Chapters Author's Note
I want everyone who reads this to keep in mind that this was one of my earliest fanfictions, and my first MLP story. This story was original on FanFiction.net, but I figured I'd put this here, along with all my other MLP stories.
Treachery on a Cloud
Celestia had just finished raising the sun for the day, and was now going through some important paperwork that she had been putting off. Paperwork. That stuff was the bane of her existence as the ruler of Equestria. She wished she didn't have to deal with all of it, but it was a requirement that all leaders needed to meet.
"Helloooo, Celestia," called a familiar voice from out of nowhere. The alicorn's head shot up from her work in surprise as her quill and papers began dancing around seemingly by themselves. "Been a while, hasn't it?"
Celestia sighed and said, "Stop it, Discord. This is important work that I'm doing right now."
In a brief flash of light, the spirit of chaos himself appeared, floating over Celestia's desk with mischievous grin on his face. "Oh, come now, Celestia, don't be such a bore! I've been cooped up in this palace of yours for so long, I almost feel like I'm beginning to make sense!"
"You're free to visit Twilight and the others anytime you wish," Celestia pointed out. "You know that, right?"
"Of course I do! But I aim to make you give me a big ol' grin before I go anywhere! Now, let's see…" Discord began scanning the room, looking for something he could use that would lighten Celestia's mood a little. His eyes settled on a window pane that bore the image of Celestia and Luna raising the sun and moon for the first time respectively. "Hmm. This might work!"
"Discord," Celestia said in a warning tone.
"Relax, Celestia, I know what I'm doing," he assured her with an easy-going wink. He snapped the fingers on his eagle talon hand, and the images of Celestia and Luna began dancing in ballet styles, with the sun and moon spiraling in unison with their respective controllers. Celestia had to admit that it was sort of an entertaining sight.
And that's about when things started getting freaky. The tiny Celestia and Luna stopped dancing and began to crumble away. Celestia's eyes went wide at that. "Discord!"
"Okay, I did not do that," Discord said in his own defense.
"Who else could do something like that?"
Discord was about to answer when his lion paw right hand began to glow. "I am definitely NOT doing this!"
"Discord!" Celestia shouted, worrying about the master of chaos for the very first time. "What's happening to you!?"
"I don't know!" he shouted as six lights suddenly burst out of his chest and broke through the window pane that Discord had enchanted. After several moments of heavy panting, Discord had caught his breath again and looked out the window, Celestia doing the same. "That can't be good."
-o-
Fluttershy trotted happily through her garden, stopping occasionally to water flowers where they needed it. A few animals were helping her with her chores, most of them having already been helped by the yellow pegasus and returning the favor. She hummed a sweet melody as she went on working.
Her pet bunny Angel hopped up to the small carrot patch and sniffed at the plants. He licked his lips as he decided that they were ready to eat, and began tugging at one of them. Fluttershy giggled when she saw this and approached the plant that Angel was struggling with.
"Hang on, Angel Bunny," she said with a smile. She leaned forward and bit onto the leaf and pulled the carrot out of the ground, then laid it down for Angel. "There you go! Enjoy your snack." She looked over the whole area where she grew her fruits and vegetables. Everything looked ready to be eaten. "Hmm. Maybe I'll call Applejack over to help with picking everything." She continued watering the flowers in the garden, but stopped when she heard what sounded like shouting.
Out of nowhere, a lavender form rammed into her. She and the form tumbled away until they collided with Fluttershy's cottage's wall.
"Ow…" muttered the lavender alicorn who had tackled the pegasus. Twilight Sparkle looked down at Fluttershy's dizzied form. "Oh, no! Fluttershy, I'm sorry! I'm still getting used to these wings." She flapped the feathery limbs to demonstrate her point.
"Oh, that's okay," Fluttershy replied with an understanding smile as Twilight helped her back up. "I bet that I would have been a total goof if I had grown a unicorn horn and could suddenly use magic."
Twilight nodded with a slight laugh. "It is a pretty difficult field to master."
"Hey!" called a third voice. A rainbow blur appeared and stopped above the two to reveal a cyan mare with a rainbow mane and tail. "Geez, Twilight, that's the fourth time you've crashed into somepony! Come on! We gotta keep practicing if you want to fly the right way!"
"Sorry, Rainbow!" Twilight said. "I'll be back with you in a minute, okay?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, "All right, five minute break. But we've still got a whole training regimen to cover before lunch! I'll be at Sugarcube Corner." With that said, the cyan pegasus flew off to her destination.
Fluttershy giggled a little. "I guess flight practice isn't going too well? Er… I mean… um…"
"It's okay, Fluttershy," Twilight said with a reassuring smile. "Rainbow's pretty much transformed into a drill sergeant. She barely tolerates even the smallest failure. It's sort of ironic, considering how she crashes into something just about every time she goes flying."
Fluttershy giggled. "Well, I don't want to keep you. You really should get going. You know how impatient Rainbow can get."
"Oh, right!" Twilight darted away then. "See you later, Fluttershy!" she called back to her friend with a wave of her hoof. The yellow pegasus waved back at her friend as the lavender alicorn left. She smiled happily as she went back to her daily chores. It was the same daily grind as usual for everypony. Except Twilight had wings now. That was the only real difference.
-o-
Twilight hummed a tune as she trotted through town to Sugarcube Corner, a smile on her face. It had been a week since she became an alicorn and was crowned a princess, but everything remained relatively the same. Granted, sometimes ponies would bow to her when she was out running errands with Spike, but that was mostly when she didn't realize that her wings were unfolded.
Speaking of which, flying was nowhere near as easy as Rainbow Dash sometimes made it look. She was making decent progress, thankfully enough, thanks to Rainbow and a few books on flying that Princess Celestia had given her. Still, she had quite a ways to go before she could call herself an expert flier.
Just as she arrived at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash suddenly flew out of the front door, but not of her own accord. She landed in a way that looked like she had been kicked out.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted indignantly and she got back onto her feet. "What the hay was that for!?"
"You've got some nerve, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie replied angrily. "Coming back here after what you did! And I thought Gilda the Griffon was a jerk!" With that, she harrumphed and went back inside the bakery.
"Rainbow, what did you do?" Twilight asked with concern for her friends.
"How should I know?" Rainbow replied with a confused look. "The place was a mess when I came in, and Pinkie Pie just freaked out and gave me the boot!"
Twilight looked over at Sugarcube Corner, then back to her friend. "Don't worry, Rainbow. I'll talk to her. I'm sure this is just some big misunderstanding." Rainbow nodded as Twilight headed for the sweets shop.
As she entered the building, she stopped dead in her tracks. The whole place looked like a tornado had blown through it. Cake batter and icing and flour were scattered all over the place. Pinkie Pie was busy scrubbing the floor when Twilight came in. "Pinkie, what happened in here?"
"Rainbow happened, that's what!" Pinkie answered in an uncharacteristically angry tone. "She just charged in here last night while I was managing the store for the Cakes and created a tornado for no reason! Then she put all the blame on me! Can you believe that!?"
"That doesn't make any sense," Twilight said as she shook head in disbelief. "Rainbow wouldn't do something like that. She would never leave her friends out to dry like that!"
"Well, she did seem a bit… off the other night," Pinkie pointed out.
"What do you mean?"
The pink mare put a hoof to her chin. "Well, she just laughed at me like a total jerk when I offered her some cake. She said she didn't need anything like that from an 'idiot loser.' And now that I think about it, she looked kinda dull."
"Dull?"
"Yeah! Like when Discord turned us all into our opposite selves! She looked a little gray, almost like she was losing color."
Twilight thought on that for a moment. "I don't like this. I certainly hope Discord isn't up to his old tricks again. Fluttershy went through a whole lot to reform him." Just then, Spike came running into the bakery, a scroll in his claw.
"Twilight! We just got a letter from…" He stopped and looked around the room. "Whoa. What happened here?"
"Never mind that, Spike," Twilight stated as she came up to the young dragon. "I take it that's a letter from Princess Celestia?"
"Yep," Spike said as the recently crowned princess levitated the scroll with her magic and quickly read through it.
"'Twilight,'" she began. "'You and the others must hurry to Canterlot immediately. I fear that a new threat is now looming over Equestria. I will tell you more once you arrive. Also, the Elements of Harmony may be needed. Signed, Princess Celestia.' Oh, this doesn't sound good at all."
"I'll go tell the Cakes that we've been called by the princess," Pinkie said as she dashed off to do just that.
Twilight and Spike left the bakery, and were quickly confronted by Rainbow Dash. "Well?" the pegasus mare asked. "What's her problem?"
"Sorry, Rainbow, but we've something bigger going on," Twilight said. She informed Rainbow of the princess's letter. Understanding the situation, Rainbow nodded and flew off to get the others. Twilight then hurried off to fetch the Elements of Harmony with Spike by her side. This sounded like a dire situation.
-o-
A lone pegasus laughed as she reclined on a small cloud. She couldn't believe she actually got away with that! It was just plain awesome! Now all she had to do was continue ruining Rainbow Dash's reputation, and soon, she'd be golden.
"Monochrome," said a female voice. The gray-haired pegasus looked up at the newcomer – another pegasus – and smirked. "Come on. Dusk wants us back soon. Now move your sorry flank before I move it for you!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Mal," Monochrome replied as she lay back down on the cloud. "I'll be there whenever I feel like it."
"Hmph. Well, don't come crying to me when she turns you inside out for insubordination." With that, the other pegasus flew off. Monochrome watched the pony soar away with cocky grin.
"Like you're one to talk," she said to no one in particular. She crossed her forelegs and watched as Rainbow Dash flew around town in search of the other representatives of the Elements of Harmony. She grinned at the futility of it all. They would never be able to stop her and her "comrades."
Celestia paced back and forth impatiently in her throne room, Luna and Discord being her only audience. Even Discord had a look of concern for the ruler of Equestria. Neither of them had seen her so distressed.
"Princess!" called the voice of Twilight Sparkle as she and her friends came running into the room, each of them wearing their respective Elements. "We came as soon as we could! What's-?" She stopped when she saw the company. "Princess Luna? Discord? Why are you here?"
Discord chuckled somewhat nervously. "Well, you see, something went a little… weird – even for me!"
"And what's that supposed to mean?" inquired Applejack, giving Discord a suspicious glare.
"What's happening isn't Discord's fault," Celestia assured them all. She stepped forward with a serious gaze. "I fear that something much worse has unleashed itself upon our peaceful land."
"What?" Twilight asked, almost afraid of the answer.
Discord suddenly popped into existence right next to the young alicorn, his arm around her shoulder. "Let's just say that I am partially to blame for this. You see, not using my powers for evil has made the darker corners of my being to… manifest."
"How do you mean?" Rarity chimed in.
Discord stood to his full height, a scholar's hat upon his head. "Just like how there are six Element of Harmony, there are six Aspects of Chaos. I embodied all of them until just last night! They somehow escaped from my body and took on physical forms."
"Aspects of Chaos?" Twilight said skeptically. "What are these 'Aspects'?"
"Of course," the spirit of chaos said as he teleported next to Fluttershy, who gave a small 'eep'. "First is Cruelty…" He then went next to Pinkie Pie. "Hatred…" He moved to Rarity's side. "Greed…" He hovered over Applejack next. "Deception…" He popped up in front of Rainbow Dash. "Treachery…" Finally, he teleported in front of the entire group. "And finally, we have the most important Aspect: better known as Logic."
"Wait, 'Logic'?" Twilight asked with a confused stare. "But that doesn't make any sense!"
"Chaos rarely does, my dear," Discord stated simply as he wiped his claws on the fur of his chest. "It's really quite simple when you think about it. It's like crime and law: if there's no law, then there's technically no crime. It works the same way for order and chaos. There needs to be logic break in order for there to be chaos. Ergo, logic is the most important of the six Aspects of Chaos, and also the most dangerous."
"Oh, please!" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky grin. "We beat you, Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, and even that Sombra guy! We can handle it!"
"You should never underestimate your enemy, Rainbow Dash," Luna said in a warning tone. "We do not know what these new foes are capable of. They may just be the greatest threat this land has ever faced."
"And that is why we need you and your friends, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said. "Discord has told me that the only way to defeat the Aspects of Chaos is to expose them to their conflicting Elements of Harmony. You six ponies are the only ones capable of defeating this new threat."
All of the Mane 6 nodded in understanding. "We won't let you down, Princess," Twilight said with the utmost determination, unaware that her wings were unfurled again.
Celestia gave a nod of gratitude. "Good luck, my little ponies."
Just then, a guard came galloping into the room, looking particularly distressed. "Your Majesty! We've just received grim news from Cloudsdale! The city is under attack!"
"WHAT!?" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy shouted in shock at the same time.
"I'd put my money on it being the Aspects," Discord said jokingly, earning him a glare from Celestia and Luna.
"There's more, Your Highness!" the guard said. "The reports state that the attacker is Princess Twilight Sparkle!"
"WHAT!?" Twilight shouted in horror. "But I'm right here! How could I be attacking Cloudsdale if-?" Then it hit her. "The Aspects!"
"Bingo!" Discord called out. "I'll warp you girls there. You just deal with the Aspects."
"But what about Pinkie, Rarity, and me?" Applejack asked. "We can't walk on clouds. We'll fall right through!"
"Have a little faith, will you? Ta-ta!" He snapped his fingers, and the Mane 6 vanished in a flash of light. He then hovered in a lounging position. When Celestia gave him a nudging glare, he said, "What?" The alicorn raised an eyebrow at the draconoquess, who sighed. "Oh, fine, I'll go, too." With that, he disappeared, leaving the two princesses and the guard by themselves.
"Guard, fetch me a quill and parchment," Celestia ordered. The guard nodded and dashed off to get what was asked for.
"What are you doing, sister?" Luna inquired. "I do not think that now is the time for writing a letter."
"I need to inform Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor of the situation," the sun princess explained. "If anypony needs to know about what's happening, it's them." Luna nodded her agreement and left the room. Celestia sat at her throne and turned to look out a nearby window. "I just hope we can act in time."
-o-
Luna walked down the halls of the palace to her bedchamber, occasionally greeting guards who gave her a respectful salute. She still couldn't quite get over how much things had changed in Equestria, but she was adapting, albeit rather slowly. But it just seemed to her that everything was quickly becoming one threat after another. First her… unruly other half, then Discord, followed up by the changelings, then Sombra's return. Things have been hectic in Equestria.
When she finally made it into her chamber, she moved to the balcony that overlooked Canterlot. The city was bustling with the activities of ponies who had no idea that their very livelihoods were in danger. She wondered if ignorance really was bliss.
"That view is disgusting!" said a female voice that sounded very familiar. Luna turned with wide eyes to see… Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing in her room. But they each looked… off. Pinkie Pie's mane and tail were flat, and her color was duller, and her expression was one of complete hate. Rarity's mane was wild and uncouth, completely unlike her usual vain appearance. And Fluttershy had a sadistic grin on her face, and her mane was darker in color.
"You hate everything, Pinkamena," the messy Rarity stated flatly. "Oh!" She turned to the evil-looking Fluttershy. "Malumavis, do you think Dusk would mind if took all of this princess's things? I'm sure she has a stash of wonderful gems hidden around here somewhere!"
"Focus, you greedy little idiot!" 'Fluttershy' said with a frighteningly intimidating glare. She then returned her attention to Luna. "Look, Princess, we're here on our boss's orders. In fact, it's not even you we're really after."
"You…" Luna said, her horn slowly beginning to glow as she prepared a defensive spell. "You are not Twilight Sparkle's friends. Who are you?"
"Like it's any of your business who we are," the Pinkie Pie lookalike, apparently called "Pinkamena," said with a growl.
"Now don't be rude, Pinkamena," 'Rarity' said. "We don't want to give a reason not to give me valuables, now do we?"
Luna scowled in disgust at that. "Be gone from my sight you impostors!" she shouted as she was about to launch a magical blast at them. But before she could, something slammed into the back of her head. The last thing she saw before darkness consumed her vision was the face of Rainbow Dash, but her mane was a dull gray. Blackness then enveloped her.
Cloudsdale was in shambles. Buildings and homes were destroyed, ponies were fleeing for their lives, and chaos was reigning in the city. It all looked as though the Mane 6 and Discord had arrived too late to help. Rainbow and Fluttershy looked on in horror at the ruins of their childhood home. The whole city was totally decimated.
"This is terrible…" Applejack said, her expression one of complete shock.
"Anypony who would such a gorgeous city must be pure evil!" Rarity shouted in outrage at the sight.
Twilight was about say something, but stopped herself when she saw Rainbow shaking with what could only be anger. She could easily understand why: she'd feel the same if Canterlot had suffered this fate. But hey had to stay focused on their main goal. "Rainbow," Twilight said to try and get the pegasus's attention.
"I'll beat 'em senseless for this!" Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted. "Nopony messes with my hometown and gets away with it!"
"Rainbow," Twilight said calmly, "I know you must be upset, but we can't let the Aspects get the better of us. We have to keep calm and think rationally about this."
"She has a very valid point," Discord pointed out. "They'll likely try to make it so you six will be too caught up in your emotions to fight back against them. That's what I would've done at least." He walked out in front of the group, examining the damage. "I don't see what you ponies are complaining about. I can fix all this in a snap!"
"Well, then do it!" Rainbow snapped.
Discord recoiled at her attitude a little. He recovered quickly, however, and nodded. "Stand back, ladies!" He clapped his hands together, then stretched them back out, releasing a wave of white light that washed over everything in the entire city of Cloudsdale. When the light vanished, the spirit of chaos took a bow. "Please, please, no need for applause. I know I'm great!"
"Um… D-Discord…" Fluttershy stuttered out. "I'm sorry to say this, but y-you didn't fix anything."
Discord stood straight up, a dumbfounded look on his face. "Wait, what?" He turned to see that the city was still in ruins. "Oookay. That should've worked. Let me try again." He created the flash of light again, only to have the same result. He tried three more times, and nothing. "All right, something's definitely wrong here. Why won't my powers work?"
Out of nowhere, there was a flash of red light, and a single figure appeared from the light. Descending slowly and deliberately was… Twilight Sparkle. She had a slightly different appearance, her mane being completely black and her coat being a darker shade of purple, but otherwise, she was an exact duplicate. No one spoke as she touched down on the clouds. Her expression was completely blank, void of all emotion. Her eyes betrayed a cold, calculating glare. Her gaze soon fell upon Twilight.
"I was beginning to wonder when you would make your appearance," the dark Twilight said in a cold, dispassionate tone.
"Who are you?" Twilight demanded more than asked.
"I am Dusk," the dark alicorn said with frightening calm. "I represent the Aspect of Chaos known as Logic."
"Well, Ah reckon that explains the lack of expression," Applejack stated.
"Oh, why don't you smile?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Emotions are an illogical hindrance," Dusk replied deliberately. "They are merely an obstacle that keeps all of us from the truth of this world."
"How can you say something like that?" Twilight asked, shocked at her double's emotionlessness.
"The only thing that truly matters to me is making sense of the madness that pervades throughout this universe. The only real truth of this universe is logic. Cold, deliberate logic that sears away meaningless hopes and eliminates infantile dreams."
"Wow," Discord said, completely amazed by Dusk's heartlessness. "I knew she'd be an emotional blank slate, but this is even duller than I originally expected. How boring."
"Discord," Dusk said, finally acknowledging the spirit of chaos. "You would likely be thrilled to know that chaos is returning to Equestria. Does this not please you at all?"
"Normally, it would," Discord admitted, "but I've sort of taken a liking to the ponies here, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stop what you're doing here."
"I see." Dusk went silent for several moments, quietly observing the Mane 6 and the spirit of chaos. She then turned and began to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Rainbow Dash shouted as she began to rush at the doppelganger of Twilight. Dusk's eyes glowed an evil red for a brief moment before Rainbow found herself thrown into a building that collapsed around her.
"Rainbow!" the others called out in shock at what they had just seen.
"My work is done here," Dusk announced. "The seeds of mistrust and anger have been planted. Soon, you shall face the nightmare once again." And with that, she vanished in a flash of red.
Twilight and the others hurried over to where Rainbow had crashed and began clearing the debris. They soon found her covered in scrapes and bruises under the rubble. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any truly serious injuries. She groaned, letting the others know that she was still conscious.
"Are you all right, Dashie?" Pinkie asked as she helped the pegasus to her feet.
"I'll be fine," Rainbow said with some effort. "Where did that other Twilight go?"
"She's gone now," Twilight answered. "She said something about facing an old nightmare and then just disappeared."
"C-can we go home please?" Fluttershy requested.
"Ya know we can't just let them Aspects have free reign in Equestria, Fluttershy," Applejack pointed out, to which the yellow pegasus tentatively nodded. "Twilight, what do you reckon she meant by that nightmare?"
"I'm not really sure," the young alicorn admitted. She turned to Discord. "Do you have any ideas as to what she meant? You are the spirit of chaos after all."
Discord put his claw to his chin. "Hmm. Well, to be quite frank, I haven't the slightest idea what she was…" He trailed and looked as though a thought had just occurred to him. "Oh. This isn't going to be pretty."
"What? What is it?"
"Think about it. She specifically mentioned 'nightmares.' Who's the one pony commonly associated with nightmares?"
The Mane 6 then thought it over for a few brief moments. Then it hit them like a wrecking ball.
-o-
She woke up to find herself locked in dingy cell in an even dingier dungeon. Where was she? She felt weak, like somepony had sapped her of all her energy. Princess Luna shakily stood up to her hooves and looked around, not seeing anypony, not even a guard outside her cell. She tried charging an attack to blow apart the bars, but found that she couldn't. She struggled again and again, but failed each time. She stopped and began panting heavily. She had never felt this stressed before. What was happening to her?
"Ah see you're finally up," said a voice that had a distinctly southern accent to it. Luna turned to finally see a pony that closely resembled Twilight Sparkle's friend Applejack, but her mane was jet black rather than blond. "'Bout time, too. I wasn't gettin' tired of waitin' at all."
Luna's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You must be one of the Aspects of Chaos."
"No, I'm not," 'Applejack' obviously lied with a smug grin on her face. "You're not our prisoner either. You're welcome to leave anytime."
"Everything you say is a lie, isn't it?" Luna asked in an annoyed tone.
"No."
"That's enough, Sour," said a voice reminiscent of Twilight Sparkle. Luna's attention fell on the dark alicorn who sauntered into the hall outside the cell with an expressionless look. "You are dismissed. Go and wait with the others. I will prepare our guest."
"I ain't gonna do that," Sour replied as she trotted off to do exactly as she was told, leaving Luna and the dark Twilight alone.
"What is it you want from me?" Luna demanded.
"We want the one who was sealed away for a thousand years," Dusk answered ominously. "You have nothing that we desire. We want the other persona locked within you."
Luna stared at the evil Twilight with confusion before realization finally dawned on her. "N-no! I'll never go back to that!"
"You have no choice in the matter," Dusk replied as her horn began to glow red. "We need Nightmare Moon."
Luna was utterly helpless. She could only futilely resist with all her willpower as she felt the dark alicorn pull her evil half back to the surface. All she heard before being swallowed by darkness was the malevolent laugh of Nightmare Moon.
After Discord teleported them back to Canterlot Castle, the Mane 6 galloped into the palace as fast as they could, hoping beyond hope that they weren't too late. They quickly arrived at the throne room, where Celestia was conversing about something with a guard.
"-and I want her found before the worst happens," Celestia said. The guard nodded and headed off, likely to pass on his orders to the other guards.
"Princess!" Twilight called to her mentor, who looked surprised to see her student. "We think the attack on Cloudsdale was a ruse! The Aspects are after-!"
"Luna…" Celestia said, finishing Twilight's sentence. "I know. And they succeeded."
"L-Luna's g-gone?" Fluttershy stammered out, clearly frightened at the revelation.
"Looks like things are just gonna get mighty worse before they get better," Applejack stated.
"It's very likely that we're going to encounter Nightmare Moon at some point," Discord pointed out. The spirit of chaos lounged in the air as though he didn't have a care in the world. "And to make things worse, my powers don't seem to be working as well as before. I can handle teleporting just fine, but I can't seem to do anything that requires more power than that."
Celestia muttered something under her breath, most likely a curse. "This is most disconcerting. If you can't use your powers to aid any more than teleportation, then we may be in for something more troublesome than what we originally predicted."
"We have to take action!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed. "Every second we waste talking is another second that the Aspects are running loose around Equestria! We have to find them and stop them!"
"No one's going to disagree with you Rainbow," Rarity said, somehow managing to stay calm despite their situation. "But we can't just waltz right up to them and ask them nicely to stop."
"Rarity's right," Twilight said. "We need to find out where they're hiding, what they're planning, and make a plan of our own. Otherwise, we'll just be playing right into their hooves."
Celestia nodded her agreement. "Perhaps Discord could shed some light?" All eyes then fell on the spirit of chaos, who continued lounging in midair.
Discord sighed. "Look, just because they came from me doesn't mean that I know what they're thinking. I'm powerful, but I'm no mind reader. Besides, they're beings of chaos. I seriously doubt that they have any sort of collective plan. Unless of course Twilight's counterpart is somehow keeping them all in line. In that case, they probably do have a sort of plot to go by, but it's highly unlikely."
"I see…" Celestia trailed off, clearly lost in thought. "Twilight, you and your friends should investigate every possible location. Find the Aspects of Chaos and my sister before-" Before she could finish, the light in the room slowly dimmed, accompanied by a malevolent laugh, one that made everyone's eyes wide.
The laughter continued until the room was nearly pitch black, allowing barely enough light for anypony to see. The laughter soon faded into a dark chuckle. "Before what, Celestia?" asked a voice that was frighteningly familiar to all but Discord. "Before dear Luna once again becomes who she truly is? Before the Aspects of Chaos have a chance to overthrow your pitiful kingdom? It's already too late for that, dear sister."
"Nightmare Moon," Twilight whispered, unsure of what to do.
Celestia scowled angrily. "My sister is Luna! You are nothing more than a mass of hatred posing as her!"
"Oh, such a quaint, but worthless sentiment. Luna and I are one and the same. I was created through her despair. She allowed me to be born. She wanted you gone, and for all ponies to bow before her and her alone. I was born to fulfill that desire of hers. And thanks to the Aspects of Chaos, I will finally achieve that ultimate goal! Darkness and chaos shall reign over the world for all time!"
"No way!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We beat you once, and we'll beat you again!"
"Is that so?" the voice of Nightmare Moon replied, chuckling ominously. "Tell me, have any of you bothered to check the sky since you returned?"
Everypony looked at each other in confusion, and immediately headed for the nearest balcony. They all looked up at the sky, near the sun. Their eyes went wide in shock at what they saw; the moon was slowly blotting out the sun, already halfway done. Nightmare Moon's laughter rang out more prominently now.
"Once the sun is completely blocked out," she said with sadistic glee in her tone, "the night shall truly last for eternity!" She laughed madly then, her voice slowly fading away. But before leaving them, she said, "Oh, and you may want to duck." With that, her voice faded.
"Duck?" Pinkie asked curiously. "What do birds have to do with this?"
"Get down!" Twilight shouted as a massive blast of red energy soared straight towards them. Everypony quickly dropped down onto the floor as the beam tore apart the throne room behind them. The Mane 6, Celestia, and Discord looked back up into the sky then, where they saw all six of the Aspects of Chaos standing upon a pitch black storm cloud, with Nightmare Moon standing in between them all, her ethereal mane waving with no noticeable force.
Once again, Nightmare laughed. "Let this be the last day that any living creature shall ever see! The reign of the sun and harmony has come to an end!"
With that said, the moon completed its eclipse of the sun.
Darkness enveloped the entire land inch by inch. Ponies everywhere looked on in fear as the shadows swallowed their homeland. Ponyville was engulfed in the darkness, as was the ruined Cloudsdale, Manehattan, and every other city in Equestria. Soon, the only place where any light shone was Canterlot, and that light was slowly dimming away… along with Celestia, who collapsed to her knees.
"Princess!" Twilight called to her mentor. "What's wrong!? You look so… weak!"
"Nightmare Moon has…" Celestia began, her breathing heavy. "She's blocked out the sun… The sun is the source of my power… Nighttime is… okay for me, because of the moon's light, but…" It didn't more than that for everypony to get the idea: the longer the sun remained obscured, the worse Celestia will get.
"Hey!" Rainbow shouted angrily at Nightmare and the Aspects. "You'd better move the moon right now, or else!"
Nightmare just laughed as if the young pegasus had just told a joke. "Oh? And what are you going to do? Make me your newest 'friend?' Turn me to stone? Banish me? Face it, brats. You've already lost! Aspects! Do as you wish!" With that command, Dusk's horn began to glow that vile shade of red, and all six of the Aspects of Chaos teleported into the throne room, directly behind the Mane 6 and Discord, the latter keeping his focus mostly on Nightmare Moon.
"Now then, Aspects," Dusk began as emotionlessly as ever. "Choose your victim." Then, her horn glowed again, and the others vanished in red flashes of light… as did Twilight's friends.
The lavender mare looked around in shock, completely caught off guard by this. "What did you just do? Where are my friends!?"
"I transported them and my colleagues to different parts of Canterlot," Dusk explained. Each will face their opposing force, just as you must face me." She went into a stance that looked as though she were ready to launch an attack. Shaking off her surprise, Twilight did the same, her horn glowing with a faint purple light.
-o-
Pinkie Pie skipped down the now empty streets of Canterlot, giggling all the while. She had never gotten to see Canterlot like this before! She felt like the only pony in the world, but knew for a fact that she wasn't, so that made it all better! Soon enough, however, she encountered another pony, one that looked just like her in fact. The only real differences were that her coat was slightly duller, and her mane and tail were flat. Obviously, Pinkie's initial reaction was to laugh.
"Quit laughing at me!" the other Pinkie shouted angrily. "I hate laughter!"
Immediately, Pinkie stopped laughing and gave her double a curious look. "But… how can me hate laughter? That's my Element!"
"Well, my Aspect is hatred," Evil Pinkie stated in a snide tone. "I hate laughter, I hate you, I hate other ponies, and I hate everything else! I just want everything to burn away! And before you start calling me 'Pinkie,' my name is Pinkamena, you idiotic foal!"
Pinkie was, needless to say, taken aback by this. She never once thought that there could be somepony in the world who legitimately hated everything. Was she like this before she got her cutie mark all those years ago? Would she have turned out like this if Rainbow Dash hadn't managed that first Sonic Rainboom? Was this what she was like when she thought her friends were abandoning her on her birthday? All of these questions and more… didn't even occur to the pink Earth Pony. She was laughing too hard.
"I said quit it!" Pinkamena shouted. "Stop laughing already!"
It took several seconds for Pinkie to oblige. "I'm sorry…" she said, her eyes watering from laughing so hard. "I'm sorry! You're just such a grumpy old grouchy-grumpy pants that it's hilarious!"
Pinkamena stared at Pinkie in confusion. "W-what?"
"But it must be sooooooooo boring being so grouchy all the time! Come on! Smile!" Pinkie beamed at the Aspect of Hatred, who continued to stare at the other mare with obvious disbelief. "Oh, come on! You can do it! Give me a big ol' grin!"
Pinkamena growled in frustration. "Will you just shut up!? I'm not going to smile! End of story!" Pinkie just laughed. "What are you laughing about anyway? Equestria's being enveloped in darkness as we speak! Why are you laughing!?"
Pinkie giggled. "Because laughter makes everything better in the end, silly!"
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does!"
"Oh, yeah?" Pinkamena challenged. "How?"
"It makes ponies happy! It gives them hope and motivates them to work towards a future where we can all laugh and have fun all day! I know there are some ponies that are hard to make laugh, but they love to be happy, too! And deep down, I'm sure you want to be happy, too. You just have to laugh first!" And with that said, she continued giggling.
Pinkamena couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this some kind of joke? Was her counterpart just toying with her? Was this just some plot to get her to be just some mindless fool, too? "Stop it!" she shouted in vain. Pinkie just kept laughing like an idiot, not stopping for a second. "STOP IT!"
"Laugh with me and I will!" Pinkie replied between chortles. She kept giggling, chuckling, and even whinnied at one point. The dark Pinkie's snarling scowl shrank into a regular scowl. It was tempting to just join in and…
She shook her head. She couldn't just give into the idiot's giggles! She was the Aspect of Hatred for crying out loud! She knew nothing but hate for all things! She especially hated ponies who didn't know when to shut up, just like the pink mare in front of her.
Her scowl became a lesser frown.
She hated joy! She hated friends! She hated everything that exists!
Her frown became a straight expression.
She hated everything!
Soon enough, she found herself snorting in a very laugh-like manner. She couldn't stop herself. Pinkie Pie's laughs soon brought out… her own. Pinkamena laughed out loud for the very first time, her mane inflating and her coat brightening so that she looked exactly like Pinkie. She giggled, guffawed, chortled, and every other variant of laugh. "S-stop it!" she said in a far happier tone. "I think I'm gonna pee!"
Pinkie then spontaneously stopped laughing. "Hey, now that you know how to laugh, you wanna be friends?"
Pinkamena stood on all fours, grinning excitedly. "Sure! How about a party!"
"Okay, but after all of this is fixed up and we get the moon back where it's supposed to be, 'kay?"
"Okey-dokey-loki!"
At that moment, Hatred gave way to Laughter.
Applejack was more than a little perturbed by this. She knew that she wasn't the only one in Canterlot, but the emptiness of the streets was still quite frightening. She walked down the road nervously, keeping an eye out for whatever may be a danger. After having to deal with monsters the size of her family's barn over the past year and facing godlike super-villains in the same span of time, she was certain that she was ready for whatever might come her way.
As she trotted down the street, she had the unsettling feeling that she was being watched by somepony. The orange Earth Pony looked around at her surroundings, slowly beginning to feel nervous about the darkness. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She couldn't let this get to her. She had to find the others, and before the Aspects do any serious damage.
As she continued down the path, however, a sudden voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. "How ya doin'?" Applejack had to put a hoof over her chest to try and get her heart to stop thumping like a madman's drum. She faced the speaker, only to see… herself? No, no, the other "Applejack" had a jet black mane and tail rather than blond.
When she was finally calm again, she asked, "You're one of the Aspects of Chaos, aren't ya?"
"Nope," the other Applejack said with a smug grin on her face. "Mah name's not Sour Apple. Ah'm not here to stop ya. Ya'll can go on and get yer friends if ya like."
Applejack raised an eyebrow at the other mare. "Everythin' you say is lie, isn't it?"
"Nope. Nothin' but the truth here." Sour's expression made it plainly evident that she was in fact lying. Applejack frowned at this, but rolled her eyes and made to keep on moving. Sour immediately stepped in front of the blond pony, blocking her path.
Applejack backed up a step at this, but sighed in annoyance and went to go around her clone. Sour simply stepped in her way again. "All right, this gettin' a might annoyin'. Would you kindly step outta mah way please?"
"Sure thing, sugar cube," Sour said. She immediately got in Applejack's way again when the orange Earth Pony tried to walk around her again, earning her a groan of irritation. "I was told not to keep ya here, and I intend to go against those orders."
"Wait, what?" Applejack said in confusion at her double's words. She rubbed her head with her hoof, trying to ease away what she believed to be a migraine. She groaned again and glared angrily at Sour. "Is there any way we could settle this without me having to kick yer sorry flank?"
Sour looked as though she was actually considering this. After a few brief moments, she said, "Nope. If you come up with some kinda challenge and win, I won't let you go."
"Ah'm guessin' that's a yes," Applejack assumed. She then got to thinking about how she should approach this. Maybe she should just buck her double into unconsciousness and go to find her friends. No, that wouldn't work. Despite their obviously vastly different personalities, Sour Maple would likely have all of her strengths. She had to really think about this right now. Soon enough, an idea came to mind. An old riddle that Granny Smith had shared with her when she was just a little filly. It could be just the ticket to getting past Sour. "Ah got it. I'll ask you a riddle. Ya get it right, and Ah'll stay here. Ya get it wrong, and Ah get to leave. Deal?"
Sour smirked cockily. "Ah completely disagree with that idea. Tell me yer riddle."
"All right. It's really simple. Just about everypony in Equestria should know it."
"Tell me."
"Okay. What's black and white and read all over?"
As soon as the question left Applejack's mouth, Sour's eyes went wide. She then started laughing like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "That's it? That's yer big riddle? Ha! The answer's…" She was silent for a moment. She soon looked as though she had just had some kind of grave realization.
"What's wrong?" Applejack asked with smirk. "I thought it was simple. Even real little fillies know this one. You sayin' that you don't?"
"No! Ah mean, yes! Ah mean..." Sour struggled to say it. She knew the answer! It was so simple, so stupid, but she couldn't say it. Not because it was a difficult word to pronounce, or that it took actual thought to say, but solely because… she would be telling the truth, something that completely goes against her entire existence.
"Well, if ya don't know, then Ah guess we're done here." The blond mare began heading off, but Sour stood in her way, looking rather desperate now.
"Ya can't go!" she shouted.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Did you just tell the truth?"
"Yes! Ah mean, no! Ah mean…!" Sour released a cry of confusion and frustration. She was even on the verge of crying.
Applejack sighed. "Ya wanna know why yer so frustrated right now?" Sour looked up at her counterpart with confused eyes. "It's because yer so used to bein' a liar. And nopony likes a liar, not even the liar themselves. When you start tellin' the truth, that's when things become easier for ya to understand." With that said, she trotted off, leaving Sour behind.
The dark-haired mare watched as Applejack hurried away. Maybe she should really consider telling the truth more. Maybe she'll feel better then.
-o-
Rarity walked through the streets with her usual poise and elegance, despite the solitude that she felt in the near-empty city. She knew that she had to find the others quickly, but that might not happen if she just ran around like a crazy pony. She did have a certain personal standard to live up to.
As she carefully studied the now-shadowy Canterlot to see if she could find her friends, she noticed a brief streak of white in an alley. Normally, she would try her best to avoid such a dank place, but this was likely the only pony she would meet between Nightmare Moon's return and regrouping with the others. She had to risk the filth and dirt.
Reluctantly, she walked into the alley, nearly gagging just at the smell. She covered her nose as she searched the alley, and soon enough, she saw a white form… rooting through a garbage can. It tossed trash out carelessly, as though it was looking for something.
"Nothing good," the pony said in a voice that was remarkably similar to Rarity's own voice. The pony pulled herself out of the trash can and groaned. "Why does nopony throw out good things? Do I really have to resort to stealing?" She put a hoof to her chin for a brief moment. "Not that I mind stealing of course. Oh, such a rush."
"Excuse me," Rarity called to the other pony, who turned to face her. Rarity gasped at what she saw. The other pony looked just like her, but her mane and tail were a complete mess, and he cutie mark was a trio of black gems rather than diamonds. "Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you're my opposite. Would that be the correct assumption?"
The other "Rarity" grinned almost fiendishly. "That's right. I am Onyxa, the pony who represents the Aspect of Chaos known as Greed. I only desire the finest things that life has to offer. Only I deserve everything in the world. Nopony else is quite perfect enough for everything, unlike your truly."
Rarity gave a deadpan expression. "Clearly modesty isn't your strong point." Reluctantly, she let her eyes return to Onyxa's ridiculously sloppy mane. "Have you no pride in your appearance? You look you've been in a wind tunnel for the past month!"
"What good are looks?" Onyxa stated indignantly. "Looking good doesn't get you anything. Why worry about one's own appearance?"
"We're definitely opposites if that's what you think," Rarity said with obvious disapproval. She quickly grabbed Onyxa by the mane and began dragging her out of the alley.
"OW!" the alter-Rarity complained. "Where are you taking me!?" She was answered when they entered what appeared to be a salon, where a few ponies were all huddled in fear of the darkness outside.
"Excuse me," Rarity said to a stallion who looked like he was the owner of the salon. "Would you mind terribly if I used some of your things to fix somepony's mane and tail?" The stallion nodded, not wanting to argue about anything. "Thank you, sir." Rarity pushed Onyxa into the nearest chair, where the neater unicorn strapped the sloppier one in. "Now hold still, please. This is likely going to be a very challenging process, considering the shape that your hair is in."
"My hair is fine!" Onyxa argued, but she went ignored as Rarity began working, quickly getting in the zone. Scissors clipped hair while curlers clacked onto the hair. Soon enough, it was done. Rarity had completed her work in virtually record time. Now, Onyxa's hair was an exact duplicate of her own. The alternate pony stared in disbelief at her reflection in the mirror before her. Almost immediately, however, Onyxa asked, "What's the catch for this?"
"No catch," Rarity replied honestly. "I'm just doing a simple good deed. What's wrong with that?"
"Everypony has an angle, pretty girl. What's yours?"
"No angle. I just can't stand watching as a potentially beautiful pony lets her natural beauty slowly die away. Besides, I'm the Element of Generosity! I'm perfectly willing to help others, free of charge."
Onyxa was actually speechless to that. This didn't make any sense! Why would somepony just spontaneously give somepony else a free haircut? Was her counterpart really just doing this out of the kindness of her heart? "Just leave already. I couldn't care less about all of this anyway. Go save your friends or whatever."
"No catch?" Rarity said teasingly. Onyxa rolled her eyes as the unicorn left. She looked at herself once again in the mirror. Rarity was generous enough to give an amazing haircut completely free of charge, and it seemed like the result had been its own reward for her. Maybe she should try being a little more generous sometime.
The yellow pegasus nervously trotted through the empty streets, jumping at just about every sound. Fluttershy was nearing the point of complete desperation, her head darting from side to side as she searched for her friends, or anypony that looked trustworthy. But first, she needed to find out where exactly she was. She stepped as quietly as possible, hoping that she wouldn't be found by anything… unpleasant.
There was a sudden noise from behind that made her shriek and duck for cover. She trembled on the ground with her hooves over her head, but after a few moments of silence, she looked around, but found nothing. She sighed in relief, stood again, and moved to continue down the road. Until she saw somepony who looked almost exactly like her, except her mane was a dark shade of red. The sight made her jump and cry out in surprise again. She managed to regain what little composure she had left and stared in shock and confusion at her doppelganger.
Timidly, the pink-haired pegasus asked, "W-who are you?"
The other Fluttershy smirked arrogantly and said, "I'm Malumavis, the Aspect of Cruelty. And you're just a sniveling little coward, aren't you?"
Fluttershy cringed at her double's tone, which made it sound as though the evil Fluttershy enjoyed talking down to others. "I-" Fluttershy tried to speak, but Malumavis spoke up again.
"You're pathetic!" the red-haired pegasus shouted at Fluttershy with a look of absolute hatred. "You clearly have no idea how to actually speak properly, do you, Stuttershy? It's a miracle when you manage to form a coherent sentence in front of somepony!"
"B-but I…" Fluttershy wanted to say something to defend herself. She truly did. But Malumavis's harsh tone and cruel words bit deep. It was true. When it came to social situations and making friends with other ponies, she was pretty much a living train wreck. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she shied away from her double.
"Oh, what a surprise!" Malumavis said with a contemptuous glare at her counterpart. "You can't think of anything to say, so you're just going to try and leave? Well, I don't think so, twerp. You're not going anywhere!" The Aspect of Cruelty grabbed Fluttershy's mane and pulled her closer. "You're complete trash! The only thing you can actually do right is take care of animals, and that's about the most pointless and unnecessary job ever!"
"I…"
"You're a pegasus, but you fly about as well as a ten-ton boulder! It's no wonder the ponies at Flight Camp always called you Clutzershy!"
Fluttershy's eyes went wide in shock. "H-how did you-?"
"You may not want to accept it," Malumavis explained, "but you and I were once the same pony. I've got all your memories, and I've got to say, you're really less than worthless!"
Fluttershy stared at Malumavis with wide eyes for a few moments as her double continued her cruel rant. Same pony… she thought. But… then that would mean… "You're not a very strong flier either, are you?" she asked innocently.
Malumavis stopped ranting and stared at Fluttershy with wide, confused eyes. "What?"
The pink-haired mare shied away a little, but said, "Y-you said that you and I were the same pony at one time. If that's true, then it means that you have all of my same faults, which means you're only as good a flier as me. It also means that you have trouble making friends, probably like taking care of animals."
Fluttershy's doppelganger's face slowly turned red with each word, her expression becoming a mix of dismay and horror. She shook her head. "N-no! I'm nothing like you! I'm better than you!"
To this, Fluttershy actually smiled slightly. "No, you're not. Nopony's better than anypony. Everypony has insecurities that they struggle with, especially me. The only real differences between the two of us is that you haven't accepted your insecurities and that you hide those flaws by being a bully. The truth is that you're not truly comfortable with who you really are, and have always lied to yourself about it."
"Th-that's not true!" Malumavis shouted in a feeble defense. She knew it wasn't true! It wasn't! It wasn't! … It… was. She knew she hated who she was. She knew Fluttershy was… right. Her eyes began to water. She crumpled to the ground and began bawling. "Stop it! I'm… I'm different. I'm not you."
"You're right," Fluttershy admitted with an understanding smile. "But that just means that you can be anypony you want to be. You just have to accept your flaws. I've learned to do that thanks to my friends. Maybe I can help you face your flaws, too. Would you be okay with that?"
Malumavis gave her a confused look, clearly surprised by her counterpart's sudden warmth. "Why would you want to help me? After I said all those things?"
Fluttershy giggled a little, then said, "Of course. I don't just care for animals you know. I also enjoy helping other ponies, too. Besides, everypony deserves to be shown at least a little kindness. That's what I believe at least."
The Aspect of Cruelty couldn't believe it. Somepony was actually being… nice to her? But that didn't make any sense at all! She was cruel and selfish and liked tormenting others! Why would anypony show her any kindness?
"I don't get it," she muttered. "I… I…" She didn't say any more. She hid her face with her hooves and sobbed loudly. Fluttershy placed a hoof on her double's shoulder as she cried out. Cruelty didn't suit somepony so fragile.
-o-
A rainbow-colored blur darted across the sky, its source searching for anypony that she knew. The darkness and sheer size of Canterlot didn't help in Rainbow Dash's search. She stopped briefly every few seconds and scanned the area that she was hovering over, then zoomed off again. She only really knew that she needed to find the others as quickly as possible so that they could unite and use the Elements of Harmony to stop the Aspects of Chaos and defeat Nightmare Moon so that they could have Luna back.
As she flew, she heard something zip by at speeds comparable to her own. A dull gray streak dashed by her, spinning her like a living top, and stopped to stand upon a nearby cloud. Before Rainbow was a pegasus who looked just like her, except her mane and tail were gray, as well as her cutie mark. Rainbow knew immediately who she was looking at.
"Hey! You're one of the Aspects of Chaos, aren't you?" she shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at the other pony, who was now simply lounging on the cloud as if nothing was wrong at all with the world.
"That's right," the gray-haired mare admitted in a lazy tone. "I'm Monochrome Blur, the Aspect of Treachery. Any other scholarly questions, O, wise and brilliant race horse?"
Rainbow scowled at that comment and gave Monochrome a spiteful glare. "Why don't you come off that cloud and fight me one on one? Let's do this right here and now!" To that, Monochrome just laughed as if Rainbow had told great joke. "What's so funny?"
Monochrome stopped laughing after a few seconds and said, "You really think I'm gonna waste my time with you? Please. You're not worth the effort. Besides, I've got bigger plans, and you'd only slow me down."
"'Plans'?" Rainbow parroted with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"You'll see," Monochrome replied with a sinister chuckle. She suddenly stomped on the cloud, creating a bolt of lightning that temporarily blinded Dash. When the rainbow haired pegasus could see again, Monochrome was gone.
She briefly thought about what her double had said. What did she have planned? What was she going to do? Rainbow snorted in frustration. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way!" With that, she flew off in the direction of Canterlot Castle. She felt in her gut that that's where her doppelganger might've gone.
Twilight and Dusk were stuck in a deadlock, their respective beams of magic energy slowly pushing back on each other. The purple mare could feel the strain that expending so much magical energy would leave. If this keeps up any longer, she didn't think she would be able to really face off with her clone anymore. And worse yet, Dusk didn't even look close to exhausted. Things weren't looking up.
"The only logical option for you is to surrender," Dusk stated heartlessly. Her cold, empty eyes practically bore into Twilight's own violet orbs. "You can never defeat me. I can never be defeated."
"There's a first time for everything, Dusk!" Twilight cried as she pumped more power into her attack. Come on, Twilight, think! How can I beat her when she matches me in just about every way!? She thought harder than she ever had before, which was made all the more difficult considering she had to focus on keeping Dusk's blast at bay. Every plan she came up with was quickly scrapped, as Dusk would likely always be thinking two steps ahead. If only she wasn't such a logical thinker!
... Wait… An idea slowly came to mind. But that was all it was: an idea. But it was certainly better than nothing.
Before the purple alicorn could try anything, however, Dusk's magic blast overpowered hers and sent her flying through the Canterlot Castle throne room and skidding across the floor. She groaned in pain as Dusk patiently walked towards her, the dark alicorn's hoofsteps sounding like thunder to her.
"I told you," Dusk began as her horn glowed with an evil red light. "You will never defeat me." Twilight's eyes widened in fear before she shut them as tight as she could, too frightened to watch what would happen next.
Suddenly, two blasts of magic, one blue and one pink, slammed into Dusk's side, sending the dark mare flying away. Twilight's eyes shot open when she heard this, then faced the source of the blasts. Her face then beamed with hope. "Shining Armor! Cadance!"
The two leaders of the Crystal Empire stood tall beside each other at the entrance to the throne room, both looking ready for a fight. "Twily!" Shining called as he and his galloped over to his sister. "Are you all right, sis?"
Twilight nodded and rose to all fours. "I'm fine. But what are you doing here?"
"Princess Celestia sent us a letter explaining the situation," Cadance explained. "I'm sorry we're late, Twilight." She looked over to Dusk, who was now standing and eyeing the newcomers with that cold glare of hers. "I think we should save the pleasantries for after we've finished here."
Twilight nodded her agreement. "Be careful. She's my doppelganger, and has access to every spell that I know of. Not only that, but she's an excessively logical thinker. She'll probably be able to see through any plans we come up with."
"Then how do we beat her?" Shining Armor inquired.
The young princess thought on that for a moment. "I think I have an idea. You'll have to trust me on this, and not interfere."
"What?" Cadance said in shock. "But, Twilight, you just said that she can see through all of our plans!"
"This is more of an idea than anything else," Twilight admitted seriously. "Please, you both have to trust me on this." Shining and Cadance glanced at each other worriedly, but nodded reluctantly. Twilight nodded back to them and trotted toward Dusk, who raised an eyebrow at her counterpart.
"To refuse aid is an illogical decision," she said dispassionately. "It will lead to your downfall. Not that accepting aid would have changed the outcome."
Ignoring, Dusk's statements, Twilight simply said, "You're the Aspect of Logic, right?" Dusk again raised an eyebrow at this, but nodded nonetheless. "Then explain to me this. If you're so logical, then why do you work for the forces of chaos?" Dusk didn't answer. "Chaos is the very essence of illogicality. You're supposed to be the epitome of logic, but you yourself are a being of chaos! Where's the logic in that, Dusk?"
The dark alicorn opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it to think on what Twilight had said. She… couldn't think of a truly logical explanation as to why she was working with chaotic forces. Was she really a being of chaos? But she was logic ponyfied! How can she be logical and chaotic at the same time!? She was Logic! Or was she chaos? Or was she just like any other pony? These thoughts quickly became train wrecks in her mind. Her eyes widened with grave realization.
"But… I am the Aspect of Chaos known as Logic. But that inherently contradicts itself. I am logical, but I am chaotic. I am stable, but I am unbalanced. I… I…" She practically froze, her brain basically shutting down from the self-countering logic. She blacked out and collapsed onto the floor.
"Uh… what just happened?" Shining Armor asked in confusion. Cadance's expression was no less baffled.
"I countered Logic with logic," Twilight explained. When her brother and sister-in-law still gave her confused stares, she said, "I told you, she's an excessively logical thinker. I basically said that since she's an Aspect of Chaos, she's naturally flawed, and not as totally logical as she believes herself to be. She's really just an ordinary pony, just like the rest of us."
"Oh, I get it now," Shining said as he tousled his little sister's mane with his hoof. "Thinking outside the box! That's Twily for you!"
"Um… guys?" Cadance said, getting the others' attention. She pointed to the nearby balcony, where Discord and Nightmare Moon were still having a stand-off. "I don't quite think we're done here yet."
"Oh, don't you all worry about me," Discord assured the ponies with a cocky smirk. "I can handle this. Besides, I've sort of been waiting for a moment like this."
Nightmare Moon laughed mockingly. "You honestly think you have a chance, you mix-and-match freak of nature? Ha! I'm nothing like Luna or those worthless Aspects of Chaos! I am Nightmare Moon, mistress of the night!"
Discord yawned in boredom. "Really? That's all you've got to say about yourself? Please." Suddenly, he spirit of chaos was right next to Nightmare, his claw slung around her shoulder nonchalantly. "I'm Discord, master of chaos, bender of reality, lord of disharmony. I can literally turn you into a foal with a snap of my fingers!" He then snapped his fingers, and Nightmare instantly shrank down to the size of a foal, though she still had her original body.
"What the!? Change me back immediately, draconequus!" the evil alicorn demanded with a hilariously high-pitched voice.
Discord just stared at her in surprise. He pondered this for a moment and said, "I guess my powers really have been weakened." He shrugged. "Oh well. Tell you what, little Nightmare. You move the moon out of the way of the sun, and I'll change you back. Deal?"
"What!? Of course not!"
"Very well. Have it your way. "The master of chaos snapped his fingers again, and Nightmare was returned to normal… but was now trapped within a sphere of purple energy.
"What is this!?" she demanded.
"Simple. It's a bubble. Nothing more. Of course, this bubble has a nasty little trick up its nonexistent sleeve." Just then, Nightmare Moon rapidly dissolved into a cloud of ethereal smoke that greatly resembled her mane. After a few seconds, Princess Luna fell out of the bubble, unconscious.
At this, Twilight was pretty much forced to ask, "What did you just do?"
"I removed Nightmare Moon from Luna," Discord explained. Then, rather dramatically, he held out his claw and paw towards the smoke-filled bubble and said, "Behold, the true Nightmare Moon! Without Luna to act as her body, Nightmare is basically just a living cloud of anger and aggression. No more, no less."
Cadance gulped at this. "I'm glad you're on our side, Discord," she said, sounding quite relieved.
It was then that the rest of the Mane 6 and even the remainder of the Aspects of Chaos, minus Monochrome, stormed into the room, all but Fluttershy looking ready to rumble. "Don't worry, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We're here to-!" She stopped when she saw the sight before her. "What happened here?"
"Discord took care of our Nightmare Moon problem," Twilight explained. "We won't ever have to worry about her again!"
"Well, I'll be!" Applejack said with a grin. "Ah guess this means we all beat them Aspects!"
"Hooray!" Pinkie Pie and her double shouted gleefully. "This calls for a party!"
"Uh… hold on, guys," Rainbow interrupted, feeling a little bit awkward. "Are you saying that you all beat your evil doubles?" Everypony nodded. "Oh. Um…"
"Rainbow, are you saying that you didn't find your duplicate?" Rarity asked, suddenly feeling worried.
"No, I found her. But she got away. She said something about a plan, but she escaped before I could get her to spill the beans."
"And now it's gonna bite you in the flank!" called a voice that was painfully similar to Rainbow's. All eyes fell upon Rainbow Dash's double, Monochrome, who stood upon the balcony, right next to the bubble containing Nightmare Moon's essence. Before anypony could react, she slammed her forelegs into the bubble, actually cracking it and freeing the evil fog within. Instead of returning to Luna, however, the cloud was forcibly pulled into the dull gray pendant upon Monochrome's neck. The gray-haired pegasus's eyes glowed an ominous white, which was accompanied by a manic grin on her face.
"Oh, yeah, this is gonna be fun!" she shouted as, just as suddenly, the other Aspects of Chaos began to scream out in agony. The others could only watch in horror as the Aspects' bodies became ethereal masses, which were pulled into Monochrome's pendant. Discord suddenly gripped his chest as though he were in pain.
"D-Discord!" Fluttershy shouted in panic. "W-what's happening!?"
Pained, Discord replied, "She's… absorbing all the sources of chaotic power… within her field of vision! And that includes me!"
"How do we stop her!?" Twilight hollered.
Despite the pain, Discord still managed to grin mischievously. "You'll think… of something, ponies… You always do!" With that, his body faded and was absorbed into Monochrome's pendant.
The ponies, Celestia included, watched with shocked eyes as Monochrome was enveloped in a dark red light. Her body grew larger, clearly becoming stronger, and a horn grew from her forehead. The light faded quickly, revealing…a blue alicorn with a dull gray mane, her pendant gone, and a silver tiara with a black bolt-shaped gem upon her head. She grinned maliciously.
"Everything up to now has led to this exact moment," she said in far more adult voice. "Everything's gone exactly how I planned it! I am this world's new god! And all will kneel before Monochrome!" She released a villainous laugh that echoed in everypony's ears. It was a sound that easily silenced hope.
The Mane 6, Celestia, Cadance, and Shining Armor stared wide-eyed at the gray-haired pegasus-turned-alicorn, who floated down towards the floor, her hooves landing with a thunderous sound. There was silence in the throne room. Monochrome grinned at the group of stunned ponies, her eyes glowing with visible animosity and sick glee. "What's wrong, my little ponies?" she asked in a near-mocking tone. "Haven't you ever seen a goddess before?"
"What in the name of…" Celestia said in shock. "How did you absorb Discord like that? Why did you betray your fellow Aspects?"
Monochrome laughed at that. "Really? That's what you're asking me?" She was suddenly gone in a flash of light, reappearing right next to Rainbow Dash, who shot up and backwards in the air in surprise. "I'm the opposite of little Dashie, here. I am the Aspect of Treachery. Of course I'd stab my so-called 'comrades' in the back!"
Rainbow scowled at her double. "That's just low!" she shouted angrily. "How can anypony just throw away their own friends like they were a bunch of cheap toys?"
"Friends?" Monochrome burst into a fit of laughter at that. "I don't need friends! All they would do is get in my way! Now, if you'll excuse me…" She teleported to Celestia's throne. "I have a city to reshape into the image of yours truly!" Her horn began to glow with an evil red light, which created a wave of red power that turned the pristine walls and floors into black tiles.
"That's bad!" Twilight shouted. "Everypony, stay close!" Everyone stood near her as her horn glowed with purple energy. The whole group then vanished in a flash of purple light. They all reappeared about halfway across Canterlot, where they had perfect view of the castle as it was changed from a magnificent palace, into a massive, jet black tower with dull gray flames burning at its peak. Twilight stared at the structure with a mix of fear and awe. "That's… unbelievable… I can only imagine how much magic it takes to completely transform an entire castle into a completely different building."
Celestia sighed and reluctantly nodded slightly. "Monochrome has to be stopped," she said solemnly. "And the only pony I can think of who has a chance against her is… wait, where are Rainbow Dash and Luna!?"
"W-what?" Fluttershy asked. "B-but Rainbow was right next to me when Twilight teleported us into the city!"
Before anyone else could make any theories, a rainbow-colored blur zoomed in front of them, vanishing to reveal both the missing ponies. Struggling somewhat, Rainbow gently set down a still-out-cold Princess Luna on the ground before landing herself. When given shocked and surprised looks, she said, "What? She was out of Twilight's range. We couldn't just leave her."
Twilight was about to say something, but Celestia spoke first. "Rainbow Dash," the Princess of the Sun said, getting the rainbow-haired pegasus's full attention. "You are the one who must stop Monochrome. You're the only one capable of this task."
"Wait, what?" the young pegasus replied. "What about my friends? Shouldn't they help me?"
"Don't you remember what Discord said?" the princess replied. "The only way to defeat each Aspect of Chaos is with the opposing Elements of Harmony. Your Loyalty is the only thing that can conquer Monochrome's treacherous nature." Everypony stared at Rainbow Dash, who actually looked… nervous.
"But… look at what she did to the castle! There's no telling if I can even get close to her, let alone beat her! She's way too powerful for just one pony to face alone!"
Twilight put a hoof on her friend's shoulder, giving a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Rainbow. Just because you have to be the one to face her, it doesn't mean you have to go in alone. We're coming with you. We've got your back." The rest of the Mane 6 all nodded in complete agreement, all with looks that told Rainbow that they had faith in her.
Rainbow looked over at Monochrome's tower. She gulped down her nervousness and faced her friends again with her usual cocky attitude. "All right!" she said as she hovered up above them. "Let's go finish this once and for all!" The entire group gave shouts of approval as they galloped off to the tower, leaving Celestia, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Luna at the city's gates.
Celestia nodded her own approval to the six young ponies who had saved Equestria time and again together. "Good luck, my little ponies," she said quietly. "I have a feeling that you will need it."
-o-
Monochrome knew exactly what was going on. She knew that the Mane 6 were on their way at that very moment. She knew that they were going to use Rainbow Dash to try and beat her. She also knew that it was futile. She had already planned ahead for this. She was ready.
Suddenly, the doors to her throne room swung open, the Mane 6 charging in, led by none other than Rainbow Dash, who looked more than ready to rumble. "Monochrome!" she shouted at her counterpart. "I hope you enjoyed your ten minutes as ruler of Equestria, because we're here to stop you for good!"
Monochrome simply chuckled at that claim. "Oh, is that so, little pegasus? Well, far be it from me to keep you from trying, even if it's completely pointless."
Rainbow sneered at her double. "Let's do this!" she exclaimed as she rushed over at the evil alicorn, who simply yawned in response. Just as rainbow was about to crash into Monochrome, however, the alicorn vanished from sight. The blue pegasus stopped in midair and looked around with wide eyes… until she heard her friends all cry out. She turned quickly, ready to fight, but gawked when she saw that her friends were all trapped on the wall, their hooves tethered by red energy. "Hey, what happened!?"
"I happened!" called the voice of Monochrome from above. Rainbow looked up to see that ceiling was now gone, revealing the graying sky above and the dull flames that floated above the tower, with Monochrome hovering just below the inferno. "I want to take my time with you, Rainbow Dash. By the time I'm done, you'll understand that loyalty is as meaningless as resistance!" The gray-haired alicorn unleashed a beam of red magic that slammed into Rainbow before she could react, sending her soaring out of the tower.
"Rainbow!" her friends called as she managed to regain stable flight. She groaned in pain, her coat covered in scattered burns. She looked back up at Monochrome, who was literally glowing with malevolent power.
"You can never beat me, you little brat!" the alicorn claimed with a mad grin. "I'll turn the entire world into my personal paradise! Everypony will kneel to me! I am unstoppable! I am a god!"
The cyan pegasus scowled at her counterpart. "Like that's gonna happen!" she shouted as she flew towards Monochrome in a headlong rush. She easily broke the sound barrier, and was nearing the speeds she needed to do the Sonic Rainboom. But before she could perform the legendary technique, she slammed headfirst into a wall of red power that sent her flying backwards. She managed to stop herself just in time to feel a hoof slam into the back of her head, which sent her spiraling down towards the tower again. She crashed painfully into the floor, earning her several scrapes, cuts, and bruises, and barely conscious.
Monochrome descended slowly to the floor in front of her throne and trotted toward the pegasus, chuckling darkly the whole time. "Do you get it now, brat?" she asked. "This is where it all ends for you! You never had snowball's chance in Tartarus against me!" Her eyes and horn then glowed with malevolent red light. She lifted Rainbow into the air and proceeded to smash her into the walls repeatedly, with incredible force.
"Oh, no…" Twilight muttered in fear. Rainbow Dash was clearly outmatched here. The young alicorn had no idea what to do. Monochrome's binding spell seemed to block all her magic, preventing her from helping at all. She and the others could only watch as Rainbow struggled hopelessly against Monochrome's relentless attacks. Monochrome was right. This was a pointless endeavor.
"Don't give up, Rainbow!" shouted the usually meek voice of Fluttershy. The others stared at her in disbelief. In response to this, the yellow pegasus said, "She's never given up before! She can't give up now! You have to win, Rainbow!"
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie shouted, "If you win, I'll make the world's biggest cake, and cover it with all different colored frosting!"
"That ruffian doesn't even deserve to be in your presence!" Rarity called out. "You must show her exactly what she's really dealing with!"
"If yer the iron pony," Applejack chimed in, "then you wouldn't let that oversized varmint beat ya! She'd end up claiming that title from ya!"
Twilight stared at her friends, then back to Rainbow Dash, who was now just floating in front of Monochrome, who was now undoubtedly preparing to deal the final blow. She closed her eyes and said, "Rainbow. You have to win!"
Monochrome laughed at the Mane 6's pep talks as though they were just humorous jokes. "Now that's just adorable! You're little friends think you can actually win! Hilarious! Now, hold still so that I can finish you-"
Suddenly, the pendants and tiara that were the physical manifestations of the Elements of Harmony glowed with a divine white light, each one pulsing with their bearers' words as they cheered Rainbow on. Out of each gem within each piece of jewelry, a sphere of light with the matching color emerged and swirled around the dazed Rainbow Dash, who was just awake enough to say, "W-what's going on?"
Monochrome stared in shock at what was happening before her. "W-what? What is this?" Each of the Mane 6 was just as baffled as the lights spun around the rainbow-haired pegasus. Their questions were then all answered at once when the six orbs of light all merged into Rainbow Dash's pendant. There was massive flash of pure, blinding light as this happened, forcing everypony to shield their eyes as best they could.
As the light faded, they all opened their eyes to behold Rainbow Dash, whose coat had been turned pure white, and her mane and tail transformed into what could only be described as multi-colored flames. The pegasus looked just as dumbfounded about her change as everypony else, which was evidenced by her statement of, "What the? How did? When?" It didn't take long for her to realize something. "Whoa… I think I just 200% cooler than I already was!"
"What in the hay just happened?" Applejack asked.
Twilight immediately said, "The Elements of Harmony must've somehow all merged together with Rainbow! I remember reading somewhere that Princess Celestia used something just like this to beat Nightmare Moon! And now…"
"I'm gonna do the same thing to beat Monochrome!" Rainbow exclaimed with her trademark grin. Her eyes burned with a fiery determination that surpassed every look she had ever had before. Seeing those wild, purple eyes, Monochrome suddenly felt frightened. "All right, sister!" Rainbow continued, scratching her hoof on the floor. "It. Is. ON!" With that, she flew towards gray-haired alicorn, creating a Sonic Rainboom the instant she moved.
Monochrome had no idea how to respond as the streak of color tackled right through the stone wall behind her. The pegasus had created a Sonic Rainboom the very second she had moved, which shook the entire tower by its very foundation. Monochrome had barely managed to regain control of herself in midair, and aimed to blast Rainbow Dash with the powerful burst of magic she could muster.
But the rainbow-haired mare once proved too fast, as she slammed her body full force into Monochrome's side, sending the evil alicorn spiraling straight into a mountainside. She immediately pulled herself out of the rubble and glared angrily at the shining pegasus. She sneered at the cocky stare that Rainbow Dash held in her eyes, which sparked with a wild passion that shouldn't even exist.
"You…" Monochrome muttered under her breath as her horn began to glow with vile red magic. "YOU WON'T BEAT ME!" She flapped her wings with tremendous force, sending herself soaring towards the young pegasus, who simply put on a serious face and did the same. Seeing this, Monochrome smirked. She instantly created a red barrier directly in front of her, which Rainbow had no time to avoid. The pegasus slammed into the shield, creating a massive explosion of power that sent them both reeling back.
Rainbow didn't stop. She stormed toward her doppelganger with that unbelievable speed of hers and once again tackled Monochrome, this time pushing the gray-haired mare further up into the sky. The rest of the Mane 6 could only watch from Monochrome's tower as the two super-powered ponies battled. They all simply continued cheering Rainbow on.
"Go, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she danced around with pompoms in her hooves. "You can do it! Beat that meanie!"
"Don't ya'll dare give up!" Applejack called out.
Fluttershy, in a rare fit of excitement, was hollering and screaming for Dash to keep on fighting as hard as she could.
Rarity was ogling the magnificent colors that trailed after Rainbow as she flew. Her cheer was basically "Teach that ruffian a lesson!"
Twilight watched with wide eyes as the great battle continued, neither fighter apparently giving an edge to the other. She had never seen anything like this before, only having read of similar events in old history books that most ponies would've considered them just to be old mares' tales. But here she was, watching as a somewhat normal pegasus fought a being of chaos while armed with the full power of the Elements of Harmony. It was simply amazing. The young alicorn smiled, her eyes filled with hope. "Fight on, you crazy pegasus," she said with a spark of admiration in her tone. "You can win. And you will."
Despite the massive g-forces in her face, and the fact that she was already at least five miles into the sky, Rainbow Dash could still hear the voices of her friends calling to her, supporting her. She had no intention of letting them down. She continued soaring higher and higher, Monochrome struggling against the pegasus's greatly enhanced strength.
The evil alicorn had no idea what to make of this. She had absorbed her fellow Aspects of Chaos and swallowed the power of Nightmare Moon, and even taken over Discord's very essence! How could a single pony even come close to matching her!? She had all the powers of chaos swirling around in her very body! This was an outright impossibility!
"How are you so powerful!?" Monochrome demanded over the waves of sound that nearly drowned out everything else. "You're just one little foal of a pony! How!?"
Rainbow smirked cockily and said, "Princess Celestia said it herself: the only thing that can beat your Treachery is Loyalty! But it's not just my loyalty to my friends! It's my friends' loyalty that's helping me! You might think that there's nothing more powerful than chaos, but you're dead wrong! There is something more powerful than chaos! It's called friendship! You should try it sometime!"
With that said, Rainbow released the alicorn and soared further into the heavens, almost breaking out of the atmosphere and reaching space. There, she stopped and faced Monochrome with that big smirk of hers. Monochrome managed to stop herself and look up at her opponent. Her expression was no longer one of shock, or anger, or confusion. It was a look of fear. She was afraid of this glowing pegasus. She was utterly terrified of being defeated. She was scared.
"You… y-you stay away from me!" she shouted out at the fiery-eyed pegasus. "I-I'm warning you!"
Rainbow ignored her copy's pleas as she zoomed toward Monochrome with enough speed to shoot off a Sonic Rainboom immediately. Before Monochrome could even react, a rainbow-colored streak slammed into her, the force being enough to crack the amulet that hung around her neck. They were both now descending from the skies at unimaginable speeds. Monochrome screamed in terror as several cracks appeared on her body, light seeping out of them as if she were a living lampshade. This didn't go unnoticed by Rainbow Dash, but she ignored it. Her only focus was the defeat of Monochrome.
The others and just about everypony in all of Equestria watched in awe as the rainbow streak fell to the earth, going faster and faster with every passing second. Ponies everywhere cheered as the light of hope broke through the dark veil that had covered the world. The sun was now shining past the moon, which was slowly moving out of the way of the source of all life in the world.
Their cheers stopped and were replaced by shock and awe as the streak of light doubled its speed, creating something that was once thought to be only a myth. A Sonic Rainboom: doubled. The massive shockwave spread over the entire land, forcing away the dark clouds that had gathered, and revealing more and more light.
Rainbow didn't realize what she had done. All she really knew was that she and Monochrome were now going far faster than she had ever gone before. She could barely hold her eyes open. And suddenly, they hit the ground. An explosion bigger than any mountain erupted from the impact zone, and took the shape of an enormous rainbow-colored mushroom cloud.
The sheer force of the explosion nearly blew Twilight and the others away, and they were over a mile off from it. It was like they were each being slammed with their own personal hurricane. As the winds slowly died down, they saw a wave of rainbow energy coming across the floor and walls of the tower, transforming it back into the wondrous Canterlot Castle.
Pinkie was the first to voice what they were all thinking. "She did it!" she screamed gleefully. "She beat that bully! I knew she could do it!"
"Ah reckon we should go see if she's okay," Applejack suggested, ever the voice of wisdom and common sense.
Twilight nodded. "Let's go!" she said as she galloped off with her friends following close behind.
-o-
She groaned almost inaudibly as she stood up from the ground. She had trouble remembering what had just happened, but it felt awesome. She looked down at herself, and saw that her coat had become its usual sky blue color once again. Her mane and tail had also returned to normal. She released a sigh of both relief and disappointment. She was hoping that that transformation would last at least a little bit longer. Not forever, but just a little longer.
Rainbow Dash looked around at her surroundings, found herself within a massive crater. Had she caused this while in that super-powerful form? It was certainly possible, she assumed, considering she felt way stronger than even Celestia herself. It was simply amazing. Beyond amazing even. She doubted she could ever find the words to describe it.
She heard the sound of someone waking up, and turned to see Discord picking himself up off the ground. She grinned at this. She had never been so glad to see the spirit of chaos before. His appearance could only mean that she had beaten Monochrome. "Discord!" she called out, getting the draconequus's attention.
Somewhat tiredly, Discord replied, "Hello, Rainbow Dash. Seeing as how I'm back, I can only assume that you and the others won, correct?" Rainbow nodded, to which Discord practically danced. "Woo! I knew you could do it! Now, uh, where are the others?" Before Rainbow could reply, a pink and yellow streak crashed into Discord, sending him rolling across the ground, Fluttershy gripping his neck tightly.
"Oh, Discord, I was so worried about you!" she said with tears of joy pouring from her eyes. "I thought we'd lost you! Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Fluttershy," Discord responded, teleporting out of the yellow mare's grip and standing next to her as the remainder of the Mane 6 arrived on the scene. "In fact, I feel better than ever! Whatever you all did must've worked wonders!"
Twilight shook her head and faced Rainbow Dash. "It was just Rainbow here who saved the day," she said with a proud grin. "Her Loyalty won out against Monochrome's Treachery."
To this, Rainbow chuckled and said, "I actually have to disagree with that. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't think I could've won. Your loyalty to me is what really kept me going."
"That is a great lesson learned, Rainbow Dash," called the voice of Celestia. All eyes fell on the new arrival, who was now back in prime shape, and accompanied by Shining Armor, Cadance, Spike, and the now-awake Luna. "You have all done well, my little ponies. You have once again saved all of Equestria from grave danger."
"Way to go, Twily," Shining Armor said proudly as he rubbed his hoof on his little sister's mane. "You just keep doing your big bro proud nonstop!"
"Thanks, but…" Twilight stopped herself. She was going to say that it was all Rainbow Dash, but then she remembered what her close friend had said. "It was all of us. Rainbow Dash is the one who fought Monochrome, but-"
"I couldn't have without my friends backing me up!" Rainbow interrupted. "Monochrome was tough, but with all my friends cheering me on, it was a walk in the-!" That's when she heard it. She could hear the sound of somepony crying. She stopped and looked over in the direction that she heard it coming from. "Does anyone else hear that?" she asked.
"Of course we can," Rarity whispered back. Everypony moved in towards a large boulder that had apparently fallen into the crater upon the pit's creation, Rainbow Dash leading the way.
The rainbow-haired pegasus peeked behind the boulder to find the source of the crying. Her eyes widened at the sight. Before her, lying on the ground covered in dirt and little scratches, was a little filly. She was so young that she didn't even have her cutie mark. Her coat was a dull shade of blue, and her mane and tail were messy and gray. Rainbow Dash felt as though she immediately knew who this timid filly was.
"Monochrome?"
The filly perked up at the name and looked at Rainbow. The little foal's tear-filled eyes went wide with fear, and she ducked her head beneath her forelegs. As the others approached, Rainbow suddenly raised her hoof, telling them to stop. They obliged, albeit confusedly.
Rainbow slowly came closer to the filly, who was still crying and trying to hide herself to no avail. Rainbow reached out to touch her, but the young Monochrome simply shrieked quietly and scooted away. The rainbow-haired mare was somewhat taken aback by this, confused by the filly's reaction, until the gray-haired foal said, "Please don't hurt me… go away… go away…"
At first, Rainbow Dash was only further confused by this, but soon, a thought crossed her mind. She remembered that look that Monochrome had on her face as they were streaking towards the ground at those body-numbing speeds: a look of pure fear. She understood now. "I think I get it," she said to the filly, who slightly raised one foreleg to look at her counterpart. "I think I know why you betrayed everypony who called you an ally. You're afraid. You're scared of others abandoning you, so you abandon them first, to keep yourself from being hurt."
The filly looked away again, shame evident in the one eye that she allowed to be seen. She said nothing in response. Rainbow sighed and sat down next to Monochrome, who didn't move this time. "You don't have any friends, right?" Rainbow asked, earning a curious look from the gray-haired filly. "You don't know what it's like to have someone you can count on, do you?" Again, Monochrome simply looked away, feeling ashamed. This didn't go unnoticed by Rainbow, who gave a warm smile to the filly. She wrapped her wing around the foal comfortingly and pulled her a little bit closer. "Well, how about I be your first true friend?"
To this, Monochrome looked up, raiding her head past her forelegs and staring at Rainbow Dash in confusion. "Y-you want to be… my friend?" she asked, shock evident in her eyes. Rainbow said nothing. She simply smiled down at the younger version of herself. "B-but… why? Why would you want to be my friend after all the terrible things I did?"
Rainbow chuckled. "Who knows?" she said with her trademark cocky grin. "I'm kind of hard to predict. Heck, sometimes I don't even know what I'm gonna do next!" She gave the filly a comforting look. "If you let me become your friend, I promise that I'll never hurt you. I never leave my friends hangin'."
The filly looked down, suddenly taking an interest in the ground. Could this really be happening? Could somepony really want to be her friend after what she had done? Was this real? She looked back to Rainbow Dash, who was still giving her a warm, almost sisterly smile. She thought about this for several moments before she pushed herself up into Rainbow's side. "Do you really promise not to hurt me?" she asked. Rainbow nodded. Monochrome let a small, hopeful smile appear on her face. "Okay…"
With that, Rainbow let out a whistle, signaling that the others could come around the boulder now. When they arrived, all eyes went wide at what they saw. "Dashie…" Pinkie said. Even she didn't know what to say. "You… is that… Monochrome?" Rainbow nodded.
"But… how did she…?" Twilight asked, completely dumbfounded by the sight before her.
"It must've been the Elements of Harmony that did this," Discord theorized. "They must've forced out all the chaotic energies within her, even what was unique to her. And the result was her turning into a filly."
"That makes sense," Celestia agreed. "The Elements have many unique powers that transcend any of our understanding. Perhaps this was what was intended by the Elements. They always seem to give everypony a chance at redemption, no matter what."
"But this is the Aspect of Treachery we're talkin' about here!" Applejack pointed out. "How do we know we can even come close to trustin' her?"
"She's just scared," Rainbow Dash said in her double's defense. "She was putting on a mask. She was only arrogant because she didn't want anypony to know that she could be so easily hurt. She just needs a friend." She brushed the filly's mane with her nose, drawing a slight ticklish giggle from the foal. "We could at least give her a chance, right? I mean, we did the same for Princess Luna and Discord, didn't we?"
Celestia looked to her sister and the draconequus. She closed her eyes in thought. It was true, both of them had been given a second chance. She soon reached a decision. She approached Rainbow Dash, her eyes on Monochrome, who gave one look at the Princess of the Sun and backed away slightly. "Monochrome," the white alicorn said with compassionate authority. "Do you truly wish for a second chance? Are you willing to give up your evil ways and use your talents for good?"
Monochrome was silent for several moments. She looked up at Rainbow Dash, who nodded quietly. Monochrome returned her attention to Celestia and said, "Yes. I'll be good… Can I ask for something please?"
"What is it that you wish, little filly?" Celestia inquired, genuinely curious.
"I want to stay with Rainbow Dash from now on," the gray-haired filly replied. "Would that be okay?"
Celestia looked over at Rainbow, who said, "I think that'd be cool. Just make sure you don't break anything in my house, okay?" Monochrome nodded in reply to Rainbow's request.
Everypony, dragon, and draconequus looked at the scene with warm smiles and hopeful eyes. Pinkie Pie cried out rivers of joyful tears, wiping her eyes with a hanky that she pulled out of nowhere, before suddenly stopping and saying, "You know what? I think it's time for a party! Come on everypony! Let's go celebrate!" She dashed off, leading the others out of the crater and toward Canterlot.
Rainbow looked down at Monochrome and said, "Well? You wanna go party with us? Pinkie throws amazing parties."
Monochrome nodded quietly as Rainbow Dash laid down and motioned for the little one to climb up onto her back. Monochrome did so, and Rainbow trotted off after her friends. Monochrome honestly had no idea what to make of this change of events. First, she and Rainbow Dash were fighting to the finish, and now, they were friends.
Friends, she thought as Rainbow's movements rocked her to sleep. It sounds… nice… She fell asleep then. Treachery had surrendered to Loyalty. But she didn't care. She had a friend now.
-o-
Rainbow Dash yawned as she sat up in her bed to the sound of her ringing alarm clock. It was early in the morning, which was the only thing she hated about her job as Ponyville's weather manager. She looked over to the other bed in the room, where Monochrome still slept peacefully. It had been about two months since the Aspects of Chaos were defeated, and the little filly who had once been one of the greatest threats to Equestria ever seen was now adapting to life as a regular pony. Rainbow always had to admit to herself that her young doppelganger was rather adorable while she was asleep.
Getting the foal integrated into Ponyville was pretty easy, despite the raging suspicion of Scootaloo, who immediately thought that Monochrome was going to be her replacement. Rainbow eased Scootaloo's troubles by saying that Monochrome was just a relative from Cloudsdale who would be staying with her from now on. That seemed to calm the orange pegasus a little, but still seemed a bit reluctant to consider the filly a potential friend.
Rainbow quickly got ready for the day, left a note for Monochrome saying that she left for work, and then left her cloud house to start getting some rainclouds together.
As she worked, she thought back to how Monochrome had essentially become her little sister. It was kind of funny in hindsight. They went from bitter enemies to good friends in a matter of minutes. Life was funny like that, she assumed.
While she worked, she starting thinking about helping Monochrome to get her cutie mark. Since they were essentially the same pony, it was likely that they had the same talent. Who knows? Maybe Monochrome will someday prove to be a great rival for her to compete with. And an even better friend to hang out with.
Life was looking up.
Author's Note
And that's it. I realize this story has A TON of flaws, but, hey, it was one of my earliest goes at fanfiction. Cut a guy some slack.