A World Forged at Midnight

Chapters

The Regent endures
Eternal Midnight
Dear Princess...
Midnight Studies
A Fateful Return
Verify your Clock

The Regent endures

Time was running out. I could feel it. I sensed their return drawing ever closer. Yes, soon... soon they would rejoin us here, in Holy Equestria, and lead us anew. The regal sisters would bring about our great salvation, and they would see all that we have done.

But not enough had been done yet.

Still many hurdles stood to oppose friendship, harmony and our unnegotiable drive for peace. Wars were waged throughout the world for petty goals, dictatorships oppressed the masses... and some regimes were outright despicable with no right to call themselves anything more than pests.

Something had to be done about these obstacles. If friendship was to endure, they would need to be dealt with, and fast. Luckily, I now have all the power in the world to take on that charge myself.

"Spike!" I cried out as I trotted through the castle. There were small, neon discharges of magic whenever I placed a hoof on the floor, looking similar to small lightning. "Spike!"

Much had to be done still. And with so little time now before the return of the Princesses, it was sure to be a close call. So many loose ends, so many opponents to our ideals still... and yet, my number one assistant was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry, Twilight!" I heard, my head snapping towards the set of doors to the map room as the little dragon came barging in carrying several scrolls. "I was just making sure that-"

"You're late!" I barked back, a stomp of my hoof sending a shockwave through the room which sent my prior friend tumbling onto his rear.

"T-Twi, I was just-"

"You are meant to be my number one assistant, and yet you would let someone like me wait!? Is your best friend, the mare who raised you from birth, not worth the effort!?"

I watched the dragon cower as he grabbed several scrolls - now spread out all around him after being knocked over - and hiding under them until only his eyes were visible.

"Being tardy... a dreadful crime against friendship!" I decried. "But from you!? Whatever happened to your loyalty! Your honesty! When friends make an appointment and need one another, they arrive on time, because anything else is an immediate show of neglect!" I raised a hoof at the dragon, causing him to cover his eyes as my neon-glowing hoof pointed straight at him. "You have failed friendship when I most needed it!"

"T-T-Twilight, wait!" came the reply from the purple creature. "This isn't right! I grew up with you... you can't-"

"Oh, I can. And I will!"

My former companion's eyes grew double their normal size as my brightly lit horn began to emit an ominous sound as I poured energy into it for what was to come.

"Twi, remember who you really are! Please!" begged the traitor. "Remember true loyalty! True friendship! Remember Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and all the rest of the girls!"

The glow and sound coming from my horn subsided as I stared at Spike for a few seconds. He seemed frozen in place, perhaps hoping he had struck a nerve of some sort.

I cocked my head to the side, the energy flowing back into my horn.

"Who?"

His mouth opened in seeming shock and disbelief. Perhaps he meant to say something but didn't find the words. It was irrelevant.

He gasped as he was grasped by a magical aura, lifted up from underneath his hoard of scrolls. His feet wiggled back and forth as if trying to find a footing.

"T-Twi, I'm begging you! Snap out of it!"

I took a heavy step forward, the ground fizzling as if electricity had just discharged. My eyes were sternly upon him, my horn beginning to glow as I scoffed.

"And to think I kept you so close for so many years. I trusted you, Spike. You were my prized assistant."

"I still- argh!"

He gasped and choked as my magical aura visibly tightened. Like a noose, it closed in around his neck, his two claws grasping at it helplessly, but there was nothing material there for him to get rid of.

"You betrayed me. You betrayed friendship. Was 30 seconds of your time too much to ask, Spike? Was I not worth your time, after all? A true friend is generous and donates whatever time is asked to their friends, and he doesn't selfishly spend that time only on his own affairs."

"T-Twi... gah!" struggled the treacherous creature.

The magical noose tightened. I stared at him with the same stern, unwavering determination as before. My objective was clear, even to him, but only now did I realise he was so vividly opposed to it. Opposed to harmony and friendship, opposed to even the royal sisters.

"If you would betray the friend of a lifetime, then you truly are not meant for friendship."

The scaled beast briefly stretched an arm out towards me, as if trying to signal something to me. And it did, as I tightened my grasp around him further. Immediately the hand shot back to his throat. He gasped, but eventually even his gasps failed him. His pupils grew wide as he choked.

"If you are not a friend, then I bid you farewell at long last."

His movements grew sluggish and minimal as his strength gave out.

"Traitor."

There was only silence as his arms dropped down to his sides, limp like the rest of his body. His head slowly dipped forward as the dragon's fire was finally put out.

I stood defiantly in front of him, unmoving. A part of me was deeply hurt. Watching his form like this, still airborne and in my grasp, I wondered where things had gone wrong.

When had Spike decided to turn his back on me? How deep did his treacherous line of thought go? Why did he do this to me, the Princesses, to everypony? Was he really such an ungrateful creature, in the end?

Perhaps. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought, in the end. I should have kept a closer eye on him, and shouldn't have trusted him so carelessly. That was the old me, though. The me from before I rose to the challenge of ruling in the Princesses' name over all of Equestria. Before I chose to defend Harmony and Friendship by all means necessary, and uphold Equestrian values to the end.

I was a fool then. But now I was enlightened and ready. Ready to go to the ends of the world, to breach the very gates of Tartarus, in the name of our holy principles and majesties. Nothing and nopony would stand in my way until the task was done.

I let go of my treacherous, former assistant and averted my eyes before I heard his small form hit the cold floor. He had cost me precious time with his deceit and treason. The time to act was at hoof.

It was time to shroud the world in Midnight, so that the return of the sisters could bring about a new dawn and new world for them to marvel at. The end of the old, and the beginning of the new.

So let them come. Let them try to defy the indomitable power of friendship, and watch them suffer and fail in their fallacy. The fools among them would reveal their true ideals, and the traitors to peace, harmony and friendship would be found out with one swift stroke.

Time was of the essence. There was much to be done.

Eternal Midnight

I looked into the shimmering rift I had opened. A portal that would lead me across the continent with ease in an instant. Below me, I heard a choir of screams and shouts. My body was illuminated by neon-blue light coming from that very same direction.

I devoted no further thought or time to it, and allowed my blackened, magical wings to propel me forward through the portal. The travel was, expectedly, instant.

My hooves met the ground with a thud, followed by an electric fizzle as light blue magical bolts disperesed all around me, only to fizzle out before getting to anyone present.

A choir of gasps filled my ears from all sides. I heard a rattle as some readied spears or other weapons against me, while others fell on their behind in shock. I didn't bother with them, and looked only ahead.

"Who-" muttered Chrysalis, seemingly equally as puzzled as her servants and guards all around me. "Who are you! Answer me this instant!"

The changeling stomped one of her hole-filled hooves on the tower of rocks which was her 'throne', but I remained defiant, and began to approach her.

"I asked you a question! Answer me!"

"Stand back from the Queen!" a guard then shouted, readying his spear as he came close.

"I was looking to see if I could make a friend of you, Chrysalis."

The entire room seemed to be on pause as changelings looked at me, each other, and then their Queen for some semblance of guidance. Chrysalis seemed more insulted than confused, however.

"Fool! You think you can parade into my hive and make a fool of me!? Guards!"

The guard that had previously leveled his spear at me lunged forward, yet shortly before he would have made contact, a rift opened which sucked the bug inside. It closed just as easily as it had been opened.

I grinned, just as the rest of the changelings gasped yet again, while the soldiers present hissed and growled.

"Get her!" the Queen commanded yet again.

An entire swarm of royal guards jumped into action. Some of them I had already seen prior, positioned around the throne room, while others came crawling out of hollow spaces in the walls and ceiling like the insects they were. Clad in their emerald armour, they charged through the air with their fragile wings.

I looked at Chrysalis with an unmoving smile as I charged my horn. Even Chrysalis could hear and see it, and her head appeared to recoil in anticipation.

A purple sphere formed around me. Some of the creatures were not fast enough to realise, and hit the barrier head on. Their comrades watched in fear-stricken horror as their body was eaten up by a dark purple, bubbling shadow that crept up their entire body, gradually disintegrating whatever parts of the body it reached.

"What is... what is this madness!" Chrysalis cried out, clearly shaken but attempting to remain steadfast. She wasn't fooling me, or many of her attendants. "Stop her already!"

The armoured changelings were unsure how to respond as they simply hung in the air, their wings' buzzing filling the room. They didn't make a move, and so I obliged and did it for them.

With a simple, dim shine from my horn, the purple bubble expanded outward at rampant pace. The insects did not even have time to properly respond as they were covered entirely by the purple shadow. I didn't watch, my eyes still fixed on Chrysalis, but I heard and felt their bodies falling apart and turning into their base particles.

The barrier had stopped just short of the false monarch. She had covered her face, flinching in fear, but looked at me again when I dispelled the barrier. She looked desperate, her head flicking back and forth as she frantically scanned the room.

Nopony was there. Nopony except her and me.

"Y-You... who... what are you!?"

"You should recognise me," I replied. "A good friend never forgets about times spent together, after all."

The Queen blinked, her eyes again looking around the room before locking back onto me.

"What sick joke is this!?"

"You were there for my brother's wedding, remember?"

That, finally, seemed to have flipped a switch within her.

"You...? But you're..."

She stuttered as her eyes ran me up and down.

"It can't be! You're not-"

"Oh I am. I assure you," I interjected. "And I've finally come around to showing you the light of friendship."

Her head recoiled as her snake-like tongue hissed. "Ridiculous!" she shouted. "How did someone like you even get in here in the first place? My throne is meant to-"

"Your piece of furniture will not oppose the power of friendship, Chrysalis."

She flinched as my horn radiated with power yet again. Her eyes and head looked down, staring at her own feet as the throne began to glow in the same neon-blue as my horn. There was a gasp from her, and then a bright explosion.

***************************************************

"Wake up."

A quiet groan escaped the bug's mouth as she laid broken at my hooves.

"Wake up."

Her eyes opened, slowly, and looked upon my glowing hooves and purple fur. It seemed to take her a moment, but eventually her eyes shot open in realisation, and the insect queen crawled backwards a short distance until hitting a wall with a thud.

"W-What have you-"

She cut herself off as she saw for herself, glancing past me and at the place her throne had been. Now, it was smoldering ash. Little pebbles of stone remained, with most of her precious seat of power evaporated. She clearly intended to stand up for one reason or another then, but didn't have anywhere near the strength to do so.

"What have you done!?"

"Demonstrated to you the power of friendship and harmony, of course."

"You destroyed my throne! You killed my servants!" Chrysalis hissed, laying on her back as I towered over her.

"I dealt with traitors and threats to friendship. There is little to be mourned regarding them. If they would attempt to kill without question, then they have clearly forfeited kindness."

Chrysalis blinked twice, before shaking her head. "What are you saying!? You're not making any sense, and neither do your stupid pony morals!"

My face turned sour. A visible stroke of magical energy sparked from my left front hoof across the ground, meeting one of Chrysalis' rear hooves and charring it in an instant.

"Argh!" yelped the bug as she scrambled a little further up against the wall in response. "Whatever do you think you're doing? Do you want money? Fame? Prestige? Surely the Princess of Friendship already has all of that and more."

"I don't need any such frivolous things. Unlike most, I carry within me the virtue of friendship incarnate. I don't need to boast, because I am kind, I don't need-"

"Kind? Kind!? You wiped out the entire throne room without second thought!"

I scoffed at her interruption.

"A good friend is generous and kind enough to let their friend finish, Chrysalis."

"I am not your 'friend', and never was! I was a fool to believe Shining Armour's love alone would be enough back in Canterlot... I should have drained you, as well!"

Just as she finished, the insect found herself hurled against the wall by my telekinesis. Immediately after, a metallic rattle echoed throughout the now otherwise vacant room as magical chains materialised to bind her to the wall. She moved her two front hooves to aid herself, but at a moment's notice those were fixed in place also.

"I can tell then that you might not be redeemable even in the face of being offered true friendship."

"What friend, gah, barges in and kills dozens of my servants!?" questioned the queen as she tried to move her hooves to no avail.

"The friend who gave you a chance at redemption. However, since you seem so deadset on refusing, I might show just show you the fate of those who turn their backs on the Princesses and their holy rule, and all their virtues such as friendship and harmony."

"You're talking nonsense! Are you even listening to yourself anymore?"

"Nonsense?" I chuckled, and stepped aside to allow a rift to appear beside me. It cracked and ripped open into a full-blown portal... and through it, Chrysalis could see where I had last been.

The ruins of a city. Neon-blue fires, burning with the heat of the sun, tore through the last smoldering remnants of houses, with plumes of smoke filling the skies. Charred remains of traitors laid in the streets, unrecognisable now. Even they had underestimated the power and fury of harmony, and Equestria's drive for peace at all costs.

"This is the fate of those who cannot be redeemed. Those who not only turn their back to our divine morals and ideals, but who reject the possibility of redemption."

"You..."

Chrysalis' breathing became faster, her eyes locked onto the glorious display before her. It was a city now free of corruption and treason. Ponykind could rebuild here, and lay the foundation for a newfound destiny.

"You're insane. You're insane!"

"No. I used to be."

I closed the rift once again, and she seemed thankful about no longer being a witness to the advancement of harmony.

"Now I see clearly what must be done. I know the path set out before me, and I am ready to tread it until the end."

"You're absolutely off the rails!" denounced the queen in some semblance of continued defiance.

"No, it's you who strayed from the path. It is the hives you rule who, under your leadership, chose to absolutely, fundamentally reject Equestrian morals and ideals. It was you who turned them against us."

"What? That's not true! We were always-"

"And since you continue to stand by your decisions in the past, foolish as they were..."

She whimpered as she heard the now familiar sound of a portal opening up. She moved her head to look downwards towards the origin - where a portal showed a simple, black nothingness.

"W-What are you..."

"You refuse to adapt. You reject the truth even when it stares you down. You spit in my face when I offer you redemption."

I smiled, then grinned.

Justice was at hand.

"But I am kind, so I shall let you live. I am generous, and so I shall let you have all the time in the world to correct your mistakes and accept what is right."

I looked at the portal, Chrysalis doing so also, before she looked at me again with a mixture of fear and anger.

"Let me go this instant! This prank of yours has gone on for too long!"

I chuckled, my horn pulsating visibly, much to the building dread of the insect traitor before me.

"Let you go? Oh, very well then."

With a brief spark from my horn, my opponent was released from her restraints, the chains dematerialising just as they had first come into being. Chrysalis immediately fell, but to my surprise, she reached out for the edge of the portal and managed to hang on just in time before slipping through.

I stood still, looking down at her pathetic form and situation. She deserved this. Every little bit of it. An eternity to memorize her many mistakes and crimes. An eternity to redeem her mind. An eternity to suffer for all the harm she had done in her defiance against Equestria.

I raised my left hoof slowly, grinning back down at the desperate monarch. She wanted to speak, but the inner workings of the portal were pushing her downwards with great power as if she were in a wind tunnel.

"Enjoy your eternal midnight, majesty."

My hoof came down upon hers, removing it. Her cries from the other end were very brief, and she quickly became nothingness in the vast, black realm beyond.

The portal shut again. I was glad, but as soon as I intended to smile a new thought came upon me. The thought that there were still so many towns opposing me. The thought that there were entire nations living in absolute contradiction to our teachings and morals.

But it was no matter. A new portal opened before me, and I nodded once as I inspected what laid beyond. The image of Griffonstone's iconic architecture, and its inhabitants who were so utterly hostile and selfish. They would need a friendship lesson right away, and they would be more accepting than Chrysalis had been.

Or they would be sweeped from the face of the new world.

Dear Princess...

Dear Princess Celestia,

I continue to strive, at all times, to fill in your impossibly large hoofsteps. It continues to be such an immense honour, privilege and chance for me to be the pony to carry on your work during your brief absence. I suspect you will return to us soon, and so I, and all your devoted, faithful, loving subjects are striving to make everything just right for when you and your equally divine sister return to grace us once more.

Like I recounted to you during my last correspondence, my travels have been great, and are continuing without a hitch. After ensuring everypony in Equestria was truly accepting of friendship, of harmony and peace, I realised just how silly it was. After all, we have been surrounded, all this time, by creatures unlike us, who sometimes know nothing of friendship, or only as a means to an end.

Naturally, this is a terrifying prospect. How could we sit idly by while potential friends of tomorrow remain ignorant, sometimes warlike and hateful just beyond our frontiers or overseas? We already nearly came to blows multiple times with the dragons, buffaloes and griffons, just to name a few! No, something definitely has to be done about the situation now, not in 60 years or so.

I will admit, the changelings are proving... resistant, more so than even the griffons. Besides the fact that they are annoyingly hard to catch if they try to hide - and they do - thanks to their incredibly large and confusing hive constructs, they always try to mix in with my own ponies when we come to visit to evaluate their affinity for friendship. Thankfully, by now, I've managed to get a good eye for it, and can usually single out infiltrators of their kind without issue. Naturally, those who do that sort of stuff are irredemable failures in terms of friendship, but the rest... well, they try. Sometimes.

To be very frank and honest with you, the very concept is foreign to them. It appears they only ever knew subservience as a closest thing to friendship, so Chrysalis and her rule may have had a more lasting impact and influence than I would have liked, even if the changelings themselves keep insisting that their 'way of life' is based on their 'biology' and the need to literally drain love. Lies, of course! No creatures are put into the great, wide world, the likes of which you and your sister reign in and over, if they were so utterly, fundamentally opposed to friendship.

My efforts to bring them to heel - that is, to make them shed their horrible, disgusting way of life - are ongoing. I've been a little side-tracked by other duties and trips however, as my quest throughout the world nears its end. I've already met most world leadery by this point, from the young emperor of the griffons, or the various kings of Griffonia, to the various republics all around the empire.

My last visit was to one of those kingdoms mentioned prior. Wingbardy. Unlike the changeling lands, it at least looks good, so my hopes were high indeed for the upcoming friendship test. My arrival caused a little bit of commotion, but it was nothing I couldn't deal with in the blink of an eye.

Finally, I managed to meet eye-to-eye with their king, a certain Garibald Talonuel. The third... apparently. He seemed surprised, shocked even, to see me at first. I was even more surprised, then, that he asked me where his son was. Apparently he feared for him, and wanted to see him desperately to know he was safe.

We chatted for a little while after that, the king and I. It turns out the king was deeply worried about his son's well-being on a variety of levels. Apparently he already tried to drill friendship into him in his own way, to make him a fit successor to the throne. Currently though, he was apparently nothing more than a hedonistic couch potato. Hmph.

I have given the king my approval, but have dismissed the parliament that was in place in his name. A single glare into that room upon my entry had been enough to deduce it was filled with conniving, opportunistic, self-absorbed...

...with politicians, is what I mean to say. And like most politicians, the word 'friendship' is little more than a media stunt to please crowds and raise approval ratings. Not only do they not appreciate and live friendship, they spit on its good name by pretending they are nice and friendly! Hmph. It was certainly a relief to get rid of them.

I will be back in Canterlot soon for another project I am working on, one which I'm absolutely, 100% certain you and your holy sister will absolutely adore when you return to us soon. It will help everycreature and, if everything goes as I want - as you want - then it will change the world forever.

I yearn for your destined return, as always. Your subjects and I await you and Luna to take up your rightful places in Canterlot once more, and to begin a new age of peace and harmony for all of us.

Until then, I shall remain eternally,

Midnight Sparkle,
Eternal Regent of Canterlot.

Author's Note

So yeah, I've decided to elaborate on the story a little more after all, hence the now 'Incomplete' marking of the story. There's more to come, but consider this a little taste for now.

Midnight Studies

Time.

What was time if not the one thing that haunted every living thing? Some would say death was the thing that eventually knocked on everypony's doorstep, but was death itself not chained to the torment of time as much as us?

Perhaps. It was a worthwhile thought.

The Canterlot library was off limits to most ponies after the departure of the Princesses. After all, I could never trust anypony to come near such ancient literature which was often times personally reviewed by one or both of the royal sisters. They could damage them... or destroy them outright! Not to mention that witnessing such radiant glory - by proxy - was not their to bathe in.

Yes... only I, their personally chosen regent, was fit to stand up to their divine glory, if not with a graceful bow of my head. Only I was fit to read what was written. It was I, after all, who needed to know all that I could to advance and secure harmony and friendship. If anything or anypony obstructed me, then it might have severe consequences.

And so it was that I studied on my own, in the deepest depths of the Library - the restricted section. Nopony to bother me, nopony to interrupt my studies. Here, I could learn to advance friendship further still. To truly put my powers to use and create a world that was forever grateful and forever bonded in friendship.

My aquamarine magical aura shone through the room, both from my horn and glowing hooves. The fireplace opposite to the entrance shone in that same colouration, its fire burning with a bright blue instead of warm, crackling fiery red and orange.

Gradually the bookshelves began to empty. One after another, book after book I read, sitting at the table in the center of the hallowed, ancient chamber as a mount of literature grew behind me. Some pieces were of more immediate use than others, given how a few were mere novels or biographies, all mixed together with spellbooks and the like. It didn't make for a particularly easy or quick search.

Dozens, hundreds, probably close to a thousand books of varying sizes and ages gathered behind my back as I placed one finished read there after another. I skipped a few just from reading their names - a book on magical dental care was not what was needed, for example - but even so the process was taking ages.

Time.

There it was again. Every passing moment, every lost second grinding away at the mind, at the body and world at large. Every minute spent reading there, in the library, was a minute gone to waste. A minute that some creature would spend in error, hating another or worse. It was precious time that was fast running out.

I didn't quite notice at the time, but the light blue corona around my eyes had gone out at some point as I continued my studies, and my wings had folded themselves together against my body as I idled and chafed away, word after word. I didn't hate studying or reading, far from it, but now? Now was not the time to... well. Waste time.

A mixture of anger and desperation crept up inside me as I came across another nonsensical one. Something about taming timberwolves...? Gah.

I flinched and enveloped the dark green book in aquamarine. I was about to hurl it across the room, or perhaps toss it away through a rift... when I managed to let out a calming sigh just in time. No. No, I had to do things right, after all. This was the property of the holy majesties, and even as their regent it was not my call to demolish what they owned.

The book landed gently on top of one of the many piles behind me, and I moved the next one in front of me with a sizeable, audible groan. I cursed under my breath that I was under pressure to get this done in time, or else I would have taken far greater joy in all the literature.

The next book landed in front of me, and I furrowed an eyebrow at the sight. A pinkish cover and a silver cover art depicting a wreath normally seen only during hearth's warming eve. Sure enough, the title complied with the iconography.

"Hearth's Warming Eve: The Fated Holiday," I spoke aloud, repeating what was written.

I pondered, momentarily. It did seem interesting to give it a read but... it was quite clearly not what I needed. Then again, I couldn't take my eyes off it, and the tapping of one of my hooves could only mean...

Oh, fine.

Briefly, the book lit up in my aquamarine aura, presenting to me the first page of the first chapter. I took a breather and lowered my head slowly as I began to read.

It quickly appeared to me that the book was no ordinary tale. Indeed, it seemed to be the retelling of the original events that led to Hearth's Warming Eve, the unification of the three tribes.

Page after page I flicked through the read. Some chapters I skipped, but it was... odd, really. To read about a time before Equestria was... well, Equestria. Three tribes, disunited and at odds with one another. Yet they were all driven together by the threat of the Windigoes, by a common foe and threat.

"The foundation of friendship and harmony," I thought out loud as I read a passage about Chancellor Puddinghead.

To say I was not at the very least intrigued by the tale would be a lie. It was... interesting, in a way, to learn how the tribes truly found together, and just as the fillytales described, it was a unity born out of friendship. The very first time that friendship showed its magic and power, in fact.

And yet, was it not odd, in a way?

The three tribes had been so defiantly opposed to one another, to a point where someone lesser would have likely assumed they were never going to find true friendship between one another. Like the griffons of today, they were isolated, caring only about themselves, and blew even the tiniest grudge and slight out of proportion for self-gain.

Had ponykind really come such a long way? From humble beginnings such as that? I had always known ponies were not always united, of course, but to think they were this petty before? It... certainly seemed to bother me more than I would like to admit.

Ponies had been so self-absorbed and ignorant, and yet, they found unity, friendship and harmony with one another still. They elevated the holy sisters to the status of their rightful rulers, and with them they prospered.

But what did that say about... other races out there? Were the dragons not similar? The griffons, yes, even the changelings in part? There were so many tribes and species out in the world who were conniving and self-serving, whom I had, until then, put off as relatively hopeless failures. I had thought friendship could never reach their hearts.

Was I wrong? All this time? Puddinghead, Hurricane and Platinum were enemies, or at least rivals for quite some time, and they never needed violence to find a place together in the end. No friendship trials to decide whether the others were fit for friendship or not. It just... happened, it seemed. Sort of.

Ugh.

I shut the book and placed it off to the side, perhaps to continue my read later. I'd already spent too much time on it, more than I would have liked, and still hadn't found what I was looking for. All that thought about Equestria's founding had completely side-tracked me away from ensuring Equestria stayed united in the present day!

My horn buzzed, and the room brightened considerably as books flew out of their shelves all over the room and towards me, engulfed in radiant, blue magic of mine. They all gathered above and next to me, floating mid-air, as I passed one after the other in front of my eyes to quickly judge.

A Guide on exotic fungi.

A novel-sized read about Discord's reign of chaos.

A tale about Luna's banishment? Bah, what terrible heresy.

A... cooking recipe collection for meals including magical crystals...?

I grew a little... annoyed, passing one book past my eyes after another, with one topic being more annoying than the next. Truth be told, when first I discovered the restricted section I had assumed it was filled only with the most treasured, sacred, albeit dangerous tomes imaginable.

To say I was wrong about that was understating it now that I was looking at what seemed to be the fourth excerpt of some ancient 'comic book' series, or what compared to such back in the day. The pile behind me grew and grew, taller and taller, when...

...when I stopped.

*Thud*

Books dropped flat to the ground all across the room, the vibrations toppling a few of the taller towers my magic had constructed behind me. I cared little for it then, as my every sense appeared focused on what hovered in front of my eyes.

A tome, as ancient as most in this collection, with the bronze lettering on the cover quickly denoting the author. Starswirl the Bearded.

Jackpot.

I slammed the spellbook onto the table and flipped it open to the second next page. The contents page. A few seconds of scanning... and yes. Yes, there it was!

Aquamarine magic enveloped Starswirl's work as page after page rapidly turned over without physical interference. When the magic subsided, the tome presented one particular spell to me. The one thing that I was missing, still, in my work to create perfect harmony and friendship! A spell that-

"Regent!"

Sounds of hoofsteps fast approaching pulled me away from my destiny and towards an intruder. Who? Who would dare interrupt now of all times!?

"Regent!!" the voice called again. It was clearly a male one.

I frowned. Standing up on all fours again, I turned away from the table and allowed my horn to light up. A portal appeared a short distance in front of me, and just as the sound of hoofsteps from the entrance hall to the restricted section stopped, so did a guardspony charge out of the portal.

"Wh- OW"

I stood firm, unaffected, as the stallion ran straight into me. Shaking my head for a brief moment - as did he - I decided to stare at him. He seemed to come back to his senses gradually as his brain rebooted after the instant dimensional travel across the short distance.

"What."

I stomped the ground with one of my rear hooves and sent neon blue ripples of energy across the floor as if lightning had struck. The guardspony, upon getting back on all fours, retreated a few steps but visibly tried to straighten himself out.

"Regent, t-the... err..."

He winced as the fiery, aquamarine corona of a mask around my eyes flared back into existence.

"Speak. Now."

He gulped, opened his mouth to speak, and then gulped again. Briefly closing his eyes and moving his mouth as if silently saying a prayer of some sort, he finally spoke.

"The Princesses have returned."

A Fateful Return

Time.

Such a fleeting thing, no matter who or what you are. There's never really enough of it, it seems, and you always dread that fact.

I hadn't expected mine would run out that soon, though. Or, at least I had hoped I would have more time. Time to make everything truly right and perfect, and then things could proceed.

Time stops for nopony though. At least, not yet.

This would be it. The grand return of the holy diarchs of Equestria. The holy, royal two sisters returning to reclaim what was theirs.

I stood in front of their two thrones with a sense of pride and fulfillment, but equal amounts of dread. The thrones were theirs by right, and would surely bring about a great, new era for all of creaturekind now that the Princesses saw fit to grace us once more.

Yet... so much was still to be done. The changelings hadn't even been fully convinced about friendship yet, and there were still half a dozen griffon realms that I hadn't visited. Not to mention how we still relied on friendship camps all over Equestria because the ponies still resisted the message of friendship and harmony!

Now, despite it seeming like I had totally failed at doing all that I set out to do and coming short on all ends, I was not freaking out. To say that I was freaking out as I stood in front of the thrones of the two sisters, waiting for them to be ushered into the throne room, would be a total lie and my loud, heavy breathing was part of my regular breathing exercise regiment.

Still... a lot of fears and doubts crossed my mind just then. It had been years since the two sisters departed, leaving us - me - to fill in their hoofsteps and carry on an impossibly majestic legacy. It was their great test to us, their ponies and subjects, to see if we were worthy.

And... were we? I had certainly tried all that I could think of to accrue power and further friendship, had I not? Friendship was by far the most powerful thing in the world now, and that was all due to me, right? Still, though, things were moving along so sluggish, and I couldn't manage to make everycreature see things our way before their return.

My eyes widened as I eyed the two thrones from up close. A brand new thought crossed my mind:

Was I... going to be in trouble?

What if I really did come short? What if I had disappointed the two sisters and failed them? Would I be punished for my failures? Sent to the friendship camps myself? Would I be ripped of my alicornhood because I had claimed to act on their behalf but had failed so absurdly? Would I be...

*Sigh*

Deep breaths. Surely it wouldn't be that bad. I hadn't quite achieved everything I wanted, but that didn't mean I hadn't paved the way to achieve it. All we really needed was time now, essentially... and some magic, of course. Surely that wouldn't go unnoticed. Surely.

There was an ominous clack from across the room behind me, and I immediately turned to face it. The towering set of doors that separated the throne room from the hallway beyond sprung into motion as they slowly swiveled and opened. I immediately caught eye of the faint magical auras which had done so. Yes, it was certainly unmistakable.

I closed my eyes for just a moment and took a deep breath - again. I felt the corona around my eyes flicker and then wash away, just as my hawkish, black wings of magic folded up against my body. I had internally decided in favour of showing humility and subservience, as opposed to showing my own growth during their absence and showcasing the new power of friendship which I now embodied.

I opened my eyes again, and then it began.

Two sets of hooves, four each, clopped along and approached. The pace was extraordinarily slow, and every step muffled from the carpet laid out for them which led up towards their rightful thrones. Still... there they were. In the flesh, returned after all this time.

"Your majesties," I greeted simply, lowering my head in deep gratitude and appreciation for the two. "We have all been waiting eagerly for your fated return. Welcome home."

I heard them stop even as I bowed, but I dared not look up without some sort of prompt to do so.

It was my old mentor who spoke first, as she usually did.

"What is going on here!?"

The distressed tone of hers made me look up again, to see that both Celestia and Luna were hurriedly looking around the throne room, and the stained glass to their side as well. The room itself had been repainted a subtle purple during my regency, while the stained glass - previously telling partially a bunch of nonsense - now told of the glory of the princesses and my regency. A story of how equinity strived to achieve true friendship and-!

"T...Twilight!?" Luna remarked. I blinked back at her. "What... happened? To Canterlot? To Equestria?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but was again interrupted.

"And to... you?"

"Twilight?" asked Celestia, just passing her sister, with a hoof placed on her chest. "Are you... alright?"

I blinked again before cocking my head just barely. A cough cleared my throat before I finally had both the chance and words to answer.

"Of course! I've never been better!" I replied hurriedly, smiling, if not with a bit of faking, back at them from in front of their thrones. "I mean, you are back now, after all! How could I not be ecstatic!?"

"...Twilight, did... you get our note?"

Luna's voice made me blink into what seemed like empty space.

"Your... note?"

"We sent it to Ponyville before we left," Celestia clarified further. "Did you not receive it?"

I remained silent for a moment, raised a hoof to speak but didn't quite find the right words at first. I gulped, and finally managed to wiggle words out of my throat.

"Not to disagree with our holy majesties, but-"

"Holy majesties...?" Luna repeated with a furrowed brow.

"-but nopony in Equestria knew just why you had left. In fact, it was the majority belief you had left us to test us."

"Test you? Test you for what purpose?" Celestia asked. Both she and her sister seemed to have question marks plastering their faces already. I wasn't sure if that was necessarily a good or... bad thing, really.

"Why, our loyalty, faith and friendships, of course! To see how Equestria would do without your divine, wise leadership!"

I smiled proudly... but it was not met with the same thrill, quite on the contrary. The two alicorns seemed... concerned, or perhaps just confused?

"Twilight, we didn't 'test' anypony," Celestia explained slowly.

"We were on vacation, Twilight. We were in Zebrica this whole time." Luna spoke a little faster than her sister, but was clear as day - or night - in her speech.

"Just... what happened while we were gone?" Celestia finally added.

My heart must have skipped a beat or two as my head tilted itself sideways to such a degree that it must have seemed like my neck had snapped.

I shook my head and raised my head up once again and returned with newfound vigour:

"Ahaha~! I get it! You're still testing my resolve!" I chuckled, a lavender hoof covering my snout briefly. "Nice try, but I know for absolute certain that there is one and only one way forward for ponykind, which is through you and the ideals you've developed for millenia! No 'joke' could ever make me budge on that, haha!"

There was an eerie silence hanging throughout the throne room's tall halls, only occasionally broken by my half-hearted chuckles.

"I guess she really didn't get the note, then," Luna quietly said, though I heard her still.

"It appears so," Celestia answered, before stepping forward and looking up to me again. "Twilight?"

I calmed my nerves and straightened myself out. "Technically it's not... nevermind. Semantics." I sighed, deciding that talking about my name change was not worth the time just then. "Yes?"

"I need you to stay calm for us and answer our questions. Is that alright?"

I leaned forward to answer almost in an instant.

"O-Of course! Of course I'll answer you straight! I mean, how could anypony not be honest and upfront with their two goddesses, right? Right??"

The solar princess took a step back, her head slightly recoiling as I spoke. Was she perhaps... scared? Of me? But, I was her regent and student, was I not?

"Right. First and foremost, what happened while we were gone?" Celestia questioned. "Luna and I think we have seen certain... unsavoury things on our way here, but I like to think that was just migraine or something of that sort. So what is going on here?"

I nodded, then sighed.

"Well, after you left nopony knew where exactly you had gone, so there was a little bit of a panic going on in Canterlot. I was rushed in to fill your horseshoes without any real time or context to prepare, and so I suddenly dealt with an Equestria without its most beloved and eternal rulers in history."

I scratched my head with one of my blue-glowing hooves.

"Really, it took me months to put down all the petty revolts and-"

"Revolts, Twilight?" Luna interrupted.

"Ah. Yes, well, it quickly appeared that without you two, the concepts of harmony and friendship were threatening to break. The nobles in Canterlot, or the mayors and governors of cities and regions, they all thought I had 'usurped' your role and thrones and so plenty of them inspired ponies everywhere to rise in revolt."

The two alicorns still looked rather... unconvinced as they exchanged frowns.

"I'm not so sure if that's what-"

"But it gets worse!" I interrupted, this time. "Not only did they revolt against me - against your will and ideals - but they did so claiming to abide by friendship and harmony and peace! I mean, how dare they!? They can't possibly mean to defy their Regent and then claim to be pro-friendship! I am friendship!"

"Aha... and, I... assume that is why we saw the... um, a certain-"

"Oh, I assume you mean the friendship camps?" I returned to Luna, whose eyes widened in response.

"Come again?"

"The friendship camps! I institutionalised them as a means to try and redeem evildoers all over Equestria. It came to me after the first few revolutions and revolts, when I realised that the true way to unify society was to uphold friendship in the hearts of every pony, no matter how young or old or able."

The two sisters were left staring blankly at me for just a moment.

"But... Twilight, we saw ponies in chains. Ponies... bleeding and crying, being..."

"Killed? Yeah, sometimes the system has hiccups and ponies who are irredemable are sent to the camps. But our guards are stoic and do a good job at rooting out the ones that some lovely paperwork and scientific method can't catch on first try."

"T-Twilight, you're-!"

"Ponies are dying!"

This time it was I who furrowed a brow in return.

"So?"

"So!?" both blasted in direct response.

"They are traitors and unredeemable. Creatures who can't adapt and follow the guidelines of true friendship. And if they aren't able and willing to make friends... then they're villains. And since we've made enough mistakes in the past of letting irredemably evil creatures run wild to have a second chance at terrorising others, I figured the only and best course of action was to simply dispose of them. That way, only those who are proud, upright friends remain - I did the numbers, after all."

And again the two looked on in seeming horror. Luna seemed to want to step forward, but her sister extended a hoof to block her. The Princess of the Sun gulped, and spoke for herself.

"Twilight, I don't know what has gotten into you... but you have to snap out of this. Now!"

"Snap out of what?" I returned harmlessly and calmly. Celestia gasped quietly and took two steps backward as I unfolded my hawkish wings. "All I've done, and am doing, has been to advance your ideals, after all."

"By... murdering innocents!?" Luna blurted with wide eyes, her hooves stretching out a small bit as if entering a combat stance.

"You've caused all this... suffering, this destruction... in our name? How? Why?" Celestia wondered, her voice much quieter than her sisters. A fact that surprised even Luna herself who looked over to her with a raised brow.

"Why? Because everypony turned on you as soon as you were gone, obviously! Did you forget what I just told you?" I told the two eagerly. "The moment you left, everything you built fell apart! All the love and harmony, all the friends we'd made along the way... it all came crashing down! Was I meant to just sit there and let it happen!? Was I meant to let Equestria fracture and break apart!? And then what? Would the Windigoes come down from the frozen north to destroy us all?"

I didn't realise at the time just how loud I was barking back at the two divine rulers... or how the fiery, magical corona around my eyes had reformed, shimmering in a steady aquamarine glow.

"There was surely another way - assuming what you've said is even true!" Luna remarked.

My eyes widened, and I lifted a hoof as I tried to avert my eyes. No... surely she didn't mean to say...

"You think I'm lying!?"

I stomped the ground with force, sending ripples of light blue magical energy through the room like a shockwave. Both Luna and Celestia remained firm, though seemed only more concerned yet determined now.

"We know our little ponies, more so than anypony else," Luna insisted.

"They would never turn their backs on us like that. Not unless..."

Celestia paused, and drew breath. Luna whispered something to her in a hushed voice as she closed in next to her to comfort her.

"Not unless... you forced them to."

The world around me seemed to slow to a crawl as those words reverberated in my head. Luna's implication had stung, like a stab in the back, but Celestia's felt like somepony had banged a frying pan against my head at least twenty times over.

I took a step backwards - not that I meant to - and gasped, my mouth agape. The corona around my eyes flickered, fizzling in and out of existence in distress.

"Y-You... you think..."

My voice, for the first time in such a long time, was a hush. Meek and weak, little more than a whisper. But the two sisters heard it, of that I was immediately certain.

"I don't know what you did exactly, Twilight," Celestia stated. "But I- no, we," she corrected as her sister bunched up close to her side. "We know there is something very wrong. With Equestria, and with you."

The two sisters looked at me with a certain... fire in their eyes. A determination few had probably seen in history, and even fewer who had lived to tell the tale.

I was an enemy of theirs.

"Wrong... with me...?" I weakly repeated in my dazed, stunned state of mind.

"I can only suspect dark magic being at work by the looks of it," Luna said, her elder sister nodding as if they had just solved some sort of mysterious puzzle. "But how?"

They both straightened out again to look at me straight from where they stood. Like many times prior now, they looked ready to battle at a moment's notice, but still they did not fire the first shot.

Celestia's mouth moved. Slowly. There was... something about magic, and something about 'elements'. I didn't pay her much attention by that point... I couldn't. Her previous words still ping-ponged around my brain, and throughout my body as a whole. I briefly shivered as I struggled to keep myself standing upright.

You drove them to revolt.

I shook my head, and the thought and voice vanished with it. I looked back over to where the two sisters stood and saw Celestia speak again. And yet, as before, she appeared mute. Then Luna spoke, too... but again, the same thing. Had I gone deaf? What was-

You did all this. You were the enemy of harmony and friendship all along.

There was a thud of sorts as I fell backwards onto my rear, my shaky legs finally giving way. I frowned - less at whatever it was the Princesses were doing or saying at that point, but more so at whatever was haunting me. Something inside my head that was-

You are a monster. A tyrant. A murderer.

I gasped again and shook my head.

You killed them. All of them. And for what?

"N-No... I... friendship is..!"

You killed friendship.

A terrifying sensation ran past my left ear. It was... cold, like a knife's blade being dragged along my fur. A shiver travelled from head to hooves in an instant.

You're a butcher. A monster.

"No... no! I'm not-!"

You're a failure!

"No!" I retaliated against the circling voices. They were growing louder and louder around me, sometimes next to me, sometimes above or even below me, and then another time just behind me.

You failed-

"No!" I shouted again.

You doomed all of-

"No! No, I didn't!"

Everyone who cared-

"Shut up!"

-about you-

"No!"

-is dead.

"I said shut up!"

Just as that scream left my mouth, my hearing returned, allowing me to take in my own bellow. I hadn't fully realised just how loud I had shouted when opening my mouth...

...neither had I noticed the tears, up until now.

I veered my head to look in the general direction of where the Princesses were - or had been, it was hard to tell. They were little more than vague specks of dark and white now that my eyes were watery to the brim.

Then I looked away again, my eyes trained purely on the ground before me. The carpet beneath my hooves - the previous red one swapped out for a purple one only recently - now turned a darker hue as it soaked up one tear after another. They came, on and on. There seemed no end to them.

I heard my sobs, then, too. Finally, I suppose, as I probably had muttered them far sooner than I had realised.

There was a certain quiet in the grand hall that was the throne room, though. Beyond my sobs which echoed off the ceiling and walls, it was all quiet and at rest. Not even the two sisters said anything now, perhaps stunned by any show of emotion from the one they had forsaken to be little more than a corrupted spawn of evil.

I raised my head a little, gasping for air as the tears still came on hard, before tilting to my left. Even through the wet filter over my eyes I could see the stained glass' outlines. I sniffed, and raised one of my glowing hooves to wipe away the tears.

Half of the imagery was the same as ever. The two sisters coming to power, ruling together, and the eventual banishment of Nightmare Moon. The return of the latter and return of Luna, and the new element bearers - me, as well as... others? Wait... there were ponies other than me holding the elements of harmony? But... I don't remem-

Irrelevant. Forget.

-ber... huh. Oh well. The elements are hardly relevant anyway, as one of the new glass imagery showed. It was my ascension, the merging of the elements of harmony and crystal heart, all flowing together into me, to become something new, something-

Powerful. Better.

Something... that could overcome everything and everyone. Indeed, it was the day that Twilight Sparkle was no more, and the one that Midnight Sparkle rose from her fragile shell. A better me. A me that could save Equestria from itself, and from those around it.

Save it from Evil. Save it from the ungrateful.

The next and last two windows portrayed me defeating evil in all its varying forms. The fall of Chrysalis as one monumental victory, and the burning of Griffonstone as another. Changelings had long been a thorn in ponykind's side, had threatened the capital itself and had almost gotten away with it if not for me! Not to mention the griffons, who are downright despicable in the way that they are raised! From birth, told that only money matters, and that bullying or ignoring others is fine to maximise that greed for profit.

It was disgusting. It was dangerous. It would sooner or later come to bite Equestria in its flank - big time - and that was just two examples from among many.

They are blind. They don't care.

My breathing slowed down over the course of a few seconds in an attempt to return to a normal rythm.

They never cared. They are old and blind. Theirs is a set of gilded thrones.

I bit my tongue and gulped. My eyes remained terribly fixated on the window iconography which depicted me. It was beautiful, indeed it was.

They want it all for themselves. They seek only greed and power for the sake of power. They don't want our new Equestria.

A new tear ran down my cheek, though my eyes had largely dried by now.

They don't want peace. Or friendship, or harmony. Their rule has always survived by allowing evil to plague Equestria.

I closed my eyes, then, and allowed my head to sink again.

It isn't us who has wronged Equestria. It is they.

Another tear. And another. My mouth was hanging agape as my breathing quickly increased again.

It isn't us who lied. It isn't us who are murderers. It isn't us who are the monster.

My heart began to pound in my chest. I raised a hoof towards it, caressing my purple fur gently for a moment before raising it further up to wipe away one of my new tears - to no avail, as two more took its place in an instant.

They are the monsters. The liars and murderers of dozens throughout millenia. Their harmony; one great lie from which they rule.

Only then did I realise my tears were not ones of sadness or fear.

They are the evil that has plagued Equestria and the world all this time.

They were tears of vengeance.

I huffed out loud repeatedly, my heartbeat reaching a rate that might have seemed unhealthy at any other time - but not then. I raised myself back onto all fours, and as I gasped with anticipation, I looked down onto the two sisters. The two, dual rulers of Equestria.

The parasites of ponykind.

I felt a comforting warmth as the aquamarine corona around my eyes flared back to life, its magic burning with an intensity like never before which vaporised any old and new tears of mine in an instant.

Celestia extended a wing as Luna looked like she was about to go on the offensive. Had they been talking all this time? Scheming perhaps? Insulting and slandering me, maybe? I didn't know. And I didn't want to know.

I just needed them to die.

My hawkish, black wings unfolded from my body, spreading until their full glory and might could be seen. A heartless black, with a aqua leyline running across. The Princesses seemed to understand immediately, for all it was worth. They weren't just 'wings'... they were magic. Pure, unbridled magic, radiating a faint hum from them just as my neon-blue horn did. Power. Power that was needed to save ponykind, to rescue all creaturekind from barbarism, war... from all evil the world had to offer.

The world was not kind. The world needed convincing to see things our way.

But we are out of time. They will see it another way, just as well.

I took one step forward, wings unfolded fully. I hadn't even realised that a cackle of mine was filling the room like a crowd.

At last I can cut the cancer out at its root.

I paused, staring down at the two alicorns who now seemed to have forfeited 'diplomacy' entirely.

At last I can make the world new. Make it whole. Make it better.

There was no voice talking to me now. The thoughts I had were my own. Perhaps they had been all this time.

"All this time spent... all the effort and sacrifice..." I muttered, my voice almost a whisper.

The hum from my horn grew louder, and the ancients before me realised its aqua blue shining brighter than before.

"But now... now I know! I know I was always looking in the wrong place! Following the wrong thesis altogether!"

Friendship... Harmony... Peace? All of it... a lie, a pretext created to dismantle those same concepts from within.

"I was blinded... by my loyalty to you!" I barked, the echo pinging back and forth as the hum of my horn grew into an outright buzz. "All that I've done, I've done for you!"

I chuckled, but lacked the restraint to stop myself from turning into a depraved, unhinged cackle as I ran a hoof down the side of my face.

I grinned. Oh, how I grinned. Even in the heat of the moment, it reminded me a little of those faked smiles in Starlight's old village.

But what did it matter.

"Now I know... now I know that it was never friendship and harmony that needed to be saved! Now I know that those things - that everything I've been taught has just been a lie from you! That the world at large is a lie, a deception to feed your self-centered egos and depraved despotism!"

I faintly took in how pure blackness mixed with the radiant blue at the tip of my horn. A black sphere - like a black hole almost - had formed, and was growing in size rapidly.

"I never needed to teach ponykind anything, or the creatures of the world," I concluded. Tears escaped my eyes, noticeable from the outside only from the faint vapor that they immediately turned into. The eyes they hailed from were deadset on only one thing now - or, two rather.

"I need to rebuild the world - all of it - from the ground up! I need to start anew, start again and prevent the rot you have wrought!"

My wings fluttered as the sphere originating from atop the sharp tip of my horn grew larger and larger. An eye of mine twitched briefly, and I opened my mouth again.

"I will rebuild... I will rebuild!" I insisted. "I will make everything whole again... I'll turn back time, reset the clocks and I will rebuild!" I argued, again with nopony. "So begone!" I shouted.

Two magical auras lit the scene in front of me. Celestial yellow and lunar blue.

"So begone! Begone, begone, begone!" I shouted in the onslaught of a mad fit.

My eyes widened and my pupils dilated as a great force left my possession. There was no sound as the black sphere - now taller than even the alicorns themselves - flew towards them. There was the glimmer from their horns, and the quick, sudden flicker of spells being cast. All of this, in the span of two seconds. Maybe three.

And amidst that scene was one, deafening shout that dominated it all.

"BEGONE AND DIE!!!"

Verify your Clock

Silence.

Silence? That's not right...

Silence. Only silence.

The battlefield from just moments ago... gone.

Where was I? What...

I tried to look around, but found myself unable to as I stared into pure blackness. My head appeared stuck in place, locked straight forward, and neither my hooves nor my wings nor my magic seemed to obey me.

Actually... why can't I feel my hooves? Or... anything?

I again tried to wiggle and move, but still to no avail. There was only me - or my thoughts in this case - and seemingly my eyes, which still stared straight.

Nothing. Void.

It was like... a dark nightsky, but robbed of all the stars and the moon. There was only darkness here.

And then, there was a sound.

A snap?

I tried to move yet again but, somewhat expectedly, failed at achieving it once more. A snap, a most familiar one at that, had just crashed the supreme silence of this... this realm or plain. My eyes, if I even had any in my seemingly bodyless form, widened at the realisation.

I can't believe I forgot about him...

"Well, I certainly have to say you put up a good effort, Princess."

Anything but this.

"I would say... mmm, a solid 8 on execution but a measly 3 on planning. What do you think?"

If I had been able to, I would have averted, closed, or even just rolled my eyes as the draconequus strolled into view, coming up from behind me.

I want to die.

"Well?" he poked with a light shrug. "Oh," he added, perking up, "right, apologies."

With another snap of his fingers, I found myself... whole again. More or less.

"Haaaah!" I gave out in an immediate attempt to gasp for air... which I evidently must not have been doing all that time.

"Do you want me to put on some tea for this?" Discord asked with a grin. I recovered from barely avoided asphyxiation just in time to see him snap a tea cup into existence which floated in the void besides him. "Or a hot brew of coffee?" He did the same thing, and there was then suddenly a cup of coffee over his other shoulder, steaming hot.

"Dis... Discord..." I gasped, still somewhat out of breath. "What is the..."

"Meaning behind all this?" he interrupted. "Hohoho, you're a funny mare, you know that? Well, for a bookworm, anyway."

"Did you really think I would sit idly by as somepony intends to rearrange the world?"

My eyes widened, perhaps in full realisation, or perhaps in sheer annoyance at the God of Chaos.

"I studied and worked hard for years to help Equestria! It was the only way to save it, and the world, from the blight of the Princesses!" I resisted.

The draconequus sighed as if he had somehow heard the same thing a hundred times before.

"Yes, yes. You consume more and more knowledge and power until, eventually, you think you are everycreature's saviour by killing or erasing all of them from existence."

He drilled a claw of his into his ear and removed a whole-sized carrot before tossing it aside.

"You and Sombra would make great roommates, you know," he added.

"Discord! Release me from... from whatever this is!" I commanded, but again to no avail.

"Or what? You're going to yell me to death?"

"Or I will... will....."

I paused. Then I froze, if such a thing was even possible when locked in place in the literal void. My eyes travelled upwards... but...

there was no horn.

Panic was quickly afoot as my breathing grew faster and faster. In a hurry I tried to unfold my wings but...

Nothing. Again, they weren't there either.

"Discord!! This isn't funny!"

To this, it seemed, the chaos magician seemed to take offense.

"Not funny!?" He repeated. "Oh please! And how do you think I should treat the pretty princess that destroyed Equestria? That butchered dozens, in the name of friendship no less?"

"It was all because-!"

"Ohhhh, and you couldn't even stop yourself from doing the same to your best friends!" he rebelled. "Nopony was safe from you, and you think I'm trying to be funny here?"

I said nothing.

"You nearly killed Fluttershy."

His otherwise so unaffected, casual and comedic voice was now dry, and dead serious.

"Were it not for me she would have..."

He held himself back, straightening himself out and patting his chest down to create an absurd amount of dust as if he was wearing a 60-years old jacket.

"What I'm trying to get at is," he continued, calm this time, but still far from his usual tone, "you've gone too far, Twilight. Or, I suppose it is Midnight now?"

Again I said nothing as I watched him with darkened demeanour. He was seriously backing the princesses? Those... blatant parasites?

"And I believe you know what happens to 'villains' in Equestria, do you not?" He made the air quotes himself, and shot a glare at me.

"What, you're going to turn me to stone and place me in Celestia's backyard? Is that what this is all about? Some sort of 'divine intervention' to save the plague that-"

"Oh-hoho, nonono," interrupted the draconequus, half-laughing as he did. "Not that. That's pretty much trademarked to Celestia, anywho."

Wait.

"I was more thinking of..."

He doesn't mean...

"Banishment. Too many stone statues as of recent, so why don't we balance the budget a little?"

"You realise I will return no matter where you send me, don't you?" I clarified with remaining dedication.

"Oh, yes, I suppose that is a good point indeed. Hence why it's not here at all!"

He turned around and, from out of sight, raised a blue cap and placed it on his head to look just a little bit like he was out on a sightseeing trip. He then revealed a large, foldable map of sorts in his claw and paw, shuffling it left and right, back and forth as if trying to decipher something on it.

"Aha! Yes, there it is!" he triumphantly exclaimed.

He turned and showed... not a map at all. It was a drawing - a bad one at that - of the mirror portal. Curiously, it was not the machine back in my castle either... it was the plinth of the monument in front of CHS, in the other world.

"You're..." I struggled to mutter.

"Tssk, tssk, tssk," Discord interrupted, looking at an impossibly large, silver watch around his wrist which depicted no sensible time at all, what with 12 hands and all. I realised only a moment later how the cap he had worn and the map he had held had suddenly vanished. "We're on a bit of a schedule, my dear Midnight, and I'm afraid I have many important appointments just after this, still."

I huffed out a puff of warm air - or would have if 'air' was a real thing in this dimension of sorts.

"Why? Why are you even doing any of this? Even if I was the maniac you claim, would you, the god of chaos, not-"

"Please, we've been over this, have we not? I'm a different creature now, you see?"

The god of chaos suddenly appeared with puppy eyes, holding a large lolipop in one hand like some innocent child.

"That, and I owed Celestia."

"Owed her? For wha-"

"Aha, time is up I'm afraid," he interrupted again, causing the lolipop to disappear before snapping his fingers to cause the mirror portal and the machinery attached to it to appear right in front of me.

"You realise that I know how to find my way back... don't you?" I asked warily.

"Of course. Let's just say I'm putting on child locks for now. Oh, and-" he added as I began to feel myself hovering forward without my own doing. "-I should probably have mentioned this sooner, excuse moi, but..."

I stopped, my snout just barely avoiding the mirror surface now.

"Hm. Actually, nevermind. We'll keep it a surprise."

I opened my mouth to respond, to do anything at all, but I felt the inevitable coming.

"I don't mean to say 'good night, Midnight', so... tataa, friend!"

There was a thundering snap that rippled through the very fabric of existence it seemed, echoing through my whole body, and the next thing I knew was the rainbow-induced spiral that laid past the mirror.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the read (and hope you've verified your clock!

In case you haven't heard from my blog post, a sequel to this is confirmed. So if you liked this (and the prequel), then why not leave a like and watch to stick around?

I'd be glad to have you! Thanks again!