//------------------------------// // Blackest Night // Story: Crisis of Infinite Twilights // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "You know, I've taken on a lot of megalomaniacs and I have to ask," Green Lantern Twilight asked, floating a few feet above and to the right of Twiock, "what is with the villainous monologue? I mean, it seems like a waste of time, personally" "You insufferable insolent insect!" Twiock roared. "I will claim that bobble as my own and use it to own this world!" "Do you actually take the time to write these out?" GL asked, diving down and firing several energy blasts at the villainous mare. "They can't be off the top of your head." Twiock lashed out, attempting to take off GL's head with one swing of her tentacle. The Lantern merely created a giant Spike construct, which grabbed her tentalce before wagging his finger at her. “Can’t help but notice I’m rather snarky in that there universe the green one came from,” Zapapple muttered. “Even when the battle does not sag, she finds a way to let off a brag,” Twicora added. "I get it, I really do," GL dove down, firing off several more green energy bolts that forced the mare to back up. "It’s fun to educate your opponents on how they failed. I like to think of it as a learning tool." Twiock grabbed a chariot and hurled it at GL, who merely sawed through it with a chainsaw construct. "Sometimes I even compose my letters to Princess Celestia while I fight Larfleeze or Gilda." She cleared her throat even as she created a cage around her evil duplicate. "Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned friendship means putting your evil doppelgangers in green energy cells until they calm down. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." "You arrogant Equestrian arsehole!" Twiock bellowed, shattering the cage and launching herself at GL, trying to strangle her. "That's really the pot calling the kettle black," Gl stated, creating a crowbar and prying Twiock off of her. "Now, why don't you be a good super villain and go take a timeout, ok?" GL created a dunce cap, slapped it on Twiock's head and shoved her over into a corner. To ensure she stayed there, GL created several chains to hold her in place. "Now then," she said, turning towards the group, "somepony feel like explaining what is going on?" "Well, I was totally kicking her flank-" Twiley began, only to find her mouth shut by Spike. "Long story short," Scootaloo said, "you are in an alternate dimension where other alternate Twilights are invading." "...I wish I could say this is the weirdest thing that has happened to me, but I once caught Princess Celestia practicing pole dancing." GL whipped around, her ring glowing. "So, who is on our side?" "Zapapple... she's the farmer who hates uncorns; Twicora the zebra shaman; Captain Sparkle; and Twiley." "That's right!" Twiley said, breaking free of Spike and running over to the Lantern. "Cooooooollll." Gl Twilight knelt down and smiled. "I bet you want to help me out, huh?" Twiley nodded her head rapidly. "Alright, you can be my lockout." She lifted Twiley up and placed her on a nearby building, well away from danger. A small green earpiece suddenly appeared in the filly's year. "If you see any danger, give me a holler." "CUTIE MARK LOOK OUT! YAY!" Twiley screamed in delight. "...can we also be moved out of danger?" Spike asked. "I'd be up for that too," Wall Breaker said, limping over to GL. Shining, Cadence, Coltson, Cap. Sparkle, Zapapple and Twicora followed close behind. GL Twilight tilted her head, brow furrowed. "Shiny?" She flew around him, studying him and Cadence. "Not my Shiny and Cadence though... weird seeing you two without your rings." "And it’s weird seeing you floating around without wings!" Cadence exclaimed. She pointed a store. “And it is weird to see a Macy’s in this neighborhood!” "Can we focus on the enraged cyborg that is trying to kill us?" Coltson asked. Twicora frowned. "I disagree with your statement; her robotic parts are a mere attachment." "Huh?" the agent said. Spike smirked. "She can't be a cyborg with just those arms. She'd need limbs replaced in order to-" "NERD!" Scootaloo yelled. Zapapple shook her head. "Granny Smith is right; all ponies outside of the farm are crazier than mole rats in a sheep pen." "Said the mare dating her own brother..." Scootaloo muttered. "Adopted brother! It ain't weird!" Captain Sparkle looked over at Twiock, who was struggling to free herself. "Can we get back on track?" Shining Armor rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Thank you, Captain. My sister has been shattered into a billion pieces and one of those pieces is trying to murder us!" "Don't worry," GL said, puffing out her chest. "I so have-" BOOM! They all turned, watching as a raging Twiock stomped towards them, her tentacles lashing out at anything that got near them. Store fronts, chariots, lamp posts, mail boxes... all suffered under her assault. There was a manic gleam in her eyes and a twisted snarl on her lips as she stormed towards the group. “Not the Macy’s!” Cadence cried out. “Where will I buy overpriced sweaters now?!?” "Ok, I do admit that I wish Supermare was here to help out," GL said, throwing several pegasus constructs at the villainess. Twiock batted them away, her sole focus being on the group. "Little help!" "Waste that purple pony!" Scootaloo shouted, leaping on top of one of the party cannons. "Could we not talk about wasting something that looks like my sister?" Shining asked. Twiock screamed and threw a slab of concrete at his head. "Nevermind, blast the bitch!" The group fired everything they had at Twiock. Zapapple had pulled out her lasso and tied up two of the tentacles while Twicora threw several gourds at the villain, each one exploding and releasing clouds of blue and green magic. Shining, Cadence, Captain Sparkle and GL launched magic and constructs as the mare, while Coltson made Scootaloo and Spike were ok. Twiock fell to her knees, her tentacles weaving and waving under the assault. "You... you can't defeat me! I am the all powerful-" "Shut it!" Captain Sparkle snapped, rushing forward and head butting her alternate self. "That's for ruining my War Games!" Doc Twiock collapsed, twitching as she lost consciousness. "And THAT is how the Luna's Rangers handle a crisis." "You should not be so aloof; all of us lended a hoof," Twicora complained. GL floated over and, using her ring, grabbed some steel beams and twisted them around Twiock's tentacles. "There, that should hold her. Normally we'd send somepony like this to Arkham or Blackgate... you have one of those here?" Coltson shook his head. "No, but the Buerau has already prepared a cell for much stronger beings, so-" "Is that so?" Coltson's shadow purred. The stallion leapt back, watching as the dark shade rose up, twisting and turning into a physical form. "After we have taken over this world I'll want to investigate it... might be fun to test my might out on it!" At first the group thought that the intruder was Discord; the invader had the same brown body, mix-matched limbs and yellow eyes as the Spirit of Chaos. But this draconequus was 100% female and her head, which was more pony-like than Discord's, was purple and her wild hair was violet and magenta. She held up an arm and flexed, bulging muscles appearing. "I mean, I am rather strong..." the bicep instantly deflated with a cartoony whistle. "Ok, I am semi-phenomenal and nearly cosmic... but that doesn't mean I don't have what it takes to break out of your special little supercell." "T-Twilight?" Shining stammered. The draconequus laughed. "No... no no no no no! No! No!" She tapped her chin. "And yet yes." She whipped around, hugging Shining tightly. "One time, Shiny, one time. Yes, I was once Twilight... before all of this." She let go and rose in the air, throwing her arms out wide and grinning. "Oh, you should see your faces... they kinda look like Discord's right when I used that spell to swap our powers!" She tapped her chin, her taloned-hand reaching down, pulling at her fur and making a pocket appear. She began to toss things out, including but not limited to a kitchen sink, several wheels of cheese, and a poster for The Rolling Stones, before dragging out the item she was looking for. "See for yourself!" She slammed down a stone statue of a pony, his face frozen in shock. "Discord?" Scootaloo whispered. "Well, he once was," draconequus Twilight said, shoving him back in her pocket. "But after I grabbed his powers well... we decided I should do the job." She pursed her lips. "I will admit that wasn't the original plan... I was supposed to take the powers and find a way to get rid of them. But BLAH! Boring!" She began to float around the group, summoning slurpees for all of them. "Here, have a drink! Anyway... Princess Celestia wasn't happy... she wanted me to go back to being faithful Twilight Sparkle. Ha! More like Doormat Sparkle, am I right?" She rushed over to Captain Sparkle, who merely glared at her. "Stop laughing, giggles, I am trying to tell a story." She leaned towards Zapapple, pointing at Captain Sparkle. “I wonder if the stick up her butt has a stick up its butt.” "I will go and play your game," Twicora said, "if you aren't Sparkle, what is your name?" "A zebra me!" the draconequus squealed, rushing over and poking the shaman in the side. The newest Twilight’s face shook and turned into Rainbow Dash’s. "So... awesome!" "I think I found a me I don't want to be," Twiley whispered to Scootaloo as she climbed down from the building she was perched on. "And why not?" the draconequus said, clearly offended. "I am the best one! For I am Delirium, Spirit of Chaos!" She leaned down to Zapapple and stage-whispered, "Don't tell Neil Gaiman though, ok? Don't want a lawyer, alrighty-dyddy?" Coltson stepped forward, steeling himself. "What do you want, Delirium?" The Spirit of Chaos grinned. "Oh, not much. In my own world I am quite harmless, you know. I just like having fun with my friends... Pinkie Pie is my roommate, you know!" "That explains so much and yet so little," Scootaloo said dryly. Delirium snapped her fingers and a patch of sand and a palm tree appeared in the middle of the street, while each of them were suddenly dressed in summer wear with bandanas on their heads. "Unfortunately for you all, I formed an alliance already with another Twilight and well, now we are going to be voting you off the island. The tribe has spoken. But at least you are getting a nice parting gift. Tell them what they won, Johnny!" "Nothing!" a pony in a suit declared. "And who is your partner?" Shining asked, throwing the bandana off. Wall Breaker raised his hoof. "May I?" "Be my guest," Delirium said, setting up an easy chair and grabbing some popcorn. “You know what this needs? Caramel!” She grabbed Spike and began to squeeze. “AAAACCCK!” Wall Breaker turned towards his former commander. "There is only one pony she could be working for... the one that has already been established as the foe to the Functionality In Canterlot... the evil, awful..." "And stylish," Delirium added, pulled out a curtain only to throw it open, "Nightfall Eclipse!" Scootaloo, Coltson, Twicora, and Spike all tensed as the wicked-looking Nightfall walked towards them. There was little about her that resembled the original Twilight; her body was bigger and, were it not for her lack of wings, one would have assumed she was an alicorn. The dark armor on her back and the helm placed on her head seemed to suck in all light that came at them. It was her eyes though that were the most horrifying: a sickly green, like the color of death itself. "Thank you, Delirium. But I think I should take over now." "I'll just gather up our newest recruit and head back to the lair!" Delirium said, grabbing Twiock. "Come on... we can play ping pong!" Snapping her fingers, the draconequus and the tentacled villain disappeared. "Hey!" GL shouted, creating an anvil and hovering it over Nightfall's head. "Bring them back!" "No," Nightfall said, her horn flashing. GL screamed as she was struck by the black magic, her legs thrashing like she was having a seizure before she collapsed to the ground. "Look at you all..." Nightfall purred. "Some of your faces I haven't gazed upon for a long time... I tried to get the skin to remain on your severed heads but in the end all I had left were skulls." "Uh, I vote for keeping my head, thanks," Spike said. Nightfall leaned in, giving the drake a lecherous grin. "Oh, my dear little Slash... I'll enjoy breaking you in again." "I need an adult!" Spike yelped. "We know, we know!" Scootaloo said, cutting off Nightfall. "You are an adult! No need to do THAT joke!" Nightfall pursed her lips and snorted. "Stormfront's little groupie," she said. "I always liked you... the way you betrayed your mistress and took her place... reminded me of myself." Nightfall turned away, giving Scootaloo a dismissive cough. "But you aren't her, are you? Just a cheap imitation, one full of fluff and goodness and decency." "Obviously you've never seen her go crusading," Spike muttered, the others nodding their heads. "Flim, Flam!" Nightfall called out, the brothers hurrying over to their mistress. "Please deliver my message." "Of course!" they declared, taking out their instruments. "Not another song!" Twiley whined. Flim and Flam We know you heard the warning we sang the other day but your actions here mean your answer is 'neigh'! And so your untimely murderer Is just the only way We hired assassins They heard the call They’ll kill you Scoots Signed, Nightfall! And with that, Flim, Flam and Nightfall disappeared. “Assassins?” Scootaloo whispered, eyes going to pinpicks. "We'll... that was odd," Spike muttered. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" Scootaloo screamed.