//------------------------------// // CHAPTER 5 The Dance is Better With You // Story: The Return of Midnight Sparkle // by DapperLilArts //------------------------------// CHAPTER 5 ❤️‍🔥The dance is better with you❤️‍🔥 Running, running, running. She had to find her friends. The castle was like a maze; Sunset tried her best to remember the exact pathway that they took on the way there and reverse it to reach the others. Sentinels attempted to block her path and stop her, but she did not faulter. Midnight shouted from afar, chasing after Sunset; with intent of capture. “I WANT HER UNHARMED!! Please don’t hurt her!!” The Automatons were not intelligent enough to be capable of attempting harmless capture. They tried to stomp and crush and slice Sunset; but she wasn’t going to go that easy. She jumped and hopped and teleported around them with acrobatic agility; using her horn to deliver magic blasts and summon a horn blade with magic to slice them entwain, putting her fencing skills to the test, using everything she had ever learned. She chopped one of their heads clean off and bucked it towards Midnight. Easily deflecting it, she couldn't help but smile, and smiled. “Way to go Sunset!!” It was not Midnight speaking. Two Twilights were struggling for control of the same body, and the battle was fierce. With powerful displays of ragefull magic, The dark Alicorn tried summoning arcane chains to bind Sunset; or launch blasts that would knock her off; but Sunset kept dodging, either by leaps and slides, or by teleporting, often getting Midnight to hit one of her own Automatons, smiling the entire way. Sunset teleported right in front of Midnight, surprising her. “Pay attention Twilight, I'm about to make this look easy” She locked their horns together, then spun her head on a circle twice; forcing Midnight to look to the side, knocking her off, and then spun herself around and bucked Midnight’s side, knocking her to the ground at fierce strength. The Alicorn was shocked. “Boom.” Sunset teleported far and kept running away. Keeping up a lightning pace, combining teleportation with her awesome speed when galloping; Flashing forward every two seconds, and with that pace she found the cells her friends were in. She barrelled into the room, getting their attention. “GIRLS, I'm COMING IN HOT! IT’S ME THAT MIDNIGHT IS AFTER! WE HAVE TO DESTROY HER HORN; THAT’S WHAT’S BINDING TWILIGHT! HERE’S THE PLAN;” She broke Pinkie’s cell’s door with a swift magic blast, and immediately sliced multiple of her chains, setting the Pinkpony free. “Pinkie!! We need to blow this castle sky high. Go to the store rooms, see if they still have our fireworks! And start from the top to bottom; you know what to do!”  Now freed off her chains, she could demonstrate her excitement once more, ready to roll. “You know it! LET’S BLOW THIS MOTHERFUCKER UP!!” She barged into Rainbow's cell, breaking her binds and freeing her wings. “Rainbow! We need an army. Fly Fluttershy to the everfree forest as FAST as you can, have her bring all the animals and monsters she can summon to fight! When you’re done, you need to fly back as fast as you can to assist Pinkie!” “Roger that, boss! You can count on me!” She immediately got up and stretched, joyfully flapping her newly freed wings, glad to be able to take flight once more, then eagerly made her way to her girlfriend's cell. Sunset used magic to rip the door off its hinges, then freed the other Pegasus off her chains. “Fluttershy! You know what to do! Come back with an army, any animal and monster that is up for a battle! And if any ponies can help us fight, I hope they rally to you!” Fluttershy stuttered a bit. “O-okay; I’ll try my best…!” Rainbow immediately went to her side, smooching her face and embracing her with her wings. Sunset sliced open the door on Rarity’s cell, then freed her too. “Rarity! I need you to go with Applejack to the lower floors; Check to see if there are any other prisoners in this castle, we have to free them all before we blow it to hell!” Rarity waved her hair and skipped out of her cell with ease. “Rock and roll, darling.” Last but Certainly not least, Sunset Didn’t even break Applejack's door. She just sliced and zapped some of the chains on her cell to break. With a few weak links, the Earth Pony could already yank the chains to break free, tearing them off their hinges or snapping them entirely. “Applejack, you might have to wade through a lot of those sentinels. You think you’re up for it?” Tearing the remaining chains with her incredible strength, she picked up her hat from the ground and put it on. “Ya know I got this, partner. Besides…” She bucked the door, immediately breaking it off its hinges, sending it flying across the room, then approached Rarity. “I got my love with me.” They nuzzled faces together. Rarity piped in with concern for Sunset. “How are you planning on beating Midnight, darling…?” Sunset did not have a plan. “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it, okay? I got this.” She lied. Mechanical footsteps came from the hallways; sentinels were inbound. Rainbow landed near them. “Hate to break up your mushy moment but we’ve got company!” Sunset smiled. “You all know the plan, girls! But before that; Let’s get ‘em.” They all charged together, as one. Pinkie bounced and hopped around, making obnoxious noises, a perfect distraction. The enemies would try hitting or grabbing her but they’d just miss; or wind up hurting each other. She was slippery and a perfect diversion. Her friends could also take advantage; Like Sunset striking an enemy from behind; slicing them in twain with her arcane horn blade. Rainbow Dash was flying across the room incredibly fast, constantly tripping and kicking and bashing the sentinels. At some point, she would use her momentum to grab onto one of their heads and spin it on its axis fast and violently to unlatch it right off, shutting the Automaton down. She got hit once, and Fluttershy flew and caught her before she fell; flying around the battlefield as a distraction and support; like she had stated, she didn’t even like fighting, but she didn't run away from friends in need. Rarity constantly cast her diamond shields to parry attacks and protect her friends; countering with her elegant magical horn fencing, piercing holes on the Sentinels or slicing their limbs off. And the moment she got surrounded, Applejack fiercely came to protect her. The Earth Pony grabbed one of the automatons by the neck on a headlock; and with one single motion, crumpled its windpipe like paper, popping their head off, much to Rarity’s fluster. Applejack was on a roll; and she hit even harder than those mechanical beasts. A single buck from her would send 'em flying and bust into pieces. her focus was particularly on protecting Rarity and having a damn good time at that. Sunset couldn’t help but smile as she chopped, blasted and bucked her way through these enemies. She was quite literally on fire; overloading with fire magic that tied to all her attacks, which didn't even harm her. In the past, enemies like these could have seemed formidable, but now, they were nothing. And it didn't feel like how fighting felt in the past; It wasn't just an outlet for anger, it was more. She was fighting to protect the things she loved. This was an outlet for happiness. All her friends were fighting alongside her; the combat was glorious and she was loving every second of it. She found a new purpose at that moment; fighting for her friends. This was a feeling she never thought she needed. They could accomplish anything together. “ENOUGH!! Stop fighting!!” Midnight entered the room, spreading her wings. Every sentinel still active shut down, becoming piles of rubble. She moved every piece of debris to the farther walls, violently, clearing the room for them. The torches dimmed with her approach. She only had eyes for Sunset. “She’s mine.” All 6 of the ponies stopped in their tracks, looking at their former friend with unease. Sunset spoke up. “It’s me she’s after. You guys know the plan; I have to fight her alone. Do NOT come after me!” With a couple of quiet uneasy steps back, she considered how she'd lure Midnight away, but... Rainbow Dash spread her wings, ready to take flight. “No way we’re leaving you. We’re in this together.” Staring her opponent down, Applejack gritted her teeth. “Like hell we lettin’ you fight her alone, Sunset.” Midnight glared at each of them, with hurting intent. It was possible that Twilight was all that kept her from immediately attacking. There was an deep air of unease, like this was a western showdown, and they were waiting for the first shot to ring out… The room was profoundly tense, the air was electrified. …Then Pinkie started hopping around doing a funny little dance, singing a song. Shaking her hooves and skipping about. All of them were a bit puzzled. “Umm Pinkie? What are you doing…?” Fluttershy was confused. “Uhh yeah bro what is this? What's up” Rainbow Dash questioned. Pinkie just snickered a bit while dancing. “I'm dancing! Duh!” Midnight scoffed in annoyance. “Ugh do you always have to do your incessant little bits and gags. What is this now? ” Pinkie slapped her own butt in a taunting gesture. “Oh you mean you don’t know? I thought you were super smart like Twilight! It’s a distraction, dummy! NOW!!!” Rarity and Sunset both levitated Applejack and launched her like a missile towards Midnight. It was a huge tackle that pinned her down immediately; hurting a LOT. “Giddyup, bitch.” Applejack was about to get a solid stomp on her horn, but it was too late, Midnight countered. “UGH, HOW DARE YOU.” Midnight used her telekinesis to stop Applejack in her tracks, freezing her in place, giving herself a chance to stand. AJ struggled fiercely against her restraint, actually making headway, which made Midnight increase gravity upon her tenfold. Applejack stood, despite the weight, floor cracking beneath her hooves, she was sweating, but was actually keeping up with the pressure. “Is… that all you got…! This is nothin’… Cm’here!!” Midnight frowned despondently. “I’m done with you.” Using her telekinesis, she threw Applejack VIOLENTLY into a wall, almost shattering it. AJ was almost entirely buried in rubble; then the Dark Alicorn immediately shot a blast on the ceiling above her, dropping more stones on top of her. Rarity yelled “Applejack!!” and ran to her aid. Midnight got back up, bruised and wounded. “Get away!! GET AWAY FROM SUNSET. SHE’S MINE.” Pinkie panicked a bit. “Umm maybe I should do another distraction dance…?” Which only made Midnight angrier. She teleported right besides pinkie suddenly, then immediately grabbed her with telekinesis, bringing her real close. “Shut. Up.” She splatted Pinkie on the floor and then tossed her at a far wall, enraged. The poor Pinkpony got her bell rung. With swift determination, Rainbow ordered Fluttershy to go help the others; Which she obeyed, running to their side. Sunset wasn’t sure what to do next. Midnight was walking towards her, wings raised; she was bruised and hurt, twitching a bit, but still a massive threat. There was no way to beat her in a 1 on 1 fight. Rainbow Dash took flight and landed between them, she confidently spread her wings, with a cocky smile, facing Midnight down. “Hey nerd!! If you think you’re getting to Sunset without a fight, you've got another thing coming. She can do better than you!” That mere statement made the Dark Alicorn's eye twitch. With eyes widened, Sunset protested; Rainbow was going to get hurt badly. “Dash, no–” The Pegasus only turned half her head to look at Sunset. It was not a look of confidence or cockyness. She was sweating, concerned, and afraid. through gritted teeth, she barely mouthed the word “go.” To her friend. Rainbow wasn’t picking a fight. She was buying time. And Midnight was pissed. “No…. ugh… I’ll show you something, Rainbow Trash.” not wanting to waste the chance. Sunset immediately dashed onto one of the exits, getting as much distance as she could from Midnight, to hopefully lure her away. The Pegasus took flight; picking up speed and surrounding Midnight like a hurricane. The Alicorn put a shield around herself. Rainbow tried kicking and hitting her, but unfortunately doing no damage, barely even shoving her. Midnight frowned, and unleashed an electrical blast around her, zapping the Pegasus; she tried recovering her flight pattern despite the pain, but it was too late; Midnight grabbed her with telekinesis, slammed her against the ground violently, then tossed her with the others. Midnight scoffed, ignoring them completely and ran after Sunset, using teleportation to pick up the pace. Rainbow Dash did all she could, but it was barely enough. Fluttershy ran to her aid, after having picked up Pinkie. She checked her girlfriend for her wounds. “A-are you okay?? Sweetie please answer me…” Rainbow groggily got up, dusting herself, coughing a little. She took a massive beating, and had to make sure nothing was broken, and although it looked fine, it did hurt. “O-okay guys… I think we have to let Sunset do her thing.” Fluttershy was afraid, but tried not showing it. She didn’t want any of them trying to fight Midnight anymore.  “Y-yes, we have to continue Sunset’s plan…. It’s the best hope we have.” Rainbow tried getting up. “I trust that she will be able to pull off her end… whatever it is. Ugh… It sucks to leave her hanging, though...” With Rarity’s help, Applejack managed to be pulled out of the wall. The Farmer seemed to be in decent condition, all things considered. “Are you alright, dear…?” She was very bruised, but her resilience towards physical damage showed. “I'm fine, Sugarcube. I'm just pissed. We failed to stop her… Sunset might be in awful danger…” She was very concerned for her friend. Rarity let out a chuckle. “Always concerned for others, aren’t you, handsome?” She picked AJ’s hat from the ground and put it back on her head. “Sunset is strong. We need to have faith that she will pull through.” Then gave her girlfriend a kiss. Pinkie shook her head, trying to ignore the pain. It was going to take a lot more than that to decommission Pinkie Pie! “Sunset gave us *ow* our tasks! we can’t *ow* let her down *ow* Let's go!! I believe in her and you guys BETTER BELIEVE TOO!” “Of course!” “You betcha!!” “Naturally, darling.” “You know it. Now let’s hit it!” All of them scattered into their own selected objectives. They had hope for their friend; even if they feared for her. This was still going to be a pretty long night. Midnight Ran through the halls, reaching a room with a balcony she knew was a dead end. Sunset was hiding somewhere in here, that much she could sense. No matter what, there was no fighting her; The Unicorn couldn’t win. The Alicorn kept moving furniture violently across the room, smashing it on opposite walls fiercely. Twitching, panting, Midnight was unstable, Twilight and her were battling, and yet, almost speaking as one. “You didn’t have to make this so difficult. I don’t want to hurt you! We can stop this; Please just stop this. Just surrender. Please don’t make her hurt you more...She’s too powerful, Sunset...” She walked around the torn up room, searching for her love. Sunset’s voice echoed in the room, Midnight tried hearing for the precise direction… “Yeah! I could have just quit and joined you. I might have even been happier! But I made a promise to you, Twilight. And I'll fulfill it if it kills me.” The world needed Twilight Sparkle, it did not need Sunset Shimmer. If this is the way things had to go, she would gladly allowed it to end. Midnight looked around, concerned.“We don’t WANT you dead!! We want you with us!!” “Too bad.” Sunset flipped from the rafters on the balcony, much like a trapeze swing, and delivered a direct kick on Midnight’s horn, cracking it even further; it was barely holding on… but still, it was. Midnight had been taken completely off guard, and with it, she retaliated with a powerful kinetic blast in every direction; And Sunset did not manage to dodge it. The Unicorn got blasted out of the balcony, many floors above the courtyard, in free fall. Midnight panicked immediately. “NO! No no no no no no!!!” and tried taking flight after her. Sunset nearly lost consciousness; she was in serious danger. She felt the wind savagely blasting on her face as she was in free fall; And the ground approached fast. All she could do was try casting a shield on herself and slow her descent with levitation, but unfortunately, it still hurt like a bitch. She bounced off the dirt and skidded, creating a small crater. She coughed, bleeding. She tried standing up, but one of her front legs was broken, making her tumble down immediately, bloody face in the dirt. As she struggled to get up, she pushed herself to her limits one more time. Everything hurt. This was her last chance. Her friends were counting on her. The entire world was counting on her. Twilight was counting on her. She needed to win. No matter the cost. “C’mon Sunset. This is It. Twilight needs you. Get up. Get up. Get  Up” She managed to actually stand up, not leaning on her broken hoof. She breathed heavily, knowing what would have to come next. It was time for her final gambit, and she was going to stake it all. Her body was screaming in pain but she fiercely ignored it. She saw the pitch black wings of Midnight Sparkle approaching her from above. The Dark Alicorn flew down to see her. Almost resigned; she knew that Sunset was defeated, and incapable of fighting any further. Midnight landed in front of the crater Sunset stood in, facing her directly with a sorrowful expression. “Why are you still fighting me!! I don't want to hurt you.... I just want you by my side. Please let's just stop this…!” The Two sides of the Alicorn seemed to almost agree. Sunset gave out a frail chuckle. “S-sorry, Twilight. But I did promise you… And don’t worry, I got this. After all, I know your weakness now, and it’s one we share...” Midnight stood directly in front of her, unafraid, but confused. “What?? I don’t have a weakness–” Sunset pulled her closer and kissed her, directly on the lips, a passionate kiss she had desired for ages, but this time, weaponized against Midnight. For a second, this was all that existed. Just the two of them, kissing, nothing else. No courtyard, no castle, no Ponyville, no Equestria, no pain. Just them. Eyes widened, The Alicorn took a stumbled step back, completely flabbergasted, Flustered, sweating, confused, shocked, all of the above and more. “Wh– what?? Huh?? What?? Eh?? Umm Huh?!” She looked completely distraught and unfocused, a flustering, blushing mess. “See?” Sunset let out a cocky smile. With all her remaining strength she charged her horn with huge amounts of light energy and bucked the floor propelling herself forward hitting Midnight’s horn DIRECTLY. The light bathed all of the surroundings, even the sky, for a brief moment, as the Unicorn had delivered her final hit. It was as if it was day again, for just a second. Midnight’s horn shattered. Twilight got propelled backwards and fell on the dirt, unresponsive. There were no signs of Midnight on her anymore. But her wounds were dire, and she was completely unresponsive. Sunset exhaled steam, breathing heavily, as she limped slowly towards the mare she loved. “Twilight. Please. Please be okay… I need you… to be okay. Please… I love you… Please…” Then, losing all her energy, she lost consciousness and passed out beside Twilight Sparkle.