"Everypony, please make your ways to the shelters! I repeat, everypony to the shelters!" shouted Shining Armor through a megaphone. The citizens of Canterlot pushed and shoved each other as they attempted to make their way to safety. The dark creature that had suddenly appeared through a dimensional rift was terrorizing the city, destroying everything in its wake and even absorbing some magic from ponies who were too slow to escape from her. Meanwhile, the royal guards did their best to slow down the invader by throwing spears and firing lasers as her. Sadly, they did little to halt her advance. The evil she-demon cackled as she continued her rampage through the streets of Canterlot.
Twilight, Sci-Twi, and Princess Luna ran out onto a balcony to observe the destruction. Midnight Sparkle had only destroyed a small portion of the city so far, but they knew it wouldn't take her long to eventually wipe everypony and everything out of existence.
"What happened!?" exclaimed Twilight, flabbergasted.
"Umm, well, the good news is I finally forgave myself," explained Sci-Twi, fumbling over her words. "The bad news is Midnight absorbed Equestrian magic and became a separate entity!" Twilight, too shocked to say anything, looked over at Luna for confirmation.
"Yes, that is essentially what happened," agreed Luna. Twilight started hyperventilating and nervously fidgeting.
"Ohhh this is bad, this is really, really bad!" cried Twilight. Sci-Twi couldn't help but start panicking as well. At the same time, guilt and despair began creeping back in her heart. Sure, it wasn't really her fault that Midnight Sparkle escaped, but it was her fault that Midnight Sparkle was created in the first place. And now, it was terrorizing an entire city! Did she really deserve to be forgiven? Did she-
"ENOUGH!" boomed Princess Luna, using the royal Canterlot voice. Both Twilights immediately sat down and froze, staring obediently at Luna. Luna sighed. Dealing with one Twilight experiencing a nervous breakdown was troublesome enough, but dealing with two of them...
"Twilight, that is, Princess Twilight," ordered Luna, "come with me, and we shall take down this monster. Twilight of the other world, stay here and find someplace safe." Sci-Twi looked down, disappointed.
"There must be some way I can help!" offered Sci-Twi. Luna shook her head.
"No, you have gone through enough tonight," declined Luna. "You've already experienced one fierce battle, and I do not wish for you to experience yet another." With that, the Princess of the Night stretched out her wings and soared into the night sky. Princess Twilight looked back at Sci-Twi with sad, but comforting eyes.
"Luna's right," agreed Twilight. "You've already accomplished a lot. You found the courage to finally forgive yourself, and that is no easy feat. I'm so proud of you." Twilight hugged her counterpart, ignoring how awkward it felt to praise herself. She flashed a quick smile, then flew off to join Princess Luna, leaving Sci-Twi alone on the balcony.
"I can't help but feel responsible," sighed Sci-Twi. She slowly trotted back inside and sat down on a nearby chair. She stared at her hooves, her mind filling with thoughts about how she had failed and put everyone, or rather, everypony in danger again. Then, she shook her head, and her gloomy expression changed into one of determination.
"No," declared Sci-Twi. "If I really do think it's my fault, then I shouldn't just sit here and do nothing! Sulking isn't going to solve my problems. I need to act now!"
Filled with newfound courage, she got up and looked around for a weapon she could use. Unfortunately, she couldn't find one anywhere. Figures, since a royal palace wouldn't have its weapons lying around for anypony to pick up. Then, Sci-Twi remembered what Luna had told her about how emotions related to Equestrian magic. After a few seconds, something clicked in her mind.
"That's it!"
The two princesses circled Midnight Sparkle while firing off magic blasts at her. Their magic, being more powerful than that of the average pony, did seem to slow the demon down a little bit, but Midnight was getting used to their attack patterns. Finally, Midnight whipped around and fired an energy bolt at an area where she predicted Princess Luna would be. Her guess was correct, and the blue alicorn screamed in pain as she fell and crashed into the ground below.
"Princess Luna!" gasped Twilight. She quickly swooped down and grabbed Princess Luna with her magic. She then flew into a secluded alleyway and carefully placed Luna on the ground to attend to her wounds. Meanwhile, Midnight Sparkle's laughter could be heard in the distance.
"Ugh, I am... quite alright," grunted Luna. "I just hurt my- ow!" She winced in pain as she attempted to get up from the ground. Twilight steadied her and examined her body.
"Your left wing has been broken, Princess," reported Twilight. "I'm sorry, but you're in no condition to fight."
"Unacceptable. I must continue," disagreed Luna. Unfortunately, she no longer had the strength the move.
"I'll fight Midnight Sparkle on her own," argued Twilight. "Maybe if I try to aim for the back of her neck, I can-"
"No, Twilight, you will need assistance of some sort," interrupted Luna. "That demon is far too strong."
"Very well," conceded Twilight. "Perhaps Princess Celestia can assist m- wait, where is Princess Celestia?"
"She is at an important conference in Saddle Arabia," explained Luna. "Though it is unfortunate that my sister cannot be here to assist us, I am sure she is doing her best with the negotiations and helping Equestria in any way she can."
The weather was absolutely perfect. The sky was a beautiful shade of light blue, all the clouds had been cleared away by the weather pegasi, and the sun's rays shone down warmly upon the Saddle Arabian beach resort. The ocean waves gently crashed against the shoreline while a cool breeze blew through the area. With such gorgeous conditions, one would think that the beach would be crowded with tourists and vacationers looking for some rest and relaxation. However, the resort was completely empty, save for one pony.
Princess Celestia was resting on a hammock that was tied between two large palm trees. They provided just the right amount of shade while not completely obstructing the sun. On top a small, wooden table next to the hammock sat a glass of piña colada that was almost empty. The royal princess, sporting sunglasses whose rims were the same color as her mane, used her magic to levitate the glass towards her and took a nice, long sip from her drink. Placing the now-empty glass back on the table, Celestia raised her front hooves and quietly clapped twice.
Right on cue, a unicorn stallion wearing beach shorts trotted up to Celestia with another piña colada levitating behind him. He placed the full glass on the table while taking the empty one, then quietly trotted away. Celestia took another sip before thinking to herself.
Hmm, the sun's kinda shining in my eyes. Maybe if I... Celestia's horn glowed, and the sun moved a few degrees to the east. Perfect.
Suddenly, a large stallion wearing a black suit, a black tie, and black sunglasses came up next to Celestia. He then leaned down.
"Princess Celestia," he whispered into her ear, "there are some ponies outside asking why they can't enter the resort. Should we tell them you reserved the entire area for yourse-" Celestia raised a hoof to silence the pony agent.
"Err... tell them there's a sea monster or something, and that I'm fighting it off. You know, that sort of thing," muttered Celestia, not really giving the issue much thought.
"Understood, ma'am," responded the agent. "Also, we've received a letter from Shining Armor in Canterlot. He is reporting that a-" Celestia raised her hoof again.
"Agent 042," said Celestia in a calm voice, "do you remember what I told you before we got here?"
"That bananas are the best type of fruit in the world?"
"No, before I got drunk."
"Oh, right. You said that you didn't want any interruptions or distractions."
"Correct. So, whatever problem Shining Armor has, I don't want to hear it. He can handle it on his own."
"But ma'am," said the agent in a worried tone, "it seems to be-"
"Look, if it's that bad, my sister can deal with it," interrupted Celestia. Her tone was still calm, though it contained a slight hint of irritation this time. "Plus, Twilight's there too. I didn't make another alicorn princess for nothing, you know?"
"U-understood." Not wanting to anger the goddess of the sun further, Agent 042 slowly trotted back towards the main entrance of the resort. Celestia then reclined further into her hammock, sighing blissfully.
I really need to do this more often.
Twilight finished writing up a letter to her Ponyville friends and used her magic to send it to Spike. Then, she got the attention of two nearby medics to attend to Luna's injuries.
"Alright, hopefully my friends will be able to get here quickly," said Twilight to Princess Luna. "Once they arrive, we can use the Elements of Harmony to stop Midnight. In the meantime, I will do my best to hold her off."
"Be careful, Twilight Sparkle," cautioned Luna. Twilight nodded and took to the skies. It wasn't hard to locate Midnight Sparkle, considering she was taller than most of the buildings in Canterlot. She dashed towards the demonic entity, who was still wreaking havoc throughout the city. Twilight then flew right up to Midnight's face, causing Midnight to pause for a moment.
"Why hello again," grinned Midnight. "Ready for round two?"
"You bet I am," growled Twilight through gritted teeth. The two of them glared at each other for a few seconds before Midnight finally raised up her right hand, charging an electric ball in her palm. At the same time, Twilight's horn glowed with a magical aura, preparing to fire an attack of her own. Suddenly, a distant voice sounded beneath them.
"Hey!" called the voice. They both looked down to see a small, purple unicorn on the ground. It was Sci-Twi, who stared up at Midnight defiantly. Twilight gasped while Midnight Sparkle burst out into laughter.
"Ahahahaha, what are you doing here?" taunted Midnight. "You do realize this is a battlefield meant for those who can actually fight, don't you?"
"Twilight! I thought we told you to stay safe!" scolded the alicorn.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't just sulk in the castle all by myself," answered Sci-Twi. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"All my life, I've done nothing but regret. Every time I made a mistake, the guilt I felt would just endlessly circle around in my mind. And you know what? It was easy. It was easy to just hide in a corner, enveloped in my own thoughts and frustrations while simply hoping that things would change."
"Yes, I know all about that," laughed Midnight Sparkle. "Since we used to be the same person, I was fully aware of all your thoughts and actions. Poor, little Twilight, so weak and powerless! Unable to do anything!"
"But now I realize that you need to let those feelings go," ignored Sci-Twi. "Yes, pain and sadness can be good, because they let you know when you've screwed up and need to improve yourself. However, the next step is to act and actually do something to fix your problems! Wallowing in misery won't solve anything!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," groaned Midnight Sparkle, not paying attention to Sci-Twi's speech. "I'm going to blast your pony friend here out of the sky!" Twilight, on the other hoof, smiled happily as her counterpart declared her resolve.
"So! If I am to deal with my problems directly, then the first thing I must do..." Suddenly, Sci-Twi's body was enveloped by a magical aura, causing her to levitate.
"... is to defeat you myself!" Sci-Twi floated up higher and higher off the ground until she was hovering at Midnight's eye level. Her horn then glowed with magic as she began charging up a powerful spell. Twilight, who was hovering a few feet behind Sci-Twi, began charging her horn as well.
"I-Impossible!" shouted Midnight, surprised. Her magic sense detected a massive amount of energy building up within Sci-Twi. Its power levels were almost equal to- no, greater than Midnight's own magic!
"What is this!? How are you gathering this much magic!?" screamed Midnight.
"Allow me to educate you, Midnight Sparkle," answered Sci-Twi, her horn still building up more power. "Emotions are the source of all Equestrian magic, but I'm starting to understand that it's your strongest emotions that shape how your magic manifests. When I first unleashed the magic during the games, I carried fear and self-doubt within my heart. That resulted in your creation, and you continued to grow stronger because even after the games, I still held onto those emotions.
"However, I can now confidently say that I no longer despise myself. My- no, our past actions were indeed terrible, but I am finally ready to focus on the future and become a better person! Thus, my strongest emotion right now is hope!" Sci-Twi's horn flashed even brighter, indicating it was nearing maximum capacity.
"Stop this at once!" demanded Midnight, her voice carrying a hint of fear. "You can't defeat me! I am the manifestation of all the despair and grief you've felt throughout your entire life!"
"It doesn't matter what you are," declared Sci-Twi, "because I am moving on from you, and I'm going to make sure you never return!" With that, Sci-Twi unleashed a brilliant magenta magic beam, which roared straight towards Midnight Sparkle. Twilight fired her beam as well, matching the same color and intensity as Sci-Twi. As their beams screeched through the air, they fused together, forming an even larger beam that shone with unimaginable power.
Midnight instinctively raised her hands to block the incoming attack, but the beam simply vaporized them as they impacted her palms. She let out a blood-curdling scream as her arms evaporated as well. The beam then shot straight through her heart, causing the rest of her body to start dissipating from the hole in her chest.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" wailed Midnight as her head started to disappear from existence as well. Then, with a bright flash, Midnight Sparkle exploded, leaving behind a few twinkling lights of her magic essence which slowly faded.
Suddenly, Sci-Twi started to lose consciousness and the magic aura that surrounded her sputtered. She was now flying, no, falling. Falling faster and faster... As her eyes closed and her vision blurred, she thought she could see something chasing after her...
Then everything went black.