By Starlight, Fight Starlight

Chapters

You've gone and torn the whole world down
But I will not be pushed around
But I feel my powers failing
How can I fight this dark and win
When she has been where I have been
For if what she says is true
Without my friends what can I do
My world is still worth saving

You've gone and torn the whole world down

“I’m telling you, Spike. I think I saw Starlight there.” Twilight sounded worried as she trotted through Ponyville, her saddles full of equipment and notes she used during her presentation. “She was sitting in the audience for a moment, and then disappeared. I think I saw some shimmering, like she went invisible.”

“What is this villain doing here?” Spike wondered, even more worried. “She must be here for revenge, for sure.”

“Possibly. But why would she go to my presentation?” Twilight pondered. “She is much, much more talented and has much more knowledge when it comes to cutie marks then me. Yes, Spike,” She interrupted her assistant before he managed to protest, “I may be the Element of Magic and an alicorn, but cutie marks are literally what she specializes in. Remember when she stole our cutie marks when me and the girls when to her village? I still cannot replicate that spell, to be honest. I know how to defend against it, but that’s as far as I went.”

“That’s… worrying. Think she is going to try and steal your cutie marks again?” Spike asked, opening the door to the Twilight’s crystal castle. “Should we warn the girls?”

“I think it’s going to be something else. She already tried that and failed, and I doubt she’s going to just do the same thing again. But yes, we should, I’m going to go and make sure they’re ready for anything.” She got lost in thought for a moment. “I think it may have something to do with Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were the only truly interesting part of the story, with them acquiring their Cutie Marks simultaneously. We should warn them, as well.”

“Yeah, I don’t want them to become victims of some sadistic experiments.” Spike shuddered, walking to the map room. “Who knows what this mare is capable of. She's totally crazy.”

“Exactly.” Twilight entered her throne room, with the inactive Cutie Map in the middle of it, still lost in thought. “I can teach Rarity and Sweetie Belle a counterspell to defend themselves, but…”

“Twilight!”

She looked around when she heard Spike’s sudden shout, only to see Starlight Glimmer sitting like nothing happened on Twilight’s throne, with her legs on the Cutie Map. A scroll, pulsing with magic, was hanging in the air above it, giving off strange blue-white light that Twilight couldn’t help but think seemed eerily familiar.

“Hello, Princess.” She smiled in a sadistic, evil way that made Twilight shudder. “So nice to see you. Shame it’s for the last time, but at least I got to see your pathetic face before I defeat you.”

“What?” Twilight fired a destructive spell on the scroll, not wanting to see what the crazily evil mare had in store. It deflected off the magical shield, ricocheting into the wall. “What are you doing, Starlight?!”

“Your primitive mind cannot even comprehend this magic, can it?” Concentric rings of blue-white light appeared, surrounding the table and the air above it. Twilight fired another spell, this time a stun one, at Starlight only for it to be blocked by the weird rings.

Wait. It wasn’t blocked in a normal way. It... oh no. No no no!

“Starlight, listen to me. I made this mistake before.” She tried to reason with her enemy, as the air grew charged with power she knew all too well. “Time is unchanging. If you go to the past, you will only reinforce what already happened!” She really hoped she was right. She couldn't imagine what someone as evil as Starlight could with with actual, working time magic.

“Oh, that’s what you think. I heard you finished Star Swirl’s the Bearded spell to get those wings, didn’t you?” Starlight started to levitate, as a black hole appeared in the ceiling. It wasn’t a natural, black color; it was an absence of everything. Perfect nothingness… at least when looked at from this moment in time. “Let me tell you something, Princess… I did it as well. Just a more... useful spell, it seems.”

And with this, Starlight disappeared. The spell triggered, and suddenly, everything started to shimmer and glow. The palace, Twilight, Spike, everything.

“Twilight! What’s going on?! I feel… weird…” Spike tried to hold the wall, only for it to start disintegrating into pieces of multi-colored light.

Twilight tried to cast a time-stabilizing spell, but it instantly failed. The reality, the timeline they lived in, it was starting to collapse. Somehow, Starlight did the impossible. She destroyed the entire timeline. Twilight started to panic, thinking of any way to stop it. But there was none. They were going to disappear. This timeline, she, Spike, all her friends, even Celestia would literally never exist. As if they never did.

“Twilight, the scroll!” Spike didn’t have much knowledge about magic, but his years of experience with Twilight taught him enough to recognize basics of magical emergencies and what to do. And the scroll with whatever spell Glimmer used could only help. He grabbed the scroll – which, somehow, seemed to be the only thing not disintegrating – and showed it to Twlight. Or at least tried; instead, he tripped on something, a literal hole in reality that opened under his feet, and fell on Twilight, the scroll touching her sides.

They were both suddenly enveloped in white-blue lighting, and moments later, a black hole opened above them. Both screamed with surprise, as they were suddenly pulled into it, disappearing.

Everywhere else in Equestria, the world was ending forever.

Luna woke up from her sleep, and instantly teleported to Celestia, hugging her sister in their last moments. Tears flew openly, as they both cried, some scared guards joining them in a hug as they all felt pieces of themselves disappearing.

On a farm near Ponyville, Apples huddled together. Applejack tried to keep the brave face, trying to make sure Apple Bloom won’t see her tears.

In Ponyville, Rarity and Sweetie Bell were also hugging, the little unicorn’s last thoughts being of her sister and other Crusaders as all her other thoughts disappeared into nothingness. In the end, even these small parts of her dissolved into silence.

Scotaloo hugged Rainbow Dash, who was training with her moments before. They both were trying to look brave in front of each other, and even partially succeeding, as darkness encroached upon them.

Fluttershy calmed her animals, herself scared, but not willing to let her little (and big) friends be afraid. She managed to calm them down, and they all hugged her as the end approached. Even Angel. Soon, all perished; only the remarkable stubbornness and loyalty of the small animal remained, for a moment longer, facing the end until it, too, ceased to exist.

Countless magicians tried to put up powerful wards and spells. Chrysalis screamed, her powerful throne giving her no protection from the coming end. In Tartarus, the most powerful of villains shouted and screamed in hatred and despair.

Discord had no idea what was coming before it happened. It was so rare to him to be surprised, in his entire life; it barely ever happened. The Lord of Chaos savored the surprise, as he learned what happened and realized that the end of everything is now coming. He sighed. Well, what can you do, some things even Chaos cannot stop.
Get to fixing it, Twilight. I have a tea with Fluttershy soon, and I don’t want to wait eternity for it, he thought as the end approached him.

And in Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer and her friends stood together, in vain trying to use their powers to stop the end. As they failed, and the world fell apart, they stood together until the end, with only human Pinkie Pie still smiling; but somehow, her unending lack of fear made them all smile weakly in their last moment, banishing all but the feeling of friendship.

Back in Equestria, Pinkie Pie looked at the coming end. She wasn’t scared; there was nothing she could do, and she knew it. Why fear something you cannot do anything about? So she just closed her eyes, and said her last words without any doubt or hesitation, and with a smile on her face.

“Everything’s in your hoof now, Twilight. I believe in you!”

And with these words, the bearer of Laughter surrendered to nothingness.

Author's Note

The title of this story and the first chapter is a reference to a great MLP fan song, Resilience, available on PrinceWhateverer channel (not a typo). My favorite fan-made MLP song for sure, I highly recommend checking it out.

But I will not be pushed around

Twilight was falling. She was alive! But falling. She was FALLING!

She quickly started to flap her wings, stabilizing herself. Alright, she’s no longer falling…

“Twiliiiight! Heeelp!”

… but Spike is. She dived in his direction, but seeing that he was close to the ground, she instead used her telekinesis to slow him down. It still wasn’t a soft landing, but at least not dangerous. She quickly landed next to him.

“Are you alright?” She asked, looking around them. She instantly recognized where they were.

“Yeah, mostly just surprised.” He stood up. “Um, Twilight? Why are we in Cloudsdale? What happened?”

Twilight didn't know... but she thought about the spell she witnessed. “Starlight did something incredible. Impossible. Inconceivable. She broke out of the chronomantic loop and affected it instead. I read that Star Swirl theorized about it, but seeing it in person…”

“And in less nerdy talk? Are we in the past or in the future?” Twilight looked at him, surprised. “Hey, I already saw you do your time thingy, remember? And I heard what you said to Starlight. It doesn’t take a genius to see it.” Spike stood up, proud of himself. “I am your assistant for a reason, remember?”

“Never doubted you, Spike.” Twilight smiled, her fears alleviated a little. “It's just so confusing. I don’t know if it’s present or future, but…”

She was interrupted by a rainbow-like object passing between them at full speed, leaving a multi-colored trail behind it. It was unmistakable, even if smaller than usual. They both looked to the side, seeing foal Rainbow Dash, protecting foal Fluttershy from bullies.

“I’m gonna guess it’s the past.” Spike said the obvious.

Suddenly, a beam of barely-visible, shimmering air hit Rainbow in the wing. She shouted in surprise, as it suddenly went limp. Twilight and Spike turned around, only to see Starlight Glimmer, smiling and standing close to them.

“Why hello there, Princess. I’m surprised you’re here, but you are the element of magic after all. Well, that’s even better. You will get to see the future I created.” Her smile grew in an uncanny, insane way. “Without you, or your friends ever interrupting my plans!”

“What?! Starlight, that’s insane! Everything you do in the past affects the future in unpredictable ways, you read the spell, you know it!” Twilight plead in vain. Suddenly, a black hole opened above her and Spike. “Please, stop it!”

“Oh don’t worry, Twilight. I know it very well.” Starlight’s sadistic smile was the last thing they have seen, as the portal sucked them back to the future.

Twilight tumbled down, hitting the ground. Spike landed face-down next to her, spitting out dirt as he got up.

The first thing they saw was darkness. They stood together, unsure and afraid, as their eyes got used to it. Only then they realized it was night. They were in a forest, at night, with the moon and stars shining above them. They were in a small clearing, with the Cutie Map next to them. Although the map was looking weird – it was shining with dark blue light, instead of its usual color.

“Aaah! It’s… cold here!” Spike shook, and Twilight also felt it. It felt like harsh Ponyville winter, although without snow. She thought for a moment, before finding in her memory some spells against cold. They wouldn’t make it feel nice here, but at least they wouldn’t freeze. She still remembered when Starlight was keeping her and her friends in the cold shack to force them to join her; she never wanted to go through something like this again.

She cast the spells, and then looked around. The only light, besides the map, stars and moon, was a shining, greenish-yellow trail shining on the sky. It got lower as it got closer, at some point disappearing between the trees, only to appear back again soon after.

“That’s… Aurora. The light usually seen in the far north, usually farther then Crystal Empire. You have to travel further, maybe even to Penguin Republic, to see it.” Twilight looked at it, confused. “What is it doing here? And why is it going down and up? That's not how it should look like”

Spike was wondering about it as well, but his thoughts got interrupted by sudden noise. A crack of wood, and silent sound he didn’t recognize. When he looked in the direction of the sounds, he could see some shadows moving slowly between the trees. “Twilight?”

The alicorn was still thinking out loud, trying to analyze any way for this rare phenomenon to travel south. “It has to be magic. But how? Moving something like this, for such a distance? And why would anypony do it?”

“Twilight!” She turned around, only to see something that turned her blood cold. She realized momentarily that they weren’t anywhere around Ponyville, somehow. They were in the Everfree Forest, and she let her guard down. If not for Spike, she may have only noticed the danger when it was too late.

As it was, she managed to fire a stun spell on the approaching Timberwolf. As usual, when it lost consciousness, it fell into disarray, pieces of wood, rock and dirt scattering around.

But it didn’t change their situation. More and more pairs of yellow and green eyes were seen around them. They were surrounded by a literal horde of Timberwolves. More than she ever saw. If so many appeared anywhere near Ponyville, it would cause instant panic and need an intervention from Twilight herself or the Royal Guard to stop. It was unnatural, seeing so many of them here!

“Spike, get close to me.” Twilight took a deep breath. She needed the Map to try and figure out a way to get back to the past… but for now, they needed to survive. She focused and teleported.

It was a very short, emergency teleportation. It just shoved them into a free space around a hundred meters away from the Timberwolves. They then started to run away, teleporting if needed. In the end, they hid behind a pretty big tree, and stood win silence, hoping they lost the magical predators. Twilight strained her ears, trying to listen for anything suspicious, before casting a muffling spell. She was so happy her brother learned it and taught it to her one day when she was visiting him. It wasn’t that rare of a spell, but most ponies normally didn’t see any reason to learn it.

Now mostly hidden from the magical predators, Twilight had time to freak out. She shook, and fell on the ground, crying. It was gone. All of it. Her friends, Celestia, her family. All was gone. Starlight did it. She won, and now Twilight was alone.

“Twilight. Twilight, don’t give up.” It was Spike. She opened her already red eyes, and looked at him through tears. “We got out of much worse situations, remember? We’ll make it.”

“Worse? Spike, there is,” Twilight swallowed heavily, tears still falling. “Nothing could be worse. They are gone, Spike. All of them. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarirty, even Celestia and Luna! And everyone else, entire Ponyville, Canterlot, even Gryphus and Zebrica! The Equus is gone, Spike.” She returned to sobbing.

Spike was also on the verge of tears, but managed to hold them back. He will have time for that later. For now, he knew it was not over. Could not be over. If Rarity was gone, it was only more motivation for him to help fix it.

And he knew that there was only one pony who could fix it all. “Can’t you just cast the same spell she used? You already finished Star Swirl’s spell, can’t you do it again? Starlight said she did it, and she’s no Element of Magic or alicorn.”

“I… I can’t, Spike. I don’t know how she did it, I don’t even know why we’re here! We should have died, no, worse, we should have stopped existing back then.” Twilight realized something. “Oh Celestia, we did, didn’t we? We are gone now, and this is some kind of place bad ponies go after death!”

“It’s a scroll.” She looked at Spike in the middle of panic, barely listening to him. “Twilight, please, focus. We are here because we have the scroll Starlight used. See?” He held it in his claws, even through all of this. “You can fix it, Twilight. You have to.”

"The scroll? Of course! It has to still have the chronomatic charge Starlight used! Spike, you’re a genius!” Sad Twilight and Panicked Twilight went away, making room for Nerd Twilight. Spike smiled, seeing his best friend get to work, like she always did when she could just read the answer somewhere.

She went through the text few times, growing more and more grim every time, before sighing and levitating it back into her saddle bags. They still had the equipment and notes from her presentation, from far away, in Equestria that no longer existed. She forced herself to stop thinking about it. “Alright Spike, you want good news or bad news first?”

“Erm… Good?” He asked hesitantly.

“We can go home. This spell is surprisingly easy to cast for me…I guess even Star Swirl didn’t have as huge magic reserves as an alicorn, and Starlight Glimmer definitely did not. If I manage to cast it, we’ll be back in the past and able to stop Starlight.”

“That’s great! Wait, what’s the bad news?” Spike almost jumped in happiness, before remembering what Twilight said moments before and seeing the sad look on her face.

“Only the person who originally cast this spell can do it. I can help, but the original caster needs to at least put a spark of her power into it.” She looked over the scroll again. “I could try to make my own version of this scroll, but I would need a lot of rare materials, and access to the Star Swirl’s section of Canterlot Library… if it even still exists.”

“The Library.” Spike suddenly said. She turned around to him, annoyed. “No, Spike, not any library, it has to be…” She stopped when she realized what he was looking at.

The tree they were hiding behind wasn’t just a normal tree. It was the Ponyville Library, now shrouded in darkness. Not a single light remained. The windows were broken, and entire tree was covered in some kind of blueish vines.

Speaking of which… Twilight risked a very weak light, and looked at the closest tree. She thought it was just the night, but no – it was also more blue then green. And bent in many ways, unnaturally shaped. She shuddered. What happened here? Timberwolf, unnatural trees, and now her home is empty?

Home. Huh. You’d think she would learn to call the Crystal Palace that, but the moment she saw her old library she instantly thought of this as her home. She didn't even know how much she missed it.

“Should we… come inside?” Spark asked hesitantly, and she realized she was again lost in thoughts. Right. She knocked on the door silently, weary of Timberwolf nearby, and opened the door.

The library was in ruin. Twilight’s heart sunk as she took the damage in. It was abandoned, years ago judging by how it looked. Most books remained, although some shelves were empty, but years of neglect in the forest were not kind to them. Somehow, despite all that happened, that hurt her a lot. It’s just books, Twilight, get yourself together, she thought, but found it much harder to do than expected. Many of these books grew almost as close to her as her friends did. And before finding friends, they were her only source of happiness, aside from meeting with her teacher of course.

Spike sighed, seeing Twilight get lost in thought again. She was brilliant, truly. Possibly the greatest genius in magical arts since Star Swirl himself. Even Celestia admitted that, for all her knowledge and power, Twilight already grew above her in some disciplines of magic. Of course, Twilight became redder then Pinkie Pie, sputtering protests and doing her best to never admit she was better than her idol and teacher at anything.

These were the good days. Now they needed to make sure they can have more of these. That’s why Spike was here, in fact. His role of the Number One Assistant was not only bringing Twilight out of her panicking or making notes when she was lost in some experiment, but also trying to ground her a little bit when she was flying through the clouds of advanced theories of magic. Or nostalgia. Or anything else. Sometimes it felt like Twilight was lost in her head more often than not.

Spike decided to let her live through her nostalgic thoughts for a moment, and left for upstairs. There was the living space the librarian would use – he guessed it wasn’t Twilight in here, whoever it was. It was as destroyed as anything else. He looked through the broken window, at the forest around them, and gulped. Oh, that was not good. Or nice. He went downstairs, predictably finding Twilight in the same place she was standing when he left her.

“Twilight? You really don’t want to see it.” The phrasing was unusual enough to break her out of her half-nostalgia, half book-induced anger.

“I don’t?”

“You don’t, but I think you should. Better now than when we’re leaving.” He said with heavy heart. He knew she’ll see it no matter what, and he’d rather have her prepared.

“What is it, then?” She came upstairs but Spike blocked the view from the windows with his body. “What did you see?”

“Twilight, I can see Ponyville. But it’s... abandoned. Ruined. That’s why we couldn’t see it earlier.” He hesitated. “It doesn’t look pretty.”

She stood there for a moment, gathering her mental strength. “Alright, Spike. Let me see.”

He stood aside without a word, and Twilight saw what remained of Ponyville.

It was abandoned and ruined, and worse. Trees grew around it, between, and sometimes inside the buildings. The Carousel Boutique was the only building spared, and somehow it even looked much less damaged then the rest, like someone made sure it wouldn't fall into as much of disarray as everything around it, at least for some time. But the Mayor’s office was pierced through by multiple huge, unnaturally looking trees, and buildings around it fared no better. Some looked like they exploded when trees magically appeared in the middle of them. Part of Twilight was thankful there was no blood or bodies, but her logical (and very unhelpful right now) side reminded her that after years, with predators around, nothing would remain even if every citizen of Ponyville died here.

It was too much. Twilight took a shaky step back, as the realization of what happened was right in front of her. The Equestria she knew was gone. Her friends wre… she wanted to say ‘not in Ponyville’, but she worried it would be way, way worse.

She could barely hold herself together. Only the feeling of her saddles – still with the scroll inside – and Spike holding her prevented her from just coming apart in tears and giving up.

The scroll. She was the Princess of Friendship. The Bearer of the element of Magic. An alicorn. She could not give up. She was the only one who could fix this, and so she will.

“Spike, we’re going.” She said through her tears, fearing that a moment longer spent here, in this place, may just be enough to break her resolve. This was not the Ponyville she ever wants to see again.

“Where?” He asked, not really caring, just happy to see her moving on.

“No idea if Canterlot is still standing or what happened, or how big the Everfree Forest is. We lack information. I’m not going to risk flying up and trying to see; this forest was already dangerous before… whatever happened here. So, we’re going to the place where Aurora originates from. I will teleport us there.”

“Any idea what we’ll find?”

“Suspicions. And I really, really hope I’m wrong.” Twilight took a deep breath, before stopping. Thinking quickly, she cast an illusion on herself, hiding her wings.

“What’s that for?”

“I’d rather not appear before someone who may be an enemy as an alicorn. Let them think I’m just a unicorn for now. Much less dangerously looking.”

“Like in that Daring Do book, when her ally, the Daily Star, uses an illusion to hide from Scorpion King!” Spike remembered, as always. Twilight smiled. If only he was as good in remembering magic studies as he was with his comic books and adventure stories.

“Exactly that.” Wait, if Daring Do was real and her books were based on real stories, who was her ally? An alicorn by the name of Daily Star… who was a little bit of a troll… no, it can’t be. Focus, Twilight! Teleporting into a tree as an alicorn is much different than teleporting into a plushie as a foal, definitely much more deadly.
Not that she ever teleported inside a plushie by accident as foal. Nope.

Teleporting blind was generally a bad idea, aside from short-range panic teleports. But she had a suspicion where she was going, and she was right.
She really wished she wasn’t.

“Is that… the Castle of Two Sisters?” Spike asked, looking at the building in front of them. It was fully renovated, and not a ruin that they saw back then. High walls stood before them, with spiked tower on top of them.

And on top of every tower, a crescent moon.

“… You think Celestia gave Luna her old castle so she could have her own place to live?” Spike asked hopefully. Twilight just shook her head and started slowly trotting to the castle. They quickly reached the great doors, and Twilight, with shaking hoof, opened them slowly. They moved without a single noise in black hinges, uncovering the great hall inside.

Smokeless, magical torches lit the entire hall in cold, blue light that gave no heat. There were tapestries on the walls, and stained glass for windows.
All showing great victories and triumphs of Nightmare Moon.

“This is bad. And cold.” Spike summarized, while Twilight looked grimly and the walls. She was right. Without her, and her friends, Nightmare Moon triumphed over her enemies and became a sole ruler of Equestria.
And now her world was shrouded in eternal night.

“Hey! What are you… Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing outside of school?” She suddenly heard, in a voice she recognized. She quickly turned around, hopeful for the first time since she arrived here.

She was wearing dark-blue, very formal-looking clothing. Her mane was also much paler then usual – maybe from the lack of sun? – and her eyes were surprised, and suspicious. But it was still, undeniably, Rarity.

“Rarity! You remember me?” She asked, beaming. Spike was nearly vibrating with happiness.

“Of course I do, Headmare. But what are you doing here? You were never one to show interest in politics, let alone leave your school.” Rarity asked, not showing any outward happiness. “And what is this dragon doing here, with you? Since it is walking freely, I take it is not one of the rebels? Is it a hostage, perhaps?”

“Hos… no, no, I just, um, found him.” Twilight felt her mood soar down again. Right, this Rarity didn’t know her. She could feel Spike deflate even harder next to her.

“Then, I ask again. What is your purpose here?” Uh-oh, she was getting suspicious. Twilight needed to think of something, fast, preferably something that won’t end up with her being attacked by Rarity. Panicking a little, she went with the first thing that came to her mind.

“I was just… thinking of Starlight Glimmer.” Stupid, stupid! Why did you say something so stupid! Now she’ll realize…

“Oh, that rebel? Then you’re in luck. She is still in her cell. She will be moved to the garden tomorrow, so you in fact arrived just in time. What do you want from her?”

Twilight was so surprised it seemed to work, she didn’t even think what to say next. “Er, you know, she made a lot of unique spells. I was hoping to talk with her one last time, see if I can get something out of her?” She held her breath. Please work, please work.

“Can’t see what you could find, since Her Highness already took care of her interrogation. But if you want to, feel free to. Let the guards know the Governess gave you a free pass for tonight.” Rarity turned around and left. Twilight started breathing normally the moment she was gone. It worked! Now she only needs to find Starlight.

What she didn’t know was that Rarity stopped the moment she was outside the throne room. “Dust. I know you’re listening. Let Her Highness know we have a spy… peculiar one. A changeling, possibly.”

Rarity smiled. It was not a nice smile. “And tell her that she may need a new place in her garden. Since that spy wants to see Starlight so much, we can make sure they spend the rest of their short lives together.”

Twilight, unaware of that, went in the direction of dungeons without any suspicion. Spike tried to talk with her, but she silenced him instantly – too many eyes and ears could be hiding in the shadows. With only the blue torches and darkness around her, she went to the dungeons.

Two ponies, clad in Luna’s Nigh Guard armors, but with addition of cruelly-looking spikes, were standing before the door. They tensed, seeing her. “What is your business here?” The bigger one, a stallion, asked.

“Governess Rarity allowed me to see a prisoner. She said I have a free pass for a night.” The guards tensed even more, but then relaxed suddenly. “Well, if the Governess says so, do come in. But be careful, she is very dangerous.”

“Oh believe me, I know.” Twilight said as the guards unlocked the reinforced doors and she entered. “I will be on guard.”

As the thick doors closed behind them, Spike asked: “What crimes do you think she committed here? More crazy experiments with Cutie Marks?”

“No idea, Spike. But it seems she truly is hopeless. Even in this dark world, she is still in criminal. Star Swirl once wrote that some villains don’t deserve forgiveness, and I’m starting to think he really was right.” Normally, Twilight would scoff at a reasoning like this. But she was in a really dark place now, metaphorically and literally, and her thoughts were less of Discord and other redeemed villains, and more on blasting Tirek with magic when it was obvious he wouldn't reform.
They reached the last cell. All others were curiously empty, not the they minded.

“So, Starlight, are you… happy… Celestia above, what happened to you?” Twilight’s speech was interrupted the moment she saw the mare before her.

Starlight was lying on the floor, encased in heavy, spiked chains. She had multiple wounds on her body, and was battered and bruised. She looked like she hadn’t bathed for weeks, and didn’t eat for days. Hearing her, she weakly moved her head to look at Twilight. There was nothing in her eyes. Just emptiness.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Her voice was raspy, like she didn’t drink anything in a long time. “Nightmare’s pet came to gloat before me for the last time? Go on. Not like I can stop you.”

“What? I, I didn’t come here to gloat. What happened? What did you do to deserve… this?!” Twilight was shocked. She was angry, furious even, but this? It was more like, like… like some old tortures she read about in the forbidden wing!

“Don’t act like you don’t know. I know what you think of ‘filthy rebels’. Go on, gloat. Show me your superiority. I don’t care anymore.” This… this was not the Starlight she knew. It was a pony who lost all hope, without any of her smugness, no fire in her eyes.

“Well, you did this to yourself!” Spike tried to be angry, but it came out just as weak as he felt inside. Why would some hurt anypony like this?

“Of course. I should be a good pet like you, Sparkle, take the glorious transformation, join the butcher of the known world. Whatever.”

“Wait. Your crime was… fighting against the Nightmare Moon?” Twilight gasped. “But, I thought you committed some actual crimes to be here! And even if you did, no crime deserves this, this torture!”

“What?” Starlight seemed to see her for the first time, no longer deep inside her mind. “What do you… why is there dragon with you? They are all gone, now. Are you a changeling?”

“Gone? Changeling?”

“You… are not Twilight Sparkle.” Starlight seemed to have some of her old, intelligent mind coming back to her. “You have a dragon, and ask weird questions. And you don’t seem to love the Nightmare so much.”

“I’m… not who you think I am.” Twilight said after a moment of doubt. She still had her suspicions, but seeing as Rarity was now serving Nightmare… many things made no sense. “I come from the alternate timeline.”

“Like, time travel? Please. No one managed to finish that Star Swirl’s spell. And Nightmare would know if someone did. All the mages powerful enough to do so are under her control. Nice try.” Starlight seemed to slip back into her apathetic state.

Twilight had enough of this. This world was wrong, everything was upside down, and now this. She dispelled her illusion, her wings spreading wide. She broke the chains around Starlight with a simple spell, at least simple to an alicorn, as the wounded pony looked at her with her jaw wide open.

“Now you believe me?” She asked, coming closer and giving Starlight a little bit of her magic. Enough so she could stand and walk. “Or do I need to do something more?” Not that she had much idea of what she could do. She hoped that was enough to convince her once-enemy.

It was. “Woah. You… are an alicorn. What is the world you come from like? I take it you dealt with the Nightmare?” Starlight asked, slowly standing up. “Urgh. Can you give me some more magic? Just a little, she really did a number on me.”

“Sure. Here you go. And, well, me and my friends used the Element of Harmony…” Twilight started.

As much as Starlight was entranced by a story of happy Equestria defeating her worst nightmare, part of her was focusing on her magic reserves. She managed to keep some magic in her during the interrogation, and regained even more when resting in her cell, but it was not enough to enact her plan.

But now… Yes. It may just be barely enough.

“… and after Luna was transformed, we dealt with all the other threats. Reformed Discord, defeated Sombra, stopped Chrysalis and Tirek, I finished Star Swirl’s spell and became an alicorn. Long story short, everything is as good as it could be.” Twilight finished, her illusion back to making her look like an ordinary unicorn. “I take it that without the Elements, Celestia couldn’t stop Luna?”

“Yes. Whatever plan she had, it failed. Some ponies from Canterlot say she gave her best… and I really hope she did, considering what was at stake.” Glimmer answered bitterly.

“Hey! I know Celestia, I’m sure she did her best. It’s not her fault the timeline was messed with and she was left alone!” Twilight defended her mentor. Starlight looked at her in a way she knew so well, full of anger and bitterness. So similar to her original self.

“She was the protector of Equestria, wasn’t she? We didn’t have an army, or any other ways to save ourselves. Only her. And see where this led? Equestria left in darkness, Gryphus a desert, Our Town destroyed…”

“Woah, woah. What do you mean, Gryphus is a desert?” Twilight asked, stopping her monologue. “Some parts of it maybe, but it was supposed to be as full of live as Equestria!”

“That’s what happens where you have eternal day over the continent, Princess.” Starlight spat out with anger. “In Equestria, it is eternal night. Ponies either died out, tried to somehow survive, or accepted Nightmare Moon’s dark magic to survive without the sun. Animals and plants either died, or were corrupted by her magic. On Gryphus, it was even worse. No one to help them save themselves. They tried to stop her, they failed, and now it’s a lifeless desert.”

“That… that’s not possible. Gryphus had much bigger military then Equestria, they would just invade! What about Zebrica? Someone must have fought back!” Twilight refused to believe it. All griffons, entire continent, and even ponies there… dead? Burned by the eternal sun? She could not believe it. It was just too much. What kind of horror was it? It was a nightmare, it must be, she must be asleep in her castle!

“Oh, they did. After dealing with some local cults of Nightmare Moon, they all tried to invade. Most of Gruphus, nearly entire Zebrica. Great fleet, both of sea and in the air. They are said to be so vast, the airships blotted out the sun and moon alike.” Starlight laughed without happiness. “All for nothing. Tell me, princess, are you aware of the connection between tides and the moon?”

“Of course! By moving, the moon creates a pull on the ocean, causing… no…”

Starlight didn’t even answer. She instead sat down, conserving her strength, and trying to calm herself. No need to waste her energy on pointless anger. Besides, this Twilight could help her. She could finally enact her plan.

“You said you were part of the Resistance?” Spike asked, seeing as both mares just sat down, trying to calm themselves down. Twilight was visibly shaking, overwhelmed by the future news she was hearing.

“I was, in fact, one of two heads of the Resistance. Me and Trixie gathered everypony, everycreature, who was left alive. We tried everything, finding a way to get Celestia back, to kill Nightmare, to create an uprising. Trixie even found the Alicorn Amulet somewhere. And now… I’m the last one alive.” Starlight answered, her anger now gone. The years of hopeless war killed most of her feelings. She wasn’t so upset in months now.

“Wait, Trixie? Trixia Lulamoon? Stage magician, with ego bigger then herself? That Trixie?” Twilight was shaken out of her stupor by this revelation. “She was one of the leaders of the Resistance?”

“Yes, that’s my mare.” Starlight smiled for a short moment, before her voice was filled with sadness for the first time since Twilight saw her. “Was my mare, at least. She is dead now. Nightmare killed her in front of me, to torment and punish me for rebelling.”

After that, there was a long moment of silence. Neither Twilight, no Spike knew what to say. Anything they could say would be not enough compared to what they just heard.

Starlight was the first one to talk, as she got up. “We should get going. We don’t want to risk guards getting suspicious. We need to get away from the palace.”

“I can teleport us out.” Twilight said, her horn flaring… only to make few sparks and go out. “What?”

“Not going to work work here, princess. Nightmare Moon made her castle impossible to teleport in, or out. Only she can. Believe me, if it was so easy to get to her, we would have already done so. We need to deal with the guards and make for the door. Once we’re outside, you can teleport us away.” Starlight looked at Twilight. “I hope you’re ready for it, princess. If we’re caught…”

“I can imagine.” Twilight braced herself. Could she actually do this? She never studied much of combat magic, Celestia never approved of it and she never saw much practical use of it. Her enemies were usually either normal ponies – which she could just overwhelm with pure force as alicorn, like she did with Starlight after regaining her Cutie Mark – or ancient monsters and gods which were impossible to defeat in open combat anyway.

Well, fortunately guard were just ponies – one Earth pony, one pegasi – so she should be able to stun them. She went to the door, knocking on them. “I’m done, let me out.”

The door opened, and both guards looked inside, suspiciously. She had no idea what tipped them off, but the fact they were both looking inside the doorway made them perfect targets. She blasted them with a single, wide-bream stun spell.

The earth pony stallion went down instantly. The pegasi mare, however, was lightning fast. She almost managed to dodge, and was only partially hit. Enough to stun her, but she spent few more seconds resisting the spell before falling down. She must have an amazing willpower to last so long, Twilight thought as she left the dungeon. She almost resisted my spell.

“Twilight?” Spike asked, focusing on the pegasi. Her helmet fell off, showing a face they both knew.

“Rainbow Dash? But… why?” Twilight looked like she was hit with her own stun spell.

“You managed to get the captain of the guard herself? Nice!” Starlight left the dungeon, giving both guards a kick on her way out. “We never managed to get her down, she’s so stubborn.”

“… She is my friend in my world, remember? Rarity as well.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry. Well, she’s not your Rainbow Dash, and this is not your world, so let’s get out of here before we’re spotted.” Starlight led the way, trying to get to the front door as fast as possible.

They reached the main hall, only to see it was shrouded in darkness. All three of the stopped, unsure what to do, when they heard a voice.

“Come out, intruders. Come out, and I may be… merciful.” Twilight her this voice, years ago. But now it was much more subtle, less shouting and more… velvety. She found it ironic that Nightmare Moon, for the voice could only belong to her, seemed to be better at not using Canterlot Voice then Luna herself.

Starlight took few steps forward, knowing that hiding was pointless at this moment. The torches lit in a theatrical way, revealing a wall of Night Guards, all in full armor.

And in front of them, stood Nightmare Moon.

Back when she first saw her, Twilight was half-panicking, and half-trying to find a solution. And a Mare on the Moon was weakened after her fight with Celestia and breaking out of her prison. Now, when she was in full power right in front of her, Twilight felt her presence with her very being. It was like standing in the cold rain, and knowing that there is nowhere to hide from it. It was like a cold light, sucking happiness out of her. If she wasn’t an alicorn with experience fighting many, many dangers, she would have to fight herself not to bow to her and shake in fear.

As she was now, she managed to remain steady an unwavering, even when the corrupted visage of Luna turned her head and looked directly at Twilight, causing Spike to yelp and hide from those cold, sadistic eyes.

“So, little changeling, you somehow survived when your hive died. Fascinating. And here I thought you were all gone. Let me help you with that.” Suddenly, Nightmare Moon fired a beam of magic.

Twilight instinctively put up a shield, but it almost broke the moment Nightmare Moon’s beam hit it. By Celestia, she was strong! Twilight could probably try to fight her with her alicorn power, but her opponent had much, much more experience in combat and was more used to the alicorn body.

Twilight quickly realized it was hopeless. The guards were ready to pounce on her even if she managed to keep her shield up. She realized there was no way but let the spell – which she now recognized – hit her. So she dropped her shield.

Illusion-dropping spell hit her and instantly dispelled her illusion. Her wings were now visible to all, causing the guards to flinch; some even took a step back. Nightmare Moon looked surprised, but quickly masked it with arrogant chuckle.

Until Twilight started shining with weak, white-blue light, and the eternal tyrant stopped.

“How can it be? You are… different. More real than even me.” She looked at the unreal light, now disappearing slowly. “Of course. So, you come from the future, little alicorn? Hoping to defeat me here and now? What a foolishness.” Nightmare Moon now laughed, her fear and uncertainty masked with arrogance. “Now, you will tell me how you got here. And I may show you mercy. After all, another alicorn… yes, you could be very useful to me. What say you, Rarity?”

To Twilights’s horror, her friend was standing just behind the corrupted ruler, and now took a step to the right, showing herself and giving Twilight a critical look. “If her mane takes the same color as the Twilight we know after you transform her, she may look… presentable. But knowing her, she is probably equally not interested in style, and lost in some dusty books.”

That hurt. Fortunately, before Twilight managed to answer, Nightmare Moon continued like nothing happened. “Now, tell me. How did you travel here? What kind of magic did you use?”

Twilight swallowed nervously, still hurt by seeing her friend now loyally serving the Nightmare. Friends, she thought, remembering Dash. What will I do without you now, my friends?”

“Do you want your dragon to die? I can arrange that, if you do not answer right now.” Corrupted Luna said with sadistic anticipation. Twilight shuddered, and Spike made a very undignified sound of fear. Not that she blamed him.

“I… came here with the help of Cutie Map. It’s a powerful artifact, deep in the forest. I was going to use it again, but Timberwolves scared me away.”

Both Starlight and Spike looked at her like she went insane, although only Spike made a vocal protest. “Twilight, you can’t tell her that! She HEY!”

Suddenly, Spike was teleported against his will right next to the Nightmare. She summoned powerful chains and put them around the poor dragon, making sure they’re tight. “Fascinating. Now,” she interrupted Twilight’s protest as seeing Spike treated like this, “you will lead me there and I will personally see this map. Guards, put Starlight back in her cell. Let her enjoy the last hours of her life.”

“She needs to come with us.” Twilight quickly said a guards started to advance. Nightmare looked at her and stopped her soldiers with a gesture of her hoof, causing Starlight to relax slightly.

“Why? If a sacrifice is needed to use this magic, I can provide someone more fitting and in full health, not this… thing here.”

“I need Starlight, specifically. She is special. I am sure you already know this, seeing how powerful you are. Only she can make a spark that will open a portal in time.” Twilight said, technically speaking the truth. And playing on Nightmare’s ego; she would never admit to not knowing something, after all.
And trying very hard to ignore the word 'sacrifice' she just heard.

“Of course I know, impudent pony. But this… this gives me an idea. Yes, she will no doubt resist until the very last moment.” Nightmare looked at Starlight, her eyes shining with maniacal, sadistic glee. “Oh, I will enjoy forcing you to open the portal, Starlight Glimmer. I will make sure you will see with your own eyes how your help allowed me to conquer not only present, but past, and the future. You will be always remembered for helping me bring true Eternal Night, with no beginning and no end.” She laughed, and Starlight shuddered, looking at Twilight with hatred. Although, when the corrupted alicorn wasn’t looking, she… blinked in Twilight's direction? Was she trying to say something?

Before Twilight could think what she was being asked to do, the Nightmare stopped her laughter. “Now, tell me where this map is. Your dragon will stay next to me as an… insurance you won’t try something stupid.”

Twilight swallowed nervously. She needed to get back to the past, stop Starlight… but she couldn’t leave Spike here, could she? But the fate of Equestria was at stake!

“Oh, how I adore this look. Another pony, torn between saving her friend and fighting on. It is so… pathetic. So weak.” Nightmare looked at Twilight with an evil smile. “Oh, how I will enjoy what will come later… but now, stop delaying and tell me where this map is. The Timberwolves know to fear me, and will be of no issue with me there.”

Nightmare Moon, some of her guards, Twilight and Starlight – and still bound and terrified Spike – appeared just next to the map. Nightmare Moon looked over the artifact with curiosity, before her face contorted with disgust.

“I see. More of the Harmony magic. What a pathetic sight. Is that the best you could do to protect Equestria? What a disappointment.” She slowly walked around the table, making almost a full circle and standing just next to Starlight. “It will not accept me, for now. But maybe in the future… Every artifact can be desecrated, after all.”

Seeing the ruler of the Eternal Night just next to her, Starlight didn’t wait for her to finish her thought. Instead, she sent a small spark of her magic at the magical map.

The effect was instantaneous. The map lit in blue-white color, instead of the dark blue it had before. Twilight hesitated for a split second, and then tried to grab Spike and run to the portal. But the moment she touched the chains, they suddenly multiplied, binding her faster than she could cast a counterspell.

“You are even more stupid then you look, little alicorn, to fall for my trap.” Nightmare Moon laughed, and her laughter echoed over the forest. “Now, I shall bring the Eternal Night to all of time itself… but before that, let’s take care of you, little rebel.” She turned around…

… and impaled Starlight on her horn, piercing her through her side.

Twilight shouted “NO!” as Starlight screamed in pain, both hopeless to act.

Nightmare laughed, lifting the dying unicorn in the air with her horn still impaled in her, blood flowing down her horn. “I love it when they scream.”

“I… agree...” Starlight managed to say through her gritted teeth, fighting the pain. Her lungs were intact, fortunately. She really didn’t want to go out without a last word.
And the last spell.

“...Your turn.” She lit her horn. Nightmare Moon realized the danger, trying to put up a shield and throw Starlight off her horn. But it was already too late. Starlight planned this for a long time. This was her moment. Her spell run through her worst enemy, using their body contact to pass through her shields.

Nightmare Moon threw Starlight off to the ground, only to suddenly wobble. She felt weak; weaker than ever. “What did you do, you accursed mare?!” She screamed. All her composure was gone, but her voice suddenly grew weak, not full, magic-amplified Canterlot Voice that could kill with a word. What happened??

Only then she saw it. Her cutie mark. The source of her control over the moon and sun… the power she used to imprison Celestia… it was gone from her flank. It was now visible to all, not where it should be, hidden under her armor.
It was on Starlight’s flank.

Starlight could feel herself drifting away. She had no idea how to use that power she now had, but she didn’t need to. She was not actively using it to sustain Nightmare’s spells, and it was enough. She could feel Celestia stirring, breaking the weakening spell, returning to Equestria. Through her dimming eyes, she saw Twilight and Spike, free of chains, flying up, through the time portal.

‘I’m coming, Trixie. I told you… I will have… the best last words…’ she thought weakly as her life left her.

The last thing she saw was the sun rising on the horizon.

Author's Note

I think this is the most heroic we’ll see Starlight in this story. Sadly, not all her alternate-timeline counterparts are so nice, and her real-timeline self, at least right now, definitely isn’t. As we will see later.

But I feel my powers failing

This time, when Twilight emerged from the time portal, she was ready for Starlight’s attack. She created a shield just in time to stop Starlight’s attack, and teleported away, launching her own spell in return.

The unicorn stepped to the side, allowing the missing attack to go harmlessly through the cloud she was standing on. “You really need to work on your ai…” She barely managed to create a shield in time when second beam of magic hit her. And another. She teleported to a different cloud, but it gave her only a momentary respite as Twilight was pressing on with her attack. “Woah there, princess, you already stopped the race, see?” She pointed at Rainbow Dash and other fillies, who were now eating popcorn and watching them fight. “No reason to…” Another spell hit her shield, almost breaking it. She fired back, which gave her a moment of reprise. “Hey, I am talking to you!”

Another surprisingly violent magical attack splashed on her defenses. The spell that hit her shield was really strong, she knew that, but only now she realized it was way more dangerous then she thought. In fact, one of the spells cut a huge hole in the cloud she was on. Another straight up tore apart a smaller cloud behind her. “You know, if I didn’t know you better than that, I’d think you wanted to kill me.”

“Starlight, stop it.” Twilight said with an angry look on her face. “I just came back from literal hell, with Discord ruling it. Before that, it was Nightmare Moon’s victory. I don’t want to go back to those awful futures. Stop your spell.” She started powering up another lethal attack, determined to end it here and there.

“Oh, really? And all that just because you never made friends?” Starlight laughed. “What a shame, princess. Shame that you are such a bad liar!”

Twilight’s answer never came, as the time portal appeared and sucked her back in, her deadly spell fizzling out harmlessly.

This time, she was ready. She dropped to the ground, and was back up with spells ready before Spike even hit the ground next to her. Twilight looked around, waiting. Who is it this time? Tirek? Sombra? It was night again, maybe she returned to that awful world ruled by Nightmare Moon?

“Um, Twilight, is it only me or do I smell… fire?” Spike asked, dusting himself off. “And what’s that other smell? It’s nasty.”

Twilight, not seeing any imminent danger, looked around and smelled the air. Indeed, while they appeared in the middle of the night, she could see a light on the horizon, above treetops; a huge fire. And the trees, there was something wrong with them. She shone her magical light on the closest plants, only to gasp in shock.

They were in the forest, but it was different. Twisted. Trees lost almost all their leaves, and most of the grass and small plants on the ground were withered and dead. Aside from the smell of smoke and soot, there was also something else, something.. soapy? She couldn’t recognize it, but whatever it was, she could smell it everywhere around them.

“That does not look good. You think this fire is coming closer?” Spike looked worryingly at the distant fire. “We should probably move, find Starlight somehow, and get out of here.”

“We probably…” Twilight started, only to stop and turn around, shield materializing around her and her assistant moment before stealthy ponies would reach them. “Who are you?!” She demanded, taking a look at them.

To her surprise, she saw Fluttershy, among other ponies there. They carried spears and other weapons, with bow-armed ones staying back and drawing their weapons. All of them were wearing some kind of camouflage, making them difficult to spot; if not for her trauma-fuelled paranoia, they would definitely catch them off guard.

The appearance of her pink shield caused some commotion; ponies closest to her took a step back, eyeing her with… was that fear? Suspicion? It hurt Twilight to see her friend scared and angry like this, but she tried to ignore this. It’s not a real Fluttershy, she thought to herself, trying to hold back the storm of emotions inside her. The real one, she is dea… no, she will be fine, they all will be…

“A real magic you use, something most changelings cannot do.” Said a familiar voice, and Zecora stepped forward. “But this does not mean you are innocent; tell me, what brings you to this cursed place?"

“Zecora!” Twilight said happily, almost dropping her shield before her paranoia kicked in. “Wait, changelings?”

“We will now see your true form, whether you hide it or not.” The wise zebra said, ignoring her and instead throwing some shining dust in the air. “Now, reveal yourself, your true self!”

The dust went through her shield somehow, and Twilight was ready to blast it away, but instead of something bad happening she just… started glowing? She looked back at Spike, and saw him also glowing with some strange white light. Actually, when she looked close, it wasn’t truly light, it was like… he wasn’t fully there? Or rather, she realized, like he was real, and everything else was just a cardboard cutout. When she looked at the weird ‘light’, everything but her and her assistant looked flat. Unreal.

Zecora visibly did not expect that; the shaman took a step back, all ponies looking at her with surprise. “What does this mean?” Fluttershy asked, still holding her spear.

“I see, it is worse than I had ever feared.” The zebra answered, deep in thought. “For they are the ones who are real, and we, for contrast, should not be here. Twilight, dear, please explain this to me; but not here, for the changelings are near. Follow us, to the camp.”

Twilight reluctantly dropped her shield and followed the ponies, her paranoia still lingering but it’s not like she had anywhere else to go. Besides, that way they were moving away from the fire, and she definitely didn’t want to get close to that raging inferno on the horizon.

Steeling herself, and prepared for worst, she walked to Fluttershy, who, still armed, seemed to be forming the rear guard. “Fluttershy. Can you tell me what happened here? In this world, did Chrysalis win?” Twilight asked, hoping for some answers.

“What? How can you ask that? You were there!” Her friend, at least in the old world, answered with surprise. “You tried to save Celestia, and failed.”

“Fluttershy, look. I’m not from here.” At the incredulous look from her friend, Twilight clarified: “I am from a different… future, I guess? Where I’m from, we defeated the changelings.”

“That must be a great future.” Fluttershy answered, looking around them, at the broken and lifeless trees; in the light of small torches and lamps some ponies were carrying, they looked even scarier than before. “Why are you here? You should go home.”

“I will try, trust me.” Twilight winced, realizing how this sounded. “Not that I don’t want to help you, it’s just that…”

“There is nothing left to help.” Fluttershy said quietly, and for a moment, Twilight could see her old friend still inside this scarred and traumatized veteran. “They are all gone. All my friends. Even Angel.”

“Wait, Angel?” Spike asked, surprised. For a moment, Fluttershy looked at him with a spark of wonder in her eyes, reminiscent of the old days. But that spark died quickly.

“When changelings arrived in Ponyville, I couldn’t do anything.” The pony answered, her eyes back to lifeless and empty. “I just hid, hoped this was a bad dream. But they came for me, too. My friends fought them, but there were too many. So many.” She looked at the dark sky, remembering the fateful day when Equestria fell. “Angel told me to run. Save myself, hide in Everfree. So I run. I couldn’t do anything, but run.”

“That rabbit gave them a hell of a fight. Beat them up so badly, Chrysalis herself had to come fight him. He gave us time to escape to Everfree.” Another pony said, and when Twilight turned around, she saw Rainbow Dash, and gasped. The alicorn looked in horror at the pegasus; she had no wings. Only scarred stumps remained. Seeing her shock, the former weather pony laughed, but there was no happiness in that laughter. “Surprised? War isn’t pretty, princess. So, you’re an alicorn; you must have blasted Chrysalis to pieces in your happy future, right?”

“We all defeated Chrysalis. My friends and I.” Twilight answered, torn between telling the truth and sparing her friends more suffering. “Equestria is at peace. Was. Will be, when I’m back.” She declared.

“Good. Make sure it is. I don’t wish this hell on anyone.” Rainbow said, looking at the trees around them.

“What happened here?” Twilight asked. “Chrysalis took Canterlot, Ponyville, but what about the rest of the world? Surely they couldn’t have just ignored what happened here!”

“Funny you ask. I used to be our messenger, before that happened.” The pegasus pointed at her wings. “Not that it helped us with anything. Everything went to Tartarus.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, dreading the answer and remembering the previous worlds she visited.

“Let’s see. Stalliongrad allied with the changelings, and they divided Equestria between themselves. Polar bears capitulated before war even started, and Nova Girffonia got conquered few weeks before we got invaded.” Rainbow stated bitterly.

“What about penguins, and yaks? Griffons?” Twilight asked.

“Penguins and yaks were conquered by Stalliongrad. And on the day when both capitulated, Chrysalis invaded her ‘allies’ as well. They were caught with their armies busy in the Yakyakistan and the Penguin Kingdom, and got cut off. Good for them, shouldn’t have helped her in the first place.” Rainbow pony added with morbid satisfaction. “I hope they like it in their harvesting pods.”

“Harvesting pods?” Spike asked before Twilight managed to stop him. She really didn’t want to know.

“Yeah, that’s what they do, the changelings. They put you, your friends and your family in the cocoons, and feed off your love. And if you have no more to give, they give you some drugs to make you feel love. And when you are so broken you can’t feel love at all, they just dump your body somewhere. And that’s if you’re lucky.” Rainbow said, watching with some twisted satisfaction as both Twilight and Spike grew white and just stopped, unable to accept what they just heard. “Told you, it’s Tartarus out here.”

It took a moment for Twilight and Spike to be able to say anything in answer to that. The mere idea of being trapped like this, with their love forcefully taken away, knowing that all their friends and family are there with them… it was like a nightmare. But even worse, because they knew it was happening.

“The griffons wanted to invade to take Nova Griffonia back, but they got invaded by the Storm King instead so that plan got scrapped. Between some evil necromancers in the north, and invasion in the south, Griffonian Empire couldn’t spare anyone to help us.” Rainbow continued. “Entire Zebrica and Gryphus are at war. Dragons were in between it all, so they got invaded by everyone, buffalos are in the harvesting pods, and we’re here. Constantly invaded by the changelings.” Rainbow pointed to a nearby tree, with huge fruits dangling from it. “If not for the forest, we’d be gone too.”

Twilight looked at the tree and whimpered, taking few shaking steps back before falling on the ground. What she thought were fruits were changelings. Dead changelings. Some were impaled by the branches, and judging by the green blood splattered everywhere and their hooves still grabbing the wood, they were alive when it happened. Others were hanging like leaves, their bodies broken and lifeless. And the rocks below the tree, between the roots…

It was too much. Twilight just shut down. She sat there, unable to see, or hear. She couldn’t accept this. It was worse than any other future she saw, it was horrible. She couldn’t take it anymore. Sounds became distant buzzing, and there was nothing but the white void around her, calling to her…

Somebody hugged her, strongly, but not dangerously. It felt safe. “Twilight.” She recognized that voice, somewhere inside her mind, but she couldn’t understand it. “Twilight, it’s me. Please, wake up. We need you.”

“You can fix it.” The voice added quietly.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, and saw Pinkie Pie in front of her. The party pony was also wearing the camo paint, but instead of looking angry and ready to fight she seemed… sad? Her hair was down, and while she smiled, her eyes were closed. “Pinkie?” Twilight asked, trying not to look at the trees around them, but even then her imagination made her see all the dead bodies around. She started shutting down again, only for Pinkie to hug her again.

“Wait, you remember us?” Spike asked, and only then Twilight realized he was also part of the hug. She felt horrible; she didn’t even think about her Number One Assistant! She looked at him, and saw fresh tears in his eyes.

“Nope!” Pinkie answered with a smile, and for a moment, it felt like they weren’t in this horrible, dark forest, full of dead bodies. It felt like they were in Ponyville. It reminded them of fighting the horror-like trees Nightmare Moon used against them.

“Now I’m an adult, and the sun is going down…” Pinkie sang quietly, and Twilight looked at her with surprise. “The darkness and the shadows, these days they always make me frown...”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, hugging her friend.

“I say, Twilight, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears…” Pinkie finished prematurely on a sad note, still hugging them.

“How do you…?” Twilight asked, confused.

“There are… things. Zecora helped me make them.” Pinkie answered, without looking at them but still hugging her friends. “They made my Pinkie Sense work better. I could see things, ponies, with it.”

“See what?” Spike asked, trying to dry his tears with his hand; it was pretty hard to do while in the middle of Pinkie Pie-class hug.

“I failed. Everywhere, and every time.” The party pony said, keeping her eyes closed and taking a step back. “I couldn’t stop it. Everything went wrong, and I could not do anything. I… she warned me not to, but I drank as much of that as I could, I hoped I can see how to fix things.”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, scared. “What are you talking about?”

Her friend opened her eyes. Pure white eyes. She was blind.

Twilight hugged her friend. It was an instinct, and impulse, a need to help her friends however she can. The blind pony did not return the hug this time. “Pinkie, I…”

“You must go. Find your way home.” Pinkie said, interrupting her. “I could see. Now I am blind, but I could see, and that was enough. You must return. No matter what happens. Promise me. You will return home, and fix it all.”

“Of course! I promise, I will return and I will save you all!” Twilight said, her determination returning, even though one look at the trees around them make her shudder with fear.

“Do not be harsh on Rainbow.” Pinkie said quietly. “She is not herself. She lost everything she cared about, and she’s trying to cope with it. Forgive her.”

“I… understand.” Twilight looked down, ashamed of herself. She had to help, she was the only one who could, and she had just shut down. She failed her friends.

“And do not be harsh on yourself. Things will not get better for a while, I could see that. But remember, no matter what, you… you are…” Pinkie stopped, suddenly.

“Are you alright?” Spike asked, worried.

“I cannot see. But I could.” The pink pony answered, not really here or there, lost in thoughts. “You are, you are… a princess, right? I remember friendship. It was so amazing.”

Twilight couldn’t hold it anymore. She cried, hugging her unmoving, lost friend. She cried for all the others. She cried for her old world, now lost, and she let her emotions out. She didn’t even notice that everyone else stopped, looking at her. Rainbow glanced at Zecora. The zebra nodded her head, now sure that this was, indeed, not an evil impostor.

Twilight didn’t know how long it took before she stopped crying, but when she did, and dried her tears with her hoof, she saw Pinkie smiling sadly. “Go on.” The pink pony said, gently pushing her towards the others, who slowly returned to her march towards home.

The alicorn nodded and followed the resistance members, still traumatized but determined to return home and fix everything. Pinkie waited until they all disappeared in the woods, before going in the opposite direction.

Pinkie made sure to leave faint, but visible, hoofprints. Not too visible, she didn’t want them to be suspicious, but good enough to be tracked back to camp. She knew that by now, the changelings were swarming around the place Twilight arrived, and she needed it to come home. Pinkie could see that, back when she could still see. She needed to give them a better target.

There were benefits to being blind, she thought to herself. She could never see her own death, even when she could still see. And now, she would never see it. There was some comfort in not seeing how this all would end.

The blind pony smiled for the last time. She didn’t see the blow that ended her life.

“Do you know what happened to Starlight? Starlight Glimmer?” Twilight asked Fluttershy. However, it was Rainbow who butted in with response.

“That traitor?” The blue pegasus spit at the ground. “She got what she deserved. She helped Stalliongrad, joined them even, and then got captured by the changelings. They drained her dry, not that she had much love to begin with.”

“She’s dead?” Twilight asked, feeling her determination cracking. How could she come home without Starlight?

“Nah. We found her in one of the dumps, she was still breathing. Zecora saved her, don’t ask me why. We should have left her there to rot.” Rainbow answered bitterly. “Now we have to feed her and all that, when she would gladly leave us to die or worse!”

Twilight winced. She remembered Pinkie’s advice and tried to not be too harsh on Rainbow, after all they were all traumatized beyond belief by this horrible future. But it still hurt, seeing her friends hurt so much, and transformed into this vicious, vengeful person. “I need her to come back home.” She explained.

“Fat chance of that, but sure, feel free to try.” Rainbow answered with disgust. “Our camp is close, once we get there I will show you her hut.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said, but her friend did not answer.

They reached the camp soon after. It was a primitive village, with many small building made out of wood. The forest was thick in this place, and barely any light reached the ground even during the day, making it hard to spot it from above. In this part of the forest, trees still had leaves, but the smell of soot and that weird, soapy aroma was still in the air. Spike looked around, slightly relaxed, although still with dried tears on his face. “Whew, at least these trees look normal!”

“Don’t get used to it.” Rainbow said, her voice bitter as always in this dark future. “Chrysalis destroyed most of the forest already. We had to move camps multiple times, not counting those left in the Castle. We are almost out of places to hide.”

“Wait, but how? Even Luna and Celestia together were unable to tame the Everfree Forest!” Twilight protested, her nerdy side coming out for a moment now that they were in a safer place. “What magic is that?”

“Effective.” Rainbow said, her voice changing from bitter to hateful. “Changelings created some poison that removes leaves from the trees, leaving us visible. Sometimes they just drop napalm and burn it until they run out, then they make more of it and drop it again.”

“What about the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Twilight asked, trying not to imagine what this ‘napalm’ was. “Can’t you hide there?”

“Chrysalis dropped her first Balefire Bomb there.” Rainbow answered, and for the first time, under al the bitterness and spite, they could see a small sign of fear.

“Balefire Bomb?”

“It’s gone. The Castle, the forest around it, even underground caves and passages there. It’s just a huge, poisonous crater. No one survived.”

Twilight couldn’t even imagine what she heard. She fought Tirek with all her power and the powers of all Princesses, and when they clashed they created a big crater, blasting the ground below them to ashes. But to hear that changelings had the power to do the same, it was horrible!

“Anyway, you wanted Starlight, there she is.” Rainbow pointed to a tiny hut on the outskirt of the resistance camp. “Hope you’ll make some good use of that traitor.” With these spiteful words, Rainbow moved away, towards her own hut.

Twilight almost rushed to Starlight immediately, only to stop when suddenly Spike hugged her. “Spike?” She asked, only for her assistant to hug her even more. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s horrible.” The small dragon answered, shaking, tears pooling in his eyes. “Why is this place so horrible? I just want to go home!”

“… I know, Spike.” Twilight said, hugging him back. She also started crying. “I know.”

They didn’t know how long it took for them to calm themselves, but the morning was coming, the rising sun barely visible in the thick forest. Twilight and Spike, ready to support one another, entered the hut.

It was a small place. Just a bed, a desk, small chair. Starlight was laying down on the bed, while Fluttershy was slowly feeding her some soup, spoon by spoon. It was a comforting sight, reminding them of their own Fluttershy taking care of her ill pets, but the fact that she was taking care of another pony made it alien enough to remind them where they were. “Oh, right, you wanted to ask Starlight something.” Fluttershy said, yawning. “Can you feed her, first? She doesn’t talk much these days, but at least she won’t be hungry, and I could really use some sleep.”

“Why are you feeding her? What’s wrong?” Spike asked, coming closer. Starlight did not react at all to their appearance, just looking mindlessly at the ceiling. “Starlight?” Spike asked, still without any reaction.

“Changelings got her when they took over Our Town.” Fluttershy explained, getting up and stretching. “They were sucking love out of her for a year, and when they couldn’t get anything out of her even with their drugs, they just left her to die. We have some other ponies like her in the camp, Zecora is trying her best to help. But they are just…” Fluttershy looked at her patient and shivered. “Not here.”

When Fluttershy left, Twilight just stood there, unable to understand. She saw Starlight three times recently; once in her own world, able to match an alicorn in a battle for a short time; in the future ruled by Nightmare Moon, when she fought against all odds; and in Discord’s world, when she resisted him with all her might.
But this Starlight… “Can you hear me?” Twilight asked, but there was no answer. No reaction. “Starlight, I need your help. Get up! We can still fix it!”

There was no reaction. Twilight came closer, and shouted in Starlight’s ear, without effect. She tried to push her off bed, but that was also ignored, until finally Spike grabbed her hoof. “What?!” Twilight screamed, turning to her assistant, only to stop. Spike was scared. Of her.

“… I need some rest…” The alicorn said weakly, taking few steps back and sitting on the wooden floor. Spike, seeing this, braced himself, grabbed the soup and started slowly feeding Starlight.

There was a moment of silence, before Spike said something, quietly. “You know, this feels familiar.”

“Hm?” Twilight asked, still trying to understand her emotions.

“Remember when you got super-ill after drinking that potion you made?” Spike asked. “I had to take care of you for entire day before you even had strength to eat.”

“That’s totally different!” Twilight protested, her anger flaring up again. “I just made a mistake in the brewing, and Starlight, she, she…”

“Made a bigger mistake?” Spike asked quietly, contrasting with how loud Twilight was getting. “You know, I remember you making this potion to impress your teacher. I even warned you not to do that, but you still tried, and when you failed you got very angry.”

“What are you saying, Spike?” Twilight said, trying to not raise her voice. She only partially succeed. “That I’m like her? is that what you’re saying?!”

“I think you do have something in common.” Spike answered, putting the now empty bowl aside. “Twilight, you almost gave up in that forest. And you just… shut down in Discord’s world.” He pointed at the still-unmoving Starlight. “Just like she did here.”

“I would never, no matter what, become as twisted and evil as she is.” Twilight declared with utmost certainty. “She is unhinged, Spike! She destroyed entire Equestria, trapped us here! How can you say that we are similar?”

“What about Nightmare Moon? Is she not a corrupted version of Luna?” Spike pointed out. “I’m sure if you asked Luna before she transformed what she thinks of someone like Nightmare Moon, she would be appalled. But she changed, and now she is back to normal.”

“I still don’t get what you’re saying.” Twilight stubbornly said.

“I think there is more to why ponies, and others, are evil then just who they are.” Spike slowly said. “Even your friends could be corrupted by Discord, remember? And you also managed to save Sunset, after all, and you can’t tell me you and she aren’t similar.”

“No, I… that is…” Twilight found herself stumped. “Since when are you so smart, Spike?”

“Hey, I was always smart. Hero of the Crystal Empire, remember?” The dragon smiled, remembering his blunders and then the quite heroic actions during the Equestria Games. “I learned a lot from you, Twilight. And I know you well.”

Twilight couldn’t find an answer to this; her emotions once again overwhelmed her, and she hugged her friend. “Thank you, Spike”.

Twilight still did not believe that she herself would ever be capable of doing anything like this. But for now, she decided there were simply more important things to do, so she dropped the topic and braced herself. She needed to succeed here, somehow.

She then turned to Starlight, and cleared her throat, trying to keep her emotions in check. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the right words to say. She tried again, and again, and at the fourth try she finally managed to say something. “Starlight? If you can hear me… I am here to help.” Still no reaction. “I come from the past.”

Starlight moved slightly. Hoping it was an actual reaction to her words, Twilight continued. “I have a way to fix all this. But I will need your help.” This didn’t get any reaction. Why? Twilight tried a few more things, but nothing worked. What was it that she said that got this reaction?

Maybe, Twilight realized, we are just tiny bit similar. I am of course not evil, but maybe we do share something… “I know how to finish Star-Swirl’s the Bearded time-travel spell. But I cannot do it alone; I will need your help. You are amazing at magic, and only you can help me.”

Starlight slowly, very slowly moved her head to the side and looked at Twilight. “Time travel?” She asked quietly, in a hoarse voice that wasn’t used for a long time for nothing but screams.

“Yes, we can travel back in time and change everything. But only if you help me.” Twilight said, now slightly more hopeful. “I have a scroll here, with me.” She levitated the piece of paper in front of Starlight’s eyes.

The almost-comatose pony slowly read through it, a tiny bit of life coming back to her. “Yes. It can work. Needs two ponies.” Starlight slowly got up from bed, standing up and wobbling a little. She was barely able to walk after long imprisonment and being bedridden, but she tried. “We can. Lead on.”

Twilight nodded, and slowly led Starlight out of building, only to notice a sudden commotion the moment she did, ponies grabbing weapons as something run loudly towards the camp. Zecora grabbed some potions, ready to throw at a moment’s notice.

Pinkie Pie ran into the camp, almost hitting a tree. She was covered in blood. “Changelings! There is a patrol nearby, we must move the camp and deal with them before they find us!”

Twilight almost forgot her mission and run to her friend, but to her horror Zecora suddenly threw a potion at the pink pony. It hit, and Pinkie screamed as it started burning her… only for her scream to turn into laughter, as Chrysalis dropped her disguise.

Twilight gasped and everyone got ready to fight, as the Queen of Changelings looked over the camp. “And to think I wasted some ponies’s life to get that much blood on me. Oh well, they would be disposed of anyway. What a pathetic sight. This is what escaped my generals, my spies, my armies for so long?” She looked at Zecora with a predatory smile. “Oh, yes, there is so much love in you, little zebra. I rarely have the occasion to taste such… exotic love. You will serve me well.”

“I would rather let you taste my anger, then become your chained prisoner!” Zecora angrily said, lobbing another potion at the monster. A blast of magic hit the potion, and it promptly exploded. In this moment, thousands of changelings dropped from the trees above, and hundreds more poured into camp from behind the Queen.

Starlight tried to run, but she fell on the ground, unable to move in her weakened state. Twilight grabbed her with telekinetic magic and run, hoping she remember the way correctly. One or two changelings tried to grab her, but she managed to use her magic to teleport away and into the forest.

While most of the changelings were busy with the camp, some still remained in the forest, ready to capture any stragglers and prevent any from escaping. Twilight, with Spike riding her and Starlight floating behind her, run face-first into such trap, two changelings dropping on her from above with heavy chains, trying to tie her. The alicorn panicked, and fired her spells blindly, hitting the changelings and throwing them off. When her regular spells proved too weak to break the steel chains, Twilight fired a spell so powerful it cut right through the metal… and hit the changeling behind it.

Three runaways were already far away from the site of failed ambush when one of the changelings got up, coughing some green blood. The crazy unicorn with wings – looked like alicorn, but weren’t they supposed to all be in the pods already? – got him good, her spells banged him up quite badly. “Dammit, they got away. Thorax, get up, we need to alert the rest that they slipped away!”

There was no answer from the other changeling. “Thorax?” Pharynx asked, limping closer and moving his brother’s body, only to see a hole going through his body. The younger changeling was hit with the same magic that cut the chains; he died instantly.

Pharynx stood there for a moment, before crying in anger.

Twilight reached the crystal table, and dropped Starlight next to it, wheezing from exhaustion. She was never one for sports, and all this running – most of the forest was too thick for flying – was too much for her body to handle. Still, they got here, and that was important. “Starlight?” She asked.

The unicorn looked at the table, and at Twilight, before firing a tiny bit of her magic. It hit the scroll, and the magical portal to the past started to appear. The alicorn and Spike started slowly levitating towards it, when they suddenly heard Starlight’s quiet voice.

“Twilight. Save me.”

Twilight wanted to ask so many questions. How much did Starlight deduce? Did she recognize her own hoofwriting in the scroll? What did she mean by that? But both her and Spike already flew towards the portal, leaving the unicorn alone.

Moments later, Pharynx, his wounds only agitated by the careless chase through the forest, run towards Starlight. “YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!” He screamed, no longer caring about capturing her; he wanted revenge. He wanted to kill!

Starlight looked at the now-empty crystal table and smiled. For the first time in years she felt hope, even as her life came to an end.

“Save her.”

Author's Note

Twilight really doesn’t work well under pressure, as we’ve seen multiple times in the show. Add some recent trauma to the mix, and the poor Princess just cannot deal with it. On the other hand, Spike has one of those personalities that work very well under stress and in horrible situations, and break down only after the situation has passed when they finally relax

How can I fight this dark and win

Twilight emerged from the time portal, instantly encasing herself and Spike in a powerful shield. Her horn flared up with violet fire, and she was ready for a fight.

But she wouldn’t get one.

“Just think about how you would feel if someone was that mean to you.” Starlight said to the bully-fillies, standing up for Fluttershy. “Being mean is just bad for everypony.”

“Yes, miss Starlight!” Both fillies answered, ashamed of themselves.

“Perfect. Remember, bullying is bad.” Starlight turned around, facing the stunned Twilight and Spike with a smile. “See that pony over there? She is the worst. A horrible bully, and a mean pony. Do not be like her.”

“Wha… what? Starlight, stop that!” Twilight managed to say, shaking herself out of her stupor. “You have no idea what you’re doing! You’re only making everything worse!”

“Really, Princess? What ‘horrible future’ did you see this time?” Starlight laughed.

“You caused Chrysalis to win, and conquer Equestria!”

“Of course I did. And I probably also caused the end of the world on top of it.” Starlight shook her head. “Really, Princess, you are a horrible liar. Are you sure you aren’t the Element of Honesty, instead of Magic?”

“Starlight, listen…” The portal opened above Twilight and Spike, sucking them in. “Starlight!”

The unicorn laughed triumphantly in return, watching her enemies disappear.

Twilight and Spike tumbled out of the portal, landing on top of the Map. The alicorn already erected a shield around the Map and both of them, just in case, before she even got up and looked around.

“What… this time?” Spike asked, getting up. “More monsters? Another war? Worse?”

“I’m… not sure.” Twilight looked around. It was day, so they were not in the Nightmare world. No sign of Discord and his crazy magic, and the Everfree Forest was not overgrowing everything. She could even see Ponyville close by.

“Alright, Spike. I don’t see anything dangerous here. Let’s go find out what’s going on in this future, find Starlight, and then…” She tried to think of something, only to come up short. How was she supposed to convince Starlight? She was so… stubborn! She just couldn’t believe in something unless she saw it herself!

Twilight hated ponies like this. When faced with evidence, one should just accept it, not stubbornly refuse to believe it! Starlight was really getting on her nerves with her dismissive attitude, not to mention the fact that she was risking the future of Equestria!

“Um, Twilight? Is it only me, or is there something weird with the map?” Spike asked.

“What do you mean, Spike?” She turned to the map.

Indeed, there was something weird going on there. “Why is Crystal Empire taking half of the map? It’s almost up to Canterlot!”

“Maybe in this future… I don’t know, Cadance is actually the ruler of Equestria?” Spike said, scratching his head.

“That would make it easier for us. Can’t believe Cadance could ever be evil, she could help us with finding Starlight.” Twilight said, now hopeful. “Let’s go to Ponyville, see what we can learn there.”

Seeing Ponyville up close was enough to trash any hopes of this future being a good one. It was abandoned. Homes just stood there, empty, with windows and doors closed and barred. They tried knocking on some doors, but there was no answer. In desperation, Spike even managed to break the door into Canterlot Boutique, only to find it empty and dusty, abandoned for months if not years.

“You think everypony is just… gone?” Spike nervously asked, looking around. “I don’t like this. It reminds me of zombie-pony attack in Mane-iac.”

“Spike, real life is not a comic book.” Twilight answered, trying to mask her own nervousness. “There is no virus that can make ponies into mindless monsters. Everypony just left Ponyville, for some reason.”

“The villain was mind-controlling them, it wasn’t a virus..” Spike said, but Twilight ignored him, already coming up with a plan.

“Even if everyone moved up, I bet the Apples are still here! They would never abandon the farm. Come on Spike, we need to talk with Applejack.”

She trotted ahead, feeling slightly hopeful. Surely, the farm had to still be there, right?

Right?

The farm was there, true. And definitely wasn’t abandoned. However, it looked nothing like what she expected. Smoke was pouring out of multiple chimneys on top of now much bigger barn. The smell of apples was still there in the air, but it was mixed with smell of oil and metal.

All in all, it looked more like a Manehattan factory then a farm she used to know.

Twilight slowly walked up to the foggy, dirty window of the barn, and looked inside. The interior matched the exterior, now with a production line running through it. Multiple ponies worked inside, wearing face masks and using tools to pack something into cans – mashed apples?

The cans went through the production line, being checked for defects, filled with mashed apples, then an label was put on them – ‘Apples for war effort!’ – and they were finally packed in boxes and taken out of the building, while new apples were being continuously brought to be processed.

All in all, it looked more like that Film-Flalm device then a family business. In fact, twilight was sure that most ponies there were not even Apples. She could not see anypony she recognized in there. What happened to Applejack?

“Whatcha’ doing here?”

Twilight jumped and squeaked in surprise, turning around quickly to face… Applejack! “Wait a’ moment, don I know ya from somewhere?”

“Applejack!” Twilight happily said, only to suddenly remember the different versions of her friends she met in different futures. “I’m… I’m so happy to see you.”

“If ya say so.” Applejack put down a barrel of apples she was holding. “Now, you didn’t asnwe ma question. Whatcha doin’ here, in ma farm? Why are you in Ponyville?”

“I’m… It’s…” Twilight hesitated. “I’m looking for someone.”

“You do, huh? Ah think it’s mighty suspicious of ya. Are you a spy?”

“What? Spy? Of course not!”

“Ah don’t know. You didn’t even tell ma ya name, you were just snoopin’ around ma factory…” Applejack looked at her with suspicion.

“Why are you so suspicious? What’s going on here? Where is everypony else? What happened to Rarity” Spike asked, causing Applejack to jump in surprise.

“A dragon?! Sorry, um, mista, I didn’t see ya there.” Applejack shook her head. “Rarity? Last Ah heard, she went to Manehattan, to make uniforms for our soldiers.”

“Soldiers?” Twilight asked.

“Where have ya’ll been? There is a war goin’ on.” Seeing their blank stares, Applejack shook her head. “Ah don’t have time for this.” She grabbed her barrel and kept going towards the door of the barn… former bar, now factory.

“Applejack, wait!” Twilight trotted up to her friend. “We need your help!”

“My help? For what?”

“You see…”

It took a while to convince Applejack that they were telling the truth. Or rather, she still had doubts at the end of this, but seeing the Map – something she haven’t seen there just a day before – convinced her they may be telling the truth.

Furthermore, their story, though insane, felt oddly sincere.. In a way, she was pretty convinced they were telling the truth, even if it sounded insane.

“We are friends in tha’ past? Present?” Applejack shook her head. “Ahm just a factory mare, not some magician. You’ll need ta ask somepony else fer help with this.”

“Is princess Celestia still in Canterlot?” Twilight hopefully asked.

“Nah, course not. She’s still at tha frontline.”

“Frontline? Who are we fighting?” Twilight pointed out at the map. “Why is Crystal Empire taking half of Equestria?”

“Crystal… Oh, ya meant the Imperium Crystale.” Applejack shook her head. “They conquered it, that’s why.”

“What?” Twilight looked at the map in shock. “Cadance would never attack Equestria!”

“You really don’t know, do ya.” Applejak sighed. “Cadance had nothing to say. Sombra controls her.”

Twilight just looked at her in shock and disbelief.

“Ya, see, after the Crystal ponies reappered, everyone was happy. We jus’ finished the civil war, and it was tha best thing to happen in years. A bunch of long-lost ponies coming back to us.”

Twilight was tempted to ask about this ‘civil was’, but she had a bad feeling that she already knew what her friend meant. Without the Elements of Harmony, Luna, or rather Nightmare Moon, could cause horrible amount of damage before being stopped.
And, as Twilight saw not long ago, she could even win and rule the nightmarish Equestria herself. She shuddered at the memory.

“But then, Sombra came back. He overpowered Cadance, Shining Armor, and everypony else.” Applejack looked at the map, lost in the memories. “He had some dark magic he used to jus’ force them to obey him. Some kinda magical helmet or somethin’. So now both of them are serving in his army.”

“No…” Twilight felt sick.

“Cadance and Sombra just destroyed most of our forces in the opening battles. Celestia went to the frontline herself, and managed to fight them to a stall.” Applejack sighed. “So that’s how it is now. Ponies go to war to defend Equestria. Those who were captured by Sombra… now fight on the other side..”

“This… this is horrible!” Twilight looked at the map with a new perspective. Sombra had thousands of ponies, if not more, under his control. He almost reached Canterlot! “I can’t believe it. I just can’t.”

“Better believe it. It’s all true. Sombra would probably already reach Canterlot if not for th’ Army.” Applejack looked at the Map. “You shoulda both go back to your future. Nothin’ good here for you.”

“I will. And I will stop this, this future, from happening!” Twilight braced herself. She had to do this. At least it should be easier than last time. “Tell me, have you ever heard of Starlight Glimmer?”

“Tha’ traitor? Course Ah did! Whatcha need that pony fer?”

“I need her to go back in time and fix everything. Do you know where she is?” Twilight was too focused on finding her way back to ask about ‘treason’. Besides, considering it was Starlight, she wasn’t surprised she would betray Equestria in her hour of need.
She and Starlight were nothing alike. If it came to this, she would fight for her home, not btreay it!

“Sure Ah do. In Canterlot’s dungeons. She was spreadin’ some lies about Cutie Marks an’ trying to avoid draft.” Applejack pointed at Canterlot Castle, clearly visible atop a mountain. “But Ah doubt they’ll just let ya talk to her.”

“I will think of something. Thank you, Applejack.” Twilight said, looking at Canterlot. Her old, beloved home. She wondered what her alternate self in this timeline was doing. Was she fighting? Devising new powerful spells to win the war? She had no doubt that she was doing her all for Equestria.

“No problem. I hopa ya manage to go back and change th’ future to something better then this.” Applejack sighed. “Time for me ta get back ta work.”

“Don’t worry. I got this.” Twilight said.

She totally did not get this.

Canterlot Castle was now a fully fortified area, not just a royal palace. Multiple layers of walls surrounded it, with heavy gates blocking the access. Patrols of pegasi made sure the sky was safe, and Twilight could see powerful ballistae on the walls, ready to fire.

She seriously doubted she could just walk to them and demand to be taken to the dungeons.

“Um, Twilight? What’s the plan?” Spike asked, looking at the armed ponies on he walls. “I don’t think we can fly through it…”

“No other way, Spike. We’ll have to teleport.” Twilight took a deep breath. She was tired, so tired. She fought Starlight, used her magic in so many of these crazy futures, and now this. She truly hoped this was the final future she had to witness. They were not getting better at all.

But how could she convince Starlight??

One thing at the time, Twilight thought to herself. For now, teleport. She looked at Spike, hesitating. “Spike, wait here. It will be easier for me to teleport by myself then taking both of us.”

“Aright. But please be careful, Twiligh.” Spike pleaded.

“I will.” Twilight answered, her horn powering up already. She took a deep breath, and teleported.

Twilight couldn’t see or feel anything. She couldn’t hear anything. What was going on? Somehow, she felt something pulling at her, trapping her. It took her a moment to realize what was happening.

The prison had safeguards against teleportation. Of course. Sombra now had an army of mind-controlled unicorns, after all, and while teleportation is a rare feat for a unicorn – and a Cutie Mark for it was even rarer – he was bound to have some talented teleporters in his forces.

The spell was pushing her into a cell, doubtlessly prepared with powerful anti-magic wards. If she ended up there, she'd never find Starlight, she won’t get home! She doubted she could persuade whoever was the head of a prison to just set her free.

She had to escape!

It was easier said then done. Twilight was weakened by the traumatic experiences and lack of rest. Even at her peak form, a unicorn could never break through these protective spells. An alicorn, maybe, if they were fully rested and prepared.

Twilight was neither. She could feel her powers failing, her magic fizzling out. In moments, she would end up in a dark cell, among Celestia knows how many other ponies. She would fail. Equestria would be doomed.

Twilight almost gave up, but then she remembered. Spike was there, waiting for her. She doubled her efforts, fighting the spells with all remaining strength she had. She couldn't afford to lose here! She remembered Applejack, working in the factory that had replaced her farm. She knew that somewhere, in this world, were the rest of her friends. She wouldn't let them down!!

A light of Harmony lit up inside the Bearer of the Element of Magic. She could feel it. She was the embodiment of Magic, probably the most magically talented pony in Equestria. And she wasn’t alone. Inside her, she could feel the memories of her friends pushing her forward. Giving her strength to go on.
Indeed, friendship was the strongest magic.

The powerful wards broke like soap bubbles.

Twilight tried, and failed, to get up. Everything around her was spinning like crazy, she heard weird ringing in her ears and she felt weightless. Like she was going to fly again. Considering the corridor was spinning, she was probably going to fly soon, once the floor changes to ceiling.

“Sparkle?”

That voice… Twilight tried to focus. The ringing, she recognized now, was an alarm. It was very loud and she already had a horrible headache. Why was it so loud? She slowly got up, trying to shake off the confusion. She remembered now. She was breaking into Canterlot dungeons, but there was this powerful spell blocking her. Did she got through?

“… Since when did you have wings?”

She recognized this voice. Twilight looked to the side, facing the cell next to her. In it stood nopony other then Starlight Glimmer herself, with a concerned and surprised look on her face.

“Starlight!” Twilight tried to focus. It was hard, with the headache she felt now. “I… you need to get out...”

“What are you talking about?” Starlight was going to ask for an explanation, but then she heard the guards shouting and running in their direction. The unicorn instinctively tried to use her magic and, to her surprise, discovered that she could actually use it. “What?”

Leaving her confusion for later, Starlight teleported outside her cell. To her surprise, Twilight Sparkle – if it even was her; she has some doubts – grabbed her leg the moment she was close enough. “Sparkle? What are you…”

“Spike. Listen to… Spike.” Twilight said, her headache becoming too strong to focus. She had only one thought left in mind. She had to get back to Spike. Get out of here.

As the guards run into the dungeon, all they saw was a flash of light as Twilight teleported herself and Starlight out.

Spike looked around nervously. He wasn’t visible from the walls, or at least he hoped so, but despite Twilight being gone for less than a minute it felt like eternity. He wanted to… to do what? Go home, fight Starlight again? It wasn’t working.

This train of thoughts was interrupted by a flash of light. Spike turned around, about to greet her happily, but his excitement faded when he realized that his best friend was unconscious. Starlight Glimmer grabbed her, making sure she won’t roll down the mountain before looking at Spike with surprise. “You’re Spike? A dragon?”

Before they could say anything else, they heard shouting. Guards noticed the bright flash of light, and they were already running – or flying – in their direction. “Oh crap!” Spike said, seeing the fast-approaching guards.

“Come with me.” Starlight said, quickly grabbing Twilight in telekinetic grasp. “We need to go, now!”

“Where?” Spike asked. Guards were approaching fast, they won’t make it!

“Jump!” Starlight said, running towards the Canterlot cliff. Starlight said, running toward the Canterlot cliff. Without hesitation, she jumped down. Seeing the guards approaching, Spike made a split-second decision and followed suit.

Unicorn and earth pony guards had to make their way down the mountain, a task that would take them considerable time. None of them decided to suicidally jump after the prisoners. However, pegasi guards did not have this problem, and went down at full speed, quickly catching up to prisoners.

However, while their innate magic allowed them to fly, they did not have the ability to cast any protective spells. Starlight turned around, firing a spell. Pegasi dodged easily, but the spell wasn’t so easy to avoid. It exploded, a ball of light enveloping the guards instantly.

Spike looked back, worried that the guards were killed, but to his surprise they seemed physically unharmed. The spell seemed to mostly confuse them; they stopped flying, instead freefalling, as if they forgot how to use their wings.

Few unicorn guards noticed this and used their magic to try and grab the falling pegasi. Some of the flying guards managed to regain some ability to fly, but others were still failing. The situation turned into a chaotic rescue operation, with the prisoner making her escape easily.

When earth pony guards reached the place where the prisoner was supposed to land, they found no trace of her.

“We’re safe now.” Starlight said, dropping Twilight on the ground and sitting down herself, visibly exhausted. All three of them were in some kind of cave, with only source of light being Starfire’s horn. Spike couldn’t feel any airflow; the cave felt stale and old.

“Where are we?” He asked, sitting down next to Twilight. “And what’s wrong with Twilight?” She was breathing, he could see that, but she was still unconscious.

“We’re in a cave, not far from Canterlot. I doubt they even know it exists. I found it when I was looking for a way to save my ponies from draft.” Starlight sighed. “Not that it helped much. And Sparkle is just exhausted. I have no idea how she got through that spell, but I doubt anypony could do it just like that. Maybe Starswirl himself. She’ll need a lot of rest.”

Spike looked at Twilight with relief, but also concern. She was pushing herself too hard. He understood why, but he could also see how it was hurting her inside. And all of this… this mess, with all these horrible futures. He was also scared, and tired, but he knew he needed to be there for her.
He could start crying into a pillow later. Twilight needed him now.

“Now, dragon. Spike. Spill it. Why was Sparkle breaking me out of prison she helped put me into, why is she an alicorn, and how is she so powerful?” Starlight asked.

Spike hesitated, but decided to say the truth. “We are from the future… or present, maybe, but a different one.” Starlight now looked at him with disbelief. “Where we come from, there is no war with Sombra…”

It took a while for Spike to finish his story, and he got quite thirsty at the end from all the talking, but he pushed that aside. They needed to focus on their mission.

Starlight sat there in silence for a long time, occasionally looking at the spell she herself made in an alternate future. “What you’re saying is… this is all my fault?” She sighed and closed her eyes. “When my village was gone, when my ponies were drafted into the Army or sent to work in the Manehattan factories, I thought about vengeance. I was going to hurt them. Celestia. Sparkle. All of them, they destroyed my village, my life!” She laughed bitterly. “And lo and behold, I already had me vengeance! This is the result of it! And from what you say, I am always losing my village, no matter what. I always lose.”

“Kinda, yeah. Look, this is all just insane.” Spike said, looking at Twilight who was still unconscious. “I don’t even know what to tell you.”

“That I’m responsible for almost destroying Equestria.” Starlight looked at the scroll containing the spell with disgust. “Sure, I’d like to have some vengeance. But not this! What was I thinking?!”

“You… don’t agree with her?”

“Of course I do not.” Starlight put the spell scroll away. “Don’t get me wrong, what Sparkle and her friends did… I’d be seething. But I can’t imagine just going insane like this! I would happily see Celestia and Sparkle, my Sparkle, humiliated and punished for ruining my village. But I wouldn’t want Sombra to conquer it!”

Starlight tried to calm herself. Her life, her achievements, her plotting and plans to achieve her vengeance… it was all pointless. She already did it, and the result was even worse! “I wish I could go with you. I would kick some sense into that Starlight!”

Spike would never say it out loud, but he was actually happy she can’t follow them. Last thing he wanted was having two Starlights at once. One was bad enough.

But this got him to thinking. Starlight was much more complicated pony then he expected. When given a chance, she would even fight Nightmare Moon. But she could also be broken, almost lifeless pony under the rule of Chrysalis. And here, she was a rebel and a traitor to Equestria.

An insane pony, willing to break even time itself to get her revenge.
Hero.
Broken.
Rebel.

These were all Starlights, put in different situations. And the results were so different, it was like night and day. He had no doubt that Hero-Starlight would kick Insane-Starlight’s flank and make her fix what she broke. But these were the very same ponies!

He was slowly coming to a conclusion that the situation one would find themselves in was the most defining factor in shaping them. Just like with Luna. She wasn’t an evil pony inside, she was just hurt.

Of course, she needed to be stopped. Eternal night was a horrible nightmare. But perhaps, maybe, if Luna could be saved… what about Starlight?
Could she actually become a force for good?

When Twilight woke up, she was too weak to cast any spells or even walk. Starlight teleported out and stole some mashed apple from the factory.. She also brought some water with her in a bucket. It wasn’t what they were used to, but both of them were hungry and thirsty.

Twilight was eyeing Starlight with suspicion, even when the unicorn declared her intent of sending them back. Spike vouched for her as well, but Twilight still had some doubts. After all, this Starlight betrayed Equestria, just like the one who created the spell that started this mess. How could she trust her?

In any case, while she wanted to return and deal with Starlight immediately, Starlight told her to rest first, and the princess reluctantly had to agree. In her current state, she wouldn’t be able to take Starlight (original Starlight that is) down in combat. She decided to rest, and get ready to fight the crazy unicorn.

Spike spent some time talking with the (local) Starlight. She was genuinely interested in many things Spike told her about the original Equestria, how it was a land of peace. How Luna was redeemed (instead of, like in this universe, being brutally defeated in battle). How Chrysalis was banished from Canterlot.

Spike also learned a little bit about some of his other friends. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were apparently well-known soldiers, fighting alongside Maud Pie. They even fought against Sombra once, and survived, which was more then almost anypony else could say.

Twilight was apparently appointed by Celestia as a Mare of Internal Affairs. She dealt with dissidents, ‘traitors’, and anypony who was ‘sabotaging’ the war effort. According to bitter Starlight, local Twilight was ruthless and efficient in her tasks, and fanatically loyal to Celestia.

Spike didn’t really like this description, but Twilight was beaming with pride. Ignoring the ‘ruthless’ comment as obvious overstating of her loyalty, she was proud to her that her ’local’ equivalent was doing her part in this war.

In the end, Twilight and Starlight didn’t talk much for the next day. Only then Twilight decided she was strong enough to come back in time, and face past-Starlight in battle.

Spike still had doubts, but Twilight already decided. She couldn’t reach Starlight with words, so the only answer was to defeat her in battle. She was an alicorn, and an Element of Magic. She was sure she could defeat the insane unicorn and then undo the spell, making sure the past is not changed.

When they reached the Map, they were surprised to see Applejack here. “Ya know, I had tha strangest instinct ta come here now. I guess there is something true in what you were sayin.” The mare took off her hat, looking at the two ponies and a dragon before here. “Ya leavin?”

“Yes. We will make things right, Applejack.” Twilight promised.

“Ya better do. I want ta have my big brother again. And Apple Bloom.” Applejack looked at shocked Twilight with iron resolve. “Fix it, Twilight. Make it right.”

The alicorn couldn’t find anything to say. She tried, but then she just nodded, and prepared the scroll. Starlight put a tiny bit of her power in it, and it started glowing. Portal appeared above them, sucking Twilight and Spike in it.

Starlight had no last words to say. She just observed the portal in silence. Please, she pleaded to her alternate self.
Please see reason.

When she has been where I have been

Twilight emerged from the portal with magical shield already up, easily deflecting Starlight’s opening salvo of pink-blue beams. And then she responded; the alicorn’s horn lit with blinding power, spells firing in the unicorn’s direction.

Starlight was definitely a prodigy, and it showed. Her magic was flawless as she combined advanced spells and fired them with power greater than the average veteran of the royal guard. Twilight had to grudgingly admit that if she was still a unicorn, she would lose this battle; Celestia never wanted her to learn combat magic, wanting to spare her apprentice the horror of battle.

However, Tirek and his rampage proved that sometimes it was necessary to fight. Equestria’s youngest Princess requested and read books on the art of magical combat, and learned ancient spells barely used in the modern age. Still, she did not have any natural talent for them, and her techniques were far less polished then Starlight’s.

However, Twilight was still an alicorn. She had great reserves of energy, her spells were more powerful and she could cast them faster, one after another, a deluge of magic that colored the sky in all the colors of a rainbow. Everypony around stopped what they were doing, hypnotized by the lightshow. Some of the more concerned parents noticed the missing blasts of power punching holes in the clouds, snapping out of it and quickly taking their children to safety. Some of the pegasi guards in the area also started to evacuate everypony they could. They had no doubts that trying to stop the two fighters would be suicidal – the blasts of magic would vaporize them as easily as they just vaporized entire, fortunately empty, building.

Princess Celestia would be alarmed quickly, but it would still take time before she arrived. None of the unicorns in the area had enough power to intervene, and at best some were able to create small shields, protecting the foals from the rain of deadly magic.

Neither Starlight or Twilight noticed it, both focused only on their duel; one fueled by obsessive hatred, another by traumatic memories. Only a small dragon, holding for his life as the combatants battled, noticed the destruction below them with sadness and worry. He didn’t see anypony dying… but he could barely see the clouds sometimes during the high-speed aerial duel. He could only hope that everypony managed to escape to safety.

Finally, Starlight slipped. It was a minor mistake; she was exhausted, her reserves running low under Twilight’s constant attacks. The unicorn was forced to limit her offensive spells and focus on defense, but even that wasn’t enough to save her. Her shield broke under the relentless assault, and one of Twilight’s spells hit her, eliciting a sound of breaking bones and a scream of pain. Starlight fell down, but the furious alicorn encased her in a floating bubble, both saving her from the fall and trapping her.

Not that Starlight was in any shape to fight. The spell impacted her from the front, barely missing the head or neck. It still broke something inside, and she could only lay down and wheeze weakly, a tiny amount of blood tickling down her snout.

Twilight flew next to the bubble, shaking with barely-held fury. “It’s over, Starlight! Now undo your spell!” She demanded angrily, her horn still lit. Spike looked at his friend with worry, but remained silent. “I will not allow you to destroy Equestria!”

“Destroy… Equestria?” Starlight laughed weakly, the laughter devolving into coughing fit. She was wounded, much more seriously than Twilight originally thought; but the alicorn didn’t care right now. “I am… saving it… from you!”

“What?” Twilight seemed to grow, her might and power manifesting in from of the dying pony. “WHAT? How DARE you! You, you monster! Undo your spell right now, or…”

“Or what?” Starlight challenged, too weak to even move away from the furious Princess. She coughed, blood splatting on the inside of a pink bubble.

“Twilight, she’s… really, really wounded.” Spike couldn’t bring himself to say ‘dying’. Even after all these horrible futures they witnessed. “Maybe we should help her, first?”

“Help her? Spike, she did this! All this!” Twilight answered, and for a split second Spike felt like the sun above them grew just a tiny bit dimmer. “Starlight, undo your magic this instant!”

The unicorn smiled with satisfaction, despite all her pain. “I can’t.”

“…What?” Twilight asked, shaking. “You are lying! Break the spell, right now!”

“I cannot. See, Twilight, when you came here with me, the spell… it changed, and I don’t know how.” The dying mare slowly lifted her head and looked at Twilight with an evil smile. “You broke it, Princess. It’s all your fault. You destroyed my town, my future, and now you broke the spell. You will never return to your friends. Never!”

Twilight wanted to scream, shout at Starlight, accuse her of lying again… but she couldn’t. She could feel it herself, now that she knew where to look. The spell changed, it was different then when Starlight cast it for the first time.

But maybe, a small but growing part of her suggested, maybe, killing her would fix it? But no, Twilight would still anchor the spell…
But what if both of them died? Would it return the world to normal?

This dark train of thoughts was halted suddenly, as the time portal opened above her. She looked around, and realized that everyone run away… no Rainbow Dash in sight…

She flew up, through the portal, and her spell bubble popped. Starlight fell down, accelerating quickly, breaking through clouds. She would die. She tried to use her magic, but she was too wounded and exhausted. Her blood fell alongside her, like a bloody rain. She would die. She… she didn’t want to.
She was scared.

“Mommy… Sunburst…” She whispered quietly, as her eyes closed. She hoped she won’t see the ground as she hits it. Hoped it would be painless.

And then, somepony managed to grab her, slow her down.

“She’s badly wounded! We need a medic here!” One of pegasus security shouted. Starlight smiled as she slowly lost consciousness. She would live. She would say nothing, she would be imprisoned, but she won in the end. Even if she had to spent years in the dungeons, she did it. She would be free sooner or later, and she would create Our Town, this time without interruptions from Twilight and her friends.

And if Princess comes back again… Starlight will just be taken back in time alongside her. And she had a plan to stop her; she would not be one dying next time. She smiled still as she finally lost consciousness, her last thought being the satisfaction of victory.

And she did her best to ignore the small spark of fear inside her.

She didn’t want to die.

Twilight once again appeared in the future Equestria, but this time she was too shocked to cast a shield or prepare any spells. She just landed hard on the Crystal Map, and then fell down on it, Spike rolling off her.

“Twilight?” The dragon asked, worried.

“How can I fix it?” Twilight said to herself, not even getting up and visibly on the verge of tears. “There must be a way! I refuse to believe there isn’t!”

Spike tried to shake her out of it, but she was lost in magical theory, sometimes mumbling quietly something about ‘cross-field resonance’ and ‘applying overlapping scissor fields’. Seeing as they weren’t in obvious danger right now, he decided to let her focus on her magic for a moment, and he looked around, trying to spot what was wrong in this timeline.

The sky was similar, but slightly different. It looked less managed, less perfectly aligned. Clouds were definitely herded in the right place, but nopony cared about precision or size. At least it wasn’t raining; it was a cold day, but the sun was still visible, if partially covered.

No eternal night, no dark forest, no smell of smoke. Spike slowly walked on top of a nearby hill, and looked at Ponyville. He blinked, and then looked at Ponyville again with disbelief. Oh no.
Twilight will not be happy. It will make it easy for them to find Starlight… but he could already see his best friend freaking out. Or worse.

She already scared him in her last fight with Starlight, and he shivered imagining how much worse her reaction to this horrible future will be.

“I have it!” Twilight declared happily as the stunned dragon came back. She seemed to feel much better then when he left her, although he still felt that something was wrong. He shrugged, unsuccessfully trying to ignore this feeling. “If both me and original Starlight combine our powers, we can cancel the spell. Make Equestria be the way it was supposed to be!”

“That’s good.” Spike answered, trying to think of a way to break the news delicately. He found none. “But we may have a small problem, first.”

“What is it? Is Ponyville covered in trees? Destroyed by Tirek?” Spike shook his head. Twilight grew worried. “Something even worse?”

“Maybe?” Spike desperately tried to find a way to deliver the bad news without Twilight suffering a breakdown.

“What do you mean…”

“Hey!” A different voice shouted from above them. A pegasus with rainbow mane dropped from the sky, landing in front of them. Rainbow Dash, her colors muted but still present, looked at them with surprise. “What are you doing…” Only then he recognized Twilight. “You! How do you have wings? Wait, you have your cutie mark?!”

The rainbow mare jumped into the sky and flew away at her top speed. Twilight instinctively tried to use her magic, but it was no use, she knew Rainbow Dash was way too fast… and then, to her surprise, she actually managed to catch her in a bubble. Somehow, the lightning fast pegasus was just too slow.

Her friend – at least in a different future – tried to fight, kicking the bubble, bucking it with her full strength, but it was no use. Even after her fight with Starlight moments ago, the alicorn’s power was too great to be easily broken. The bubble lazily landed in front of Twilight and Spike, and only then did the Princess notice the cutie mark.

Or rather, the lack of it.

“Rainbow! What, how?” Twilight pointed at the equality sign cutie mark with shock. “Your cutie mark!”

“Yeah, what about it?” The rainbow-mane pegasus asked angrily. “What, you got yours back and now you want to gloat?”

“Gloat? No!” Twilight shook her head vigorously. “I just don’t understand, what happened? Did Starlight force you to give up your cutie mark? How come no one stopped her?”

“Starlight saved me, you arrogant… what are you talking about?” Seeing complete lack of understanding on Twilight’s face, Rainbow facehooved. “Did you hit your head so hard you suddenly have wings AND amnesia? Serves you right, now let me out!” She once again bucked her temporary prison, once again to no effect. The ball deformed for a moment, only to return to its natural shape moment later.

“What do you mean, she saved you?” Twilight tried to inquire, but the pegasus ignored her, instead kicking and punching the ball relentlessly. “Rainbow!” Still no reaction, and Twilight started to consider less nice ways to make the Pegasus talk.

Spike cleared his throat, and this got both mare’s attention. “Look, Rainbow, she’s not the Twilight you knew. We’re not from here, and we’re confused and tired. Can you just tell us what happened? Just.. assume we don’t know anything that happened for the last ten years.” Or even a little more.

“Woah, a dragon? That… could be cool.” Rainbow answered emotionlessly, the equality cutie mark flashing as it suppressed her words, turning the exclamation mark to mere surprise, and then indifference. “So you’re what, from future or something?”

“More or less.” Spike answered, as it was technically true.

“… whatever. So, you wanna know what happened? It’s not some sick joke?” Both Twilight and her assistant shook their heads. “Alright, then I’ll tell you what you did, how you screwed everything up, and then you will let me out, right?”

“I didn’t…” Twilight started, but she stopped herself. Obviously, she couldn’t be responsible for this situation, it must have been another one of Starlight’s lies. But her friend was clearly indoctrinated into believing it. “Yes, I will let you out. Just tell us what happened.”

“You.” Rainbow said with disgust. “You happened. You just had to do it, didn’t you?”

“What did I even do?!” Twilight was growing more frustrated with every passing moment.

“You were supposed to be smart.” Rainbow Dash answered angrily. “A second coming of Star Bearded or whatever…”

“Star Swirl the Bearded.” Twilight corrected automatically.

“Yeah, whatever. You were studying some old magic or other shit, straight out of Daring Do. You read ‘Daring Do and the Ponydora Box’, the spin-off?” Twilight nodded. It seems this future was at least similar enough to have some of the same books. “Well, guess what. It’s real, and Princess gave it to you to research.”

“Wait, it’s real? I thought it’s just a myth!” Twilight, forgetting where they are, interrupted the annoyed pegasus. “I read all about it, Star Swirl’s unfinished cutie mark spell was even supposedly based upon it. Amazing!”

“Really?” Rainbow bitterly asked. “If you ask me, it’s not amazing at all. Not. At. All.”

“What happened?” Spike worryingly asked, already imagining it. Twilight, all giggly and happy, and impatient. No dragon assistant to stop her, judging by Rainbow’s surprise. And then, disaster.

“What do you think happened? She opened it.” Twilight gasped, and Rainbow continued. “That’s right. And guess what happened?”

“… It switched your cutie mark.” Twilight realized. How could local her be so stupid? Not that she herself didn’t also try an unfinished spell… but she ignored it for now, she had to focus on saving Equestria first. She managed to fix her mistake once, she could do it again.
Right?

“My cutie mark?” Rainbow laughed bitterly. “Try EVERPONY’s cutie marks!”

“No…” Twilight took a step back in shock, the bubble dissipating as she lost focus, but Rainbow didn’t even notice. “How many?”

“Are you deaf? Everypony! It spread like a plague, but even worse! Before we knew what was going on, entire Equestria was in chaos! Doctor’s couldn’t heal, weather pegasi couldn’t control weather, royal guard was unable to fight!”

“But Princess…”

“Couldn’t stop it either. Couldn’t do anything! And then SHE lost her cutie mark as well, and guess how well a random cook from the Palace could control the sun and moon! That’s right, she couldn’t!”

“Princess… lost her cutie mark?” Twilight sat down, the vision of Celestia being unable to control the heavens just too much to bear. That’s impossible. She was a Princess, a real one, not like Twilight! She lived for over a thousand years!

“Everypony.” Rainbow bitterly answered. “If not for Starlight, we would all be gone.”

“What did she do?” Spike asked this time, with Twilight still in shock.

“She had a powerful artifact, staff of something. She took away everypony’s cutie marks.”

“But that would be horrible! Everypony would lose their special talent!” The dragon protested.

“Do you have any idea how it felt, knowing that your life is a lie? That your destiny is wrong?” Rainbow answered, shutting down the protest. “Part of me knew I was supposed to be clearing the sky, but I wanted to take care of animals, and I couldn’t do any of it!” Rainbow took a deep breath, and continued. “A lot of ponies couldn’t take. Some just… ended it.” Twilight gasped. “In the end, everypony got their marks taken away.”

“But what about the sun?” The alicorn protested. “Somepony has to take care of it!”

“Starlight can use the staff to move it. Not the easiest thing to do, but she does it every day now. Without her, we would all be gone.” Rainbow looked away. “We almost were, when griffons realized we lost most of our magic. They invaded us, and it got really bad before Starlight managed to stop them.”

“… and how did she do that?” Twilight whispered.

It took a long time before Rainbow answered. “There is no Griffonstone anymore.”

Twilight silently teleported inside her library… or at least, the local version of it.

After talking with Rainbw, she was too shocked to do anything. The weather mare – still doing her old job, although no longer 20% cooler – returned to her cloud. In the end, her former friend decided not to send guards after her… for now. But she warned her to stay quiet and not cause trouble, and find her way home, especially if it’s any better than this place.

Twilight decided to talk with her local equivalent, to try and learn what happened. After all, she wasn’t going to believe something that Starlight was spreading around as ‘truth’.

To her surprise, this version of her worked in the library nowadays, not that anypony wanted any books from her. She was forgotten and hated, and only Starlight’s direct order saved her from lynching. Twilight suspected a foul play; perhaps Starlight opened the Box, and did all this, blaming somepony else? And then left her to be hated by everypony while she was a savior of Equestria. There must have been an explanation.
There had to be.

As she teleported inside the library, she expected having to silence the unicorn Twilight, prevent her from screaming or calling for help. To her surprise, there was no sound, barely any reaction. The library was dusty, scientific equipment once pristine now had signs of intensive use, and books looked to be untouched for years.

The unicorn Twilight slowly lifted her head off her bed, barely reacting to a sudden teleport. “Oh. Are you from the future?” The equality sign on her flank lit up, suppressing her natural talent for magic. “Tried that, too. Never worked.” She was a mess, with mane unkempt and far from healthy hue it normally had. But even worse was the complete apathy in her voice.

“What are you doing?” The alicorn asked, looking around. There were mountains of paper, research notes, whiteboards written on and then erased many, many times… signs of work, years of hard work. But now all was dusty and long abandoned. “You’re trying to fix the spell, aren’t you?”

“… Not anymore.” The unicorn whispered. “It never worked. It never will.”

“Come on, Twilight! You’re me! I know I would never give up so easily!” Twilight barely stopped himself from a quite rude comment on that. “You can’t let Starlight win!”

“… Win? She saved me.” Local Twilight answered, her voice quiet and resigned. “She took away the curse… she told everypony not to kill me, not to punish me… but I deserved it. I did it.”

“No you didn’t! It’s a trick!” Twilight protested.” She, she tricked you into opening it! Or maybe she opened it herself, and blamed you! What happened? Tell me!” Somehow, the alicorn was standing next to the bed, screaming at the helpless unicorn. “TELL ME!”

“Twilight!” Spike tried to hold her back. “Snap out of it! What are you doing?!”

“I did it. I deserve it.” The small, helpless unicorn answered. No tears were shed; her eyes were dry, for the tears run out years ago. “She told me to wait for her, to only check it from the outside, and we would go over it together. But… I couldn’t wait.. I opened it. My fault.”

The alicorn looked at the unicorn. Twilight looked at Twilight. For a moment, there was a brief hope of understanding. But then, it ended. The unicorn gave up, and returned to just lying down in her bed.

While the alicorn… “Come on, Spike. I heard enough.” She turned around and left, walking down the stairs she knew so well.

“Go? But where?” Spike asked with worry, glancing at the resigned unicorn still in her bed. “Shouldn’t we…”

“She is in the Royal Palace.” Twilight interrupted; or, more accurately, wasn’t really listening. “I will force her to tell me what happened. How she did this. All of this!”

A flash of teleportation interrupted Spike, and when it passed, only a unicorn remained in the library. And she just lay there, waiting for the mercy of death.

Alicorns.

There are many theories about their power. Their strength. Some say they are a peak of what each race could be. Other say that their true power is more than triple of any living non-alicorn pony, since they are the combination of the three.

No matter which version a pony believed, everypony knew that a sight of angry Princess is something they could never forget.

Which is why, when Twilight approached the main gate of Canterlot, there was panic. “Halt!” A pegasus shouted from the top of the wall, holding a shaking bow in their hooves. “I said halt!”

There were more of them, most ready to attack her if she came closer. She could not be a Princess, it had to be an illusion, and wasn’t that Sparkle herself? It was! And she had her cutie mark!

As nervousness of the verge of panic spread, Twilight trotted forwards. Spike failed to stop her, to make her consider other options; and he tried. But his oldest friend was now focused on a single goal, a single solution to all of her problems, and nothing would stop her.
She was scaring him.

A guard let go of an arrow. It was mostly an accident, a slip of a hoof from fear. It wouldn’t even hit. But Twilight reacted instantly. A power blast of magic threw the guards off the walls. Another broke open the gates, and she trotted inside, not even slowing down as she walked among stunned and scared ponies.

It was a painfully one-sided fight. Most of the guard was station at the borders, or trying to deal with monsters and any other dangers now roaring Equestria. Only a small number remained, and without their cutie mark and tired from being constantly overworked, they could not stop the attacker from breaking through.

A single blast of magic dispersed pegasi firing lightning at her. Earth ponies were levitated, not gently, on top of buildings where they couldn’t even reached her. Unicorn magic was countered, and the attackers couldn’t even touch her, their magic fizzling out or deflecting off the unbreakable shield.

She reached the gate to the palace, and broke them inwards with a single thought. The royal guard, fearless as always, flew and run at her to fight. She had no time for it. She just PUSHED.

A massive wave of magic swept forward. It blasted apart magic shields, threw pegasi into the wall, and broke the earth ponies formation. Nopony could stand in her way, the remains of the door were pushed inside the palace among the unconscious bodies.

But one guard stood still, and tried to stop her. A shaking pegasi, with one wing broken, stood in the doorway, traying to block her passage. “You… will not pass.” She said, fighting her own body to stay up. Tears flew from her eyes, but they were like steel. “I swore to protect her with my life, and I will!”

“You will not stop me. She is an impostor on the throne!” Twilight shouted, and the might of her voice was enough to crack all remaining windows. Remaining ponies around her screamed in pain and fear, covering their ears.

“The royal guard… faced Nightmare Moon herself!” The pegasi answered, blood slowly pooling under her as she tried to stay upright. “If you think…we will give up so easily!” She fell on the ground, but forced herself to at least sit, to move her one working wing aside, to block the door as much as she could. “Then you are mistaken!”

Others slowly tried to get up, as well. Horns sparked, their owners trying to force one more bit of magic. Earth ponies, hardy by nature, helped other up as pegasi did their best to fly. Spike grabbed Twilight’s head, shouting next to her ear. “Twilight! Stop it! You don’t need to hurt them!”

The alicorn hesitated. Looked around, at the wounded and unconscious. Bleeding. Were some of them dead? No, she wouldn’t put that much power into her spell… would she? Was there something wrong with her? She gently enveloped the pegasi in front of her in her telekinesis, and despite protests moved her away, making sure not to make her wounds even worse. “Please take care of the wounded, everpony.” Twilight said, not looking back. She could feel it, the fear, the hatred in the eyes of everypony behind her. Maybe in the entire Canterlot. But without their cute marks, they could not defeat her, they couldn’t even slow her down.

She walked through the Palace, through the halls she knew so much. The corridor leading to the throne room had a new stained glass window, she noticed absentmindedly. This one was showing that monster… Starlight… taking away cutie marks. Above her was the fake staff, and it’s magic was slowly moving the sun and moon.

Twilight broke it with a single spell. Pieces of colored glass fell, Spike shaking as the razor sharp pieces fell upon them; but she created a shield, and it was nothing more than a colored rain, swept to the sides.

The door to the throne room broke inwards, and Twilight walked into it, horn lit up and spells ready.

“Whoever you are, a shapeshifter, or a demon who possessed her.” Starlight Glimmer declared from her throne – the throne she STOLE, Twilight knew it, it did not belong to her. “Know that you will not succeed. I will defend my ponies!”

“Your… you STOLE THEM!” Twilight roared, Spike hiding behind her with a whimper. “It is not your throne, not your ponies!”

The alicorn’s power increased, and the throne room grew darker. Twilight fell upon the day in Canterlot, and Starlight’s rule was coming to an end. “You broke time.” The Element of Magic took a step forward, easily blocking Starlight’s attack. “You broke Equestria.” The Princess took another step, with shaking Starlight firing another ineffective spell. “You stole her throne!” Twilight shouted through tears, as she took another step, shaking with fury, her magic barely kept under control.

It was Starlight’s nightmare made manifest. Some rational part of her mind thought to herself that this is how Celestia must have felt when Nightmare Moon attacked. Nothing could stop this monster. She could not win, and this time there were no Elements to save the day. But she had to try.

“Stay back!” Starlight screamed in fear, using all the magic she could muster. But it was no use. She was too weak; most of her additional power – that she was desperately extracting from Celestia’s mark every day - was used to move the sun and moon (and even that wasn’t enough, she had to add lots of her own power to it as well). Despite trying again and again, no amount of unicorns could help her. She only had her own diminished strength, and this alicorn was too much for it. This… monster… easily blocked all her spells, even her special cutie mark based magic was of no use.

“You will fix what you broke, Starlight Glimmer!” The nightmare demanded, her spell easily breaking through the shield the unicorn hastily brought up. “You will return me to the past, so that I can end this!”

“You’re insane! I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Starlight shouted in answer, desperately trying to think of something. Was that the end? She could feel tears slowly pooling in her eyes.

The next spell broke her remaining defenses. Her body was thrown through her throne, and she whimpered helplessly on the floor as the Nightmare approached. That was it. The end. None could stop this monster. Everypony will now suffer the eternal twilight.

“I’m sorry, everypony.” Starlight said quietly, tears flowing freely. She had no strength to fight back anymore, no trick up her sleeve. “I have failed you.” She closed her eyes, waiting for the killing blow.

But it didn’t come. Instead, the monster stood above her, motionless. “What did you say?” Eternal Twilight asked, her voice commanding and unyielding. Starlight didn’t answer; there was no point in delaying the inevitable. “I asked what did you say. Answer me!”

“Twilight!” A different voice… not a pony? Starlight heard tiny feet running. “Twilight, stop it! Can’t you see how scared she is? Twilight, please, this isn’t you!” The voice begged. Who was that?

To her surprise, the killing blow did not materialize. Instead, silence, and then a sound of a bag being open. Somepony… someone came close to her, and she whimpered in fear, but to her surprise that creature just dried her tears with something, slowly, delicately. “Hey, Starlight. Can you talk? What hurts?” He asked.

“Everything.” She answered quietly, slowly opening her eyes. Next to her stood… a dragon with a tissue in his claw? Very young one, perhaps just a child. He… was crying as well? He seemed scared, too. Starlight very slowly touched him with her hoof.

“Why… are you afraid?” She quietly asked. “Are you… her slave?”

“What? No!” He shook his head, and dried his tears with his arm. “I’m her friend! She’s just… under a lot of pressure…”

“Spike, what are you doing?” The Nightmare asked, but it felt different. The lights inside the throne room grew brighter, and in front of Starlight was a normal alicorn… mostly. Her eyes still shone with power, and anger, but it was no longer a promise of ending her and everything she ever loved. “It’s Starlight! Step away from her!”

“She’s scared, and wounded! Can’t you see?! You’re scaring her!” The dragon – Spike, was that his name? – shook a little, and she could see he was holding back tears. “Twilight, you’re scaring me…”

There were noises. Guards, many limping or needing help of others to walk, spilled into the throne room. “Stand back!” Starlight tried to order them, her voice barely audible; but they did hesitate. “I order you, stand back. She wants me, and only me. Do not add more bloodshed then it is necessary.”

The guards stopped. Their sense of duty fought the order she gave them, but for now it was enough. Starlight turned towards her executioner, trying to show a brave face. “What will it be, then?”

“What? What do you mean?” The alicorn asked, taking a step back. She now seemed unsure of herself, anger slowly passing and changing into… fear?

“Will you send me to the moon? To the sun?” Starlight swallowed. “Will you kill me?”

“What?! No, I just…” The monster took a step back, her eyes now wide open. “How can you say that, you are… you did… this!”

“What did I do?” Starlight asked quietly.

She felt telekinetic field grabbing her – the dragon gasped, guards readied weapons, some averted their eyes expecting the worst – but she was just moved, slowly and delicately, between the alicorn and the guards. Was she a hostage? But that made no sense.

Then she felt strands of magic washing over her, moving alongside her flank… ah, of course, she wanted to uncover her real mark.

“There you go! She lied to you! The staff has no powers, it’s all her!” The monster grabbed the staff, broke it into pieces and threw it on the floor next to Starlight. “She lied to you, deceived you!”

“…is it true?” One of the guards asked, her eyes glued to the remains of the staff.

Starlight nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact in shame. “Yes. I am sorry, my ponies. I lied to you, and I… I was afraid. Afraid what happens if I tell you. Afraid that.. that there will be no one to move the sun anymore.”

“You could have just did whatever you did to you own cutie mark to help Celestia!” The Nightmare demanded.

“I can’t.” Starlight whispered.

“What?”

“I can’t… protect anypony.” Starlight explained slowly, avoiding eye contact with anypony around her. “I wanted to. I wanted it so much. With all the wars, invasions, and moving the sun… I was so tired. But I cannot. I tried teaching her this spell, but it didn’t work. It never works, nopony can cast it. Even she couldn’t.”

“Princess… Celestia?” Starlight slowly nodded her head as Nightmare – no, Twilight – looked at her. “She allowed this? She, she gave you the throne?”

“She said… I need to protect her little ponies. Somepony needs to.” Starlight answered, tears pooling in her eyes again. “I… I wanted it, but now, it’s… it’s all so horrible.”

Twilight didn’t answer for a long, long moment, but then she moved. Guards jumped forward, but it was too late… and then the alicorn hugged Starlight. She was crying, too.

Both of them cried, and Spike joined them. And soon, even guards did.

They cried for Celestia, who could no longer protect them. For the world, growing darker and sadder with every passing they. And they even cried for Starlight, who won and did not enjoy it at all.

There are only two tragedies in life, some say: one is not getting what one wants… and the other is getting it.

On the next day, they met in one of many rooms in the palace. One Celestia barely used; Starlight explained it felt wrong, using the rooms once taken by the alicorn ruler, and as a result most of them remained unused. Twilight appreciate that.

They talked over tea, with guards no longer present (although they were stationed outside the doors, just in case; the guards were much less trusting then Starlight was right now) and Spike mulching on some high-quality games.

There was a lot of apologizing. Twilight (the alicorn; unicorn sadly refused to leave her library) apologized to Starlight many times. She then apologized to each and every single one of the guards. Twice. And then apologized to Starfire, again.

And in the meantime, she apologized to Spike, as well. She scared him horribly, and her little assistant was worried still. Twilight seemed to almost lose control of herself… in ways that reminded him of Nightmare Moon.

He wished Celestia could be here, but as it turned out she moved far away from Canterlot. It was left unspoken, but Spike had a suspicion that a sudden lack of power, and being forced to watch as Equestria collapses on itself, was too much for her and she needed to leave it all behind for a time.

There was a different alternative, and he did his best to not think about why no one had any contact with her for over a year. He tried not to think about it.
He failed.

But in the meantime, they finally had time to rest a little. And eat actual, tasty food. These gems, Spike decided, were one of the tastiest he ever ate. Part of it was definitely the fact that he could finally relax and rest, and he also slept surprisingly well. Probably because he was exhausted.

He looked at Twilight warily, but his best friend seemed back to her normal self, mostly. She swapped advanced theories of spellcraft with Starlight, and if there was something that both of these mares appreciated, it was magic. Most of the discussion was way above his understanding, but it was nice seeing both of them relax a little.

“… it’s a real shame Princess Celestia isn’t here.” Starlight looked at her teacup sadly. The bruises left by Twilight’s assault were still visible, even more then yesterday, and she was sitting on multiple pillows.

“I know.” Twilight answered, no sign left of yesterday’s rage. The Princess of Friendship was back to being herself, fortunately for her and everyone around her. “I wanted to see her, too.”

“Maybe… together we could save everypony.” Starlight wistfully said.

“Why can’t you?” Spike asked once the discussion became more tangible.

“How? I spent years trying to find a way, and Twilight… our Twilight… did so as well.” Starlight looked at Spike. “I don’t think it’s even possible.”

“But Twilight… my Twilight… she did it! She fixed the spell!”

There was a moment of stunned silence. Spike faceclawed. “Did you girls seriously just spent hours talking about magic… and not even once tried to talk about that?”

“No, that’s not…”

“I was just…” Both of them tried to talk at the same timer, and then both stopped.

Spike smiled. “See, told ya you’re very much alike.”

“What? No I’m not…”

“I would never…”

This time, Spike couldn’t hold it. He laughed for a moment at the sight of two stuttering totally-not-Twilights, both growing quite red on their faces and sputtering protests.

They did it next to the map.

Her friends weren’t here; or rather, the ones who were around weren’t her friends. In time, she could probably rebuild the bonds of friendship with them, but it would take time. She didn’t want to risk the time spell destabilizing in the meantime.

She had to go. But she was going to do one more thing before leaving, one last act. Possibly meaningless, and there was a high chance it wouldn’t even work.
But she couldn’t just left all these ponies like this.

Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, stood in front of the Map, spell ready. Spike and Starlight stood next to her, both hopeful, as she slowly recited the spell.

“From all of us together, together we're friends.”

Spike stood proudly next to his best friend. In the end, she managed to see through her anger, and saw a scared, exhausted pony. Twilight once again proved worthy of her title. It required some help from him, but hey, that’s what friends are for, right? No one needs to be perfect. That’s what friends are for.

“With the marks of our destinies made one…”

Starlight was smiling, for the first time in years. She already forgave Twilight, and she could only pray for success. Both with the spell and in returning to her home. The years of ruling were not kind to her, but in the end they made her learn empathy. She made up with Sunburst, even.

“…there is magic without end!”

Twilight changed, since the last time she cast this spell. She could understand Fluttershy better, now. Behind many ‘monsters’ were just… suffering people, ponies or not. Not everyone could be redeemed – Chrysalis was still out there, and Tirek was a definition of ‘evil’ personified – but many could be.

Was Discord actually happy when he ruled? Or was there something more even to the God of Chaos, Twilight thought to herself as her spell took shape. What did Fluttershy see, deep within him? Twilight only now realized she never actually asked Fluttershy that. She would definitely do this once they return home.

She learned a lot in the past hours. She saw many ponies at their best, and at their worst. It was like seeing Discord warp them again… but this time without any magic. Just a simple change in their lives.

They all could change so much. Even Starlight herself. And, as much as it annoyed her, even herself. The unicorn Twilight just giving up was definitely something she never wanted to witness again.
At least she knew she could never be a villain.

For some reason, the magic seemed to hesitate for a split second. Twilight could suddenly feel it slipping away. No! She can’t fail, she can’t! She tried her best to grab it, but it wasn’t enough…

And then Starlight joined her, her magic delicate, almost hesitant. But it worked; the spell stabilized, and then, in an explosion of rainbow light, triggered.

Twilight wouldn’t see the result of it, but she knew it worked, even as she drifted upwards towards the opening time portal. She could feel it. The last thing she and Spike saw was smiling face of Starlight Glimmer.

And then, the moment the two travellers were gone, the cutie mark vault exploded outwards. At first, ponies looked at the rain of magic falling on them with confusion, then with fear. Memories of the last time they had their cute marks were still fresh, and some tried to defend themselves or run away.

But soon, everypony could feel it. It was the way it was supposed to be. They regained their destiny, and there was rejoicing. Pinkie Pie promising the greatest party EVER, Rarity instantly getting back to work on some better clothing – ‘I cannot bear to look at these unsightly things anymore!’ – while Applejack bucked a tree with joy and happiness as apples fell perfectly into baskets. Even Rainbow Dash left her home, still grumpy and annoyed, but now back to being cool.

Fluttershy spoke with her friends in her cottage, and there was much rejoicing. Many of them did not live to see this day – their lives much shorter then hers – but she treasured those who were left, and new friendships were already being made.

And for two ponies, the wave of light came at the best possible time.

In her bed, Twilight could feel it. Magic. She couldn’t feel it for so long… she slowly stood up, looking at her flank. Then, she looked outside, and cried tears of happiness. Plans of ending it all disappeared; they would still return, sometimes, but never for long. And for now, she was just happy.

And far in the frozen north, an alicorn stopped on her way, and looked south. Her power returned, and with it, the warmth that dispelled the deathly cold outside… and the chilling thoughts inside.
Celestia spread her wings and flew, the sun shining above her as she broke through the clouds.

And next to the Map, Starlight looked at the place her newfound friend disappeared.

There was still hope.

Author's Note

Did you now that Magical Mystery Cure had a much different plot originally? M.A. Larson described it years ago in an interview, and I found it very interesting. This alternate future is partially based on that original script, and it was in fact one of three moments that inspired me to write this story and were most crucial to it.

For if what she says is true

Author's Note

Apologies for lack of updates recently. I lost my PC, and was cut off from writing for a while. Next time, I will try to keep more in touch with my readers when something happens; but for now, I have a new PC and should be back to writing.

Speaking of which, I have my first Patron now! It's a really nice feeling.

For if what she says is true

Twilight tumbled out of the portal once again. Instinctively, she raised her shield up just in case of a sudden attack, but no magic bolt came surging towards her and Spike. Good. Maybe this time, she would have an option to just talk this out…

And to her surprise, Starlight wasn’t hiding. She didn’t even have a shield up. Instead, the smug unicorn just stood there… in the middle of the camp. Perfectly situated so that Twilight couldn’t attack without risking the lives of the foals all around them.

The alicorn slowly flew down, Starlight moving equally slowly to the side, ensuring there were always multiple innocents between her and the Princess. “Starlight.” Twilight spoke to her opponent, some foals looking at them both with surprise as if they only now noticed two adults standing there. “We need to talk.”

“About what? You trying to attack me, again and again?” Starlight shook her head with amused smile. “Let me guess, more doom and gloom if I won’t give up? What is it this time?”

“… you won. In that future I’ve seen.” Twilight simply said.

“Oh? And what kind of trick is that? You expect me to just give up so I can see that future you supposedly know of?” Everypony around them was now paying attention to them, including some very worried adults. Neither Starlight nor Twilight cared for now, both focused only on each other.

“You weren’t truly happy.” Twilight said quietly. She could see Rainbow Dash and the bullies, even Fluttershy, looking at them instead of racing, but for now it didn’t matter. She couldn’t win this fight with magic, no matter what. She had to do it with words. She reformed many villains… technically it was mostly Elements or Fluttershy… still, she had to try. She was a Princess of Friendship, right? If anyone could achieve that, it was her. “You ruled the world you created, and you hated it. What even is your plan, once I’m gone? How are you going to deal with all the dangers that me and my friends defeated?”

Twilight omitted the fact that in her last timeline it was her, not Starlight, that broke the world. It was not real, not right, she told herself, and in reality she would never become a danger to Equestria like this. It was all Starlight’s fault, and nopony else. She just needed to convince her of that, somehow!

Starlight hesitated for a short moment, and Twilight held her breath, hoping for something, anything… but then that moment passed. The unicorn laughed mockingly, and the last hope the alicorn had of solving this peacefully was gone. “If you and your pathetic friends can deal with it, I can do that as well. I know what’s coming, remember? I have all the time in the world to prepare.” The unicorn’s smile grew unhinged and sadistic. “And about your claims of how horrible it is to rule… let me guess. I was lonely, and sad, and without friends? What a joke.”

The portal opened again, accompanied by unicorn’s mocking laughter. It never took the same amount of time for it to open, sometimes they could have a long discussion, sometimes it would open shortly after arrival. Twilight idly wondered why as both her and Spike were sucked up, disappearing into the void and darkness of time.

When they fell down this time, they were presented with… nothing. They could breathe, but the air was stale, and they could feel no wind or rain. They couldn’t see anything, too; they could feel the Map under them, but all around was just darkness and deathly silence. “Twilight?” Spike asked, hugging his best friend. “Where are we?”

She cast a shield spell, just in case, but it barely helped, providing only a weak illumination. In its violet light they could at least see where they were. It was a small dome, surrounding the Map; inside it was a barren ground, no grass, no flowers, nothing. Just dry dirt.

Outside of the dome was darkness. Twilight lit her horn, and only then they could see that it was in fact some kind of material – but one none of them recognized. Some kind of black wood? Whatever it was, it wasn’t uniform in appearance, but that was all they could see. It reminded Twilight of something, but what?

“You think we’re underground? Are we buried alive?” Spike asked, trying to stay calm. But the stale air, the limited space around, and no way out was causing him to be nervous. “I can’t see any way out of here.”

“Spike. I can teleport.” Twilight smiled weakly at her assistant’s blush as she gently reminded him if her magic. “Can’t believe you forgot that.” She teased him, conveniently not mentioning the times when she had forgotten some useful spell in the heat of battle.

For a moment, it all felt so… normal. Just her and Spike, talking and trying to figure out something. It reminded Twilight how much she missed her home.

“Oh, um, yeah, of course you can. So, could you?” The dragon looked around, seeing nothing but the black wood around them. “I don’t like this at all.”

“Hop on.” Twilight answered, and waited until he climbed on her. Then, she teleported up, trying to guess how far she needed to go; hopefully they weren’t that deep under whatever it was.

They teleported into the air, among thick, black clouds. They looked around them in stunned silence, as below thre was nothing but a vast, dark forest. Or rather, not just a forest; it was a mass of black, writhing, spiky… vines… and the sun and moon were both in the sky at the same time..

“Wha?!” Spike screamed, barely holding on as Twilight suddenly dived, realizing just in time where they were. “What…” A lightning hit the place they were a second ago. Then another, but this time closer to them. And another. They were surrounded by spiky clouds, and the clouds were shooting at them! “It’s Discord’s vines and clouds!”

“I know!” Twilight shouted back, doing her best to apply every single one of Rainbow’s lessons on dodging. But the clouds were gathering closer and closer, cutting her off, and lightning was so thick it became like a living, moving net around them, impossible to dodge…

And then, she just teleported away.

Next few minutes were exhausting. It was a combination of dodging, teleporting, and trying to avoid falling down – or Twilight had no doubt that once they fell down, they would never fly again. Or do anything else. The black sea of spiked wood came to life as they flew above it, writhing in anticipation.

Somehow, she managed to spot some breaks between the clouds. Places where she could fly through, barely avoiding the relentless attacks and not hitting the very sharp spikes on the clouds. There were no birds in the air, and no sign of anything alive arounds them – the black, living mass spread below them as far as they could see, as they slowly moved north. Fortunately, Twilight could fly above the spiked clouds, but it didn’t change the fact that the world around and below them was worse then dead. Devoid of anything but the destruction, as both sun and moon shined from above, unmoving, uncaring; only the thick black clouds protected the surface from being scorched and burned, and Twilight could feel the unnatural heat burning through her as she flew ahead, seeing a single hole in the surrounding darkness. Whatever it was, she dived into it, this time easily avoiding the sporadic lightning bolt.

It didn’t occur to any of them that they were being slowly corralled.

Finally, the black clouds seemingly gave up on chasing them, and the vines were replaced with a familiar sight. “Look, Twilight ! It’s Canterlot!”

“I see it, Spike.” She answered, diving further down. For a moment, she hoped it would be untouched, but these hopes were quickly squandered as they approached. She slowed down and landed in front of the main gate, looking in sadness at the destruction in front of her.

The walls were half-broken, slabs of magically-enhanced rocks ripped out or collapsed inwards. She couldn’t see the black vines here, but she had no doubt what caused this destruction; it could only be one thing. She swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling thirsty. The waterfall next to the castle dried up, and there was no sign of any water anywhere; she quickly realized that this would prove to be a big problem for them, sooner than later. As she walked through the broken gate, she absentmindedly noticed that even the magical fountains were empty. As if all humidity in the air and underground was slowly sucked out by the parasitic clouds and wiggling vines, or evaporated by the endless, cloudy day.

In fact, she realized, even the sun and moon felt wrong here. Here, in this small break in the black clouds, she could feel it clearly. The left part of her body could feel the scorching heat of the sun, and it almost burned; but her right flank felt… cold. Like this moon was tainted somehow, sucking the warmth from everything it touched. It was neither eternal day, or eternal night. It was something horrible and unnatural, a nightmare made manifest.

It felt like Discord’s world, but darker. More sinister. As if it was not just the work of Chaos, but a seed of pure evil blooming in the dying world. She shivered as she imagined the tainted plant spreading all over the planet, until nothing remains but a blanket of black, writhing death.

But that wasn’t the main thing she noticed as she moved deeper into Canterlot. Weather, sun, moon, it was all something she was aware of, but it paled in comparison to what was in front of her.

“Twilight…” Spike whimpered, hugging her. He shook, his eyes closed as he realized (too late) what surrounded them.

“I know, Spike.” Twilight answered quietly, slowly moving forward, avoiding the small, four-legged objects all around them.
Bodies.

She hoped some escaped. She didn’t know how many ponies exactly were in Canterlot at the time of the attack, but she only saw bodies of the royal guards and other armed ponies; she could only hope the rest managed to abandon Canterlot, go… somewhere else. Anywhere. She shuddered when she remembered the endless, black, writhing see around them. But no, the vines couldn’t be everywhere. They could take Ponyville, Canterlot… but not entire Equestria, right?
… right?

Some part of her subconsciously noted the wounds on the dried-out bodies, surprisingly well-preserved. Perhaps the lack of humidity helped. They didn’t even smell of rot or anything she would expect; there was a smell in the air, but more like old papyrus than anything more unpleasant. Could these vines somehow stop even the process of decay?

Lightning seemed responsible for many of the dead bodies, burned black; mostly pegasi, although some earth ponies and unicorns, as well. Others were crushed by the vines, thrown against walls, ground and buildings. Signs of magic and widespread destruction, broken and abandoned weapons scattered around, spoke of the great battle for Canterlot… the battle ponies lost.

Spike was still shaking and whimpering, refusing to open his eyes; Twilight used her magic to gently pat him on his head. There was nothing she could say or do to make this horror better, for any of them, as she slowly continued her trot into the dead capital of Equestria.

Guards and other ponies fought bravely. When streets were lost, they retreated to the buildings, and when these were taken, they took to the roofs. They sold their lives dearly, but in the end, it was all in vain. Part of her wondered what happened to the vines and clouds – Canterlot seemed free of them right now.

But most of her mind just shut down. She didn’t even know what she was doing, where she was going. There was no way out that she could see; Canterlot was surrounded by these horrible vines and black clouds.

But she was going somewhere, in the end. She realized it when she reached her destination, but even then, the tiny sliver of hope she still had shattered like the statue in front of her. She just stood there, her eyes locked on the white, broken stone.

“Twilight? Why did you stop?” Spike asked, nervously uncovering and opening his eyes. They were in the Canterlot gardens; to his immense relief, there was no sign of any bodies. Garden was now an empty patch of dirt, with all plants dead long ago, but statues remained… all but one.

“Oh Twilight…” He whispered as he fully took in what she was looking at.

The statue of Discord was shattered into small pieces, none bigger than a hoof. Somepony destroyed it thoroughly, and with it, their only hope of stopping the vines.

Twilight just… sat down, in silence.

It took almost an hour – not that they could measure the passage of time – before Twilight spoke. Part of her was sweating, the other part was cold, but she paid no attention to her body's discomfort. “I hate it. All of it.”

“Twilight?” Spike worryingly asked.

“She… she destroyed Equestria, and now, now we’re STUCK HERE!” Her anger flared again, frustration, trauma and fear combining into fury. “I hate it! I HATE HER! Why did she do it? Why is it always something!?”

“Twilight…” Spike stopped. What was he going to say? They were going to die here. Equestria was doomed. He doubted anything he said could help, and he knew well that their chance of finding Starlight were now abysmally small. “We can still try to go to her village, maybe the vinas don’t reach that far…”

“I just can’t take it anymore! I did all I could, I defeated all of them! Nightmare, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, and all the others!” Twilight ranted furiously. “And all this was for nothing?! I hope Starlight died horribly, painfully, and slowly for this!”

“Twilight, stop, please!” Spike was really scared now. Was it only him, or the air around seemed to darken a little? “Don’t do this!”

“Why?!” She screamed at him, and he whimpered in fear. “I tried everything, did all Celestia told me to, and look where it got us! I should have killed Starlight when I had a chance, back in her stupid village!”

“Twilight, that’s not you! Snap out of it!” “Spike tried to say something, anything, to help, but it was all in vain. Twilight’s mind, fragile and barely holding together, was finally falling apart. She screamed and cursed, her fury and hatred unleashed as the light around them slowly changed to eternal twilight, neither day ,or night.

“Oh it’s me, it’s REAL ME! Me that had ENOUGH of it all!”

“So you’re just going to turn into another Nightmare Moon? How does it help?!”

“How does ANYTHING help right now?!”

“Well, for starters, you are definitely helping me.” A weak voice sounded next to them, causing both the alicorn and dragon to jump and scream in fear; Twilight put up a shield on reflex. “Screaming already? I’m honored, but I don’t think you need to fear me now, Princess.”

Twilight looked around, not seeing anything… but then she realized who was speaking. She slowly looked down, and saw a piece of Discord’s stony mouth. It was now smiling slightly. “Discord?”

“One and only… or rather I was. I’m afraid that my confidence is in pieces right now.” The God of Chaos laughed at his own joke. “Alongside other things.” The mouth said without moving, which was beyond creepy. “I see you found me… or rather I would see that, but I currently have no eyes. I think I almost completely lost my head. Must have been stress.”

“Discord… you don’t remember me, do you?” Twilight asked, shaking off her surprise.

“Which one of you? You know, this reminds me of a joke.” Discord’s voice was weak, and strained, but there was still his usual amusement in it, even if muted. “Three Twilights enter a bar. One of them orders bartender to be shattered, the second one wants him tortured, and the third one wants him to help her.” He chuckled. “It sounded funnier in my head.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, confused. The unnatural light slowly diminished, leaving just tired, confused pony, to spike’s imminent relief. “And who’s the second me? And why did the first me shatter you?”

“Oh, that. See, the first Twilight decided she bit more then she can chew, so she decided to make me more manageable. And the second Twilight decided to take me out on a date, but instead she just took my heart and run off with it. A tragic story, really.”

“Discord…”

“Alright, alright, I forgot you have no sense of humor. With my vines sprouting and taking Celestia by surprise, there was a lot of conflict, arguing, chaos. So much of it, and it was so tasty, a full-course meal! But I did not count on you, the first you, panicking a little.”

“How was this surprising? Do you even know Twilight?” Spike asked, and Twilight winced. “Sorry Twilight, but you do panic sometimes. A lot.”

“I do not!” she weakly protested.

“Lesson Zero?” Spike pointed out. “Also, this freak-out moments ago?”

At this, Twilight had nothing more to say. Discord chuckled.

“No, please, keep arguing. It’s the only thing that keeps me alive… literally, in my case. I wish the other you would have some sense of humor, or a smart assistant. She, the first you (and that really sounds like the beginning of a great joke) panicked and decided to shatter my head. Literally. Alongside all other parts of me. I think she hoped that my magic will just stop if she kills me.”

“But… you’re alive.” Spike pointed out.

“Am I?” Discord feigned surprise. “Oh my, you’re right! Thank you for reminding me that I’m alive. It’s so easy to forget it.” None of them laughed. Not even he did. “Tough crowd, as usual. The first you panicked some more, then ordered everypony to run while she tried to find something in the Canterlot Archives that could help.”

“I’m going to guess she failed.” Spike said, looking at the abandoned, destroyed castle.

“What makes you think so? No, it’s all sunshine and rainbows right now… right, I can’t snap. I was hoping to just snap out of this, but it seems to be beyond me right now.”

“Where did she go?” Twilight asked, hopefully. After all, together, the two of them may figure something out…

“Nowhere. She’s still there. Or at least, her body is, I think. I heard some guards saying she locked herself in and refused to leave.”

Silence.

“Who was the second me?” Twilight asked, trying to ignore the thoughts of dying from hunger and thirst, deep in the Archives. Part of her wanted to go and see her own body; she forced that part down into her subconscious, hoping to never see it again.

“Ah, that one. See, one of local unicorns had a brilliant idea. If I’m still alive, maybe she can get something out of me that would help fight my magic. So she stole my heart and took it away.” Discord said in a dramatic fashion.

“You already made that joke.” Spike pointed out.

“Well, I can’t see you making jokes right now. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make enough jokes for all of us? There is ninety nine of me, and two of you, I need to make at least one hundred and one dalmatians out of it.”

“Dalmatians? Wait, no! Is it really time for jokes?” Twilight asked angrily. “Not sure if you noticed, but Equestria is gone! Again!”

“Spoilsport. Let the dying god have some last joke, would you?” Discord grumbled.

“… Dying?” Twilight’s anger vanished. The rollercoaster of emotions inside her sped up, going through so many feelings at once she could only feel confusion. “But… you’re Discord!”

“And?” The draconequus asked. “Twilight, I was hit by the Elements, spent a thousand years in unchanging stone, then you shattered me and Starlight is experimenting on my body right now. And the world is dying, Twilight. There is no chaos without life, and there is barely any life left.”

Too much information. Twilight tried to focus on the last part of it first. “Then just stop it! Stop your vines, and clouds!”

“I can’t, Princess. They only grew stronger as I grew weaker. Nothing can stop them now, not even me. And besides, I won’t be staying long in this world.”

Twilight felt tears pooling in her eyes. Why was she crying? She didn’t know that Discord, and even in her world he was rude and mean all the time, an endless source of headache…
But she was a good pony, and so she cried for yet another friend dying in an alternate future.

“Oh, stop it, Twilight.” Discord said, for once happy that statues can’t show emotions. Or cry. Seriously, stop it. We both know I’m nothing but annoyance to you most of the time. And if I won and ruled Equestria, you’d probably hate me forever. Or for a week. Not sure how time would even work if I won.” Twilight tried to stop the tears. “Better. Now, I know you’re from a different future…”

“Wait, you do”? Spike asked, surprised. He also felt sadness, but managed to hold back his tears for now. Twilight needed him. “How?”

“The other me left a mark on you.” Despite tears, Twilight instantly cast a detection spell. “You know, Princess, your lack of trust pains me. It’s only a small thing to help you, if you encounter me again.” The dying god chuckled. “It’s just perfect. There are ninety eight pieces of me, if not for him, I could never made that dalmatians joke earlier.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I know you don’t. But someone will, and that makes this joke even funnier. Back to you, Princess, I think I can help you.”

“Help me?” Twilight asked, surprised. “But I thought you couldn’t stop the vines?”

“Oh no, I can’t do that. But you see, my body is still connected to, well, me. At least for a moment longer. And part of me is currently in Starlight’s personal laboratory, far North.”

“I can reach her through you.” Twilight realized. “Convince her to help us!”

“I doubt that. But you can at least grab a small piece of her magic to use in that time magic of yours, if the other me was correct. Oh my, he was really powerful. How did you like the world he made?”

“I hated it.”

“Twilight!”

“No, no, let her speak the truth, little dragon. Admit it, you hated it as well.” Spike averted his eyes. “Dying or not, I’d rather still be me then someone else. Which is why I need to ask you something, Princess.”

“What?” Twilight asked, torn between tears, joy at the fact that they could return to the past, and caution; it was, after all, still unreformed Discord.

“I want you to kill me once you get Starlight’s magic. In my current state, I’m sure it won’t be too hard for you.”

“What?! No, I’m not doing that!” Twilight protested in shock. “I’m not…”

“Whatever you aren’t, Princess, you’re also not a monster like me.” Discord interrupted her, his voice growing weaker. “I want to die. I am suffering the worst pain in my entire existence, and frankly, I do not look forward to it only growing worse. Are you going to just leave me here in agony?”

“No, I’m going to help you!” Twilight protested again. “There must be something we can do, some magic, anything!”

“Twilight, stop being so sentimental. It makes me almost feel sad, and I refuse to ever feel sad.” Discord answered, amusement obvious in his weakening voice. “You know me, Princess. Do you think I want things to end? Of course I don’t. There are no jokes and no fun if everyone is gone. But this world is ending, and I’d rather not wait here, literally dying of boredom, until it happens.”

His voice betrayed no hesitation, no weakness. Nothing showed his true feelings. And without Fluttershy, there was no one left who could sense a tiny bit of fear deep inside the God of Chaos.

Starlight smiled triumphantly. It worked! It finally worked! It was a masterpiece of advanced spellcraft, something that would make her a legend in Equestria… if it still existed.

“Moondancer, get ready to switch the drain system into full power.” She ordered her assistant, the unicorn who brought small pieces of Discord to her in the first place.

“Of course.” Moondancer moved among the countless pieces of machinery and equipment in their lab, pulling levers, pressing buttons and turning knobs. “How efficient is the process?”

“Highly. We now have enough excessive energy to power automated defenses forever, and it’s growing exponentially.” Starlight answered, focused on the readings.

Both had their cutie marks. The idea of society without them was forgone the moment Discord’s vines attacked Stalliongrad and spread in the frozen North. With Gryphus and Zebrica also under attack, both continents fell into disarray; the black clouds proved capable of spreading the seeds overseas. Last they heard, most of both continents, shrouded in ternal darkness, was covered in vines and shrouded by the unnatural clouds.

The city had to survive. New Canterlot was the only remaining piece of civilization remaining, surrounded by black, writhing death. Starlight managed to activate the powerful magical defenses at the last possible moment, shielding the remaining ponies, griffons, polar bears and penguins on their small island.

All of them praised her as a hero… and none knew exactly what powered these defenses. Knowing that the ‘generator’ was in a fact a piece of Discord being continuously (and painfully) drained of energy probably wouldn’t make citizens of New Canterlot happy.

Moondancer hesitated before turning the last knob. “Are you sure there is no other way?”

“Still hesitating, Moonie?” Starlight asked, turning towards her marefriend. “You remember he did all of this, right?”

“Yes, but… he’s suffering.”

Starlight sighed slowly, walked towards Moondancer and kissed her gently. “I know. But there is no other way. Even with his magic, we can barely hold these thing back. We will need much more to find a way to control sun and moon, and save Equestria. But I know we can do this together.”

“Together.” Moondancer answered, a little flushed. She started to turn the knob, while Starlight stabilized the reaction. The device hummed as it drew more and more power of out Discord. Even shattered and weakened, he possessed almost endless amount of magic, enough to sustain the city for hundreds of years. And she already had designs for using this excessive power…

And then, a tiny bit of her magic was grabbed, pulled, and disappeared inside Discord. “What?” Starlight stopped, surprised, but nothing else happened.

“What happened?” Moondancer asked, worried.

“I think he tried to stop my magic somehow?. He failed, don’t worry. Keep turning it up.” She answered, carefully monitoring the shattered remains. But nothing more happened.
Probably just a fluke. Or some last, failed joke of his.

Twilight emerged from the sea of agony, shaking. She was sweating and trembling, hyperventilating as she returned to her own body, but she made sure to keep a small ball of light-blue magic in her telekinetic grasp.

“Twilight!” Spike hugged her, ignoring the wet mane sticking to him. “I was so worried about you! Are you alright?”

“I…” Twilight said, then stopped. What could she say? When she reached her magic through Discord, he opened himself to her. She thought it was a trick, a way to drown her in madness… but what she felt was even worse.

Oh, Starlight… what have you done…

You monster.

“You know, you would do the same, Twilight.” Discord spoke to her quietly, in her mind. He no longer had the strength to speak to them both. “Why do you think I called her a second Twilight? You are very much alike.”

“I am nothing like her!” She protested in the same way, the memory of horrible pain, of the feeling of being slowly drained, still fresh in her mind. “I would never do something like… this!”

“We shall see. Or rather, you will.” The voice chuckled quietly in her head. And then, Discord said something she never expected to hear. “Please?” He asked quietly, his voice fading as his strength left him, a helpless piece of broken stone.

Twilight opened her eyes. She and Spike were alone, back in Canterlot, next to silent, shattered statue of Discord. “I’m here, Spike.” She whispered. Twilight hugged her assistant, her best friend, and she felt tears. She was crying.

Spike cried alongside her, as she slowly prepared a last spell she would cast in this cursed world. Twilight made sure it was invisible and impossible to notice. She didn’t want Spike to see what she was doing. He was smart enough to know that, but he didn’t say anything, just hugging her desperately.

They needed to return home. She knew she would make it back to the Map; somehow, maybe it was the short time inside Discord’s mind, or something else, but she had a feeling they would have no problems reaching it and returning home.

But for now, she cast the last spell of this timeline. Discord’s body quietly shattered into dust.

“No!” Far away, Starlight screamed in fear as reactor instantly grew unstable, the powerful magic failing in an unstoppable cascade. Discord’s laughter sounded in her ears as his last joke literally exploded in her face. New Canterlot reactor turned into a gigantic fireball, painlessly ending the last remains of natural life on the planet. Slowly, the remaining vines fell apart, and even the clouds turned back to their normal, fluffy white.

And Twilight Sparkle and Spike left the now thoroughly-dead planet forever.

Discord looked around, floating in the warm, inviting darkness.

“You know, they always say to follow the light, or not follow it, I can never remember. But I don’t even see any light here! What a disappointment. You know, since I used the last bit of my strength to help (and to have my last bit of fun), I thought I’d get a hero’s welcome! Afterlife is overrated.”

And then, a tiny light flickered to life beside him.

Discord smiled and snapped his claws.

“I did not expect that! What a marvelous surprise!”

Without my friends what can I do

Twilight flew out the portal this time, instead of just tumbling down. At this point, she was so used to it that she managed to cast her shield and prepare offensive spells before she even fully emerged in the past, ready to… she wasn’t sure what could she do. Attack? Try to once again convince Starlight she was telling the truth? She was lost.

Not that it mattered, as this time the time-destroying unicorn had a new plan.

“Halt right there!” One of the security pegasi shouted at her, with more approaching. “Lower your shield! You are under arrest.”

“Arrest? What?” Twilight looked at the approaching pony, confused, only to notice triumphant Starlight behind her. The alicorn groaned. “Let me guess, she told you to arrest me?”

The pegasi said something in return, but Twilight just ignored her, instead looking at Starlight. The unicorn was standing on a cloud nearby, smiling smugly as the entire area was being evacuated, surely reducing any chance of Sonic Rainboom to zero.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” The pegasi shouted, but Twilight just didn’t care. No matter what she did, there was no way for her to make Rainboom happen this time. Starlight won, again.

Twilight was so tired. Of fighting, of death, of these horrible futures. She missed her friends. She missed the Princess.

She could only look at Starlight with resignation as a time portal swallowed her again, taking the approaching pegasus by surprise. In moments, there was no sign of Twilight or Spike.

“How can I stop this, Spike?” Twilight asked her friend as they landed in surprisingly normal-looking future. No obvious dangers around, meaning they had a moment to themselves, before whatever nightmarish danger lurks would react. “Even if I defeat her with magic, there is no way everypony around won’t notice it. Perhaps an invisibility spell… but there is no way I can cast it and still fight her, and she can easily dispel it…” Twilight wondered aloud. There had to be a way to defeat Starlight and make sure Rainboom still happens. She just needed to figure it out. After all, she is the element of Magic, isn’t she? There had to be a magical answer to this problem!

“Maybe magic isn’t a solution here?” Spike proposed, looking around. Still no danger; in fact, everything looked surprisingly normal, save for the lack of a certain crystal castle.

“That’s an idea. I’m sure she doesn’t expect me to attack her physically! I can just jump on her and overwhelm her physically!” After all, Twilight was an alicorn; she was much stronger physically then any unicorn. “Thank you, Spike!”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” The dragon protested. “Maybe you just need to find a way to convince her she’s wrong?”

“I tried already, remember? She just didn’t believe me! How am I supposed to convince someone who just won’t listen to what I say?” Twilight shook her head. "She's just so... so stubborn!"

Spike was really tempted to remind her of many, many times when she ignored everyone’s good advice and did something stupid or harmful – and even more situations where her obsessions got the better of her – but Twilight was already trotting away, towards Ponyville. “No time to waste, Spike! We need to find Starlight and get back to the past!”

Spike just sighed and followed her. “I still think talking is the best solution.” He said to himself.

They reached Ponyville soon enough. It looked very similar to the one they knew, no signs of war factories, eternal night, aggressive flora… but it also looked abandoned. Almost nopony was walking the streets, and those that were seemed different. Less colorful, and less lively, and he realized quickly what happened here.

“Twilight.”

“I know.” The alicorn looked sadly at Ponyville. Even if the place seemed untouched, the same couldn’t be said of the ponies. Tirek drained them of all magic, leaving them weak and powerless. Judging by how thin and unhealthy everypony looked, she wouldn’t be surprised if even proper farming was too much for them.

They slowly trotted through Ponyville, other ponies giving them wide berth. Every pony seemed so resigned and lost, even the sight of an alicorn wasn’t enough to rouse them. They just tried to survive, only leaving their homes to scavenge for the meager remains of food.

“Oh my, you aren’t drained?” Somepony said, and Twilight turned around to see Fluttershy emerge from one of the houses. “And you’re an alicorn?”

“Fluttershy!” Twilight said, smiling as she saw one of her friends. The shy pony made a ‘meep’ sound and took a step back, almost hiding back in the house she just emerged from. “No, please, wait. I’m not here to hurt anypony.” Twilight tried to calm her friend down. She took a step back to give Fluttershy more space, and waited patiently with a small smile.

It worked. The yellow Pegasus slowly walked closer, visibly hesitating. Only when she noticed Spike, she actually smiled and relaxed a bit, looking at him with curiosity. “And you’re a dragon! How amazing.” Her voice, while still a whisper, sounded at least a tiny bit more like the Fluttershy they knew. “I haven’t seen any dragons for so long. What’s your name?”

“I’m Spike! Nice to meet you.” He answered, smiling as well.

“You should both hide, though. The Lord will not be happy if he sees you. Oh no, he will be furious.” Fluttershy shook in fear. “He will hurt you, both of you. Hurt you very bad.”

“You mean Tirek?” Fluttershy twitched, nervously looking around as if she expected the new ruler of Equestria to suddenly appear next to her. “Easy, Fluttershy. He’s not here. Please, can you tell us where Starlight Glimmer is?” Twilight asked.

“Oh my, her?” Fluttershy hesitated.

“Please, tell us. We need her to fix all of this.” Spike added.

Fluttershy slowly pointed at Canterlot. “She’s there, but I don’t think she will be able to help you.”

“She will, don’t worry. Thanks, Fluttershy.” The alicorn and the dragon immediately left towards their new destination, Spike waving to Fluttersh while Twilight was already lost in her new idea of fixing the problem of Starlight through physical assault. The yellow pony looked at them until they disappeared behind a small hill, wondering what this was all about. Surely they must have heard about Starlight, everypony around did, so why were they looking for her?

But for now, she had more duties to fulfill. Ponies needed her, and with even Pinkie too depressed to do anything she was the only one left. The only one who knew death so well; her animal friends lives were so short, compared to hers. She buried so many of them in her life, which was why she was the only pony who could do what she was doing right now.

She moved from house to house, doing her best to make sure that the last moments of dying ponies would not be spent alone. Just talking was enough for many. Holding hoofs. Some needed a little bit of herbal potions, thanks to Zecora who managed to stay hidden in Everfree and supplied Fluttershy with everything she needed.

“Don’t worry, Rarity. I will make sure that once somepony defeats Tirek, your dresses will not be forgotten.” She told the crying unicorn, keeping her company in her last moments. “I am sure somepony will take care of Boutique, and Sweetie, once that happens.”

She lied, but that was alright. That was all she could do to help.

They reached Canterlot without any problems, but what awaited them was just another horror. Up close, they could see the signs of battle. Unicorn bodies were scattered around, many with buildings crumbled on top of them. The ground was burned, frozen and disintegrated in many places, the last signs of any resistance against Tirek.

It was so similar to the last time they were here, but somehow, the depressing atmosphere wasn’t getting easier to bare. They walked slowly through the ruined city, Twilight doing her best to ignore the bodies. She knew so many of them, from the School for Gifted Unicorns and just from the fact she lived in Canterlot for years. She tried not to think about it.

Twilight knew where to go, somehow. It was just fitting that the last place to fall would be the throne room. She could only wonder what happened here, in the last moments, as they both walked towards their goal. What was the plan, if there was any? Was that a valiant last stand just to resist, to fight back? Or did they have a plan, a plan that failed? And why was Starlight here?

Not a problem, she just needed to find her and… get out of…

Twilight suddenly stopped, and Spike, who was just behind her, walked into her. “Ouch!” He landed on the floor, with unmoving Twilight blocking his view of the throne room. “What’s wrong?” He asked, walking around her, only to notice what made her freeze.

Starlight was here. Or rather, her dead, lifeless body, left where she fell trying whatever scheme of hers was left in these desperate times before a blast of freezing magic killed her. For whatever reason, Tirek left her in a block of magical ice, perfectly visible and preserved for all to see, her face forever showing the shock and terror of her last moments. Twilight didn’t know if she tried to defend the Princess, take her magic for herself, or perhaps even join Tirek to avoid her fate; what mattered was that Starlight was gone.

They were trapped here. They could not go back to the past.

Twilight cried and sniffled, all hope lost. Spike tried to help, but in the end he joined her. There was nothing they could do now. They had to live the rest of their lives in the doomed world Starlight has created.

“Twilight Sparkle?” A weak voice asked. “Is that really you? How are you here?”

She knew this voice. It couldn’t be! Twilight looked back, and it really was her. Drained and weak, but alive, the one and only Alicorn of the Sun stood in the corridor, confused. “Princess Celestia?” Twilight croaked out, her voice shaking from all the emotions and crying. “Is this really you?”

“It’s me, but how are you here? I’ve seen you disintegrated by Triek?” The former ruler of Equestria asked, her voice betraying the pain she felt at that memory.

Twilight couldn’t stop herself. She flew at the her mentor, hugging her, crying, trying to say everything at once and failing to say anything but incoherent mumbling. Spike joined her, with less talking and even more hugging.

It took them a long time to calm down enough to tell Princess the entire story; and even deprived of her magic Celestia proved to be the same pony they knew, compassionate and wise, despite the desperation and sadness she lived through. Twilight couldn’t help but smile, knowing that at least they still had each other in this horrible future.

It took a while for them to tell their tale, and in return Princess shared with them the story of Tirek’s return. How everypony missed the first cases of disappearing ponies; how, when finally whole villages were suddenly found empty, Royal Guard was dispatched, only to fall to the same enemy. By the time Celestia realized that her old nemesis has somehow returned, it was too late, and even all her might was not enough to stop the rampaging monster.

“And what was Starlight doing here?” Twilight inquired. “Did she help Tirek?”

“No, she did not.” Celestia sighed, looking with visible sadness at the frozen pony. “When Tirek drained magic from most of Equestria and moved north, Starlight arrived to Canterlot. Apparently he destroyed her village in the North when he invaded Stalliongrad, and she was furious. She came to me with a plan to save my little ponies and defeat Tirek.”

“What was her plan?” It was Spike who asked this, the young dragon munching on some gems their host brought to them; in her words, they served no purpose just sitting in the royal coffers.

“She created a spell, one I have never seen before, very similar to what Tirek was doing; she proposed to take my Cutie Mark, and with it, all my power. She would do the same to all ponies she could, and then escape east, to Girffonia. Without my power, Tirek would be significantly weaker, and she hoped to find help in some faraway land.” Celestia answered. “I couldn’t hide from Tirek at this point, he could sense my presence as an alicorn, but we hoped that Starlight could slip unnoticed.”

“Then what happened? Why is she… here?” Twilight looked at the block of magical ice with mixed feelings as she beheld the frozen figure of her nemesis, sometimes the greatest villain in history of Equestria, but sometimes freedom fighter or great hero instead. “And why did he freeze her? He never did anything like that when I fought him.”

“It was his idea of punishing me for resisting him.” Celestia said, bitterness taking over sadness in her voice. “When he arrived in Canterlot only to find us all without our Cutie Marks and our magic, he was furious. He took his anger on the city, and then promised me a terrible vengeance, before leaving.
It took him well over a year, but he managed to learn how to fully use the power inside him. He forced some poor unicorns to teach him, and then drained them as well before leaving for Gryphus. I don’t know what exactly happened here, but we heard of his rampage through every army and every city, following Starlight. In the end, he cornered her in the far east of the continent, captured her and drained all her power. He then teleported back here, and killed her right in front of me. After that, he cursed me, making it so that I can never leave the palace or remove her body from my throne room.” Celestia closed her eyes, hiding the years of pain and sadness inside them. “Then he left for Zebrica, destroying the last creatures left to resist him. Last I heard, he defeated somecreature called the Storm King and drained all hippogriff magic before moving south.”

“What about Discord?” Twilight asked with some hope. After all, the Lord of Chaos helped her already, more then once.

“He’s gone.” Celestia shattered her hope. “Tirek figured out how to take his power even when he was a statue. Then, he destroyed him, nothing remains but a crater in my garden. I’m sorry, Twilight. All his power is now inside Tirek, and he is using it to subjugate the last remaining free creatures in the world.”

The younger alicorn slowly nodded, lost in thought. Something Celestia just said was important, she could feel it, but what? It took her a moment to realize it.

“Princess.” She asked, her eyes regaining some hope. “I think I have a plan.”

When Tirek arrived to Canterlot, teleporting from somewhere far away, he was impossible to miss. His voice boomed as he roared, half-laughing and half-angry, as his massive figured dwarfed almost all buildings in Canterlot. “I see one more of you have managed to hide from me! Come out, little alicorn, and face me! I will learn how you managed that, and then all your magic will be mine!”

Twilight gulped, but moved forwards, leaving the palace and standing in front of the powerful monster. He was so much bigger and stronger then the last time she faced him, and she was so tired of it all. But she wouldn’t fail this time. She had to go back to the past, she had to save the world. For everycreature’s sake.

“So, little alicorn. Tell me, how did you manage to hide from me? Speak, and I promise your death will be painless.” The monster before her bellowed, his voice empowered and defeaning, his power eclipsing the entire world. He was immortal and invincible; he was Tirek, and he ruled the world.

But against him stood Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic; and even in this forsaken future, she would not give up so easily. And after all the horrible futures she saw, after all the enemies she faced, she found her opponent much less imposing. She took a deep breath. “I thought you’d be scarier. And taller, too.”

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. And then, Tirek answered, his voice slowly gaining in anger and fury. “What did you just say, you tiny creature?”

“I thought you’d be more powerful.” Twilight gulped, but continued as the centaur’s wrath grew. “Where is all that power? Did you waste it already?”

The monster roared in absolute fury. “You want to see my power, little pony?” Tirek said, his voice rough and loud, shaking the remaining buildings and echoing from the mountain, causing the remaining ponies around Canterlot to scatter in panic, at least those who still has strength to run. “Then you shall see it.”

“Whatever you can do, I can do better.” Twilight challenge him, and focused. Few days of rest she got before he arrived helped her regain as much power as she could, even as her nights were plagued by darkness and horrors. Above her horn, a ball of pure power appeared.

Tirek, seeing this, laughed. “What a pathetic power! Behold, the might of Lord Tirek!” And with these words, a huge ball of multi-colored power appeared above him, dwarfing in size not only Twilight, but even most of the buildings in Canterlot. He effortlessly enlarged it even more, until it was painful to even look at it; the hum of magical energy became so loud, it was hard to hear anything else, and still Tirek wasn’t even trying.

Twilight grit her teeth and, just as she did during her magical duel with Trixie, answered not with pure strength, but a trick. Her ball of magic was empty inside; just a thin bubble, created to lur Tirek into using as much of his power as possible. She was keeping a separate detection spell up, as well, waiting. It was still not enough, so she pushed her magic further.

To Tirek’s surprise, the tiny alicorn managed to draw even more power, and her magic grew in size fast. If he had any kind of detection spell ready, he could easily see through the trick, but he grew too used to being able to just power through everything; besides, he wasn’t even tapping into his real power. He laughed and, as effortlessly as before, summoned even greater power within himself.

The power Tirek was using right now was enough to level not just the city or palace; it would shatter the entire mountain, as well, and it was only getting more and more powerful. But Twilight, despite all of this, forced herself to calm down and focus. Spike, hiding behind her, was shaking in fear, but remained by her side, trusting her. Behind her, from the palace, the Princess observed them as well, a slight smile on her face.

Twilight would never know how proud this Celestia was of her; for the drained alicorn, getting to know her alternate-self's student was one of the greatest moments in her life. Twilight was tired and traumatized in many ways, but she was also still passionate and willing to fight, to come back to the past and fix all of this. She was also was from a social outcast, and the way she spoke of her friends was truly the sign of magic of friendship deep inside her. Even her relationship with pike was proving it.

The 'duel', or rather Tire showing off, continued for a while longer, Twilihgt stating to sweat from the effort even with the ball of magical power being empty inside; in contrast, Tirek was still relaxed, at at most mildly interested in her power. And then, finally, it happened. The detection spell triggered, and Twilight instantly let go of her illusionary bubble of magic, casting a different spell instead. A tiniest bit of magic slipped away from Tirek’s grasp, flowing through Twilight and touching a certain scroll, held in her assistant’s shaking claw.

Tirek was confused for a moment; the fact that this pony managed to wrestle control over even a tiniest bit of his magic from him was surprising, but why would she do that? At first, he just shrugged and got ready to just suck the magic from her, until suddenly, a portal appeared above her, and began floating towards it.

“You will not get away!” Tirek shouted as he sucked all the magic… or tried. Somehow, to his shock, he could not suck the magic out of whatever magic was happening right in front of him. He fired a blast of pure power, strong enough to crush even Celestia at the height of her power, but it couldn’t pierce the weird magic protecting the alicorn.

As Twilight flew into the portal and back to the past, Tirek roared and fired all of his power, not wanting to take any risks; this magic was different, and he actually felt a tiny pang of worry even through the thick layer of his ego around it. And so he blasted it all away.

But even his power was powerless against time itself, and Twilight was gone, all his power wasted. The gargantuan explosion his attack caused obliterated Canterlot, Ponyville, and made a crater so large it reached molten lava below and destroyed entire Everfree Forest and wide area around Canterlot, but it was all for nothing; Tirek lost.

And Celestia, swallowed by the blast, closed her eyes and accepted oblivion with a sad smile. Her last thoughts focused on her student from a different time, and her brave dragon assistant.

My world is still worth saving

Twilight and Spike fell out of the time portal, back in Cloudsdale in the past. The Princess was ready. She would talk to Starlight, explain what she saw, this horrible future she…

And then she and Spike were encased in magical, pink crystal.

“Getting careless, aren’t we?” Starlight chuckled, coming closer to them. She was far from the heroic pony they met moments ago in the future, the leader of the resistance willing to give her life for Equestria. The mare smiled with sadistic pleasure. “Really, you need to work on your combat magic. And some situational awareness. I have no idea how you managed to come back, but trust me, it won’t help you.”

The crystal Twilight was in started sinking through the clouds. She was desperately trying to figure out a way to get of the prison, but she didn’t even recognize the spell, and quickly found out it made her own spellcasting much, much harder.

“Just so you know, Princess.” Starlight spat out with disgust and satisfaction, watching Twilight and Spike slowly falling through the soft ground. “We can do this all day, and I will always win. No matter what. So, just get back to the future, and don’t try to come back this time, or I may decide to do something more… drastic.”

Twilight and Spike fell through the cloud, and started rapidly accelerating towards the ground. They would hit it soon, and at their speed they would be killed! Panicking, Twilight forgot about all subtlety and just tried blasting the crystal prison away with her magic. To her surprise, after just few moments it shattered. They were free!

Twilight barely caught Spike and flew up, avoiding meeting the hard ground below. “Quickly, Spike! We need to…”

Whatever she wanted to say, she never did. The time portal appeared suddenly, and sucked them in.

Twilight fell out of the portal, tumbling on the ground, but this time she was ready. She put a shield up as fast she could, making sure to also secure Spike. If Nightmare Moon was here, she would not get them so easily!

But not attack came. Instead, a brown-black rain (wait, chocolate...?) splattered harmlessly on her shield. The ground was green, not with grass, just green like someone spilled paint on it; and the hills and distant mountain were bananas. Not just a metaphorical way to say there were ridiculous, either. They were literal bananas.

“Twilight…?” Spike said, worried and scared. Confused, Twilight look to where he was pointing, and gasped.

Celestia and Luna were there, but for some reason, they were wearing… clown make-ups? And running in circles, panting and visibly exhausted. They were so close Twilight could hear the sound of their hooves running, and while they were making another circle, she managed to catch a glance at their eyes.

It was the worst thing she saw, even worse than the future where Nightmare Moon won. Celestia’s eyes were dead. There was no recognition of Twilight, or even awareness of where she was. Nothing. She lost all hope, and slowly but surely all reason, trapped in this eternal hell.
Luna still seemed to have some spark of reason in her, but it was fading fast. Her eyes were full of fear and terror, and she also seemed to not recognize Twilight. Or even anything around her.

And behind the two broken ponies, riding a unicycle, was a draconequus with old Equestrian crown on his head, laughing crazily. “Faster, my little ponies, faster!”

Twilight gulped, trying to not make a sound and not get the attention of Discord. “Spike,” she whispered, “be quiet. We need to hide. Follow me.”

All three of them started to move away, sneaking quietly and very slowly. Twilight made sure her hoofs were not making any sound on the ground – fortunately, whatever it was they were walking on was very soft and made almost no sound – while Spike and Discord both walked very carefully, in order to not, wait, Discord?!

“Ta-da!” Discord stood right next to them, smiling happily. “So, are we done sneaking?”

Twilight panicked. She knew well that even as an alicorn, she had no chance fighting Discord. Instead, she grabbed Spike and teleported away.

Only to teleport into a sea of honey. She was surrounded by the golden liquid; she could only see more and more honey around her. She sputtered and spat out some of it when she realized it tasted like pepper, not actual honey, and then she noticed bee-shaped fish swimming in it.
And then she realized she can’t breathe. There was no air there.

She teleported away, ending up in the same place she was before. She tried to shook away the golden, sticky substance, only to find out it suddenly changed into grey stone. They were trapped!

“Ah, it feels so nice seeing other understanding my suffering. After all, everyone is empathetic toward suffering of other when they also went through it, right? I think I got it right.” She heard Discord right next to her, even if she couldn’t see him. Somehow, she found out she didn’t need to breath. And it also felt like she didn’t need to eat or drink anymore. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you out in a thousand years. Unless I forget. That happens sometimes, you know, comes with old age.” Discord suddenly had a beard, and was walking using a stylized cane.

Twilight had no idea how she knew it. She still couldn’t’ see anything but grey stone, but somehow, she could perfectly imagine, or ‘see’, Discord next to her.

She could also see that the ‘cane’ he was using was white, with beautiful, purple streaks on it. It ended with a perfect replica of a unicorn’s head.
And the head was crying. Rarity, long ago losing all hope, could only cry helplessly now, being tormented and forced into whatever shape Discord found amusing. “Oh stop it, canes are not supposed to cry! Besides, believe me, you look fabulous. Isn’t that what you always wanted? Really, you ponies should watch what you wish for!”

Twilight, now furious at seeing her teachers and friends treated like this, finally had enough. Just like with crystal prison she was in minutes earlier, she blasted the stone prison to pieces. If she was going to lose, so be it, but she will not stand for this!

She blasted Discord away with a powerful beam of magic. To her horror, draconequus just smiled, and covered himself with a cane. Rarity, now screaming in fear, was hit head-on by the magic.

Twilight stopped the spell, but it was too late. Rarity shattered. Pieces of her fell everywhere around, leaking green, blood-like substance. Hear head, still alive but badly burned, made horrible choking sound, spitting out more of the green substance, before laying still on the ground. Unmoving.

“You broke my cane! How will the poor old Discord walk now?” The monster, far from the reformed creature from the future, sighed ostensibly. “What a shame.”

Twilight did not answer. She was just in shock. She looked at her dead friend, and her brain just couldn’t take it. With this added on top of the old Equestria dying, and the horrible future of Nightmare Moon, Twilight’s mind broke. Spike tried to grab her and shake her out of it, but it was hopeless.

“Oh, broken so easily? Huh, now I think about, weren’t you supposed to be a unicorn? Here, let me check.” Discord took off a big magician’s hat – wait, since when he was wearing it? – and reached deep into it, searching for something. Moments later, he pulled out… Twilight.

This Twilight was a unicorn, not an alicorn. Princess looked at her double, still not really there, and offhoofedly noticed some more differences. For example, the completely dead eyes. They reminded her of Celestia. Even seeing herself as an alicorn was not enough to make the old Twilight Sparkle come out from the deep darkness of her mind.

“Interesting.” Discord put the unicorn back in the hat. “So, how are you different? There is something about you… hmm.” Discord suddenly looked like a stereotypical detective, holding a magnifying glass. He looked over the alicorn, thinking out loud. “Not a clone. Not a copy. Not Mirror Pond. Interesting. And it feels like you should not be here, at all. Wait, no. I shouldn’t be here? But that’s absurd.” He turned to Spike who was crying now, trying to somehow make Twilight respond. “You, dragon. Explain.”

“Go to hell, Discord.” He answered, focused only on Twilight. “Do your worst, you, you monster!”

“Ah, yes. Four hundred and nineteen. That’s how many times I heard this. Come on, at least give it a try. Be hilarious, like me! Every line I say is original, and that number before was totally not shamelessly stolen from something else.” Discord shook his head with disappointment. “Come on, whatever your name is, just spill the beans!” Discord spilled the beans. Literally. Just turned a can around and spilled beans on top of Spike, some getting impaled on his spikes.

The little dragon ignored them, and just gave Twilight a hug. Discord sighed. “Alright, random dragon, let’s do it the other way. Maybe something in her bags…”

That gave him a reaction he hoped for. Twilight, feeling him reach into her bag – and therefore getting close to the scroll, the only thing that could save Equestria now – instinctively pushed his claw away. Spike took a deep breath, and breathed out fire, burning Discord. He was suddenly on fire, comically screaming and falling, before he turned into ash.

Twilight wasted no time. She grabbed the scroll, holding Spike with her leg. Even if spell fails, she would take it. Everything is better than this hell.

But moment later she screamed and jumped back, as the scroll grew eyes. Discord’s head emerged from the scroll, smiling happily. “There it is! Evidence! Detective Discord wins, fatality!” The God of Chaos morphed back into himself, and read the scroll.

And stopped.

He became immobile, like a statue. And his worlds stood as well. The houses swirling in the air stopped. Magical ball of honey nearby stopped spinning. The dancing half-bears, half-unicorns, half-dragons, quarter-trees stopped dancing, paralyzed mid-step. Only Celestia and Luna, conditioned by years of torture, continued to mindlessly run in circles.

Discord felt something he barely ever felt in his life. He was a God of Chaos. An actual, real God, not like Celestia or Luna. He was a force of nature, a power rivaled by few. But even in his life – which stretched before Equestria was even created – he barely ever felt anger.

Now he did. It was very, very unpleasant.

“Twilight. Sparkle.” Discord said slowly. The mountains started to melt. The sky was turning crimson. “What. Did. You. Do.”

There was no answer. Only Spike, looking at his tormentor with teary eyes. “She won’t answer you, can’t you see?! You hurt her too much!”

“Don’t be silly.” Discord appeared in front of Twilight, and look into her eyes with all his eight eyes. “Hey, you, wake up. I said, WAKE UP!”

Discord’s voice was like Royal Canterlot Voice, but even stronger. Spike held to Twilight with all his might, the wind so strong and hot it instantly dried his tears. Everything around them was blown away, including the two sisters. Celestia and Luna slowly stood back up moments later, and returned to their routine of running, blind to everything around them.

Twilight did not react.

“Don’t you have any empathy in you?!” Spike screamed at Discord fearlessly. The sight of all these horrors was so great, he found himself way beyond any normal fear. “She won’t answer! And I think it’s a good thing, you would probably only want to make everything worse! It’s not enough you ruined this Equestria, you want even more?!”

“More? Don’t be ridiculous! This stupid pony broke everything. She broke time! Everything I do here is meaningless, even my chaos is pointless!” Discord said, still angry, although now also looking a little… lost? "This is not the normal timeline! This is not what was supposed to happen!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, maybe if you didn’t RUIN EVERYTHING, things would be better!”

“Shut up.” Discord grabbed Spike’s mouth, and literally took it away, leaving only smooth skin in its place. “One more word, and I will actually hurt you, you stupid dragon!”

To his surprise, he suddenly felt pain. He looked down, and saw Twilight, now furious. Her horn was wrapped in black energy, and a small lance of black power was piercing right through his heart. It was a minimal pang of discomfort, rather than real pain, but he still reformed a step to the right to get out of its line of fire. “Of course, threatening someone you care about would work! Discord, you’re a genius.” When Twilight tried to fire a beam of magic at him again, he simply grabbed her horn and took it away. “Now, let’s be civilized, Princess. Tell me how you got this scroll.”

Twilight looked at him, still furious. But then, she just deflated. It was hopeless. Even the strongest offensive magic she knew, a spaecial spell she only learned after Sombra, and attacking a surprised Discord failed.
She would be here forever. In this hell. She looked at Celestia and Luna, now further away, but still mindlessly running around, and she shuddered. If she gets her horn back, she swore to herself that she will make sure Spike won’t suffer this fate. That was the least she could do for him.

“Hey, sparkling girl that’s not a vampire! I’m still here! Hello?” Discord grew a beard only to tear it off in frustration. “Why oh why can’t I read your thoughts! Make your mind more chaotic, please, so I don’t have to ask you any questions anymore!”

Seeing that it doesn’t work, he sighed. Great. He sucked at this. He could try to turn her mind around with magic, but he knew from experience it did not make broken ponies work. He needed something else.

“Look, Twilight. Can I call you Twilight? Friends call each other by name, and we can be friends.” No answer. “Blasted… come on, I want to be your friend. I want to fix it! Alright, here you have it, I swear it. Answer me, and I will send you back to wherever you came from so you can fix it!”

That got a reaction. Twilight slowly lifted her head, looking at the God of Chaos in front of him. “Yes, perfect! Now, how did you get this scroll?”

“You lie.” She whispered instead. “All is lost. Everyone is dead. I am alone.”

“No, you’re not! You still have your stupid dragon!” Discord pointed at – still muted – Spike, who was holding Twilight’s hoof and crying wordlessly. “Here, there you go, you can talk now!” Discord glued Spike’s mouth back on.

“Gnihtemos yas, esaelp, Thgiliwt!” Spike tried to say, but all he said was gibberish. Discord sighed, grabbed his mouth and turned it 180 degrees to correct position. “Twilight? Twilight, it’s me, please, I need you!”

Princess slowly hugged her assistant, before answering. Her voice was now cold. “Starlight Glimmer made it. I cannot go back unless she uses her magic to help me. Now you know. Go back to torturing everycreature, or whatever you want to do.” She hugged Spike with all her strength.

Discord did not answer. Instead, he snapped his fingers, and a light purple pony they knew so well appeared next to him. Her mane was disheveled, but her eyes were furious, instead of dead. “You! What else do you want?!”

“You were a very naughty mare, Starlight Glimmer.” Discord answered angrily. He showed her the spell her alternate self created, while his other seven hands gestured widely. “You broke the timeline. Now, you will fix it, understand?”

Starlight looked at the spell, then and Discord. And then she smiled.
It was not a nice smile.

“No. Go to whatever hell spawned you and die there, instead.”

“What did you say to me, you little…” Discord suddenly grew in size to a small mountain, and his voice sounded like an earthquake. “You will fix what you broke!”

“No.” Starlight answered without any sign of fear. “If you want to do it, you clearly care. For the first time, I found something you care about.” Her smile grew into an evil, psychotic grin. “If you need me to fix it, and you can’t do it yourself… I can finally hurt you. Vengeance is so sweet, you know?” she laughed now, a crazy laugh without any happiness. “Do your worst. But at least I will suffer knowing you suffer the same.”

“Starlight.” The light purple pony turned to Twilight, surprised to hear anyone else then Discord. “Please. I have seen that you have this, this spark of good in you. I’ve seen you sacrifice your life for Equestria. Please.” Twilight asked, shaking. “Please help me fix it all.”

The world stood still. Everyone and everything awaited the answer.

“No.”

“No?” Twilight couldn’t believe what she heard. “But if you do this, I can fix it! Make everything right! Make Discord lose!” Said God of Chaos seemed unhappy about the mention of himself ‘losing’, but he didn’t stop her.

“Or so you think. He lies. He never says anything true.” Starlight laughed again, shaking so much she fell on the ground. “He won’t get it. He took everything from me, now I will take everything from him!” She didn't even bother getting up, all her thoughts focused only on her vengeance.

It was so eerily similar. Twilight looked at the half-crazed mare on the ground, now understanding everything.

The same willpower and determination Starlight had when fighting Nightmare Moon. It was the same one she had now, defying furious Discord. And the same she had when she tried to stop Twilight from fixing the timeline.

How can Twilight convince someone like that?
Is it even possible?

And, more importantly. Can she risk the entire world just to try?

“Oh, you little… fine. I wanted to be nice.” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a new creature appeared among them. A centaur, once powerful and arrogant, now small and humble.

“You called, master?” Tirek asked timidly. Deep inside him, a small part of his former self still existed, raging against his new ‘master’ and humiliation he suffered, soundly defeated by the God of Chaos. But that part was long gone and forgotten. He was now just a small, humble servant.

“Yes. Take her power away, and put it in this scroll.” Discord ordered angrily.

“Wait, no!” Starlight tried to say, but it was too late. Her power suddenly started flowing out of her. She did all she could to stop it, but it was too late; to her horror, her magic left her. She was now powerless. She just lay still on the ground, looking hatefully at Discord. At Tirek, who now obediently put her magic into the scroll. At Twilight.

“Now go and fix it, Twilight Sparkle. And don’t you dare come back here if it’s not fixed!” Discord ordered angrily.

“I hate you!” Starlight screamed at the world. At everything and everyone, and especially those around her.

This hateful scream was the last thing Twilight heard, before the portal sucked her in again.