"Free falling" was the closest approximation that Spike could use to describe the feeling that he was experiencing now. Free falling while also having pins and needles all over his inert form. Sure, he'd fallen through the air before but this was different. For starters, it was like skydiving yet while also reclining, somehow plummeting and laying on a level surface. He was mobile, yet immobile, falling but staying in place.
"Spike, are you alright?"
The dragon blinked. His previous sensation of weightlessness had just evaporated, replaced with the feeling of his own two feet on solid ground. Sombra was gently touching his shoulder, his expression oddly worrisome. The Shadow King was usually icy or stoic but now he was concerned, fearful even.
Spike's legs wobbled though he remained stationary. "I think so. Are we...inside Twilight's head?"
"Yes and no. 'We' aren't actually here. In reality, our bodies are back in the Crystal Empire. What you see and feel is a kind of cerebral projection, a representation of your physical form. This space"-Sombra gestured with a sweep of his foreleg-"Is a manifestation of the inner workings of Twilight's subconscious mind."
"So...psychic stuff. Got it."
They stood in what looked to be an exact replica of Canterlot, down to the cracks in the buildings and sidewalks. The sky was a deep, black-purple void and thick blankets of fog rolled above the ground, seeping through the streets like poisonous fumes. In spite of this, the throngs of ponies didn't appear to notice, merely going about their day as if nothing was amiss. As the pair made their way down the street, Spike noticed the distinct lack of ambient noise; no birds, wind, or even the sound of their respective feet and hooves against the concrete. A severe chill ran down Spike's back, though it was difficult to tell if that was from his body back in the physical world or a sign of his own dread.
"Who are all these ponies They're not real, right?"
"No, just recollections. This level appears to be Twilight's subconscious mind, a space of random clutter."
"How do you know all this?" Spike asked, intrigued by the stallion's familiarity on the subject.
Sombra's focus remained ahead. "It was part of my dark magic training. It's known as psychomancy, or 'mind magic.' One of the techniques you learn is to infiltrate the mind of another, to exploit their inner most thoughts and memories."
"That sounds horrible!"
"It was necessary for me to progress with my training. Back then, no price was too steep to pay."
Judging by his tone, Sombra wasn't quite keen on sharing details of his life with his companion and Spike could understand his reticence. Even though he'd accepted Spike's invitation of friendship, that didn't mean that he was ready to tell him everything about his past. And Spike, while curious in general, was certain that he didn't want to know. Reading Twilight's notes had taught him things he regretted learning about the ex-king and anything worse would send him screaming in terror.
"Spike," Sombra stated after a prolonged lapse of silence. "What was the most important place in Canterlot to Twilight? Where would she go if she had the choice?"
It didn't require a second thought. "The Library of Magic. Her parents used to take her there all the time."
"Good. Take me there but walk, don't run." Sombra keenly stared around him, as though keeping vigil against an unseen presence. "I don't know how much time we have."
"Until what?"
Sombra didn't answer, instead gently nudging Spike forward. They continued on in silence until they reached the Library of Magic, or at least its simulated twin. The area nearby was surprisingly sparse, as if the faux-ponies avoided the building and its surroundings. Sombra pulled one door open, took a peek around, and gestured for Spike to join him. Unlike the rest of "Canterlot," the library was vacant.
"Good, we're alone. We haven't been detected yet."
"Detected? By who?"
Sombra turned away from one of the windows. "Twilight and Midnight's minds are converging, molding into one consciousness. Even if neither of them are fully aware of our presence, deep down, they will feel as though something is wrong and their subconscious minds will seek out the intruders."
"So what do we do?"
"Keep moving, try to get to the core of Twilight's conscious mind and pull her out." Sombra began sifting through books on a nearby shelf. "Let's see...no, no, no. Where would we find the complete works of Star Swirl the Bearded?"
Spike turned back the clock in his head, recalling the amount of times he and Twilight visited the real library. "They would be in...'The Great Classics' section. Eight...zero-eight-point two."
Finding the appropriate section, it didn't take long for Spike to locate the collection of volumes penned by the famous wizard. The more he ruminated on it, the funnier it became. He hadn't thought about his visits to the Library of Magic in quite some time and yet, he could remember specific details as if they'd happened just the other day. Twilight would curl up in a chair with one of the astoundingly-boring tomes, a cup of tea on the nearby table and her Number One Assistant sitting on the floor beside her with a comic. He wished things could go back to such a time of simplicity, back when the biggest threat to his life was one of Twilight's famous panic attacks.
He soon located a particular book and pointed it out. "That one there!"
Sombra levitated the thick, olive-colored book from off of the top shelf and down to his and Spike's level. "'Star Swirl's Concise Guide to Practical Arcana'? I remember when this first came out. The old codger even sullied the front page with his obnoxiously large signature. Come to think of it, I might still have it tucked away somewhere."
"Wait, you not only have a first edition of one of Star Swirl the Bearded's books but he also signed it? Wow, Twilight would have a literal heart attack if she ever got her hooves on one of those."
"Gods forbid. So this is her favorite of his works?"
Sombra carefully flipped the cover open and a silver and golden-white radiance burst free from the pages, flooding the room with its roaring brilliance. When the overwhelmingly bright light faded, the two found themselves in Ponyville, only it was a monochromatic nightmare with starch whites and oily blacks dominating the color scheme. Spike stepped in something and realized that it was ink running down the edges of every piece of matter. He stuck his tongue out and hastily wiped his foot off on some grass, jumping as a series of ink lines joined together to form a tree.
"What's with all the ink? And the black and white?"
Sombra looked around, humming as he did so. "If Canterlot was just mind-clutter and the library the doorway to her intellectual side, I think this is meant to represent her creativity. Like a blank canvas, it's simply waiting to be painted."
"I guess? I mean Ponyville is where most of her best ideas came from. That town sure did more for her than I thought," Spike remarked. "Hey look, the Golden Oaks Library! It's actually here!"
Sombra watched Spike race towards the tree and calmly followed. "Why wouldn't it be? It's a part of her recollection."
Spike stopped and turned. "Huh? Didn't you know? When Lord Tirek attacked, he destroyed the library."
"He...did?" Sombra lowered his gaze for a moment. "Twilight never told me," he said softly. "Perhaps that's partly why Midnight was able to feed as she has been. Twilight loved this place."
The library had been a huge part of Twilight's life and to hear of its destruction was disheartening.
"I heard talk that she received a new castle. A big crystal one."
"Yeah, it was a gift from the Tree of Harmony."
"The Tree...of course it was." Sombra decided not to question it. "Come, time is of the essence."
Standing on his tippy-toes, Spike turned the front door's knob and like before, there was a blinding light and they were once beamed from one location to another. Spots danced before Spike's eyes and he rubbed at them; sure, they weren't his real "eyes" but the compulsion remained nevertheless. This time, they'd been transported into the center of a wooden room carved into the interior of a great oak tree, a series of bookshelves stuffed full of books lining the walls. Floral designs were chiseled into the surface of the walls and stairs leading up to the second-level sleeping area. There, huddled on the bed, was a purple-colored mare, her eyes clamped shut and her face contorted in pain.
"Twilight? Twilight!"
Spike scampered up the steps to reach his friend, only to smack right into a previously-unseen rippling wall of energy. Sombra quickly joined the young drake as he banged his fists against the force field.
"Twilight!"
"Twilight!" Sombra joined in. "Snap out of it! We're here!"
Slowly fluttering her heavy-lidded eyes open, Twilight languidly lifted her head. Her coat was a paler shade of its usual hue, her mane hanging dully across one side of her face. With her thin frame and muted colors, she resembled a terminally ill patient instead of a healthy young mare.
"Spike...?" Her harsh, almost gravelly voice was barely above a whisper. "Sombra...?"
Sombra pressed his hoof against the wall. "Oh sweetheart, what has she done to you?"
Although both his expression and tone were tender, he was shaking with barely-contained rage.
"Twilight, it's us. It's really us." Spike blinked away the mist gathering in his eyes. "We came to save you."
"Save...?" Twilight's head swayed from side to side like the branches of a weeping willow. "It's too late...for me," she wheezed. "It's over. Midnight has won."
"You can't seriously believe that." Sombra was aghast. "Not you. You can't give up!"
"Sombra's right! You can't quit! Not now!"
Twilight turned her body away from them moodily. "Why not? I'm-I'm just too...too weak..."
"No, no you're not!" Sombra roared, only for Spike to give him an elbow-nudge. "Twilight, listen to me. You are not weak. You're one of the strongest ponies I've ever known. You taught me that life is worth living."
One of Twilight's ears swiveled but she remained where she was.
"He's right," Spike said softly. "You mean so much to so many. What about Princess Cadence or Shining Armor? Without you, nopony would've known about Queen Chrysalis' plot. You helped turn Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna, you united the others against Discord even when things looked hopeless and you stood up to Lord Tirek all on your own. You've saved Equestria time and time again and this time won't be any different."
"More importantly," Sombra added solemnly. "You've saved those in it. Like me." Twilight shifted herself so that she was facing them again. "Everyone else saw a monster but you...you saw me. That's who you are: a mare who looks at problems and fixes them, no matter if others think they're impossible. Who else but you could've finished one of Starswirl the Bearded's spells and singlehoofedly fought against the power of the Alicorn Amulet?"
Spike folded his hands. "Don't you see? You're our hero, Twilight."
A small smile found its way onto her face before vanishing. "But...how do I get out of here? Midnight is just too strong."
"Midnight may've taken control of your body but this is your mind," Sombra exclaimed. "And you're the smartest mare I know so I believe you can fight back! Take control and force her out!"
"Fight it, Twilight!" Spike agreed. "I know things look bleak but I believe in you too!"
Twilight grunted as she rose, only to fall flat on her face. She huffed and despite the wobbling of her legs, finally managed to stand. Drawing in a deep, echoing breath, she closed her eyes and focused, spreading out her pitiful, emaciated wings. Little sparks of raspberry energy leapt across the room, gathering into her horn while she grunted from the exertion. Slowly, Twilight began to float in mid-air.
"Don't stop! You're doing it!" Sombra shouted.
"Come on, you can do it!" Spike whooped.
A swirling vortex of light gathered at the tip of Twilight's horn and her eyes shot open, filled with a shimmering white glow. Her wings regrew their feathers and her coat regained its luster as her body ripped the magic from the nearby surroundings and plunged the world into darkness, illuminated only by the exuberance of the alicorn's aura. Within the darkness, a thousand eyes popped into existence, followed by the chattering of a legion of unseen mouths. Teeth gnashed in the void but none of them dared move any closer.
"It's time to end this!" Twilight proclaimed and released her pent-up magic, turning the dark world into pure white.
~*~
Back in the Crystal Empire, the remaining princesses had lost. Battered and weakened, they lay in the streets, unable to move or right against their adversary. Princess Celestia found that she couldn't even lift her head up and from the looks of both Luna and Cadence, they too were feeling the massive fatigue she felt, as though being awake for the last few weeks. How was this possible? Magic-based exhaustion was commonplace in arcane duels but alicorns had greater thaumaturgical stamina, allowing them to last hours longer than a unicorn and yet all three of them were weak. And Midnight Sparkle looked as though she hadn't even broken a sweat.
Not even Celestia's strongest attack-the dreaded Phoenix Tackle-had done even the slightest bit of damage. She might as well have thrown a pillow at Midnight for all the good that it did. True, Midnight had the combined knowledge of both Luna and Twilight but how could she withstand a combined attack from three alicorns? It'd been some time since Celestia felt genuine fear and now it'd come in the form of her former student, infected by an enemy from the past thought permanently beaten. Once Equestria's sole defender, Celestia could only watch impotently as Midnight yanked Luna up by the throat with her magic.
"Where...is...it?"
Before Luna could stammer out an answer, Midnight winced and slapped a hoof to her face.
"What...what is...is thiiiis?"
She shook her head and faced Luna once more, only for her to release a cry of agony, her aura around Luna fading and dropping the Night Princess onto the ground. Midnight gripped her face with her hooves, veins pulsating on her forehead and temples. She bucked and growled, shrieking and pounding her hindhooves against the cobblestone in frustration. The feeling of immense exhaustion soon faded though none of the princesses could make a move. The other Element bearers froze as they entered the scene, trying to comprehend what it was that they were witnessing.
A demonic howl tore through Midnight's throat as a fissure of brilliant raspberry light crackled down her cheek and a secondary face peeled away from her own, this one resembling and sounding like Twilight. Screaming like a newborn exiting the womb, the Twilight head tore itself out of the fissure and forced Midnight to rear up onto her hindlegs as a grayish mulberry foreleg appeared alongside her own right one, followed closely by its twin. The light intensified with every new body part that revealed itself and before long, Twilight Sparkle managed to tug herself free and collapse onto the ground, visibly drained by her ordeal. Meanwhile, the light completely engulfed Midnight, transforming her into a glowing ovoid of flickering luminescence, the surface of the quasi-egg shape stretching and molding.
"Twilight!"
Rainbow Dash was the first to reach her, cradling her head as the others soon surrounded her.
"Is she...?"
Celestia shook her head. "No, merely exhausted. We should move her-..."
"Sister!"
They all followed Luna's hoof to the ovoid, which soon cracked in a flood of scintillating magic. From out of the quickly-dissipating shell pieces, a mare promptly emerged, her feathered wings popping open with an audible flick. She stood nearly at the same height as Celestia, her dark purple coat dotted with little star-like configurations. Her flowing mane swirled freely in the breeze and was double the size of her body, a swirling mass of violet and dark blue streaks containing a series of glittering constellations. On the mare's flank, a cutie mark flashed into existence: two shooting stars forming a ring around a seven-pointed star, all three objects held within the embrace of a crescent moon.
The new alicorn's eyes shot open, unveiling two light sapphire orbs with silver star-shaped pupils that were as cold and distant as the night sky. She peered around at everypony and a cruel smile touched her lips.
"You're too late. I've taken what I've can from the filly and now...I'm reborn."