//------------------------------// // Setting awareness (Part 2) // Story: Equestria Girls - State Of Emergency // by EliteLenny223 //------------------------------// 1636 hours… Canterlot High School students were either leaving school or just roaming around the school at the end of the day. Most of the students however were still baffled by one thing in their lives: Seeing two of Twilight. The two Twilights had a lot of looks from students and a lot of mutters. They’re somehow openly baffled by two of them existing there. A few of them even attempted to ask what it’s about, but Princess Twilight told them to be considerate, since most already know she’s a princess. Arriving at the front courtyard statue with not so many students there, Princess Twilight hugged her human counterpart. “It’s nice being here with our friends. It’s been a while since I spent some time with them.” Human Twilight adjusted her glasses while she smiled and gently pulled away from the hug. “Hey… You’re always welcome here, Princess. It’s just…” She hesitate for a little, even expecting her princess counterpart to reply. Cutting it short, she had to continue. “You know what I noticed especially when you were talking to Applejack and Rarity? You were really getting into their heart straight since… I’ve been very much into Friendship Magic after what happened at Camp Everfree and I’ve been getting better at how I handle mine. But I only serve as someone at the sidelines, and not material. And you are-” “Whoa whoa whoa…” Princess Twilight responds to interrupt. “Twilight, of course there’s a difference between both of us. I’m… a little more experienced with it ever since, knowing I’ve been leading my friends through rough situations back at Equestria. They even see me as a leader, and the princesses in the world declare the same. You might not be the same as I am, but you belong to a circle of friends. And you might not be the leader, but you are just as important. I don’t completely stress that I’m superior. I’m just one of the cogs that work in the clock gears if you get what I mean.” Listening to her princess counterpart, Twilight turns her head away. “A big cog,” she mutters. “Hm…” Princess Twilight raises an eyebrow while narrowing her eyes to try making a point. “Twi, you should know that, and it’s been a long while now. Friendship works that way, and it doesn’t stress a condition that someone is much stronger than the other. Sunset Shimmer leads the circle you’re in, deserving as the leader since she’s able to more than understand the meaning of Friendship. But it doesn’t make her more superior. Me being a princess doesn’t really change anything.” Finally understand what the princess was saying, Twilight nods. “Thanks a lot, Princess. I’ll make sure to keep the circle strong. I guess with seven of us, we’re stronger together.” “You’ll be tested. There’s no doubt about it,” Princess Twilight said. “You remember you told me something before about your dark self?” “Yeah. Midnight Sparkle.” “There’s always a sense of darkness inside each of you, and it’s only at the worst times that it comes out. I’m recommending you don’t use that side of you to solve problems. Otherwise, you’ll be hurting what you already built. You built that strong relationship because of interdependency. And I did the same. So if the worst comes… realize you’re not alone.” Princess Twilight then puts her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. “One thing I’m sure is… You’re close to Sunset because she helped you with the problems she had before, that I was able to somehow help her with just by acts of good deeds. You can do your part by doing the same thing. We might be different… But I feel that we’re connected.” As Human Twilight smiled, she noticed her other friends including Sunset were coming at their direction. The blonde-haired Applejack called out first while she waved. “Hey ya there! Y’all thought we wouldn’t see ya leave without one more goodbye?” The purple-haired Rarity spoke next. “Princess, thank you very much for coming! Somehow, the visit was quite worth it.” “Totally worth it!” happily shrieked the pink puffy-haired Pinkie Pie who satirically jumped to spook Rarity a little. “I could have gone and puffed out sparkles to liven the mood! Sorry if class took a little too long.” Sunset was closer to the two Twilights. “Princess Twilight, we wish you very well from here back to Equestria. Thanks for talking to your counterpart. Twilight’s confident ever since she’s gained her powers and control it.” Princess Twilight nods and smiles. “I’m glad all of you were to finally get your magic. Just use it wisely, even if it’s so much. I want you all to be safe. And though it might be less exciting around here-” She stops her speech the moment she realized she said it was less exciting. It wasn’t exciting, but in fact dangerous, but it doesn’t mean the seven in Earth can’t handle that danger. “Never mind,” Princess Twilight said. “I’m confident in what you girls can do.” She then looks at her human counterpart. “Especially you, Twilight.” After saying that, Human Twilight adjusted her glasses not sure of what she feels. After saying her goodbyes, she goes through the statue on the front courtyard, letting the fluid portal close as she crossed. Eventually, the group of seven is now heading to the gym together. At this time, Rarity had something in mind. “Hm… Sunset, you told us that the discussion would be about our identities, right? We’re seeing Principal Celestia and Luna for this?” “Yeah, they set this up,” Sunset replied. “Just that there’s a plus one.” “A- a plus one?” replied Fluttershy who’s less of a speaker for the day, having a semi-whispering voice. She had a little flower on her pink hair that for some reason she’s maintaining. She continued to speak up. “Who could their guest be?” Sunset sighs. “Not a guest. He’s… He has a good reason to be here… around us…” She softens her voice at each of the few words he says. “…such a good eye… such a stalker…” Fluttershy could even hear Sunset’s voice and was still clear even as the sound fades. This made her think Sunset was thinking of something deep. Meanwhile in the indoor gymnasium, Charlie was pacing back and forth near one side of the seat rows while Celestia and Luna were seated on the front-most near him. Luna was looking at Charlie pace back and forth until she finally had enough. “Charlie, you have got to calm yourself!” Charlie briefly groaned and looked at Luna. “What? You’re serious about this right now? The moment I allowed myself to be out here instead of being remotely here, I’ve already gotten my position compromised. I’m not usually out here in the open, especially when I’m too close to the subjects the Mayor’s actually observing! Heck, there’s no doubt she knows the Agency is in play because of this just because I’m here!!” “I understand your debacle, but is that what you’re concerned of more than just the reputation and safety of our students? You are an abiding citizen of this country and you’re expected to protect your fellow countrymen… and women!” Luna’s statement sounded a little weird after making that late addition, making Celestia look at her briefly. “You two could have handled this fine with Sunset-” “We talked about this” replied Celestia then, “and we agreed that you’re a guardian to all seven of them in the case that Mayor Warren would come too close in asserting her authority. I’ve seen what she could do with how she influences everyone in Canterlot City. At some times, she could make others submissive without them even touching her, not even giving those people a choice. This makes me suspicious of her behavior. That’s why I wanted you to be there to prevent her from doing anything worse than how she’d appear to do.” Charlie groans quietly and mutters to himself. “It’s a plan, but I don’t like it…” The group of seven girls was already outside the double doors of the indoor gym before it was opened. Twilight was up in front of the group that time when she went in front to see if there was anyone in the gym. She was a little confused of something just before she looked beside her, only to see that she’s alone. Her friends weren’t there. There wasn’t anyone in the gym, and it would seem she came alone in the gym. Twilight looks around and adjusted her glasses, being alert as she would always be. Then as she blinked the next time, she found herself not in the gymnasium but sitting on a wooden chair, while it stood on an invisible floor in a room where the stars of the universe exist and all colors relating to the aura of life were seen as something magical. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing and she even stood up to look at what she was missing. She even reached out to touch what seemed to be sprinkles of pink powder, and even felt the warmth of yellow rays that made her think of kindness. Suddenly putting her hands near her chest, Twilight felt a familiar presence, something cold, numbing, but gently soothing to herself. She felt arms wrap around her head from behind and hands holding her arms softly. She recognized to purple arm braces that she once wore at a time she had lost herself… a time when at the Friendship games, releasing a bad combination of magic led her to be consumed by what she let go, to turn her into a monster. All this time, the one behind Twilight holding her softly was… “Midnight Sparkle.” She muttered this name, and the figure behind her smiled. Midnight put her mouth near Twilight’s ear to whisper. “Nice to see you too, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight holds Midnight’s hands with her own but never dared to look behind her, eventually feeling annoyed. “I always felt you didn’t go away… Even when I’m completely free from your control thanks to the geodes we found.” “And you and your friends completely annihilated me just for the sake of your friendship. I think it’s cheap, Twilight. Because it’s missing a lot. Me.” Midnight’s words forced Twilight to suddenly keep Midnight’s hands apart to let her go. But as Twilight stepped forward to move away, Midnight appeared right in front of her glaring. “ADMIT IT, Twilight. Deep down, you need me. I no longer control you, but you can control what essence I have left in you. You’re incomplete without me.” “There’s always been a catch, Midnight!!” Twilight hissed by speaking loudly in her reply. “I’m not falling for it again. Cinch led me to believe I could use the magic I stole back at CHS, only for me to turn into a monster!!! I’m not doing that again!” “Tch. Typical Twilight, proud of just changing herself and not looking at the fact that the littlest things that you didn’t completely remove from me was your curiosity. I was always high in it and I was always a part of you. Magic is something more complex than how you know it, and you’ve seen Equestria through your eyes because of it. You never even went to Equestria in the first place, but you finally got what you needed.” “I, no… YOU DAMAGED THE WORLD WHILE YOU LED ME IN MY FORM!!! It’s…” Twilight refused to say more while she felt her eyes were wet in her tears. Midnight even felt Twilight’s emotions partially while a single tear left through her left eye. But she glared right at Twilight before she suddenly flies insane fast to leave a purple trail behind her and gripped her hand on Twilight’s shirt collar before lifting both of them up with her wings, making them hover as she held Twilight. “Your power is changing thanks to the geodes you found and kept one for yourself. Indeed, the magic flowing from the geode influences you what you can do with it. But did you know your own body is becoming one with the geode?” “What-? You mean… it’s infusing itself? I checked it and it looked unchanged to me.” “Well… while we’re here, it’s being inserted into your body. You used a necklace to keep it hanging below your neck. You don’t know that the geode is being sucked into your body. This is why I was able to speak to you for much longer.” Midnight chuckled, nearing her face to Twilight’s. “You’re changing, Twilight. But it doesn’t mean it will be just you. In the later future, your friends will start following suit.” “No…! I’m not listening to you! I WILL NEVER LISTEN TO YOU!! YOU ARE GOING TO TEAR US APART!!!” “You’re very wrong, Twilight. I’m ensuring our survival through what I tell you now! Even if you leave now, you’d know that you no longer have your geode. It’s now inside you.” Midnight said these words and Twilight is starting to struggle. “Don’t fight your own power, as it’s crazy enough. Believe in both sides of it, darkness and light. It’s how we’ll both survive.” “NO!!” Twilight screamed at Midnight, showing rage in her heart and letting a small purple light glow from her chest. “I never want you to be with me… NEVER AGAIN! I’d rather tear you open than be with you! I don’t want you to break our friendship!!” Midnight snorted in annoyance with what Twilight demanded. “If I wished the same thing, it cuts both ways. Be careful what you wish for, Nerdy.” She then unhands Twilight, before seeing her scream and fall to the endless space of stars below. “I’ll see you around, Twilight. We’ll be friends for a long time.” “MIDNIGHT!!!” Twilight screams in fear calling her dark counterpart, trying to reach with her hands only to feel herself falling. Then Twilight heard voices, coming from Sunset, and eventually Rainbow Dash, and then from Fluttershy. Soon, Rarity’s, Applejack’s and Pinkie Pie’s voice followed, before Twilight’s reality returned. Sunset was shocked as Twilight herself was on her knees panting hard feeling the gymnasium’s polished floor with her hands. She called Twilight for many times, but Twilight only heard a blur on the sounds just before it’s slowly becoming clear. “Twilight… Twilight!! Are you okay?! What happened to you-?” Sunset gasped at what she saw next. Twilight was holding what could have been the necklace Twilight owns, with the crystal geode on it, but it was no longer there. The necklace was cut from the places where the geode is supposedly wrapped from. “Where’s yours?!” Sunset got on her knees to snap Twilight out of it. She made Twilight lean back until her back was straight and her head was leveled with her own before gently slapping Twilight’s face with her hand. “Look at me!” Twilight was well awake when she was gently slapped and suddenly glared at Sunset. “Leave me alone,” she muttered loudly. She put a light purple aura around Sunset before pushing her friend to her back. The other girls gasped at this just as she lets go of Sunset and gets on her feet before running for the door and quickly getting out of sight. But Sunset couldn’t have it and got on her feet before coming after her friend. “TWILIGHT!!! WAIT!” Sunset left through the gym’s double doors. Even Celestia, Luna, and Charlie were shocked of this. Charlie however was more collected on this. Rarity felt sympathetic and attempted to go after the other two, but Applejack stopped her. “Applejack-?” “Let her go,” Applejack said. “What happened to Sunset? I think it wasn’t an accident.” “How so?” “I saw Twilight’s eyes, Rarity. Dunno about y’all, but they were normal as it should have been. Twilight’s been feelin’ real, and she’s serious about what she’s doing with her magic. That? It isn’t a common shove. Y’all see what happened when she used it? There’s little shape of a horn on her head and it disappeared when she stopped holdin’ Sunset.” “Darn,” Rainbow Dash said while she scratched her head. “Looks like we gotta be careful. I know who makes that kind of tone.” Applejack listened attentively and got what Rainbow meant. “Thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” “Yeah.” And both Applejack and Rainbow Dash said it at the same time: “Midnight Sparkle.” Charlie was able to read lips as a part of her Agency training even if the sounds weren’t necessary and he heard that name again. Shaking his head, he decides to take a seat beside Luna, while Celestia was comforting the other five girls who were left behind in the gym. “Who’s Midnight Sparkle?” he asked Luna. Luna narrowed her eyes looking at Charlie. “From Twilight’s perspective, it’s a result of a combination of magic that led her to act like a tyrant during the Friendship games. If I’m right, the power she had amplified Twilight’s dark desires to know more about the other world. You should be careful what you ask for, Agent.” Charlie shrugged. “No need to be concerned, Vice Principal. I dared anyway.” Just outside the gym, Sunset and Twilight were talking. “I’m telling you, that it will change me,” Twilight said before throwing the incomplete necklace on the floor for Sunset to see. “There. Proof that my geode is no longer with me. And…” Twilight lets her shirt collar down so that one side of her neck can be seen just before some magic acted and let some sort of mark appear on her neck. It was a group of stars as the biggest one that is light purple-pinkish in color was unique from the rest, small and white. With magic again, she lets it subside and disappear. Sunset’s shock was calming down, but even she wants to believe it. “I… I don’t know what to say.” “You don’t need to say anything, Sunset. Now may not be the time to talk about this. I CAN tell you however…” As Twilight paused in her speech, magic worked through her that a shape of a horn seen through her magical aura appeared before she herself used her magic, and Sunset was being surrounded by the same aura before being lifted up a few feet off the floor. “I could use magic with no difficulty.” “You’re amazing… Not even lifting a finger on this too… And you said it’s just… easy?” “I didn’t say it was easy,” replied Twilight who was eventually lowering her friend to the floor and letting go of her magic with it, letting her horn fade out. “I said I could do it with no difficulty, seeing as it had a cost in what I am.” “What you are-? Wait a minute.” Sunset approached Twilight hoping to see her memories for herself. Twilight welcomes Sunset’s plan and reaches her hand. “See for yourself.” Sunset knew with Twilight’s invitation that something really happened with her friend. Holding Twilight’s hand, Sunset had a vision. To her, it took a minute. In reality, it was only a few seconds. And with the vision finished, Sunset stepped back and shook her head before feeling fear creep in. “W-What…? Impossible…!” Twilight was looking down. “I wasn’t sure of how to tell you about Midnight Sparkle, Sunset.” Then she looked back up. “But one thing can’t be changed. I was once the monster you saw… curious, and proud of what I find. I even attempted to find access to Equestria.” “But that was Midnight Sparkle!! That isn’t you!!!” “Tch. Sunset, maybe you don’t know about it before, but instead of feeling that I’m proud of you having powers, I should be envious I was never in your place as a leader.” Twilight said this making Sunset glare at her. Twilight answered to shoot back at Sunset’s gesture. “What’s wrong, Sunset? Can’t face the truth I envy you now?” “Where the heck is this coming from?!!” “It’s coming from me!” Twilight glared as she replied before turning her back on her friend, looking over her shoulder. “Maybe you’ll understand what I feel when your own geodes decide to fuse with you. Your own darkness would show up first.” “No… That can’t happen!” “It’s already happened to me! And soon… to you too.” Twilight said her last words before walking away. “See me later after what you talked about. I’m tired.” Sunset sighed and frowned as she saw Twilight walk away… Then she heard the sound of thunder from afar, even as she was inside the school. The clouds were dark in the sky, and the atmosphere around Sunset’s circle was one with a bad mood…