"Well, we're stuck in here, now what?" Cadence asked, looking at the bolts of electricity that surrounded them.
"Well we won't be busting out of here so easily, that's for sure," Shining said, looking at the prison they were placed in.
"Hey!"
Shining Armor and Cadence looked back to the courtyard. Someone was calling them. And they were quickly drawn to the girl in the punk blue jacket and rainbow hair.
"Hey, you two!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She and the rest of the Rainbooms scurried across the courtyard, standing inches away from the barrier, still able to talk to them on the other side. "You guys okay?" Rainbow asked, afraid to reach out, thanks to the visible glowing blue bolts of lightning that kept fizzing in between the poles.
"We're fine. What about all of you guys, is anyone hurt?" Shining asked.
"No, we're all fine. Wait, who are you?"
"My name's Shining Armor, I saw a burst of light hit the skies and I wanted to come here to see if everyone was okay. Until well, I saw that!" Shining pointed. "Oh, Twily..."
"Twily?" Applejack raised a brow. "Wait. You know her?"
"She's my sister!"
The five Rainbooms blinked.
"Uh oh..." Pinkie squeaked.
"That's uh, oh boy..."
"What?"
"Well, you're right, it's her. But uh, we know why she got turned into that... thing."
"What, why, how, what happened?"
"Darling, you're going to believe us, because what we're about to tell you is crazy!"
"If you're going to tell me magic exists, I believe you!" Shining acknowledged.
Rarity drooped her finger. "Oh. Would you also believe that we were turned into a five-headed monster thanks to a controlling witch who had taken over the school and was actually a pony from another dimension and sent our sisters to the hospital?"
Shining was speechless. "Um... Sure. Anything else I'm missing?"
"Other than three new students at this school are actually 1,000 year-old Sirens who we bullied until they kicked our butts, made new friends, and haven't returned our calls for some unknown reason and their friends now have superpowers and are with trapped inside some teeny tiny tracking device?" Pinkie explained.
Once again, rendered speechless.
"Uhh..."
"Don't ask, just don't question Pinkie Pie," Applejack shook her head.
"Look, what happened, how did she get turned into that... that, thing!?"
"Well, darling, from what we could see, the poor dear was freaking out over something she had done which she confessed to, and from what we can tell, um... the magic took control of her and now she thinks we're all contaminated!" Rarity explained.
"It's pretty complicated," Applejack summed up.
"Great..." Shining rubbed at his face. "I wish I was there, I should have made sure she was okay."
"Wow. Sounds like she was rough to live with," Fluttershy said bluntly.
"Not always," Shining said, shook his head.
"Wait, really?"
Shining Armor tried to think of what to say. Where to begin? ”What you need to understand, more than anything,” he finally started, “is that Twilight wasn’t always like this. Please believe me when I say that.”
“She wasn’t?” Pinkie asked, innocently.
“No, she wasn’t.” Cadence said, softly, and sadly.
Shining Armor squeezed her hand in his. “Once, Twilight Sparkle was just a little girl. My baby sister, who loved to read, and to learn…”
“And Cadence was her favorite babysitter.”
”Twily! Guess who’s here?” A younger, teenage Shining Armor called, as he opened the door to his little sister’s room.
Twilight looked up from her books, and her face lit up with delight.
“Cadence!” she squeaked happily, jumping to her feet and scurrying across the room to leap into a hug with the pink-skinned girl who had just entered.
“There’s my Twilight!” Cadence laughed, as Twilight cuddled her.
“You two will be okay, right?” Shining asked, while Cadence gently set Twilight back on the ground.
“Of course, we’ll be fine,” Cadence reassured him. “Right, Twilight?”
“Uh-huh!” the little girl nodded rapidly, her eyes bright and eager.
“All right,” Shining laughed. “Have fun, Twily.” He and Cadence exchanged a quick kiss (Twilight looked away) and then Shining Armor was off, leaving the little girl alone with her babysitter.
Cadence smiled at Twilight. “What would you like to do tonight?” she asked.
“Ooh!” Twilight immediately knew what she wanted. “Can you teach me about fractions?"
Cadence laughed, but it was kind. She was always amazed by just how much Twilight wanted to learn. “Of course.” She unslung her backpack from her shoulder, and took out the math book within. “It’ll make good practice for when I’m a teacher,” Cadence remarked as she sat down and Twilight plopped down next to her.
"Do you think I’ll be in your class some day?” Twilight asked, curious and hopeful.
“I sure hope so!” Cadence answered. “I’d be the luckiest teacher ever to have someone like you, Twilight.”
”She was so happy back then…” Cadence, the one in the present, said sadly. Shining Armor gently put an arm around her, and she leaned against him for support. The Rainbooms were silent at first. They were thinking over what they’d just heard.
Finally, Fluttershy was the one who spoke up. “So… what happened to her?” she asked. Shining Armor looked up from Cadence, his face wistful. And he began to tell them more.
"Cadence was her favorite babysitter, and, well, she was my girlfriend," Shining said. "Cadence was studying to be a teacher, and Twily wanted to learn from her in class when she got older."
"When Twilight was old enough to go to school, she unfortunately became a target for some bullies. Not at the start mind you, but some of them thought she was a weirdo for loving to learn new things."
"Sounds weird," Rainbow shrugged.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shushed.
"... Sorry. Y-You were saying?"
"Right. Anyways... So Twilight did have some rough patches here and there, but she made it through alright. That is until middle school came around. Cadence was teaching now, and Twilight was delighted to be learning from her. But things went south fast."
"How bad?"
"Some of the kids, they found that she was close to Cady. And of course, nicknames began to fly, 'nerd', 'teacher's pet' all of those. But it got worse from some certain bullies. This one girl, I don't know her name, but she made Twilight miserable the most."
"I tried to help, in-class and out, but I'm afraid my efforts only encouraged the bullies," Cadence interjected.
"Now, no one bullied her... physically. But they started spreading rumors, really nasty ones."
"What kind of rumors?" Rarity asked, inquisitively.
"I rather not say. It's... not something I want to repeat," Shining said.
"I understand. But please, darling, continue," Rarity nodded. "What ended up happening?"
"Well..."
Twilight walked to her locker, dreading this day already. Rumors had already fled all over the school; she could tell based on the students whispering and staring at her like she was walking inside naked. All Twilight wanted was to get her stuff and go to her next class without incident. But then--
"Well, well, well. Hello again, Sparky."
Not again...
"Whatcha doing?"
Twilight didn't answer, and just averted her gaze. The girl gave a glare.
"I said, whatcha doing?"
"Just leave me alone," she said, slamming her locker shut.
"It's always like you Sparky, you're so quiet. Guess that's why you don't people to know you're going out with Cadence. Won't they be surprised when they learn that?"
Twilight's fists clenched, but she tried to keep her composure. "I am not going out with anyone."
"Don't lie to me, I've seen the way you look at her!" The girl snarled. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll stop. And you know what happens when people cross me..."
Twilight froze in place. That was upsetting alone, but she swore she could hear more and more students talking. Some of them snickering as they walked past her, and she swore more taunts were flown at her.
"Look out, Cadence's girlfriend's here!"
"Surprised they allowed it here, I thought there was rules about this thing."
"Make way for the Teacher's Pet on Aisle 7, we got royalty here!"
Twilight's eyebrows furled and her teeth were now grit. This girl went out of her way to pick on her for something that wasn't even happening, and she didn't stop. And now everyone was making fun of her, mocking her feelings, not giving a single thought to their actions. She had enough!
She dropped her things on the floor, letting them fall with a slam. And her hands clenched into fists.
"Oh what's the matter? You going to cry now? You going to cry like the little--"
BAM!
The bully fell to the ground and groaned in pain. She looked up and gasped, Twilight stood there with clenched fists, grit teeth, and tears leaking from all of her pain; anger, sadness, and soon pure unbridled rage.
"What did I ever do to you!? I don't even know you! What did I do to you to deserve any of this!?"
The bully was at a loss for words. She didn't even have an answer. But it was too late. Twilight pounced on her like a panther, grabbing her by the shirt and slamming her down against the floor. Luckily the slams were less than enough to break anything (added with Twilight's lackluster physical strength, having spent most of her time indoors and studying) but it still hurt.
"Is this fun!? Is this fun for you!? Now you know how it feels to be bullied every day!" Twilight cried.
She was about to move again, when she looked up. Everyone was now staring at Twilight, afraid, worried, and now scared. Some of them were whispering, some were thinking about calling home, among other things. And everyone was now against her. She threw the first punch; there was no winning.
Realizing she was already done for, she got up on her feet and just ran for it. She did not look back, she didn't want to look back, and tears flew off her face even more. She had already went there, and there was no undoing her actions. And she could already see her future ahead of her...
"The bully who picked on Twilight was eventually found after a trip to the nurses office, and he did get punishment for spreading the rumors and picking on her. But Twilight was suspended, and because of the rumor, even in spite of everything I tried to do... I had to change jobs, and Twilight ended up signing up to Crystal Prep Academy," Cadence explained.
"I hoped a change of schools would help her, but it didn't. I thought going to Crystal Prep would help her; the students were nicer, and the teachers cracked down on any incidents regarding bullying and rumors. But after that day, Twilight just wasn't herself anymore. She was left angry at everyone for being so cruel and petty, and she even ended her friendship with a girl I thought she was starting to like. Twilight believed the only person she could rely on was herself, and no one else."
Everyone in the hallways watched as she just walked through without looking at any of them, completely ignoring their greetings or calls.
"Hey, Twilight, you uh... uh never mind," a student said, letting her pass by.
"Hey, don't feel bad. She's been through a lot," a girl said, patting him on the shoulder and gesturing him to follow.
"Our parents and I tried to give her help. We tried giving her space, and later taking her to a therapist. Neither of those worked. Twilight didn't want our help, and with her being so pulled into her shell..."
"... She just closed herself off from feeling and even us," Shining finished.
The girls stood in complete awkward silence as Shining Armor finished the story. None of them were sure what to say, or how to comprehend it. And only silence remained; until finally Rainbow broke it.
"That's... harsh. Dude, that's not even cool..."
"Middle school is brutal," Applejack shook her head.
"She's not wrong," Pinkie agreed, frowning.
"And now she's become that," Rarity looked back up at Midnight Sparkle who was continuing to survey the perimeter high above them, making sure everything was perfect. Nothing going in or out.
"Well I don't know about all ya'll, but someone's gotta put a stop to her," Applejack said, looking up.
"Are you crazy?" Rainbow asked. "The Dazzlings aren't here, Trixie and her friends are trapped in her device, we're literally dead!"
"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"I'd like to add to Rainbow Dash's point, none of us can do anything," Rarity quivered. "And I know for a fact none of us can turn back into a five-headed monster."
"But we can't just sit here!" Pinkie said, taking Applejack's side.
"Well if you two want to stop her, how are we going to take her down?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm sorry, what?" Shining blinked.
"This isn't the first time we dealt with magic. We just need to find a weakness and stop her! Come on guys! Lets get some plans together!" Pinkie called, taking all of her friends in a cloud of smoke.
"Wait, you can't just--and they're gone," Shining drooped. "This just went from bad to catastrophic..." Cadence could only rub Shining's shoulder.
Midnight Sparkle hovered back all of the panicking students again with a sympathetic face, all the while the metal coils and pipes that formed her wings stretched out, the lightning bolts still keeping the wings connected together. Occasionally some lightning bolts from the sky would come down and travel down to the coils, spiraling around.
"Everyone, young and old... heed my words."
Everyone went silent as her voice boomed across the courtyard.
"I am not here to harm, nor to attack, or terrorize. I am here to protect you all. This cursed Equestrian Magic that leaked into this world plagued your students; rest assured they are fine," Midnight addressed. "But you all must remain calm. I will have you all freed soon if you just cooperate."
"Cooperate in what? Stealing the very life away from our friends?" Pinkie snapped, grabbing her attention.
"Um, they're not really our friends per say, but--"
"--The point still stands woman!"
"I would advise you take a step back. Anger, often leads to choices. Choices that lead to actions, and actions that cannot be undone."
"--Yeah yeah, big evil bad guy speech I know. Take this, dark steel!" Pinkie Pie yelled before tossing a water balloon up into the air. The balloon went up, and splashed into Midnight's face. The flames in Midnight's mask was doused... for about a few seconds until they reignited again. She just stared down with a deadpan face, clearly not amused or fazed.
"... What was that?"
"... Um. I thought you would melt?" Pinkie shrunk.
Rolling her eyes, she just turned around and looked at her work in front of her. The gate needed to be precisely held together, no one could go now. And even though Rainbow wasn't sure, she suddenly had an idea.
"Hang on, I got an idea! Applejack, you got a crowbar?"
"Uh, yeah, but--"
"--Great, be right back!"
Rainbow Dash disappeared in a cloud of smoke back inside the school.
Using a crowbar she took from AJ's locker, she banged at the lock on the locker, hard enough for it to snap off, allowing it to open up. Rainbow stopped to gaze at the interior for a second, lots of purple and blue in there, meshing to create vaporwave looking neon. A few pictures attached, some showing friends, some with personal heroes and another including her father.
And luckily just on the top shelf there were the items she needed. She pulled a few of the Rubiks Cubes out, clutching them tightly.
"Sorry Amethyst, I'll get you a new lock, I promise," Rainbow said before dashing away to the outside.
One minute she opened the door, the next she was ducking as a soccer ball came flying over her head and smashed through the glass pane of the door.
"Dah!" Rainbow yelped as she dropped to the ground.
"As I told your friend, I am asking you all to stop this. You're only going to make this much more difficult than it needs to be," Midnight repeated.
"Oh yeah? Well as my... uh... acquaintance would say, time for a taste of the 1980s!" Rainbow bantered, throwing the explosive up into the air.
The Rubiks cube flew up and spun all around, clicking and whirring as it got ready to explode. And when the final click was made, it exploded a vat of colorful neon paint all over the back of Midnight. Her head tensed up from the explosion and she slowly spun around to look at who made the attack.
Rainbow's pupils shrunk. "Oh no..."
"You thought that was the smoke bomb, didn't you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Eeyup," Rainbow admitted, impersonating Applejack.
"Am I the only one who wants to know how she can even make those into bombs?"
"PINKIE!"
"What, come on, I can't be the only one--ohhhh..." Pinkie realized.
Midnight was getting closer to them, and her tone was sharp. She hovered above their faces, glaring at them with no fear."Your efforts are, less than stellar. If you're trying to stop me, I would suggest you stop first. I'm not going to hurt anyone, but I am not above containment..." Midnight threatened, raising her fist up which began to glow.
"You've already got us cornered, why not just finish us off then?" Fluttershy barked.
Midnight's glare focused on her.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing!?" Rainbow yelped.
"If she wanted to do something to us she would have done it already. You wouldn't put a finger on us, and I know it."
Midnight's fists clenched tighter. "Watch your words. I will use extreme force if I have to."
"All talk, no shock," Fluttershy stood her ground.
Everyone was silent. Was Midnight going to pull a move, or was Fluttershy? Was someone going to be dying today in this courtyard? Would the inevitable soon come?
In fact, no. Nothing happened. Midnight put her fiery fist away and focused back on her task at hand. She hovered above everyone, going much higher than ever to try and look at her handiwork. Everything had to be perfect and ready.
Rainbow punched Fluttershy's shoulder. "Great idea, tick off a she-demon who has multiple powers!"
"Rainbow, don't you get it? Midnight's not going to hurt us."
"What are you talking about, she took our friends and trapped us in here!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"That was Twilight, remember? Besides, she didn't seem like she wanted to anyway. I think there might be some part of her still inside," she said looking back up. "She could have blasted me right there right now, but she didn't. I don't think she wants to harm any of us."
"Or maybe she has other plans," Rainbow shivered.
"No. Listen to me. If Midnight doesn't want to hurt us, maybe we can reason with her. Twilight has to be inside of her, we just need to talk her out. ... U-Unless anyone else has a better idea?" Fluttershy asked.
Applejack looked at the sea of panicked and frightened students. Some of them holding each other close for protection, a few hiding in some nearby bushes, others pushing against the wall... she found her new Shadowbolt friends all huddled and hugging each other, clearly scared for their life. And nearby... Rara. Her childhood best friend petrified and alone. She needed her. They needed them. And they had to do something.
"At this point, I'd like to give it a shot. Nothin's gonna stop her, unless we try and talk to her. If she was a nice girl once, well maybe we can bring that back. It's not too late to turn her around," Applejack said.
The farmer took a few steps forward, and picked up a small rock. With all her strength and focus, she threw it up into the air, making a thud on the back of Midnight's helmet. That was enough to grab her attention and look down.
"Twilight Sparkle if you don't end this right now, I'm releasin' mah ultimate weapon!" Applejack announced.
Midnight halted. She glared down at Applejack who was trying her best to keep her brave face on in the face of a scary she-demon.
"Your ultimate weapon?"
"... Yes. You've forced me to do somethin' I've never thought I had to do, but you've given me no choice! I'm pullin' it out!" Applejack exclaimed. She was about to move and the Rainbooms were bracing for something stupid or for Midnight to freeze her where she stood. But nothing happened; except for what they saw next. Applejack didn't move from her stance, but she slowly opened up her palm, extended out at the hovering she-demon.
"... I don't understand."
"I know. I'm offerin' you a hand.."
Midnight raised a brow. "You're offering me your hand?"
"No. I want you to join me, and my friends," Applejack reaffirmed.
"Friends? You five are associates of a she-demon who tried to tear the fabric of our world apart. You terrorized your very classmates. Why would I join you?"
"That's not who we are anymore. But you have to stop!"
Midnight's hands slowly stopped glowing, but she didn't stop focusing on them.
"And why should I stop?"
Applejack looked up again, taking a deep breath to sigh. And then focused. But just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rarity step up with her, a proud smile on her face, winking to Applejack. And out the other, she saw Rainbow Dash step up too.
"If we survive this, I want to say I stood beside you all the way," Rainbow nodded.
"Me too," Fluttershy nodded. "Friends are forever."
"Me three!" Pinkie chirped.
Applejack smiled. "Girls... I love ya'll."
None of them cracked a joke, or a snide remark. They just simply smiled and stood their ground with her. Applejack looked back up and continued to talk. "Twilight. I can't say I had an experience like you had when you were a kid. But it was a long time ago. Things change, people change, the times change!"
"You can't go through your life hating everyone around you. Don't you want to see what it's like to have people who make you happy? People who you want to see every day? Don't you want people to see you as someone good other than... something scary?" Rainbow asked.
Midnight was still hovering, but her blank neutral face was slowly changing. Her face was starting to... frown. She slowly spun, looking at the classmates who were all holding themselves against the school walls. They were looking afraid of her; just like they had been every day since she attended school. And when she spun around again, she could see Shining Armor and Cadence looking at her with worry. Shining Armor; the older brother who never stopped caring or protecting her since the day she was born. Cadence; the one babysitter she loved who always respected her needs.
Back around, she saw Principal Cinch; the same principal who just wanted her to finally have some friends and come out of her shell.
"It's easy to blacken and close your heart, but to open it? That's probably the toughest thing you can do," Pinkie Pie added. "And look at us. For us, it was easy to just make everyone's lives miserable and sad."
"But we know that's not what we want. Not anymore."
"We chose to push everyone away from our lives; but it didn't do anything to help us. We changed because we let people come back in, we finally made friends, we found people who made us happy. And as big of a groaner as this is going to sound, we found a better way!"
"You can't let darkness control you Twilight. I know you don't want to, and I know you're afraid. It's okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore. We can help you. We just want you to be happy again. Don't you think you deserve some form of happiness?"
That word; happiness. It was a subject that had mostly been gone to her, but wait. Something triggered in her brain. Memories played on rewind in her head; remembering back to some days when she was a little kid...
That time she fell off a swing and cut her knee, Cadence was there to help put a bandage on her boo-boo and make her better again. And a little hug helped made her feel better too. And one particular day when she was at kindergarten and she had no one to play with; Cadence gave a warm smile and an offering hand for someone to hang with her. Or the day Shining Armor had graduated, and Cadence held her up on her shoulders so she could wave to him as he received his diploma. Such joy on her face that it melted the heart of her brother...
"We know you're scared. It's okay. Let us help you," Fluttershy asked.
Midnight slowly turned her head back, finally snapping out of the flashbacks. Her eyes locked onto the Rainbooms, and that cold, emotionless face began to slip further and further away inside. Just then, a flash of light hit all of their eyes, blinding them temporarily.
When they looked back, Midnight was no longer standing above them, hovering like a god. Now she was simply standing before them, down to their size with the most heartbroken face. She looked at everyone around her, who while still cautious, were slowly moving out of their hiding spaces. Midnight took a single step forward, and then proceed with the next foot, one foot after the other until she was standing right in front of the girls.
It was silent for a moment or two, until out of the corner of Midnight's eye, a small glowing blue flame leaked down her face and touched the ground, sizzling. And some more began to leak.
"Hey, hey, it's okay..." Fluttershy softly said, bringing her in for a hug. Midnight's hands wrapped around her, softly crying, her voice becoming more and more quiet than it was before. The rest of the girls soon stepped up, and they all joined in one giant group hug, calming the girl down.
And then, it happened. The metal coils sticking out of Midnight's back which made the wings began to fall apart. Electricity bolts no longer sizzled, and the poles slowly popped off her back as if she was shedding an old skin. The metal gauntlets on her arms fell apart too, and so did the metal shoulder armor which slipped off as well.
And like magic, another bright blinding hot light flashed itself all around the courtyard for 10 seconds. When the flash of light stopped, everything was still. The lightning storm above had slowly died, and more of the light began to come through. There was still dark clouds up in the sky, normal ones of course, but there was no thunder and lightning to be seen. It was just a gloomy looking atmosphere. Twilight Sparkle from earlier had been returned back to the girl she was before. Hair was a little frizzled, and the ground around her was showing black marks as if an explosion hat hit the ground. The Rainbooms also had their hair all sticking up on ends, frizzled all over. But nether-less, they were all okay and alive.
The electricity that surged in the metal fence slowly stopped, and the barriers began to fall apart all by themselves. Random sheets and pieces of metal just falling apart into their individual parts. Shining, Cadence, and the police officers were all freed from the shield cages around them.
Twilight gripped her arm, looking away, heavy with guilt and shame. "I'm... I'm so sorry. I know that's not going to make up for anything I've done."
Fluttershy lifted up Twilight's chin, getting her to look back in her eyes. She pulled Twilight close and gave her a soft hug, embracing her. The two were quiet, well except for the sounds of Twilight's heavy breathing. But for the most part, no one really said anything.
"They... they saved us," Sandalwood finally said.
"Not all of us..." Drama Letter shivered. "Where's Trixie? What about the others? Where are they?"
The girls broke free from the hug and looked at the pendant still around Twilight's neck. She lifted it up, gazing into it as her reflection shined back into her eyes. “I… I have to free them,” Twilight said, holding it in her hands. “B-But… what if destroying it, doesn’t save them? What if they don’t get out? What if I trapped them all in this thing with no—”
Applejack put a finger over her lips, silencing her. “Twilight. We won’t know, if you don’t try. Just toss it down and smash it into rubble.”
Twilight looked back down at the device, and then back to the Rainbooms. She gave them affirming nods, and the Rainbooms backed away.
“If this doesn’t free them… nothing will.”
She gripped the pendent as hard as she could and raised it up high, and with as much strength as she could she threw it down towards the ground hoping her own strength would smash it into smithereens— But it bounced on the ground like a protected phone.
“… Okay, I’m not trying to be mean, but you have the strength of a Daring Do doll.”
Twilight scowled at Sugarcoat with a deadpan expression.
“How about I try?” Applejack suggested.
“I couldn’t smash it, what makes you think you can?”
“Applejack’s been working on the farm for all her life,” Rainbow Dash boasted, leaning her shoulder on Applejack’s. “She is the only girl who can compete against me, trust me, she’s pretty strong.”
“Well I tried, if you want to, go ahead.”
“Alright, now ya’ll step back a bit,” Applejack insisted. She set the pendent down in front of her. With a smirk on her face she raised up her heel. “Now it’s time for you to go into the scrapyard where you belong!”
She slammed her heel down, and the pendent shattered into pieces, completely smashed from the weight of her strength. A burst of light flashed as she made the smash, and glowing colorful orbs began to fly out from the pendent.
Instinctively, they all stepped back in case the orbs were going to go spiraling into their direction. The first beam, flew straight past everyone and hit the Wondercolt statue, phasing and meshing right inside as if it passed on through. The next beam, glowing in a nice bright yellow flashed in everyone’s eyes before dying down, revealing Lyra Heartstrings safe and alive, with a set of pony-ears and a long pony-tail hanging down her back.
“What the, I…” she looked around. “Yes! I’m back!”
Another flash of light hit the courtyard.
“I’m… I’m free, I’m free!” Bon Bon squeaked. She tried looking behind herself, but she was able to see a bit of the long ponytail that hung down her back as well.
Another flash of light.
“YEAH!!!” Octavia shouted like a rock star into the heavens.
Two more bright flashes hit everyone’s eyes.
“Vinyl?”
“Amy?”
“We’re alive!” The two said in unison, excited as ever.
One more flash shined in the courtyard, as Trixie was the last to come back. Alicorn wings were sprouting on her back, pony-ears and pony-tail all showing just like everyone else.
By now, everyone was cheering in pure joy, seeing the girls finally back safe and sound. Of course the six of them had no idea what had been going on in their absence but they just simply smiled, happy to see their friends again too.
Trixie looked around, until she was approached by the Rainbooms.
“Girls, I… I don’t, uh… what happened?”
“Long story short, Twilight found the way,” Rainbow winked, looking to the bespectacled scientist. Twilight didn’t look at Trixie, mostly out of guilt and shame. But she still worked up the energy to apologize.
“I’m… I’m so sorry. I just… ever since I saw the news, I was so scared. I didn’t want another magic-infested monster coming here with the chance that someone could have been killed. I didn’t want to hurt any of you, and if I did, I’m… I am so so sorry.”
Trixie’s heart stung a bit. But she smiled and patted Twilight’s shoulder, getting her to look her up in the eye.
“I still think you should have come to us from the start. But right now, I’m just happy you did the right thing. I do hope this means you won’t be planning any out of nowhere field tests, correct?”
Twilight nodded quickly. “I promise.”
Trixie smiled and she gave Twilight a brief hug. “So how did you even work up the courage to change?”
Twilight looked back at the five Rainbooms, who were full of grinning faces. No words were exchanged as to who did it, but Trixie still smiled.
“You got her to change... great job girls,” Trixie complimented.
“I just hope we don’t do that again, that was really scary,” Pinkie Pie admitted. “I thought we were the ones who were going to die and then we’d all be dead!”
“But we’re not, are we?” Fluttershy smirked.
“Nope!”
“But I think I’m already dead,” Twilight’s lips trembled. “I know what I did was wrong. And I’m ready to face any punishments that come. I more than deserved it,” she said, feeling stung.
“You know Twilight?” Rarity raised her chin. “I know in time, someday, someway and somehow… they’ll forgive you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow... but one day, they'll forgive you.”
And the girls shared a collective hug with Twilight. And coming close was Shining Armor and Cadence.
"Shiny!" Twilight nearly tackled her brother in a surprise hug, holding him tight. Tears still fell from her face. "I'm so sorry..."
Shining softly smiled and he embraced her back. "It's okay. You're safe now."
"Twilight?"
Twilight turned her head and saw Cadence was standing there. "Cadence..." Twilight whimpered before nearly attacking her in the hug this time. "I am so sorry... I am so so so sorry!"
Cadence hugged her more. "Shhhh... it's okay. It's okay."
The two stayed, quietly hugging it out. And eventually Shining Armor joined as well, a group hug to let the fear and stress and years of anger melt away. And even though she was still full of tears, Twilight's frown slowly turned into a smile.
“Well I don’t know about all of you, but I think after all that has happened today, we all have won these games,” Principal Luna announced. “Principal Cinch, your thoughts?”
“I couldn’t agree more, Principal Luna,” Principal Cinch smiled.
“That is why these games are officially, a tie!”
And with that single remark, everyone out in the courtyard let out one big cheer. And the two officers from behind the crowd just stood in awe as they watched the scene before them.
"Sooo... you think we should call this in?" Officer Groove asked.
"Hmm... I dunno. Looks to me like those kids took care of the problem, so we're not really needed," Streetwise shrugged. Until he turned his gaze to the satellite dish on the roof. "Okay, except for that. We'll make a note that the storm knocked out some of the satellites at the school, no one harmed from the looks of things. Fair enough?"
"Hmm... alright. Lets get out of here, I need something normal to look at, this is too weird for me," Groove rubbed his face, walking back to the car.