//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Twilight Snaps 
// Story: Supernova 
// by NightCoreMoon 
//------------------------------//

/x/x/x/

“And when I destroy this scroll,” Starlight Glimmer growled. “There'll be no way for you to change it!”

As the unicorn tore the parchment in half, severing it completely, Twilight felt her heart sink, plummeting into the depths of her stomach. Still, one last smoldering ember of hope remained that she could still be reached. Spike clung to her back, offering a sympathetic squeeze.

“Starlight, you're right!” Twilight pleaded, stepping closer. “I don't know what you went through! But I do know you can't do this! I've seen where this leads, and so have you!”

“I only saw what you showed me!” Starlight snapped, turning towards the race. “Who knows what'll really happen?”

“I've seen it a dozen times!” Twilight replied, fighting the urge to prepare a lethal magic blast. Her horn was stayed by her desire to find the spark of goddess inherent in every pony, even the ones who have committed grave atrocities, somewhere deep inside of them. “Things don't turn out well in Equestria without my friends!”

Starlight said nothing to this. She merely stood there, watching the race as a cone formed in front of the young Rainbow Dash. The wind gently rustled her mane, and she looked pensive for a moment, as if reconsidering. But then her face darkened, and her horn began to glow.

“Equestria will manage.” She said, before blasting Rainbow out of the sky.

“NO!” Twilight screamed, tackling her. But it was too late. Rainbow’s back legs could be seen almost comically sticking out of a nearby cloud if not for the context. The trio fell through the sky.

“What have you done!?” Twilight shrieked, heart tearing into pieces. Spike clung to her neck and screamed as they fell.

“I took away your friends!” Starlight gloated. “And your cutie marks!”

“You don't even fully grasp just how badly you just ruined everything!” Twilight screamed, rage fueling her. She angled her wings to fall parallel to the grinning unicorn. “That rainboom did so much more than just give us out marks, it gave me Spike!”

Starlight’s smile faded into a look of pure confusion. “What?”

“I never would have hatched Spike!” Twilight growled through grit teeth, angling closer to Starlight. “The shock of feeling the rainboom happen caused a surge of magic that made me hatch a dragon egg at my entrance exam, right now. Right now I'm failing the exam! I could drag you there and show you.”

“I didn't know...” Starlight’s face visibly paled. “I didn't know!”

“You never bucking asked me!” Twilight cursed, tears streaming upwards with the current. “The first thing Celestia ever had me do when I got into the school was was take care of Spike! That's how we met! That's how he joined my family!”

The ground was now rapidly approaching.

“Why didn't you just lead with that!?” Starlight exclaimed, horn beginning to glow. “Ripping a family apart is way worse than-”

“Worse than what?” Twilight cut her off, vitriol and bitterness dropping off her teeth. “Ripping a friendship apart? Enslaving ponies in a cult? Kidnapping and brainwashing and psychological torture? I didn't think I had to play the family card to reach you, you... you psychopath!” She spit the last word, before smacking Starlight with her hoof.

A moment later she teleported, a teal snap replacing her in the air, reappearing a split second later on the ground. Twilight closed her eyes and teleported herself, reappearing right next to the unicorn, who was rolling her jaw.

“I thought maybe you would listen to reason!” Twilight roared. “I thought you were just a sad and misunderstood filly who had a rational and logical reasoning behind your slow descent into a tyrant. I thought I could help you, shape you, reform you like I did with my friends and I for Nightmare Moon.”

Starlight’s eyes widened. “Wait, that was you?”

“Of course it was us, you ignorant tunnel minded fool!” Twilight glared at her with the anger of a thousand suns. “Like Fluttershy did with Discord. Like I did with Sunset Shimmer. I thought you weren’t evil to the same degree that Queen Chrysalis and the Sirens and Lord Tirek are.” Twilight trembled with pure unbridled fury. “But I guess I was wrong.”

“I'll fix it then!” Starlight pleaded. “I could find the pieces of the scroll and-”

“You had better,” Twilight threatened, stalking towards her. “Or else I don't know just what I'll do to you.”

“You should have told me you stopped Nightmare Moon!” Starlight argued, defensively. “And Tirek... and the lord of chaos... and the changeling queen. You never told me that your friends did all of that.”

“Its national news, you ignorant idiot!” Twilight cried, flinging her hoof to the side. “But obviously cutting contact with the outside world was your biggest thing during your fascist regime. But were you too blind and driven by retaliation after we took you down to look at any newspaper at all?”

“I was upset!” Starlight exclaimed. “I grew up alone and friendless, and I finally had something good in my life, and you all ruined it!”

“The map sent us! Your actions forced the hoof of the Elements of Harmony. It wasn't my fault that you were doing something evil and wrong and your actions caught up to you and you had to face the consequences of holding an entire town hostage.”

Starlight shuddered. “I'm sorry-”

“Save your apologies for when you fix this. Come on, Spike, let's go speak to Princess Celestia. She can help us...” Twilight turned around to see Spike hunched over on the ground, grabbing at his stomach. His scales emanated golden dust, and he was crying.

“Spike!?” Twilight cried, galloping to his side. “Spike, what’s happening?”

“Twilight? I...” he gulped. “I don't feel so good.”

“Spike, everything's going to be fine!” Twilight lied, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her heart pumped heavily, but felt it as if it was inside another pony’s body. Her own words felt hollow leaving her mouth, echoing in her ears. “Celestia will fix this, she’ll know what to do!”

Spike crawled into Twilight’s awaiting forelegs, face twisting and contorting in pain. He placed his head to her chest and started to sob. “It hurts...”

“I know, Spike...” she whispered, holding him close. Her tears slipped down her fur and onto his head. “But the pain will be all over soon, okay?”

He gently nodded, grip weakening. Twilight began to be able to see through him, so she clenched her eyes shut.

“I don't wanna go...” he murmured, sobs slowly ceasing. His grip failed entirely, and he simply fell against her.

“I know.”

After a few more moments, he said one more thing before dissipating entirely.

“I love you... Twilight.”

And then he was gone.

Twilight opened her eyes and frantically scrambled her legs around.

“Spike!” She called, voice shaking, eyes searching the forest around her. “Spike, come back!”

Bile rose up in the back of her throat as the truth tried to settle in, but she refused it.

“I love you too!” She called, pulse slowing to a crawl. Each beat of her heart shook in her ribs like an earthquake, dizzying her, throwing her equilibrium completely off.

“I love you, I love you, I love... please come back.”

She fell to the ground, vibrating with sobs.

“Spike, please. Please come back.”

In her mind flashed all of the images and memories she had of the baby dragon. Hatching him, naming him, reading to him, living with him, studying with him, the first day they were in Ponyville together, their adventures over the course of their life here...

“Please.” She croaked. “Come back.”

In her subconscious mind she knew the dangers of time magic abuse. Destroying the timeline one experiences themselves will eventually cause them to fade away. This was all in the theoretical physics books written by Professor Sugar Cane, a colleague of hers in Canterlot.

She knew it was only a short matter of time before Spike would be gone. But she didn't realize it until it was much too late.

“I love you...”

It would be impossible to tell exactly when Twilight snapped. Whether it was the moment the scroll was torn, the moment Rainbow’s destiny was stolen, seeing Spike disintegrating, feeling him disappear, or hearing That Voice, it didn't matter.

They were all dead anyway.

“Twilight, I-” Starlight began. However, whatever the rest of the sentence was going to be was cut off by being tackled, then she found she could no longer say anything as two large blunt objects were being pressed into her throat.

Twilight’s eyes showed no emotions whatsoever. Her hair was an unkempt mess, and a stream of constant tears soaked the fur on her face. She glared down, a shadow from her bangs passing down over her face. Her jaw was clenched, but her mouth was closed.

Starlight’s eyes tracked down the alicorn; her wings were aflare, agitated. She followed Twilight’s forelegs down to just out of her own line of sight underneath her muzzle. She also realized she could no longer breathe.

She tried to move the hooves choking her, but to no avail. Twilight now had the strength of the earth ponies, after all. Starlight began to punch Twilight’s legs, aiming for the weak points. But alas, even the weak points were too strong.

Considering the oxygen to her brain was cut off, one could forgive Starlight for being slow on the uptake for realizing she could use magic. Quickly she let off a quick blast into Twilight’s face, and took a deep inhale.

“What are you-”

She was cut off again by blunt force trauma, this time to the forehead. But more specifically to a specific part of her forehead. Before Starlight could realize what had happened, she felt it again.

And again.

And again.

And then finally she put it together that she was being hit in the forehead by Twilight’s hooves.

She felt her head get battered to either side as the strikes came in from different angles. A jolt of electricity shot through her body, which could only mean one thing.

“My- horn- crazy- bitch!”

She sputtered between punches. She stopped feeling each hit, growing numb to the sensation. Eventually she grew too weak and dazed to do anything other than lay her head to the side. After a few moments that felt like hours, Starlight watched as a pale pink horn went flying off into the trees.

Logically she assumed it was her own.

Once this was done, the pressure on her neck resumed. Starlight didn't fight back.

“This is for Rainbow Dash,” she heard, echoing. The fluid that began pooling into her mouth from her nose tasted strongly of copper, and was the only thing primarily occupying her brain.

“This is for Applejack.”

Starlight was vaguely aware of one of her legs being broken. The feeling was strange, but not painful.

“This is for Fluttershy... this is for Rarity...” as the voice continued, more of her limbs were broken, the bones shattering into pieces. “This is for Pinkie Pie... this is for Sunset...”

A spiderweb pattern of bright lights appeared in Starlight’s vision. A blood red circle surrounded it, the blackness of the edges of her vision closing in, obscuring everything. And then she was no more.

“And this is for Spike.”

Twilight violently yanked on her hooves, breaking Starlight’s neck in the process.

Twilight stared down at the broken, lifeless body before her for only a moment before turning to take off in the direction of Canterlot. She stumbled once, faceplanting onto the ground, but got right back up and resumed her journey.

She wasn't in control. Nothing felt real. Spike was gone. Starlight was gone. Her friends were gone. Everything was meaningless. The Elements... if Equestria needed a new destiny, they needed a new hope.

Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset could be that hope.

If only Twilight could make it in time to change anything.

/x/x/x/

Celestia took a sip of tea.

“You want me to do what, now?”

The Princess looked across the table at her star pupil. She levitated her cup back to its saucer, and placed upon the doily. She contemplated which cake to partake in next, but ultimately decided on a cucumber sandwich instead. After all, she had a figure to watch.

“I want you,” she said, cautiously, and between bites. “To abandon your studies for the time being. And.” She sternly interjected, holding the last piece of her sandwich up, stifling the protest. “I want you to read some tomes from the forbidden library.”

A moment of silence hung thick in the air.

“We... have a forbidden library?”

Celestia popped the last bite into her mouth and winked.

“There are a lot more ancient mysteries in this castle than just that mirror you keep harping on me about, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset’s jaw hung low as her eyes unfocused. After a moment she shook her head back and forth before eyeing her mentor with suspicion.

“What kind of tomes...”

Celestia sighed and looked out the window. “I'm sure that you're familiar with the Legend of Nightmare Moon?”

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah, I was a little filly once. I had a childhood filled with nightmares about the evil mare in the moon. And I know the song... She’s living in the past but you won’t last without the proper care...”

Celestia nodded and completed the lyric. “With a royal farewell, and an animate spell, you won't have long to prepare.”

“Wow, I... didn't know you listened to pop music.”

“I govern over the entirety of the equine populated regions of Equestria. Pop music finds its way to me. It might even intrigue you to know that I also fancy the Fifty Shades of Hay trilogy.”

Sunset snorted before covering her mouth and drawing back up. She let out a small apology.

“Anyway,” Celestia continued, looking back to her charge. “Back to books, there are a few things that you must know within the next few years. As you know, the Summer Sun Celebration is coming up. Nine hundred ninety-”

“Does it have to do with the millennial festival?” Sunset asked, excitedly leaning forward in her chair. With too much gusto, unfortunately, as she nearly went careening forward into the table. With a quick spell to level the chair she found herself back on level ground, grinning sheepishly.

Celestia gave her a melancholic smile. “There are many things I will have to ask of you in the coming years. And while I cannot speak of the mirror, out of matters for national security and magics great and powerful hailing back to my own mentor, Star Swirl the Bearded... I do entrust you with tasks far more important.”

Sunset’s pride swelled, as did her awestruck grin. “Yes, Princess!” She said, clapping her hooves together. “Right away, where should I begin!?”

As Celestia drew in a breath, something crashed in through a window, landing in a heap near the table.

Sunset had jumped down in front of Celestia, lowered and with a magic blast ready to fire. She was ready to go before the figure stood up and extended her wings. Half of her facial fur was charred completely black, contrasting the pale lavender of the rest of her coat.

“An alicorn!” Sunset breathed, standing fully.

Celestia breezed past her, rapidly approaching the newcomer. She froze in her tracks, however, as she saw golden dust emanating from this pony’s fur.

“Explain,” Celestia said, sitting down, trying to ignore the bloodstains on the alicorn’s hooves. “Please.”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle...” she said, voice devoid of emotion. “In another timeline, I controlled the Element of Magic, alongside my friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie on the rest of the Elements of Harmony. We stopped Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, and Lord Tirek. Luna was reformed by the Elements. Discord was eventually reformed by Fluttershy. Chrysalis kidnapped and impersonated Cadance- uh, Mi Amore Cadenza. Sombra was forced to be destroyed. Sunset went through the mirror against your wishes and attempted to take over the world and Equestria but was stopped by my friendship and becomes an ally to Equestria. Tirek successfully convinces Discord to help him but betrays him, all of the Princesses transferred their power to me and I defeated him. Wait... I became the Princess of Magic after completing Star Swirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell then building on it to undo it because it switched the destinies of all of my friends. The reason my friends and I control the Elements of Harmony is because a few minutes ago Rainbow Dash in Cloudsdale was supposed to perform a sonic rainboom that gave my younger self a boost that hatched the dragon egg. I named him Spike. Rainbow is loyalty, and she desires to be a Wonderbolt. Applejack is in Fillydelphia but her family is in Ponyville and her destiny is as a farmer, she’s honesty. Rarity is in Ponyville and she’s generosity and her destiny is as a seamstress. Fluttershy is in the forest below Cloudsdale and she’s kindness and she takes care of animals, Pinkie Pie is on the rock farm in the San Palomino desert and she’s laughter and her destiny it to make ponies happy. There's a unicorn in Sire’s Hollow who forms a cult and steals the cutie marks of ponies, she’s the strongest unicorn I've ever met, named Starlight Glimmer, and she is responsible for stopping all of this from happening because my friends and I stopped her. Hi Sunset, you don't know me but I know you, and please don't give up on friendship. But Princess, in the mirror is another world of bipedal creatures called humans, and it's Sunset’s destiny to go inside and befriend the counterparts of me and my own friends and stopping the dark magic within, such as the Sirens who have been trapped there since Star Swirl banished them. There isn't anything else I can tell you other than it’s been an honor serving you on behalf of all of Equestria...”

Twilight saluted as her wings slowly disintegrated.

Celestia stepped to her and pulled her close to her own chest, silently weeping.

“Thank you for your service, Twilight Sparkle...”

Sunset stepped to the side of both of them, placing her hooves on their shoulders. She was confused but willing to offer support.

“I killed the Starlight from my world...” Twilight confessed, resolve cracking. “I watched my Spike fade away and... and I just lost it...”

“It's okay,” Celestia soothed. “Your sorrow and anguish is understandable... and I'm sure that by now you know that I've done equally terrible things, if not much more so.”

Twilight then began sobbing, latching firmly onto Celestia as her body became translucent.

“Where will I go!?” She wailed. “Will I go to Tartarus? Will I just disappear? Will I get to see my Spike again? My Shining? My Cadance? My Rainbow, my Applejack, my Rarity, my Fluttershy, my Pinkie... my Sunset?” She was blubbering and sniffling, choking on her own tears, and otherwise falling completely apart. “My mommy and my daddy, my Luna, my you?”

Celestia kissed the top of her head. “I'm sorry, my little pony, but... I don't know.” she whispered.

Twilight’s rear legs began to disappear.

“Can't you save me?” She pleaded, clutching tightly.

“Time magic is beyond me...” Celestia tried to rub her back but found that she could no longer make any physical contact with Twilight. “But I can stay with you until the end.”

Twilight nodded, only having the front half of her body visible.

“I wasn't ready to die...”

“None ever are,” Celestia said. “And even fewer expect it.”

Twilight opened her eyes and looked to Sunset, who was crying herself.

“You are so much more than you will ever give yourself credit for,” she said, forelegs fading out of view. “And Sunset, I... I never had a chance to say it but I loved y-”

/x/x/x/

“-ou...”

Twilight blinked and looked around the vast empty darkness surrounding her.

“Hello!?” She called.

The sound echoed.

“Spike?” She asked.

“Y̵̛̛ǫ̷̛u̡͟͠͝r̴̶̀͢͡ ̕͞t̕͞͞i͏̴̢̧̡m͝͏è͟͠ ̨͠h̢̧̀͠a̡̢̛͝ş̶͘̕͟ ̢͟n͏o҉̀͟t͏̀͞ ҉̴͞ỳ̡̛͘͜e̴̵͜͠t̡́͜ ̨͟c̵͝o͡͞͡͝m̷̨͜é͞͏,̸͟ ̨̛͞m̴̵͢͢y̵̴͠ ̷̵͘͞ć̴̡͞͏h̷̸͜͏i̢̨͜͟͟l̕͜͠d̴͡.̸̕̕͘”

Twilight snapped her head around as the disembodied voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Who are you?”

“I҉̷ ̢͠a̸͟m̴̡ ̨͢҉t͟h̶é͜ o͏̶̧ń̸͞e̴͞͡ ̴͝͝w͏h͢o ̶̢c̸ŗ̡͘e҉̴a̕t̶e͜͜͞d̷́ th̀͜ę͟͟ ̴̛͟w̶ór̡l҉͝d.̵̀͠ ̴̡̢T̸͏͞h̡ę҉ á͠͞l̡͟p̴͠h͏͝a ҉̀͜ą͠n͠d ̷͟t̷̀̕he̕҉͡ o͞m̕e̷ģá.͝ ̵͡҉T̛͟͝h̴̛e̵̡ ͠u̡̕͝n̕d͜y͘in̢҉g ҉̡m̴o̡͡r̢̢t͏̡al͟͢͡.͘͡ ̷Th̡́͢e͏͠ ̵͢i͏ń̶̡f̕͜i̸n͜͟i̵̢t̷̷͞e̵҉.̧́͝ ́͜Í ̷͝a̢̨͜m̢ ͠͠aļl ̸͏͢a̕͢n̷̢̡d̶ ͘͝no̵҉t͟hi͞ng̴̴̸.͏͞ ̡͏Į͢͟ ̡̀a̸͘m̕ ̧t̷͝he ͟o̸͟ne͟ ̧͟wh͝o̕ c͞r̢̛e͟͞a͘t̕e̴d̴́҉ ̢͞ý͢͜o̶͝u̶. ̸͢͢A̴͞nd́ ҉Ì̶ ̵͟h̢a͏vę p҉̸l͏̡a͜n͟s̨ ̴̸͘f͠ó̧҉r̷͟ ͟͏̸y̕͜o̸̸͟u̸ y̴͢͞e̡̡͞t.͢͡”

Twilight swallowed, but her heartbeat still remained firmly in her throat.

“What do you want me to do?”

No answer.

“...hello?”

“S̡͠l̸̛e̛҉ȩ̴p̸̨.͟ ̵͏Y͝ơ͠ú̷ ͝ha̡̢͟v̨͢͠e͢ h́a͘d̨ ͝a̴͜ ́͜p̵̸h́y̸̴͝s̴͞͝i̷ca҉̀l̨͘l̵҉y̸͡ ̨͏a͠nd̡͠ e͘͡m̢̀́ot̶̨͜i̛͟on̛a̶l͢͝l͏͘͠y̸͞ ̕͜e̴x͠h̨̕a̵̸u̧s̀͢t͡i̢n̵ģ̶͢ ͞d͏̴a͝ý̕͞.̴̛ ̨͢S̸̶̡l҉͝ee͏p͢,̨ ͟a͜n̷͘͠d̛ ͟͝͞r̴̶͟e̶g̡͏a̷̛iņ͝͠ ͏y̵o̷̕͠uŕ͟͞ l͢ǫ̶s̸̛t͡҉ ̀͢s̡̀t̶̀r͏e͢ng͝t̡h̶͢.̵̵͟ ̀I̡͢ ҉̶w̴i͟͠͝l͘l̴̕ ͢͟͡è͟n͏̵́ş͜ur̵̀ȩ͞ ͘͡y͞o̴̵͞ú̧͞r̸̶͞ ̶d͞r̶͟è̢́a͏̵m̸͝s̴͘ ̵̷̵ą̵r͠ȩ ̧҉p̡͘͏lȩ͢a̧sant́.̷̶ ͝͞F̸o̢r̷͜͠ ̧͢wh̨͘҉è̴̷n̷̛͞ ̴͘͟y̕͞oú̵͜ a̴͜͡w͢a̷k̷͘͟e̛n҉̡͞,̢̧̀ ̨̢th̡͟͞e̶̡r̛e̶ ̛w͏́i̸̸̢ll̛ ͟͟b̵̶e͢ ̷͜mu͟҉͢c͢h͘͝ ͟f̴͜o҉͢r̵͜͏ ̡͘͞y̴̕͞o̧u̶̧͝ ͏́t͡ò̢ ̷̀d͠ǫ̡.̸ ̶̸B̛ut͠ ́f̢r̴̨e҉t ̴n̢o̕t,̨̡̕ ̸͞l̀́it̢̨tl͘e҉҉ ̕͟͡ǫ̛͜n҉͠e͠.̵́͠ ̕͢͡Y̡̧͝o͟u͜͞ ͟w̴̕͝i̧͢l̡ĺ͟͠ ̧͠be͝ ̛ha̵p̧̧͢p̴̴y ̶̷a̛g̸ai͟͞n͟.̷ I̶͟ p͜r̀o̵͠m͏̕ì͝se̛͢ ͏̡y͞o̴͝ù̢̡ ̛͡ţ́ha̵̢t̡͝.͢͠”

Twilight pursed her lips before sighing.

“Okay...” she said.

A second passed. A century passed. Two millennia passed. One thirtysecond of a millisecond passed. Twilight couldn't tell. But eventually she did fall asleep.

And when she woke up, Spike was there to greet her.

...well, sort of.

/x/x/x/

Celestia took a sip of her tea.

Sunset ate a cucumber sandwich.

Celestia sighed. “Well,” she began. “I suppose this means that Operation Supernova has officially begun.”

Sunset somberly nodded and sipped her own tea.

“So, uh...” she began, cautiously. “About that mirror-”

“Drink your tea, Sunset.”

She did as commanded. Still, Sunset couldn't shake the alicorn’s words. She said it herself, destiny dictated that she belonged in that mirror. And by Celestia she would do it. Eventually. She just had to play her cards right...

/x/x/x/