Flashback
As Twilight and the others went over a plan to stop the villains, including the newly made evil versions of themselves, Twilight got an idea that would make hers a little easier and sort of help everyone cover more ground. Her plan was for everyone they could spare to separate and cover different areas, protecting them from Midnight’s control and she insisted on going to a few areas by herself but of course, no one liked the idea of her going alone so she allowed her friends to go with her. And for a while it was going pretty well… Twilight even thought about not going along with her own plan.
The hesitation increased when they started reflecting on what had happened in those ten years of peace they had gotten after they defeated the Legion of Doom. “Remember what happened during that first year? We all decided to get together and have a picnic and Pinkie played a prank on us and put sneezing powder on the flowers so that when Rarity and Fluttershy smelled them, the powder spread to the rest of us.” Rainbow Dash asks, laughing at the memory and so does everypony else.
“I sure do remember RD. Like it was yesterday. We were stuck sneezing and laughing for a while there. My only question is how Pinkie knew they would stop to smell them.” Applejack says, looking at Pinkie who just shrugs before answering.
“Well Rarity is attracted to pretty things and Fluttershy loves nature, soooo it was kind of obvious.” Pinkie says and everypony responds with “Ohhhhh.”
“You know us pretty well dear. Though it makes sense, since we’ve been best friends for years now.” Rarity says before noticing Fluttershy's blush and smirking. “Buuut there’s one thing you don’t know about Fluttershy yet. But it isn’t my story to tell.” She says and Fluttershy blushes even more, turning her face away so Pinkie won’t see it. Pinkie notices though and leans against Fluttershy, causing her to look shocked before wrapping a wing around her.
“Awwww” Everypony says besides them, causing them both to blush more.
“Oof, Discord is not gonna be happy about this.” Rainbow says and Applejack gives her a look.
“Then don’t tell him.” Applejack says and Rainbow rolls her eyes and gives her the same look.
“Oh. Like you and Rarity won’t tell Spike? Gotta admit Applejack, I didn’t think you had it in you to keep up a lie. Especially to Spike about something like this.” Rainbow says and Applejack clenches her fists.
“Girls. Settle down. Now.” Twilight demands and they look at her then at each other before sitting back down, not even realizing they had stood up in the first place, getting ready to fight.
“She’s right, we don’t want a repeat of last time.” Fluttershy says and everyone cringes but Twilight who looks more than a bit confused. “Oh right… this happened while you were in a coma but um… Applejack and Rainbow Dash got into a… pretty bad fight… to say the least.” She explains and Twilight nods in understanding and almost asks what it’s about until Rainbow Dash speaks up.
“I’m sorry for never apologizing after that… I shouldn’t have said what I said about… Granny Smith… especially so soon after what had happened… I know how it feels to lose someone that close AJ… we all do. And I hope you know that I really do hope that she’s happy along with everypony else… wherever they are now.” Dash says and Applejack smiles before walking over and holding out her hand. Rainbow smiles back and grabs her hand, prompting both of them to shake each other’s hand before hugging one another. Most of their friends join in except Twilight who just frowns at the memory of that day. As she sees all her friends together, she feels more determined than ever to protect them… and remembers why she had suggested that everyone split up in the first place.
After a bit more time of talking and reminiscing on the past, they all decide to get some rest and Twilight goes to her tent to work on the note she was writing. She continues working on it for a while, trying to think of the perfect words to say to explain what she was going to do until she hears footsteps and quickly hides the note and turns to see Rainbow Dash walking into her tent with a nervous look on her face, seeming to be acting as timid as Fluttershy… Honestly it was pretty adorable to her and she can’t help but giggle in amusement.
“What’s wrong Rainbow?” Twilight asks and Rainbow Dash is now starting to blush as she breathes in and out to try and form the words.
“I… couldn’t sleep. So uh… can I sleep in here with you? I’ve… kinda missed you these past few months.” Rainbow says and Twilight opens a wing towards her and Rainbow immediately accepts the invitation, sitting next to Twilight and allowing her to wrap a wing around her. “Thanks…” She says and Twilight smiles and nods.
“Anytime Dashie…” Twilight says as she nuzzles her head on top of Rainbow's mane and Rainbow nuzzles into her, feeling safe and for the first time in a while… happy. The feeling was shared by Twilight but… not for very long. She was still in a state of distress over so many things…
“I’m so sorry Rainbow…” Twilight thinks to herself before placing a kiss on one of Dash's ears and it twitches cutely when she does. “Rainbow… I’m… I may not show it often but… I’m scared.” Twilight says, causing Rainbow to look up at her. “I already lost both my parents… I thought I had lost you… I can’t lose anyone else… I can’t lose you… I just can’t.” Twilight says, her hold on Rainbow becoming tighter as she tries to restrain the tears that threaten to leave her eyes at the memory of that day… when Midnight had sent Rainbow flying off into the storm… when she killed her parents. She feels Rainbow wrap her own arms and wings around her and she finally loses her battle to hide her tears.
“Twi… you’re not gonna lose me, ok? I’ll always be with you and I’ll follow you into any battle… and it’s the same for all our friends… nothing you do or don’t do can change that… The best and only way for us to make it through this is… together.” Rainbow says and Twilight smiles… knowing exactly what she had to do no matter how much it hurt her or her friends.
“You know… for someone so hotheaded, you sure can be wise when you wanna be.” Twilight says and Rainbow smiles a bit when she remembers who she has to thank for that.
“I think Light Hope rubbed off on me more than I thought. Fluttershy may have gotten her skill… but I guess I got some of her knowledge and… maybe a little patience?” Rainbow questions and Twilight gives her a mocking shocked look and Dash rolls her eyes. “Hey come on, that’s not a new word for me! Or a new attitude!” Rainbow says but when Twilight gives her a knowing look, she mumbles under her breath. “Ok fine, it might be new for me but come on. Ever heard of character growth?” She says and Twilight giggles, prompting her to start giggling as well before it turns into straight up laughter. “I love you Twi.” Rainbow says and Twilight smiles lovingly down at her.
“I love you too Rainbow.” Twilight responds and after a quick kiss, they both decide to get some rest. They both lay down and Rainbow feels Twilight wrap her powerful arms around her in a gentle embrace, causing her to smile before both of them slowly drift off to sleep… or at least Rainbow does. Twilight, as soon as Rainbow falls asleep, slips away and starts carefully and quietly putting on her armor and gathering her weapons and a few supplies she’ll need. She then grabs the note she had wrote before magically duplicating it so there are now five then magically sending four into the tents that belong to her friends but laying the original one down next to the sleeping mat Rainbow was resting on.
Twilight gives Rainbow one last look before walking out of the tent, silently apologizing to all of them… and leaving to face Midnight and her army by herself.
A Year Later
As Zecora, the Mane 6's zebra friend, stalked through the Everfree forest, she couldn’t help but wonder what she had missed due to being away in her homeland for so long. It was strange that things now seemed different in Equestria, like… like it had been turned into a war zone. And then when she had finally gotten to settle back down, suddenly Twilight had been at her door, filling her in on what had happened and telling her that she needed her help. She had agreed to help her which was currently what she was doing because as fate would have it… Zecora now had powers. It was mysterious, yet dangerous. Black and white magic that seemed to get stronger the more negative emotions she felt. She could even sense negativity coming from others… and Twilight was carrying a lot of it, everyday, for the past year.
Come to think of it, Twilight actually always looked tired for most of the entire year… and Zecora could sense how… exhausted she was. She turns to look at the princess who was traveling not far behind her. “I ask again princess. Are you certain you wouldn’t rather rest? If you don’t take at least a few naps, you are certain to collapse.” Zecora warns her but Twilight just sighs and shakes her head.
“I’ll be fine Zecora… we just need to be careful on the way back to your house since Midnight's increased security around this area.” Twilight says and Zecora is about to protest until they hear something and instantly crouch lower, stopping their movements. They look to see none other than the elements of insanity moving past them with Twivine, Rainbow Death, and Flutterbat flying above Nightmare Rarity, AngerJack, and Pinka-mean-a, scanning the area. Twilight just glares at them while Zecora looks shocked, seeing as this is the first time she’s seen or even heard about this.
Before Twilight can explain though, they suddenly stop which confuses both the alicorn and the zebra. After a few seconds, Twivine turns to the others with a evil smirk on her face. “Change of plans. A town is under attack, the one called Appleloosa or whatever and some of Twilight’s friends are there protecting it. We’re going to pay them a visit.” She says before they all gather around and she teleports them there. Twilight grows a worried look before they both break out into a sprint towards Zecora's house. Once they’re there, they quickly grab their weapons before Twilight teleports them while using a locator spell to find where they had gone to and land in the same place. They look around frantically but to their shock and confusion… the town isn’t being attacked… and none of Twilight’s friends are here. They then realize something at the same time… that this was a trap and one that just got innocent ponies caught in the crossfire.
They see a flaming boulder hurtling towards the town and Zecora wastes no time blasting it with her new black and white magic which completely destroys it. Twilight then flys up and blasts the spot where it came from, exposing AngerJack and Flutterbat. They both glare at her before doing the same maneuver they did to make the first one: Flutterbat does a stomp that makes a giant piece of the ground break away and into the air, AngerJack catches it and uses her powers to set it aflame before throwing it. Twilight flys straight through the middle of it with enough force to destroy it before she flys past both of them, enough wind following behind her to send them reeling back. She then lands on AngerJack hard enough to create a crater before she blasts Flutterbat.
She hears more explosions and sees that more boulders are coming towards the town but Zecora's taking care of it. She can also hear screaming and sense the fear coming from that town. So many ponies… all afraid and cowering for their lives… she had to end this now before someone got killed. She uses magical chains to restrain the two villains before flying towards the town to help defend it. Just as she gets close, one boulder manages to crash into a house with nopony inside. The now damaged roof of it starts hurtling towards Zecora and a few civilians and Twilight doesn’t think she’s gonna make it in time… until a streak of blue and other colors collides with it, taking it away while spinning and crashing with it.
Twilight immediately realizes who it was and her guess is confirmed when the roof is pushed off of the pony that saved Zecora and those civilians, which is none-other than Rainbow Dash. She doesn’t know how to react at this point, but one thing she does know… is that she’s glad to finally see at least one of her friends again… after a whole year. But there’s no time to just catch up, there’s a town under attack and innocent lives at stake.
“Come on guys! I gave you a head start and everything!” Rainbow Dash says as she presses a button on the communication device in her ear. “There’s no way you should still be having trouble with-“ She continues but before she can even finish her sentence, the boulders cease bombarding the town and before long, the rest of Twilight's friends show up and so does Spike and who goes into his giant form and roars loudly to intimidate their attackers to back off. Instead it just provokes them though and they all hear another roar as a giant red Ursa appears, due to Angerjack's power. Applejack brings out her own Ursa form and charges at the scarier, more aggressive version of herself and Spike runs alongside her. They both clash with the evil counterpart of Applejack, beginning a battle that wouldn’t be won very easily.
Suddenly a streak of multicolored lightning starts circling the town until it stops at the edge of the town and reveals itself as Rainbow Death who does an agile move which ends with her slamming the palm of her hand into the ground which makes all the wind and lightning she dragged with her center to one place, forming a small tornado that is charged with lightning and spins towards the center of the town. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy use their powers to hold it back but Twilight uses her magic to tear it apart from the inside. Just as Rainbow Death rushes towards them or gets ready to, Zecora uses her magic to knock her through a building. She then hears the sound of metal slicing through air and it’s directly behind her so she rolls forward then uses her spear to block a second strike from Pinka-mean-a's knife.
She doesn’t manage to dodge a magical frost kick from Nightmare Rarity though which sends her flying backwards into Twilight’s arms. Both of them don’t waste any time to jump at the so-called “heroes” but as soon as they do, Pinka-mean-a receives a power kick to the face by a pink blur moving so fast that they couldn’t see what it was but they already knew who had done it and Nightmare Rarity is blown away by snow and ice. Everyone looks to see Pinkie Pie backflip into a landing next to Rarity. Applejack and Spike slide backwards, being knocked back by Flutterbat and AngerJack and they both go back to normal and stand by the rest of their friends. Twilight and Zecora go to stand by them just as Twivine herself lands in front of her team when all of them meet in the center of the town. Now that they’re seeing both of them again, they realize that both Twilight and Twivine still have the exact same build which now consisted of a longer, slightly flowing mane, way more toned muscles, greater height, longer horn and bigger wings.
She slowly stands up and glares at Twilight. “You… have been a real pain for the past year… Taking out base camps, defeating some of Midnight’s best, “liberating” areas from our control…” Twivine says, slowly stalking back and forth in front of her team, never taking her eyes off Twilight. “And even after all that… Midnight still doesn’t want you to die yet… But are you really worth all. This. Trouble? If you are… prove it. Because all I’ve seen is a disappointment. A disgrace. A little filly still crying out for mommy and daddy to save her and wake her up from this nightmare.” And right there… is where Twivine went. Too. Far.
Twilight gives her the most intense death glare she could muster and the wind starts picking up and everyone can feel the ground slightly shaking. This confuses and worries the villains and the heroes… until they all look at Twilight and see her entire body glowing. They’re surprised when they see a few markings appear on her horn then slowly spread to the rest of her body. Her mane starts flowing and starts showing stars and galaxies on it and the same thing happens to her tail. Her fur starts glowing as well and so do her eyes. Her wings glow too and suddenly her feathers start switching colors until they contained every color. As everyone stares at her now and sees what she’s doing to the weather, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear… especially the villains.
“You just made… the biggest mistake of your short, miserable, meaningless life Twivine.” Says Twilight as she continues to glare towards the villains, taking two steps towards them before letting out a scream while unleashing a beam of magic in their direction. Twivine tries to block it with her own magic and she manages to… for a few seconds but then her magic shield shattered and they were all bombarded with more magic than they thought possible. This continues on until an explosion knocks them all out.
An hour later, they wake up, more than a little singed but very injured. They look around to see the town abandoned and Twilight and her friends are nowhere to be found. They all sigh and groan in frustration and pain, knowing that only more pain was coming their way.
“Midnight is not gonna be happy about this…” Twivine says… and she’s correct.
Somewhere in Equestria
As Midnight smashes through the top of a mountain, she couldn’t help but think “This better be the place.” She walks around, looking around at her surroundings, lighting up her horn so she could see. When she does, she finds what she was looking for… a hidden prison meant for powerful magic users turned bad… obviously none of them were as bad or as dangerous as her. But this was definitely where Celestia and Luna had put who she was looking for… one of the only ponies besides herself and Astelle who had posed a real threat to the two royal sisters and the rest of Equestria. That’s what she’s heard at least. She walks past the cells, each one containing the remains of the villainous creatures that used to reside in them. She continues walking until she hears chains rattling and she walks to one cell and gets close, becoming slightly surprised when she sees an alicorn with a curved horn, a messy coiled mane with tails that are sort of like puffy pigtails but… SUPER puffy and not as coiled, and a similarly colored and curled tail. Her wings were the same color as her coat, deep purple. Her feathers were the same color, just a little darker.
“Ah… so this is where they put you.” Midnight says, causing the alicorn to slowly look up at her.
“Have we met…? Wait… I know you… you’re Midnight Starkiller… The Alicorn who’s been causing chaos for a year now.” The other, younger alicorn says. Midnight steps a bit closer with a dark smile on her face. It was… unsettling to the other alicorn.
“A year and a half actually… t’s good that you know me… because I also know you and I’ve been searching for you for months now… Opaline Arcana.” Midnight says before she blasts the cell door right off its hinges and it just narrowly misses Opaline. She walks up to the weakened, dethroned alicorn and destroys the chains that were restraining her. Opaline slowly reaches up and removes the ring that was restricting her magic, and almost immediately her horn becomes engulfed in flames and so do her wings. She laughs as she feels her power returning.
“I’ve waited for 1,000 years to feel this warm again.” Opaline says before fire forms on her hands and she blasts a hole in the top of the mountain that the prison was hidden under for so many years before it was completely forgotten… or so she thought. She sighs in relief, enjoying the familiar feeling of causing destruction with her own magic. She slowly looks back to Midnight. “So… to what do I owe the pleasure? What exactly was it about me that drew the eye of the “deadliest alicorn in history” so much… that she came to free me from this hell?” She asks and Midnight starts circling her as she talks.
“Well… where to begin… Your beliefs, your power, your skills… besides myself, you’ve probably given Celestia and Luna more trouble than they’re worth. More than they could keep up with without allies. Not only that, but you also almost managed to take all the magic in Equestria for yourself. You came so close to ruling over Equestria the way Alicorns are meant to… and in that… we share a common goal… and a common enemy.” Midnight says before she stops right in front of her and holds out one hand. “So… ready to help us both reclaim our former glory?” She asks and Opaline seems to consider this for a few seconds before she smiles a bit and shakes Midnight’s hand, sealing the deal.
“When do we start…?”