//------------------------------//
// The Midnight Queen 
// Story: A Queen's Perspective - Friendship Games 
// by gerandakis 
//------------------------------//

Warning: This story will spoil major plot points of For the Hive up to and including chapter 9. If you haven't read For the Hive yet, I strongly recommend to do so before reading this.





"Unleash the magic, free the magic~

"NOW"

As the last word of the sinister song faded, Twilight dropped the device in her hands. The magic that had come from it expanded into a white orb floating in mid-air before her. The orb pulsed and sent out a wave of pressure, knocking back everyone it touched, save Twilight, and sending a static tingle through everyone's nerves.

Everyone around watched in terrified fascination, unable to do anything to help, as the CPA student began floating upwards alongside the orb of magic which was now slowly growing, having already engulfed part of her right hand, and slowly pulling her in. She continued to float upwards as the orb continued to grow. Her terrified shout of "Help me!" shook audience and competitors alike out of their collective trance as the magic swallowed up the rest of her arm, then her torso and legs until only her left arm remained free. As her left arm was slowly pulled in, stretching and grasping at the air in a desperate attempt to escape, her scream of terror and pain was accompanied only by the slight hissing noises created by the magic's growing power burning away the fine hairs on her arm and hand.

Soon the crowd beneath only beheld the floating orb of white with spiraling wisps of color, before it exploded outwards and dispersed, revealing the girl coiled up, her skin now a darker shade of purple, wearing a short dress of rich magenta, with matching gloves and boots. As she stretched out, still floating in midair, two large, sickle-shaped, insectoid wings, midnight blue and opaque at their base and flowing over rich purple into a transparent, deep crimson at their edges. She craned her head backwards as, with a sound not unlike unsheathing a sword a long horn of pure energy grew from her forehead. Finally she opened her eyes, revealing them to be reptilian slits of a deep purple and causing two oval rings with sickle shaped outcroppings on their outer edges to appear, their sickly, blueish-green color matching that of her horn.

Looking at the crowd gathered beneath her she gave a sinister laugh, revealing her long fangs before speaking up, looking down at Sunset.

"You were right! I didn't understand magic before. But I do now!"

She whipped around, a tongue of light blue flames licking up her horn while an orb of white light formed in her left hand with an ominous hum. Stretching her left arm out towards the statue in front of the school, she fired the energy as a beam of blueish-white. With a sound of cracking stone the statue exploded into dust that flew outwards and drifted slowly towards the floor.

As their line of sight cleared the students gasped. Where the statue had been before, there was now a deep purple crack, seemingly in reality itself, quickly widening into a tear. Soon the purple gave way to an image Sunset recognized from one of her trips with Princess Celestia. Ponyville Town Hall!

They could only watch as further cracks spread from the rift, Twilight shooting beams at them in various places to open further rifts. Places Sunset recognized mixed with places she didn't. A barn she had never seen, but that was strangely familiar regardless. Canterlot, a gigantic airship floating near the city. A plateau surrounded by jungle and covered in ruins, housing a single large, black spire. All of them Sunset could, if not recognize, so at least guess what and where they were.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Turning, Sunset saw Sunny Flare staring at Principal Cinch who seemed to be trying to sneak away.

"Anywhere to avoid that ... monster! And I suggest you do the same."

Sunset shook her head. Cinch clearly wasn't comprehending the extent of what Twilight was doing. Every new portal she opened would destabilize the barrier between worlds further. If it collapsed completely, there would be no place to hide. No place to run. The others might not be able to sense it, but they hadn't spent nearly two decades attuning to equestrian magic. In all her confusion Sunset knew one thing. We need to stop this now, before it gets out of hand.

She turned back around. "Twilight, you can't do this!"

For the first time since starting her rampage Twilight turned to look at her. "Why not?! There's a whole other world right there, and it's just filled with magic!"

"But you're destroying this world to get it!"

"So what? There's more magic there, and I want to understand it all!"

Sunset shook her head in exasperation. There is no reasoning with her. She's completely addled with magic. Was I like that?! As she looked back up at Twilight she saw three orbs of light right above her. Startled she realized that Twilight was about to fire another beam, more powerful than all that had come before it. And pointed exactly where she stood.

In a moment of clarity, Sunset managed to jump out of the way, barely avoiding the beam as the very ground where she had stood cracked and exploded outwards, a spiderweb of cracks spreading outwards from it, like a hole in a window. She landed hard on the pavement, scuffing her arms in the process.

Behind her, the cracks spread further, more of the ground falling away. She had stood relatively alone, but the rift was quickly growing and others hadn't had the presence of mind to jump aside. Applejack found Tennis Match, the student that had stood between her and the point of impact suddenly falling downwards. Instinctively, she grabbed the falling girl's arm in hers, halting her descent. All around, similar things were playing out, Rainbow and Pinkie were both lying on the ground, each holding a student by one arm trying to pull them upwards. Fluttershy and the local Spike were inching backwards, away from the rift. Rarity had two Crystal Prep students holding onto one arm as the piece of ground she had been lying on fell away. Applejacks eyes widened as the three fell downwards. She breathed a short sigh of relief as their descent stopped, one of Rarity's hands barely holding onto the edge of the crack. With a burst of strength Applejack pulled Tennis up and back, depositing her on stable ground before turning to Rarity. "Don't let go!"

Rarity only rolled her eyes as Rainbow followed that up with a strained "Hang on."

"Obviously!"

Suddenly Indigo Zap and Lemon Zest reached out and grabbed onto her arm.

"We've got you." They yelled in unison as they pulled the three girls to safety.

Sunset, meanwhile, found Twilight's tracking device, dropped and forgotten, on the floor before her. As she picked it up, one of the tracking lights lit up, pointing straight towards Twilight. An idea struck her. She got to her feet. but before she could act, the light on the device was replaced by one pointing roughly behind her, she turned to see Applejack emitting a soft orange glow. Looking around she saw her other friends lighting up as well. A soft yellow for Fluttershy, a rich purple for Rarity, a bright pink for Pinkie and a bright azure for Rainbow Dash, flashes of purple and orange coursing through it. With renewed resolve and changed plans, Sunset turned back to Twilight.

"This isn't the way! I know you feel powerful right now, like you can have everything you want! I've been where you are, I've made the same mistake you're making! I put on a crown and, just like you, I was overwhelmed by the magic it contained! I thought it could get me everything I wanted!"

Twilight turned around, her sinister smirk highlighting her prominent fangs. "Oh, you're wrong. Unlike you, I can have everything I want!"

"No, you can't. Even with all that magic and power, you'll still be alone!" She glanced over her shoulder to her still glowing friends. "True magic comes from honesty!" At the word, a beam of orange light rose up from Applejack, her hair floating upwards and curling around it. "Loyalty!" Rainbow matched Applejack "Laughter! Generosity! Kindness!" As she counted off each element, their bearers became beacons of pure magic. She held up the containment device and opened it. The pillars of magic changed directions to flow into it. "I understand you, Twilight, and I want to show you the most important magic of all..." She snapped the device shut, then threw it on the ground beneath her.

Upon impact the device sprung back open. Once more a sphere of magic rose up from it. But, unlike Twilight, Sunset was ready for it. She calmly watched as the magic lifted her off her feet and carried her upwards, engulfing first her legs, then her arms and torso. Finally she calmly closed her eyes as it grew to absorb her entirely.

After her torturous transformation at the Fall Formal, Sunset had been prepared for pain, but none came. All she felt was a warm tingle washing over her and a feeling of power. As a unicorn back in Equestria, she had often pictured her reservoir of magic as a great lake, but compared to that, what she felt now was an ocean. And, like her emotions, the surface of that ocean was perfectly calm.

As the energy dispersed around her, Sunset was revealed to be wearing a flowing dress of pale blue, with deep orange boots. Like Twilight before she grew a horn of energy, but hers was smooth and of a pale, golden yellow. Once more the sound of an unsheathing sword was the only indication of the raw power hidden behind those calm features. Wings of golden light burst from her back and she opened her eyes, gazing solemnly at Twilight.

"...the Magic of Friendship!"

With her new, heightened magical senses Sunset rapidly analyzed the portals and formulated a spell to close them. Within moments the power was at her fingertips and surged outwards in an array of golden beams, firing in all directions. All at once the rifts were sealed until only the great fracture in the floor remained.

Twilight's eyes widened, she drew her hands together and summoned her own magic. Armed with an orb of pure magical force she surged forwards, at Sunset.

Sunset countered effortlessly, putting up a simple, if powerful, shield and surged forward to meet her.

As the two of them clashed, there was a brief moment where only their silhouettes were visible, cast as stark shadows in the light of the spells colliding. In that moment Sunset felt something. Determination, worry, confidence, fear, desperation. A flood of emotions that weren't her own.

Unbeknownst to her, her friends had felt the same, stuck part way between their eyes widening in surprise and squeezing them shut to shield them from the light.

Both of them were thrown back. A single gaze at Twilight's widened, confused eyes told her she had felt it as well. Twilight quickly recovered and fired a focused beam at Sunset. She matched with a beam of her own. She would have to figure out these foreign emotions later. For now she couldn't afford to be distracted.

The beams collided in mid-air between them. For a moment their power seemed balanced, then Sunset focused and her beam started to push back Twilight's. Twilight herself grunted in effort, pushing her hands outward, then gave off a manic cackle as her beam, in turn, started pushing back Sunset's. Sunset saw the beam approaching and found herself powerless to stop it.

"Twilight"

The shout had come from below, with some part of her mind Sunset recognized the voice as Spike's. Twilight however seemed more distracted by it, Sunset could feel her confusion through whatever connection they seemed to share, could sense her focus weakening as her magical assault let up slightly. Twilight looked down upon the dog and found herself paralized by his large, pleading eyes.

"Spike?"

As the magical assault further weakened, and the eerie glow momentarily faded from Twilight's eyes, Sunset decided to press her luck. She focused and pushed Twilight's beam back. Further and further. By the time Twilight realized what was happening, she was too late to stop it.

A drawn out shout of "Noooo!" was all that could be heard before everything went white around her. Sunset cut her beam and surged forward into the bright Pillar of light.

In the white void Twilight's eyes lost their eerie glow and, as before her some of the white tinted a golden yellow and coalesced into the form of Sunset, she saw that her eyes had lost their otherworldly shine as well. For a moment they simply stared at one another. Round pupils into slitted ones, blue in purple. Then Sunset started floating closer.

She could feel Twilight's fear. Before her mental eye it was suddenly her that was there, beaten and fallen after the Fall Formal, lonely and afraid, the white void replaced by a deep crater before the school. The hand she stretched out before her a soft purple. She blinked and the image vanished. Once more it was Twilight, floating there in the void. Sunset's mind was made up.

"Take my hand, Twilight. Let me show you there's another way... just like someone once did for me."

Slowly at first, Twilight reached out her hand, hesitating for but a moment before grabbing onto Sunset's. The moment they came into contact, both felt the surge of magic coursing through them. A golden flame erupted from their hands, and licked up Twilight's arm, as it washed over her eyes, the glowing frames around them burned away in a golden light. Finally it reached her horn and quickly flowed up along it until even the very tip of it had burned away.

Both could sense themselves starting to descend. Suddenly they both broke through the edge of the pillar of light they had found themselves in. As they softly landed on the floor where the hole had once been, the thin stream of light between them fell apart into sparks, their forms returning to normal.

Instinctually, Sunset stepped closer to Twilight and took her into a calming hug. It only took Twilight a moment to reciprocate.

"I am so sorry... I didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

Sunset couldn't help but smile. "I know. And going by my own experiences, they'll forgive you."

At a sudden bark from their side they split apart and looked over, there, Spike ran towards Twilight, carrying the glasses she had dropped. He jumped up at her and she caught him in her arms, only giggling as she fell backwards and landed on the floor, cradling her loyal companion for a moment before taking her glasses off of him and putting them back on.