Wire-puller

noun

1. One who uses secret or underhanded means to influence the acts of a person or organization.

2. The act of pulling the wires, as of a puppet

Synonyms: manipulate

Twilight Sparkle's POV

I've completely lost sight of who I am becoming with each passing day. Some days were fine, but like most things, it came to a close rather instantly whenever... She would make herself known. I hear her now. She's slowly beginning to appear closer to reality than before. She'll forever be a part of me, but I'm trying my hardest to overcome her.

My magical capabilities have evolved more rapidly now. I used to only be able to fly, conjure magic, and make things levitate on my command... Now I'm able to manipulate people's minds at anytime - I'm able to make them see things that aren't even there... It's a brutal form of dark magic that Starswirl the Bearded himself would compare to that of the devil. Controlling that power is relatively easy, considering how dark that ability is... I also developed the same magical ability as Rarity - magical materialization. Among other things, I developed telepathy - which if you didn't know, is the power to read minds.

'Those with the ability to read minds also have the ability to send messages to people of their choosing if they do it properly. Unfortunately, that is for people who are far more advanced in the magick of telepathy. Unlike physical abilities, magick abilities take up more energy, concentration, and time to master. Thus creating the Tiers of Magick.' - Starswirl the Bearded

The 'Tiers of Magick' are similar to a video game. You level up. Each level up has it's own perk - one more powerful than the last. And you have no idea how much effort has been put into practicing my telepathy... It's always trial and error for me. The process is simple:

1. Use my ability to materialize my friends individually. While they were practically a clone of my friends, they were unable to actually speak. The... constructs themselves are just still 'images' of them. Holographic in a way.

2. Talk to them through my mind, and use the energy in my emotions to help get the message through to the actual individual.

3. Repeat the steps with my other 'friends' and wait.

4. Then cry, because it probably didn't even work and you're just wasting your time.

It's awful, but it's progress and progress is good... Speaking of 'good', something else has gone awry. My element crystal has vanished. I previously had it up until I reached the Las Pegasus hospital. I blacked out, and suddenly I didn't have it anymore. It was gone. I knew Midnight had done it. But she always refuses to say anything, and patronizes me instead. It's infuriating! But the thing that's sort of 'good' about this is that I learned that I black out whenever Midnight takes over. That's exactly what happened at Las Pegasus... But how am I supposed to take control of myself when I black out frequently? And why didn't Celestia and Luna help me when they knew about this darkness inside of me?

I crushed the pencil in my hand, breaking it cleanly in half. I was glaring at the sentence - rereading it until I finally internalized it... My own mentor didn't even help me.

"Cut the bullshit, Midnight." I said through gritted teeth. I clenched my jaw and shut my eyes tightly in frustration.

"Oh... You're no fun, Twilight." She finally replied with a cackle. A shiver flew through my spine as she spoke. Her voice is too vivid now. Too... Real. I turned my head around to face the wall behind me, expecting to find myself staring at Midnight Sparkle, herself. There was nothing. I bit my lower lip anxiously, and reverted my gaze back to the spiral notebook sitting idly in front of me. The broken pencil lay beside the notebook above a pile of splinters and graphite shavings.

"I don't get it. You want your friends to help you, but you can't even help yourself. Look at you... A mess. You're looking a little thinner than before! I'm sure glad Sunset isn't here, or she'd have dumped you on the side of the road like the bag of bones you are -"

"Insulting me is never going to get anywhere," I replied coldly, glaring down at the notebook. Anger was seeping through my skin, and my body temperature slowly began to rise. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to attempt to calm my nerves. Midnight chuckled.

"Sure." She began laughing - it was maniacal. I rubbed the sides of my head with my hands. I was getting a migraine. Soon though, her laughter faded into nothingness and it was quiet once again. I stared down at my journal entry from today. The last sentence was returning my hateful gaze before I hastily scratched it out with what was left of the pencil.

"Not today, Midnight..." I sighed quietly and picked up the notebook. I flipped through all of the pages that dated back to the first week of the bombing. Further back into the spiral notebook were little doodles and letters that were supposed to be addressed to Sunset Shimmer when I was away for the summer. Between some of those pages were opened envelopes from Sunset. I traced imaginary lines with my finger delicately, as if the paper would tear off from beneath my fingertips. I bit my lower lip and gently opened up the envelope that was closed off with a beautiful red wax seal of Sunset's family crest - a blazing sun. The letter itself was written on a plain piece of ivory paper.

Hey Twilight,

I really, really, really, really miss you here... Things just don't feel the same when you're not around. I'd be kind of an idiot and narcissist to assume the same thing for you. Heh, just kidding. I know you miss me too. Well, I hope your family trip at Neighagra Falls is going good. I seriously would have gone if I wasn't already preoccupied with some things here at my job. Can you believe they made me serve over twenty customers on my own? Like, don't get me wrong, I actually like talking to people and getting to know them, but this was just overkill. My coworkers didn't really do much - I mean, they were insistent on doing work in the backroom - like restocking and washing the dishes. One of them would help me every now and then - which was a relief... If they hadn't gone back to "restocking." Anyways, I'm rambling and I really want to hear from you again, Twi... It's kind of funny. We literally have cell phones, but... Writing these letters makes it feel so much better and real. I can actually hear your voice whenever I read your letters, and you have no idea how happy that makes me. You and your huge vocabulary... You sexy beautiful geek. I can't wait for you to come back. When you do, you better be prepared for what's coming. I promise it's nothing bad or too out of the ordinary. I love you so much, Twilight. Be safe.

- Your incredible and loving girlfriend, Sunset Shimmer

A few tears fell onto the letter beside her signature. I rubbed the tears away from my face harshly. I was angry. Angry that they took her away from me. She was too young. She was too... Pure to be taken away from this world. She was mine, and she was such close friends with my best friends. I was able to free her from that dark magic years ago, and she freed me from my horrible thoughts.

My anger quickly subsided once I realized that I had been crushing the letter into a tight ball in my hands. I gasped and desperately attempted to unfold the paper without tearing it, "No, no, no, no, no..."

A few edges of the paper tore, but I managed to salvage what was left of it. A couple more tears fell from my cheeks as I suddenly burst, "Leave me alone! What did I ever do to you?!" I immediately broke into a sobbing fit and slammed my closed fist against the wooden flooring beneath me. My entire body sunk down onto the floor as my cries grew louder and strained.

I pushed myself up off the ground until I was kneeling. I lifted up both hands into the air until a lavender aura wrapped around my open hands. I materialized Rainbow Dash first. Her still image soon came into view - she was wearing black skinny jeans with her blue pullover. Her multicolored hair was up in the messiest bun I had ever seen her put her hair into - as if she was too lazy to actually put any effort into it. But her smile and bright expression made up for it all. A tiny sob escaped my lips. I sniffed loudly, wiping my cheeks with my shoulder as best as I could.

"You probably can't hear me, Dash, but I'm so sorry," I said aloud. I wasn't doing the telepathic process properly. I was too hurt, too broken to try to think of the words I needed to say in my mind like I was supposed to. "You're my best friend. I wish I was brave, and strong, and confident like you... You would have beaten your inner demons by now if you were in my shoes... I wish I was like you, Dash. I'm so sorry... I don't know how much longer I have. I shouldn't have run away from you all. I could never forgive myself if Midnight were to hurt you... I'm so sorry..."

My hands dropped to my sides abruptly as the magic was ripped away from me. I felt undeniably weaker suddenly. I gasped in pain as my chest began aching. I dropped to the floor once more, curling myself up into a ball to try to eliminate the horrible chest pain.

"Don't even both trying, Twilight," Midnight's voice said venomously. I glared and forced myself up into another sitting position. I lifted up my hands once more and materialized Applejack. She was wearing her usual attire. White tank top underneath an orange flannel. She was wearing blue jeans with her signature cowboy boots. A brilliant brown Stetson was perched on her head. A look of determination was set in her emerald eyes and freckled face.

"You... You are too much of a good friend to lose forever, AJ. You... You... Helped me and the others numerous times in so many situations. I'm so mad at myself because while you were honest with everyone, I couldn't even bring myself to be honest with all of you. I felt like if I told you, you would want to help me... But you can't. Because I'll put you into danger. I can't fight this battle myself. I'm so stupid for realizing this so late. No matter what, I'll always count on you for being an amazing friend - NNNGH!"

The pain in my chest was slowly growing more unbearable by the second. A light, tingling sensation was beginning to spread down from my shoulders to my fingertips. My heartbeat pumped harder and faster every second I spent fighting Midnight. Little wisps of my lavender aura escaped my fingertips and dissipated into the atmosphere.

"No more, Midnight..." I said weakly through gritted teeth. Tears streamed down the side of my face as I conjured Fluttershy's fragile form just feet away from me. Her form was sitting down cross-legged with her pet bunny on her lap. She was wearing a lime pullover with a pair of blue shorts. Her pastel pink hair was styled up into a loose ponytail. Her teal eyes were sparkling with happiness.

"Fluttershy - you're far too kind for this world and you deserve so much more recognition... You helped me conquer so much over all of these years - even helping reform a man who was banished from Equestria. I know you always think low of yourself, but you can achieve much more than you're led to believe."

I gasped out in pain and held my hands over my chest tightly. It felt like cardiac arrest, but it couldn't be. I swallowed hard and tried to pull myself up to my feet until I was abruptly slammed down to the floor by an imaginary force, "Stay down. You're forgetting who you're messing with."

"I-I'm... Not..." My body fell limp. I was sprawled out on the floor on my stomach as I felt a surge of pressure that pressed me onto the floor harshly. I was barely able to bring my arms up to my face, but opened my hands and stared at nothing in particular. My mind was quite literally going in and out of focus. My vision was blurring severely. Without thinking much about who I was materializing, I used my remaining magic to send a final message.

"I... I can't see you. I don't... Know who I'm talking to. I'm hidden in the San Palomino Desert... Near the bay in an abandoned shed or hut... Or something.... I'm fighting this battle alone, but wherever you are... I'm sorry for not confiding in any of you about... About her," I closed my eyes tightly and when my eyes fluttered open, I noticed a dark mist that slowly began to surround me. My breath caught itself in my throat at the sight, but I continued. "I... I don't have much time. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner. I couldn't bear to put you into danger... I couldn't live with myself if... If I was the one who hurt you." ~~~~

"Touching, isn't it?" Midnight snorted in laughter. The last thing I saw was a faint pink color before it was replaced with black.

Rainbow Dash's POV

I was desperately trying to comfort Applejack. She hadn't stopped crying since I showed her the tracker. She was weeping into a pillow that she was hugging onto tightly as she laid on her side on the hotel's bed.

"R-Rarity..." Her voice faltered and soon broke into small sobs as she buried her head further into the large pillow. I gently placed my hand on her side and began rubbing small circles in an attempt to make her feel better. Instead, that action only made it worse.

Applejack suddenly hurled the pillow against the sliding doors to the balcony, startling me. She sprung up to her feet and shoved me harshly off from where I was previously sitting. The push was certainly hard enough that I slid, and hit my back hard against the opposite end of the room.

THUD.

Applejack only stared at me with a mixture of emotions in her green eyes. And I knew one of them was regret. We stared at each other silently. I swallowed hard, waiting for her to lash out again or at least speak to me... Instead she shook her head and walked out of the room. There was a deafening slam.

When I got back up on my feet, I shakily walked over to the door. The door itself was barely hanging on by a hinge before it ultimately gave out and collapsed onto the floor in a pile of broken wood and paint chippings. I looked out the doorway and was broken to see that Applejack was no longer in sight.

Pinkie Pie's POV

"... Your friends are okay?" My mother asked with a worried tone in her voice. Her silver hair was tied up nicely in its usual bun. She and my father were still wearing their usual attire - except there was notable tears and stains on the fabric. I sighed and thought of how Rarity would react to their old fashion clothing.

"Yeah, ma... They're okay... I was with Rainbow Dash and Applejack last and -" My own sentence was cut off by something. I leaned backwards on the large boulder I was propped up against. My family members eyed me curiously and worriedly when I didn't finish my sentence.

"And... What?" My father asked hesitantly with an eyebrow raised. I looked down at the ground and slowly slid down until I was now sitting on the cold floor. My sisters all rushed to my side - Maud knelt down in front of me with a blank expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Pinkie?" She questioned. I shook my head and shrugged. I was about to stand up once more until the sides of my head suddenly began to ache. I winced in pain. I couldn't exactly hear my surroundings, but I was still able to see quick flashes of my family members leaning toward me with paranoid expressions etched onto their faces. They were talking, but I couldn't hear a thing.

The only thing I managed to hear was that sound of being submerged underwater. The sound lasted for a moment until I heard a voice. A voice that's far too familiar to forget. Her voice was strained. She was in so much pain and you can hear it crystal clear in her voice as she spoke.

"I... I can't see you. I don't... Know who I'm talking to. I'm hidden in the San Palomino Desert... Near the bay in an abandoned shed or hut... Or something.... I'm fighting this battle alone, but wherever you are... I'm sorry for not confiding in any of you about... About her. I... I don't have much time. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner. I couldn't bear to put you into danger... I couldn't live with myself if... If I was the one who hurt you."

My hands were unknowingly clutching onto the sides of my head in agony. The headache immediately vanished once her voice stopped. I was sucked back into reality. I was now breathing heavily. My family were talking in loud and panicked voices until I interrupted them all, "I have to go."

Without warning, I launched myself up to my feet and began walking away from my family members quickly. I looked back at them briefly, "I love you guys. I'll be back. I Pinkie Promise."

Then there was a flash of blinding white light...