As Twilight wakes up, she comes to realize that.. everything’s pitch black. She can’t see anything or anyone. She sits up and looks around, hoping to find some clue as to where she is.. maybe she’s back at the place where she and the others first got their powers? It would make sense since they also got the elements back from there.. but there was no voice this time.
“Rainbow?! Luna?! ..Girls?!” She calls out but gets no response. She notices that after she does call out though, she feels like.. she’s being watched. This causes the fear that was already in her to go up a bit as she walks around, hoping to find a way out. Every now and then she could’ve sworn she heard something or saw something in the corner of her eye. She keeps walking until she notices that something’s different and she looks down to see that her feet are no longer visible as she’s standing in some sort of black.. liquid?
She hears something again and looks to see.. bubbles in the liquid.. heading straight towards her, she hears more and next thing she knows, she’s surrounded by six of whatever is in this stuff. She tries to fly away but her wings won’t open. She tries using magic but her horn won’t even so much as glow. So she does the only thing she can at this point.. she runs as fast as she can, not knowing or caring where she’s going, just wanting to get as far away from whatever those things were as possible.
“Come on, think! There’s gotta be some way out of here! Some way back to the others!” Twilight yells, frantically searching for a way out as she’s running. She notices that the further she runs, the more the depth of whatever she was standing in increases until her legs are completely submerged and only the top half of her body is visible. She also hears those creatures getting closer but she refuses to look back. She keeps looking and sees a door with some sort of alicorn design on it and she runs to it as fast as she can.
When she makes it to it, she tries to open it only to find that it’s locked. “No no no no!” She says as she continues trying to open it. She looks to see the bubbles getting closer and closer to where she was. “Come on!!!” She yells as she tries ramming her shoulder into the door over and over again and even tries kicking it down but it doesn’t budge so she backs up against it as the creatures look like they’re about to reach her.. until she falls through the door and lands on top of a mountain. She then notices that this isn’t just any mountain..
It’s the mountain of Light Hope's home.. why was she here-?
“You are so. Selfish! Ya know that?!” She hears a familiar voice say and she turns around only to be grabbed and thrown behind Rainbow Dash to the other side of the mountaintop. Before she can fully recover, Rainbow knees her in the face and pins her down, punching her repeatedly. “You talk about being better than the other villains when you were one of them!” Rainbow yells before picking up Twilight and slamming her then kicking her off the mountain.
Fluttershy catches her and slams her into the side of the mountain. “You’re the reason so many ponies are either dead or suffering in so many places! You're the real villain!” Fluttershy yells before spinning and throwing Twilight into the Great Lake. Twilight’s wings still won’t work and neither will her magic. She notices that she still has her weapons.. but she didn’t wanna hurt her friends.. or worse. She tries to swim to the surface but the more she tries, the further away from it she gets.
Just as everything starts to go dark, she’s suddenly dropped out of the sky and straight into the Everfree Forest. She looks around frantically and sees what looks to be the aftermath of a battle. She sees three dead ponies and recognizes them as the fire pony who attacked Applejack and Rarity, and Flim and Flam. Seeing this, she’s reminded of when Midnight had killed them both.. and she wasn’t able to do anything.
“That right there.. is your problem.” She hears Applejack say before she’s punched in the back right through a tree. “Ya tell yourself that you couldn’t do anything when we both know that’s not true.. ya could’ve saved them but no.. you didn’t want your cover to be blown so you let 'em die!” Applejack says and just as Twilight tries to get up, she’s frozen in place then kicked in the head by Rarity who stomps on her head, keeping it on the ground.
“Rather cowardly if you ask me. Especially since you didn’t expose yourself until an entire village had already been destroyed and three survivors needed you.. not that it’ll do the dead any good!” Rarity says before blasting Twilight away into the clearing where they fought. “Although it makes sense.. you wanted to hide from everything, too afraid to face it all after what you’ve done.. and to think.. everypony thought so much better of you darling.. only to be let down.” She says and Twilight starts getting angry because.. a part of her actually believes what they’re saying.
Did she want to hide before? Maybe, did she regret all the ponies she couldn’t save? Definitely.. but what good was that? “I know I’ve made mistakes! B-But I’m trying to-“ Twilight tries to say but she’s suddenly pinned to the ground by a giant Ursa paw and she looks to see that “Applejack” has turned into a Ursa Major just like Flim and Flam said.
“Trying to what?! Save a buncha dead ponies from a fate you condemned them to?! A bit late for that don’t you think?!” She asks as she raises her paw.
“N-No! WAIT!!!” Twilight screams but Applejack brings the giant paw down anyway and Twilight closes her eyes.. then opens them to see that she’s in Canterlot. She hesitantly stands up and looks around, seeing everything the way it was before Midnight ruined it. She’s very skeptical after what she just went through so she keeps her guard up as she walks around. She sees somepony in the distance and when she gets closer, she recognizes it as..
“Celestia..? Celestia!” She yells excitedly as she runs to her and just as she’s about to get to her, Celestia bursts into flames.. and out of the flames comes Daybreaker who pins Twilight’s head to the ground as she grabs her, dragging her and grinding her face into the dirt before she slams her, sending her tumbling away.
“Well well well, look who it is. The very pony who caused all this to begin with! The same pony that lead to me becoming THIS!” She yells angrily and Twilight struggles to get up and just as she manages to get to her knees, she’s kicked in the side by Pinkie which knocks her into a building.
“The same pony who brings out the worst in all her friends.. in herself! You wanna protect Equestria so bad? Well guess what? You know as well as I do that Equestria would be a better place.. without. You.” She says as she pulls out one of her makeshift “party pistols” and aims it at Twilight and as much as Twilight was starting to believe everything that had been said to her.. she wasn’t ready to die just yet. She kicks it out of Pinkie’s hand before she can shoot it and trips her before getting on top of her and punching her once, knocking her out instantly. Daybreaker kicks her off and Twilight quickly recovers, taking out her weapons.
“Please..! Please don’t make me do this!!” Twilight pleads but Daybreaker charges at her anyway, fire trailing behind her the whole way and the next thing Twilight knows after she closes her eyes.. she opens them and she’s standing with one of her blades going into Celestia's chest.
“That’s right.. you’re the one who truly caused my death. Midnight may have dealt the finishing blow.. but you? ..You are the one that killed me.. my not so faithful student..” Celestia says and Twilight slowly shakes her head as a weak show of denial.
“No.. I-I didn’t.. I.. I’m so sorry..” Twilight says and she sees her friends walking up, the flames coming from the now burning kingdom of Canterlot giving their silhouettes a sinister look.
“You know it as well as we do.. it was a mistake for me to make you a princess.. all that power and the only thing you’ve done with it all this time.. is hurt others..” She says before suddenly grabbing Twilight’s hands and forcing her to send the blade deeper into her chest. Twilight tries to stop her but she can’t seem to get her hands free. “Not only are you a disgrace..a failure.. and a weakling.. but you’re also a murderer.” Celestia continues and Twilight tries harder to get free.
“Stop it.. please just stop!” Twilight yells but “Celestia” continues to torment her.. and she continues to fall for it.
“You’re a destroyer.. a villain.. nothing close to being a true friend..” Celestia says and Twilight shakes her head even more.
“No..!”
“You. Are. NO. PRINCESS!”
“NOOOO!!!” Twilight screams before she realizes that.. the illusion or whatever the hell she was trapped in had changed.. she was surrounded by buildings that looked to have a much older design than the ones in Canterlot. She hears something and soon realizes that it’s somepony calling for help. She sighs and asks herself “What am I doing..?” Before following the sound to its source.. until she sees a burning mansion of sorts but realizes that.. it’s Solaris’s mansion. “Oh my god.. Solaris!” She yells before trying to run through the entrance which is open.
At least it’s open until she gets close, then she hears a terrifying voice. “NO!” The voice says before the doors slam shut, sending a shockwave of magic that knocks Twilight back. She quickly gets up and tries opening them again but they wouldn’t budge. She’s suddenly grabbed from behind by Midnight and slammed into the stairs before she’s picked up and slammed into the dirt below them. “You won’t be getting anywhere near her! Not without getting through me first.” She says before clones of Midnight appear.. and a LOT of them.
Twilight, having had enough, doesn’t hesitate to take out her weapons. “Fine.. magic or not.. I’ll take you all on.. then I’m getting Solaris out of there and saving my friends.” She says and the first Midnight that had attacked her smirks before all of them form the different weapons that were in Midnight’s arsenal.
“Then by all means.. show me how you intend to do that.” She says and Twilight huffs and runs at them all, dodging under the first attack, blocking another, and killing one of the clones as she continues running, avoiding and blocking incoming attacks along the way. She continues killing clones, even with some of them using magic and she manages to kill at least 15. She goes to kill another but is blocked, countered, and knocked further away from the mansion when she tries. One of the Midnights seem to use magic.. but not on her. By the time she recovers, alicorn empathy is setting off all kinds of alarm bells in her head and she has no idea why.. Until it forces her to look up and she reacts just fast enough to catch the mountaintop that was falling towards her, not having enough time to move instead.
She groans in pain when she catches it, struggling not to buckle under the weight as she's forced to one knee. “Face it Twilight.. you were never going to win this.. you’re nothing without your friends, or your magic.. maybe if you had started accepting your new powers instead of fearing them.. you would know how to use them here.” Midnight says and Twilight tries not to give in.. but she’s exhausted and her arms and legs were starting to hurt and the sheer willpower she was using to keep holding up the mountaintop was dangerously low now.. maybe Midnight was.. right.
“I.. I can’t do this alone. I can’t.. do this.. I’m sorry everyone..” Twilight says before she looks towards the mansion, still hearing Solaris scream for help from inside. “I’m sorry Solaris..” She says before one of her hands slip and she quickly closes her eyes, awaiting the brutal death that awaited her.. but it didn’t come, she opens her eyes, only to close them as she sees a blinding golden light in front of her. Once her eyes adjust to the light, she’s shocked and way more than a little relieved to see.. Celestia.. standing with her and helping her lift the ginormous mountaintop above them.
“C-Celestia..? Please tell me it’s really you..” Twilight says and Celestia smiles and nods.
“It’s me, I assure you.. and not just me.” She says as she helps Twilight toss the mountaintop to the side and just as Twilight falls from being so tired, she feels someone catch her and looks to see Rainbow Dash who gives her a concerned look.
“Rainbow..?” Twilight asks and Rainbow Dash smiles and nods in response.
“Don’t worry Twi.. we’re here to help you now.” She says before the others show up and have their weapons.. and magic ready.
“H-How-“ Twilight tries to ask but Celestia explains that after being able to use at least half her normal power and going through all the torment and pain, she found the others first and helped them figure out how to use their own. She walks to Twilight and grabs both her hands.
“To use your magic.. you have to stop doubting yourself.. stop fearing your abilities.. stop blaming yourself for things you could not control.. let yourself feel the power coursing through you.. then use it. And remember you’re using it to defend those you love.. don’t let anger or fear fuel it.. let it be fueled by the love that you’ve received.. and what you’ve shared.” Celestia says and Twilight nods, closes her eyes and breathes in and out.
“ENOUGH!!” Midnight yells as the army of clones charges towards them and they get ready to fight.. until Twilight opens her eyes which are glowing and a huge wave of magic comes from her, destroying the clones and putting out the fire in the mansion. Everyone looks amazed and when they look at her, her mane is glowing and slightly flowing along with her tail, appearing as if they contained galaxies. Symbols covered her body, including her horn. Her feathers were glowing the same shade of purple as her new magic.
As she goes back to normal, she notices the shocked looks from her friends and the proud smile from Celestia. They all continue towards the mansion and this time the doors open easily and they see the damage and destruction caused by the mansion but what really catches their eyes is the crying ball of purple fur trapped under debris. They all work together to quickly move it all until they’re met by the sight of the young alicorn known.. as Solaris.
She looks up at them and looks so scared when she does. Twilight gets a bit closer but Solaris quickly starts backing away from her, still scared after what she had just gone through and had been going through for thousands of years. Twilight then takes the gentler approach and gently shushes her as she slowly crouches to her level.
“Shhhh, hey it’s ok.. we’re not gonna hurt you.” She says and after a few seconds, Solaris seems to calm down as she looks up at her, putting her shaking hands down but still being cautious. “Sorry we scared you.. but it’s going to be ok now.. my name is-“ Twilight tries to introduce herself and her friends but Solaris interrupts her with a tired, slightly shaky voice.
“Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.. you all are the Mane 6 and you’re Princess Celestia..” She says and they all nod but look confused about something. “Sometimes I can see what Midnight does on the outside.. who she meets, who she fights.. who she.. she..” Solaris tries to finish but her sentence fades off into sobs, sniffles, and whimpers. It hurts their hearts and Twilight puts a gentle hand on Solaris's shoulder, prompting her to jump into her arms for a hug, still crying.
“Shhh.. it’s ok.. it’ll all be ok now.. you won’t have to suffer through that anymore. I promise.. we’re taking you home. And hopefully.. we can help you move past this.. and you can help us get rid of Midnight for good.” Twilight says and Solaris freezes up at that and for a full two minutes, she doesn’t respond.. until she looks up at Twilight and nods.
“Good.. let’s go get rid of that monster.. once and for all.”