//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: Midnight's Reign Part 1 // Story: The Tournament Of Friendship // by FourShadow //------------------------------// With a groan of metal and the crackle of electricity, Midnight Sparkle flapped her wings, as she soared around to the back of Canterlot High School. Her glowing eyes narrow, focusing on the last gap in the barrier she had been setting up around the building… And the group of students there, trying to make a break for it. This will not do. Midnight raises a hand, her eyes flashing. A moment’s concentration, and the magic surges to her command. With a single thought, the illusion of the barrier completed, crackling with electricity, flickers into existence… And then, with another thought, the illusion became reality. Atoms transmute, oxygen and hydrogen to iron and carbon, becoming steel; directed by her thought, made possible by the miraculous power that now resides in her. A single gesture, and sheer will, and electric current flows between the towers, linking them all. In less than a second, the barrier stood complete. The people remain safe inside… quarantined from the dangers that the Equestrian magic posed to them. “Let us out!” “You can’t do this!! Please!” Someone tried to rush the fence, in sheer desperation. Midnight’s eyes widened, and she directed the magic, and the towers pulsed at her command, blasting out a wave of sound that knocked the boy back before he can hurt himself on the electricity. No one else tried anything, but the shouting continued. Midnight frowned. That had been a close call. She was still adapting to these powers… but she would soon get used to it. There was so much work that needed to be done. But she could do it, and she would. She could make everything right. “Twilight!” The distant sound of someone calling her old name makes Midnight turn her head, curious. The sound repeats itself, coming from the other side of the barrier, right at the front of the school. Midnight flapped her wings once more, and propelled more by the magic itself than by the metal extending from her armor, she soared to hover above the school, looking down at the person before her; his face desperate, pacing back and forth as he stares through the barrier as through trying to see into the school itself, looking for someone... “Twilight! Twily!” Midnight blinked, confused. She remembered Twilight’s argument with her brother, but here he is, calling for her. He’s afraid for her. Touching, but unnecessary. Twilight Sparkle is Midnight Sparkle now, and she knows what she’s doing. “Twilight!” Midnight watches Shining, and she can hear the panic in his voice as he tries to look for some way through the barrier. And she feels a sudden twinge inside… concern for her brother. He sounded so worried… She could fix that. She would show him that there was nothing to worry about. “Twily” was fine… in fact, she was better than she ever had been. Midnight gently descent from the sky, folding her wings as she comes to hover just above the ground, as she addresses her brother. ”Hello, Shining Armor…” “Twilight?!” Shining Armor looked up, and his heart sank into the pits of his stomach. He could not believe his eyes. His little sister... was this armored thing!? "Twily, wh... what happened to you?" "Magic, and so much more than I ever imagined..." Shining was shocked, despite himself. “Magic?” ”Yes, Shining Armor. Magic. It’s real. It’s all real – magic, monsters, and everything else that we thought was impossible, stuff of fairy tales.” Midnight spread her wings, and Shining stepped back as she lifted off again, hovering over him, eerily like some angel about to bring judgment. “It’s all out there, Shining Armor – a whole other world… and it’s leaking into ours…” her eyes narrowed, “infecting it.” ”I know you thought I was wrong. But I can assure you, big brother, that I’ve never been more right. I know what I need to do, and I won’t let anyone get hurt. I’ll fix all of this.” And with that, she flapped her wings, and takes off again, to hover above the school. Shining Armor stares after her, shading his eyes as he tries to keep her in sight… it’s all he can do at the moment, as all manner of horrible thoughts run through his mind: How could this have happened? What could have turned her into this? There had to have been something – some kind of warning sign, something he could have said, or done, anything… couldn’t he? Why didn’t he realize things were so wrong sooner? When did he lose his little sister? He was so caught up in these thoughts, that it was a great shock when he suddenly realized that he was not alone. Other people had shown up, gathering at the scene, frightened by the metal barrier and the metal-winged form hovering around the school. “What’s going on? Who could have done this?” “My kid’s in there!” “This is like that musical showcase all over again…” Suddenly, there were flashing red and blue lights, and Shining spotted a police car on the scene. The officer gets out, and cautiously eyes the electric fence-type structure that had been put around the school. He spotted Shining, and waves at him to get away from there. High above the school, the police lights drew Midnight’s attention as well. She turned from studying the statue outside CHS, and the portal within, her eyes narrowing in mild annoyance. ”If it isn’t one thing…” She spread her wings, and then floated across the courtyard towards the policeman and the gathered onlookers. The crowd, already nervous, got more worked up as the dark armored figure came nearer. Shining Armor remained standing stock still, eyes locked on his transformed little sister; he had no idea what she intended to do. Twilight, please, if you’re still in there, please don’t hurt any of them… However, Midnight did not make a violent move. Instead, with the magic absorbed from Amethyst Star, she projected her voice, so that it rung forth like the edict of a god. ”Do not be afraid. I do not mean you or this school any harm. There is a great threat to this world, right in this area. I am here to help. I will stop this threat, you have my word.” She paused briefly, then her wings flapped, emitting a bright burst of electricity, as her voice booms forth. ”I will stop this threat, and any other. Do not interfere.” The police officer raised his voice, trying to get her attention… and also, trying to sound calm and remain professional. “Wait! Hold on – whoever you are, can’t we talk about this? What IS this threat you’re talking about?” Midnight ignored him. “Please! Just talk to me! We can settle this without any trouble!” No response. The police officer, quickly turns back to run for his car. "Definitely need backup…” Meanwhile, Shining Armor felt his stomach lurch, as he looks over the whole scene – Midnight hovering over the school and its statue, her hands glowing with arcs of crackling energy; the onlookers becoming more and more worked up; the policeman on the radio, calling for backup. Shining felt like the world has dropped out from under him. His little sister, his Twily, has turned into something else, something he barely can recognize as his sister, and has taken a school hostage. His heart hammers, and he feels sick, wondering, fearing what else could happen, all the ways that it could get even worse… “Shiny!” Startled, Shining turned his head so fast he swore he can hear his neck crick. “Cady!?” Yes, indeed, it was her, and she looked terrified as she waved to him. Shining, reluctant, with a glance back at – whatever Twilight’s become – finally forces himself to run to Cadence. “Cadence, what are you doing here?” “I saw what looked like an explosion! There was this huge flash of light, I could see it from blocks away! How could I not notice something like that, Shining Armor!” Cadence was worked up at first, but ended up hugging him. “I’m just glad you’re all right…” Shining, not saying a word, returns the hug, weakly. He looks back at the school, at the metallic figure in the air overhead… Cadence, noticing where his attention lies, looked over, concerned. “I can’t believe it, Shiny… do you have any idea what happened here?” Shining Armor didn't say anything. He wasn't even sure if he can. “Shining Armor?” She asked tentatively. “Shiny?” Looking at the school, suddenly a thought occurs to her, and she gasped. “Is Twilight in that school? Do you know if she’s all right?” Shining chokes at that. He feels almost sick. Cadence looks up at him, even more concerned. “Shiny, what’s wrong?”, she asked gently. Shining Armor swallowed, and finally, he managed to get the words out. “Cady… Twilight… she’s not all right.” He looked, and she followed his gaze, up to the winged form of what was once his little sister… Midnight Sparkle floats above the school grounds, electricity crackling between the metallic “bones” of her wings. Her eyes, and attention, are focused on one thing and one thing only: the statue that sits outside the school entrance. In that innocuous block of marble that the statue rests on, is the source of all this trouble. The magic from another dimension, bleeding over from one reality into another… bringing monsters with it… Contaminating this world. But she could fix this. She remembered taking some of it's magic the day before, but now she could collect the rest of it! Midnight hovers closer to the statue and its base. Her eyes flash white, the magical flames ringing them crackling with energy as she focuses her power, stretching out a hand. She can practically feel the magic in the base of the statue. It resonates with her, radiates power like heat from a furnace, that only she can see, can hear, can almost taste. This portal was the epicenter of everything – it is a source of power like nothing she could have ever dreamed of, a swirling ocean of rainbow light and energy, a bridge to another plane of existence… and the vector of this magical infestation. Midnight frowns, thinking. Merely blowing up the statue would be shortsighted at best, catastrophic at worst. What if the magic exploded, or worse, dispersed all over the entire city? Everyone would have been hurt. No, she would have to study this further… A sample will be needed for analysis… She held up a hand, and it glowed with electric current. And then she thrusts it out, and sent the current of energy arcing into the portal itself… before she suddenly reversed the flow of power, and sucked the electricity back into herself… along with a surge of magic from the portal! The portal reacted badly to the disruption– its surface rippled and twisted, like a lake whose waters have been disturbed by a stone tossed into its depths. Midnight ignored the portal for the moment, as she closed her eyes, and concentrated. She can feel the bit of power she’s added to herself, this piece of the bridge spanning realities, and it is a sensation that words cannot describe. She can feel this magic, this mere droplet of unbelievable power, burning within her like a miniature sun! For an awful second, it feels like she will be overwhelmed by this power… but, then, she can feel it stabilize, and Midnight opens her eyes again. And, she smiles… ”Good…” She looks to her hands, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she thinks about the new magic that she has added to herself. ”Hmm… I wonder…” She channeled a bit of magic to her hands, and then, carefully, focusing her will, she swipes a hand across the air— and a portal forms in response! Midnight’s eyes widened as she gazes upon the portal, and the sight that it contains: what looks like a manticore, yawning as it settles in for a nap. ”Hmm…” She gestured again, and the portal’s view changes. Now she sees what looks like a medieval village, except that all the inhabitants are— ”Ponies? Curious…” A third time, she casts her magic, and the portal changes to show her – the inside of a house? Not a normal house though. No, this is a house gone mad: for the walls are all different colors and types of construction, the staircase is upside down, Midnight can see that the couch has piano keys for seats and sheet music for the back, there’s a giant donut hanging like a tire swing… And sitting in an armchair on the ceiling, is the most bizarre creature that Midnight’s ever seen. Mismatched body parts, a long serpentine body, a lion’s paw, eagle talons, goat’s hoof, lizard’s claw, and a vaguely equine head with two different horns… the impossible thing is just sitting there, reading a blank newspaper and drinking a cup of tea—as in, literally drinking the cup, and leaving the tea untouched. The outrageous creature suddenly looks up, and gives Midnight a look. “Ahem. Do you mind?” And, snapping the claws on one hand, the creatures causes the portal to vanish. Midnight blinks, nonplussed. ”Okay… that was unanticipated…” Determined still, she turns back to the portal, and again, she casts her power into it… and began to pull all the magic out of the portal! Midnight’s teeth grit, her eyes widened as she felt the sheer surge that she has just opened herself to. The power that she is tapping into, that she is bringing under her control, is massive, nearly indescribable – it burns in her veins, a rainbow nova of energy that was like trying to squeeze an entire galaxy into a box! Midnight Sparkle hisses in pain, as sparks and flashes of colorful energy spit and burst from her hands, from her wings. She almost swears that a spark comes out of her mouth as she tries to hold onto the magic she is drawing from the portal! Determined, but pained, she continued. ”I can... I can do this…” The thought runs through her mind, over and over again. I can do this. I must do this. She can do this… She can… She-- A scream involuntarily forces itself from Midnight’s lips, and rainbow energy explodes out of her, illuminating the courtyard with blinding color and light. Even at the epicenter of the explosion of magic, Midnight can swear that she heard someone calling her name… And then, finally, Midnight opens her eyes again… and they widen, as she beholds what her efforts have wrought. Portals – portals all over the school grounds. Through one, she can see ponies, staring in fright at the hole in their world. And in another, a dragon – different from the red one from before – snarls as it crouches protectively over its hoard. There are still more portals that have been opened, showing everything from ponies to griffons, to a gigantic blue bear with stars in its fur! ”No…” She did all of this. She meant to close her world to magic, and now she has torn holes in the wall between her world and the world of magic and monsters. Midnight clenches her fists, breathing hard and furious. Her armor is pitted and her wings dented from the explosion, but she repaired them with the magic still at her disposal. Electric currents blazed between her wings once more and she took to the air as she surveys the scene, already working on a plan to fix all of this. She saw the portal – the statue itself is utterly gone, vaporized in the explosion, the base of the statue itself looks hardly any better, scorched and cracked and the portal itself is a violently swirling display of rapidly-changing colors… She was thankful the base was still standing. She knew for a fact this can be fixed. All of this will be fixed… I can make this right. I can make all of this right— “Twily! Twily, please stop!!” “Twilight! Please, listen to us!” Those voices make Midnight stop in surprise, and she turns her head to look. The first thing she realizes is, that when her magic exploded, it knocked out the electric current she had placed around the school to deter interference. And then the second thing, is just who has managed to run through the vacant barrier and is approaching her. Shining Armor, once again, and with him… Oh, Midnight’s eyes narrowed at the sight. ”Cadence.” As Midnight glared down at Shining Armor and Cadence, the rest of the Shadowbolts were taking refuge by going into hiding. Although most of the students chose to just simply run back inside. Although for some of them, they were too petrified by the whole scene to even move. "Girls, I have to admit something. I'm actually afraid," Sugarcoat quivered. "Me too," Indigo said, yanking Sugarcoat close like hugging a teddy bear. Sugarcoat didn't even fight it, she just wrapped her arms around Indigo out of pure instinct. "I think we can admit we're all scared right now," Sour shivered. "Well if this is how we go out, I have a confession to make. ... I think that mullet haired chick is cute!" Lemon panicked. "I kinda write mean things on the internet because I'm bored!" Sunny confessed. "I'm obsessed with telling the truth even if it hurts people's feelings," Sugarcoat added, shaking. "I secretly make cookies and candy for our classmates and friends so I can feel better whenever I snark or sass at them!" Sour admitted. "I have a massive crush on Rainbow Dash!" Everyone went silent as they stared at Indigo. She blinked and looked back at them with a harsh blush. "What? I thought we were all confessing, so..." It became eerily quiet when Midnight faced down Shining Armor and Cadence. That was Shining Armor’s thought as he watches Twilight – or whatever she’s turned into – levitate across the schoolyard towards him and Cadence. What initial relief he’d felt in getting through to Twilight, had faded, to be replaced by a mounting concern, and even dread. He had no idea what was going on. He didn’t know what had happened to Twilight, to turn her into this form… he had no idea how she was opening these portals… And, worst of all, he had no idea what she was going to do next. Cadence slipped her hand into his, giving it a squeeze. Shining exchanged looks with her, and she looked as worried as he is. Maybe even more so. Twilight came to a stop, hovering above the ground a few feet in front of them. She doesn’t say a word; she just looked at the two of them with those glowing eyes. The only sound is the hiss of electricity, crackling up and down the metal wings that extend from Twilight’s back… the noise made Shining feel almost sick, thoughts of lightning and burning running through his thoughts… ”Shining Armor. I told you I’d fix all of this.” Her voice is so different – colder, deeper, almost robotic – and yet Shining swore he could still recognize something of his little sister in it. He hoped that it was true. That it’s just not him merely hoping. “Twilight, I know what you said. But right now, you need to listen to me – please.” He swallows, trying to think of the right words to use. “I know that you want to fix things. And, I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you earlier. But Twilight, you need to stop.” Midnight’s eyes narrowed but Shining pushed on. “Listen to me. You’re scaring people.” ”They should be more afraid of what I’m stopping.” “Twily, please—” Midnight interrupted him. “I told you, Shining Armor, I won’t let anyone get hurt. This is something I have to do. The magic… it’s dangerous. And it needs to be kept under control…” she frowned at him ”I know what I’m doing, big brother. Even if you don’t believe in me, I can fix this.” She turned around, and spread her wings, ready to take off. A clear dismissal if there ever was one. And then-- “Twilight, don’t do this! Listen to your brother, please!” Twilight/Midnight halted, eerily still for a moment. And then, she turns around, her jaw tightening into a scowl as she glares at Cadence. Even if she’s afraid by what she’s seeing, Cadence pressed on. “Twilight, I’m sorry, but you need to stop what you’re doing. You’re going to hurt someone. Look around – I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, but you just blew up that statue! You opened more of these portals, look!” She gestured around, at the portals that are hovering all over the grounds. “I know that you have every reason to be angry with me, but please, listen to your brother – you need to stop what you’re doing, and let someone help you!” Cadence was trying her hardest not to cry by the time she’s finished, looking desperately -fearfully- at the person she once knew as Twilight Sparkle. Midnight doesn’t say anything. At first. ”Help?” Her fists clenched, and the crackle of electricity is stronger than ever. Cadence flinched in horror as Midnight speaks, and her voice practically feels like a physical force! ”I think I’ve had MORE than my share of help, from YOU!” Shining Armor immediately puts himself in front of Cadence, arms spread out. Scared and yet courageous, he shouts back at her-- “Twilight Sparkle, don’t you dare hurt her!!” His words seem to have an almost magical effect. Midnight flinches at her brother’s tone – and for a moment, the eerie glow faded from her eyes. “W-wait…” Shining swallows, torn between staying with Cadence and running up to his sister. He didn't want to leave Cady, but he swears that he just heard more of Twilight’s voice – her real voice – from the armored thing that she’s become… “What am I doing? No, no, no…” She groaned and shook her head, and despite everything, the wings, the armor, she seems confused. Scared. She held her head as if she was fighting a war inside her brain. Shining Armor still stayed cautious. “Twilight?” His transfigured little sister looks up at him, and he can see her eyes – their normal shade of purple. Still ringed by those eerie fiery glasses, but he can see his little sister’s eyes again. It’s something that filled him with hope. “Shining Armor… please tell me.” Her next question, quietly spoken, breaks his heart. “Do you still love me?” Cadence stifled a sob, as Shining Armor finally relaxes. Hopefully, he smiles to Twilight. “Of course, Twilight. You’re my little sister. You know that I’ll always love you.” Twilight sniffed, and closed her eyes, and Shining was sure that everything would be alright. ”Thank you…” And Shining Armor’s heart skipped several beats, as – in the space of an eyeblink – a metal pole slammed into the ground in front of him and Cadence. And another one, and more, too fast for them to back up or escape, until they were surrounded; caged in by a circle of steel. Another ring of bars appear, almost seeming to grow around the cage, creating an impenetrable weave that they could never hope to squeeze through. "I'm sorry. But I have to do this. They will be safe. You will be safe." “Twilight, no! Don’t do this!” Midnight Sparkle hovers up close to the bars, looking wistfully at him and Cadence. ”They will be safe. You will be safe. I promise…” “Twilight! Please, stop!” Midnight turned away from the two of them, spreading her wings again, but she doesn’t take off. After a moment, she glances back, frowning. She seemed to look regretful, but whether it was faked or real was hard to tell. "I'm sorry." And she shot up into the air like a rocket to continue her work like a vulture. And now Shining and Cadence were left standing there, looking worried, confused, and unsure. “Twilight! Twilight, come back! Don’t do this! Please! Twilight! Twilight!! But his cries were met with no avail. "Well, we're stuck in here, now what?" Cadence asked, looking at the bolts of electricity that surrounded them.