//------------------------------// // Magical Meltdown // Story: Equestria Girls: Magical Meltdown // by PonyUpYourBits //------------------------------// Back at the front of Canterlot High, the human Sunset Shimmer continued to restrain her Equestrian counterpart as the unstable magical energy surrounding them spiraled out of control. By this point they both had completely transformed into unicorns thanks to the nexus pulling them through to Equestria. The human Sunset Shimmer grinned with glee as she could feel the same sensation from earlier. "So this is what it's like to be able to wield magic..." she said. Her horn illuminated a light blue hue as she began to channel magical energy. "All I have to do now is bring this power back with me to my world and..." "Just because you can feel magic doesn't mean you know how to use it!" the Equestrian native rebuffed. She charged up her own horn and aimed at her double. "I'll show you what a real Equestrian unicorn can do!" She fired a bolt of magical energy at point blank range towards the other Sunset Shimmer but the effect was instantly negated. "Wh-what?!" Sunset exclaimed. "Hmph...must be this energy bubble," the human Sunset scoffed. "No matter, once I pull this power through the portal then I'll be able to use it freely in our world!" At that moment the energy nexus began to reverse its effect on the two girls as the dimension of Equestria pushed the unstable magic back through the nexus. The two girls gradually began to transform back into humans again. "Now then..." the human Sunset grinned, beginning to notice her transformation. She once again ignited her horn but this time sent the power down her own body and into her free foreleg. Her foreleg began to change back into a hand and the power she had channeled was collecting in her palm as it transformed back. "Sunset, listen, I know you want to bring this power back to your world but...but...this won't work!" the Sunset Shimmer of Equestria pleaded. "And why not?!" she snarled back. "Because all you're doing is tearing apart reality!" As they argued, the seven girls arrived at the front of the school and saw the chaotic scene. Huge sparks of energy were leaping off the white sphere that contained the dimensional rift and violent winds were being kicked up by the vortex effect seemingly summoned by the column of light piercing the sky. The ominous red cracks continued to fragment the atmosphere the longer the two girls remained in contact. Everyone in the group shielded their faces with their arms once they were close to the sphere. "We can't get near that thing!" Applejack shouted over the squalor. "How are we gonna separate the two Sunsets?!" "Sunset!" Jade Jewel shouted towards her friend. "You have to let go of her!" The human Sunset Shimmer whipped her gaze over to the sound of her name and grimaced at her friends standing outisde the rift. "What is with you?!" she mocked. "Can't you see I'm on the verge of something great?!" "Sunset!" her counterpart said. "The longer we stay on contact, the more reality starts to collapse! Look up!" The human Sunset Shimmer turned her eyes skyward and saw the jagged red cracks that were covering the clouds. "What...what are those?!" "It's this world falling apart!" Rainbow Dash shouted at her. "If you touch your double from a different dimension, all this out-of-control magical energy is going to destroy both worlds!" Sunset remained silent for a moment, pondering the implications of what her actions were having before offering a simple response: "...Whatever." She maintained her grip on her counterpart's arm in spite of the dire warning. "That's it, y'all, enough messin' around!" Applejack rallied her friends. "We gotta stop this and stop it now!" She held out her hand to her friends. Rarity grabbed her hand and then formed a chain with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. They each closed their eyes and focused themselves as light began to pour from their clasped hands. Jade Jewel and Pearlescent looked on in astonishment at the power they were witnessing. The girls' hair grew to a much longer length and small pony ears magically appeared on their heads. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also spouted a pair of wings from their back as a result of the transformation. "Huh...so you five can do this too?" the human Sunset Shimmer said with a snide smirk. "Guess it's no surprise..." A bright rainbow-colored aura surrounded the five girls and they began to levitate. "Sunset Shimmer, let go of our friend!" Applejack ordered. With their combined magical power, a large rainbow-colored beam appeared from above them and raced towards the energy nexus. However, once it got close to the dimensional tear, the beam suddenly curved upwards and began to spiral around the column of light that was being produced by the energy sphere. "What's going on?!" Rainbow Dash said, uncertain of what she was seeing. "I'm...feeling funny!" Pinkie Pie said. "Me...too!" Rarity added, feeling as though she were being drained against her will. The rainbow aura began to slowly dissipate and the girls gradually lowered back to the ground. When their feet touched down, their hair returned to its normal length and the ears and wings vanished. "What happened?" Fluttershy asked. "Why can't we pony up?" "Because that vortex is feeding on magic!" a voice from behind the girls said. They all turned around and saw Twilight Sparkle and Spike running in their direction. As they did, pieces of the atmosphere above broke off at the red cracks, began to fragment, and get sucked into the vortex as well. "Any magic used near it will just be pulled into the disruption! The more magic it consumes the more erratic and unstable it will grow!" "Sunset! You need to let me go!" the Equestrian Sunset Shimmer pleaded. "No!" her counterpart fought back. She pressed the hand she was holding Sunset down with against the statue base even more firmly. "Why are you doing this?!" she asked. "Because...I saw you do it!" the human Sunset Shimmer answered. "I saw what you did to the other students. How you made them your pawns! I want that kind of power! To command the kind of loyalty and respect that you had! No one ever tried to know who I was before I discovered this power but once I have it, it won't matter!" "When I came to this world, I wanted the same thing," the Equestrian Sunset Shimmer tried to reason with her counterpart. "I was full of anger and pride and all I wanted was power too. But it didn't have to be that way...I was shown something better. You don't have to make the same mistake I did to know that!" For the first time, the human Sunset Shimmer had a brief pause amidst the calamity she was causing. She reflected on what brought her to this point. "But I've come this far already..." the human Sunset said, a hint of remorse in her voice. "You can still turn back..." the other Sunset said reassuringly. "It's not too late..." The human Sunset looked at her friends standing outside the rift. "You're the only one who's able to stop this!" Pearlescent shouted. "Just let her go and end it already!" "Yeah, Sunset, we're sorry if we haven't been good friends to you but you don't need to go this far!" Jade Jewel added. Meanwhile, Twilight was on the ground configuring the device she brought from her lab. "You won't be able to separate them using magic," Twilight told her friends. "The only way is to break the magical energy bond itself and the only way that can happen is by closing the disruption." "So what does that do?" Spike asked his owner. "This is a machine I made that will allow me to close a rift," she explained. "It acts as a buffer between two unstable magical entities and forces them apart. But I obviously never tested it because we never had an unstable rift open since Princess Twilight was here." "Well it's now or never!" Pinkie Pie said. "That swirly hole up in the sky is about to eat up this universe!" The vortex was continuing to consume pieces of reality and a strange, nebulous field of energy could be seen beyond the destroyed fragments. "The barrier between our world and Equestria is barely being sustained at this point, we have to close the rift now!" Twilight said, urgently. The human Sunset Shimmer was still caught between her decisions, trying to figure out if she should stop the chaos or take it all the way. "What's the point?" she asked. "You can tell me how you salvaged your reputation but I never had one to begin with!" Tears began to appear in the human Sunset Shimmer's eyes. "So start now!" the Equestrian Sunset Shimmer urged. "I like my way better!" the human Sunset said, rejecting her counterpart's offer. "There's no talking her out of it, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said. "Whatever your solution is it's all we've got!" Twilight turned a dial on the top of the device. "Alright, it's ready!" she called to her friends. They all stood aside and gave Twilight's box a clear shot to the rift. She stood up and pulled out her phone. "Here we go!" The rift was once again transforming the two girls back into unicorns as the energy began to shift back to Equestria. The human Sunset Shimmer looked at Twilight's readying her device. "Like that's gonna help!" she said defiantly. Twilight pushed the large button on her phone's screen. The device sprang to life and a green ball of energy appeared on the tip of the antenna dish. Twilight slid her thumb across the face of her phone and the green energy burst into a wide beam from the antenna. "Wha-?!" the human Sunset Shimmer said, surprised the small box produced such a large quantity of energy. The green beam collided with the energy rift. It began to push through the bubble that shielded the rift from the rest of reality. "It's working!" Twilight shouted as her device began to disrupt the nexus. "It's closing the dimensional tear!" The green beam continued to envelop the merged reality within the rift. "What's...going on?!" the human Sunset Shimmer said. She felt herself slowly being pulled away from her dimensional counterpart. "What is that thing doing?!" For the first time since she was pinned, the Equestrian Sunset Shimmer felt able to free herself from her counterpart's grip. She began to push her double off her with help from the dimensional tear's closing. "Wait! Stop!" the human girl said. "I'm being pulled through!" The Equestrian Sunset began to panic upon realizing what was happening. "Twilight! Shut it off! She's being sucked into the rift!" "I can't!" Twilight said. "It's only going to shut off when the rift is closed!" "...NOOOOOO!!!" she cried, unable to fight the ethereal current pulling her through the dimensional gap. At that moment Twilight's device successfully closed off the rift. The column of energy flew into the vortex it created and the red cracks in the sky vanished. With the rift's closure, a huge repulsion of energy burst forth and triggered a massive shockwave at the epicenter of the rift. A blinding white flash blanketed the area...