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Once Upon a Nightmare...305 words
Fluttershy1,011 words
Rainbow Dash457 words
Pinkie Pie643 words
Applejack1,082 words
Rarity681 words
Twilight Sparkle994 words
...Waking Happily Ever After564 words

Twilight Sparkle

There was darkness, a void, around Twilight Sparkle when the snake's bite faded from her neck. Standing before her was Belial, his shape visible by the burning in his eyes.

“I'd like to tell you a story.” He intoned before she could say anything. “About someone very much like you.” He closed his eyes as though in remembrance. “There was a young man I knew a million worlds ago. He brought a message of peace in a time of war. And, of course, I couldn't have that, could I? War's my bread and butter, which is why I'm considering hanging out in Equestria a while longer even if I lose. You've got a hell of a war on the way.” She savored the shocked look on her face. “I took the lad to a high mountain and offered him all the treasures and kingdoms of his world. All he had to do was stop. And do you know what he said?”

“What?”

“He told me no. And then he died. Horribly. And yet most people of that world still revere his teachings. But even more numerous are the people that perverted his message to become one of intolerance and war.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“To prove to you that even in defeat, I won. That's what I do. I win, even when folks think I've lost. A lawyer is clever enough to outsmart me? I get his soul in the end. A country bumpkin bests me at a fiddling contest? Eventually, the sin of pride delivers the golden prize back to me... with the bumpkin's soul as an added bonus.” He allowed himself a slight chuckle before peering into Twilight's eyes. “Each of your friends has passed their tests.”

Twilight smiled. “I knew they would.”

“...so now we enter the temptation part of this little experiment.”

“Huh?”

A blinding light flooded the ambient abyss so that the two ponies were standing in a field of white. For the first time, Belial's emaciated yet strangely powerful form was revealed to the alicorn princess. “When I come to a world, all of it's knowledge becomes known to me. And I know that this world has long awaited your arrival... the Twilight of the Gods.”

Twilight felt an icy dagger in her heart at the phrase that she had never heard before. “Why... why would you call me that?”

“I'll do you one better; I'll give you the chance to never be called that.” He stamped a hoof and all of Equestria was spread beneath them. The illusion was so powerful that Twilight had to resist the urge to spread her wings to keep herself afloat. “Look upon this world, at it's beauty and it's majesty. It could all be yours. I will place you on the throne of Equestria for all time.”

Twilight gaped at him. “Why would I want that?”

“Because on the throne you would be able to avert the war to come.”

Twilight screamed as the Equestria beneath her hooves burst into flames. “Stop! Stop doing this!”

Belial waved a hoof and the vision disappeared. “I'm not the one who will set Equestria to burn. I would never do something so gaudy. Besides, you confounded ponies have touched something inside me this night. It's rare for me to find a world so pure that it affects even me.”

“So stop this. Stop this game.”

“But the game is over. All that remains is one final question.”

Twilight looked deep into the eyes of the King of Lies and saw the burning, tormented souls of a hundred million worlds. “Ask it.”

“Will you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, sit on the throne of Equestria and save it from the horrors to come...”

“I...” She started.

“...if the only thing standing in your way is the death of she who sits on the throne now?” Belial finished.

Twilight's mouth snapped shut and she stared in horror at the cosmic being. “What?”

“Will you end the life of Princess Celestia, take her place on the throne, and guide Equestria to a better tomorrow? It's a simple question.”

“I... I don't...”

“You were all ready to say yes just a moment ago. All you have to do to save the lives of millions of ponies is end the life of one.”

Twilight's legs gave out and she slumped to the nonexistant floor. “You can't ask me that.”

Belial shrugged. “I just did.”

Twilight sighed, steeled herself, stood... and shook her head. “I can't.”

Belial lowered his head. “...I'm impressed, Twilight Sparkle. You, and your friends, have impressed me tonight. But I must ask; why? Why condemn all the world in the name of one?”

“Because there's always the chance that we can stop it.” One by one, hazy images of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity appeared by her side. “Princess Celestia brought us together to protect Equestria.” The images solidified as the dream forms of the Bearers of Harmony stared down the King of Lies. Twilight's magic pulled the limp serpant from her neck and cast it at him where it landed about his thin shoulders. “We beat you, and I believe there's a chance we can beat whatever's coming, so long as we have each other.”

Belial stroked the now sickly looking Sin's head and offered the ponies a smile. “I will not forget this lesson, Twilight Sparkle. This lesson about faith of all things.” He winked. “I will pay you back for this.”

“Just leave.”

The other girls voiced their agreement.

“Just remember what I told you, Twilight. Even when I lose...” He stamped his hoof. The light of the room flooded their very beings. His last words echoed in their skulls just before all the night's events vanished.

“...I win.”

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