(Castle of Darkness, Midnight's Throne Room)
Meanwhile, out in the Everfree Forest, Midnight was plotting her attack.
Possessing access to Twilight's photographic memory on books, she could remember pretty much any strategy she read about in history books.
Taking a page out of The Second Equestrian Civil War, She would attack Canterlot blitzkrieg-style, overwhelming the Royal Guard with the sheer numbers of her army and her own incredible magical firepower... which was growing each day.
She had also hired a few of the other miscellaneous baddies that have given Equestria a hard time.
Such baddies included the formidable Shadowbolts and their new leader Lightning Dust, a pack of Gryphon Mercenaries led by a Dark construct of Gilda, and even the former army of Yetis that the Storm King once commanded.
Surprisingly, when she was counting the Storm King's army, Tempest Shadow, his general, was nowhere to be found...
Where was she? Well wherever she was, she would be missing out on another chance to conquer Canterlot.
The Castle of Darkness's courtyard was was crowded with soldiers, officers and various other tools of war, she was ready to lay siege to Celestia's beloved city...
And no Hot-headed Alicorn and his aggravating friends are going to get in the way of that!
After all, she sent Stygian to soften up Canterlot's defenses and kill the Guardians of the Sun and Burning Star.
Especially Burning Star, for he was one of the only ponies on par with her in terms of strength in magic.
Midnight Sparkle sat lazily on her throne, she was listening loosely to the officers recite the battle plans. It was her general, a Earth Pony enhanced by her magic to grant him incredible strength.
He read off the scroll in his hooves, "My Queen, here is the plan of attack we have proposed, we rush the gates of the city and blast them down with the magic cannons. Then, we destroy anything and everything in our way to clear a path to the castle, and you can then burst in and kill Celestia and Luna! Is this plan satisfactory, my Queen?"
Midnight Sparkle sighed, "Oh you poor, poor officers. You realize that Celestia and Luna will see that plan coming from a mile away, right? As long as their respective celestial body hangs in the sky, we cannot surprise them. So, I have a different plan..."
Midnight grinned wickedly, and flew into the air, "I will then fly into Canterlot and kill them myself, if I have any trouble, I'll call your army in."
The general snorted, "My queen, with all due respect, that is an extremely reckless idea, you know that these "Guardians of the Sun" and the Alicorn called "Burning Star" are in Canterlot. As you've mentioned before, Burning Star is on par with your own magical prowess, even with the sisters out of action you will still be outnumbered six to one!"
"SILENCE! YOU WILL NOT TALK BACK TO ME! I AM QUEEN-EMPRESS MIDNIGHT SPARKLE AND I WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH!" said Midnight with a roar so loud that could be heard outside, which startled the soldiers, Midnight Sparkle's mane erupted into a blaze of purple and black flames and she grabbed the general with her magic.
She pulled him close and sneered, "I don't care about numbers, General. Six, six hundred, they still will perish at my hooves, even if I have to RIP THE CITY OUT OF THE GROUND AND THROW THEM INTO ORBIT TO SUFFOCATE AND DIE IN SPACE! AAAAAAH!"
She took a deep breath, and relaxed her body, before violently throwing the general into his other officers, knocking them over.
She said in a tired voice, "I... apologize for that, I am exhausted from the day. I've been prepping for this battle for so long. I've been gathering magic power, enhancing my soldiers with Dark Magic, even sparring with a construct of myself..."
The officers went wide eyed, and the general said, "What was that?"
Midnight, now realizing what she just said, broke into a furious blush as she said to herself, "Wow. I just said that, yikes I'm lonely. I should get out more. Maybe this whole battle thing will solve my crippling loneliness. Worth a shot, anyways."
Midnight Sparkle regained the mad smile on her face as she pointed to the door, "Now leave me, I have to find out how Stygian is doing, and I don't need to have you complain about him as well. Go... do practice drills with the army or something, just don't be here!"
Midnight formed two giant constructs of hooves and pushed the officers and general out the door and slammed and locked it tight.
She slumped back onto her throne and created her observation glove again, focusing it on Stygian. "Now then." she said to herself, "Let's see how my little living weapon is doing. I admit, I have my doubts about him actually failing, after all... the Pony of Shadows managed to nearly overpower Starswirl and would have annihilated him and the Pillars if I didn't step in to save his flank, so I expect to see a... complete... and total... victory..."
Her train of thought that was filled with praise came to a screeching halt as she saw something that just made her more angry than before.
The Pony of Shadows was defeated?!
She noticed that a black Alicorn was standing over him, a smirk on his face, he was staring right at the angle where Midnight was viewing from, and he mouthed the words.
"Is the best you can do? Pitiful..."
"WHAT?! He lost?! How?!!"
Midnight blasted the orb to pieces and thrashed about in rage. She had not only been beaten, she lost her partner Stygian, and Burning Star had the balls to rub it in her face!
She was absolutely outraged beyond compare! How did she constantly lose to this arrogant, self-centered, and frustratingly determined pain in the ass?!
A voice piped up from inside her head, the voice of Twilight Sparkle. "Give it Up, Midnight. If you surrender, they can help you, help us... to turn this rage and sorrow into joy and laughter. Doesn't that sound nice at all?"
Midnight screamed inside her head, directing her tantrum towards Twilight's voice. "SHUT UP AND GO AWAY! I don't need your pity..."
The voice died down, and Midnight was once again, alone in her anger.
That anger quickly turned to sorrow as trails of neon blue tears slowly started to run down her dark purple cheeks.
She wailed in her lament, "Why... why did I of all villains up to now, have to get stuck fighting somepony that has not only trained underneath one of the strongest unicorns in Equestria, but he is an Alicorn as well!"
Suddenly, one of the Yetis came into the room, he was colored gray with white tips on his fur, and had bright blue eyes, upon hearing the sobbing from the throne room, he rushed in to see Midnight Sparkle crying. He said in a rough voice, "My Queen, what is the matter? What reduced you to a quivering mess?"
Midnight noticed the large beast and said in a still somber tone, "Oh... it's just a yeti trooper, hello there."
She slouched down so far she slid off her throne and onto the cold stone floor, where she said in a muffled voice, "I'm just depressed because of some cruel joke the universe has played on me. And the worst part is, I don't get why it happens to me of all ponies..."
The Yeti walked over to Midnight and lifted her back into her seat with his massive paws. He cupped her face and said, "The Universe can do that to anybody, my queen. You just have to push through it, out of curiosity, what do you mean by a "cruel joke"? I do not see any humor in your torment."
Midnight Sparkle conjured up an projection of Burning Star, it was a projection of his battle with Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon. She then spoke over the image, "This is who I'm talking about... Burning Star, The Alicorn of Fire. He is one of he most powerful warriors alive right now, trained by the Shadow King Sombra, and Master of the Fire Element. she then asked the gray-furred bear-thing,"By the way, what is your name, soldier?"
The Yeti smirked, "Well, since the elements of harmony defeated the Storm King, his logical choice for the next leader was Tempest Shadow. But, she is gone, and thus the leadership of the Yetis has fallen to me, Bluster. I'm the Storm King's nephew, his son was killed by King Sombra, that is what drove him from the Southern Kingdom all those years ago. We thought Equestria would be defenseless, which it was at first..."
Bluster shuddered, "But when the Elements of Harmony rolled in and struck down our king, rather easily I might say... and Tempest Shadow left us, I was chosen to lead the Yetis that got away from Canterlot back to the South. We were cowards, Midnight. I intend to fix that... by allying myself with you."
The big Yeti pointed at Midnight and said in a authoritative tone, "Now, look at yourself. Your Queen-Empress Midnight Sparkle, the embodiment of Pure Magic itself!" He suddenly slapped her a couple of times, "My god, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! You are supposed to be this all powerful force that will lead us to victory and destroy Celestia, its time for that to happen, not later, NOW."
Midnight shook some sense into herself, and said, "You're right Bluster, I am Midnight Sparkle, I've beaten the Guardians before, I can do it again!
Midnight suddenly leaned over and kissed Bluster full on the lips, she said, "That's for your advice."
She then created a ball of concussive energy and slugged him with it. "And that's for hitting me. Now let's go, I'll show Celestia and Luna just how outmatched against me they really are!"
Midnight opened the doors to the courtyard and began to address the soldiers, "Soldiers of my army! I thank you for taking the task the invasion of Canterlot. I promise you, when this is all over and everything Celestia and Luna hold dear is destroyed, you will be rewarded greatly!"
A cry of joy came from the crowd of ponies, gryphons, and various other races.
Midnight continued, taking flight above the army, "The reign of the Two sisters has ruled over this land for thousands of years! They have denied equality to any species but ponies. Gryphonstone lies in Poverty! the territory of Minos is restricted to any military action! Today, WE take what we were denied for too long, and we take it by FORCE!!!"
"Today, we wipe the princesses Equestria out with our destructive forces and start it over with a clean slate, we will KILL Celestia and Luna, we will DESTROY THE GUARDIANS OF THE SUN, WE WILL CONQUER BOTH WORLDS, AND BEST OF ALL...
The crowd waited in silence as Midnight conjured up something around her, when she finished, she looked like she had merged with a nightmarish being that they hadn't seen in years.
She was clad in armor that was a combination of dark purple and hot pink highlights, she wore a helmet with six black horns, making it seem like she was wearing a crown of spikes. Upon her feathers sat metal knives that looked sharper than any sword in the world, and the wing bones were reinforced with armor as well.
She looked like Nightmare Moon merged with King Sombra!
Midnight Sparkle roared, "I will FINALLY RULE WITH THE POWER I DESERVE! Now, Onward to victory! Go! First Canterlot will die! then the world will follow suit! Frah-HAhaha-Haha-HA!
As the army marched through the Everfree Forest, Midnight flew overhead, staring at Canterlot, which was barely on the horizon.
She said to herself, "Ohohoho, Celestia. You have no idea how much trouble you are in... no idea in the slightest."
"I'm going to enjoy KILLING you and Luna so much..."
With that, Midnight Sparkle flew at such a speed that she appeared to be a beam of dark purple light streaking across the sky, headed straight for Canterlot!
(Canterlot Castle, Dining Hall)
It was the late evening in Canterlot, Celestia had just lowered the sun to the horizon and Luna had just raised the moon to the edge of the horizon, giving a brilliant sunset effect.
Ever since the battle in her city, she had been on high alert. Thankfully, the horrible Pony of Shadows was beaten by the Guardians and Burning Star's Hunters, once again showing real bravery and determination to defy this... Midnight Sparkle.
Celestia and Luna had tried to find out more about this demonic Alicorn outside of Crimson Mane's story, but all they knew was that she was living in their old castle... it was protected by a shield that prevented them from seeing what was going on inside it.
When they had sent a commando unit headed by the recently appointed Commander Flash Sentry, they were sent packing by a Ursa Major made of Plundervines.
They only learned one new thing about this Midnight Sparkle, that she was not messing around at all... summoning Plundervines and creating magic-proof barriers was certainly a testament to her power.
Hell, even beating her incredible task force, the Guardians of the Sun was reason to be afraid of her. From what she heard, her presence when at full power literally bends the fabric of reality, much like how Discord could manipulate it with his Chaos Magic.
Celestia was sitting alone in the dining hall, eating a slice of strawberry cheesecake to try and calm her nerves.
She had Shining Armor and Princess Cadence arrive earlier that day, and they were just as on edge as she was. The last thing she needed was a surprise.
Discord, upon hearing of that reality bending part, had offered to chip in as well, his reason was... oddly funny to say the least.
She thought back to what he said, "Excuse Me?! So some wannabe evil empress is bending the fabric of reality, living in MY forest, and is going to destroy Equestria, including everypony here, including Fluttershy? Not on my watch! No, I'm the only one around here that causes chaos, not this... Midnight Sparkle pony. I'll defend my friends, especially Fluttershy."
Celestia then silently chuckled as she remembered that Discord then put on some sort of superhero suit and flew off like SuperPony from the comics. He was saying something along the line of "I'm Super Discord, the Draconequess of Steel!"
She was starting to feel a little calmer when suddenly the door to the dining hall flew open and Celestia shrieked in fright, she looked and saw that it was the last pony she wanted to talk to...
Burning Star.
He immediately grumbled out, "Oh... you're still here, did I scare you, Sunbutt?"
If Celestia wasn't already white-furred, she would be from that scare. She responded, obvious irritation in he voice, "Well... Good evening to you too, Burning Star."
The Black Alicorn huffed and said, "Well isn't this just great, now I have to go eat my Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream somewhere else." He flew over to the ice box that held the ice cream and took out the entire 2 gallon tub before saying with a sneer, "Let's hope you don't ruin it this time. Princess."
Celestia responded, regaining her regal composure, "Burning Star, please sit down. I'd like to speak with you, and your grumpiness and overall blunt personality isn't helping."
The Black Alicorn fumed for a second, before sighing. "Argh... Fine." He pulled up a chair so he was facing the Princess of the Sun, "So, what do you want to talk about? Oh, how about the fact that despite my sheer power that I demonstrated alongside you during our little scuffle with Tirek, the same being who almost doomed your kingdom... you refuse to give me the respect I deserve."
Celestia sighed, she had heard that Noble was making progress with cracking Burning Star's emotional shell, but she however, had no such luck. Burning Star's animosity to the crown and poltics in general was intense, she had seen some of his interactions with the Royal Guards, even the other lords that tried to talk to him he snarled and growled at.
She tried to lighten the mood by poking fun at him, "Must you always be so aggravating and stubborn? I'm trying to have a conversation with you, Lord Burning Star."
She couldn't believe that she had to call him Lord because he is Royalty of Equestria on his world.
Apparently he was a descendant of King Da'irko, the first king of this land before Luna and her took power. Da'irko died by the hooves of his son, the pony that would eventually be known as King Sombra.
Celestia started talking, "Yes, I would like to thank you for that, in fact... what I wanted to ask you was about your reaction before the battle." She put her soft white hooves on his hard black front hooves, continuing her statement, "Whatever happened to you to make you so... how do I say it?"
Burning Star interrupted, "The word you are looking for is, "Vengeful" and/or "Hateful" yes? Most ponies tend to think that of me." He finished the sentence and swished his mane back, lighting the braziers with bright red fire instead of yellow.
Celestia shook her head, "I prefer the term, "Hurting", I have heard from Noble Blade that you have begun to unwrap the many layers of emotional turmoil you have." She leaned in closer to him, "I would like to help as well, since your biggest gripe is with the Celestia of your world, perhaps I can provide a example of her point of view?"
Celestia saw Burning Star's mane slowly begin to emit smoke, and she quickly leaned back as she felt his hooves become hotter than boiling lava, even she had limits when it came to heat.
She then watched with great bewilderment, The Alicorn of Fire suddenly froze up and smile sheepishly, before turning away from Celestia and saying with a short huff, "Why should I open up to you? How do I know that your not going to respond the same way that my Celestia did, hm?"
Princess Celestia, summoning all her patience, spoke back to him. "Burning Star, this is a different world, I'm a different Celestia, don't automatically assume we are all the same pony. I mean, look at Firestorm. He may be sarcastic, annoying, and downright infuriating sometimes..."
Burning Star raised an eyebrow, his Mane glowing slightly. "Yeah, what's your point, sunbutt?"
The Princess decided to ignore that comment and continued, "The point, Burning Star, is that despite his quirks, he still has a big heart."
(Canterlot Castle, The Guardians Quarters)
Firestorm suddenly shot upright from his sleep saying, "Was someone talking about me having a big heart?"
He looked around for a little bit, before lying down and saying, "Guess not, time to sleep." And he fell back asleep.
(Canterlot Castle, Dining Room)
Burning Star smirked, "So you are suggesting that I, Burning Star, the Black Alicorn of Fire, ex-student of King Sombra... have a heart underneath my rough exterior? Well..."
Celestia sighed, knowing that he was probably going to deny it again.
What he said legitimately surprised her, "Well... You are absolutely right, Celestia. I do have a heart, I just don't show it in a way other ponies don't understand yet. But getting back on topic, yes... I would like to discuss my past with you. One condition though, Celestia."
The Princess asked, "What is it?"
Burning Star simply stated, a hint of unease in his voice, "Do not hurt me for what I speak about, ok?"
Celestia nodded, "That is fair, so speak your mind, and I'll listen."
Burning Star took a deep breath, and began to speak, "You see, Celestia, I was born an Alicorn, I did not ascend like Twilight or Cadence."
Celestia raised an eyebrow, that was not new to her, Alicornhood was a subject she was familiar with since she was one, but being born an Alicorn was a first...
He continued, "At first I saw it as a curse, as many of the fillies in my village were envious of my ever-growing powers over magic."
Celestia looked confused, and asked. "So where did you immense Magic come from?"
The Black Alicorn responded, "Well You see, I didn't get into a school of magic like Twilight, I had to learn on my own, until I got my teacher. and oh my was he hard on me."
He laughed a bit, "But, look at me now. I am able to use some of the most advanced spells you can use, both in Light and Dark Magic styles. It was all thanks to my teacher, although I really hate him now."
Celestia asked the obvious question, "Who was your teacher? You mentioned a Unicorn, was it Spiral Horn the Swift? A disciple of Starswirl the Bearded?"
What he said next made Celestia shudder, "Nope, Although I did not know what his name meant when I first became his student, I do remember what his name was... The Shadow King, Sombra. I trained with him for four years, until I was able to kill in nearly every conceivable way a pony could kill."
Celestia froze up at the mention of that cursed name and put a hoof to the black pony's mouth, "W-W-wait, back up. You are saying that you were trained by one of the most dangerous villains in the history of Equestria? THE King Sombra? Surely you kid, Burning Star."
Burning Star shook his head, "Yeah, no Celestia, I'm not one for jokes. Here, I'll show you." He ignited his horn and Celestia watched as suddenly a familiar War Scythe, Crown, and Armor appeared.
It was the attire of King Sombra himself!
Celestia tried to calm the internal panic in her mind to blast this stallion for associating himself with such a vile creature, but she didn't want to hurt him, she promised.
Burning Star continued, "Eventually, Sombra and I went to the Canterlot of my world, for he had heard word of a new, young Alicorn."
Celestia leaned in, "I'm guessing he was looking for Twilight Sparkle? Why didn't he realize you were an Alicorn?"
Burning Star responded with a chuckle, "Well funny thing about that, Thankfully, I was smart enough not to reveal my wings, or Sombra was too busy prepping himself to make Twilight his student to notice. So, I hid them underneath layer upon layer of illusion spells. When we arrived, he brainwashed me into attacking you and Luna while he went to find Twilight Sparkle."
Celestia went wide eyed, "You attacked your Celestia and Luna? How are you even free, or alive for that matter?"
Burning Star got up, "Well somepony once said that "my body is like a mountain, and just as large." He got up and flexed his wings, showing off the large but lean muscles lining them. "I'm going off topic again, whoops... yes Thankfully, you freed me from his control, which unintentionally pissed me off, and I used my Fire Nova Spell to blow up the throne room. So, I traveled to Ponyville and confronted King Sombra, who had found Twilight, and I saved her flanks by impaling Sombra on my horn and throwing him out the window in Twilight's bedroom."
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief... "So what did Twilight do?"
Burning Star finished up his story, "Twilight, her curiosity getting the better of her, pursued me to your old castle on my world. She confronted me and I challenged her to a magic duel, she also had no idea that I was an Alicorn. But despite displaying powers that rivaled hers, she barely beat me down, and I jumped ship to become her partner and I've been good ever since. I swear you should have seen our Duel, it was on par with your battle with Nightmare Moon..."
Celestia asked a very important question next, "Why did you come to beat Midnight? She was out of your mane, Burning Star. You could have just let her be dealt with by Me and Luna."
She leaned in closer, "What made you bend time and space to travel here to stop a foe that clearly isn't on your world anymore?"
Burning Star inhaled and said, "Because I cannot allow another tyrant to rise to power, I have seen the reign of King Sombra on another world, as well as the reign of other villains such as Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon... I could not stop the villain there, for they already had won."
He suddenly took flight as his mane and tail ignited, as his black fur erupted into a bright red hue making him look like a literal star. "I swear on the lives of my friends, I WILL stop Midnight Sparkle, I WILL bring her tyranny to an end, and if it comes to it, I WILL sacrifice my life by taking her into space and use my Supernova Attack, which will kill me as well as her..."
Celestia laughed, so did Burning Star. "In all my years of living, never have I ever heard that level of passion for good in a long time. You're starting to sound like Noble Blade."
The Alicorn of Fire smirked and conjured a guitar out of thin air. He asked Celestia, "Hey Celestia, you know I have a pretty good voice... care to sing something with me?"
Celestia raised and eyebrow, "Like what?"
Burning Star responded, "Do you know the song "Good Little Girl/Bad Little Boy" Celestia?"
The alabaster Alicorn nodded, "Of course! But, you should start first."
Burning Star nodded and began to strum, slowly and serenely.
(Red Italics - Burning Star, Yellow Italics - Celestia)
He sung, "Good little girl. Always picking a fight with me."
Celestia hummed along, hearing her the harmony of his deeper voice with her higher pitch.
"You know that I'm bad, but your spending the night with me."
"What... do you want... of my world? You're a good little girl."
It was Celestia's turn now, and she sung out.
"Bad little boy, that's what you're acting like."
"I really don't buy, that your that kinda guy."
Celestia got closer to Burning Star holding hooves with him as they flew into the air, hovering there.
She continued, "And, if you are, why do you want to hang out with me?"
Burning Star suddenly hissed and dropped Celestia to the floor with a laugh.
"Don't you know I'm a villain? Every night, I'm out killing. Sending everyone running like children."
He laid back in mid air, floating right above Celestia's head.
"I know why you're mad at me, I'm got demon eyes, staring right through your anatomy, into your deepest fears.
He floated right in front of Celestia's face, "Babe, I'm not from here, I'm from the Nightosphere. To me you're clear, transparent..."
"You got a thing for me girl, it's apparent." he said as he booped Celestia on the nose, causing the alabaster Alicorn to blush.
(End song)
Celestia registered what he just said and thwacked him with her hoof, "I most certainly do not, Burning Star!"
The Alicorn of Fire had a wild smirk on his face as he said, "The blush on your face says otherwise, Princess..."
Princess Celestia fumed for a minute, then said, "That is nothing! Are you flirting with me?!"
Burning Star, landed and said in a much more cheerful tone. "Nah, I'm just playing with you. I feel better talking to a Celestia that doesn't want to incinerate me. It feels as if I've had a weight lifted off my back..."
A great boom suddenly went off as the skies lit up with dark purple light.
Celestia was thrown clean out of her chair, so was Burning Star. The second blast shook the room and caused ceiling tiles to fall, and the giant chandelier to drop.
Burning Star saw it was headed right for Celestia and blasted an explosive fireball at it, it shattered into tiny bits.
Burning Star sighed, "...only to be replaced by another weight. Are you ok, Princess Celestia?"
Celestia shook her head to clear her mind, "I am fine thanks to you, what in my name was that?"
Burning Star thought to himself, "I guess Midnight is ready for her seige, bit earlier than I expected. Fine, you give me a battle... I will give you a WAR."
Suddenly, Noble Blade, the Guardians, The Star Hunters, and Crimson Mane burst into the room, each armed and ready for battle.
Noble said in a panicked state, "Princess! She is here!! And she is M-M-MAD!"
Burning Star flew over to Noble and grabbed his face, "Oh great it's the panic induced stuttering, cool it guys."
He let go and walked to the window as a third blast sent the group sprawling, Burning Star said "So what is the crisis of the day? Tirek back for Round 2? Somepony let loose a Dragon? Let's see what we are dealing with..."
Burning Star attempted to open the window, but it was blown out by a forth blast, letting him see the source of the explosions.
What he saw both made him smile and made him laugh...
It was Midnight Sparkle, and she was hurling balls of explosive magic at the castle wall, she had the glare of a murderer in her eyes and a grin of a madmare on her face.
Burning Star smirked and spoke in his own Royal Canterlot voice, "Well, Well, this is unexpected, I thought you would be saving yourself for the grand finale, but here you are! Finally given up Midnight, or are you really THAT confident in your magic!"
Midnight Sparkle screamed at Burning Star, "Oh my god, HOW DENSE CAN YOU BE! I'm not here to chat, I'm here to obliterate you! That is why we're enemies, we both try to kill each other!"
Princess Luna appeared dressed in full armor, and she tossed her sister her set, saying, "Prepare yourself sister! We have company!"
Celestia looked out to the edge of the city walls and saw an army, all of them under the flag of Midnight Sparkle's mark, a dark pink six pointed star of magic.
Celestia spoke to the she-Demon, "Listen Midnight, why don't we talk this over in the throne room like adults? I'm sure that we can find out whatever is troubling you."
Midnight snarled out, "Fine by me. I guess I can get your last words before I destroy you and Luna, it's only fair..."
(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room)
Everypony was at their battle stations, Shining had the Royal Guard mobilizing and ready to defend the city.
Flash Sentry had flown all the way from Cloudsdale to see Midnight, as he had once had an affair with Twilight, before all this happened...
Midnight stood in front of Celestia and Luna's throne, she looked around and saw the pair of statues of the two sisters.
Every powerful being in Equestria was here. Discord stood by Celestia's left, Burning Star stood by Luna's right, the Guardians were off fighting in the city, under orders to "hold them off, prevent them from reaching the castle."
Midnight had some of her own personal guard in the throne room with her, it consisted mainly of the Shadowbolts, and a few Yeti Royal Guards. Celestia figured if she had her royal guard, it would be only fair to let this... thing have it's own guard to balance it out.
Midnight walked aimlessly around, looking at the banners on the walls... and she spoke. "Well then, nothing has really changed since I last saw Canterlot Castle, disregarding the holes I blasted in it, this place should be more... how do I say it, intimidating."
Celestia pounded the end of her pike on the ground, "I will not speak to you while you are like this, demon. You have the guts to walk into Canterlot and destroy the livelihoods of the thousands of ponies here? Who do you think you are anyways?"
Midnight Sparkle roared, "I am Queen Empress Midnight Sparkle, the new ruler of this world. I am also your killer, Celestia."
Flash Sentry stepped forwards and said, "Twilight, if you're there, do you remember me? Remember the good times we had?"
Flash Sentry was yanked towards Midnight by her magic and she looked him in the eye and said, "Why, yes... I do remember you Flash. Twilight's memories of you are filled with joy and pleasure, therefore, you will be spared from the annihilation of Equestria. After all, what is a ruler without somepony to enforce the law?"
She extended her wings and wrapped him in them, Shining cried out, "Flash! Don't do this! She is a monster, she is pure evil!"
Flash Sentry turned to say to him, "And who decided what is good and what is evil? You? Celestia and Luna? Where do we draw the line between what is fair and unfair, Shining Armor? From what Midnight is saying, she has every right to wage war, As long as she can handle it."
Flash Sentry stomped his hooves, "I'm sorry, but despite my loyalty to you Celestia, she is my love, and I'll stick by her... even while she is like this."
Midnight pulled him close and embraced him in one of her wings, then kissed him on the lips, earning a growl from Shining Armor.
Shining Armor had never liked her sister "Flashy boy, you made the right choice in joining me... let me tell them what I am, and what I choose to be. I'll send you back to my bedroom, and I'll show you how a QUEEN treats her lover."
Flash was suddenly engulfed in a dark purple light, and disappeared.
Midnight stepped forward and smirked, before slamming everypony to the floor with her magic, "Allow me to show you just how much I am committed to my role... and reveal to you a form that will truly break you Celestia!"
Midnight was engulfed in a purple light, when it died down Twilight Sparkle stood in her place, but she looked... different.
Her lavender eyes had been turned dark purple and leaked maroon smoke, she had her Mane back, but it was more wild, spiked up like a punk rocker. Her body had become quite shapely, with curves and a flank that was well toned.
Celestia stammered out, "T-Twilight? How could you do this to your own teacher?"
Midnight's response was truly frightening, "No, Celestia. Twilight Sparkle died a long time ago, I am her, but better in every way."
She said in a unnervingly cheery tone, "Allow me to explain this in a way you idiots will understand!"
She began to sway her hips and sing, I'm not the damsel in distress...
She pointed at Shining and Cadence, "I'm not your girlfriend or the frightened princess.
She then swooped over Celestia, continuing to sing, "I'm not a little bird who needs your help to fly, nope!"
She turned back into Midnight Sparkle, "I'm the BAD GUY!"
She pointed to the various soldiers and Villains behind her, "All these evil villains that you see...
She used her magic and forced them to their knees, "Each of them with shaking knees, had knelt before me.
She grabbed one of the yetis, "So I'm not your teammate or your partner in crime. What am I boys?"
The various henchmen all said, "She's the bad guy...
Burning Star could only watch with both amusement and fright as Midnight swung her hips and sung her little song. Shining could not help being turned on by this... and Cadence was even getting a little wet down there as well... she had never seen this side of Twilight.
Despite her evil, She liked this commanding personality...
"Oh its magic, to watch a planet, shrivel Up and DIE!"
She created a small rock shaped like Equestria, and began to crush it until it exploded. Discord cringed at the sight of that.
"Oh its thrilling, to be a villain...
She flew over to Celestia and said to her, "I'll destroy their homes and then I'll watch them CRY!"
Her armor suddenly dropped a mask over her face and she sung in a demonic voice, "Because I'm the Bad Guy!"
(Canterlot, City Streets)
Noble Blade and The Guardians were busy fighting outside in the city again when Noble used a mind reader spell on an unconscious enemy. His face twisted into that of panic.
He called over to Freedom Fighter to take a look at the projection he created from this soldier's memories.
What he saw was Equestria in ruins and completely destroyed, "Oh my god. Midnight's not trying to take over Equestria so she can rule it, she wants to destroy it!"
Freedom said in his head, "Man, that is evil..."
Suddenly, Firestorm screamed bloody murder, "Aaaah! Get these things away from me!" As he rushed past them and went down the block, being trailed by the Shadowbolts.
He circled the block, but unfortunately slammed headfirst into the Guardians and Crimson Mane, within seconds they were surrounded.
(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room)
Meanwhile, Midnight was twirling and spinning while in that frightening Armor.
She sung out, "Oooh ain't if fantastic? I see something I BLAST it!"
She rushed over to Burning Star, "And let me tell you WHY!"
She got rid of her armor and mask and continued, "I've always had a weakness, for barrenness and bleakness...
She flew over to the statues of the two sisters, "I'LL DESTROY YOU HOPES AND THEN I'LL WATCH YOU CRY!"
She suddenly blasted it with her magic, shattering them and shattering both sisters spirit.
She grabbed the sisters in her magic, she looked them dead in the eyes and sung,"See I find this business rather fun! I don't need you assistance or your adulations."
Midnight tossed the sisters into the air, they were completely helpless in her grasp. "I'll VAPORIZE Equestria and bid you bye-bye!"
She suddenly glared at Luna and Celestia again, "Why? C'MON GUESS!"
The two sisters swallowed hard, admitting something they never thought "Cause, you're the bad guy?"
Midnight's face twisted into a mad grin, "Well... Girl, but you get the point."
Finally, Midnight Sparkle threw back her head and laughed a wicked laugh. "Ah-hahahah-Haha-Haaaa!"
(Cut the song)
Meanwhile, While Midnight Sparkle was evil and nasty, Burning Star couldn't happen to think that she looked pretty sexy while being evil!
But, that would have to take a backseat as during her little song, he was quickly charging one of the most powerful spells in existence, which was first used by Tirek.
The Horn Hyper Beam!
Midnight dropped the sisters to the ground where they landed with a loud crash. She then flew into the air and said in a commanding voice, "NOW, MY LITTLE PONIES! YOU WILL ALL BE DESTROYED BY MY POW-
Suddenly, Burning Star said, "Listen here, Baby. I loved your song, i mean... great job, I'm guessing you've rehearsed that a lot. But in the words of a famous wrestler pony..."
she was quickly hit by a beam of bright red thermal energy that sent her crashing through the wall, shattering the windows with the impact and the resulting explosion of air as it rapidly combusted to form the Horn Hyper Beam.
Midnight sailed clear over the horizon, and Discord went out to the city and snapped his eagle claw, within seconds, Midnights Army turned into a bunch of woodland creatures like rabbits and mice, he then snapped them again and they all disappeared, sending them back to Midnight's castle.
Burning Star finished his sentence, "Your time is up, my time is now."
Discord floated over to Burning Star, transforming into a war medal and pinned it to his chest, and the medal actually spoke to him, "Well done Burning Star! Bravo, everypony give this guy a round of applause."
Twelve more copies of Discord appeared and started clapping and cheering in joy, even Celestia smiled at the sight of Burning Star saving her and her kingdom from certain destruction.
Crimson Mane and the Hunters and Noble Blade and the Guardians burst into the throne room, all of them ready for battle.
Crimson Mane shouted, her metal wings flared like a set of knives, "Alright Midnight Sparkle! This is your last chance to surrender! Give..." she looked around and saw Burning Star panting from exhaustion.
The Horn Hyper Beam may be powerful, but it expends a ton of magical energy... and his reserves were nearly empty.
Noble Blade asked Celestia, "Um Princess? Care to explain what happened here?"
Celestia nodded and began to speak, "Well, Midnight burst in here, started singing about how evil and wicked she was, Burning Star stopped her and sent her packing with a Horn Hyper Beam attack, Discord teleported the army of Midnight away, and here we are. That clear it up for you?"
Burning Star did a hair flip, sending embers into the air. He said unknowingly out loud, "Oh yeah! I beat Midnight! all by myself! Hahaha!"
Everpony stared at him for a few seconds, before laughing a little bit as well.
Noble stepped forward and said, "Well color me surprised, I believe I was wrong about you, Burning Star. You are not always the selfish, insensitive pony I thought you were. How come you saved Celestia and Luna? I thought you hated them?"
Burning Star shrugged, "Well, I... uh, I can't believe I'm saying it. I took you advice and applied it... I let Celestia know why I was mad at her, and she was strangely ok with it. Most ponies tend to run away from me when I tell them about my past."
He continued, "Also, this isn't my world, Noble. And so, I made my decision to not hold this Celestia and Luna to the hostile behavior I have for my worlds Celestia and Luna. So, for now... I'm going to focus and behave myself around here... you deserve to see me when I'm at my full power."
He finished speaking and smirked, "Now Come on, let's get some rest..."
Firestorm chimed in, "Wait! What about Stygian?"
Burning Star rolled his eyes, "Listen Stormy boy, Stygian may have been freed, but he knows he cannot triumph against the combined might of our forces, and when he sees Midnight broken and battered by my powers... he will think twice before messing with us."
(Castle of Darkness, Throne Room)
Stygian was not a happy Pony.
Not only was he defeated yesterday, but he was also imprisoned and humiliated.
But then Midnight rolled up to the city with the army he brought her, and the army freed him, so he was happy...
Until he became sad again by Midnight crashing through the ceiling of the castle, she looked as if she was hit by something extremely powerful.
Midnight Sparkle called out to him, "Stygian... help me. I was beaten by those idiots and Burning Star... and I'm critically wounded. Get me to my room, now..."
Stygian got up and hoisted Midnight onto his back, saying "You should have freed me yourself and we could have fought the sisters together as a team, but did you? No, now look at you, your beaten to a pulpy mess."
Midnight snarled, "Well you don't have to be such a dick about this, Stygian. Besides, I've brought home some company... he is waiting in my bedroom, and I can't keep him waiting."
The host of the Pony of Shadows sighed, "Fine. I'll take you to your room, but first I'm going to let you in on something I did find out about Burning Star."
Midnight Sparkle sighed, "What? What could have possibly found out about this irritating little pest that..."
Stygian cut her off, "He has his own Dark Side as well... I engaged in mental combat with him, and I stumbled upon this dark side of his personality. Oh sweet Faust he is evil, Burning Star must have some seriously strong willpower to keep this beast in check."
Midnight, now somehow miraculously recovering, jumped off of Stygian and asked him. "What did you say? That flame-covered Brute has his own inner demon?"
she kissed Stygian on the head, "Oh you are the best, my little Pony of Shadows! This changes our plan though."
The host of The Pony of Shadows raised an eyebrow, "Changes it to what, exactly?"
Midnight Sparkle walked to her door and said to him, "We get this beast to come out and destroy Equestria for us, then... we arrive to destroy it and build off the ashes of the world. How does that sound?"
Stygian went wide-eyed, "Well, it sounds risky... and downright insane... but it could work. We would need somepony to distract those Guardians of the Sun and Star Hunters first. Who haven't they faced yet?"
Midnight Sparkle's face suddenly twisted into an evil smile, she knew exactly who to send for her final minion, "Stygian, go to the archives and look up this name and file. Read it and bring it to me tomorrow morning, I have something... important to do with my former coltfriend, get to it!"
Stygian asked the obvious question, "Well, what name is it?"
With a truly frightening tone, Midnight uttered the name of one of the most dangerous beings that Equestria had spawned...
"Find me... DAYBREAKER!"