I could see that Twilie was too choked up to say anything more, but she answered with a teary hug. She stepped back slowly as I cast the spell.

I made her a new memory. A happy one. Dad and mom were kind and we lived a more innocent life. She wouldn't have to remember the pain that plagued her before. She could be at home here now.

Even now I watch as she grows to be a magnificent mare. It's a little funny that I married the beautiful Cadence. Yet, the past truth does not bother me, and I live very happily with her.

I think that Twilie still has some flashbacks of the past, but when I see that expression on her face, and ask her if anything is wrong, she denies it.

Twilie is a wonderful mare now. She has many close friends, is the top student of Princess Celestia, and strives to gain more and more knowledge. I will always watch over Twilie, but I think she's okay on her own. She just looks so happy.

And even though no one else knows it, this is a world for her.

This

Is

Twilie's world.