Sci-Twi sat at her dining table, eating a bowl of her favorite cereal while looking through the news on her phone. None of the articles really intrigued her though, so she placed her phone on the table and focused on her breakfast. Outside, the sun shone and the birds sung cheerfully. The weather was supposed to be a comfortable 70 degrees, so Twilight sported jeans, a cute t-shirt, and a light jacket. Done with her cereal, she got up and placed the bowl and spoon in the sink.
Suddenly, everything started shaking.
"What the-!" Twilight exclaimed, holding onto her kitchen counter for support. Everything around her started to dissolve. Her furniture shattered into millions of tiny splinters while the walls and floorboards separated into individual parts and flew away from her. The outside environment was replaced with an endless, dark-magenta void filled with nothing but Twilight herself.
"What is going on!?" screamed Twilight.
"You know what's going on," a voice echoed from seemingly everywhere. "I am here to take back control!"
Twilight twisted her body around and saw none other than her worst nightmare. Midnight Sparkle appeared as she always had in Twilight's nightmares; she donned a dark-purple outfit, her dark wings protruding from her back and her bright, magical horn shining atop her forehead. Midnight grinned as she stared upon her prey. She started to chuckle to herself, then burst into laughter. As she laughed, thunder and lightning cracked and flashed behind her.
"No! Please! Go away!" begged Twilight. But the evil she-demon didn't listen.
"Oh, I'm sorry," leered Midnight, "I'm not quite in the mood for negotiations. I'm just so... hungry."
"H-hungry?"
"That's right... Hungry for you!" With a strong flap of her wings, Midnight dove towards Twilight at an incredible speed. Twilight's eyes widened with fear, while those of her aggressor widened with excitement and hunger. Twilight desperately waved her arms and legs around to move away, but without anything to grab onto, she couldn't get out of Midnight's way.
"Heeeeeeelllllp!" cried Twilight desperately. Suddenly, a white and spherical energy shield encased her body.
"Aauuuuugghhh!" yelled Midnight, smacking head-first into the shield and bouncing harmlessly off of it.
"H-huh?" Twilight looked around to see who had cast the energy shield. As the shield vanished, she saw a dark-blue alicorn fly towards her. Its horn glowed with sparkling energy, which dissipated along with the shield.
That's... Princess Luna? Then that must mean this is all just a dream?
"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle," said Luna as she hovered next to Twilight. Then, she looked downwards. "I assume your current appearance is what you look like in your world?" Twilight looked down at her body, and realized her body was back to that of a human.
"Yes, that's right," responded Twilight.
"Fascinating," remarked Luna. "I would ask you more about your species, but now is not the time for that." Luna frowned and stared at something behind Twilight, who turned around in response. Midnight Sparkle was back, wiping her forehead in pain.
"And just who is this newcomer, eh Twilight?" interrogated Midnight as a scowl formed over her face.
"That doesn't matter, Midnight Sparkle!" shouted Twilight confidently. "Because tonight, I will finally stop you once and for all!"
Midnight Sparkle stared at the duo for a moment, then howled with laughter.
"Oh puh-lease! You've never stopped me before, and having a little pony friend isn't gonna help you now!" Midnight Sparkle rushed at them once again. Luna projected another spherical shield around her and Twilight, but Midnight halted her approach, having learned from her previous impact.
Midnight then held out her hands and fired a violet beam from her palms. The beam went straight for Luna and Twilight, but was deflected as it hit their shield. She then fired another beam, but this time, she increased its intensity and duration. The shield was able to block the second beam as well, but cracks were starting to form on its surface.
Luna's horn then glowed brighter, teleporting both her and Twilight behind Midnight Sparkle. However, Midnight quickly whipped around and smirked at the duo.
"There you are!" Midnight's horn glowed, then it fired off hundreds of small laser blasts at Luna and Twilight. Luna raised a new shield, this one in the shape of a two-dimensional disk. As the lasers hit the shield, they exploded and slowly chipped away at Luna's shield. Luna teleported to a position above Midnight Sparkle and launched an energy beam downwards. However, Midnight countered it with an energy beam of her own. The two beams blasted against each other, with neither beam yielding.
Twilight's face was frozen with fear. Midnight... is just as powerful as Luna? But how? Meanwhile, Luna looked towards Twilight while still maintaining her attack.
"Listen, little one," Luna strained, "think about who you really are!"
"Shut up, horse!" yelled Midnight. She then addressed Twilight. "Hey, you know I'm pretty powerful, right? You saw what I was able to do during the games. Imagine if you let me regain control. No one would be able to stop us from doing anything! We could rule the world! And with our ability to rip holes in reality, we could even rule the worlds beyond this one!"
"No, no, no!" cried Twilight, placing her hands on her head and shutting her eyes. She couldn't deal with this. Even with an alicorn princess helping her, Midnight was still standing her ground. Hope started to drain from her heart and was being replaced by despair. At the same time, Midnight started to gain the upper hand as her violet beam pressed closer and closer towards Luna.
"Twilight," countered Luna, "I know you regret your decisions. I know you feel that you are a horrible pon- person. But think about what you've done tonight. You came to me in order to face your fears and defeat your worst nightmare. That proves you are not the evil creature you think you are. You are not Midnight Sparkle!"
Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Midnight and Luna, their energy beams still firing intensely against each other. Luna was correct. Midnight Sparkle wouldn't have wanted to seek forgiveness for her actions. Meanwhile, Twilight had regretted the events of the Friendship Games ever since they ended. If she could take it all back, she would in a heartbeat.
"Yes, Princess..." said Twilight slowly. "You're right. Midnight and I may be similar in that we both seek to learn more about magic, but you!" Twilight pointed at Midnight accusingly, her voice rising in volume and confidence. "You don't care about the means. You only want more power. But I would never want to hurt anyone, especially my friends, just to gain more knowledge. And that makes us two completely different people! You! Are not! Me!"
As Twilight shouted in defiance, a magical horn made of light suddenly grew from her forehead. A bright-purple beam fired from its tip, aimed directly at the evil she-demon. Midnight, who was using all of her power to counter Luna's magical beam, was unable to do anything but watch as Twilight's attack got closer and closer...
"AAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHH!!" wailed Midnight, as Twilight's beam engulfed her. There was a bright light, causing Twilight to shield her eyes with her hands. As the light faded, Twilight looked back at where Midnight was. She was still there, but her body floated lifelessly through the void. Princess Luna, hovering a few feet away from Midnight, looked back at Twilight.
"I... I did it. I did it!" cheered Twilight. Luna smiled and flew towards Twilight, who quickly embraced the alicorn princess with her arms once she got close enough. The Princess of the Night, who was not accustomed to the bodily form of contact known as a "hug", flinched as she was smothered by Twilight's body. After a few seconds, Luna decided that the hug had gone on for long enough and used her magic to gently pull Twilight off of her.
"Thank you so much, Princess," continued Twilight. "I-I don't know what I would've done without you. But... how was I able to attack Midnight just now?"
"You see, Twilight," explained Luna, "magic from Equestria is fueled by emotion. Most of it comes from positive emotions, but there is some that feeds off of negative emotions instead. Midnight draws power from your fear and despair. The stronger those feelings are within you, the stronger Midnight becomes. However, it seems that as you regained your confidence and hope, positive magic built up inside of you, thus allowing you to fight back."
"Got it..." thought Twilight, absorbing all the information she had just heard. "You sure know a lot about magic, emotions, dreams, and how they all connect."
"Yes, well, I had a similar experience with a creature from my nightmares as well," admitted Luna. "And it was thanks to a certain alicorn we both know that I was finally able to overcome my guilt and despair." Luna gave a wink, and Twilight smiled back. Then, a confused look appeared on Twilight's face.
"So wait, all I have to do is just feel happy all the time, and Midnight won't have any power?" asked a puzzled Twilight. "What happens if I suddenly get sad or upset one day? Will Midnight come back?"
"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that..."
Luna and Twilight turned around to face the source of the voice. They were shocked to find that Midnight Sparkle had somehow recovered and was hovering in front of them with a devilish smile on her face.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Princess Luna.
"H-how can this be?" shuddered Twilight.
"Muahahahahaha!" laughed Midnight Sparkle. "Allow me to educate you fools! As I fought with your horsey friend, I realized that you must be sleeping somewhere in Equestria. After all, how else would you have gotten a magical horse to fight me in your dreams?"
"I am an alicorn, not a horse," deadpanned Luna.
I'm guessing that calling a pony a horse in this world is probably racist, thought Twilight, but is now really the time to argue about proper species names?
"Whatever," ignored Midnight. "Anywho, since Twilight's physical body is now in a land full of magic, I've been slowly collecting its essence. Originally, yes, I was only as strong as her own guilt, but now, with so much magic stored up, I can transform into an entity that is separate from her!"
As she said that, claws made up of dark magic unsheathed from her fingertips. She then swiped at the air, which caused a spatial rift to form next to her. On the other side of the rift, the beautiful city of Canterlot could be seen.
"No!" shouted Luna. "Stop!"
"Hehe, too late!" cackled Midnight. She casually stepped through the crack in space, then sealed it up behind her, leaving Luna and Twilight alone in the dream realm.
"Wh-what's going on?" asked Twilight nervously.
"Your alter ego has become powerful enough to escape your dreams and enter the real world," worried Luna. "Hurry, we must wake up at once!"
Princess Twilight Sparkle was still sitting on the rug in the middle of the guest room, bored as Tartarus. Princess Luna and Sci-Twi had been asleep for what felt like hours, and she had nothing to do. She had already counted how many floor tiles there were in the room - 452, to be exact - and she had already adjusted what little furniture there was to a configuration she liked better. She wanted to sleep, but her counterpart was snoring too loudly to allow Twilight to rest.
"I hope I don't snore that loudly... Maybe I should ask Spike later."
Suddenly, the castle shook. And again. Then, the sound of ponies screaming in the distance could be heard. Twilight quickly rushed to the window and peered outside. A few buildings had caught on fire, and ponies were scrambling around for safety. Meanwhile, a massive, winged, humanoid figure stomped through the city, laughing as it fired laser beams from its horn. Twilight gulped, immediately recognizing who it was and what her appearance in the real world meant.
"Oh, ponyfeathers."