“Twilight!...Twilight!...Twilight!” Belief called for her friend at the top of her lungs. There was no response. They were both lost in the disaster surrounding them. Belief could not begin to imagine what the weather was like for the real Ponyville: swallowed into the stomach of an inevitable apocalypse; engulfed in discord, disharmony, destruction, and being sent down a tunnel of blazing fire.
Time was short. Belief continued to scamper the streets of Ponyville, crying out for Twilight, wherever she was to be found. She was nowhere to be seen, refusing to respond to Belief’s countless calls. When Belief found her in the library, it was clear to her why Twilight was so silent: she was not able to talk. She was preoccupied. She wore the crown she used to defeat Discord and Nightmare Moon.
“If Belief is right, everything will go back to normal,” she said to herself. She closed her eyes and recited the magical words aloud, “Loyalty! Honesty! Laughter! Kindness! Generosity! Magic!” Her eyes illuminated, her body being picked up off the ground and suspended in the air. A huge wave of light exploded around her, the light in her eyes fading, Twilight collapsing to the ground in a heap. The crown fell off her head and broke into two pieces, the star’s brightness receding.
“Twilight!” Belief exclaimed, approaching her. “Are you alright?”
Twilight shook her head. “No...I’m not. The Elements of Harmony did nothing, Belief! I’m powerless!”
“Because you were alone, Twilight. All you used was the Element of Magic. You need all six Elements in order for them to work. You need your friends, and more importantly, you need to believe in them!”
The second half of the library was ripped from the first half, exposing the ponies to the intense, storming weather outside. The debris of the storm all went flying into a tornado approaching Ponyville. The tornado acted as a black hole: once something entered, nothing came out. The end of the world was near.
“Believe in them, Twilight Sparkle! Know that this is not your fate – this is not reality!”
Twilight fell silent. She seated herself on the ground and hid her head in her hooves. “It can’t end this way…” she whispered, “…there’s got to be another life I have to live…” Just then, as tears formed in the corners of her eyes, a spark pulsated inside her. It was all clear to her now.
Twilight got a feeling in the pit of her stomach. She began to feel the emotions she had not felt for the longest time: loneliness, misery, and misunderstanding. She began to cry.
“I miss them!” she cried, weeping on the ground.
Belief took her hoof to Twilight and lifted her chin up.
“I want to see them again!” she continued, “I want to hear their voices and laugh with them again! What has happened to me? How did I ever live without my friends? Why did I ever leave?”
There was a moment of silence from Belief as she let Twilight continue sobbing.
“That I can’t explain,” she said softly, in attempt to ease Twilight’s pain, which so far was not going so well. “All I know is that you have appeared here, in this alternate world of a false Equestria, with no memory of your life prior to this newfound world. Though, Twilight Sparkle, you don’t have to stay here in this fictional reality. In fact: you never even left!”
“Wha-?” Twilight began, poking her head up, staring into Belief’s eyes, which had illuminated into a bright white light.
A spherical object which resembled a bubble of plasma glowed around Belief, lightning-bolt-like pulses of light shooting out in all directions, the whole apocalyptic Equestria becoming increasingly brighter until no matter of any kind could be seen but the white light. Then, there was an explosion, which could be heard from all corners of Equestria. Everything seemed to stand still.
The light dimmed. And animation returned to the world. Life began to revive itself. Nopony had realized what had just happened…except one: the Omega Pony: Twilight Sparkle, who was at a large dining table, standing with Applejack and Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
“Ya OK, Twi?” Applejack asked, who was standing on the right of Twilight at her seat at the table, a plate of apple-oriented treats in front of her, such as an apple pie, an apple fritter, and caramel apples.
Twilight blinked. She looked down in front of her, a plate of the highest-quality hay she had ever seen in front of her, a few bites taken out of it. Then she looked up to her friends, all five of them staring right back at her. “Um, girls, this is going to sound weird, but I don’t remember what is happening.”
“We defeated Discord!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, taking a huge bite of cake and swallowing it whole.
“And united together as friends,” Rarity added.
“It was so awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“And now we’re having a feast Princess Celestia prepared for us after our appearance in Canterlot upon our celebration,” Fluttershy whispered.
Princess Celestia entered the room.
“Princess!” Twilight called.
“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, are you alright?” Princess Celestia asked, approaching the pony.
“Yes, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied. “I have a report on the magic of friendship.”
“Really, Twilight? But you have already completed your assignment for today.”
Twilight looked ahead, her five friends staring back at her in smiles. She turned back to the Princess.
“I would like to add something still,” she said.
“Very well, Twilight. What is it you have learned?”
“I learned that no matter what, you should never forget about your friends. The truth is, Princess Celestia, I was stuck in another world: one where I had forgotten about my friends, and I was not freed until I believed in them again. They are the most important things to me, and when I knew that was the truth, I was set free. Because the truth, Princess, will set you free!”
“Did you hear that? We’re important!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“A truly remarkable thought,” Rarity added.
“And what an important lesson in the magic of friendship,” Princess Celestia remarked. “Perhaps the most important of them all.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
Princess Celestia lowered her horn onto Twilight Sparkle, as a unicorn-to-unicorn salute, and quietly left the ponies to themselves.
“Now, wat’s this mumbo-jumbo 'bout an'ther world?” Applejack asked.
Twilight smiled. “Long story,” she said.
That night, as Twilight read a book on her bed before going to bed, she noticed a bright light outside her window, on her balcony. She got out of bed and ran outside to the light, where Belief stood alone.
“Belief?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Belief said.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to congratulate you on your success: you made it back to the real world…and you still remember who I am. That is excellent.”
“I still don’t quite understand,” Twilight mumbled.
“Twilight Sparkle, you were trapped in a world of forgotten memories, one in which only everything important to you was possible. I showed you your memories, and, using your magic, you were able to see for yourself what you were missing. It was only when you realized you missed your friends that you were able to leave that world and return to the real world of Equestria…” Belief seemed to pause her speech.
“Were you going to say something else?” Twilight asked.
“And so…you’ve set me free,” Belief finally said. She turned around to face the moon in the night sky.
“Will I ever see you again?”
“Of course you will, Twilight Sparkle,” Belief began. She turned back around to Twilight and extended her hoof. “I will always be with you…in here.”
Belief returned her attention back to the moon. She stared up into the sky, the moon shimmering in her eyes. There was a bright light, which surrounded Belief completely. When it dimmed at last, Belief was gone, a stream of light flowing endlessly to the heavens of Equestria.
Belief played an important role to Twilight, a role which brought her back to the real world, where she would once again be with her friends, forever to learn about the magic of friendship. Belief may never return to Ponyville. She no longer had to. She knew in her heart that she would only need to return in case Twilight ever had to become the Omega Pony again. She lived within all the ponies of Ponyville and Equestria, being in those who truly believe.