Filly Twilight's merry and crazy adventure Chapter 4

Meanwhile, in Canterlot the Mane Six (minus two) and Spike finally were admitted into the throne room of the palace. During their trip, they were repeatedly delayed. First, their train had to stop, because the tracks were in a serious state of disrepair, then there was a recent cave-in at the tunnel that leads through the mountain to the city, blocking the train's path. After that, when they reached the station before they could've got off, everypony was thoroughly (and slowly) questioned and checked, apparently not that long ago a thief started pickpocketing the travelers, which caused that everypony had to be checked, before entering the capital properly.

Once they were done, they slowly but surely made their way towards the castle, through the bustling streets. Upon reaching the palace, they thought that from there it would be easy, but there were a lot of petitioners who sought an audience with the Princesses and since there was no sign of a world-ending event (yet), they had to wait.

Even now, they only got in because they bumped into Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, who decided to pay a visit to the Princesses to discuss a few things and when they saw Spike and Twilight's friends, they decided to help them out and get a private meeting (to the great annoyance of the other ponies, including Prince Blueblood).

But, at long last, they were in and the group from Ponyville hoped that the Princesses could help their friend. As they approached the thrones, then bowing in respect before the rulers of Equestria, Celestia spoke up, in her usual gentle tone: "Please, rise my little ponies."When the four Element Bearers and Spike did so, Celestia continued: "Now, what is it that brought you here so suddenly?" Asked she, then noticing the absence of two Bearers: "And why is that Fluttershy and Twilight are not with you? Are they alright?" Finished she, concerned for their wellbeing. She knew that if Twilight felt that something important came up, then she too would've been here to inform her personally. She also would've sent a message through Spike beforehoof about their coming. She could feel that something was wrong and a sense of worry started to creep its way into her heart but kept it in check.

The ponies and the dragon exchanged a few glances, then they all stepped forward and began to explain how Twilight became a filly again and why she didn't come with them, and their hope that the Princesses may know how to turn her back. Once they finished their explanation, Princess Luna looked to be deep in thought, then looked up and began: "We sympathize with you, but do not fear, we shall do everything in our power to help turn back Twilight Sparkle! Right, sister?" Asked she confidently, but her sister did not respond. Princess Celestia currently had a fearful expression on her face, she also looked unusually pale (given that her coat was white, to begin with, it was NOT a good sign). The five friends and Princess Luna then noticed that Shining Armor and Cadance had the same reaction as the solar princess.

Still, fearfully Celestia asked, she noticeably had to work hard to not stutter: "You said that Twilight was also acting like a filly, forgot most of her life, but her magic didn't diminish with her age and size?" Forced she out, obviously, she hoped that one of them would say that it's just a joke, but their expressions told her everything, her nervousness now even more visible. Meanwhile, the others could see that the silent confirmation made Shining Armor start to tremble, while Cadance was sweating and sporting a worried expression.

"Sister! Cadance! Why has the news caused to you three such a fright?" Asked Luna with concern, the others voicing their own concerns as well. For a few seconds Princess Celestia sat silently, contemplating how to answer, until she took a deep breath to calm down and spoke, turning to the dragon in the room: "Spike, how much do you remember of Twilight from before her mid-teen years?" Asked she.

"Not much, just that she studied a lot and stuff like that, but Twilight is always doing that." Said Spike, having a hard time to remember.

"Not surprising, you were still very young back then." Said Celestia, then looked at the entire group and began to explain: "You see, even as a young filly, Twilight was very curious and her love for study and learning new things was astounding. And like other fillies at her age, she ended up getting into trouble and causing a mess despite her good intentions." She explained, then after she got a series of nods, she continued: "However, as her entrance exam proved, her raw magical potential was greater than most adult unicorns, because of that the accidents she unintentionally caused were also bigger.

"Like at the "Lesson Zero" incident?" Asked Rarity.

"Yes." Said Shining, who heard about that event. "Once, when she was learning about bugs, she tried to make an ant grow bigger, so she could inspect them better. But the spell not only hit one ant but instead an entire anthill, growing all of them to the size of medium-sized dogs. Then another time when she was reading a Daring Do book, she accidentally summoned a beast from it. There was also that one, when a spell of her made almost every inanimate object in the palace come alive. I still can't pass a candle without getting nervous." Said he, then visibly shuddered, which earned him confused and weird looks from the others. "Let's just say that candles are quite pyromaniacal, I've got burns at very sensitive places and leave it at that." Said he while blushing.

"And those were the lesser ones. There was so much property damage, that we had to make a fund specifically to fix the things that got damaged in Twilight's accidents" Added Princess Celestia with a serious expression. Then Cadance gave her own two bits: "I liked her since the first time when we met and it never changed. But still one of the reasons why I became Twilight's foalsitter was because nopony else could keep up with her. She never meant bad and every time whenever these things happened, she felt terribly bad and for days she apologized for the smallest of things when she did or thought she did something wrong. At times she was not even aware that she was casting, just had a nightmare or got scared from something and her magic unconsciously reacted. Or just her hyperactivity combined with too many sugary treats that made her rash." Explained she gently, getting surprised looks, "It is quite common amongst unicorn colts and fillies with unusually big magical reserves."

"But aside from that one time, why didn't we ever saw her acting like that?" Asked Applejack curiously.

"Twilight pretty much grew out from those habits during her mid-teenage years. At that point, she focused nearly all of her energy on studying, while being very careful with her magic." Said Cadance, getting nods from them.

"I am sure you remember when that Ursa Minor attacked Ponyville." Spoke Celestia suddenly, addressing the group, who shuddered at the memory of the huge beast. Taking that as a yes, she continued: "That was a good example of just how powerful Twilight truly is. The reason why you don't see it that often is because, for one, she is modest, but more importantly because she is consciously suppressing her magic, even when casting, out of worry that she may accidentally hurt somepony or damage something. I think her habit to repeatedly check out a plan and always doing her best to follow the rules to the letter, come from there." Finished Celestia with a sigh.

As the group digested what they have learned about their friend, suddenly Rarity spoke up with dread in her voice: "And we left her there with the CMC, with only Fluttershy to watch over them!" Exclaimed she, causing the others to pale as well. They already knew what the Crusaders were capable of, now with this new knowledge, they could understand much better Celestia's worries.

Rainbow Dash, doing her best to look unconcerned began to speak: "Oh, come on girls! We are talking about Twilight! What's the worst that could've happened?" Asked she with a strained smile, hovering before one of the windows.

At that moment, there was a huge explosion, shaking the entire room. Looking out the windows, they all could see a big column of fire from the direction of Ponyville, as dark storm clouds began to form and spread out in all directions. Everyone glared at Rainbow Dash, who looked sheepish.

Soon, the group from Ponyville and the Princesses set out towards Ponyville via sky chariots, having no time for the train. After giving some orders to the guards, Shining shortly caught up to them, and now they were landing, just at the edge of the town. They could only watch in fear of what happened to the place. The sky was dark with storm-clouds, monstrous bird-like creatures further darkened the sky, looking for prey. The houses were trashed, some burning, creating an ominous glow in the gloom. Huge spiders and other monsters were running all around, causing mayhem and causing the ponies of Ponyville to run around screaming. There were also dark crystals and thorny vines, adding to the dreadful atmosphere even more.

Shaking off their stupor, the heroes boldly made their way into the town, the scenery becoming more ominous with every step.

"I still can't believe that Twilight could do something like this!" Said Rarity with worry, the others nodding in agreement.

"It is worse than anything else before." Said Cadance, shaking as she looked around. Soon, they reached an area with numerous cages, filled with scared ponies. As they began to free the captive ponies, they came across one very special. They could only gawk at the miniature Nightmare Moon and Sombra, who soon noticed the new arrivals.

"It seems we meet again." Said Sombra with a scowl, while Nightmare Moon and Luna were watching each other suspiciously.

"Aw, look at them! They are so much cuter when they are smaller and don't try to kill us all!" Exclaimed Pinkie gleefully, pointing at the two young villains and cooing. Sombra watched her antics for a few seconds before he facehooved and audibly muttered: "It's not enough that I am trapped in this form and this cage while waiting for our impending doom, but I have to live with the knowledge that I have been defeated by idiots." Finished he with a sigh.

Hearing his words, Rainbow flew up agitatedly to the cage. "Oh, it's on! I don't know what you're up to, but you will not get away with it!" Declared she, the others having similar thoughts.

"You think we did all of this?" Shouted Nightmare incredulously, her eyes wide with disbelief as she continued: "It was that purple devil and those other three, why else would we sit here?! She is completely crazy!" Exclaimed she with a mixture of anger and fear. The others were taken aback by her outburst, then Celestia stepped forward and asked: "What have exactly happened here? And how is it that you're alive? Not to mention her." Finished she, pointing at the filly Nightmare, who was looking at her with a scowl and rather childishly blew a raspberry at her. Celestia decided to ignore that and focused her attention on the unicorn colt. He sighed and then began to explain: "Some of the books from my personal library somehow ended up in her possession. One of them was holding a spell with the purpose to resurrect me in the event of my defeat." Said he, as he looked with a scowl at the ponies (and specifically that dragon and pink princess who delivered the means of his defeat) who he recognized from that day, then with a sigh he continued: "But as you can see, not everything went according to the plan. When they have casted the spell, they accidentally brought her back too and now we are both stuck like this." Explained he, then pausing to see if they were getting what he told them.

After getting some nods, he resumed his talking: "In regards of what's going on around, the dark magic, that they used all day overwhelmed them, and before we could've escaped, they trapped us here before running off to do who knows what." Said he, eyeing the street leading towards the center of the town warily. The heroes were unsure if they could trust their words, but before they could've voiced their doubts, Sombra suddenly spoke: "We don't have too much time before THEY come back! Let us out from here!" Exclaimed he, his calm demeanor from before gone, looking back at the group fearfully. Slowly, the group moved to open up the cage, then watched carefully, as the two jumped out and slowly approached them.

However, there was no time to talk, because suddenly they heard snickers coming from above. Looking for the source of it, they soon noticed a dark cloud, hovering above them. On said cloud was the CMC, looking down at them with wicked smirks. But now they looked completely different: Their coats got a darker hue, Scootaloo now had bat-like wings, Sweetie's horn was pointier, their new cutie marks clearly visible to the assembled group, and last but not least they all had sharp fangs in their mouths, their eyes were slitted and had an eerie red glow, shadow-like wisps flowing from the corner of their eyes. The group could only look in fear and horror at the corrupted fillies.

"Great Celestia, Sweetie Belle! What happened to you?!" Exclaimed Rarity, looking as their evil smirks widened, before Sweetie spoke: "Oh, we just got our Cutie Marks." Purred she, as the trio showed their marks. Then Scootaloo continued: "However, we can't let you try to stop us. We have far too much fun!" Finished she, then the fillies laughed evilly again.

"Apple Bloom! You and your friends will stop this nonsense in this instant!" Shouted Applejack angrily, Rarity and Rainbow voicing their agreement, while completely missed the increasing fear on the two small villains' faces. Soon the group saw why, as the fillies playfulness gave place to bristling anger, then Apple Bloom angrily shouted: "You can't order us around anymore! It's time to show what we are capable of!" Exclaimed she to her fellow Crusaders, who nodded and flashed a cruel smirk towards the group, then their eyes narrowed and the three moved into action.

Sweetie's horn glowed with dark power and suddenly an army of golems in various sizes appeared, now their rock-like bodies were burning with green fire, slowly marching towards the enemies of their mistress. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom with impressive speed concocted a potion, which she then threw at the ground, where moments later huge plant monsters grew rapidly from the earth, their thorny vines flailing wildly, their heads resembled venus flytraps, their green glowing eyes watching the group hungrily. During that, Scootaloo took flight and began to pull clouds together, then shaping the cloudmass into a big, floating rune, which soon began to emanate a red glow. She then gave to it a big buck, which with a loud boom began to rain fireballs towards the group.

Needless to say, the heroes began to run for their lives, trying to escape from the assault of the evil fillies. While Shining and Cadance did their best to shield the group from the deadly rain from above, the others tried to fight off their pursuers, but for every golem they struck down, two more seemed to appear. Seeing the vines getting closer to their group, Spike breathed a burst of fire at the insidious plants, and for a second it seemed to work, as the vines recoiled in apparent pain, however before he could've enjoyed his success, Spike heard that the plant monster let loose a blood-chilling screech, when he turned Spike saw that the monster was glaring at him furiously, which caused him to smile sheepishly before he started to run again while screaming in fear.

"Do something already or we will die!" Demanded Nightmare fearfully towards the other alicorns, while they kept running.

"I don't see you offering up anything helpful!" Shouted back Luna, just as scared as the rest of them.

"We have to cleanse the three from the dark magic's corruption! Without their reinforcement, we can finish off the rest of these things... I think." Said Celestia, hesitant at the end. Sombra, who was clinging to her back spoke up: "I think I've got a plan! But do you trust me enough to give it a chance?" Asked he seriously. After a moment of hesitation and barely avoiding a vial that exploded not far from her, she responded: "We don't exactly have a choice. What is your plan?" Asked she, then Sombra began to explain to them his plan.

The CMC watched the chase from their cloud seat, from where they kept up their firing, the cloud was pushed by two bat-winged pegasus golems. But suddenly Rainbow flew up to the cloud's level, using her unmatched speed and skill to dodge the various attacks and once she was high enough she blew a raspberry at the devious trio, then she proceeded to throw taunts at them and shaking her behind. The fillies didn't take it kindly and commanded the golems to move faster, while they focused their attacks on Rainbow.

"I don't like this plan!" Exclaimed she scaredly, doing everything she can to stay alive. The first step of the plan required somepony to make the Crusaders angry then baiting them to the point where the next step will be prepared, Rainbow was chosen for her skills in flight and annoying others. Now she was regretting that she has agreed.

The chase has continued for a few more seconds before a magical blast from Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon destroyed the cloud beneath the fillies, who then began to fall. As it was happening the others too sprung into action. Shining, using all of his power conjured up a shield that pushed back the golems and the plant monster, then focused on keeping it up when they tried to break through the shield. As they were falling (and screaming), Sweetie regained her wits first and began to gather rocks with her dark magic and melding them into a platform, but before they could've done anything else, a lasso came and caught the three of them and proceeded to pull them downwards. Once they landed on a mattress that Pinkie brought from somewhere, the fillies quickly found themselves bound by rope, thread, and party streamers. They struggled to break free, but before they could've made any progress Princess Celestia and Cadance teleported before them while lighting their horns, and the trio was engulfed in a blinding flash of light, earning a scared scream from them.

Once the light faded the reassembled group looked at the CMC, cleansed from the corruption, lying unconsciously on the ground. After a few tense seconds, the fillies stirred and began to sit up while groaning: "Uh, my head. What has happened?" Asked Apple Bloom, while she held her head in her hooves before she was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug from Applejack, her two friends soon found themselves in the same situation. Once everyone calmed down, the heroes explained to the confused fillies what have happened. After the explanation, the fillies were shocked and horrified by their actions and apologized to everyone for what they did.

"I'm so sorry big sis, while we do not always get along well I love you and... and... " Sweetie hiccupped, tears trailing down on her cheeks.

"Don't worry Sweetie Belle, you weren't yourself back then. Now everything will be just fine." Whispered Rarity gently, hugging her sister closely. A little bit away, a similar touching moment went down between Apple Bloom and Applejack. Scootaloo sat beside Rainbow, trying to say something, but couldn't so she just looked at the ground sadly. At least until Rainbow pulled her into a hug with her wing, surprising the filly.

"Don't worry Scoots, it was just that crazy dark magic that made you do those things. So it's okay, we are cool!" Said she to a hopeful Scootaloo with a reassuring smirk.

"Thank you Rainbow Dash! You're the best!" Exclaimed she gratefully.

"Besides, " Continued her idol, "I must admit, you three looked kind of cool and badass." Said she matter of factly.

This first confused the filly, but when she registered the "compliment" from her idol her eyes widened and she asked excitedly: "Really?!" At which she nodded, ignoring the glares from others, who did not agree with her point of view. Then Scootaloo began to explain to Rainbow about their Cutie Marks and the cool things they did (before things went downhill). Meanwhile, the others freed the rest of the imprisoned ponies, including a particular yellow pegasus.

"I'm so sorry. If I would've been more watchful, it would've not happened." Said Fluttershy timidly, feeling responsible for all that has happened, but the others were quick to reassure her that they didn't blame her and the Crusaders stepped forward and apologized for putting her into the cage and for everything else. There was also a blue-coated unicorn in a witch hat.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is grateful for being saved from that dreadful cage!" Exclaimed she in her usual, dramatic way.

"Wait, how exactly did you end up here, to begin with?" Asked Spike suspiciously, eyeing the unicorn who started to sweat as she tried to come up with an answer.

"Trixie merely was at the wrong place at the wrong time!" Said she, trying to sound confident, then she quickly went to change the subject: "But there are more important things! Now that the Princesses are here, no doubt soon they will put an end to this catastrophe, so there is nothing to fear!" Exclaimed she, looking at the Princesses.

"Yes, we must act before more ponies get hurt, or worse." Declared the Solar Princess, still worried as she looked at the rampaging demon hordes not too far away. Sombra stepped forward and spoke: "True. Our only chance is to confront Twilight Sparkle and stop her before we get overwhelmed. But it won't be easy, she is incredibly powerful and the dark magic only makes it worse. We will need every possible help if we hope to succeed." Finished he seriously.

"Okay, let's go fight with the dark magic empowered crazy Twilight with unimaginable power and her demon armies with minimal chance for us to survive! Who is with us?!" Exclaimed then questioned Pinkie Pie the freed ponies excitedly.

"Everypony for themselves!" Screamed a scared Trixie who threw down a smoke bomb, then began to trot out of town as fast as possible. The other freed ponies were quickly followed her example, leaving only the original group only with Fluttershy, the villain duo and the CMC, the yellow pegasus herself looked like she too wanted to join the other ponies seeking a hiding place.

"Good work Pinkie. That was really encouraging." Said Rainbow sarcastically to the hyperactive pony, who grinned sheepishly, while Sombra just facehooved, while muttering: "It seems we have to do this on our own. Great. just great." Said he with a sigh.

"We will help in any way we can!" Declared Apple Bloom with her friends stepping forward, determined, when the other ponies wanted to protest, she raised a hoof and spoke: "We know that it will be dangerous, but you will need every bit of help. Besides, it's partially our fault too, so we have to fix it!" Finished she resolutely, her friends nodding in agreement. The others wanted to protest, but in the end, they had to admit that the fillies provenly could stand their ground and it wasn't like they could send them home with the entire town wrecked, they reluctantly relented. The fillies cheered, glad that they could help as the group turned towards the direction of the Golden Oaks Library, but when they saw the terrifying demons ahead, they felt that maybe they haven't thought this through. But at this point, there was no turning back.

The ponies and a single dragon made their way towards the library, using any cover they could find to avoid the confrontation with the demons. Sombra pointed out that a fight would quickly attract the other demons' attention and they would be overrun within moments. So they moved as stealthily as they could, luckily the demons were enough distracted by trashing the town to miss them. There were a few close calls, but with their combined skills they quickly and silently knocked them out.

As they finally reached their destination, the heroes froze from the sight. As the storm kept brewing above, a fiery portal in the shape of a rift was visible, the various demons came in a seemingly endless stream. The tree library was even bigger than before, it's trunk turned black, while amongst the leaves they could see as the branches formed a throne. On the throne sat Twilight, her coat a darker shade of purple, eyes burning with dark magic, while her mane became fire. Meanwhile, books with bat-like wings were surrounding her, while she was reading one, around her more demons could be seen, looking out for any possible threat to the filly who brought them here.

After taking a breath to steel her nerves, Celestia stepped forward, the others following closely as she called out: "Twilight Sparkle!" While Sombra cringed at her revealing their position, but she ignored it and as the filly looked up from the book at them, Celestia continued: "You must stop this madness, please!" Shouted she, hoping against hope that her words would reach her and snap her out from it.

The demons readied themselves to engage with the intruders, but Twilight motioned them to stand down, then she looked at the group with a devious smirk, showing her small fangs, and spoke: "Stop it? I am afraid I can't do so, not until my plans are fulfilled!" Said she, her voice enhanced by the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"And what are you planning?!" Asked now Princess Luna.

"Princess Celestia always encouraged me to make some friends! Now with the help of my friends here (pointing at the demons around her), I will be able to gather all the books of the world and read them! It will be so great!" Exclaimed she in excitement, then let out a burst of evil laughter.

Seeing that they won't be able to convince her with words, after looking at the gathered ponies, Celestia looked back at the corrupted filly with a serious expression and spoke: "Then you leave us no other choice, we have to stop you!" Then the group rushed forward. However, the demons also weren't slouching and quickly moved to engage with them. The Princesses and Shining have lead the charge, blasting away the hordes of demons while using magic shields to protect themselves and the others. Pinkie was hopping all around, staying out of reach from her pursuers, sometimes causing them to crash into each other. Rainbow and Applejack were close to each other, seemingly competing in who could take down more of the attacking monsters. Rarity stayed close to Fluttershy, doing her best to keep the attackers at bay, until one of them was able to push her to the ground, however, before the demons could've grabbed her Fluttershy came forth with her Stare at full force, chastising them for acting like bullies, picking on those smaller than them, who flew away as fast as they could. Meanwhile, the CMC and the former villain duo teamed up, doing their best to help the others.

Cadance made an attempt to fly up to Twilight and use her love magic to cleanse the effects of the dark magic, but more enemies appeared forcing her to retreat, while Shining stopped their assault with a shield, then used it to push them back. As the fight was raging on, Twilight resumed her reading, seemingly uninterested in the fight, while some demons brought her books, scrolls, and other sources of knowledge. However, when she was about to shift her focus on a new book, it was hit by a stray magic blast, turning it into ash, causing her eyes to widen in shock and horror.

Seeing this, the demons who until now were attacking the group without fear or hesitation, now began to backing away nervously. The heroes felt a chill run down their spines, when Twilight's shocked expression became enraged, her form burst into flames, directing her furious glare at the ponies below.

"You ruined my book." Stated she with a normal, almost calm voice. Then,: "You ruined my book!!!" Exclaimed she with unimaginable fury, as her horn lit up with great intensity. Everyone in the group felt that their hearts skip a beat, as large fissures opened on the ground, spewing up lava, while meteors began to fall from the sky. A cyclone began to form, the heroes doing their best to not be blown away by it. The demonic gateway rapidly began to expand, until suddenly the humongous rift in the sky began to expand, at its edges spiderweb-like cracks started to spread, as more of the sky fell apart in the wake of the ever-growing portal. As a seemingly endless army of demons started to come through, the heroes suddenly found that they started to rise up from the ground, struggling against the decreasing gravity.

As they tried to regain their footing, a sound drew the group's attention. When they looked up, they screamed in terror. Ahead of them, Twilight was floating with her back turned towards them, however, suddenly her head turned unnaturally towards them, while her body beneath her neck stayed in place. Her entire form was emanating an aura of dark magical fire. Then the rest of her body turned as well and the maddened filly with a demonic screech began to unleash a barrage of destructive magical attacks, forcing her opponents to run for their lives while screaming (or at least tried, it's hard to run when your legs can't touch the ground).

As they did their best to escape the hailstorm of deadly magic, Rarity screamed: "I am too beautiful to die like this!" "Me too!" Added Cadance, her eyes wide with panic.

"If we survive I give up on my Eternal Night plan!" "If we survive I give up on the Crystal Empire!" Screamed the villainous duo in fright, when the others gave them strange looks Nightmare explained: "There is no way that we will get out of this alive, so why not?!" Suddenly, the group found themselves cornered, monstrous creatures all around while Twilight's menacing form came ever closer.

"Rarity, if we die I want you to know that I have always... " Began Spike, but he couldn't finish as Twilight began to gather her power to obliterate the heroes, causing them to scream while huddled together waiting for the end.

However, before the end would've came a new voice shouted: "Twilight Twinkling Sparkle!" Everypony turned their heads towards where the shout has come from, as Twilight (still burning with dark power) asked in surprise and anxiety: "Mom?! Dad?!"(?) They were indeed her parents. Twilight Velvet and Night Light, seemingly ignored all the chaos around them and began to march towards their daughter as Velvet began: "When I first heard that you were causing trouble I didn't want to believe it, and now we found you here unleash the apocalypse!" Exclaimed she sternly, as Twilight slowly lowered to the ground, while her father added: "We are very disappointed in you Twilight! I thought better of you!" Said he in a calm, but stern voice.

"But... " Began Twilight, but Velvet interrupted: "No buts missy! You're in big trouble!" Shouted she, as the group watched the scene in disbelief. One of the demons stepped forward and spoke: "Miss, I think... " However he couldn't finish, as Night Light fixed him with a hard glare and said: "You should stay quiet otherwise demon or not, I will spank you so hard that you won't be able to sit down for a week." Stated he calmly, but with steel in his voice. It made the demon back away looking nervous. Meanwhile, Velvet continued her lecture: "Now you will clean up this mess in this instant!"

"Yes, Mom." Said she dejectedly, then with a flash of light from her horn everything turned back to normal, she included. Then she turned towards the demons and began: "Sorry guys, but you have to go." Said she apologetically.

The demons looked dejected but did not argue and all of them began to go through the portal. As one was about to pass it looked back at Twilight and smiled at her: "It was nice to see you Twilight! See you again at the next apocalypse!" Said he, then he too went through as Twilight waved to the retreating demons. Once the last too left, the portal shrunk until it disappeared completely. Turning towards the still flabbergasted ponies (and one dragon) she began: "I'm so sorry everypony." Began she sadly, tears forming at the corner of her eyes while her ears flattened against her head.

The group slowly nodded, still trying to process what just have happened, but could see that she truly felt bad about what happened. Velvet spoke softly: "I know that you didn't mean this to happen, but you have to face the consequences of your actions." Then hugged her, the white mare's gaze softened as she whispered soothingly: "Shh, it's going to be all right. Just make sure that it won't happen again." To which Twilight could only nod, returning the hug.

"What has just happened?" Asked Sombra in disbelief, he was sure it would be their doom, only to suddenly all be resolved as if nothing would've happened. The others too felt confused, while Sombra and Nightmare groaned when they remembered their vows about giving up on villainy, knowing that trying to go back on their words would be like tempting fate. It would be a bad idea. Meanwhile, the Princesses were thankful for Shining Armor's idea to notify his parents about the situation. Also, while everyone was slowly coming to terms with what has happened (and their near-death experience), Night Light slowly walked up to them and began: "Sorry for all of this. I have no idea what may lead my daughter to do this."

"I am sure that she didn't mean to do this." Said Fluttershy, unable to stay angry at the purple filly.

"Fluttershy is right! It was no doubt that awful dark magic that made her do it." Added Rarity.

"Yeah! It can really mess up one's mind!" Joined in Scootaloo, remembering how it felt while being under its influence, the other Crusaders supporting their pegasus friend's words. Night Light smiled gratefully at those words, then spoke in confusion: "I mean, we did everything to raise her well." Said he, as he pulled out a photo album and opened it up so the others could see it, as he continued his explanation while pointing at the pictures:

"We made sure that our foals get the best of what we could afford." Said he, the picture showing the family in a shop, which was barely lit, the shelves filled with dark and sinister objects and books, a jar of eyeballs in one corner, while tomes of dark magic laid in heaps in another. The front of the counter had an upside-down red pentagram, while on it were pony skulls of various sizes, as well as shrunken heads and voodoo dolls hanging from the ceiling. The owner of the shop was a brown unicorn stallion, whose left eye was bigger than the other, had a hump, and lost most of his tooth, making what appeared to be an inviting smile rather creepy. Little Twilight on the picture mostly ignored the atmosphere of the room in favor of reading one of the books (which seemed to have been bound in pony skin) to notice it, while a young Shining could be seen looking at a sleeping bat curiously.

Then Night Light pointed at another picture: "We encouraged her to expand her horizons and try out different things." Explained he, as the group saw young Twilight in her room, lit by some candles, as she leaned over what looked like a rat skeleton, its bones held together by Twilight's magic. In the picture Twilight at the moment held a piece of bone in her telekinesis, brows furrowed in concentration while trying to figure out where did the bone belonged on the little corpse, like a morbid puzzle. Besides the little unicorn was a book, its title saying "Necromancy 101".

"We even took her to my class reunion, so she could meet new ponies." Told he with a fond smile, the picture showing a big room decorated in a gothic style, some candles providing minor lighting in the gloom. The room was filled with numerous ponies wearing dark hooded robes, on a long table were cookies in the shape of bats, spaghetti resembling spiderweb, and a bowl of red liquid (which the onlookers inwardly hoped was only punch). Night Light and Twilight Velvet (wearing the same robes), were introducing some of the robed ponies to young Twilight and Shining, who also wore fitting robes, looking around seemingly more curious than scared.

The entire group (sans Shining) had a look of bewilderment on their faces, which the stallion didn't seem to notice. The alicorns turned to Shining and Princess Celestia asked/demanded: "Why didn't you mentioned it to me?!"

The stallion looked confused for a moment before he spoke: "About dad's class reunion? Just our parents and their acquaintances exchanging stories, eating, and drinking some punch. It was quite plain and normal all things considered." Said he with a shrug, completely missing their point. Then he noticed another set of photos and spoke with an excited smile: "Oh! I remember these. When I was still learning at the Royal Guard Academy, one of the yearly training camps were canceled because most of the other recruits (and many in the staff) got ill. So at mom and dad's suggestion, I went to a different camp."

With a nostalgic smile, he pointed at a series of pictures. One showed Shining mingling with a bunch of demons, monsters, and some other ponies (other attendants) in a camp setting, but the buildings were carved from stone, the ground had small areas of dead grass, the sky was orange, skulls, bones, and dark fires served as decorations all around, and there was a dock made of volcanic rock... right at the shore of a lake of MOLTEN LAVA!. Another showed him at a table with several demons crafting mugs and sewing small tablecloths. There was one in which Shining was in a kayak with a pony shaped demon, who had bat-like wings, two devil-horns and fangs, and a yeti with eyeglasses, braving the lava lake with a daring look on his face. The next showed him and the other campers around a big campfire, roasting marshmallows and big chunks of burned flesh, the stallion seemingly oblivious of his fellow campers' choice of food and more concerned about eating his marshmallow before it could fall off the stick. There was a group photo, with all the campers together, all of them smiling, with a tall gargoyle, who had rocky skin and wore a scout-master uniform, with the fiery lake behind them.

At one picture he spoke up: "The "Blowing things up", was one of my favorite camp activities! Ah, Camp Tartarus, good times!" Said he fondly, showing a picture where he with some others launching arrows, rocks, and destructive spells at set up targets (or random rock formations, and others stuff with target marks painted on them). Everyone could only watch with disbelief and bewilderment until Cadance suddenly spoke up with a thoughtful expression: "This would explain the dark ritualistic setting, the bed looking like an alter with red glowing symbols and the strange tattooed tribal ponies chanting on a demonic language on the first night of our honeymoons." Said she, then after getting incredulous looks from the others (minus Shining and his family), especially from the Princesses she quickly explained: "I thought it was just some kinky foreplay!" Defended herself the Princess of Love. The others (again minus the Sparkle family) sweatdropped and collectively facehooved.

Two weeks have passed since the incident in Ponyville and after Twilight was turned back, things seemed to be back to normal, or rather to the normal level of craziness (it's still Ponyville we are talking about). Twilight felt very bad and was willing to take any punishment for her actions, however, the others have forgiven her and decided that she would only have to do some community service. Some of the nobles felt that she deserved more punishment, but the Princesses had none of it, and after some time the nobles relented(since none of them dared to try to actually do something to the purple unicorn, being too afraid of her and what she could to them if they tried).

Sombra and Nightmare Moon were staying in Canterlot, under the watchful eyes of Princess Luna, who after some thinking took it upon herself to help the two former villains to be reformed and use their abilities for good (using Discord as a possible example). They weren't too happy about it, but after Luna said that she could arrange a little get together for the two with Twilight and the Crusaders, making the two (who after witnessing what Twilight was capable of felt it was in their best interest to stay away from her) more cooperative.

Shining and Cadance returned to the Crystal Empire. Cadance was a little bit worried after she has learned the "uniquity" of the Sparkle family, but some explanation from Shining (and some private "demo(n)stration) helped to ease her fears (and gave her some "ideas" to try out in the bedroom).

The CMC also were forgiven, after some community work (and being grounded for two weeks), which the fillies took without much complaint. Or it was almost everypony who forgiven them, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tried to bully them, but since they have finally acquired their Cutie Marks ( "At least something good has come from that mess!" noted Scootaloo) the Cutie Mark Crusaders were able to mostly just ignore the two snobs and their petty insults, and the two were too afraid to try anything else (having a big, intimidating alicorn golem can be quite convincing).

Now, the Mane Six (minus Twilight) and the CMC were on their way to the library, idly chatting about random topics. But once they entered the library, they could only gawk at the scene within: Various demons and monstrous-looking ponies were sitting and chatting, Spike sitting on a chair and eating gems, sometimes glancing at the other occupants nervously, but mostly was calm and enjoyed his treats.

"Were you girls messing with dark magic again?" Asked Rainbow curiously, looking sideways at the trio curiously.

"No! We are clean, we swear!" Stated Scootaloo, her friends nodding in agreement, the trio was just as shocked by this as the others. Before anything else could've been said, Twilight came from the kitchen, in her levitation carrying some refreshments.

"Hey girls, I am glad that you were able to make it!" Said she cheerily, walking to her friends and ushering them inside.

"Twilight? What is going on here?!" Asked Rarity, as they sat down, glancing nervously at the assortment of creatures who looked at them curiously, but not aggressively.

"Well, you see, after things calmed down I had time to think. In my younger years, I have got to know many of them." Said she, gesturing at the demons, then she continued: "But as you know, I was so focused on my studies, that I didn't care too much about friendship. But since I have met you and learned about the magic of friendship, my life became so much fuller. The event two weeks ago helped me to remember them and the times we spent together and wanted to get to know them better, as friends." Explained she, looking softly at both groups.

"Aw, thanks Twi. It's really good to see you again. Living and working in a library, it's so you!" Laughed the succubus pony, who had two horns, a thin tail, and bat-like wings, but had the form of a very attractive mare. Twilight's friends looked at each other, unsure what to do, but soon Spike spoke up: "I know it's strange, believe me, but when they don't try to destroy the world, these guys aren't that bad. And they gave me these tasty, orange and black stones, what's are they called again?" Asked he one of the big demons.

"Inferno Stone, they can be found in the depths of Tartarus, the heat it radiates makes it hard for some beings to touch it without getting burned." Explained he, as Rainbow curiously tried to take one of them, only to pull back her hoof with a yelp.

The five mares and three fillies looked at each other before Scootaloo spoke up: "Eh, we could give it a try. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened to us." Said she with a shrug. The others slowly nodded, seeing (and couldn't really deny) her point. So the ponies sat down and began to get to know Twilight's guests.

"I must say, your clothing looks very good on you. Hmm, also I don't think I recognize the material used to it. What is it made of?" asked Rarity from the incubus stallion, who wore a red and black jacket.

"Oh, it was made from NightWeb Spider silk, they are hard to find and even harder to survive the encounter with them. Some of the adults can be bigger than a grown-up pony." Explained he, while Rarity shuddered at the mental image of humongous spiders, but he quickly continued: "But, while acquiring the silk is admittedly a dangerous quest, if one can succeed and survive the encounter, it would be worth it. This silk is incredibly soft to the touch and yet it is very strong and once treated properly it can withstand nearly anything without damage. Or spots." Added he, while extending one of his forelegs, so Rarity could get a feeling of the jacket, said fashionista soon finding herself marveling at the properties of the silk.

At the table, somehow the talking between Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and some of the demonic guests turned into an arm/hoof wrestling competition. Said mares kept up rather well against their opponents, much to their shock.

At the side, Fluttershy was talking with a big figure, he seemingly had grey bark instead of skin, his hair and beard were made of leaves, his eyes glowing with a green light. Also, he had spikes standing out from his back, his hands and legs ended in sharp claws.

"Our cousins, the ents mostly just tend forests and let time to go by, while we are more active and can be more territorial. I mostly spend my time in the Darkwood Wilds, where I have built a shelter to take the various injured creatures to help them recover. Admittedly, it isn't always simple, when I was tending a Flamehide Salamander I had to make sure that nothing caught fire, but it was worth it to see the little girl so happy!" Explained he, showing a picture of said firey reptilian, causing the shy pegasus to gush in adoration.

"And this is my pet spider, Shelob." Added he, showing another picture, this one showing a huge, hairy spider next to Lumberbeard, causing the pegasus to pale at the sight, but after a few seconds, her love of fauna overcame her fear and listened curiously to the tree-like being.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was eating snacks, until she noticed one of the demons eating a glowing cupcake.

"Wow, what are you eating?" Asked she, eyeing the dessert curiously.

"Oh, this is a little sample of demon cuisine. It was baked in hellfire, flavored by the sweet blood of the Sugar Toads, and was sprinkled with the Soulshards of the Forever Damned." Explained he, as he took a bite from one of these cupcakes.

"That sounds awful and very evil!" Exclaimed she, looking at the cupcake with shock.

"Hey! Don't judge until you haven't tried!" Told the demon with a shrug, looking at the pink pony lazily. She glanced at one of the treats with hesitation, but in the end, her curiosity won and slowly she took a bite from it with a reluctant face. It quickly disappeared, replaced with a huge grin before she quickly devoured the rest of it and turned to the demon excitedly: "Could you share with me the recipe and how to obtain the ingredients?!" Asked she with puppy eyes. Said demon laughed at her change of hearth and eagerness, as he began to explain more about demonic cooking.

"This is so strange. I mean, a little while ago we fought against each other and now we are all sitting here, having a tea party of all things!" Voiced her thoughts Applebloom, sitting with the other Crusaders, looking at the demonic figures awkwardly, unsure how to feel about it after they helped to nearly bring the end of the world.

"Eh, no hard feelings! It wasn't personal, just business." Said one of the demons, who waved off the matter with a clawed hand, then seeing their confused faces he elaborated: "Bringing chaos and destruction to wherever we go is done mostly to maintain our image of evil and terrifying beings who should be feared, to discourage others from summoning us, mostly so we would be left alone." He explained.

"Why is it?" Asked sweetie Belle curiously.

"Because usually those who have the guts to summon us are jerks, who use magic to enslave us and forcing us to do their bidding. I am sure that none of you would like to suddenly find yourselves at some unknown place and a weird cultist or someone like that demanding to obey them and aren't hesitant to tormenting us with painful spells, feeling that since we aren't one of their kind, it is okay to do whatever they please." He told them angrily.

"That's horrible! Those ponies sound like Diamond Tiara. If I would be forced to obey her orders, I too would like to unleash the apocalypse!" Said Scootaloo with agitation.

"And not only we are forced to obey those bastards, but sometimes the tasks could be so annoying or humiliating. Many times we are summoned to destroy our summoner's enemies, help dethroning rulers or just simply cause mayhem and random destruction, or other fun and exciting tasks, which isn't that bad. But some summon our kind to clean up their home or bring them a book or something. One of my friends once had to clean a series of toilets which weren't cleaned probably since it was made! I mean seriously!" Exclaimed he incredulously, waving with his arms comically. The fillies ( and some of the others who heard the discussion) looked at him in shock and disgust.

After the group shook off their shock, they resumed their friendly conversations and having fun.

Just another crazy day in Ponyville... (and probably not the last...)

The End

Author's Note

And done!
Sorry for taking so long with the last chapter.
Thanks for reading and have a nice Day/Night!