//------------------------------//
// Escape From Canterlot Castle 
// Story: Equestria Crisis (A Marvel/DC/MLP Crossover) 
// by Nic Nerdy 
//------------------------------//

ELSEWHERE

Canterlot Castle

"Let me ask you some questions, Twilight," Midnight Sparkle began to speak as she stood before her alternate self. "How many times has Celestia endangered Equestria when she could have solved the problems herself. How many times has she put the lives of you and your friends on the line as a means of teaching you? How many times have her plans backfired and made you suffer?"

Twilight Sparkle looked at her clearly older self. "Celestia is a wonderful ruler," She protested with conviction on her face. 

"She was a tyrant who didn't want to do anything herself," Midnight Sparkle yelled with hatred on her face. "She sent six ponies on quests where they could die and if they failed, it wouldn't matter to her! Nightmare Moon, why did Celestia keep her own sister a secret from the rest of Equestria? Why didn't she tell you about why you needed to make friends when you arrived in Ponyville?"

"Back then, I didn't want to make friends," Twilight Sparkle quickly came up with a response. "If I were told that I had to make friends to save the world, I would see them as a means to an end and they wouldn't be my friends. I would never realize the qualities that were needed to access the Elements of Harmony."

"But she still could have considered the idea of doing things herself," Midnight Sparkle provided her own protest. "She could have stopped Nightmare Moon if she was more open with you, did more to stop Discord instead of sitting in her palace, trusted you when Chrysalis acted suspiciously as Cadence, came with you to the Crystal Empire to stop Sombra, and everything else she put into our hooves!"

Looking confused and hurt by what Midnight Sparkle had said, Applejack looked at the empress. "Well, if you are some other version of Twilight who had the same life and experiences as ours, you must still know that what Celestia did was for the right reasons."

"I used to be that pony, Applejack," Midnight Sparkle looked over to the farmer pony as she carried a stern look. "But once I outlived all of you on this universe, I saw the truth of Celestia's actions and took action. Once I took Celestia and Luna out of the equation, I have perfected this world. If there is ever a massive threat for me to handle, I handle it." She then pointed to the glass murals in the throne room. 

On one of them, there was an image of Midnight Sparkle tending to the food crops with Earth Ponies. Another mural was of Midnight Sparkle standing above the guards she had formed as they fight an army of enemy griffins. One other mural was of Midnight Sparkle in the center of it, featuring ponies bowing before her. There was even a mural of her banishing Discord to another dimension with locks placed in front of the portal. If anypony could guess, Discord tried to fight against Midnight Sparkle and failed to stop her conquest. 

Supergirl was not impressed as she examined the murals. But even as she looked at the murals, even though the magical collars inhibited a majority of her powers, she could hear the crying and screams of ponies outside of the castle. She could hear this universe's Ponyville and the pain that went through it, whips being lashed on those less willing to obey, and the grunts of the ponies pulling carts and pushing things. 

"This isn't a utopia," Supergirl pointed out as she stood her ground. "I can hear all of the pain you put your subjects through. None of them are happy."

Midnight Sparkle looked rather offended by what Supergirl had said. "Well, there are some kinks to work out. The Rebellion does make ruling my Midnight Empire difficult by attacking my outposts and stealing supplies." Midnight Sparkle stated before turning back to Twilight Sparkle. "I beg of you, Twilight, join me. I'll help you realize that Celestia has always been your biggest enemy." She places her right hoof underneath Twilight Sparkle's chin. "We can save your friends, work together to keep you from outliving them."

Twilight Sparkle had multiple thoughts race through her mind, she only settled on one answer. "I won't join you, Midnight."

Removing her hoof from under Twilight Sparkle's chin, Midnight Sparkle's expression made her counterpart's answer looked like it was a minor inconvenience. "Captain," Midnight Sparkle looked over to Javelin Toss. "Escort our guests to the reconditioning camps." She looked over to 

"Yes, Empress," Javelin Toss moved his armor-covered body forward. "Move, prisoners!" He yelled at those who were captured. 

Turning the other way, the six prisoners began walking out of the throne room. They walked past the murals that they had seen on entering beforehand, the maids and butlers working to maintain the castle, and regular windows which showed all of the suffering outside of the castle. All throughout the walking, none of the prisoners spoke to each other.

"I must say," Javelin Toss began to speak as he lead his troops and the prisoners. "I think I'll keep hold of this belt of yours, Boy Wonder." He clearly spoke to Robin. "I'll hold onto it while all of you are put through reconditioning."

Then out of nowhere, one of the female guards hit Javelin Toss with her right hoof. Then with the magic of her horn, the female guard grasped the spear that Javelin Toss carried with him. She used it to knock him unconscious and sent him flying across the room. Turning to the other five guards, she took to quickly using whatever skills she possessed to spin and swing the spear around. One by one, she used the environment, any objects in the area, and her own magic to take guards down. Once the last one was down by tossing the guard into the air, the female guard turned to the prisoners. 

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed at the sight she had just witnessed.

Using her magic, the female guard grabbed a key and Robin's utility belt from Javelin Toss with telekinesis. She turned to Twilight Sparkle, her two friends, and the Titans, placing the key close to begin unlocking the collars. One by one, the six ponies were freed from the inhibiter collars and Robin was given his belt. 

"Don't worry," The muffled voice of the pony underneath the armor came out. "I'm going to get you out of here."

As soon as he finished with his belt, Robin looked at their mystery savior. "How?"

Once again, the female guard's horn glowed yellow as she stood close to the group of six ponies. Then with a yellow bubble that quickly enveloped the seven ponies and when the blinding light vanished, the six realized that they were in outside through teleportation. Looking around, they saw that they were at the entrance of the Everfree Forest. 

"The Everfree Forest is the safest place for the six of you to be right now," The guard stated as she looked at the six ponies she had just teleported. "All of you will need to follow me."

"Wait, who are you?" Twilight Sparkle asked their savor as she walked in front of the others.

Applejack looked over to their mystery savior with a look of distrust. "Why should we trust you?"

Surrounding her helmet in the yellow energy field of her magic, the mare slid the helmet off and heard the gasps of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. The head of this mare was a light magentaish gray with tinges of pale, light grayish fuchsia. Secondly, her buzzed mane was a gradient of light cerise to grayish violet with light artic blue highlights. Lastly, her eyes with light opal and expressed her frustration.

This pony might be years older, but Twilight Sparkle knew who she was. "Flurry Heart?"

"As in your niece, Flurry Heart?" Scarlet Witch asked Twilight Sparkle as she was also curious. "As in your baby niece on your world?"

Flurry Heart changed her expression from frustration to confusion. "Look, you can explain things to me and I will explain everything to you when we reach the base." She said before looking and running forward.

Seeing no other option, the six ponies that Flurry Heart rescued began to run with her. 





PONYVILLE

CASTLE OF FRIENDSHIP

Inside of the Castle of Friendship, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Trixie were as devastated as the ponies who returned to the castle. When Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, and Batgirl had made their way back, they had explained to the two ponies and the dragon about what had happened, leaving everypony devastated. Spike had been told to write a letter to a letter to Princess Celestia, grabbing parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink.

Sitting at the center table, Rarity began to speak. "Princess Celestia, I regret to inform you that Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Robin, Scarlet Witch, and Supergirl have been taken by Enchantress and Skurge. When we went to protect the Tree of Harmony, Enchantress and Skurge had guards with them wearing unrecognizable armor." She then paused to catch her breath before continuing. "After Enchantress knocked Twilight and Scarlet Witch unconscious and tossed them through a portal, the other four jumped after them while Enchantress, Skurge, and those ruffians with them had vanished. But we were able to retrieve the Elements of Harmony and are awaiting your instructions."

Having been writing down what Rarity recapped, Spike had rolled up the scroll. Holding it in his right claw, he blew his green flames onto the scroll, and it vanished into thin air. 

"Let me get this straight," Ms. Marvel was the next one to speak as she looked at the six Elements of Harmony on the table. "We might need these to defeat Enchantress and Skurge. But without Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, the Elements won't do their thing?"

"Yep," Pinkie Pie sadly stated as her head laid on the table. 

"Who knows where our friends are right now," Fluttershy also moped as she sat at the table. "They could be in terrible danger and we don't know how to help them."

Spider-Man was right next to Fluttershy and looked toward her. "Don't worry, Fluttershy," He tried to reassure the Pegasus. "I know my friends well enough that they can get out of where they are. From what I've heard from all of you, your friends can get of a jam too."

"You said that they vanished through a portal, right?" Starlight Glimmer asked and was given a nod from Batgirl. "Did any of you see what was on the other side?"

"The portal was all black," Rarity was the one to respond. "We could not see a thing."

Trixie looked disappointed as she sat next to Starlight Glimmer. "Great, so we have no idea where they could be."

Just then, Spike burped, and a green flame came out of his mouth. With it, there was a message from Princess Celestia. "Celestia is glad to hear of the Elements of Harmony being retrieved. But she will send her guards and spies across Equestria to find the others." Spike summarized out loud to the others in the room as he read the letter. "In the meantime, she wants us to bring the Elements of Harmony to the Crystal Empire in order to protect them and the Crystal Heart."

"The Crystal Heart?" Spider-Man asked the dragon as he was confused.

"The Crystal Heart is a magical heart-shaped crystal used to protect the Crystal Empire from threats." Pinkie Pie stated as she was still lying her head on the table. 

Fluttershy was the next to speak. "If Enchantress and Skurge manage to steal the Crystal Heart, they will be unstoppable." She sounded afraid. 

"Then we must go to the Crystal Empire." Spider-Man declared to the others as he stood up. 

Starlight Glimmer then smiled as she thought of an idea when her ally from another universe stood up. "Wait, I have an idea!" Starlight Glimmer yelled out to the others in the room. "Spider-Man, if all of you came from another universe, maybe Enchantress sent our friends to another universe. Maybe it is where those evil guards came from."

"What are you suggesting, Starlight?" Ms. Marvel asked from the Unicorn.

"If I can modify the portal over there," Starlight Glimmer stated as she pointed at the mirror portal with the machinery around it. "I can make it track Twilight across the multiverse and find the universe that she is on."

"Can it be done?" Batgirl, still wearing her mask, asked the pony with a plan. 

"I can grab a strand of Twilight's hair from her brush and use it to focus the portal on her." Starlight Glimmer answered as her horn began to glow blue.

Pinkie Pie finally began to smile again. "Then the rest of us go to the Crystal Empire, get things handled over there, and you can stay here to work on the portal to bring our friends home!" She excitedly stated as she liked the plan being put together. 

Spike walked over to Pinkie Pie as he felt hope as everypony else began to. "I'll go with all of you, you'll need somepony to send messages to Celestia if needed."

"Sounds like a plan." Spider-Man was on board as everypony nodded with him. 





ELSEWHERE

EVERFREE FOREST

Even when things looked dour and hopeless in this world, the Everfree Forest did not change. As Flurry Heart led Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Robin, Scarlet Witch, and Supergirl through the Forest, they noticed the animals, clouds, and plant life act of their own free will. It took a lot of walking, climbing, and even flying for those who could fly, but they eventually made to the Castle of the Two Sisters. The castle looked more in ruins than it did on Twilight Sparkle's world, some of the remaining towers not even standing anymore.

Throughout the entire journey, Flurry Heart had stayed silent unless she was directing those she led. Which she did until she reached the front entrance of the ruins, stopping to stand at the doorway. Looking at the stone panels on the doorway, Flurry Heart pressed on certain ones and in a certain way. After doing so, a small section of the floor on the other side opened up and revealed a descending staircase. 

"Follow me," Flurry Heart ordered the ponies with her as she began going downstairs. 

Looking at each other, the three Elements of Harmony bearers and the three Teen Titans then followed the Alicorn downstairs. Walking downward, they were happy to see that there were torches lighting the way while the platform closed. After a couple minutes of walking, the six ponies led by Flurry Heart had found what they were being led to, a large open room that looked like the interior of a military base. Everywhere were ponies polishing spears and bows, repairing armor, putting together machines, and generally working as an army. 

Looking to the right, Scarlet Witch noticed fillies and colts huddled in a corner. "All of you are living underground?" The mutant asked Flurry Heart as she looked around. 

"It's better than being out in the open." Flurry Heart replied as she stood in front of on the six arrivals. Then a blue mare Earth pony was in front of her. "Soldier."

"Commander," The blue mare addressed her commanding officer. Turning her head, she spotted the six ponies, her expression turning into shock when she saw Twilight Sparkle. "Why does that one look like Midnight Sparkle when she was younger?"

"We're about to find out," Flurry Heart answered as she continued to look at the blue mare. "Where is the General?"

"In her office like always," The blue mare responded as she then stood aside.

"Thank you, soldier." Flurry Heart thanked the blue mare as she began to step forward, making sure the ponies she rescued had followed. 

Walking throughout the complex, the three Elements of Harmony bearers and the three Teen Titans witnessed the ponies in misery. Plenty of them seeming to lose hope, that whatever had went on in this world had drained hopes and dreams. Walking around corridors, the six ponies followed the Alicorn in armor, who had removed the torso piece to let out her wings. Then as they got around a corner, the group of seven were in what was clearly an officer's quarters. Plenty of items were weapons among other things, but the pink Alicorn sitting at a desk and faced a wall. 

This Alicorn had a bright pink coat, pink wings, and a ruffled mane that was moderate violet with moderate rose and pale gold streaks. On this mare's torso, she wore bluish gray armor with a symbol that almost resembled Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark, less twisted than Midnight Sparkle's. 

"Mother," Flurry Heart asked for the attention of the pony at the desk. "We have some ponies who need to meet you."

"Flurry Heart, I need to finish going over the-" The mare at the desk spoke with a rather familiar voice.

Twilight Sparkle knew it all too well. "Cadence?"

Then in a couple of seconds, the mare used her magic to grab a nearby spear, turned around, and tackled Twilight Sparkle to the ground. With Twilight Sparkle on the floor, she saw pure hatred on the counterpart to her sister-in-law. What she also was a scar going down and over the Alicorn's right eye. Clearly, a result of a past battle.

"Mother, wait!" Flurry Heart pleaded as she ran over to grab onto her mother and tried to restrain her.

"I told you that if I ever saw you again," General Cadence screamed at the top of her lungs as she stood over and stared at Twilight Sparkle. "I would kill you for taking everything from me and for all that you had done to the rest of Equestria!"

While everypony else pleaded for General Cadence to stop herself, Twilight Sparkle tearfully looked up at her. "Cadence, please! I'm not who you think I am!"

Looking down at the pony she was ready to stab her spear into, General Cadence looked into the eyes of Twilight Sparkle. Looking into those teary eyes, General Cadence began to lose her composure and tears flowed from her eyes. Backing away, she took a look at the spear she levitated and let go of it, her magical energy field no longer surrounding it. General Cadence feel to the floor and began to cry. 

"Are..." General Cadence began to speak through the tears. "Are you just some figment of my imagination?"

Helped up by her friends, Twilight Sparkle looked at the crying Alicorn. "No, I am not." Twilight Sparkle stated as she walked closer to General Cadence. "I am not Midnight Sparkle either. I don't even know what's going on here." She then held a hoof out to her friends. "All of us were taken from our universe by Midnight Sparkle for reasons relating to wanting me to turn on Celestia."

Rainbow Dash was the next one to speak. "Midnight Sparkle even told us that me, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are all dead in this universe."

"You..." Flurry Heart began to speak to the rainbow-haired Pegasus. "All of you had died years ago. Our universe might as well be one hundred years in the future from whatever year you came from."

"That's nuts," Applejack protested as she could not believe what she was hearing. "I don't see how any of this could have happened."

"Where we come from, Flurry," Twilight Sparkle looked to her niece's counterpart. "You are still just a foal and we had just defeated the Pony of Shadows. Then some enemies from our new friend's universe arrived to conquer Equestria right as we were readying the Festival of Friendship." 

"Then you must've never encountered the Storm King in your universe." General Cadence added in as she began to piece things together. 

"Cadence," Twilight Sparkle looked at her sister-in-law's counterpart. "I must know how all of this happened. How did things get so bad?"

Getting a hold of herself, General Cadence was still unable to properly look at Twilight Sparkle. "Alright," She sighed. "I'll tell how our world became this way. But neither one of you are going to like it."