It’s finally over.
Twilight smiled brightly, sighing in relief as the chaos throughout Ponyville began to dissipate, everything returning to its natural state of order. The villain had once again been incarcerated in his stony prison, his powers no match for the Elements of Harmony. Oh, how she had missed the rabbits bounding about gleefully with their short legs, the clouds that rained multitudinous drops of water, the sun and moon rising and falling at the behest of the princesses. She should have been screaming for joy by now, galloping up to everypony and giving each a tight hug.
And that is exactly what she would have done, but something had risen from the depths of her being, a feeling that almost overpowered her mind and body: she could not shake that sense of utter fatigue, her eyes pleading to stay closed every time she blinked.
Rainbow Dash finished making several loops in the sky, rejoicing at the top of her lungs that the terror that was Discord was back in his stone imprisonment. Her smile faltered a bit, though, when she noticed the state her friend was in.
“Hey, Twilight! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, Rainbow, it’s just… j–”
Suddenly, Twilight let loose the loudest yawn anypony had ever heard, rivaling even the sound of Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom. Everypony simply stared at Twilight as she sheepishly began to apologize, the other Bearers struggling with all their might to control their laughter (except for Fluttershy, who had instinctively leapt with fright into a nearby bush).
“Oh, I guess we all better have ourselves a nice little nap,” Rarity commented, noticing the small stars twinkling above her. “It is actually quite late already, though seconds ago it seemed like it was noon!”
“Yeah, it must have been Discord’s doing. I’m guessing it’s actually… 10 PM now.” Twilight was not far off, having approximated times for all the events leading up to the success.
“10 PM! I’m cutting into my beauty sleep!”
Fortunately for Rarity, a yellow head sprouted from a nearby shrub, a pink mane covering up most of its features. “Yeah, um… With all the things that can p-pop up from the dark, I-I think it’s a good idea that we all go back… that is, if you want.”
“You’re right, Fluttershy.” Twilight turned to face her other friends, each one a tad bit exhausted from the day’s hard work. “Let’s all go rest for a job well done. Thanks for everything, guys; I couldn’t have done it without all of you.” The unicorn's expression immediately betrayed a hint of sadness as she pondered on the events of that day, unable to ignore the pain, the sorrow. “You know, back there, I really was afraid that I had lost all of you.” Her eyes slowly watered as she remembered how her friends had changed, how they had all parted ways, how she had almost left them all behind…
At that second, the multi-colored pegasus approached the purple mare, a somewhat annoyed expression on her face as she talked to Twilight.
“Come on, Twilight, did you really think I, the most loyalest of ponies, would leave you? Did you really think anypony here would have left you? We’re your friends, and friends always stick together!”
Twilight’s eyes couldn’t help but water a bit more as she took in that last sentence, and she knew then that she would never be alone: no power in all of Equestria would ever be able to tear them apart. “Thank you all so much... thank you for being my friends.”
As everypony advanced towards the purple mare, they all wrapped their hooves around each other, the soothing warmth provided by the conglomeration of fur and feathers comforting Twilight while making each pony that much sleepier.
This just made my day.
After the hug broke, Twilight collected the remaining Elements, preparing to wish her friends a good night when suddenly something in Rarity’s mind clicked: she had overlooked one important detail in the whole ordeal.
“Oh no! I forgot I told Sweetie Belle to stay in the boutique and watch the dresses! I must check if they’re okay!” With that, Rarity bolted away like a rocket, everypony (even Rainbow Dash) astonished at such a grand display of speed.
As soon as Twilight and the others had gotten the surprise out of their systems, they all left for their houses, everypony ready to get tucked in under some warm blankets and rest. It was the least they deserved after having saved all of Equestria.
However, as Twilight was storing away the Elements, picturing herself in that soft bed only a couple steps up, she came across a small detail that she would have sworn was nonexistent until that day:
The crown she had worn had some writing on it.
Ancient Equestrian writing.
Almost as excited as the time she received that anonymous 50-book donation, the purple mare rapidly rushed to her favorite reading chair and turned on her lamp, angling the light to better read the inscription, working slowly so as to not mistranslate a single word:
The sixth Element, elusive to every Bearer.
‘Tis &$*#, the most powerful ally of each wearer.
All power arises from inside.
The crown only adorns but the heart does guide.
That one word… I think it’s four letters, but I don’t recognize those characters. What could this mean? Maybe I should send something to the Princess…
It was then when the fatigue decided to kick in with full force, the unicorn almost falling off her chair as her brain shut off for an entire second. Luckily, she awoke quickly enough to stop her descent, walking up slowly to her bed (after returning the crown back to its secret place in the bookshelf) and acquiescing to her body’s need for sleep.
I’ll send the Princess something tomorrow.
So painful it is to be truly tired yet unable to sleep.
Twilight continually tossed and turned under the covers, not exactly asleep but not fully awake. Her brain, for sure, was working too hard to achieve any state of rest: for some reason, images of the whole day were flashing through her mind, the emotions she had felt overloading her senses, clawing at her insides. At last, the unicorn bounded off her bed and decided to walk for a while.
Perhaps, more physical exhaustion is what I need.
Step after step after step… She noticed her eyelids struggling to close, her determination waning with each passing second. The pale moon shone hazily through the window, the light making her ever drowsier, until finally she felt she had had enough. After briskly closing the blinds, Twilight flopped down into bed, not even bothering to fix the sheets as she awaited the familiar sensation of drifting off into sleep.
And then the images returned.
Turning one way, turning the other way, pillow, no pillow – nothing seemed to stop the barrage of feelings, the sense of defeat, the sorrow of a friendship breaking down... It was simply too much for a single pony to bear. No matter how hard she tried, she could not shut off her brain… until a dreamy male voice broke through her thoughts, its soft tone barely audible in the back of her mind.
“Sleep now, Twilight. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
Suddenly, the purple mare felt the familiar sensation of falling, of being whisked away into Luna’s realm. Her last words before falling asleep were directed to that voice:
“Thank you.”
Had she been less sleepy, maybe she would have taken notice of the demonic, mischievous undertones that lay hidden in that voice. Perhaps, she would have even recognized exactly how familiar that voice was.
“Why, I should be thanking you, my dear Twilight Sparkle.”
“Uuuugggghhhhh… My head hurts.”
As the purple unicorn attempted to look around, she noticed how terribly dark it was, or at least, how unaccustomed her eyes were to this blackness. Still too groggy to attempt a simple light spell, she noticed small glints of light above her. Turning her head upward ever so slowly, she took notice of small, twinkling stars encircling a shining, cratered full moon.
I guess I didn’t get as much sleep as I thought I did.
…
…
Wait a second, what am I doing outside?
As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, swirls of darkness began to form into recognizable images. She noticed a couple of small red flames some lengths away, the light emanating from them aiding her vision but leaving her puzzled as to why the fires were there in the first place.
Maybe I’m in a dream…
Some more squinting led to an even more peculiar scene: Rainbow Dash, a couple hoof’s lengths in front of her, zooming past a couple guards and knocking them unconscious.
“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”
“Twilight, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but what’s happening? What are you doing, and why are there guards here? And what’s with the fires?”
“Twilight, listen! I’m getting you out of h–”
The temporary distraction was all a couple guards needed: three beams of multiple colors merged to form a barrier spell surrounding the rainbow-maned pegasus, trapping her movement. Rainbow frantically started to bang at the walls of her cage, but with every touch the spell would shock her, the smell of singed fur slowly dispersing throughout the air.
The pegasus would not stop, smashing into the spell with all her might, once, twice, three times… Her strength was slowly wearing down, yet her determination wavered not as she ignored the stings, the pain, and everything else, because above all, she had only one objective on her mind…
She had to protect Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash!”
All it took was that image, coupled with both worry and anger from the depths of her heart, for Twilight to snap. She began to charge a small ball of magic in her horn, but before she had a chance to destroy the barrier, the purple mare once again began to feel a familiar reeling sensation. An even blacker darkness seeped in and began to spread, clouding her vision and mind as that voice once again spoke:
“Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll take care of them. You rest now.”
“Wow, that’s a huge headache.”
The purple mare woke up in a flash, almost as if she had prepared for this day her whole life. Unfortunately, the resulting lightheadedness only made her headache worse, the unicorn instinctively raising a hoof to massage her temple. Twilight winced as the appendage brushed over a nasty bruise on the side of her head, an injury she didn’t remember having the night before. The small surge of pain woke her mind up, and she began to take in her surroundings.
She should have been lying in her bed, the sheets possibly on the ground from all her movement the night before. Spike should have been at her feet, snoring loudly as the sun’s rays entered through her window despite the closed blinds.
But oddly enough, she was lying on a small, uncomfortable rug. All around her hung masks of various earthen hues, uniquely-shaped vials filled with bubbling concoctions, and various trinkets decorated with a plethora of colorful shades. As the sun's rays entered through a small window, the glass vials began to produce the most colorful decorations she had ever seen, maybe even comparable to Rainbow Dash’s mane.
As she pieced everything together, she began to understand why her surroundings seemed so familiar.
“I’m at… Zecora’s?”
But wasn’t I sleeping in my bed a couple moments ago? Maybe I’m still dreaming. But the pain was r–
“YOU’RE AWAKE!”
Suddenly, a cerulean pegasus shot through the air and pinned Twilight’s four hooves down, the sudden pressure and dull pain bringing her to terms with the fact that she was, indeed, wide awake.
“Is it really you, Twilight? Answer me! What’s the one nickname only my friends can call me? ANSWER ME!”
“Rainbow, of course it’s me! What are you do–”
“ANSWER MY QUESTION!”
“It’s Dashie, nopony but your friends can call you Dashie!” Tears had worked their way into the purple mare’s eyes as she stared at the pegasus: she fought the urge to use her magic to push her away, unwilling to hurt one of her close friends. “Why are y–”
Rainbow Dash then forced the unicorn up, Twilight expecting the worst as the pegasus inched closer…
And then Rainbow wrapped her hooves around the purple mare’s body in the tightest embrace she could muster, small rivers of salty water streaming down her muzzle and leaving damp marks on Twilight’s coat.
“It’s r-really you, Twilight! I-I’m so s-sorry…”
Twilight simply stood there, completely stunned at what she had just experienced.
Rainbow Dash? Showing this much emotion? This isn’t like her… What could’ve happened?
In a matter of seconds, though, Rainbow Dash broke the hug, looking away as she dried her tears and tried her best to recover.
“Ahem, yeah, I’m glad you’re okay, Twilight. But seriously,” Rainbow continued, all the while never letting her eyes wander from the purple mare. “You really scared me back there. The way you were attacking me, I thought you were shooting to kill! Of course, you’re nowhere near as fast as I am, so there was no way you were ever going to catch me with one of your fancy dark beam attacks.”
…
…
“Wait, WHAT?”
“Alas, she remembers not the past night. Be careful, Rainbow Dash, to not fill her with fright.” In the doorway stood a familiar zebra, various flowers hanging from a small sack carried on her back. “Already you have unsettled her with brash action, you forgot to take into account her reaction.”
“Zecora! You saw the whole thing?” Rainbow Dash was quite puzzled indeed, nopony having noticed the door opening.
“I did see it all from start to end, and I say you were most rude to your friend.” Zecora set down the items she was carrying and began to search around the cottage for some special item, directing her next comments to the surprised unicorn.
“I expected this might happen, so if you wait a small while, I will provide the gift of remembrance in a small colorful vial.”
Not long after she finished talking, she pulled out a translucent, rainbow-colored flask, a small amount of bubbling liquid swirling inside.
Twilight’s mouth was still agape, the cogs in her mind unable to process the information she had just received. As she turned to ask for clarification, the zebra spoke up first.
“It seems you do not remember last night, and though your friend may recount the plight I believe you should see with your own two eyes. Just drink this liquid, but first, some advice: The images you will see may not be so nice. To end the trip, simply blink thrice.”
The purple mare, completely dumbfounded, stared at the potion maker, her curiosity latching on tightly as she grabbed the vial and downed the liquid in one gulp. A sickly dizzying sensation began to take hold, random images twirling around her at high speeds, Twilight’s brain straining to make sense of it all.
Come on, Twilight, her brain thought, we agreed you would stop and think before drinking some random potion!
And with that, the purple mare fell on her side, Rainbow barely making it in time to catch her. As the pegasus inspected the unicorn, she noticed how limp the body was, but when she looked at those once-purple eyes, the startling image burned into her mind: eyes open yet blank, dull, almost… lifeless.
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?”
Author's Note
Okay, I've read over this chapter about ten times (hopefully I caught all the errors), and I've finally decided to post it. Comments appreciated, as always! 
Future chapters will probably be slower-paced. (I think that's a word; I don't know, it's 3AM over here, and I should be sleeping by now 
)
Twilight was staring at herself.
Well, actually, Twilight was staring at a past version of herself, less than a day old, if what Zecora had said about the potion was correct. She watched in silent awe as the other Twilight (who we shall now refer to as Past Twilight) tossed and turned in her bed, the exact same way as the purple mare remembered.
Right hoof, left hoof, turn over…
Wow! That potion must have been the real deal! It does leave a pony a bit woozy, though…
Out of nowhere, she began feeling a small amount of pressure, almost as if something were wanting to push her out of the recollection. Though at first she had dismissed it as a side effect of the concoction, it began to bug here more and more as she continued to watch the tossing and turning.
Mentally, however, Twilight forced the pressure back, paying it no heed, and in the end Twilight’s curiosity counteracted that discomfiting force as she saw Past Twilight rise up from the bed and begin to walk towards the door. She was unable to make out any other features apart from the unicorn’s silhouette, but so far it looked just like her.
Wait a second…
Twilight quickly understood the reason for the lack of light:
The blinds are already closed… I don’t remember getting out of bed after I closed them!
Twilight observed closely as her other self walked slowly down the stairs to the library’s entrance, and she noticed how her gait was monoton. She inspected everything as best she could in the darkness, not letting any minute detail slip by. That was when she noticed how all the books and the quills were… in their correct places?
Just like I left them last night.
But this can’t be right… I don’t remember any of this!
Still, something inside the unicorn wouldn’t let go of the possibility that all this was true. As she followed Past Twilight and galloped forward, she decided to check once and for all the validity of the scenes she was witnessing.
I’ll get a thorough look at myself. That should clear up any doubt! Any small difference can debunk the legitimacy of this “memory!”
In a manner of seconds, she had passed her other self, her mind prepared to take in every small detail of this other Twilight. She briskly turned around to face Past Twilight, and only then did she notice how the counterpart looked exactly like her – the purple coat, the stripe in her mane, the unique cutie mark – except for one striking difference:
The eyes.
Those horrible eyes.
Past Twilight’s eyes were a dull yellow, the stare so cold that Twilight froze while looking upon them, a darkness emanating from these windows to the soul. Past Twilight simply passed right through her, unflinching, as if the real Twilight wasn’t even there.
This doesn’t seem right… But why does it seem familiar?
And then, to Twilight’s dismay, her other self began to charge some magic, and then the unexpected happened, the worst possible thing:
The chaos started.
The purple unicorn simply stood there, astounded at what was occurring right in front of her, too stunned to even lift a hoof. Unfortunately for her, there was no need for her to move: whenever Past Twilight galloped or teleported away, Twilight’s surroundings would shift around her.
And every shift brought forth even more traumatic images.
Past Twilight began casting spells unknown to the real purple unicorn, spells that only high-level unicorns and alicorns could hope to perform.
Spells of mass destruction. Black beams of magic would strike different houses, starting fires and sometimes even creating explosions. Ponies everywhere were screaming their heads off, galloping every which way in a worried frenzy.
One teleport later, the real Twilight watched as an entire orchard burned up, not even the tree trunks saved from the scorching heat. Most of the apples and leaves melted, a couple of farm ponies attempting to save what few items they could.
Another shift afterwards, she saw her counterpart freeze entire houses, summon small tornadoes, and shoot more black beams of magic.
The chaos was simply horrific.
Then, out of a small corner, a crème-colored filly a bit younger than Apple Bloom slowly walked out, attempting to escape as fright tried to glue her hooves to the ground. Past Twilight took notice of this and began to charge another dark beam of magic, Twilight immediately recognizing who that attack would be aimed at.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP IT!”
Twilight could take it no longer, summoning a small beam of purple magic from her own horn and shooting it towards her counterpart. The beam simply went right through the antagonist, unable to stop the pony from amassing more of that black magic.
Tears began to build up in those purple eyes, her ears hurting from all the screams of terror and loud explosions.
NO, NO, NO! THIS CAN’T BE TRUE!
That feeling of uselessness, being unable to stop that small foal from being incinerated… it was just too much for one pony to bear.
And then there arose a sound different from the early cacophony: a set of organized hoofsteps was approaching rapidly.
“Stop right there!”
Both Twilights turned at the same time, an image of five guards filling their vision, Past Twilight directing her aim instead towards the group and letting loose another large explosion, blowing them all away.
In that instant, Twilight noticed that the small filly had broken from fear’s trance and had scurried away, hopefully to somewhere far from all the destruction. No matter, because that face, that expression of utter terror was already etched into her memory, unyielding to any attempts at forgetting.
Not a second later, a small streak of rainbow colors quickly approached from the sky.
“Hey, Twilight, what’s h–”
That was as far as the cerulean pegasus got, for another seven guards had arrived, shooting spells towards the two ponies.
“Hey, what gives? Twilight, what’s happening?”
The pegasus received no response from either purple mare, Past Twilight simply sporting a devilish smile as she expertly blocked all of the spells hurtling towards her.
Or so she had thought. Another guard had arrived and hidden behind one of the smoldering houses, shooting off a small electrifying beam that hit the purple mare square in the face.
That was all the instigation Rainbow Dash needed: without hesitation, she flew up to the nearest guards and knocked their heads together, all the while dodging small missiles of magic careening dangerously close to her fur.
Past Twilight’s entire body began to tremble a bit, her eyes slowly returning to their original purple.
To Twilight’s horror, the scene that followed played out exactly as she remembered it.
“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”
“Twilight, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but what’s happening? What are you doing, and why are there guards here? And what’s with the fires?”
“Twilight, listen! I’m getting you out of h–”
It wasn’t a dream at all! NO, NO, No, no, no…
But the vision was not done yet: there was still more torture to be dealt. Those demonic, yellow eyes had returned to Past Twilight’s face, and now some sort of dark smoke emanated from her mane and coat.
One second, the guards had their horns and weapons pointed at the duo; the next second, they were in the air hurtling towards the ground at incredible speeds, leaving Rainbow Dash very surprised.
“Hey, Twilight! You should be careful with your magic! You could have k–”
Unexpectedly, Past Twilight charged up and shot a dark beam at her friend with impressionable speed, a shot that would have incinerated the pony had her instincts been a tad slower.
“Twilight, what are you doing? I’m here to help you!”
A couple more beams of that dark magic was the purple mare’s response, the real Twilight unable to respond as she broke down, crying her eyes out. So much did she want to leave this nightmare, but her never-ending curiosity would not let her exit the memory, the purple mare slowly opening her eyes to watch the scene unfurl.
Beam after beam threatened to destroy her friend, each time the magic getting closer and closer as the pegasus struggled to evade them.
I’m here, and I can’t do anything to stop this…
Then, in the blink of an eye, the real Twilight heard a small sound, a short sentence that tore at her heart from that moment on:
“I’m sorry, Twilight.”
And with that, Rainbow Dash flew up, gaining enough speed to rival anypony in Equestria, and lunged towards the alternate Twilight, the rapidly-flowing air providing a shield of sorts from the attacks as the pegasus sped up. A fraction of a second later, at the point where purple and cerulean collided, a small Sonic Rainboom blew Past Twilight away with incredible force, knocking her on her back as the immense rush of air quelled many of the fires down to piles of hot ashes.
Rainbow Dash slowly landed in front of the fallen pony, a couple of small bruises showing from the last few beams she could not dodge. With tears slowly accumulating in her eyes, Rainbow was about to wake up the purple mare when another group of guards appeared.
Then came Rainbow’s last sentence, one that Twilight barely heard but filled her with even more guilt at what she had done to one of her friends:
“You’re not taking Twilight.”
The pegasus summoned all her energy and carried Past Twilight in the direction of the Everfree Forest, struggling with the added weight to evade beams of magic at every turn.
I can’t take any more of this.
The real Twilight rapidly blinked three times, wanting the nightmare to be over, not wanting to accept the images that she had witnessed, but she knew, deep down, that this was the undeniable truth.
The scenery around her began to swirl, the sounds and sights growing duller by the second, but those images had already ingrained themselves into her mind, haunting her every thought.
The panicked hoofsteps, the screams, the destruction…
I’m sorry, everypony.
…
…
I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash.
