A Better World

"Nrrgh! Why! Won't! You! Open?!" Rainbow grunted as she kicked at the blue barrier.

"Rainbow for the last time, would ya quit it already? You're giving me a headache!" Applejack grumbled.

Rainbow glared at Applejack. "Just because you've given up AJ, doesn't mean all of us have!"

"Ah haven't given up! But what you're doing ain't helpin neither."

"Hey Twi?! You figured a way out of here?" Rainbow asked.

"No." Twilight replied somberly.

"Don't you mean not yet?"

"I mean not going to." Twilight leaned against the walls of her cage, still thinking about the words of her counterpart.

"I will find a way out! Have faith everypony, for though I have no magic, my great and powerful mind will find a solution!" Trixie said boastfully. Her eyes were slightly droopy from lack of sleep, and it was clear even she knew she was lying at this point. Next to her, Iron Will snored loudly as he slept, somehow discrediting Trixie's boasting even more.

"Ugh Trixie would you shut up? Being captured is bad enough without listening to your self-absorbed nonsense!" Daring Do said, covering her ears with her forehooves.

Pinkie was huddled in the corner of her prison, looking very upset. Twilight knew she was unsure of herself when ponies around her started arguing.

"Now now everypony. We shouldn't argue amongst ourselves." Fluttershy said, in calming voice.

Trixie turned to Fluttershy. "And what've you done to help exactly? Got us captured!? At least our world's Fluttershy isn't a pushover like you!" Fluttershy looked shocked. Tears began to well in her eyes, as she backed up against the wall of her prison.

"Take that back right now!" Rainbow yelled, glaring daggers at Trixie.

"Make me!" Trixie taunted back.

Just as the argument seemed to reach a breaking point, Zecora cut in. She'd been silent for hours, calmly meditating despite all the noise. "Do not fight each other my friends, for we yet have a chance to make amends." The wooden door of the dungeon creaked open, and two identical mares trotted into the room.

"Starlight and... Starlight?" Twilight said with a mixture of confusion and relief. The two mares looked exactly identical except for their manestyles. A-Starlight levitated several jars containing each of their cutie marks while Starlight levitated a jeweled box that sparkled with several different colors.

Both Starlights focused their magic, blasting apart the shield generators that created the cages. Simultaneously, the jars shattered, sending the cutie marks they contained flying back to their owners. Twilight instantly felt her magic return, making her whole once again.

"Starlight!" Pinkie yelled happily, tackling her in hug. Twilight and her friends each hugged Starlight in turn, overjoyed at seeing their friend again. After they'd finished, Twilight notices A-Starlight standing off to the side, looking a little uncomfortable.

Starlight walked over to her counterpart and put a reassuring hoof on her back. "Twilight, this is, well, Starlight. She's on our side now."

A-Starlight trotted in front of Twilight and bowed her head. "I'm sorry I did this to you. The Princesses tricked me into believing that nopony really cared about friendship, but I guess having one pony, even myself, believe in me... shattered that notion."

Twilight smiled at her and lifted her head with a hoof. "I know friendship in the past has been hard for you, but if our Starlight found her way, I'm sure you can as well."

"What if she's lying?! She could be a spy or something! How can we trust her?!" Trixie said, glaring at A-Starlight. Starlight's counterpart nervously looked around, as if expecting everypony to turn on her.

"Because she's our friend." Twilight said, staring back at Trixie with equal intensity. There was a tense moment of silence, until finally Trixie relented.

"Fine! But I have my eye on you! Both of you!" She pointed at both Starlights. A-Starlight smiled gratefully at Twilight, while Starlight looked away sadly, maybe just now realizing how different this Trixie was from the one she knew back home. In this world, Trixie was still an unpleasant, boastful jerk... okay in both worlds, but more so in this world.

CLICK! Twilight turned her head, and saw Rarity inspecting the beautiful jeweled case. She'd managed to open it, revealing the six, glittering Elements of Harmony inside.

"We thought you might need those." Starlight said with a grin. "Breaking the security around the Elements wasn't easy, but with our combined magic, we managed it."

"They left the Elements here? Why?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because your world already has it's own set of Elements. Two sets in the same world would cause a magical imbalance that would annihilate your Equestria and ours." A-Starlight said as Twilight and her friends fastened the Elements on their necks.

"So how do we get out of here? Castle's probably crawling with guards, and I don't think we'll be able to fool em' this time." Daring said.

A-Starlight nodded. "There's a secret passage that leads to the gardens. We can get out undetected and-"

"HUH?!" Everypony turned, and saw Iron Will had just woken up. He looked around, utterly bewildered. "A-are we free? And why is there two of the same pony?!" The minotaur got up, shaking his head. "Maybe I've been taking too many work out supplements."

As the group made their way through the dark, underground passages, Starlight and Twilight lagged behind, catching each other up on the events of the past few days.

"So Discord was the one who realized that our counterparts were impersonating us?" Twilight asked.

"I had my suspicions, but Discord figured it out right away. He figured I was the only one who would believe him." Starlight replied.

"Well, he does have a knack for knowing things he shouldn't." Twilight sighed. She remembered her dream about Tirek, and Discord's words to her. Somehow, in his own way, Discord truly did care about them.

Twilight glanced at A-Starlight, who was talking animatedly with the rest of their friends as she led them through the caverns. Starlight saw where Twilight was looking, and chuckled slightly. "You know, I never thought the first pony I helped would be, well, me."

"How did you manage to convince her that the other Twilight was wrong?" Twilight asked curiously.

"I think deep down she already knew. She just needed somepony who was willing to understand her, like you did for me." Starlight said thoughtfully.

Twilight nodded. "Princess Celestia once said that sometimes, all it takes to lift us out of our darkest moments is a pony who's willing to bring us light."

"That's the difference between you and them." Starlight mused.

"What do you mean?"

"When your counterparts look at ponykind... all they see is darkness. But you and your friends, you're willing to strain your eyes to look for light in everyone, even when it's hard to find. I think that's why you were able to help me and so many other ponies find our better selves."

Twilight blushed a little bit. "That... that's very insightful Starlight. But helping ponies is just the right thing to do. We don't deserve any special credit for it."

Starlight waved away her modesty with a dismissive gesture. For a moment they were both silent, watching A-Starlight hoof bump with Pinkie, laughing over a shared joke.

"She looks... happy." Starlight said.

Twilight read her pupil's expression. She was looking back in time, back at the mare she used to be. Starlight was proud to see that mare embracing real friendship.

"You were never evil Starlight. I knew that even back at the village when I first met you. The way you clung to your philosophy, it was more than idealism... it was a crutch for past wounds."

Starlight smiled. "I- I think I finally understand that." Twilight knew her pupil had finally made peace with her past. It would always be an inseparable part of her, but at least now she knew that she wasn't the monster she made herself out to be. She wouldn't change overnight, she might get nervous and reflexively use magic as she was used to. But now she would be able to learn from those mistakes positively. Rather than blaming her moral character, she could focus her efforts on curbing her instinctive tendencies.

There was a loud creaking noise as Daring Do, Rainbow Dash and Iron Will muscled open a large iron trap door above them, leading into the Canterlot gardens. Twilight and Starlight walked in silence for a bit, looking at the various statues that decorated the garden. Twilight paused for a moment, looking at a statue that showed Alicorn Rainbow Dash in a heroic pose, with the inscription naming her captain of the Wonderbolts.

"You were right you know."

"About what?" Twilight asked, looking at Starlight.

"Friendship is magic. But magic, isn't friendship." Starlight said. Twilight grinned at her student proudly. In facing her counterpart, Starlight had learned the one friendship lesson Twilight could never teach her. It was one Starlight had to understand for herself.

"Magic may not be able to create friendship, but it can certainly inspire it." Twilight said, pointing ahead of them. A-Starlight and Trixie were talking animatedly about their various magical exploits over the years, sharing laughs over each other's mishaps and mistakes. Even though this Trixie wasn't quite as amiable as the one back home, she could never resist talking about her accomplishments to anypony who would listen. "I think your counterpart is going to be just fine after we go back home."

"If we can get back home." Starlight said. "Cadence and Shining armor probably have an army of guards protecting that mirror. I don't think you'll be able to sneak past them again."

"We're going to have to force our way to the mirror." Twilight said sadly. She didn't want to hurt Cadence and Shining, but there was no other way.

Starlight sighed. "That's going to be one hay of a fight."

"It will be, but I think I know somepony who might just be able to turn the tables in our favor." Twilight said.

"Who?"

Twilight pointed to a large statue of an Alicorn that wasn't one of their counterparts. She had long, flowing mane and a shocked, almost betrayed expression on her face. "Though I think she won't be very happy to see us."

Princess Celestia paced the royal balcony nervously, looking out at the twinkling night sky. She normally enjoyed Luna's work, but this night she was distracted by other matters. A sense of dread slowly built up within her as midnight drew nearer and nearer.

Luna placed a reassuring hoof on Celestia's shoulder. "It will be fine sister. I too have made mistakes in the past." Celestia winced, remembering just how badly that turned out.

"It's probably some kind of... misunderstanding." Cadence suggested hopefully.

Shining Armor nodded. "Whatever it is, we're here for Twilight. She needs to know that we still have faith in her to do the right thing."

"I fear that her trip to the other world may have affected her badly. That chaotic land she spoke of in her letter may have scared her more than she is willing to say." Celestia said worriedly. She did not say it, but her worries were even deeper than that. A magical maleffect could be cured easily... but what if Twilight's trip changed her inside? Perhaps she'd been given too much power too soon? Celestia couldn't help but feel history repeating itself as she thought back to Sunset Shimmer's fall. That wound had cut deep enough, but if Twilight... no... maybe Cadence was right. It could be a misunderstanding. She had to give her little ponies the benefit of the doubt.

Celestia heard Luna clear her throat. Before she could react, Twilight and her friends ran up to Celestia and hugged her tightly. "Princess..." Twilight said tearfully. "We-we're so happy to see you!"

Completely taken aback, Celestia hugged them in turn. Cautiously she asked, "Are you all alright?"

Twilight and the others let go, still bearing teary smiles. "We're alright... better than alright princess." Twilight replied.

"Indeed. We are most pleased to see you as well Twilight, though I wish it were under... better circumstances." Luna said hesitantly.

"What do you mean princess?" Fluttershy asked.

Rarity glanced at Cadence and her husband. "And why are Princess Cadence and Shining Armor here... not that we aren't happy to see you both of course." Rarity added quickly.

"I'm afraid I've called you here to discuss something... rather uncomfortable. We've been getting disturbing reports from Ponyville..."

"Disturbing reports?! If there's some villain on the lose near our home town, we'll find em' and smash them to pieces!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Luna and Cadence looked at each other worriedly.

"No, you see... the reports are about all of you." Celestia said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Us? But all we've been doing is making ponies happy!" Pinkie Pie said, looking confused.

"We've merely been doing what you told us to do princess... bringing friendship and Harmony to Ponyville. All we've done is make our methods more effective. Ponyville is more peaceful than ever!" Twilight said cheerfully.

"We understand your trip to the other world might've been... disorienting, but you can't force order like this! It just... isn't right!" Cadence pleaded.

"Twily this isn't like you, this isn't like any of you. We're here for you if there's something you need to tell us." Shining Armor added.

"There's nothing to tell. I think the results speak for themselves. Economic growth in Ponyville has increased 20 percent, safety by 60 percent, crime has dropped to 10 percent, and that's factoring in pre-crime-"

"Twilight." Celestia interrupted. "You took away a pony's ability to speak for an entire day..."

"Because he criticized you! He called your new tax laws incompetent!"

"The laws Luna and I make are to best serve the needs of everypony in Equestria. We try our best, but we know we can't make everypony happy. They have a right to criticize us if they so wish. Twilight... from what I gather... you have taken away free speech, choice and liberty in Ponyville. It's creating a climate of fear-"

"You want to talk about fear?! What if that pony who insulted you, starts a rebellion and destroys all semblance of Harmony in Equestria? What if- what if they stormed this very castle, and attacked you?" Twilight looked defiant, as tears formed in her eyes.

"All it takes is one spark to start a fire." Applejack said firmly.

"Enough!" Celestia yelled harshly. Instantly, Twilight and her friends stopped talking. "I didn't want to believe you had done these things Twilight, but it's clear that you've been abusing your power! If we cannot get past this, then I have no choice but to strip you of your title!"

Twilight looked down silently, small tears dropping from her eyes. Each droplet was like a hammer pounding against Celestia's heart. Maybe she had been too harsh... she couldn't stand seeing the filly she'd practically raised cry like this. What had she done?

"I'm sorry princess." Twilight said quietly.

Relief flooded into Celestia at those three words. "It's okay Twilight, we can put this past us and-"

"But I know now what I, what we have to do."

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked gently.

"You've always wanted to bring Harmony, Princess Celestia, but you never could... because you weren't willing to do what needs to be done. I understand now that to bring Harmony I have to sacrifice something greater than my morality... I have to sacrifice... you." The air around Twilight's friends shimmered as they dispelled their glamour.

Celestia heard Luna, Cadence and Shining Armor cry out in shock. She felt stone begin to encase her hooves as Twilight and her now alicorn friends' horns glowed intensely. Desperately, Celestia shot a stunning spell at the imposters. Twilight caught it on her horn, and gently cast it aside as if it were nothing.

"W-who are you?" Celestia asked fearfully as the stone encased her neck.

"We, are the solution."