//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: Conscious Life // by CrossRedstone //------------------------------// "Well, this went south rather quickly." Midnight commented with a grin. "I supposed I shouldn't have expected other me to not to have a panic attack." Midnight pointed out more to herself than anyone else in the room. The real Twilight looked uncomfortable from behind Sunset, both girls standing on the opposite side of the attic. The fiery haired girl had a mixed expression on her face, consisting of fear, anger and confusion. She had both arms outstretched as if she was attempting from Twilight to get any closer to her winged counterpart. "What are you doing here?" Sunset asked through gritted teeth. Midnight couldn't help but chuckle at the hostility she was receiving from the girl. "What?" the former unicorn asked. "What's so funny?" "Oh, nothing." Midnight replied with a small smile. "It's just cute that you think you can protect the other me, without any magical assistance." Twilight shrunk back even further, while Sunset tensed up and even let out a small puff through her nose. It was as if she was trying to imitate a horse snorting through its nostrils. From the looks of things, the girl still had some leftover pony behaviors, even after being a human for so long. "But don't worry." Midnight went on, crossing her arms. A confident smile was now present on her face. "If I wanted to do something to her, I would have already done so." "Is that so?" Sunset asked rhetorically. "Then what do you want?" "Hmm..." Midnight put a finger under her chin. "Now that you mention it, I haven't really thought about it. I mean, Twilight over here just brought me into existence without any warning. Did she even tell you what happened last night?" Sunset quickly glanced back at Twilight, who was still cowering behind her. The Equestrian gave her newest friend a reassuring smile, before returning her gaze to Midnight, who was still hovering in mid-air. "I know exactly what is going on. I just find it hard to believe that all of the sudden you're not after our magic and had a change of heart from one day to another." Midnight chuckled after the last word left Sunset's mouth. "You mean like you had a change of heart from one day to another?" Midnight asked, a hint of mockery entering her voice. "Or have you already forgotten about that?" Behind Sunset, Twilight visibly flinched at the sheer mentioning of the incident that brought magic into the human world in the first place. She could only imagine how angry Sunset was on the inside, because of what Midnight said. "How do you know about that?" the former unicorn asked, her voice barely suppressing her anger. For a moment Midnight could have sworn she saw Sunset's hair turning into fire. "It looks like you're not as aware of the situation as you believe you are." "As I told you already, I am well aware of the situation," Sunset replied immediately. "Then I shouldn't have to tell you, that up until a few hours ago, I have been a part of Twilight." Midnight approached the two other girls until she was only an arm's length away from Sunset. Twilight actually ducked, expecting her counterpart to lash out in some way. The Equestrian had her arm raised halfway, also expecting some kind of attack, which never came. "I was there when you told her about your own incident, I was there when had her first sleepover with you and the other girls. I know everything she knows and vice versa. The two of us are one and the same person, with just one difference." The winged girl explained. "And that difference is?" Sunset asked, feeling more than a little nervous with the dark angel right in front of her. But she stood her ground, if not for herself, then for Twilight. "Simple." Midnight grinned, her horn glowing just a bit brighter than usual. A second later, Sunset could hear the familiar sound of an object being summoned out of thin air. Another second later Sunset could feel something light being placed on her head. Given how tense she was, it should have surprised no one, when she jumped to the side, perfectly exposing Twilight to Midnight. However, none was paying attention to the other, as they were distracted by something yellow hitting the wooden ground. Sunset too turned her attention towards the object that fell from her head. Twilight let out an incomprehensible sound when she recognized the object. It was a badly shaped plastic crown in yellow color and some plastic color "gems" attached to it. Twilight had made that crown when she had been four years old. Her cheeks turned red in shame. "I prefer to tackle things head on." Twilights "dark" counterpart explained. "Ngh..." Sunset's nervousness only increased, after she just witnessed a life demonstration of Midnight using magic. It reminded her of the kind of disadvantage she was in right now. She wasn't entirely without magic, but the former unicorn doubted that her ability to look into someone else's memory would help her in any way if it came to a fight. She needed the help of the rest of her friends, in order to deal with Midnight. "U-umm..." For the first time since they arrived at the attic, Twilight tried to speak up. Emphasize on tried, because she just didn't know what she could say in order to defuse the situation. And from the looks of things, Sunset wouldn't let her, as the yellow girl once again positioned herself in front of Twilight. "Hmph, look at you. The knight in shining armor trying to protect the princess. Only there is nothing you need to protect her from. I won't do anything to you or anyone else. And to prove that to you, I will even let you call the rest of your friends over here. How does that sound?" "It sounds like a trap." the Equestrian spat back. "You probably only want us all in one place, so you can steal our magic once again." "If I wanted to have your magic, I would have stolen it from you the moment you stepped into this house." Midnight pointed out. "Why would I want for the rest to arrive, where the risk is higher that you'll stop me?" Before Sunset could give an answer, she was stopped by Twilight, who had taken the other girl's wrist. "Twilight?" "Sunset..." Twilight took in a deep breath. "Look, I...I know this is...complicated. But... I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt." Twilight's voice became weaker with each syllable passing her lips until she could give Fluttershy a run for her money for being the meekest girl in the world. The glasses wearing teenager looked to the ground as if she was ashamed of what she had just stated. Sunset for her part gave Twilight a hard look, before looking back over to Midnight, who was eyeing Twilight curiously. Sunset considered the current situation and the circumstances surrounding it. She wasn't happy with it, not by a long shot. But she could definitely say that everything about this current predicament was out of the norm, even for the standards she had gotten used to by now. "Fine." "Huh?" Midnight looked over to Sunset, taken a little by surprise. Did she just hear that right? "But I'll be keeping an eye on you." "You would be pretty stupid not to do so." Was Midnight's reply. "Still, are you really sure about this?" the Angel asked with a teasing grin. "I don't trust you." Sunset clarified. She then looked back to Twilight, who was still looking to the ground. "But I trust my friend." About five minutes later, Midnight, Twilight and Sunset were all seated inside Twilight's room. Her parents, indeed her entire family was unaware of the current situation, as none of them dare to leave the living room at the moment. Sunset could only guess the amount of stress they were going through. She herself had just finished making the last call to her friends, asking them to come to Twilight's place as soon as possible. She didn't tell them the exact details, not wanting them to panic, just telling them that it was important and had to do with magic. So now she found herself waiting, sitting on Twilight's chair, while Midnight and Twilight had both placed themselves on Twilight's bed. Sunset wasn't happy with the two being so close to each other, in fact, all of her instincts screamed at her to lash out against Midnight and subdue her somehow. Luckily she had always been more of a thinker than anything else and as such could make a rational decision even in a situation as tense as this one. Gathering information for example. She had asked the two Sparkles to explain their situation in greater detail. Twilight was, of course, hesitant to tell Sunset about the nightmares she had in the past. The former unicorn mentally kicked herself for not seeing the obvious for so long. After a trauma like the one Twilight went through she should have been more supportive towards her friend. After the story ended, Sunset took out her own necklace and stared at it. She revised every single thing she learned during her time at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but couldn't come up with any kind of theory about the current situation. Creating a living being out of magic was nothing new. The transformation spell was one of the things every unicorn who had gone to Celestia's school should be capable of pulling off. Sunset herself had created multiple cats out of plates during one of her tests. But that was transforming a thing into something else. Midnight for a lack of better phrasing had consisted of nothing more than emotions for the longest. She hadn't even been her own being until Twilight overloaded herself with the stolen magic. And that was what made the situation so hard to understand. If not handled correctly, magic could do literally anything, as long as enough power was put into the spell. What made it even worse was that the Elements of Harmony had been involved. Even Celestia barely knew anything about the artifacts and their magic and she had been one of the original wielders. There was probably not a single tome in Equestria that could help Sunset out. In other words, she would have to start from scratch, if she wanted to solve this puzzle. "Sunset?" "Huh?" The former unicorn blinked a couple of times, in order to orientate herself. "Sorry." Twilight apologized. "It just looked like...you spaced out." "Oh...that. Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been thinking about... all of this." The yellow girl made a gesture around the room with her right hand. "Already looking for a way to get rid of me?" Midnight asked with a smirk while flexing her wings. Sunset gave her the stink eye. "I'm actually trying to figure out whether you are a living being or some form of projection." "Projection?" Midnight echoed, curiosity dripping from her voice. "In what way?" Sunset debated with herself, whether she should even talk with Midnight or not. It took her only a couple of seconds to come to a decision. "I'm just wondering whether Twilight not accidentally projected you into this world like a hologram or not. Better yet, think of it as if you are just an illusion." "An illusion?" Midnight went with her hand over her own wing. "I feel pretty much real to me." Sunset got up from her chair and carefully approached Midnight, always keeping one eye on that horn of hers. Twilight watched the interaction from her position, pressing a pillow against her stomach in order to cope with the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. Her yellow skinned friend in the meantime stretched out one arm and carefully moved the hand closer and closer to Midnight until it touched her outfit. The former unicorn stroked over the fabric for no more than three seconds, before pulling back. "Feels real alright..." The rest of the sentence was incomprehensible to the two Sparkles, as Sunset appeared to be busy talking to herself. "You know" Midnight talked directly to Twilight "the way she is now, she reminds me of us when we're absorbed in one of our projects." Twilight looked from Midnight over to Sunset, who was busy taking notes on a piece of paper lying on her desk. "She could have been our best friend." Midnight stated as a matter factly. "Makes me wonder where the Sunset of our world currently is."