“Well, we’re here.”

The castle stood before them as an imposing figure rather than welcoming, the walls reconstructed into a solid fortress rather than the debris it was preserved as before. The reformed were seen marching around the area, their eyes blank and emotionless as they trained themselves as the next wave towards Ponyville.

“So that was where their home base was all along…” Twilight muttered. It was a perfect location. Concealed, a secret that only few ponies knew. How did Starlight manage to find this place?

“How are we even going to get inside that place? It’s surrounded by guards!” Applejack protested.

“We could just…I dunno, bust in?” Rainbow suggested.

“Rainbow Dash, that’s highly risky! We don’t even know if we can go in, nevertheless capture Starlight!” Rarity said, shocked.

“Actually Rarity…I think that we need to follow what Rainbow just said.” Fluttershy whispered, pointing at the roof of the castle.

They gasped. A giant machine was on top of the building, with electrical sparks bursting from the tip, a contraption that was clearly fully powered by a light blue aura.

“Starlight…that little…” Twilight growled.

“You know what that is?” Applejack

“It’s a magic amplification device…used to transmit a single spell throughout a certain radius…and judging by the size of that transmitter…” She gasped.

“She’s trying to release her equalization spell throughout the region! If she manages to do that, we’ll all fall to her whim!”

“Well, it’s now or never.” Rainbow Dash said while cracking her knuckles. “Ready to kick some plot Twilight? Um…Twilight?”

“I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, STARLIGHT GLIMMER!!!”

She was already charging towards the entrance, which locked as the tower guards sounded the alarm.

“Yeah…we should go assist her now.” Rarity said anxiously, watching the door explode, the hinges flying off in random directions.

They rushed into the castle pathway, only to be blocked by another wave of equalists. Twilight was already way out of sight.

“Or…we could hold them off from…gulp…hurting us.” Fluttershy managed to squeak.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy. We’ll go through this…” They formed a circle around each other, securing themselves from the unexpected.

“Together.”

One by one the reformed fell before her. Unconscious, stunned, frozen. It didn’t matter anymore. As long as they weren’t dead. There was no time for compassion.

As Twilight galloped through the hallway, portraits of equal signs surrounded her on both besides, seemingly mocking her loss. She had to get to Starlight before she activated the machine.

“She’s getting into the throne room!”

“Lock the gates!”

“Protect our leader at any cost!”

“Stop this right now, Twilight…Join us…”

Their devotion was astonishing. Neither one of them had shown the struggle to break free from the spell as they had in that town. Starlight’s magic had improved. Brushing her parents aside, she used her magic to seal the door, locking all of them out.

“WHERE ARE YOU STARLIGHT! SHOW YOURSELF!” She screamed, over the constant banging of the reinforced door.

“………………….I’m right here…Twilight.”

She stood in the middle of the two thrones, her eyes lazy as she regarded her opponent with no care.

“You…you…YOU!”

Twilight rushed towards the enemy, only to be suddenly blasted and constrained by two magical blasts beside Starlight. Luna and Celestia came next out of the shadows, their eyes blank as they focused their magic, securing her to the ground.

“Luna…Celestia…you…you witching…”

Starlight gave out a cruel chuckle, seeing Twilight continuously try to break the spell of the original two alicorns. Useless.

“What’s the matter, Twilight? No witty comeback, no explanation to give? No solution through your so-called friendship?”

“Grr…”

“Where are your friends, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Shut up! You know that they’re outside fighting your soldiers!”

“Oh…not that. I mean…all six of them.” She cackled.

“You…how dare you do such a deed and feel proud about it!”

“Kill one of your best friends? Oh, it wasn’t that hard. Who was it again? Oh, wait a second, I know! Pinkie, wasn’t it?”

“…………..”

“Too mad to speak? Good. Then I’ll provide the narration.”

She signaled, and a group of ponies came out from another door, carrying a film projector. As the wall behind her began to light up, she smiled as Twilight fell silent, shaken with anger.

“Ever wonder just how your friend Pinkie Pie…died? All you got was the news of this tragic event. Well, it’s quite simple really.”

She signaled again, and the ponies willingly pushed in a map. It was clear that the tyrant was enjoying every single minute of this as she continued her lecture.

“Ever since you banished me from my beloved town. I searched and searched for a way to defeat you. How could you, a common princess, defeat my magic with this so-called…friendship?”

“……….”

“I quickly…reformed another town. Yet I still had a deep feeling of revenge. You were nothing, yet you won. It drove me quite mad…until, that is, I decided to have my revenge. I set up spies in Canterlot who slowly took over and convinced all of the townsfolk to my ways secretly, then it was all just a matter of sending my troops towards Ponyville, your...other home.”

She whistled, and three of the reformed stepped forward, standing in the spotlight. One pegasus, one unicorn, one earth pony. Compared to the others, they looked much more powerful, with their buffed wings, hooves, and horn.

“You see, I believe that every-pony should be equal in my…leadership. So why not train every single pony until they are at the peak of their potential? The optimum flying speed, the optimum magical power, the optimum strength. These three are the first “perfect” beings. And soon, when this amplification device fires and covers the whole region of Equestria. I will have every-pony in my control…and once they are all perfected…I will take the world into the beauty that is equality!” She laughed.

“You’re crazy!” Twilight spat.

“Am I? I am really?” Starlight trotted over to Twilight and slapped her twice in the face. “If I really was insane…would I have taken so many precautions? That’s the reason I captured your precious friend Pinkie Pie…Twilight. Roll the clip, colts.” She commanded.

The screen came into life, showing Starlight standing over several ponies, all with surgical outfits in some sort of hospital.

“The…the Canterlot hospital!” Twilight gasped.

“I captured your friend when I found her walking around the place, blabbering about solving some sort of friendship problem. All I needed was one of my loyal comrades to fake a request. Such naivety.” She mocked.

The camera turned, showing Pinkie strapped onto a metal bed vertically. Her head was dipped down, sobbing.

“I’ll began by how I peeled back the layers of her tiny mind.”

The camera turned again, focusing on a batch of vastly coloured chemicals in different bottles and beakers before turning back onto a image of Pinkie struggling to break the chains free.

“Oh, she bravely tried to fight it at first. You would have been so proud to see her so strong.” Starlight said happily.

A handle went down, and syringes came down on her, along with a massive bolt of electricity. Twilight mouth fell open, her anger gone with the sheer shock of the cruelty she was witnessing.

“No…” She murmured.

“But all too soon the serums and the shocks took their toll…and the dear pony started to spill out such fascinating secrets and facts about your friends…The Elements of Harmony…Rainbow Power…the tree…how they wouldn't function if one of the members was missing...Twily.” She giggled, seeing the extra shock on Twilight’s face.

“Oh its true! Don’t deny it! I know everything…and kind of like the foal that needed a babysitter even when she had parents…it’s sadly anticlimactic. Behind all the power and friendship policies you followed, you’re just a fake of a princess crying to be noticed by these two idiots.” She motioned to Celestia and Luna, grimacing.

“Shut up…” Twilight was barely audible from the repeated screams of Pinkie, forcing the sound into her mind.

“It would be quite funny if it wasn’t so pathetic…Just like your dear friend, who died of overdose from those helpful chemicals.”

Her serious expression broke as she saw the sheer rage of the helpless.

“Oh what the heck, I’ll laugh anyway. Dark humor is always the best mechine…Hehheheh…HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAAA…”

“SHUT UP!”

The chains broke from the magical surge that Twilight gave out from the excess emotions that came out all in one burst. Celestia and Luna as well as the other equalists went flying onto the wall as the video projector exploded from the blast.

“If you don’t like the movie, I got slides!” Starlight mocked, then rushed into the depths of the room behind her, with Twilight following in blind pursuit.

“COME BACK HERE!” Twilight roared, firing intense rounds of spells at Starlight, which the former either avoided or blocked with her own magic. Grinning, she went behind a room and locked the door.

“ERAUH!” She yelled, blasting the door open, revealing Starlight positioned with a giant laser cannon, pointing directly at Twilight as it charged, glowing with a dark red flame.

“End of the line, princess.”

Without thinking, Twilight formed a pink shield of magic around her as the laser fired, causing the beam to deflect and turn back towards the machine, causing it to explode.

Starlight flew and landed hard on the other side of the room heavily from the blast, coughing blood.

“How…that blast was magically amplified!” She exclaimed.

“You underestimated what I can do when I’m angry…you are going to pay for your crimes…” Twilight growled as she stepped in closer.

“My work isn’t a crime! They just couldn’t see the beauty…no imagination at all!” Starlight suddenly retorted.

“What the hell are you on about…”

“This is all their fault!” She screamed, tearing apart the papers that flew beside her. “Starlight’s not following the rules, they said! Starlight’s not using the school’s methods, they said! Now who’s laughing now! Now they’re going to burn for it…BURN!” She cackled.

“You’re nothing but a mad dog at this point.” Twilight scoffed.

“Oooh, a threat from the mighty Twinkle Sparkly all-powerful princess! But this old dog still bites.” Her horn glowed, and the amplification device turned on, awaiting the command.

“There are at least 8 different ways I could stop you right now.” Twilight pressured, knowing the danger of the machine’s activation.

“But they all involve using deadly force, don’t they? Ah yes, I made note of all the different spells you fired against me when you were all mad and cranky. Stunning, Paralyzing, Freezing…it would have been simple to cause me to explode or burn. But you don’t do that, don’t you? No…you wouldn’t.”

“……………………”

“You need me. You wouldn’t be so much of a hero if it weren’t for a worthy villain. You love playing that role, don’t you? The cheering foals, the swooning crowds…although you might pretend to act naïve and unsupportive of their worshipping…deep down you love it so much that it has made you my most valuable asset.”

“Asset?” Twilight inquired, perplexed. “What do you…”

“You could have crushed me anytime you have wanted just now, yet you still stand here gaping stupidly, searching for a reason behind my despicable actions. It wasn’t your beloved friendship policies or your morale that stopped you from preventing this dilemma…it was your ego. Being a hero was too important for you. You had to take home the prize every time like a good kiddy scout. You are as much responsible for this chaos as I am. You’ll eventually find a way to lock me up, put me on trial, and throw me down Tartarus…but I’ll escape and we’ll start the whole thing all over again…I wonder which friend will be killed next from my leadership?”

-Awaiting command for launch- The machine beeped. Breaking the silence that had overcome Twilight. She turned to Starlight with a strange expression on her face.

“I did love being a hero…but if this is where it leads…I’m done with it.” Her horn flashed a red aura, the tip pointing directly at Starlight head. “Goodbye.”

And just like that, it ended as quickly as it had begun.

Outside, the mane 6 were still fighting the equalists when all of them suddenly collapsed to the floor, their bodies shaking as the color and cutie mark returned to their rightful locations.

“The ponies…they’re back to normal! Twilight did it!”

They rushed into the throne room, and instantly reeled back in horror from the sight presented for them.

“Celestia no…”

Twilight stood before one of the broken castle windows…gazing silently at the forest as the machine and its owner sizzled.

“Twilight…are…are you okay?” Fluttershy said quietly, breaking the shock of the scene from the other members.

Twilight turned back towards Fluttershy, and showed the same strange expression in the confrontation, this time with a small, sinister smile.

“I’m great.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, I was caught up in a lot of different things in my life. Anyways, this concludes the story, which is actually going to serve as a prequel towards another one of a big story project that I'm also working now, where that story will be published after I finish Rainbow Dash's Revelation, since it's quite a giant one. I hope that I can continue to write good material, and thanks for reading this story! I put a lot of references and effort into this one, so enjoy!