Twilight found herself in a familiar hallway. White marble floors covered in velvet carpets, gorgeous, stained windows letting colored light in. She was in Canterlot Castle. She had walked these halls enough in her youth, even if she never fully lived here.
This dream felt different, somehow. Twilight knew she was in a dream-she had done this rodeo enough times. It could have been the setting-her previous dreams had all taken place in the Crystal Empire, while this was in Canterlot.
Twilight heard small, familiar footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Spike frantically running, at least as much as his little legs could take him. There was an expression on his face, one of fear and dread.
Spike ran straight past her, eyes bouncing from door to door. He was looking for something, and Twilight had a suspicion of what it was. Sure enough, he stopped at the door and would have slammed it open if not for his small stature. Inside were the others, those she once called friends.
They had been preparing for the wedding, and Twilight could see the tiredness in their eyes. She shook her head-old habits were hard to stop. The girls had stopped their actions, staring at Spike.
“I can’t find Twilight!” he all but yelled. At his words, the girls relaxed when they should have been panicking. But Twilight knew what was happening, what had happened.
“She’s probably just hiding in some dark corner, muzzle in a book.” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight wanted to yell at her, but it wouldn’t do anything. She couldn’t change the past.
“I already checked the library, the ninth guest room, and the closet on the seventh floor!” Spike said, fear evident in his voice.
“Ah reckon that she just wants to be alone.” Applejack said, and she couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“Spike, dear. Twilight is a grown Unicorn who can handle herself. She was the only one of us who resisted Discord, so I’m certain she can handle whatever this is.” Rarity had never been more wrong.
“She must have been under a lot of stress, you know? She’s always out there, helping ponies left and right. She must have thought she was helping her brother, but she just got things mixed up. She would never go out of her way to harm another pony.” In Rainbow Dash’s words, Twilight felt her emotions conflict with each other. On one hoof, she wanted to hate them for abandoning her. On the other hand, she wanted to cry.
It must have become clear to Spike that he wasn’t going to get any assistance here. “What if you’re wrong? What if she does need our help, right now?” Twilight could see tears in his eyes as he said those words. He left before they could say anything else, running into the hall and furiously wiping tears away. As Twilight started to follow him, she heard Rainbow Dash say something.
“Then I’d never forgive myself.”
Twilight awoke to gentle shaking, small claws bringing her to life. She blinked and noted that the train car had stopped. Beyond the windows was nothing but howling winds and snow, which already caused Twilight to feel cold.
She looked around and saw that the other ponies were putting on heavier equipment, so that they would be able to get through the fierce snowfall. She saw that Spike was already wearing his coats, with gloves covering his hands. He had gotten a much larger coat out, one fashioned for a Pony and not a baby dragon.
Twilight took the coat in her hoofs, looking it up and down. It was a dark brown, thick and heavy. On its flank was a pink six-pointed star, the same one that was in her cutie mark, and in her crown. With some effort she pulled the coat over her so that it fully covered her, blanketing her in warmth. Once she finished putting it on, she saw Spike staring at her in confusion. He saw her return his look, and he spoke.
“Twilight, why didn’t you use your magic?” Twilight blanked. She hadn’t used her magic, had she? In fact, she couldn’t recall using magic since…since before the wedding. Looking at Spike, she realized she needed to come up with an answer quickly.
“It’s this horn. I don’t know how it will affect the magic, so I need to test it in a safer environment.” The best lies were the ones born out of truths. She didn't know how the horn would affect her magic, nor did she want to try. Spike, lovely Spike, accepted this without question.
Now that she was ready, or at least thought she was, Twilight moved down the train car and into the freezing outdoors. As soon as she placed a hoof into the snow, she knew she had made a mistake. It was freezing. Every Step was a struggle, and Twilight could feel shivers wrack her body.
Ahead of her, she could see the others pushing forwards. Most of the girls were trudging through the snow, but Pinkie was being her usual self and carelessly bouncing up and down. It was as if the weather didn't affect her at all.
Twilight tried to follow; she really did. But after about ten or so minutes, she couldn’t continue. It was too damned cold. She collapsed into the snow, sending out plumes of white. After everything she had been through, she was going to die in a snowy field.
As she laid there, freezing over, a shape moved over her and blocked the snowfall. It was a blue pony with bright, rainbow hair.
“Come on, Twilight.” She said while trying to pull her to her hoofs. “You can’t take a rest now. We got a world to save.” Twilight couldn’t say anything, she was too cold. Rainbow noticed and put a wing to her head. “Sweet Celestia! You're freezing!” She yelled. Twilight could barely hear her-the cold was too overpowering.
Her vision was suddenly covered by something large, and more importantly, warm. It wrapped around, giving her an additional blanket of heat and protection. It was enough for her to begin to function, enough for her to hear what was going on.
“Spike!” The Element of Loyalty yelled. “Use your fire to heat her up!” At the command, even more heat wrapped around Twilight, her number one assistant trying his best to keep her warm. It worked, and she was slowly brought back to life.
Slowly, but surely, she got to her hoofs with the help of Rainbow Dash and Spike. Now that she wasn’t freezing, she realized what the blue Pegasus had done. She ripped her own coat off to give to Twilight, leaving her in light protective gear. Twilight looked at her in a mild bit of shock, to which Rainbow Dash returned one of her signature sly smirks.
“I couldn't just let you become a popsicle, now, could I?” Rainbow Dash said, but Twilight could see her shiver slightly. “Besides, this weather’s nothing. You should see how it gets up in the sky in the middle of winter.”
Quietly, Twilight spoke. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” The Element of Loyalty must have heard her but didn’t say anything. Instead, the Pegasus looked away. At the last second, their eyes made contact with each other, and Twilight saw something in Rainbow’s eyes. Shame.
Without speaking, they pushed through the snow and towards the group. During the short walk, her mind was briefly able to zone out and focus on other things. The main topic plaguing her thoughts was, why had it been so cold? As she racked her mind for thoughts, she felt a sharp tooth scratch her lip. It was then she realized what may have happened. Changelings had a lot of bug-like features, and if she was part changeling, then some of her physiology would be like that of a bug. And bugs notoriously did not perform well in the cold.
When they caught up to the rest of the Elements, Twilight saw that they were not alone. In front of the girls and baby dragon was a second group of ponies. At the head of the group were two very familiar figures. Both had large coats on, but they were unmistakable. In front of her was none other than Shining Armor and Cadance.
Shining Armor looked to be in rough shape, his mane tattered and torn. Exhaustion dripped from his brow, but his eyes told a different story. He had been made Captain of the Guard for a reason, and it showed. His eyes were alert and moving, searching every inch in front of them.
Behind him was a platoon of Royal Guards, all three types of ponies in the group. They were wearing their armor over their own large coats, and they all had their weapons at the ready. When their eyes landed on Twilight, she saw more than a few looks of surprise and alarm. They didn’t do anything, but Twilight shrank back into her coats by a few inches.
Cadence, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of Shining Armor. Outwardly, she looked fine. Her mane was immaculate, despite the windy weather. But her eyes were tired, no, exhausted. There was something else strange going on with her as well. It wasn’t like it had been during the wedding, but there was an obvious lack of changeling features on the Alicorn. Unlike Twilight, the Princess of Love had no remaining deformities.
As Twilight inspected Cadance, images and memories flashed in her mind. An abomination, laughing and smiling. What once was someone she loved, now a monster wearing the same shape. She shook her head, banishing the thoughts. Cadence had been cured and was now free of their-the queen’s influence.
Twilight met her old foal sitter’s eyes and was surprised by what she found there. Pain. Cadance’s eyes were full of pain, shame, and regret. The pink Alicorn’s eyes flicked up to her twisted horn, then to the fangs protruding from her mouth, and finally back to her predator-like eyes.
Twilight, I’m-I’m so, so sorry.
Twilight blinked, breaking eye contact with Cadance. The two groups had now moved close enough to speak. Before anypony could say anything, Shining Armor moved. He closed the distance between the two of them in seconds. Twilight took a step back in surprise, but Shining Armor didn’t do anything aggressive. Instead, her brother grabbed her in a tight embrace.
“Twily, I’m sorry. About the wedding, about Chrysalis, about Cadance, about-” Twilight raised a hoof and cut off her brother’s rambling. Despite all that had been said, and how the wedding had actually gone, Twilight didn’t blame her brother. He had been under the Queen’s spell, and from personal experience she knew how it felt. Wonde-She slammed a mental fist into that train of thought, crushing it.
“Shiny, there’s nothing to apologize about. You were under her control; you couldn’t control yourself.” A realization came to her. “You were blinded by your love for Cadance, and my-she weaponized that. Shiny, you’re still my brother. You’ll always be.”
It was a beautiful moment, a lovely moment. It was heartwarming and worked to repair the bridges that had been unwillingly burned. Yet nothing lasts forever, and they seemed especially cursed.
Laughter. Dark, Maniacal Laughter could be heard echoing all around them. She recognized it instantly. Sombra was here.
Things happened very quickly after that. Shining armor let go of her and drew a sword with his magic, energy crackling around the hilt. The Guards all did the same, drawing weapons and readying shields. Cadance’s actions were the grandest, though.
Sometimes it's hard to remember what exactly an Alicorn is. They aren’t just super powerful Unicorns. No, they are an extremely powerful allegation of the three pony races. Cadance, using a mix of both her unicorn and Pegasus abilities, let a magic burst. Blue magic surged outwards in an instant, before vanishing just as quickly. The spell had accomplished its purpose- the weather around them had been pushed away.
They were surrounded by a dome of peace, besides the maniacal laughter. Cadance had effectively banished the wind around them. While this let them see the area around them, it also let them see their foe.
Growing out the ground were dark crystals, each oozing black smoke. The smoke seemed to collect in the air, forming a shape-a unicorn. It was only his head and upper body, but Twilight recognized him, nonetheless. King Sombra, King of the Dark.
“Ponies.” He said, his voice deep and powerful. “Kneel, or face Sombra.”
“GO!” Shining Armor roared, already in motion. “We’ll buy you time, but you have to go!” At his words, Twilight, the girls, Spike, and Cadance fled.
“You…you are soldiers of her-the blazing sun. DEATH IS A FATE TOO GOOD FOR YOU!” Sombra roared behind them. As they fled, they could hear the sounds of battle behind them, the Royal Guards buying time for the Heroes of Equestria.