Equestria Origins: Fallout

| chapter XI |

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.