Facing Your Fears... Literally

Chapters

Chapter 1: Facing The Past
Chapter 2: Facing Yourself
Chapter 3: Facing The Night
Chapter 4: Facing Midnight
Chapter 5: Facing Reality
Chapter 6: Facing The Portal
Chapter 7: Facing Friendship

Chapter 1: Facing The Past

Uuuggghhhhhhh... Twilight was on the 7:45 bus headed to Canterlot High. Classes began at 8:30, but since she lived in the city, this was the latest bus that she could ride while still making it to school on time. Every day, she would wake up at 6:30 in order to get dressed, wash up, and eat breakfast. After that, then she would leave the house around 7:30 to walk to the bus stop.

Usually, Twilight's morning routine wasn't hard for her to follow. Today, however, she had overslept, meaning she had to rush through everything. As a result, her hair was unkempt, her eyes had dark circles under them, and her glasses rested on her face slightly crooked. She also didn't have time to eat breakfast, so her stomach rumbled with hunger. All of this could be traced back to one particular problem...

Another Midnight Sparkle nightmare, Twilight groaned to herself. Ever since the Friendship Games, Twilight had been experiencing nightmares about turning into an evil she-demon again and ripping the whole universe apart. At first, her nightmares were somewhat manageable, but recently, they had been getting worse. Each nightmare felt even more real than the last, and Twilight was starting to lose more sleep due to these horrible ordeals.

Despite this, she hadn't told anyone about them yet. Although she had six wonderful and supportive friends in her new school, they had only known each other for a few weeks. Well, technically the six of them knew her for much longer than that, but that was a different Twilight that lived in another world. In any case, Twilight wasn't ready to share something so personal to a group of people she barely knew, and frankly, being around so many people who knew so much about her was rather intimidating. However, Twilight's mind was focused on something else.

Okay, so I went to bed at around 1:30 because I had to study for the chemistry test, then I woke up at 3:02, tried to sleep again but couldn't until 6:13, so that totals up to... She did the math.

"ONLY TWO HOURS AND TWELVE MINUTES OF SLEEP!?" Twilight didn't realize she had screamed that out loud until she froze and looked around the bus. All the other passengers were facing her with shocked and stunned expressions. Considering she was looking down at everyone, Twilight concluded that she had involuntarily stood up during her outburst. No one moved or said a word. Even the bus driver stared at her for a few seconds through the rear-view mirror before focusing on the road again. Twilight's cheeks quickly flushed with a bright shade of pink as she quickly sat down, ducking her head behind the seat in front of her. Everyone else turned around resumed their previous activities.

That was embarrassing.

Finally, the bus arrived at her stop. Twilight hurriedly got off the bus, though not before whispering a quick "Sorry!" to the bus driver. As the bus drove off, the tired and groggy high schooler dragged herself towards campus. Despite oversleeping, she had somehow managed to arrive about fifteen minutes early. There weren't as many people riding the bus today, so it had skipped a few stops along the way.

As she got closer to her school, Twilight noticed that her friends were sitting on the front stairs, chatting with each other. Twilight wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone this morning, so she considered entering the school through the side entrance instead. Then, she paused.

These nightmares have been driving me crazy for the past few weeks, and now they're affecting my daily routine, Twilight thought to herself. Maybe... maybe it's time that I ask them for help.

Twilight hesitantly walked towards the front entrance and her friends. Most of them were talking to each other, though a certain rainbow-haired girl was strumming a guitar while another girl wearing a stetson was clapping her hands in rhythm. As Twilight approached the group, the six girls took notice of her, then waved at her cheerfully. Twilight waved back nervously while smiling sheepishly.

"Hi!" greeted Pinkie Pie in an energetic and high-pitched voice. She quickly jumped to her feet, bouncing up and down on the spot while still waving her hand. Applejack sighed and grabbed Pinkie Pie's arm to stop her from spazzing out.

How is Pinkie always so hyper? pondered Twilight. Oh well, a question for another time.

"Oh my stars, darling!" gasped Rarity, who was wearing a brand new blouse and skirt that Twilight had never seen before. Well, it always seemed like Rarity was wearing a new outfit every single day, so this didn't really surprise Twilight.

"You look, umm... what's the word..."

"Terrible?" offered Rainbow Dash, placing her guitar back in its case.

"Rainbow, normally Ah'd be the last person to say this, but there is such a thing as being too honest," deadpanned Applejack. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind them," laughed Sunset Shimmer. She got up and ran a hand through her red-and-yellow hair to move a few strands out of her face. "But yeah, you don't look so good. Is something wrong?"

Twilight twiddled her thumbs and teetered in place.

"U-uh..." started Twilight nervously. "Y-you see, there's... s-something that's been bothering me for a while..."

"Oh?" asked Fluttershy quietly, who also stood up. "What is it?"

"W-well," continued Twilight, "I've been having nightmares about Midnight Sparkle. You know, the, um, evil she-demon I turned into about a month ago... And every night, it feels like my nightmares are becoming more real. So... uh... what do you think I should do?"

Almost immediately after she finished her question, Pinkie Pie jumped up and down again.

"Ooh! I know! Just laugh in her face every time she appears in your dreams! As my Granny Pie once told me... 'Giggle at the ghostly! Guffaw at the-'" Rainbow Dash placed a hand on Pinkie's mouth, muffling her singing.

"I dunno about singing, but if they're just dreams, then they can't hurt you, right?" suggested Rainbow Dash offhandedly.

"I-I suppose so," thought Twilight, "but my actions as Midnight Sparkle were real, and these nightmares just serve as reminders of them."

"Oh, Twilight," comforted Rarity, "don't worry about your evil past. We all forgive you, right girls?" The rest of Twilight's friends nodded in agreement.

"But I haven't forgiven myself!" replied Twilight. "I can never forgive myself for hurting all my classmates and friends!" Tears started welling up in her eyes. She lifted up her glasses in one hand while using the other to wipe her tears away. When she was done, she put her glasses back on and adjusted them.

"Twilight..." said Sunset Shimmer gently. "I know how you feel. After I was defeated by you- er, the other you, and her friends, I also couldn't forgive myself either. But after some encouragement from these girls, I realized that my past is not today and that I needed to move on. Now, I constantly tell myself to just focus on the future and think about how I can improve myself." Sunset Shimmer smiled encouragingly, but her words only made Twilight fume and clench her fists angrily.

"Well maybe you are strong enough to push your evil deeds aside, but I'm not!" cried Twilight, her tears streaming down her cheeks. Sunset Shimmer and the rest of the girls stared at her with shocked expressions. A few other students heard her as well, causing them to pause and look towards the group.

"Look, Twilight, we're your friends," asserted Sunset. "And friends always forgive each other." But Twilight was having none of it.

"You throw around words like 'forgiveness' and 'friendship' like they are nothing, but don't any of you realize how serious this is for me!?" shouted Twilight. Sunset opened her mouth in an attempt to give an answer, but Twilight ignored her.

"No! Of course not!" screamed Twilight. "In fact, I bet none of you actually care to understand me, do you? You just wanna quickly forgive me so you can all go back to your carefree lives! All you want to do is play music, sing cute songs, and fool around with magic all day! You're all too busy being happy-go-lucky know-it-alls to care about my problems!"

Twilight's voice echoed throughout the commons. A few moments of silence passed. Then, Fluttershy whimpered. She quickly bolted through the front entrance of Canterlot High, sobbing and covering her eyes with her hands.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow Dash got up and followed her, though not before flashing a menacing glare at Twilight. Sunset Shimmer slowly approached Twilight, who had fallen to her knees, crying.

"Twilight, I-"

"Shut up, I don't want your advice!" interrupted Twilight. "You just assume that what worked for you will work for me, just because we share similar experiences. Well, we're not the same!"

"But-"

"Go away!"

Sunset Shimmer stood still for a few seconds, then turned away from Twilight. She looked at the group of girls who were still there and simply nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek. Slowly, the rest of Twilight's friends turned towards the school's entrance and made their way inside. Twilight then looked around at the other students who had gathered around her.

"What are you looking at!?" she shouted. Quickly, the rest of the students scampered into the school building as well, leaving Twilight alone in the middle of the commons. Twilight sighed, letting her anger subside. Her rage was then replaced with sadness and regret.

"Oh no... what have I done?" sobbed Twilight. "I can't believe I just yelled at everyone like that..." Twilight took off her glasses and cried into her hands. She wanted to run into the school building and chase after her friends to beg for their forgiveness, but after what she just said to them, they probably didn't want to be friends with her anymore.

"I'm such a horrible person," Twilight continued. "I-I don't deserve to have any friends." She swiftly got up, holding her glasses in one hand, and ran away from Canterlot High. Sure, the school bell was going to ring any minute now, but Twilight didn't care. She was in no mood to attend class or see anyone right now. She just wanted to go home and curl up into a ball.

In fact, maybe I should just stay locked up in my house forever. That way, I can't hurt anyone anymore. Yeah... that sounds like a good i- Suddenly, Twilight tripped over a crack in the pavement, sending her flying through the air. Apparently, she had been too distracted to watch where she was going.

"Wahhhh!" screamed Twilight as she flailed her arms and legs. She then looked up to see where she was about to land. Or rather, what she was about to hit. In front of her was not solid ground, but instead, the broken Wondercolt statue that Twilight had destroyed a few weeks prior. Though the horse figure itself was still being repaired, the pedestal it stood on, which was about to greet Twilight's head, was still intact.

Ohhhh this is gonna hurt, gulped Twilight, bracing herself for impact. Except, there was no impact.

Chapter 2: Facing Yourself

Author's Note

Both Twilights are in this chapter, so I will refer to the human Twilight as Sci-Twi. However, characters in this story will continue to call her Twilight.

Chapter 2: Facing Yourself

It was a calm and peaceful evening in Ponyville. The sun was slowly setting in the sky, shining warm shades of red and orange across the town. Meanwhile, the moon was just peeking over the horizon, ready to take its place in the night sky that was to follow. Some ponies were still out and about, trotting down the streets of Ponyville or talking to somepony about the latest gossip, while others had already returned to their homes in order to rest. However, inside a tall, crystal castle situated near the edge of town, a certain young alicorn had her head buried deep in a book.

Princess Twilight Sparkle sat in the middle of a large study room that was lined with dozens of bookshelves, each stuffed with hundreds of books. A few books, however, weren't on their proper shelves, but instead, piled up on top of the table Twilight was sitting at. To her right, a large mirror hooked up to an assortment of scientific instruments and doohickeys stood proudly, taking up a good portion of the room.

Twilight scribbled a few notes with her quill on a nearby sheet of parchment. Then, she sighed happily as she set the quill down, used her magic to return the books to the shelves, and rolled up her parchment.

"Whew, what an intense study session!" said Twilight as she stretched her legs. "But I'm all done! Finally! Now it's time for dinner. I wonder what Spike cooked tonight..." However, before she could get up and leave the room, she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the mirror.

"Huh?" Twilight looked towards the mirror, which in reality was a mystical portal that led to another world. Sure enough, as the gadgets connected to the mirror whirred and dinged, the surface of the mirror began to turn magenta, then twist and distort.

"Sunset?" asked Twilight nervously. "I-Is that you?" Suddenly, a purple blur shot out of the portal, crashing directly into Twilight's face. She was sent flying backwards, then collided with a bookshelf behind her. Dozens of books fell off of their shelves and buried Twilight, though many of them smacked her squarely on the head.

"Owww..." groaned Twilight, rubbing her head with her hoof. After regaining her bearings, she slowly began levitating the books off of her and placing them back on the bookshelves. As she did so, she noticed another pony was buried underneath the books as well. Twilight dug out the newcomer, expecting it to be a yellow unicorn with a red-and-yellow mane. However, she was surprised to see that it was a purple unicorn instead. In fact, this pony had the same mane style as Twilight, and even had the same cutie mark on her flank. Could she be...

"Ugh, what happened?" muttered Sci-Twi. Her vision was blurry, meaning her glasses must've fallen off. Still lying on the ground, she slowly felt the area around her with her two hands in an attempt to retrieve her visual aid. She was a little puzzled at first when she felt nothing but books around her, but eventually she touched something that resembled her glasses. She attempted to grasp them, but found that she was having difficulty doing so.

"What the- what's wrong with my hands?" wondered Sci-Twi. Then, her glasses slowly lifted up from the ground by themselves and rested gently on her face. As her vision returned to normal, she noticed an odd creature standing in front of her with a quizzical look. It looked like a pony, except it had a horn on its forehead and wings on its back. It had purple skin and hair colors that were oddly similar to Sci-Twi's. Her eyes were also the same deep shade of purple. Could she be...

Sci-Twi attempted to stand up, but found it near-impossible to stand on two feet. She crashed back down onto the floor, wincing in pain. The pony also winced. After shaking her head a bit, Sci-Twi decided to sit on the ground for the time being. She and the purple pony awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds. Both Twilights forced a smile at the other. Finally, the human Twilight decided to speak up.

"Umm... are you-?"

"Yes," interrupted the pony in front of her. "It's me, Twilight. Well, the other one."

Sci-Twi had met her pony counterpart from the other world once before, except that time, it was the alternate Twilight who had visited her in the human world. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stay very long, as she had important royal duties in Equestria to attend to, so Sci-Twi still didn't know much about her.

"S-so," stuttered Sci-Twi. She looked down upon her body, which was now that of an equine, then back up at Twilight. "This is what you, I mean, we look like in this world?"

"Hehe yes, that's correct," giggled the alicorn. "I know it takes some getting used to, but you'll adjust soon enough. Although..." Her voice took on a more serious tone. "You don't seem to have wings like I do."

The human-turned-pony looked behind her, noting her smooth and wingless backside.

"Hmm, well, during your visit to my world, didn't you mention that you were born a unicorn, but later got your wings after completing some sort of magic spell?" recalled Sci-Twi.

"Ah, yes, that's right!" exclaimed the princess. "That could explain it."

Sci-Twi's heart sunk. The fact that this Twilight had earned her wings meant that she had accomplished feats far greater than Sci-Twi could've ever imagined. Meanwhile, the only things she had done recently were stealing her friends' powers, turning into a raging she-demon, and almost ripping apart the very fabric of time and space. Oh, and she had just yelled at all her friends and lost every single one of them. Oblivious to Sci-Twi's sadness, Princess Twilight continued.

"You also seem to be wearing glasses," noted the princess.

Great, this Twilight is better than me AND has better eyesight.

"W-well, I wish I didn't have to wear them," stammered Sci-Twi, crestfallen. "They make me look so... nerdy."

"Nonsense!" insisted Twilight. "In fact, I think they look kinda cute on you." Both Twilights blushed. Sci-Twi was, of course, embarrassed by the compliment, while Twilight was embarrassed by the realization she was essentially complimenting herself.

"Ahem, anyways!" laughed the princess nervously. "What brings you to Equestria?"

"Actually, it was by accident," admitted Sci-Twi. "I tripped and then fell through the portal..." Her voice trailed off, blushing again. Her counterpart let out a giggle.

"It's okay, it's always nice to see a friend again," smiled the alicorn.

"Friend..." contemplated Sci-Twi. She wondered how this pony, whom she had only met once before, could call her a friend. It ticked her off that Twilight casually called her a friend in the same way her human friends forgave her without much thought.

Doesn't anyone take things seriously at all? Sci-Twi fumed.

"So how are things?" asked Princess Twilight. "Are you hanging out with your friends more? What sorts of activities do you do together? Do you all still play music? What sorts of food do you all eat? Oh, and how about-" As Twilight spoke in an increasingly faster and more excited tone, Sci-Twi interrupted her by putting her hoof over the alicorn's muzzle. Considering the fact that she didn't have any friends anymore, each question made Sci-Twi cringe on the inside.

"They're, umm, great!" lied Sci-Twi while faking a smile. Of course, things definitely weren't "great". They were far from "great", but Sci-Twi didn't really want to tell Twilight about her problems.

She'll probably just try to brush off my frustrations and regrets like my friends did, thought Sci-Twi.

Then again... she reconsidered, I am face-to-face with myself right now. Even though I don't know her very well, she is still me. Maybe I should tell Twilight, I mean, myself about all this. After all, if I can't trust myself, who can I trust? Sci-Twi took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out.

"Actually, things are not great. The truth is..."

Sci-Twi explained everything to the alicorn princess. She talked about her nightmares, the frustration she felt due to her friends not taking her seriously, and the regret she now carried after yelling at them. As she explained her situation, the other Twilight sat down next to her. She nodded silently while looking at Sci-Twi with a serious, yet gentle gaze. When Sci-Twi was done, her counterpart thought quietly to herself for a few seconds before answering her.

"Well firstly, I agree that your friends shouldn't have glossed over your problems without carefully considering what you needed from them," began Twilight. "Just telling somepony 'I forgive you' doesn't magically solve anything, and it isn't fair for them to assume that that's what's best for you." Sci-Twi nodded silently.

"However, it's often difficult to know what somepony needs if you're not close enough to them," continued Twilight. "I know it's been a few weeks since you all started hanging out together, but have you really given them the chance to get to you know you better?"

Sci-Twi thought about this for a minute or so. Twilight had a point. Although they had all gone out for ice cream, movies, and sleepovers many times, Twilight had never truly opened up to her friends. All this time, she had been so worried about her past mistakes and how people viewed her that she constantly kept her true thoughts a secret. Sci-Twi shook her head in response.

"In that case, it's also not fair for you to expect your friends to know exactly how to address your problems," reasoned Twilight. Sci-Twi buried her head in her ha- hooves, sighing.

"You're right," conceded Sci-Twi, looking back up at her alicorn counterpart. "But... how can I get close to them? They all probably hate me now."

"Well, it's going to take time," admitted Twilight. "First, you'll need to talk to them about your recent argument before friendship-building can continue. Then, you'll have to slowly get closer to them and open up to them. Of course, don't try to force it. Only do it at a pace you feel comfortable with. Finally, when you think you're ready, tell them about your problems, and hopefully, they will know how to help you out."

"What if they don't want to talk to me anymore?" worried Sci-Twi. "Then I won't even be able to get past step one."

"If they really do see you as a friend, and trust me, I know they do, they will definitely want to patch things up."

Sci-Twi sat next to, well, herself as her mind absorbed everything Twilight had said. It wasn't going to be easy, going through all those steps, but Sci-Twi knew Twilight was right. After silently thinking to herself, she turned towards Twilight.

"Thanks, Twilight," smiled Sci-Twi. "I'm glad you took the time to really consider my thoughts and think about what I was going through."

"Anytime, Twilight," assured the princess. She returned Sci-Twi's smile. However, Sci-Twi's expression turned into one of concern.

"But what about my nightmares?" asked Sci-Twi. "How do I stop them? I know we said friendship and forgiveness take time, but I feel like I'm going to die of sleep deprivation before I have a chance to get closer to any of my friends. Is there a way for me to stop them right now?"

"Hmm..." thought Twilight. "Well, I do have an idea. Here in Equestria, we have a princess who, amongst other things, enters ponies' dreams and helps them overcome their nightmares. In addition, she knows what it's like to be tormented by endless nightmares." Twilight decided to leave out the part about Luna creating her own nightmares in the first place.

"Perhaps she would be able to give you some advice on how to stop your nightmares," finished Twilight. Sci-Twi's eyes glowed with excitement.

"Y-yes! That sounds like a great idea!" exclaimed Sci-Twi. "So when can we go visit her?"

"We can go right now!"

"We don't need a royal invitation or something?"

"Psshhh, nah. Since I'm also a princess, I can see her whenever I want. And I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help you!"

Suddenly, two loud grumbles sounded and echoed throughout the room. Both Twilights looked down at their own stomachs simultaneously, then blushed and smiled sheepishly at each other.

"Dinner first?"

Chapter 3: Facing The Night

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Chapter 4: Facing Midnight

Author's Note

For the sake of simplicity, since Princess Twilight doesn't appear much in this chapter, I will mainly refer to Sci-Twi as Twilight.

Chapter 4: Facing Midnight

Sci-Twi sat at her dining table, eating a bowl of her favorite cereal while looking through the news on her phone. None of the articles really intrigued her though, so she placed her phone on the table and focused on her breakfast. Outside, the sun shone and the birds sung cheerfully. The weather was supposed to be a comfortable 70 degrees, so Twilight sported jeans, a cute t-shirt, and a light jacket. Done with her cereal, she got up and placed the bowl and spoon in the sink.

Suddenly, everything started shaking.

"What the-!" Twilight exclaimed, holding onto her kitchen counter for support. Everything around her started to dissolve. Her furniture shattered into millions of tiny splinters while the walls and floorboards separated into individual parts and flew away from her. The outside environment was replaced with an endless, dark-magenta void filled with nothing but Twilight herself.

"What is going on!?" screamed Twilight.

"You know what's going on," a voice echoed from seemingly everywhere. "I am here to take back control!"

Twilight twisted her body around and saw none other than her worst nightmare. Midnight Sparkle appeared as she always had in Twilight's nightmares; she donned a dark-purple outfit, her dark wings protruding from her back and her bright, magical horn shining atop her forehead. Midnight grinned as she stared upon her prey. She started to chuckle to herself, then burst into laughter. As she laughed, thunder and lightning cracked and flashed behind her.

"No! Please! Go away!" begged Twilight. But the evil she-demon didn't listen.

"Oh, I'm sorry," leered Midnight, "I'm not quite in the mood for negotiations. I'm just so... hungry."

"H-hungry?"

"That's right... Hungry for you!" With a strong flap of her wings, Midnight dove towards Twilight at an incredible speed. Twilight's eyes widened with fear, while those of her aggressor widened with excitement and hunger. Twilight desperately waved her arms and legs around to move away, but without anything to grab onto, she couldn't get out of Midnight's way.

"Heeeeeeelllllp!" cried Twilight desperately. Suddenly, a white and spherical energy shield encased her body.

"Aauuuuugghhh!" yelled Midnight, smacking head-first into the shield and bouncing harmlessly off of it.

"H-huh?" Twilight looked around to see who had cast the energy shield. As the shield vanished, she saw a dark-blue alicorn fly towards her. Its horn glowed with sparkling energy, which dissipated along with the shield.

That's... Princess Luna? Then that must mean this is all just a dream?

"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle," said Luna as she hovered next to Twilight. Then, she looked downwards. "I assume your current appearance is what you look like in your world?" Twilight looked down at her body, and realized her body was back to that of a human.

"Yes, that's right," responded Twilight.

"Fascinating," remarked Luna. "I would ask you more about your species, but now is not the time for that." Luna frowned and stared at something behind Twilight, who turned around in response. Midnight Sparkle was back, wiping her forehead in pain.

"And just who is this newcomer, eh Twilight?" interrogated Midnight as a scowl formed over her face.

"That doesn't matter, Midnight Sparkle!" shouted Twilight confidently. "Because tonight, I will finally stop you once and for all!"

Midnight Sparkle stared at the duo for a moment, then howled with laughter.

"Oh puh-lease! You've never stopped me before, and having a little pony friend isn't gonna help you now!" Midnight Sparkle rushed at them once again. Luna projected another spherical shield around her and Twilight, but Midnight halted her approach, having learned from her previous impact.

Midnight then held out her hands and fired a violet beam from her palms. The beam went straight for Luna and Twilight, but was deflected as it hit their shield. She then fired another beam, but this time, she increased its intensity and duration. The shield was able to block the second beam as well, but cracks were starting to form on its surface.

Luna's horn then glowed brighter, teleporting both her and Twilight behind Midnight Sparkle. However, Midnight quickly whipped around and smirked at the duo.

"There you are!" Midnight's horn glowed, then it fired off hundreds of small laser blasts at Luna and Twilight. Luna raised a new shield, this one in the shape of a two-dimensional disk. As the lasers hit the shield, they exploded and slowly chipped away at Luna's shield. Luna teleported to a position above Midnight Sparkle and launched an energy beam downwards. However, Midnight countered it with an energy beam of her own. The two beams blasted against each other, with neither beam yielding.

Twilight's face was frozen with fear. Midnight... is just as powerful as Luna? But how? Meanwhile, Luna looked towards Twilight while still maintaining her attack.

"Listen, little one," Luna strained, "think about who you really are!"

"Shut up, horse!" yelled Midnight. She then addressed Twilight. "Hey, you know I'm pretty powerful, right? You saw what I was able to do during the games. Imagine if you let me regain control. No one would be able to stop us from doing anything! We could rule the world! And with our ability to rip holes in reality, we could even rule the worlds beyond this one!"

"No, no, no!" cried Twilight, placing her hands on her head and shutting her eyes. She couldn't deal with this. Even with an alicorn princess helping her, Midnight was still standing her ground. Hope started to drain from her heart and was being replaced by despair. At the same time, Midnight started to gain the upper hand as her violet beam pressed closer and closer towards Luna.

"Twilight," countered Luna, "I know you regret your decisions. I know you feel that you are a horrible pon- person. But think about what you've done tonight. You came to me in order to face your fears and defeat your worst nightmare. That proves you are not the evil creature you think you are. You are not Midnight Sparkle!"

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Midnight and Luna, their energy beams still firing intensely against each other. Luna was correct. Midnight Sparkle wouldn't have wanted to seek forgiveness for her actions. Meanwhile, Twilight had regretted the events of the Friendship Games ever since they ended. If she could take it all back, she would in a heartbeat.

"Yes, Princess..." said Twilight slowly. "You're right. Midnight and I may be similar in that we both seek to learn more about magic, but you!" Twilight pointed at Midnight accusingly, her voice rising in volume and confidence. "You don't care about the means. You only want more power. But I would never want to hurt anyone, especially my friends, just to gain more knowledge. And that makes us two completely different people! You! Are not! Me!"

As Twilight shouted in defiance, a magical horn made of light suddenly grew from her forehead. A bright-purple beam fired from its tip, aimed directly at the evil she-demon. Midnight, who was using all of her power to counter Luna's magical beam, was unable to do anything but watch as Twilight's attack got closer and closer...

"AAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHH!!" wailed Midnight, as Twilight's beam engulfed her. There was a bright light, causing Twilight to shield her eyes with her hands. As the light faded, Twilight looked back at where Midnight was. She was still there, but her body floated lifelessly through the void. Princess Luna, hovering a few feet away from Midnight, looked back at Twilight.

"I... I did it. I did it!" cheered Twilight. Luna smiled and flew towards Twilight, who quickly embraced the alicorn princess with her arms once she got close enough. The Princess of the Night, who was not accustomed to the bodily form of contact known as a "hug", flinched as she was smothered by Twilight's body. After a few seconds, Luna decided that the hug had gone on for long enough and used her magic to gently pull Twilight off of her.

"Thank you so much, Princess," continued Twilight. "I-I don't know what I would've done without you. But... how was I able to attack Midnight just now?"

"You see, Twilight," explained Luna, "magic from Equestria is fueled by emotion. Most of it comes from positive emotions, but there is some that feeds off of negative emotions instead. Midnight draws power from your fear and despair. The stronger those feelings are within you, the stronger Midnight becomes. However, it seems that as you regained your confidence and hope, positive magic built up inside of you, thus allowing you to fight back."

"Got it..." thought Twilight, absorbing all the information she had just heard. "You sure know a lot about magic, emotions, dreams, and how they all connect."

"Yes, well, I had a similar experience with a creature from my nightmares as well," admitted Luna. "And it was thanks to a certain alicorn we both know that I was finally able to overcome my guilt and despair." Luna gave a wink, and Twilight smiled back. Then, a confused look appeared on Twilight's face.

"So wait, all I have to do is just feel happy all the time, and Midnight won't have any power?" asked a puzzled Twilight. "What happens if I suddenly get sad or upset one day? Will Midnight come back?"

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that..."

Luna and Twilight turned around to face the source of the voice. They were shocked to find that Midnight Sparkle had somehow recovered and was hovering in front of them with a devilish smile on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Princess Luna.

"H-how can this be?" shuddered Twilight.

"Muahahahahaha!" laughed Midnight Sparkle. "Allow me to educate you fools! As I fought with your horsey friend, I realized that you must be sleeping somewhere in Equestria. After all, how else would you have gotten a magical horse to fight me in your dreams?"

"I am an alicorn, not a horse," deadpanned Luna.

I'm guessing that calling a pony a horse in this world is probably racist, thought Twilight, but is now really the time to argue about proper species names?

"Whatever," ignored Midnight. "Anywho, since Twilight's physical body is now in a land full of magic, I've been slowly collecting its essence. Originally, yes, I was only as strong as her own guilt, but now, with so much magic stored up, I can transform into an entity that is separate from her!"

As she said that, claws made up of dark magic unsheathed from her fingertips. She then swiped at the air, which caused a spatial rift to form next to her. On the other side of the rift, the beautiful city of Canterlot could be seen.

"No!" shouted Luna. "Stop!"

"Hehe, too late!" cackled Midnight. She casually stepped through the crack in space, then sealed it up behind her, leaving Luna and Twilight alone in the dream realm.

"Wh-what's going on?" asked Twilight nervously.

"Your alter ego has become powerful enough to escape your dreams and enter the real world," worried Luna. "Hurry, we must wake up at once!"

Princess Twilight Sparkle was still sitting on the rug in the middle of the guest room, bored as Tartarus. Princess Luna and Sci-Twi had been asleep for what felt like hours, and she had nothing to do. She had already counted how many floor tiles there were in the room - 452, to be exact - and she had already adjusted what little furniture there was to a configuration she liked better. She wanted to sleep, but her counterpart was snoring too loudly to allow Twilight to rest.

"I hope I don't snore that loudly... Maybe I should ask Spike later."

Suddenly, the castle shook. And again. Then, the sound of ponies screaming in the distance could be heard. Twilight quickly rushed to the window and peered outside. A few buildings had caught on fire, and ponies were scrambling around for safety. Meanwhile, a massive, winged, humanoid figure stomped through the city, laughing as it fired laser beams from its horn. Twilight gulped, immediately recognizing who it was and what her appearance in the real world meant.

"Oh, ponyfeathers."

Chapter 5: Facing Reality

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Chapter 6: Facing The Portal

Beep.

Sci-Twi groaned as she opened her eyes, then shut them tight again as the blinding sunlight shone into them. She then attempted to open her eyes again, letting them slowly adjust to the light, then observed her surroundings.

Beep.

She was in a hospital room. To her right was a small window with the curtains drawn. To her left, she noticed various medical instruments, some of which were hooked up to her. Sci-Twi looked down at her upper extremities. They were legs that ended in hooves, indicating that she was still a pony. She then stared in front of her and saw a purple alicorn sitting on a chair, sleeping peacefully. Sci-Twi attempted to get up, but after her sore body refused to do so, she decided to lie back down.

Beep.

"T-Twilight?" groaned Sci-Twi. "Is that you?" Twilight yawned and stretched before opening her eyes to address the source of the question. After a few seconds of staring sleepily at Sci-Twi, she gasped and her eyes widened.

"Twilight! You're okay!" cheered the alicorn, rushing over to Sci-Twi's right side. "Oh, I'm so happy you're awake!"

Sci-Twi smiled, but her mind was still a little foggy; she couldn't recall the reason why she was currently in a hospital room.

Beep.

"Wha- What happened?" asked Sci-Twi.

"Well, after we defeated Midnight Sparkle," explained Twilight, "you suddenly fell unconscious. I grabbed you in midair, then flew you here, the Canterlot General Hospital. Right now, everypony is either outside helping with repairs or tending to the wounded."

Beep.

"Hey, can you turn that darn thing off?" requested Sci-Twi. "It's kinda driving me nuts."

"Well, I don't think I should turn it off, but..." Twilight cast a sound barrier around the heart monitor, muting the beeping.

"Finally," thanked Sci-Twi. As her mind cleared and her memories returned to her, she sighed.

"How many casualties were there?" questioned Sci-Twi, speaking with a grim and serious tone.

"There were a few injuries, but that was about it," answered Twilight. Sci-Twi was surprised.

"Really? All that damage, and not one pers- pony died?"

"Nope."

"Huh." Sci-Twi was relieved that nopony had lost their lives, but she felt remorseful.

"Still, Midnight Sparkle ended up causing more pain," said Sci-Twi with regret. "And since I was the one who created her-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door leading out into the main hallway swung open. Standing just outside the room was Princess Luna, whose left wing was completely wrapped up with white bandages. A sling that wrapped around her body held the wing firmly against her side, preventing it from moving around too much.

"P-Princess Luna!" exclaimed Sci-Twi, her eyes filled with horror as she gazed upon Luna's injury. "I-I'm so sorry about all this! I-" She was interrupted once again as Luna walked up to her and placed her hoof on Sci-Twi's mouth.

"Midnight Sparkle may have been a manifestation of your darkest fears, but it was not as if you intended to create her in the first place," countered the injured alicorn. "Besides, she separated herself from you, did she not? Therefore, the destruction was a result of her actions and desires, not yours."

Sci-Twi nodded, then stared down at her bedsheets.

"I wish there was something I could do to help though," offered Sci-Twi. "Regardless of whose fault all this was, I still want to contribute to the repairs or help the injured ponies."

"Well, considering that you and I are, in a way, the same pony, you can literally be in two places at once!" reminded Twilight. "I'll take care of the relief efforts. Besides, you have to return to your own world, don't you?" Sci-Twi's eyes widened.

"That's right! I have to go back to school!" exclaimed Sci-Twi. "Wait, how long have I been asleep?"

"Do not worry, it has only been a few hours since you defeated Midnight Sparkle," assured Luna.

"The doctors told me earlier that you should be cleared to leave this afternoon," explained Twilight. "Since you arrived here last evening, by the time you go back through the portal, only a day should've passed since you first left your world."

"Wait," thought Sci-Twi. "When I first entered the portal, it was daytime in my world, but when I arrived here, it was evening already. Why is that?"

"I'm not sure..." wondered Twilight, puzzled. "Maybe our worlds aren't temporally synced with each other. Or maybe it has something to do with the portals? Perhaps this world's portal is slowly drifting through time?" Sci-Twi shrugged.

"In any case, once I have some free time, I'll check on the mirror and see if I can fix that problem," decided Twilight.

"Alright, sounds good," grinned Sci-Twi.

The rest of the day passed without much drama. The two princesses had to leave to attend to the repairs in Canterlot, leaving Sci-Twi alone in her room. However, a few doctors occasionally came in to make sure she was doing alright. Thankfully, none of them questioned why Sci-Twi looked identical to the Princess of Friendship. Apparently, Twilight had convinced them that Sci-Twi was her twin sister who lived in a remote town near the edge of Equestria and that they rarely visited each other. It was a rather silly story, but if it worked, then perhaps it wasn't that silly. Later, in the middle of the afternoon, two doctors came in to talk to her.

"Congratulations, ma'am, you're cleared to leave the hospital," they reported. They then unhooked the various machines that were connected to Sci-Twi's body and helped her get up on her hooves. As she walked towards the door, she saw Twilight and Luna standing in the hallway, waiting to escort her outside.

"Try not to strain yourself during the next few days, and be sure to drink lots of water, Miss, err..." the doctor squinted down at the clipboard he was holding. "Sunset Sparkle."

"Yeah, thanks," replied Sci-Twi, embarrassed by the name Twilight had made up for her. She and the two princesses trotted outside, then walked down the path that led to downtown Canterlot. As the trio made their way towards the train station, the sun set slowly in the sky, though they were confused as to why the sun seemed to wobble and teeter as if it were drunk. They got on board the train headed to Ponyville, and once they arrived at their destination, walked down the road that led to Twilight's castle.

Spike opened the door and greeted them cheerfully as they arrived, clearly overjoyed that everypony was alright. They then proceeded to the room containing the magic portal that led back to Sci-Twi's world. The mirror glistened as it reflected the light in the room, its smooth and crystal-clear surface inviting Sci-Twi to jump through it. Sci-Twi smiled, looking forward to returning to her world, then turned to face the others.

"Thank you again, princesses, for helping me face my fears and gain a new perspective on life," said Twilight as she bowed towards Twilight and Luna. "And thank you, Spike, for making such a wonderful dinner last night!"

"Hehe, it was nothing," laughed Spike, scratching the back of his head with a claw. "Oh! That reminds me! I better check on that cake!" The baby dragon quickly dashed out of the room and ran towards the kitchen, his footsteps echoing throughout the hallways.

"I-I don't know what I would've done without you," continued Sci-Twi. Twilight then walked up to her and gave her a big, warm hug.

"We may have given you advice, but ultimately, you were the one who stopped Midnight Sparkle, both in your dreams and in the real world," encouraged Twilight.

"Technically, Luna was keeping her occupied when I attacked her in the dream world," clarified Sci-Twi, "and the final beam that destroyed her was a combination of our magic."

"Perhaps, but do not let that distract you from the fact that you stood up to your worst fears and conquered them thanks to your own confidence," stated Luna.

"I know, I know," chuckled Sci-Twi. She then turned around to stare at the magic mirror.

"Guess the only thing left for me to do now is talk things over with my friends," sighed the young unicorn. "Though, if I can take down an evil manifestation of darkness and despair, I think I can handle a friendship problem."

Twilight and Sci-Twi giggled together at the latter's comment. Even Luna let out a small laugh.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," said Sci-Twi with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Yeah," replied Twilight, "but be sure to visit us again soon!"

"You will always be welcomed here, Twilight," assured Luna.

"I will, and thank you!" responded Sci-Twi. She then galloped towards the mirror.

"Bye, everypony!" called Sci-Twi, turning her head back a bit.

"Bye!" cheered Twilight.

"Farewell," Luna chimed.

Sci-Twi leapt through the glossy surface of the portal and entered into the dimensional rift that connected her world with Equestria. A multitude of colors twisted and twirled around her, and Sci-Twi could feel her own body starting to stretch. Then, everything got brighter and brighter until...

Chapter 7: Facing Friendship

Twilight emerged from the other side of the portal, stepping through the broken Wondercolt statue and onto the walkway that led up to Canterlot High. She looked around her. It was daytime again, just as it was when she first left. The sun was hanging just above the horizon, a crisp, cool breeze was blowing, and some birds were chirping from some nearby trees. Twilight then walked towards her school, carefully avoiding the crack that she accidentally tripped on yesterday.

As she approached the main entrance, she saw her friends all sitting on the front steps. This time, however, they weren't joyfully talking to each other or playing music. Instead, they all just stared down at the ground with glum, downcast faces.

Fluttershy was leaning against the left shoulder of Rainbow Dash, who was using a stick in her right hand to poke the concrete step below her. Applejack was leaning against a railing, while her hat was tipped forward a little bit, partially obstructing her face from view. Rarity was wearing a simple, black t-shirt with plain jeans that didn't have any special designs embroidered on them. Even Pinkie Pie wasn't her usual, cheery self, and her normally-bouncy pink hair was straight and hung low. Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer was holding her knees up to her chest while her face was buried in her arms.

Twilight gulped, unsure what to say to her friends. Somewhere deep within her heart, a part of her told her to just run away. She didn't have to talk to them. She could just ignore them and find new friends. Maybe run away to Equestria and stay there forever. It certainly would be the easy thing to do. However, Twilight immediately disregarded that thought and shook her head. She then continued to approach her friends.

"Um... hello again," started Twilight. All of her friends, except for Sunset Shimmer, slowly looked up at her. Applejack tilted her hat up with one hand. Fluttershy, upon realizing who had greeted them, turned away and gripped Rainbow Dash's sleeve. Rainbow Dash frowned at Twilight and wrapped her other arm around Fluttershy, as if shielding her from danger. Sunset, however, didn't move.

"Listen... I... I just..." stuttered Twilight, trying to figure out the best way to start the conversation. Then, she took a deep breath, then let it all out.

"I'm really, really sorry everyone," apologized Twilight, doing her best to maintain eye contact with everyone. "You were all just trying to help me, and then I yelled at you, and said all those horrible things, and then-"

"Twilight, darling," interjected Rarity, standing up to walk towards Twilight. "We're the ones who should be apologizing to you."

"Yeah..." agreed Applejack, who took her stetson off and placed it over her chest. "We were so focused on just tryna make ya happy that we didn't take the time to carefully consider what you were goin' through."

"We- um, thought that... just saying that we, um, forgave you would... be enough..." whispered Fluttershy, still holding onto Rainbow Dash. As Fluttershy's voice trailed off, Pinkie Pie continued Fluttershy's thought.

"But feelings aren't that simple," Pinkie added, her voice slightly lower and more serious than usual. "Not everyone can just laugh their problems away or forget about them just because their friends think everything's alright."

Rainbow Dash looked around her, realizing that she was going to have to contribute to this mushy discussion about feelings and emotions at some point. Figuring that it was probably best just to get it over with, she sighed and cleared her throat nervously.

"We really meant it when we said we forgave you, honest," began Rainbow, her voice quavering a bit, "but I guess you weren't ready to hear that yet, huh?"

"As your friends, we should have advised and comforted you in a way that would help you, rather than throw a bunch of quick-fix solutions around," continued Rarity as she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight looked at Rarity, then stared down at the ground.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that I said all those horrible things to you," answered Twilight, her eyes filling with tears. "And there's no way you could've known how to help me either. Even though we've been friends for a while now, I-I never opened up to you. I never shared what kind of person I really was on the inside. S-So, I've been a pretty horrible friend..."

"Nonsense, sugarcube," replied Applejack. She walked up to Rarity and Twilight, who was now bawling her eyes out, and embraced them in a hug.

"Sure, we'd love to get closer to ya, but ya shouldn't feel forced to open yourself up. That's something ya gotta do at your own pace."

"Th-Thanks, everyone," sniffled Twilight, wrapping her arms around Applejack and Rarity. At that moment, Pinkie Pie burst into tears and dashed towards them.

"Waaaaahhhh! Group hug!!!" cried Pinkie as she somehow stretched her arms around all of them, her hair beginning to inflate back to its regular shape. Fluttershy then stood up and walked slowly towards the group. She paused for a moment and turned back towards Rainbow Dash, motioning with her hand to invite Rainbow Dash to join in. Rainbow, at first, was reluctant, but she finally gave in and got up. She and Fluttershy then embraced the other girls.

Twilight smiled as she was surrounded by the warmth and kindness of her friends. Then, as everyone separated themselves from the hug, Twilight looked towards Sunset Shimmer, who was still curled up on the stairs. Twilight walked towards the red-and-yellow-haired girl, then tapped her on the shoulder. Sunset slowly lifted her head from her arms and looked at Twilight, revealing the tears that had been streaming down her cheeks this whole time.

"Twilight, I-I wanted to help you through your problems," hiccuped Sunset as she continued crying, "but all I did was talk about my own past instead of addressing yours. I-I was thinking so much about how similar our experiences were that I didn't think about the fact that ultimately, we're different people. I'm not you, and you're not me. We both deal with problems and stress in our own ways, a-and I was just so selfish and-"

Sunset was interrupted as she was pulled up from the stairs by Twilight. Twilight shook her head.

"It's okay, Sunset," reassured Twilight. "I think I should've listened to you more as well. Though we are different people, we do have similar experiences. And you weren't being selfish; I can tell that you really do care about me." She smiled warmly at Sunset, who couldn't help but flash a smile of her own.

"Thanks, Twilight," replied Sunset, hugging her friend gently. At that moment, the rest of their friends came in and embraced each other in yet another group hug. Rainbow Dash, who was dragged into the second hug by Applejack and Rarity, faked a cough and laughed shyly.

"Err I'm not exactly the hugging type..." said Rainbow Dash, nervously. "Can we all just agree that we all messed up big time and that we all forgive each other? That is, if Twilight is alright with it..."

"Haha, don't worry Rainbow," giggled Twilight. "I think we've done enough apologizing for one day." With that, everyone laughed and let go of each other. Sunset wiped her tears from her eyes, then looked at Twilight.

"So where'd you go yesterday?" inquired Sunset. "We couldn't find you again during school."

"Yeah, and we tried calling your cell after class, but you didn't pick up," added Fluttershy. "We thought maybe you didn't want to talk to us anymore..."

"Of course not!" exclaimed Twilight. "You see, what happened was-"

"Ooh! I know!" shouted Pinkie, interrupting Twilight. "After we left, you tripped and fell through the Wondercolt statue, and then you met the Twilight who lives in the other world along with an alicorn princess who could enter nightmares, so you went to sleep and defeated Midnight Sparkle in your dreams, except Midnight escaped into the real world, so you and the other Twilight blasted her into an exploding ball of light!"

Everyone else stared at Pinkie Pie with shocked and confused expressions, their mouths hanging open. Finally, Twilight spoke up.

"H-how did you know all that?" stammered Twilight.

"Just a hunch~"

Author's Note

Thanks to everyone who read and finished my story! This is my first fanfic ever, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought and provide any comments/criticisms you may have for me. Thanks again!