A Better World

A-Twilight's POV

Twilight watched the last few glimmers of sunlight fade as she lowered the Sun, bringing on the darkness of night. She panted slightly from the strain, wiping away the beads of sweat running down her face as she leaned on the railing of the royal balcony for support. The night sky seemed blank and dull, with the few stars dotting the sky blinking halfheartedly, but soon the moon rose to take its place among them, adding a bright sheen to the void. The sound of hurried galloping behind her made Twilight turn around to see her five friends, their alicorn forms still concealed by the glamour.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, reading the concern on each of their faces.

Rainbow Dash panted. "It's Chrysalis."

"You found her?"

"No, but Spike got this a few minutes ago from Ponyville." Rarity replied worriedly levitating a small letter. Twilight grabbed it in her aura and brought it close enough to read. "She's threatening to destroy the Tree of Harmony and she's ponynapped Starlight Glimmer as revenge for her last defeat."

Twilight could feel her horn heating up as the anger building within her manifested into a dark aura of magic. "Then she's made the last mistake she'll ever make. I'll make short work of this."

"Maybe we should all go." Applejack suggested. There was a slight edge of worry to her voice that Twilight didn't like.

"I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself Applejack." Twilight said through gritted teeth, her horn flaring brighter.

Fluttershy put a hoof on Twilight shoulder. "We know you are Twilight, but we're your friends. If you're going, we're going."

Twilight put a hoof to her chest, inhaling and exhaling a few times. She smiled, hugging her friends close. "Alright, I'm patient."

Pinkie Pie cheered. "Yay! Just like old times, right girls?"

"Just like old times." Twilight agreed.

All the danger boasted by the Everfree Forest was no hindrance to them as Twilight and her friends made their way through the darkened woods. The sounds of crickets filled the air, accompanied by a few distant growls and the hooting of owls up in the thick branches.

"You know, this reminds me of when we went through forest all those years ago, back in our world." Fluttershy reminisced quietly.

Pinkie jumped up and down. "You mean waaaay back when we fought Nightmare Moon? Ooh that was super fun! But also super scary!" She shivered, glancing at the trees as if expecting them to scare her.

"Heh. Back then we were at the mercy of the forest, runnin' scared like a rat scurryin' from a rattlesnake. Now the forest seems more scared of us than the other way round." Applejack laughed as Twilight blasted away a timber wolf that was foolish enough to try and approach. There were several yelps as the rest of its pack fled for their lives.

"I like it much better that way I must say." Rarity agreed. "Though I suppose we wouldn't have become such close friends without braving all those dangers together." she added as an afterthought.

"I kinda miss fighting all those villains back in the old days." Rainbow sighed. "Now the most exciting thing we get to do is deal with a few protesters."

Twilight stomped her hoof angrily. "Was it exciting when Chrysalis-"

Rainbow raised her hooves up apologetically. "Woah sorry Twi, I wasn't thinking."

"I'm sure she didn't mean that Twilight." Fluttershy said soothingly.

Twilight muttered an apology for her outburst. "Don't worry about it Rainbow. Besides, now we've got an entire new world that needs us to bring Harmony. Tomorrow when we attack the changelings, you'll get plenty of excitement."

"First, we've gotta deal with their ex-queen." Applejack said, pointing down to the luminescent grove of the Tree of Harmony. The air around them shimmered as Twilight dropped the glamour around her friends, revealing their true alicorn forms.

As they flew down to the small cavern, Twilight caught her first glimpse of the Tree of Harmony. She remembered how she had encountered the tree in her own world many years ago, tracing the origin of mysterious black vines that held Equestria in a vice grip. It was soon after she had decided Luna was unfit to protect Equestria, as the princess was unwilling to take the necessary steps to bring true and permanent Harmony to Equestria. They had followed the vines back to the ancient Tree of Harmony, and Twilight could clearly see that the weakened tree was no longer able to keep evil in check. It was as if destiny was telling her that Equestria needed a more proactive keeper of Harmony, someone who could do what was needed to defeat evil forever.

They had poisoned the vines with a powerful toxin, killing them off within hours. The poison had mucked up the animals' habitat for a few weeks, much to Fluttershy's dismay, but they all agreed it was a far better alternative to giving up the Elements and putting all of Equestria in danger. It seemed that their counterparts hadn't been quite so creative. The five elements shone brightly, illuminating the white star in the middle that Twilight knew contained the spark, the element that guided all the others.

Sure enough, Chrysalis stood there waiting for them, her mouth twisted into a hateful snarl like a predator. Upon seeing them her eyes widened. "Alicorns? How did you-"

Twilight grabbed the changeling queen's neck with her magic, dragging her close. "Where's Starlight?!"

Strangely, Chrysalis smiled. "Not here, but I have some other friends who are absolutely glowing with excitement to see you." There was a purple flash, and in Chrysalis' place stood... Pinkie Pie? She grinned lopsidedly. "Sorry."

Twilight watched almost frozen in surprise as Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and her own counterpart shimmered into existence, the invisibility spell around them dispelled. They looked far different than the ponies she had imprisoned back in her own world. All six of them seemed to be permeated with magic as colors flared off of them brightly, illuminating their cutie marks a hundred times over across their bodies. Their manes were lit in brilliant multicolored waves and their wings featured dazzling hues of every color imaginable. Together they looked... unstoppable. As rainbow light arced towards her, Twilight felt a flicker of fear. Maybe their counterparts weren't as naive and helpless as she once thought. Maybe, she decided, they would need to be dealt with, once and for all. For the greater good of all Equestria.

Twilight's POV

As the rainbow arced toward their counterparts, Twilight saw the A-Mane 6's horns start glow brightly as multicolored light enveloped them. Another rainbow shot forth to meet the first one, creating a massive light show in the sky.

Their counterparts' rainbow possessed the same colors as their own, but they glowed much brighter, exhibiting a harsh, unrelenting light as if willing to burn everything in their path. By comparison the colors of their own rainbow seemed to have softer tones, lacking the same ferocity and willingness to utterly destroy. Despite her struggle to fight back the fiery light, Twilight saw that their counterpart's beam was slowly beating back their own.

"Split up!" Twilight yelled over the crackling magic. Her friends dove out of the way, breaking off their rainbow connection. The burning rainbow of their counterparts crashed into the ground, leaving a smoking crater of dead plants and liquidized rocks.

Before she could process what just happened, Twilight felt herself roughly shoved out of the way as a bolt of lightning zipped past her. She saw A-Rainbow hovering over them, her horn smoking as another bolt of lightning charged up. A burst of wind zipped past Twilight's face as Rainbow Dash knocked her counterpart aside, engaging her in mid-air in a blur.

To her right, Twilight heard a loud yell and turned to see Applejack struggling to hold back A-Applejack, the latter's sharp horn just inches from Applejack's throat. Unfortunately, Twilight had no time to help her friend as A-Twilight had recovered from her shock, shooting an immense beam of purple energy toward her. Instinctively a teleportation spell crackled off of Twilight's horn just before the blast hit her. She appeared in the air, using her wings to steady herself as another barrage of attacks barely missed her, vaporizing a nearby tree.

Using all the flying tricks Rainbow Dash had taught her, Twilight whirled and spun through the air to evade the assault. She caught sight of Fluttershy trying her best to stare down several animals that A-Fluttershy seemed to have hypnotized to serve her. They growled aggressively, but seemed hesitant to attack Fluttershy. It was, in the most literal sense, a battle of nature vs nurture.

Changing tactics, Twilight cast transfiguration spells, stunning spells, nature spells even minor wounding spells, trying to stymie her opponent's aggressive magic. Yet for every spell Twilight cast, A-Twilight seemed to already have the counter-spell ready. It was, in the literal sense, like fighting herself. A-Twilight seemed to know what Twilight would do before she did it, responding with disproportionate force.

The destructive magic forced Twilight on the defensive, breaking shield after shield as she struggled to keep up. If this kept going the same way, A-Twilight's beams would continue hammering away at Twilight's defenses until she was helpless.

"This isn't about Princess Celestia anymore! This is about you!" Twilight grunted, trying to hold her shield together as another blast drilled into it. "You've become a worse villain than Chrysalis ever was!"

A-Twilight narrowed her eyes as her purple pupils seemed to flash in anger. "I perfected my world! So many lives ruined because I held back, because you held back! When we should've used all our power!"

"For what? To terrorize? To kill?"

"If I have to become the villain to bring Harmony... SO BE IT!"

Twilight teleported again, this time on top of her counterpart, ready to slam her to the ground. But again A-Twilight seemed ready, easily dodging the blast and letting out an immense pulse of power, knocking Twilight roughly into the cavern wall. Fighting to clear the spots in her eyes, Twilight briefly saw Rarity fighting A-Rarity nearby.

It seemed their counterparts weren't pulling any punches. A-Rarity swooped through the air, hurling sharp diamond spikes with deadly points that gleamed in the light of the tree. Rarity repelled most of them with her telekinesis, though one managed to painfully graze her flank, distorting her treasured diamond cutie mark.

"Oh that's it! No more miss nice Rarity!" Her horn glowed with her soft blue aura and several dresses appeared in front of her, pelting themselves at A-Rarity. "Take that you uncouth villain who... also happens to be me..." Rarity tapered off as she registered the weirdness of the situation.

There was an orange glow and a sizzling sound, and soon A-Rarity was surrounded by dozens of half melted dresses. "I can't believe I used to be that soft." she sighed, shaking her head.

Rarity gasped. "How could you!? I never expected you... me... to destroy such carefully crafted- " A-Rarity didn't respond, lighting her horn again with a fiery blue aura. Rarity stumbled as diamonds began to grow from the ground with jagged edges. Desperately, Rarity began channeling her diamond spell, trying to predict where the cursed gems would appear and dodge their deadly points. "I'm ashamed to think I could ever become you! This isn't generosity... this, this is horrible!"

"Generosity?" A-Rarity snarled. "All ponies have ever done is take from us, from anyone they can! Why. Not. Force them. To... give something.... back!?" A-Rarity grunted as she struggled to keep her spell going, using her wings to maintain air superiority.

"Because, I've seen for myself that being generous can inspire others to do the same!" Rarity argued, leaping out of the way as a giant diamond collapsed where she had just been. "Without force!"

"Then you're too deluded to see the truth."

As the pain in her head subsided, Twilight saw A-Twilight turn her attention toward Rainbow Dash, who was fighting to dodge dozens of lethal lightning bolts as storm clouds swirled around A-Rainbow in a fury. Black energy began charging up on A-Twilight's horn, a spell Twilight knew, would kill her friend instantly.

"NO! I won't lose her again!" Twilight yelled angrily, shooting into the sky as streaks of purple and pink sparked off of her empowered form. She tackled A-Twilight, forcing her to lose concentration on the killing spell. A-Twilight threw her aside, letting out a massive burst of power.

Rage flooded through Twilight like a broken dam spilling out all the water it had held back for years. She wouldn't let this... this shadow of her take her friends! Twilight felt her full power rising within her, made even stronger by the magic of her empowered form. A gigantic stream of purple energy escaped her horn, meeting A-Twilight's blast in mid air. Light flashed in Twilight's eyes, forcing her to avert her gaze as an intense heat flung her to the other side of the cave.

There was a loud CRACK that seemed to echo throughout world itself. Blinding white light streamed into the cavern as if the sun had descended to the surface. It slowly faded away, allowing Twilight to see the source. The Tree of Harmony had a slight crack in its crystal bark, right over the star that contained the Element of Magic. A hint of the glittering purple stone underneath showed through the gash. The spark... the element that guided all the other elements, gave them meaning, either good... or evil.

Twilight heard a loud crackling behind her just before a purple hoof struck her in the face. Her horn fizzled, its magic thrown in disarray by such a direct blow. A dark purple aura surrounded Twilight, pulling her face to face with A-Twilight's gaze. A-Twilight just stared in her face, her horn glowing a sinister smoky black. Yet Twilight could see a slight hesitation in her counterpart's eyes as they bore into her, deciding whether to topple into the deepest level of the abyss.

"Y-you can't do it, can you? I'm the last piece of your past, the last reminder of who you used to be."

"Who I used to be wasn't good enough to protect Equestria. I've sacrificed my morality, my mentor... but this, this is the ultimate sacrifice isn't it? The final test to pass. I have to sacrifice my past."

There was something beyond anger on A-Twilight's face, something even more frightening. Apathy. Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow to come.

"Stop!"

Twilight and A-Twilight turned to see Starlight Glimmer encompassed in her own shimmering aura as she floated down towards them.

"Starlight." Twilight breathed in relief.

A-Twilight tossed her aside, looking up at Starlight contemplatively. "You're the whole reason I came to this battle. To save you from Chrysalis."

"I know. And now I'm here to save Equestria from you."

"Save it from us? We want to create a perfect world, just like you once did with your village."

Starlight shook her head. "That may have worked on my counterpart, but it won't on me. I've learned the meaning of true friendship... and real friendship isn't perfect. That's what makes it worth having."

"It doesn't matter what you think. You aren't powerful enough to stop us anyway." A-Twilight scoffed.

"You're right, I'm not powerful enough. But this is." Starlight levitated a small triangular necklace, crafted in bold red and black colors.

"The Alicorn Amulet..." Twilight muttered, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "Starlight wait! You said you had a spell to-"

Starlight shrugged, smiling sadly as she fastened the amulet's clasp to her neck. "Since when have I been the most honest pony? This is the only way... I'm sorry Twilight."

Twilight tried to channel her magic desperately trying to cast a spell, any spell that would stop this. But her horn was still lame, merely sparking uselessly. The amulet shone with an intense red light, casting a sinister gleam in Starlight's eyes. "No..." Twilight whispered, "I'm not ready to sacrifice a friend."

"Enough of this!" A-Twilight yelled releasing all her pent up magic in a fiery blast. Starlight's horn glowed, her aura a deep red instead of the usual light blue. A crimson shield encircled her, dispersing the blast as if it were a stream of water.

"What?!" A-Twilight exclaimed in surprise. "Nothing should've survived that, nothing!"

Starlight grinned. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." A red beam of power crackled out of Starlight's horn hitting A-Twilight in the chest, causing her to cry out in pain. Twilight felt her heart drop as she realized what was about to happen.

"W-what are you..." A-Twilight looked back at her flank, groaning in pain as her cutie mark was magically ripped away. Her wings melted away into a dark liquid, leaving A-Twilight as just a normal unicorn. Starlight looked up to the sky where Rainbow Dash and her counterpart battled at super speed as lightning crackled from A-Rainbow's horn.

Squinting her eyes as if aiming, Starlight let out another beam of red energy, catching A-Rainbow in the back. The blue alicorn yelled in pain and surprise as her lightning cutie mark was peeled off her flank and her horn melted away. Rainbow Dash swooped to catch her as she plummeted from the sky, managing to stop A-Rainbow from smashing into the ground.

But Starlight had already moved on, her magic now focused on A-Fluttershy who squirmed and cried as her butterfly mark was taken away. The animals stopped growling, running up to Fluttershy for comfort.

"Starlight look out!" Applejack yelled, but Starlight was faster. A-Applejack didn't stand a chance as she was blasted out of the air before she even got within 5 feet of Starlight. The orange alicorn's horn and wings melted away as she landed on the ground with a thud. A-Rarity quickly suffered the same fate, screaming as her wings dissipated into a dark mist.

"Hey, little help here girls?!" Pinkie called out. Twilight managed to turn her head slightly, and saw A-Pinkie standing over Pinkie Pie with a wide grin.

"Let's put a smile on that face!" she sang cheerfully as her horn started to glow.

"Yeesh, somepony's been reading too many Cupcakes spin-offs." Pinkie grumbled as she covered her face. A blast of red magic knocked A-Pinkie aside, and soon her wings and horn were history. But any spark of victory Twilight felt was destroyed when she looked up at Starlight.

She was breathing heavily, the red aura around her horn intensifying as the six cutie marks circled her creepily.

"Starlight it's over! Take it off!" Twilight pleaded. Starlight's eyes were now completely red, holding a sinister gleam that made Twilight shiver.

"Why should I!? So I can be your inferior again? So you can order me around princess?! Maybe I should take away your special talent too! Then we'll ALL be EQUAL!"

"Starlight this isn't you! The amulet is corrupting you!"

When Trixie had first lost the Alicorn Amulet, Twilight had secretly been glad that it was only Trixie that had gotten ahold of it. But now one of Twilight's worst nightmares had been realized. Despite their similarities, Starlight's power was leagues above Trixie's... and the amulet could corrupt her to do far worse things than making a chariot without wheels.

"Corrupting me? No Twilight, the amulet is showing me the truth, the truth you don't want to admit. You don't really trust me! All these friendship lessons are a ruse to keep me in check... because you're afraid. Afraid of me! Afraid of the change I was going to bring!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Is it? In a land where everyone is equal, there wouldn't be any princesses would there!" Starlight yelled. Her eyes flashed dangerously as the cutie marks began to circle her more vigorously. The Alicorn Amulet shone with lurid red light, illuminating Starlight in an eerie way.

"Starlight we do trust you!" Twilight turned, surprised to Fluttershy looking up at Starlight with a determined expression.

Rainbow Dash flew over to join her fellow pegasus. "Yeah, just because you've made a few mistakes in the past-"

"Mistakes?" Starlight laughed. "Oh no those weren't mistakes, my only mistake was abandoning my ideals to make friends with the likes of you. But now I know better, now all of you can't hold me back from who I'm meant to be!"

"The amulet wants you to go back to who you were, but do you want to?" Twilight asked. "After all the friends you've made, all the ponies you've helped?" Twilight asked. "After reuniting with Sunburst again?" she added instinctively.

"Sunburst..." Starlight blinked, her eyes turning back to their usual color. She had a pained expression on her face. "T-Twilight... you have to destroy me. Please."

"No! No there has to be another way... there's always another way." Twilight pleaded desperately.

"No... there isn't. Quickly, before I *ugh* lose control again. Do it... to save Equestria."

Tears streamed down Twilight's face in a free flow as she realized what Starlight had intended. "You knew this was going to happen. You- you sacrificed yourself."

"Yes. Just... I hope you remember me as your friend, not... this." She pointed to the amulet which was now glowing furiously. Starlight held her head, groaning in pain.

Twilight wracked her brain for any solution she could think of before the amulet regained control of Starlight. Anything. But in her heart of hearts she knew there was nothing she could do. Starlight was the only one who could take off the amulet, and she wouldn't as long as it had her under it's sway. It would keep feeding her lies, strengthening her paranoia and preying on the trauma of her past. Her past...her past!

"You have to fight it Starlight, you've fought your past before and won!"

Starlight blinked again, and her eyes were once again as crimson as blood.

"You were the one who said that we always look for the light within the darkness! You have to find your own light, break free of the darkness!"

"Oh please, if my weaker self couldn't break my control before, what difference is there now!"

"The difference is... that I believe in you Starlight."

Fluttershy nodded. "I believe in you Starlight."

"So do I." Rainbow said firmly.

"Ah believe in ya Starlight."

"I believe in you darling!"

"Ooh ooh me too me too!" Pinkie grinned.

"We all have faith in you Starlight... and if you don't believe me... you can have my cutie mark. I won't fight you." Twilight said, managing to stagger to her hooves. Her friends shouted in protest, but Twilight ignored them, looking up at Starlight with a determined expression.

Starlight laughed, but this time there was a nervous tic to it, as if she was surprised. "You won't fight me... not even for the special talent that makes you a princess!?"

"No. My special talent and the element I represent are more than just magic, they're the ability to spread the magic of friendship. And if you don't feel like you're really my friend... then I don't deserve my talent any more than she does." Twilight pointed to the unconscious form of her counterpart.

"You're willing to give up..." Starlight held her head, shaking violently as she seemed to wage a massive internal struggle. Suddenly, Starlight grabbed the amulet and flung it away.

The red aura around her faded and Starlight slowly began to descend to the ground. She landed at Twilight's hooves, smiling tearfully as she held out the jar containing the A-Mane 6's cutie marks. Twilight pushed it aside, pulling her friend into a much needed hug, which soon became a group hug as the rest of Twilight's friends joined them. The seven mares wept silent tears as they realized it was finally over.