Harry walked through Ponyville in the dead of night. There was not a single pony stirring that night; every house was dark, and the town was silent. Not even the night animals were making a sound. But it wasn't the quiet he enjoyed, this seemed different. Luna's night sky was wrong, the moon wasn't visible overhead, and the stars above didn't shine. There was just an inky abyss.

"Let..."

Harry's wings fidgeted nervously at the whispers in the air. Wait, wings...?

"Me..."

Harry moved through this dark Ponyville, staying plenty away from the darkest corners of the streets. Eventually, Harry walked past where Twilight's old library used to be.

"Out..."

But there wasn't an old tree; instead, there was a human house. An old two-story house stood in the ruins of Twilight's library. It was surrounded by a weathered gate and wild, overgrown hedges. The place was decrepit, and the right side of the house was blown open, as though by an explosion or curse. It was... familiar. As Harry approached the house, the fine details of the building became fuzzy. By the time Harry reached the front gate, the house had become a large blurry gap in his vision. Harry reached for the gate, but his hoof merely passed through, as though the place were an illusion.

Harry stepped back from the building. This didn't make any sense...

The gate swung open. What was behind the gate was dark and blurry. But Harry's instincts yelled that he wasn't alone.

"Let... me... out..." whispered from beyond the gate.

"Who— who's there?" Harry asked. He squinted into the blur. "Do you need my help?"

"Let me out..." the voice continued.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded. "I can't see you."

Harry walked to the gate, his ears swiveled forward. In the blurry darkness beyond the fenceline, Harry could hear ragged breathing and something metal, perhaps chains. Now that Harry stood at the threshold, he could hear thrashing and something was moving in the darkness ahead. The sounds got louder and louder the longer he listened, but didn't seem any closer.

Then, two shining eyes lit in the shadows, and rushed headlong at Harry.

"LET ME OUT!"

Harry jolted up in bed, drenched in sweat. His eyes darted about. He was in the Gryffindor tower, sitting upright in bed. Not in Ponyville, not in front of... wherever that was. What was that thing? Harry wondered, thinking back to that thing in his dream.

"Harry, you good, mate?" Ron asked. Harry looked to the doorway, where Ron stood. He looked at Harry with apprehension.

"I'm fine," Harry replied. "Just... bad dream, that's all."

Ron was silent for a long moment before saying, "As in normal bad dream, or... you know... vision bad dream?"

"Normal, I think," Harry said. "I had them in Equestria after Celestia got this," Harry tapped his scar, "out of me. No more Voldemort vision, just regular nightmares."

"Seems a fair trade to me," Ron huffed.

"Yeah, no argument there," Harry replied with a chuckle. "Normal nightmares, gotta love those."

Yeah, normal.

After washing the sweat off, Harry and Ron went down to the great hall. When they walked into the great hall for breakfast, Harry noticed something off about three of the four tables. Normally, seeing two or three students sitting at another house's table wasn't unusual; today was different. All but the Slytherin table were a mix of different houses. Harry still knew which table was for which house, but there were far more people mixing than usual. Harry scanned the tables and spotted Twilight sitting at the Hufflepuff table, of all places. Harry moved closer and noticed several different houses surrounding her. Two of her Ravenclaw friends sat nearby with a Slytherin, one of the girls who followed Sunset around a lot. A little farther down the table were some of the Gryffindor sixth-years. And sitting across from Twilight was Cedric Diggory. Harry quickly told Ron he'd meet up with him in a few minutes before walking to Twilight.

"Morning, Twi," Harry greeted.

"Morning!" Twilight said with plenty of energy. She scooted over to allow Harry some space to sit next to her.

"Morning, Harry," Cedric greeted.

"Morning to you too. How're doing with... you know..." Harry gestured toward Cedric's nearby crutches.

"I'll manage. The stairs are a chore, let me tell ya. I've got a few pals helping me between classes. Ramps aren't much of an option here."

"How's recovery?"

"I'll be off the crutches by the end of the year," Cedric replied.

"That's great!" Harry said, relieved. Harry looked around the great hall. "So, what's with the tables; they're never like this," Harry asked, gesturing around.

"It's all her fault," Cedric said good-naturedly, pointing at Twilight.

"Oh, really?" Harry asked slyly, looking at her. "Is the Princess of Friendship making friends?"

"You make it sound like I magically attract attention," Twilight muttered.

"You might as well," Harry replied, playfully nudging her.

"Okay, it's more like this. I walked in with Tomoko and Yvonne, and we were going to meet up with Becky when I walked past Cedric, Cho was already sitting with him. I stopped to talk to him and told him I was sorry for what happened last year. He didn't want to hear it, everyone else had already said it," Twilight explained.

"But you—"

"Hold on, I'm not finished," Twilight interrupted Harry. "I told him what happened, and I wished I'd been there for you guys sooner. It turned into a full conversation after that. Then Becky and Tomoko came looking for me after a few minutes, and they got dragged into someone starting a conversation with them. Those Gryffindoors down there, Lucy and Thelma were their names, I think, were dragged into a game of chess and a card game. Penelope walked in a few minutes later and joined us. Repeat once or twice, then some of the Hufflepuffs left because the table got crowded. They moved to Gryffindor's table, and some of the Griffindors moved to Ravenclaw, and all three of those houses have been shuffling around. I think I've seen one or two of Penelope's classmates around here, you'll notice how Slytherin is missing a few students."

Twilight pointed over to the Slytherin table who, to Harry's surprise, were missing a small number of students. Harry turned to Twilight with mild surprise on his face.

"How do you do that? If someone's not your friend within the first week, either they're pure evil or it's a matter of time. It took you three days to redeem Sunset Shimmer," Harry said.

"I'm just good at making friends," Twilight said. "I mean, you've gotten better yourself."

"I wouldn't say that—"

"You constantly lent out your original cloudball gear to Cloud Chaser," Twilight said.

"Only because my second set wasn't finished. I sold him that one," Harry retorted.

"At an outrageous discount. And that's to say nothing of your visits to the island," Twilight responded.

Harry paused, thinking. "Are you still mad about the fainting thing? We both know I don't like the spotlight. I go to visit Aurora, Chime, and Buckbeak every now and then, that's all. It's that simple."

"I know, I'm just teasing." Twilight nudged Harry.

His situation was saved when Sunset rushed down the row between the seats, still in her unicorn form. She skidded to a stop in front of them and transformed back into a human. She looked awful, worse than her first night at the castle. Her hair was a frazzled mess, worse than Twilight's worst days. Heavy dark rings hung under her eyes, which were bloodshot. But she looked energized in a deranged way.

"Sunset? What happened to you?" Twilight exclaimed, gesturing at her general appearance. "Have you not been sleeping this week?"

"Just the last 58 hours. I've been too busy reading this book!" Sunset said, pulling out the old tome from her bag. "It's a treasure trove of information!"

"I'm starting to see where you and Twilight are similar," Harry remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Ha ha." Sunset groaned.

"Thanks, I will." Harry stood up. "I promised I'd go sit with Ron, so I'll leave you two to talk about that. I'll see you at Dumbledore's office."

Sunset rolled her eyes as Harry left the two Equestrians to their magic book topic. Harry found himself next to Ron and Hermione back at the Gryffindor table. Ron put his food down and Hermione moved her books as Harry sat down.

"So, any guess what's this about?" Ron said, gesturing at the tables.

"Twilight making friends," Harry answered, shrugging. "Don't ask, I can't tell if it's magical or not, things just happen around her." Harry reached for some eggs and hashbrowns. "In this case, Twilight sat at the Hufflepuff table, which led to this."

"So, what are you two doing today?" Hermione asked.

"Practicing," Ron replied.

"I've got a meeting with Dumbledore," Harry said. Ron and Hermione stared at him.

"Is it about... you-know-what?" Hermione asked.

"Probably," Harry guessed. He pulled his locket out, which pointed lightly toward the headmaster's office. "I hope so, actually. I think he still has that thing in his office. The sooner we kill it, the better."

"Well, good luck," Ron said. Hermione glared at him; Ron glared back. "What? What am I supposed to say to that?"

"Good luck works," Harry said. "We know I need it sometimes."

Twilight was the first to reach the Headmaster's office for their meeting that day. She had been anxiously awaiting to see if Dumbledore had collected anything information about Voldemort all week. They needed this, Harry needed this. If this got her friend a set closer to getting rid of that man, it would be for the better. Harry and Sunset arrived not long after.

"You got everything?" Twilight asked them.

"I brought the book," Sunset answered.

"Amulet and want, present," Harry added. "And on that note, do we tell him about my magic?"

"What about it?" Sunset asked.

"We don't have much choice; he's the most qualified person we know to talk about human magic," Twilight responded.

"Excuse me," Sunset spoke more forcefully, "What are you two talking about?"

"I'll explain inside," Twilight responded. She should explain this only once.

She approached the gargoyle statue, which politely moved when given the password (gumdrops). The three of them entered the door to Dumbledore's office. The old man sat in his chair, reviewing several items before him. Twilight recognized some of the books, but there were also a few vials of silvery liquids and what looked like large fangs. The old man smiled as the three approached his desk.

"Ah, good to see you got past the gargoyle," Dumbledore said. "It's been awfully fickle this year."

"Well, good morning to you, too," Sunset said dryly.

"So, now that we're all here, we should begin, no?" Dumbledore's smile faded, with a more tired expression. "Harry, I can guess you know what this is about, so I'll be direct with you. We're here to hunt and destroy any Horcruxes I can find."

"So you can kill them?" Harry asked.

"We're still struggling with that," Twilight said. "The locket has some strong protections, it won't be easy to open. We thought parseltongue could open it, which is why we brought you in. If you can open it, we might be able to destroy it."

"Still, our options are quite limited," Dumbledore said. "However, before we get into those details, there is something very important I'd like you three to see. It arrived just this morning."

Dumbledore stood up and walked to one of the many cupboards. From it, he pulled a rolled-up piece of paper and laid it on the table. Twilight's eyes focused on the familiar red ribbon and golden seal. The letter was straight from Canterlot, from Celestia herself. Twilight's heart fluttered in her chest. She got our letter! Twilight grabbed the letter and eagerly ripped off the ribbon. Twilight opened the letter and read the message.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I've received your letter from Harry's Earth. However, there was a delay in its arrival that may be connected to why you can't leave. I don't know how long it will take for you to get this letter, but rest assured I'm working to get you back. I've taken your mirror and the one in the Crystal Empire for study.

From my initial observations, it appears something is blocking the passageway between our worlds. And it seems to have originated on your side of the portal. Dark magic has closed off our worlds to all but the most limited of communications. I have a team of some of the finest unicorns in Equestria working on a solution, but it doesn't look easy. We have to be delicate over here to not sever the portal. If you know what could've locked the portal, write to me and see if it can be unlocked. Until then, there's no guarantee I can retrieve you safely.

My only request for you is that you stay safe. You, Harry, and Sunset. And be careful, there's something sinister going on behind the scenes.

—Princess Celestia.

Twilight set the letter down, processing.

"That's it, then; I'm stuck here?" Sunset asked. The girl sat down in her chair, rubbing her temples. "I'm... I'm really stuck here. I was finally doing something good, and now—"

"Celestia's going to bring us home," Twilight said before Sunset could spiral further. She placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder, drawing her attention. "That means you too. If she says she can get us home, I believe her. Sunset, we will get back to Equestria," Twilight promised. "If you want to go back through the mirror after that, you can, but I promise we'll get there."

"At least we know why you couldn't send me back," Sunset said. Sunset sat up straight and swiped a few droplets from her eyes. "Something's blocking us."

"Voldemort," Harry scowled.

Twilight's bracelet shuddered. She turned back to Harry, who was glaring at the locket so fiercely she thought he might've been trying to crush it with his mind alone.

"We can't know for certain," Dumbledore corrected Harry, "but that is a distinct possibility. If anyone had the motive to do that, it would be him. However, your last encounter left him without a body. We can't do anything about that right now."

"We can kill all his Horcruxes," Harry said. "Without them and a body, he's dead, for good."

"So those remain our highest priority," Dumbledore said. "I've been investigating possible locations for Horcruxes. My removal from the ICW and Ministry has proven a blessing in disguise; I have more free time now than I've had in years." Dumbledore placed the silvery vials into a cabinet of similar items. "However, I have no leads to new locations and I do not believe it wise to gather too many at once. HAve you discovered anything?"

"Well... I've got some news..." Harry said reluctantly. Twilight gave his shoulder a reaffirming squeeze. "I discovered my bracelet can absorb other people's magic."

"Absorb magic?" Dumbledore echoed, shocked. "That sounds..."

"Dangerous?" Harry said.

"Powerful," Twilight corrected him.

"And it's under control? No accidents?" Dumbledore asked.

"Just fine," Twilight said. "It only works on people with these bracelets," Twilight held her wrist up, "Which so far only include me, Harry, and Ron. And he can't do it without our permission."

"Ron has one?" Sunset asked. "When did that happen?"

"Yesterday, during tryouts," Harry said. "We were talking, and then mine just popped out a new one, right on his wrist."

Dumbledore was silent for a long moment.

"It cannot take unwillingly?" he asked.

Twilight nodded. Her notes and tests were extensive. She'd tried a variety of ways to create loopholes in her permission which could be misinterpreted, but nothing had worked. It functioned exactly as she imagined. Nothing less than explicit confirmation worked. Harry couldn't take what she didn't offer. No loopholes, technicalities, or tricks worked, to her knowledge. And she could grant or deny it at any point.

Dumbledore nodded back.

"Then, so long as Harry doesn't harm anyone with it, I would like you to continue to train him to keep it under control," Dumbledore said. "Anything else?"

Sunset pulled Merlin's book out and set it on the desk. Twilight watched as Sunset flipped through the pages. Pieces of familiar yet ancient text delicately scrawled on, nothing truly unexpected about the knowledge, but there was certainly more hidden within.

"I can read the words, but the syntax is still thousands of years old. Not to mention, the spells work on totally different magical theories." Sunset flipped through the pages until she reached the back. "I've found a few potent ones, but only one or two that might be of any use against these Horcruxes."

"What does this one do?" Twilight asked, pointing at one of the most scribbled-on pages. The page was faded, but from what Twilight could read, she read something about "non-beings" on the page. More ancient spells, I'm learning more ancient arcane knowledge!

"Merlin's notes for this spell say it creates a weapon to destroy something called a 'non-being', listing a dementor as an example, that doesn't seem important."

"On the contrary; dementors are the guards of Azkaban," Dumbledore said. "However, their loyalty is likely soon to belong to Voldemort. The only known defense is the patronus charm, which can only repel them. Destroying them has been long thought impossible; a weapon could prove useful."

"Yes, well, it's also unfinished, like most spells here," Sunset retorted. "I'm focusing on the parts of the book all about countercurses and blocking dark magic. There's a few spells to dispell dark magic using positive emotions. Star Swirl's citations are nonesense, and Merlin's notes work on unified theory, which nopony's taken seriously in... forever, I guess."

"What is unified theory?" Harry asked.

"I never taught you the history of magical theory?" Twilight asked, equally surprised with Harry and disappointed in herself. How could I have overlooked such a fundamental part of Equestrian magical education?! Well, I guess I need to give him a crash course in it. Twilight quickly summoned a quill and parchment, which wrote down her words as she spoke. "Magical theory is the study of the science of magic, the hows and whys of magic's inner workings. Over the centuries, multiple theories have risen and fallen. Intent theory was an early theory that identified dark magic based on the intent it was cast with. Classical theory created separate branches of magic. Unified theory believed that all dark magic is a corrupted mirror to normal magic."

Twilight handed over the note she'd jotted down to Harry, who looked at them confused.

"And this matters why?" Harry asked again, looking up from the page.

Sunset responded before Twilight could answer. "Because the fundamental idea of unified theory was that dark magic and normal magic are tied together, where dark magic is a corrupted mirror to the other. So if normal magic could be corrupted into dark magic, the reverse should be possible. But as nopony could prove "redemption" was possible, it fell out of circulation. It was an unsuccessful theory."

"Can you work around it?" Twilight asked. Sunset was brilliant, Twilight knew that for certain. If there was one other pony in the world who could work past a spell being flawed from the ground up, it was Sunset.

"I'll be rebuilding the spell from its foundation, it'll take time," replied Sunset. She sat back down in her chair and continued thumbing through the book. Sunset pulled out a second book and started writing in it.

"I would like you to focus on that later; any of those spells could prove invaluable," Dumbledore said. "But right now, we have everything we need to remove one Horcrux right now."

Dumbledore stood up and walked to an odd cabinet on the back wall with drawers of different shapes and sizes. The old wizard raised his wand and muttered a series of incantations, tapping different drawers at seemingly random locations. Dumbledore ended this by rapping his knuckles on the top of the cabinet. Once this was completed, the drawers shifted like an old puzzle box. The drawers slid and rotated until a small hole was uncovered in the center, no larger than a fist. Dumbledore dipped his hand inside in and withdrew a locket on a silver chain.

Twilight's gut clenched at the sight of it. That thing held a piece of Voldemort's soul. Just thinking about that vile creation disturbed her. And worst of all, so long as even one existed, Voldemort wouldn't stop hurting people. And they had no idea how many of these items existed.

Dumbledore dropped the locket on the table as the four of them moved closer.

"This is our second Horcrux, not counting Harry," Dumbledore said. "There are few things that can destroy a Horcrux; our safest solution is to use these basilisk fangs," Dumbledore moved the fangs forward, "and the Sword of Gryffindor." Dumbledore turned and plucked the sword from its case, holding it firmly in his hand. "The locket's outside is impervious to damage, but the inside is vulnerable. Hopefully, Harry," Dumbledore pointed to the boy, "knows how to open it. If he can figure out the words, I can open it so we can destroy it with these." Dumbledore gestured toward the fangs and sword.

"And I don't open it or get a fang because...?" Harry asked.

"Voldemort is vain, but intelligent," Dumbledore said. "There are likely defences inside the locket. If you open it, you will likely be targeted first. We don't know what it will do to you. You are still a—"

"Headmaster, if you're about to say I'm still a child, that's not stopping me," Harry refuted. "Voldemort's obsessed with me, this is my fight, too. And besides," Harry lifted his amulet, "I have this."

Dumbledore's eyes drifted to Harry's amulet. Dumbledore sighed. "That amulet, you showed me it can track Voldemort's Horcruxes and excised his spirit once. But are you certain it can protect you from the Horcruxes?"

Harry pulled the amulet off of his neck, letting it lay on the palm of his hand. The arrow pointed strongly toward the locket, proving the magic still worked. Harry held it and the locket close, and his amulet released a series of pink sparks.

"I think so. It blasted the locket out of my hand at Sirius' house. I did protect me from possession before that, too."

"Harry could be right," Twilight said. "Cadance's magic and Harry's protections have the same source: love. The amulet absorbed and reinforced Harry's protections and removed Voldemort's soul. It should have the same protections. However, that being said," Twilight looked at Harry reluctantly, "I don't like the thought of you being in danger if I can't help it."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. After a long and quiet minute, he finally spoke.

"Sunset, Twilight, have the fangs ready. Harry, command the locket to open."

Sunset and Twilight reach for their basilisk fangs and Dumbeldreo readied his sword and wand. Twilight caught Harry's eyes as he stepped toward the locket.

"Be careful," she whispered to him. Harry merely smiled back. He looked at the locket and opened his mouth. A hiss emerged from his mouth.

Darkness erupted from the locket and engulfed the room.

Dumbledore swung his sword the moment the locket opened. But as the darkness covered the room, Dumbledore only felt his sword bite into his table. He pulled his blade back and looked at the table. The table's location (and the room as a whole) was coated in shadow. Dumbledore glanced around, his sense of direction lost. A grey churning bubble emerged from the shadows of the room, rapidly taking on a familiar form.

"Hello, my old friend..." the form whispered.

"Grindelwald..." Dumbledore said. "A clever illusion, using my memories. Crude protection against weaker minds."

"Don't give yourself too much credit," the Grindelwald illusion chuckled. "You know you underestimate Voldemort as much as he does. You can't win every time. He and I only needed to win once."

"Grindelwald lost, and so will you, Tom," Dumbledore retorted.

"Oh, please, you know what you did. You sent Grindelwald on his path, and never swayed Voldemort from his. Accident or failure, it mattered not. You never had the stomach to do what was needed, until it was too late, of course. It's always easier then you've wasted your chances."

"Speak plainly."

"You knew Harry was a Horcrux, you've been pondering it this past year. But did you ever plan to tell him until it was too late?"

"Too late for what?" Dumbledore demanded.

"Tell me, does Harry know? Did you tell him of what you pondered during that summer?"

"Enough of these riddles, Tom; tell me the truth," Dumbledore ordered. "What have I not told Harry?"

"That you would have him killed?"

Sunset conjured a flame when the darkness erupted from the locket. Yet her brightest and hottest fire didn't deter the dark magic. The room vanished from all of her sight immediately. There was no light, no sound, nothing. Panicked, Sunset drove her fang down where the locket should've been but met nothing. Sunset tumbled down, nearly landing face-first on the ground. Blinded and on all fours, Sunset grasped blindly about, hoping for a leg, a table, anything to figure out what was happening.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Sunset Shimmer, on her knees once more?" A voice chuckled behind her.

Sunset swiftly spun around. An opaque, smokey illusion of Sunset stood with her hands on her hips and a sinister smirk on her lips. But the illusion was nothing like Sunset; for one, she was a demon. Fanged maw, pointed ears, bat-like wings, claws, and the like. And atop her head was the Element of Magic holding back her wild hair. This was a Sunset she'd long put behind her.

"Oh, but I'm not really behind you, am I?" the other Sunset mocked. "I mean, it's nice to think, but there's a little more of us here than you think, right?"

"Now, I'm nothing like you— me— us?" Sunset stood up, facing the thing. "I've put the old Sunset behind me. I'm not some—"

"Approval-seeking megalomaniac?" Sunset's other guessed. "Because that's what we were, right? We wanted Celestia's approval so badly, and then we wanted to show her we weren't some failed student. To prove we weren't a failure right? Well, guess what? You're still that same girl!"

"No!" Sunset shouted back. "I'm trying to do something good now! This has nothing to do with—"

"Not being a disappointment? We used to be such a good liar."

"You're the liar here! You've done nothing but lie!" Sunset shouted at the thing and took a step back.

The demon took another step closer.

"And we never lied to anyone more than we lied to ourselves, right?" Sunset didn't reply to this. That was a truth. "I'm right, aren't I? You stay in that pathetic magicless world because you don't want to disappoint little princess Twily. You're still trying to prove yourself. Now you're trying to prove yourself through that stupid little book.

"But in truth, you're more scared than ever. Scared of failing, of not being enough, of being your true self, me. You're scared of Celestia, the closest thing we ever had to a mother. You're scared of Twilight, who gave you a so-called "second chance." You're scared of Harry, the first person who wasn't some second-hand friend of Twilight's. You're as much of a monster as I; you pretend you've put it behind us. At least I'm honest about the monster I am." The demon swished her hair and chuckled. "And all of this, for what? A few measly girls and one guy who says they like the fake new Sunset?"

"Don't—" Sunset grimaced. "Don't talk about them like that. They deserve so much better than me."

"And there's the first true thing you've said so far."

"I'm not finished," Sunset retorted. This time she took a step toward the demon. "I've done terrible things, and they still want to be near me, still want me to be good, still want to be my friend. And they want to help be get better."

"They want to change you into—"

"Someone better, someone I want to be, someone I couldn't be on my own. The least I can do is put in the effort."

Sunset called a new flame into her hand, one of the counterspells she'd seen in Merlin's notes. Incomplete, but potent; fueled by hopes and thoughts of friendship. The fire shined like a spark of golden sunlight, and for the first time, the shadows recoiled ever so slightly.

"Stop—!"

Sunset reached for the demon's neck, and her body slowly smoldered. The shadows around the two flickered for a moment but stayed everpresent. The demon's eyes turned orange as it smirked.

"No basilisk fang? A pity. We could've won, all on our own."

"I have friends for that, thanks."

Twilight summoned a bubble around herself the moment the darkness was conjured. The doom was coated darker than Luna's night, and everything beyond the bubble was pitch black. Twilight lit a light in the palm of her hand, but the light didn't light up anything in the room. Twilight shuffled to her left, where Harry ought to have been. But the more she moved, the less distance she felt she moved. She should've hit something but now.

"Harry?" Twilight called. "Sunset? Dumbledore? Can you hear me?"

Nothing. It was absolutely silent outside her bubble. Twilight's breathing picked up a little. What's going on!?

"Alright, calm down, Twilight, calm down," she said to herself. "Just take a deep breath," Twilight inhaled, then exhaled, "and think this through.

"This had to be an illusion of some sort. Reality manipulation, like Inspiration Manifestation is highly unlikely. If Voldemort had that kind of magic on hand, he would've won from the get-go. So illusion or mind magic is likely. Those would make decent defenses, but by that point there had to be something lethal, right? How do I get out of this?"

Twilight silently pondered the trap from inside her shield for what felt like forever until, after the briefest moment, she saw something flicker in the corner of her vision. A golden flame that had pierced the darkness for a fraction of a second. Twilight's bracelet shuddered violently. She glanced down at it, thinking what that could mean. Then she realized what it was doing, or trying to do.

"You can use my magic," she said. And just like that, the bracelet went still. It started to glow as her magical aura faded. Her bubble faltered as Harry pulled on more of her magic. The draining sensation was refilled with the reassurance that her friend was alive.

A smokey shape formed out of the darkness. It looked just like Harry, but... wrong.

"You're really that foolish?" the other Harry asked. "To hand off your magic like that? To burden Harry when you could've used your magic?"

"If you're the best this thing can do, he needs it more than me," Twilight told the illusion.

"You'd burden him with the responsibility to clean up someone else's mess? Just like everyone else? Do you think he's going to stay your friend when you keep giving him impossible tasks? He couldn't beat Tirek, couldn't save the Tree, and couldn't beat Voldemort when he had a chance. It's always been you to pick up his slack. Sooner or later, he'd not going to like that, and you're going to keep asking more and more of him.

"Don't you think he'd tired of that? What will he think of you once he learns about Celestia's prophecy? You think he'll stay your friend after all that?"

"If that's what you thinnk, you don't know Harry half as well as I do," Twilight responded. "He doesn't want this, but he's always ready to step up for his friends." Twilight held up her glowing bracelet. "I trust him more than you can make me fear him."

The same golden glow from earlier pierced the veil again. The illusory Harry's neck smoldered abruptly. A yellow hand appeared from the darkness, wrapped around the illusion's neck. Sunset Shimmer squeezed tighter on the thing, and its neck cracked like dry wood. The darkness wavered, and Twilight got her first glimpse at the room.

Through the swirling shadows and darkness, Twilight caught a glimpse of Harry. His body was covered in a glimmering coat of turquoise and magenta, and in his hand was the Sword of Gryffindor.

When the darkness appeared from the Horcrux, Harry's amulet went into overdrive. It glowed, sputtering sparks and lightning, fending off the Horcrux's magic. The illusory darkness wasn't as total as Harry thought it was supposed to be. He could still see parts of the room, such as the table the Horcrux rested on. It was open, revealing the glass interior. Two dark eyes glared out from the locket, fixated on Harry.

"Twilight, Sunset, Dumbledore!" Harry shouted through the darkness. "It's open, kill it!"

But no sword or fang came down on the locket. Harry realized they must've been under the Horcrux's effect, it was up to him. Harry reached to his left and right, hoping to find Twilight or Sunset, but grasped nothing but air. Instead, Harry turned back to the Horcrux. Kill it. Harry unleashed the strongest blast of Equestrian magic he had against the locket. However, the locket coated itself in its own shadow, shielding itself completely.

Harry flung his hand against the shield, attempting to pull it apart by hand if necessary. But neither the locket nor his amulet liked that as his amulet lightly shocked him and the shield seared Harry's hand. Harry pulled himself back, cradling his burned left hand. Kill it. Harry flung another magic bolt against the shield in frustration.

"Come on, you stupid thing!" Harry shouted at his amulet. It was supposed to protect him, right? Then why—?

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a small spark of flame igniting to his right, where Sunset should've been. It pushed against the shade even more, showing her standing defiant against the darkness. Harry felt a weight in his hand. Harry looked to see the Sword of Gryffindor in his hand. Only a true Gryffindor... Harry's hand tightened on the sword's handle. Kill it. He raised the sword and swung it against the barrier. But just like with his magic, the weapon was deflected.

"Not enough?" Harry muttered to himself. He glanced at his bracelet, and what solutions it might offer. Harry tried once again to pull on its magic. His bracelet shuddered, with only a few droplets of what was likely Ron's magic trickling in. Harry pulled harder, hoping that Twilight might permit him to use her alicorn magic. Then, Harry's bracelet glowed brightly, and a sense of power rushed through his body. "Thanks, Twilight."

Harry's left hand opened, unleashing his and Twilight's combined magic. The shadowy shield wavered and withered. Harry lifted the sword and swung it down, screaming. The blade made contact, and the Horcrux shrieked. A small chip was cut into the locket by the sword. The darkness cracked, revealing more and more of the room. But Harry's eyes fixated solely on the Horcrux. Again. Harry swung again, scoring another strike against the locket. Again.

Harry gripped the sword with two hands and pointed the blade down. Kill it. Harry thrust it downward with all his strength. His blade pierced the locket through the table.

The Horcrux let out one final shriek, then exploded.

Twilight watched as Harry plunged the sword downward. The illusions and darkness shattered with the Horcrux.

Then the Horcrux exploded, blasting Harry across the room. Harry let out a spine-chilling howl. One hand clasped around the amulet and the other pressed against his head. He fell to the ground like a stone, curling into a fetal position. Choked gasps escaped his mouth.

"HARRY!" Twilight shouted.

Horcux forgotten, she rushed over to him, fear covering every thought. Harry didn't respond, only occasionally twitching. Sunset knelt next to Harry, a similar expression on her face. Pink and turquoise lightning escaped from the hand holding the amulet.

"We need to get the amulet off!" Twilight said.

Sunset and Twilight pried at Harry's hand, trying to get it off the amulet. Sunset managed to get her hands through Harry's fingers first. Suddenly, Sunset froze up completely, her eyes glowing. Sunset started to twitch, like Harry.

Thinking quickly, Twilight pulled Sunset away from Harry. As soon as her hands left him, her eyes returned to normal.

"Sunset, what happened!?" Twilight demanded.

Sunset shook her head.

"It's the amulet," she said. "It's forcing a vision into his head. Whatever he's seeing, it's putting him in distress. We need to separate them."

"Alright, plan B," Twilight said.

She held a hand out and magically forced Harry's hands open. The amulet floated between them, spinning rapidly. Sunset's hands darted in and removed the object from Harry's neck. As soon as she did, Harry's body relaxed, falling limp. Twilight knelt over Harry, distressed. She pressed a hand to his neck. She could hear her pulse roaring in her ears.

Does he have a pulse? Yes, he does! Oh, Celestia, why didn't I ever learn healing magic? Right, I'm not licensed. Focus, Twilight!

Harry's eyes shot open. His pupils were abnormally dilated, flicking about the room.

"Harry!" cried Twilight. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Harry's lips opened to let out panicked words.

"Azkaban— Voldemort's attacking Azkaban!"

Author's Note

Oh dear, this is both long and overdue. However, there was literally no good place to split this in two, and I owe you guys after how long I waited to publish this. But there's a reason this took so long.

I had to do a significant rewrite. See, originally, I planned for Harry to have "stolen" a copy of Tirek's magic, but I quickly realized that was stupid. Harry would've been so grossly overpowered that I would've had to buff Voldemort similarly, which would've power-crept everyone else so badly that it just got in the way of the story. I also rewrote the purpose of the bracelets last minute as well.

And also the supped-up Horcrux. Why is it so much stronger than in canon? Well, I'm sure someone will explain it soon.