Story Outline: My take on the Cutie Re-Mark · 6:46am Aug 17th, 2020
The finale of season 5 always bothered me for a few reasons. First off, this show sucked at redemption arcs. No villain should have a complete face turn in just one episode, and they did it to at least three characters. They tried to backpedal on it with Discord by still having him torment Twilight, but it still wasn't handled as well as it should have been. Secondly, They brought in all of those villains, but it struck me as odd that subtle differences in how the Rainboom was prevented would result in one villain rising to power over another. If you're going to showcase all the villains, why miss the opportunity to have them interact with each other? Besides, considering that several of these villains were initially imprisoned by Celestia and returned to seek revenge in the show proper, it stands to reason that they all would have returned sooner or later anyway. Anyway, here's my take on how that episode should have been written.
Rated E
The episode begins in much the same way as it does in the show proper, with Twilight giving her colloquium and then returning to her castle, where she and Spike are confronted by Starlight Glimmer. They go back in time, Starlight successfully prevents the Sonic Rainboom, Twilight and Spike are sent forward in time with the map. Here's where things would differ.
They appear in the middle of a warzone; various ponies charging, swooping, and firing magic at each other from both sides. In the fracas, Twilight and Spike are separated, and Spike and the map table are captured, with Twilight forced to retreat in the other direction.
Spike and the table are brought up north to the Crystal Empire, where he is presented to none other than King Sombra, who then proceeds to interrogate the dragon. Spike is terrified, but refuses to talk, so Sombra orders him thrown in the dungeon.
Twilight meanwhile finds herself in the land of Discordia, where absolutely nothing makes sense. She begins asking ponies around her what happened, and a passer-by agrees to tell her the history of this version of Equestria, figuring she was among the ponies randomly selected to have their memories wiped during the eighth Tuesday that week.
Without the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash didn't earn her cutie mark that day. Fluttershy didn't discover her talent for caring for animals, and so was brought back to Cloudsdale, and so never moved to her cottage in Ponyville, which meant Rainbow Dash had no reason to go there either, as Fluttershy wasn't there for her to visit. Applejack never left Manehattan, Rarity pushed the rock off the cliff and went home, Pinkie never threw her first party and so never left the rock farm, and Twilight failed her entrance exam and went home. As a result, none of the mane six were in Ponyvill on the Summer Sun Celebration when Nightmare Moon returned. Celestia put up a good fight, but was ultimately bested by her sister and imprisoned in the moon, and so Nightmare Moon took over as ruler and plunged Equestria into eternal night. Initially, she reigned supreme, but as the temperature rapidly began to drop, food became scarce, and ponies began to lose their grip on reality from lack of sunlight, it became increasingly clear that she didn't have as tight a grip on things as she wanted to believe. All of this was enough to free Discord from his stone prison, and nopony came to Nightmare Moon's defense when he dethroned her, and she hadn't been heard from since. Discord declared that Equestria would now be known as Discordia, and proceeded to spread chaos throughout the land and do pretty much whatever he wanted. The one upside was that he ended the eternal night and established a randomized day/night cycle. This went on for some time, until the Crystal Empire returned. Without Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to protect it, King Sombra was easily able to retake the empire and enslave the crystal ponies, after which he began expanding South. Discord could easily have quashed the upstart, but by that time he had grown bored with doing and getting whatever he wanted without resistance, and so when Sombra's forces reached Discordian soil, Discord declared war, stating "if there are rules, then there are fun new ways to bend them into pretzels!", and it had been that way ever since.
Twilight realizes she'll have to find a way into the Crystal Empire to rescue Spike, but she'll need a guide to get there. She asks around, but nopony will give her the time of day (or at least not one that she can comprehend). She literally stumbles into a hole in the ground, inside of which she finds a corridor. The corridor is uniformly lit, with the only shadows being cast by the light fixtures at the bottom of each wall. Upon landing, she breaks down and asks aloud how she'll ever set things right, to which a voice replies that she should be careful of what she says, as the walls literally have ears. She follows the corridor, turning three left corners (which logically should have taken her through the wall), and at the end, in a cell, is Nightmare Moon.
The dark alicorn explains that after losing to Discord, he kept her around for a brief period as his personal court jester, before growing bored with her and locking her away. She then offers Twilight a deal; if Twilight releases her from her cell, Nightmare Moon will guide her to the Crystal Empire. Twilight asks why she should trust anything that Nightmare Moon says, to which she responds that after everything she's experienced, her disastrous reign, her defeat, and her subsequent humiliation and imprisonment at Discord's hands, she would rather have been defeated before she could rise to power than have to live like this any longer. "Besides, I can think of no more satisfying revenge on that chaotic fool than to restore order." Twilight realizes her options are limited, so she reluctantly releases Nightmare Moon, who then immediately pounces on a flock of fruit that is nesting in the rafters and messily devours them, much to Twilight's disgust. "Oh don't give me that look. Why don't you try being deprived of a proper meal for so long and see if your own standards last?"
True to her word, Nightmare Moon does aid Twilight in escaping Discordia and infiltrating the Crystal Empire. Once there, they find Spike, who tells them that Sombra ordered the map table placed in his throne room as a coffee table. Before they can leave, a magic blast barely misses them, and Nightmare Moon turns to miasma and escapes through a vent. The two friends find themselves facing none other than Queen Chrysalis.
Chrysalis reveals that her changelings have infiltrated both armies and she has been playing both sides against the middle, with the intent to overthrow both rulers and assert her own control when they let their guards down, and she's come too far to let some two-bit alicorn and her pet lizard ruin things now. She moves to strike them down, but Spike breathes fire in Chrysalis' face and the two friends beat a hasty retreat, eventually losing her in the armory, where they disguise themselves as soldiers. That night, they overhear that Sombra is planning to make one final push for Discordia the following morning.
During the ensuing battle, the ponies of both sides clash, and Discord and Sombra finally come face to face. As they fence, Discord declares that he hasn't had this much fun in ages. At this moment, Chrysalis makes her move, firing a magic blast at the two combatants and ordering her changelings to attack. There's a beat, and then she turns and is horrified to see her changelings literally pinned to a giant cork board. As she stares flabbergasted, Discord appears beside her and places an arm around her shoulder. He reveals that he's known about her little coup all along, but allowed her to act unhindered because it made things more interesting and he was curious, but now that she's made her move, there's nothing left to anticipate. He moves to snap his fingers, but is startled by a pained cry from Sombra. Turning to see what is happening, Discord then has his magic sucked out of his body, which allows Chrysalis to escape. Tirek stands over the two fallen rulers; their war had allowed him to escape Tartarus and he had bided his time, siphoning magic from fallen ponies during each battle until he had amassed enough power to go after the real prizes. He then advances on the other combatants, who scatter in all directions, their war forgotten, as Tirek drains ponies en masse.
Twilight and Spike take the opportunity to return to the now unguarded Crystal Palace, making their way to the throne room where the map table has been placed. They run toward the map, only for an angry Chrysalis to spit resin at them before they can reach the table, binding them to the floor. She says that her plans have been ruined, so she's going to use the map to travel back in time and ensure her reign, and refuses to let anypony stand in her way. The changeling queen moves to finish them off, only to be tackled to the ground by Nightmare Moon. The Alicorn shouts that she can't hold Chrysalis forever and tells Twilight and Spike to get going, firing a magic blast that dissolves the resin binding them to the floor. The two friends rush to the map, but Chrysalis breaks free of Nightmare Moon's hold and pounces at them; she is inches away when they disappear.
Twilight and Spike return to the past, where they confront Starlight Glimmer and force her to return with them to the future. When they get there, the battle is long over, and all that is left is the dusty wasteland that we see in the episode proper. Thoroughly humbled by how the future has gone so wrong as a result of her actions, Starlight agrees to set things right. They return to the past, the Sonic Rainboom is allowed to happen, and they return to their proper timeline.
Twilight offers Starlight her friendship, but Starlight declines, saying that she has to figure some things out first. She's not their friend yet, but the door is left open for her redemption.
