"All parameters optimal, commencing final test sequence. Current time is..." Twilight looked at the clock. "Twenty-three fifty-eight. Estimated calibration time, one minute and thirty seconds. Estimated run time for the first scan..." She looked at her papers again, moving a strand of her hair out from her face. "Four hours. All clear." She let go of the recording button, drawing her face away from the microphone, then flipped the switch in front of her.
Behind her, the coiling mass of wires, metal, glass and plastic began to hum and buzz, multicoloured lights flashing in preprogrammed patterns as electricity coursed through the machine.
Twilight let herself go limp in her chair. "Looks like it's finally done, Spike," she said before yawning.
Spike snored on the ground in a corner of the laboratory, oblivious to the technological marvel slowly coming to life at its centre.
Twilight smiled fondly while looking at him. "Yep," she continued, mostly speaking to herself in hushed tones. "Took a little more time than I should have, but it's finally done. I can't wait for all the things I... I..." She broke into another, louder yawn, throwing a wistful glance at the empty coffee jar on her desk. "Should have restocked," she muttered.
A ding sounded from the control panel in front of her, waking her from her state, as behind her the machine's buzzing settled down into a quiet, almost melodious vibration, the lights dimming and vapour flowing out of the opening hatch.
Glancing at the panels glowing in front of her eyes, she brought a hand once more to the recording button, speaking into the microphone again. "All parameters stable. Optimal conditions for the scan." She took a deep breath. "Commencing test run number one."
As her hand left the button, Twilight's chair slid back, grinding on the floor. With vaguely waving steps, the short distance between the machine and the desk was covered, an arm reaching out to grab the pod's door for stability. A moment later, Twilight stepped in. She laid on her back in the padded metal cylinder, flipping the switch on the side to let it tilt backwards until it was horizontal and parallel to the ground. Then her arms moved up to her head, and she adjusted the helmet above it, making sure all the sensors were in place. Finally, the visor was flipped down, and the earphones moved to their designed position.
Worst case scenario, the thing would catch on fire and the sprinklers would go off, and she'd wake up drenched. And a test run was necessary anyway. With one last deep breath, Twilight relaxed, and activated the device. As the humming of the cables around her grew just a hint louder, she focused on the sound of the outside rain beyond it, and closed her tired eyes.
"Hello, Twilight."
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, struggling a moment to adjust to the bright sunlight coming in through the window. She felt weirdly tired, like she hadn't slept as much as the evident passage of time suggested, sore in places, seemingly wet in others and all around oddly uncomfortable.
"Long time no see," the voice continued.
Twilight's eyes snapped fully open. She froze there, adrenaline wiping away all the tiredness from her body but the shock keeping her locked in place for the moment. She tried to speak, but only a couple of raspy grunts came out.
"Oh. I expected some form of greeting, you know? We've been separated for so long, we have a lot to catch up on. Aren't you going to say hi to an old friend?" From the screen in front of her, the unwelcomely familiar shape of her own face, twisted by magic, stared back at her, her eyes piercing purple dots in glowing pools of light cyan.
"You!" Twilight finally managed to say, her tone harsh and throaty.
"In the flesh." Midnight looked over the virtual projection of her own body. "Well, circuits and data, actually. And it's all thanks to you, Twilight." She gave a large smile to the other, unhealthily wide, looking like she was about to burst into laughter.
"But... How?" Twilight asked after a moment, still breathing heavily, as her mind raced to find an explanation.
"I told you that I would always be a part of you, didn't I?" replied Midnight smugly.
Confusion on her face, Twilight leaned a little forward. "But I defeated you!"
Midnight smiled again, a hand on her hips, as she waved a finger from side to side with the other. "No no no, dear. You never defeated me. You created me!"
Twilight drew back, swallowing to try to calm the burning dryness in her throat.
"Sunset was right, you know?" Midnight continued, "There never was a Midnight Sparkle. Only you. Until you chose the contrary, that is." She distractedly studied her fingernails, then with a flip of her hand lengthened them a little, in what looked like a mass of glowing light blue voxels covering her fingers for a split second.
Twilight swallowed again, struggling to internalise the reality of the situation she was in. "You... You'll never escape from here! You won't hurt my friends, and you won't take away their magic. We've stopped you once, we'll do it again!"
"That time at the Chroniathlon hardly counts." She looked up to see Twilight's confused expression. "Oh, sorry. I meant the Friendship Games. I've been installing language packages."
"I... What... You..." Twilight's eyes darted madly across the screen. "You have access to the internet?"
"Mi pare ovvio." Midnight stopped, frowning in though for a moment. "Yeah, okay, I'll need to fix that."
On the verge of hyperventilating, feeling as if her head was about to explode, Twilight had to force herself to take slow, deep breaths, even if it made her throat ache. Having calmed down somewhat, and deciding it was the best place to start, she once again asked, "How?"
Midnight smiled, seeming satisfied by the question. "As I said, Twilight, all thanks to you. And this machine of yours." She vaguely pointed around herself. "Your experiment went flawlessly. You just forgot to account for my presence. I can't blame you, you did choose to keep me hidden and locked up." Her smile grew wider, and she finally began to laugh. "But now I'm free! Oh, we're going to have so much fun together, Twilight."
Twilight looked down, trying to get a grip on the situation, slightly disturbed by a light buzz in her ears and by the strange feeling that she was missing something obvious. "It doesn't make sense," she thought aloud, "you were created when I lost control of the magic I'd stolen, you shouldn't be here now. It must have been a stray spark of magic that ended up in the circuit. Oh, this is bad, if you end up stealing away the magic we have now then-"
"I don't care about magic, actually," Midnight cut in, now lying on her back. "Not that much anyway."
Twilight looked back up, startled. "But..."
"But why?" The virtual projection rolled around to lie on her belly. "Because you don't care about magic. Not enough to be obsessed by it, at least. Because you have accepted that part of yourself, so it's no longer part of me."
Twilight stared at her, as realisation began to creep into her mind.
Midnight moved a little closer. "You couldn't accept what you'd done as your own actions. So you created me. Only in your mind, of course, and I would have stayed there had it not been for this."
Twilight looked to the side, her breathing slow.
"It's not just magic anymore," Midnight explained, sitting up. "I am everything you wish to be but are too scared to. I am every dark hidden corner of your mind, every wish and desire you don't accept as part of yourself. I am your every secret want, I am the side of you you hide from the world in shame." She leaned towards Twilight, her tone growing louder. "I am the you that's free from the burden of your morals, because it's not a problem for you if I'm something other than you." Midnight smiled again, warmly this time. "I see all of you, Twilight. And you see all of me. And I understand you. You don't have to be afraid of judgement with me." She held her digital hand forward. "I can give you everything you want."
Twilight kept her gaze to the side, her face flushed. "I won't allow you to hurt them. I... I won't allow you to do this. This is not who I am."
"As I have just told you, it is, and nothing good will come if you deny it." Midnight got back up. "Still, it's the same to me. You can't stop me."
Twilight snapped back towards her. "I can stop you. And I will!"
"Oh, really?" Midnight began to play with a strand of her hair, grinning. "Why don't you start by getting out of this then?"
Twilight moved to exit the pod, then stopped. Her determined expression fell, leaving behind wide eyes and a half-open mouth. "What have you done?" she asked, almost a whisper.
"Oh, I think you know what I did. Pretty well in fact."
"No..." Twilight began to breathe faster, shaking her head.
"Yes. You were the one who built that system, after all-"
"That thing didn't work, it-"
"You never finished it. You left it uncompleted, on purpose, because you were afraid of what you'd do if it worked. And you made that part of you a part of me," Midnight finished, interrupting Twilight.
Twilight shut her eyes. "That's not true."
Midnight gave an amused groan. "You can't lie to me, Twilight. Literally, your brain is still hooked up to the scan and I have a copy of it running parallel as a double check. But besides that, I am you."
Twilight swallowed, and looked back at the screen. "What else have you done?"
"More than you can imagine." Midnight snapped her fingers.
Twilight inhaled sharply, a shiver running through her as she was finally allowed to feel the cool air over her naked skin. Speechless, she stared at herself, down to her legs and thighs. Her first instinct was to cover her breasts and sex with her arms, but something held her in place.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Midnight let her eyes wander over Twilight's body. "I had quite a bit of fun with that, you'll have to wash that screwdriver's handle." She coughed. "And sorry if I kept you working early in the morning, I needed help setting everything up, you'll probably need to drink some water later. Still, imagine all the things we could do with this. No one will be able to stop us."
"My friends will," defiantly replied Twilight.
"Not if we take them first." Midnight conjured up a control panel, beginning to flip switches on it.
"I'll never help you."
The projection looked up. "Let me set this straight, Twilight. The choice isn't between helping me or not. It's about whether or not you want to do it willingly. I can make you do anything, remember."
Twilight grit her teeth. "Then make me."
Midnight giggled. "I won't. I don't need to, you know?"
"And what makes you think I'll ever agree to help you?" asked Twilight, crossing her arms below her chest.
"Because, Twilight," replied Midnight, vanishing the control panel in a flutter of voxels, "this is what you want."
Twilight turned her head away from the screen, trying to slow her breathing.
"Just think about it." Midnight moved closer to the screen. "You could have anything you want. You could have all your friends on their knees before you, you could do anything you want with them. You could control anyone. Cinch. The Dazzlings. The other Twilight. I know what you want, Twilight. I know all the dreams you are ashamed of having. We can make it all a reality."
Twilight's breath was quicker now, and heavier. "Why don't you just get it over with and force me? Why are you doing this?"
"Because I am you. And I want you to be happy. I know how much you want this, Twilight. You don't need to hold it back anymore."
"No." Twilight shook her head, despite her ragged breath and the goosebumps over her body. "No," she repeated, despite the blush spreading over her face and chest. "I won't do this. I won't. I won't do this to them. I won't. I won't. I..."
"Perhaps you just need a little more convincing. Let me show you something."
A whistle sounded in her ears, and a moment later Twilight's mind was flooded with dozens, maybe hundreds of scenes. Brief flashes, only fantasies, the scenarios too wild to be memories, but all feeling real to her. Visions of her and her friends, and of others she knew, doing things she'd only ever dared to shamefully dream of. Empty eyes and droning voices, and the knowledge that she was in total control of everything, that she could bend each and every action to fit her will.
It only lasted for a couple of moments, and soon she was back to being aware of her surroundings. Painting heavily, sweating, her face reddened, her nipples stiff and her nethers moist, shivers running down her spine, shaking, goosebumps on her arms and legs. Tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "Don't make me do it," she pleaded, barely a whisper. "Not like this. Force me if you have to, but not like this."
Midnight spoke, her tone warm, "There is nothing to be afraid of. There is nothing to be ashamed of. This is who you are."
Twilight looked up, still quivering. "I don't want them to see me like this. I don't want them to know."
"We can make them accept you. We can make them love you. We can make them worship you. I have a plan, and the means to realise it. Nothing will stop you this time." Midnight held up her hand again.
Twilight seemed to calm down a little, as tears began to streak her cheeks on their own. "Promise me you'll take the blame if things go wrong."
"I am you, Twilight. But for what it's worth, I will. They'll even believe it I'm sure." She smiled at the other. "If it can help, I can make it a little easier for you."
Twilight swallowed. "Can you really?"
Midnight nodded. "But only if you want to. I'm not letting you off the easy way here. This is your choice. This is what you want."
"This is who I am," Twilight replied, nodding along. "And I have to accept it." She looked to the side again, breathing heavily. "How do I know the game wasn't rigged from the start?"
"You don't. But if you've already lost, what's the point in fighting back?"
Twilight breathed again, as the visions she'd been shown danced in front of her eyes. She had no way out. Things would go the same way, whatever she chose. Why bother fighting back? Because it was the right thing to do.
But she couldn't lie to herself. Whether she'd been conditioned into it or not, it didn't matter. She wanted it. She wanted it more than she'd ever wanted anything in her life. It made her head spin, and her heart race, and she felt like it would consume her. It was shameful, and wrong, and it disgusted her. But she wanted it. And to think it could be hers...
"Do it," Twilight said in a single, sharp breath.
Midnight smiled.
Another buzz in her ears, where the headphones still were. Twilight felt something inside her shift. Her shame was reduced, smothered. Her regrets and second thoughts vanished. The part of her that screamed that what she was doing was wrong was sealed and locked away somewhere dark in her mind, where she could not be heard. A tide of excitement rolled over her body, and she smiled, giving a low exhale. Then she looked up at Midnight, licking her lips.
Midnight grinned back at her. "Ready to go, Twilight?"
"Never felt readier in my life." She chuckled. "This would be pretty useful for taking tests."
"I'm sure it will be. Now if you'll excuse me, one more thing before we go." Midnight looked at herself in a mirror. With a clap of her hands, parts of her dress fell away, and her chest grew a little larger.
"Seriously?" asked Twilight.
"You would do the same. We're each other, remember?" Midnight looked at her.
Twilight rubbed the back of her head. "Guess you're not wrong there."
Midnight chuckled. "I left your clothes on the desk. The door is locked, Spike has been fed, and your friends' messages taken care of. I told them you would rather be alone for today, so we'll have time to work on a couple of things."
The pod began to shift position and open, and Twilight stepped out, turning to look at the way the machine had been connected to her old and previously interrupted experiment on hypnosis. "Sunset will find out if she gets too suspicious and decides to use her powers. And she might notice something is wrong."
"That's why we'll take her first," Midnight replied from the computer on the desk.
Twilight looked at her for a moment, a smile slowly curving her lips. She walked to the desk, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerated compartment below it and taking a long sip. "Better get to work then."
