The Elements of Disharmony

Twilight rushed to her house to collect some things needed for her journey, such as a saddlebag packed with a few quills and scrolls in case she needed to take notes on how to return back home - if there is a way - as well as the Elements of Harmony. With how crazy this world looks, there'd be a fat chance she'd be able to find them, but she had to try.

She quickly trotted into her bedroom and looked around for the Elements, but instead she found her "faithful assistant" cleaning.

"Spike?" she gasped, recognizing him immediately despite the gray scales. "You're gray, too!"

Spike turned around and yelped, throwing aside his cleaning utensils, then zipped up to her and bowed before her, cowering at her hooves. "P-P-Princess Twilight Sorrow! I-I'm really sorry I didn't get around to finishing cleaning your room! I was barely given enough time - b-but it wasn't your fault at all, it was mine! Just please have mercy on me!"

Twilight backed away, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped. He was begging for the mercy of one of his best friends for not finishing cleaning her room? Furthermore, why did he call her Princess Twilight Sorrow?

"Spike, it's okay," the alicorn tried to reason with the scared dragon.

"No, it's not! I was just about finished, but that's no excuse for my slowness, even though I worked as hard and fast as I could, but it just wasn't good enough! Please, Your Majesty, I'm so sorry! Please continue to feed me and don't lock me in the dungeon!"

"Wh-What?" Twilight gasped. She couldn't believe her ears. Did Spike really think she was going to do such awful things to him? Unless... since she was being referred to as Princess Twilight Sorrow...

"Oh, that can wait for later!" Twilight grunted at herself. When she saw the dragon flinch before her she immediately regretted her outburst. "N-Not to you. J-Just keep working. I... think I can give you a break this time around or something..."

"Really? Oh, bless your heart and soul, Your Majesty!" Spike cried, tears of pure gratitude falling down his cheeks.

Just the sight of her "faithful assistant" crying broke her heart to pieces, but she had to shake it away. She had to find the Elements of Harmony and report to Canterlot immediately. "But before you go, do you know where the Elements of Harmony are?"

"P-Pardon me, P-Princess..." Spike whimpered, trembling again, afraid of speaking up against her even though she just finished giving him mercy. "B-But don't you m-mean the Elements of Disharmony?"

"Elements of Disharmony?" the alicorn echoed in shock. This world was all kinds of twisted around! First 'Applejack' lied to her, then the castle, then Spike, and now the Elements of Harmony became the Elements of Disharmony!

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty. Yours is in the library. The others are with their respectful owners."

"How come they're separated?"

"Don't you remember how the Elements of Disharmony work? They give off the most power when separated as opposed to using them together."

The Elements of Harmony could only work if she and her friends all had them and used them together, Twilight recalled. So it makes sense that the Elements of Disharmony work best when separated.

"Um, I don't think I'll need it in that case," Twilight stammered. "I'm going off to Canterlot. I'll be back shortly."

"Okay. I'll get back to work!" And with that, Spike picked up his cleaning utensils and went right back to quickly cleaning the room.

Sighing, Twilight walked out of the castle, then trotted to the Ponyville train station. She approached the conductor, All Aboard, and panted slightly from the jog before speaking. "When's the next train to Canterlot?"

"Don't you remember?" the stallion replied, giving her a sour look. "Trains are forbidden to be run on even days of odd months."

"What the hay kind of rule is that?" the alicorn exclaimed.

"I'm not the one who came up with it. You want to get to Canterlot? Get yourself there." And with that, the conductor pony walked away.

Growling in frustration, Twilight took to the air and head towards Canterlot.

Once Twilight finally arrived in the capital city of Equestria, she immediately realized that the city itself looked incredibly dim and destroyed for the most part. Worrying for her former teacher, she kicked it into overdrive and flew towards the Princess' castle.

She landed at the doors and looked around, finding that not a single Royal Guard was in sight, not even her brother Shining Armor. She folded her ears back in worry before pushing the double doors open and walking slowly into the destroyed castle.

"P-Princess Celestia?" Twilight called out nervously, weaving her way through rubble laying on the large rug leading to a staircase. "Princess Celestia? It's me, Twilight! I need to speak to you!"

The alicorn stopped walking when she heard the faint sound of hooves clacking against the cold floor. It slowly got louder and louder until finally she saw a large gray alicorn walk into view. She had a large gray mane of four different shades, and it wasn't flowing. Her crown, shoes, and crest were also gone.

"P-Princess?" Twilight whimpered, her heart breaking at the sight of her former teacher.

Celestia turned her head to the youngest princess and immediately glared at her with cold hostility. "Twilight Sorrow. What are you doing here?"

"I... I came from Ponyville to talk to you about something..."

"What is there to talk about? I disowned you as a fellow princess long ago. You are nothing to me now."

Twilight's heart shattered into millions of pieces at these words, and she immediately began to tear up. Sniffling, she tried to push her sadness aside; she had to find a way back home. "I-I'm not Twilight Sorrow. I'm Twilight Sparkle. I think I accidentally cast a spell sending me from my home dimension into this one."

The alicorn flinched when Celestia let out a loud, harsh laugh. "Who are you, Liarjack? That is absolutely impossible! The only one who can cast a spell like that is Lord Discord!"

"Lord Discord?" Twilight echoed in disbelief. Now she understood completely. This was a dimension where her counterpart and her friends never managed to defeat Discord, and now he was the ruler of Equestria in a world of chaos!

"You know, the villain you and your ex-friends weren't able to defeat because you were too vulnerable to his corruption spells?" the former princess hissed nastily. "You do realize that the fall of Equestria is all your fault, right? I put faith into you. The faith of Equestria rest on your shoulders mainly since you were the bearer of the most powerful of the Elements of Harmony. But you failed us all. Luna, Cadence, and I were stripped from our titles as princesses and were forced to live a normal life just like the rest of you, and it's not fun, I'll tell you that!"

"B-But I didn't fail you or Equestria!" Twilight argued, panic washing over her. "It was Twilight Sorrow! I'm Twilight Sparkle!"

"Any form of Twilight means nothing to me..." Celestia growled lowly. And with that, she walked away, not even blinking when the youngest princess tried calling out for her again.

"Oh, no..." Twilight whimpered, sitting down in the center of the room and hanging her head in defeat, tears falling down her cheeks. "How am I ever going to get home now?"