“Sister, what are you saying?” Luna asked, looking to Celestia.
“Luna, I know that it is hard to accept, but it doesn’t seem like there is another possibility.” Celestia answered.
“But why would she-”
“I don’t think that it was her Luna. At least not the one that we know. Time is a fickle thing. Twilight learned that on her own when she read Star Swirl’s spell on time travel. Sometimes, you create a loop that is unavoidable, and other times, you create an alternate time line.”
“Are you saying that there are two of her?”
“I know who I fought, it was Twilight. Her magic was not as well trained and she focused more on the darker side, but it was her. That is why I could not fight back, I cannot even think about harming her.”
“But if what you are saying is true, then that wasn’t Twilight.”
“It was though, a different Twilight, but it was still her. Something horrible must have happened to her to make her into that, but she is not beyond redemption.” Celestia argued.
“That’s not my name!” Vim screamed. “It’s not… she’s gone…”
The darkness retracted into the ground, releasing Spike. Once he was able to move again, he walked over to Vim and placed his claw on her shoulder. She just sat there, shaking, unable to hold it in any longer.
“What happened to you? What made you like this?” Spike asked.
“I… I failed… I always fail…” Vim whimpered.
“What do you mean, you failed?”
“I didn’t pass the test.” Vim went on. “In my depression, I locked myself in my room. I studied magic from a high level spell book, but it was a mistake. I couldn’t control it.”
Vim went silent and the Heartless around the pair shifted. They suddenly vanished, retreating for some unknown reason, leaving Spike and Vim in peace.
“You couldn’t control it? Twilight, you are the best at magic.” Spike smiled.
“Not back then, I had too much power and too little control. Shining Armor and my father knocked on the door, wanting to check on me a couple of days into my seclusion. I panicked, and I accidently cast the spell…"
“But they were okay, right?” Spike asked back.
“I made it out. My parents and my brother weren’t so lucky. I lost everything that day and it was in that moment that King Sombra came to me.”
“I’m sorry, but now’s your chance to make up for it. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Spike stated.
“You don’t get it!” Vim yelled. “King Sombra is invincible! He can’t be beaten!”
Vim teleported away, leaving Spike alone to try and understand how to help her. She wasn’t ready for help though, she just wanted to be needed. All that she had known for years was loneliness and hate. To Sombra she was a tool to get the other Twilight, the one who had been trained by Celestia. She was useless to him now; her entire purpose in living was gone.
“Prince Shining Armor! Are you all right?” shouted a guard, trying to awaken the unicorn.
“I’m fine. Where are Cadence and Twilight?” he asked.
“Midnight Vim had taken Princess Cadence. Twilight Sparkle fell into a different portal. That was days ago though, you’ve been in a coma for the last two weeks.” the guard replied.
Shining Armor looked around and saw that he was in a hospital bed. He was overcome with a sudden sick feeling. He was here and his wife and sister were missing, in danger. He attempted to get off of the bed and walk, but he fell to the floor with a sharp pain in his two front legs.
“Darn it!” he shouted after hitting the ground.
“You shouldn’t walk sir, your legs are broken.”
“Then help me! I need to save them!” Shining Armor commanded.
“I can’t do that; it’s for your own protection. If you go out there, you could die. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have sent word here that they are working on getting everypony where they need to be.”
“I have to help!”
“You can’t even walk, sir. I don’t think that you would be very much help at this moment.”
“That doesn’t mean that I can’t try.”
“What am I?” Twilight asked herself, standing alone in the barren wastes outside of Sombra’s castle. “What am I doing?”
She couldn’t even recognize her own reflection at this point. It wasn’t her; it was somepony that she didn’t want to know. It was somepony who scared her.
Twilight started walking back to the castle, regardless of the fact that she was aware of the horror that she would have to see and participate in. This was her only choice if she wanted to protect her friends. Sombra had said that they would be safe if she went with him. If she turned back on their deal now, then they could be killed as a consequence.
She could have run away so easily and saved herself from what she would become, but instead she returned to the castle. Sombra would be waiting to give her false comforts that she was becoming stronger, but she knew better. There was no clear reason to her why she had returned to the light, but it had reversed her appearance completely within a matter of seconds. Her mane smoothed out and the black stains on her coat faded away. Her eyes became white again, making her look like her old self.
“Twilight, what happened to you?” Sombra asked upon seeing her changed appearance.
“I don’t know…” Twilight replied, trying not to seem out of character for her darker self.
“I think that I may.” Sombra stated, staring into Twilight’s eyes. “I think that you are reverting, giving up the darkness that I have given you. Why do you resent my gift?” He didn’t sound angry, but instead concerned.
Right as Twilight prepared to answer him with a hesitant, “I don’t know,” a bright flash of purple appeared before her. Vim stepped out and approached Sombra with so much fury, that Twilight was surprised that Vim wasn’t killed right then.
“How dare you! You worthless son of a-” Vim shouted.
“Quiet!” Sombra’s voice boomed. “How dare you speak to me like that in my own domain? After all that I have done for you, what right have you to confront me with that attitude?”
“You sent me there to kill them.” Vim said, it was clear that she had been crying by her bloodshot eyes. “After you promised her…”
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, growing worried.
“Your friends. Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. He sent me to Ponyville so that I could kill them. It was part of the plan the whole time, to force you in to the dark by taking away the one thing that kept you in the light.” Vim turned her attention to Twilight. “You have to believe me, you have to!”
“I do.” Twilight said quietly. “Of course he would betray me. As far as I could tell from all of the history that I’d read, he’s made it a habit of betraying ponies.”
“So, judging by your new found self-righteousness, is it safe to assume that you’ll be ridding yourself of the name that I gave you?” Sombra asked, an arrogant smile overtook his face.
“No. There is already one in this reality. I am Midnight Vim, the abomination of hate that you built and the pony who is going to stomp you into the ground like the piece of…” Vim sighed, stopping herself.
“What do you mean this reality?” Twilight asked.
“Vim comes from another reality. One where a certain pony failed at her dream and became ridden with despair.” Sombra asked. “So, Vim, are you going to make your attempt at my life now, or should I schedule it for a bit later?”
“You arrogant…”
“Later then? All right, but until then, I’m going to have to ask that you get the hay out of castle.” Sombra laughed.
“Does that apply to me as well?” Twilight growled, scratching her front right hoof against the floor.
“I want you to continue your training Twilight.” Sombra demanded. “Don’t forget about your friends…”
“You… you already sent Vim to kill them and she didn’t. I’m not staying here with you, you can take that offer to make me your queen and shove it. I’m going back to my friends; at least there I can protect them.”
Sombra sighed. “That wasn’t an offer Twilight. You are staying, and I will try my best to forget about your comment about being my queen.”
Shackles launched from the ground and grabbed Twilight, holding her in place. She struggled, but was unable to use her magic on them. She couldn’t move more than a couple of inches in any direction. One chain went around each leg and a fifth one went to her neck, making it even harder to struggle due to the difficulty of breathing.
“I’ll come back for you, I promise.” Vim said, looking to Twilight.
“I know you will.” Twilight smiled, having faith in her new friend.
Vim vanished into a flash of light, leaving Twilight and Sombra alone. Twilight tried her best to not look at Sombra. He was finally showing his true colors to her, a sadistic monster who’s only priority was self-gain by any means necessary. His face was now permanently engraved with the smile that he made shortly after Vim had first entered.
“Are you scared yet?” Sombra asked, stepping in front of Twilight.
Twilight clenched her eyes shut, refusing to look at him. She turned away, but he grabbed her face with his magic and forced her to face him.
“I’m not the bad guy here.” Sombra stated. “I’m just paving the road for the true darkness.”
“Spike!” Vim shouted, running up to the dragon while he stood with Twilight’s friends.
“You! What in the hay are you doin’ here?” Applejack shouted.
“Please, just listen to me…” Vim pled.
“And why should we do that? After all, it was you who threw us into the filthy old dungeon.” Rarity added.
“She’s here to help!” Spike shouted. “It’s hard to explain, but she isn’t bad.”
“Thank you.” Vim panted. Once she caught her breath, she began to explain. “Sombra took Twilight so that he could have a queen. He’s forced her to use dark magic against her will, for a little while, it corrupted her. She nearly killed me with a fire, but she stopped. I think that it was then that she realized what she was doing.”
“I say that ya deserved it.” Applejack growled.
“I know I did.” Vim answered, “I need to train so that I will be strong enough to fight Sombra, until then, I want you nine to come up with a plan to save her. And Spike, I’ve heard rumors that the Keyblade can release any kind of lock, including the ones that are holding Twilight.” Vim vanished in a flash of purple light, returning to a secluded area so that she could train.
“Spike, why were you protecting her?” Rainbow snapped.
“It’s hard to explain, but she isn’t as bad as we thought. You heard what she said; she’s trying to help us save Twilight.”
“And you trust her?” Rainbow replied.
“Yes. I do.” Spike answered.
“I do too.” Fluttershy added. “She seemed different, like she was sorry.”
“I can’t believe you two!” Applejack yelled. “After she kidnapped us, yer just going to turn around and trust her? This could be a trap for all we know.”
“But it won’t be. She could have killed me before, but she didn’t. She left me there and then she came back and told us about Twilight. Trust me; she isn’t going to betray us.”
“All right Spikey, but only because you trust her that much.” Rarity replied.
Celestia stood by Luna as they looked out in the distance. There was a dark presence, something more terrifying than they had imagined Sombra to be capable of.
“This is not Sombra…” Celestia stated.
“What do you mean? I thought that it was Sombra who was controlling the darkness on this world.” Luna looked over at her sister.
“As did I, at first. But this is far beyond what he would be capable of. I do not know who or what this presence is, but it is not… natural.” Celestia answered.
Celestia turned away and made her way back into the throne room. There were seven guards left in there, the rest were out trying to gather information or evacuate ponies that were in danger. A letter popped into existence in front of the princess, containing a message from the Crystal Empire.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
“Princess Cadence was taken by a pony known as Midnight Vim, as was Twilight. We were unable to establish communication to you prior to this due to a relentless onslaught of monsters. Vim had called them Heartless and she had promised to help protect us from them. Her betrayal caught us off guard. In the confusion I was knocked unconscious and only recently woke back up. Please help if you can.
“Sincerely,
“Shining Armor”
“Well, that is one way to let me know that you are alive. Rarely is good news not seasoned with a hint of salt, and in this case, a barrel of salt.” Celestia said to herself.
This meant that Twilight was already taken by Sombra and that her efforts had been in vain. The endgame of Sombra’s plan remained a mystery, but from the start, it was clear that this moment would come. The point of taking Princess Cadence remained beyond her though, the only possibility that she could think of was leverage to keep Twilight in Sombra’s possession. If that was the case though, Princess Cadence would already be dead.
“Celestia, what does the letter say?” Luna asked, walking into the room a few seconds later.
“He got Twilight. Cadence is being held as well, I can only hope that she will be all right.”
“You might as well kill me.” Twilight choked out. “I won’t use dark magic.”
“I wouldn’t dream of killing you.” Sombra laughed. “I need you to be alive, but I also need you to cooperate. You know that you’re irreplaceable, right?”
“I don’t care want you need, I won’t help you.”
“I will take everything you care about away from you. I will kill each and every one of your friends, slowly and in front of you. Then I will bring your brother here and I will kill him. If that isn’t enough, I have Cadence in this castle, waiting for her death, but at this point, that would be a mercy. Oh, yes, I almost forgot, the other princesses.”
“Don’t you dare…” Twilight growled.
The shackles tightened around Twilight’s legs and her neck, cutting off the majority of her oxygen supply. She struggled to breathe, gasping for air. Sombra let out a quiet laugh before making the shackles enough so that Twilight could breathe again.
“Do you know how cute you are when you struggle? I find it quite amusing that you think that you can resist.” Sombra smiled before approaching Twilight.
Twilight closed her eyes tightly, trying not to even look at Sombra. He used his magic to pry her eyes open and she cried out in pain. She jerked her head to the side before Sombra grabbed it with his magic and forced her to face him.
“I can do this… all day. Do you want to see who runs out of will first? I have twenty bits saying that I’ll win.” Sombra continued.
Twilight spit into Sombra’s face and tried to get away from him again, but the grip of his magic tightened around her head, crushing her.
“I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to resort to this. Seeing as you came with me to save your friends, what will you do to save your sister-in-law?”
A platform moved to the side and a cage lifted from the ground. Inside the cage was a bruised pink alicorn.
“Cadence!” Twilight shouted.
Cadence managed to look up at Twilight, but couldn’t find the strength to speak. She was collapsed on the cage floor, barely managing to breathe through her beaten lungs.
“Use some dark magic and she won’t get hurt… as badly.” Sombra demanded.
Twilight’s horn lit up purple and she tried to hit Sombra with a magical beam, but she couldn’t even get it to start. She couldn’t use her magic so how was she supposed to use the dark magic like he wanted her to? Was this all just a game to him? Was he doing all of this just to crush her spirit?
“Judging by the fact that that seemed like a dud, I’m guessing that you were trying normal magic. You can’t do that in here, normal magic doesn’t work in this room. This entire room is filtered by the darkness so that only dark magic can work, that’s why the Princess over there has not escaped yet.” Sombra explained.
Twilight didn’t respond to him that time. She stood there silently, wanting so badly to be able to fight back, but if she did she would just be falling back down the path that she had just so recently pulled herself off of.
Sombra’s horn lit up and Twilight jumped as a jolt of pain shot through her body. She could see Cadence reacting in a similar way, but with less energy.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did that hurt? That was a low level shock spell; would you like to see the effect of a higher level one?” Sombra asked, his horn lighting up again.
Cadence screamed out in pain and her eyes widened. Twilight could make out what looked like a purple lightning bolt going across the surface of Cadence’s body.
“Stop!” Twilight cried out. “It’s me that you want so leave her alone!”
“I wish it were that simple. The problem in lies with your willingness to put up with any kind of pain that I can inflict upon you. What I need is a different strategy, emotional pain through hurting the ones that you care about the most.” Sombra tried to sound sincerely sorry for what he had to do, but it was clear to Twilight that he enjoyed it more than anypony ever should.
“Leave her alone!” Twilight shouted, her horn lighting up a brilliant purple and her eyes glowing white.
“I haven’t seen anything like this before…” Sombra muttered to himself. “What kind of power is this?”
Twilight shot a bright purple blast at Sombra’s face, slamming him to the ground. She shot another at Cadence’s cage and it burned a hole in the side.
“Teleport now! With him down, he can’t keep you from using magic!” Twilight shouted.
“I don’t know… if I can…” Cadence replied quietly.
“That I’ll help you!” Twilight teleported Cadence out of the castle an as far away as she could get her.
“You are just full of surprises aren’t you?” Sombra asked, climbing back to his hooves. “You didn’t think that your disobedience will go unpunished though. I’ll just have to see if physical pain can break your will.”
Twilight felt an excruciating jolt of pain go through and reverberate within her body. She let out a bloodcurdling scream before falling limp and silent.
Cadence opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar field. She could see a pony in the distance doing come crop work. It was an older earth pony with a grey mane and a black coat.
“Hey!” he called out. “Are ya all right there missy?”
“Somewhat…” Cadence replied.
“An alicorn, well I’ll be… What happened to ya? Why’re ya all the way out here?” the pony asked.
“It’s a… long story. Where am I?”
“We’re a long way out from anywhere right now. The closest real civilization is way up yonder, on that mountain. The griffon’s live up there.” the pony explained. “I’ll get one to come by here, maybe he’ll be able ta getcha some help.”
“Thank you…”
“Are you by chance that Princess Cadence?” the pony asked after a short silence.
“Yes… And what is your name?”
“My name’s Dusty Tumbleweed. But you can just call me Dusty, You’re Majesty.”
“Well, Dusty, thank you for offering to help me.” Cadence nodded weakly, still unable to stand up.
Dusty built a small fire and started trying to send a signal up into the sky using the smoke. Within minutes, a griffon flew down from the sky.
“Dusty, what seems to be the… Princess Cadence?” the griffon asked.
“South Wind, is that you? I aven’t seen ya in forever. Princess Cadence needs some help bad. If ya could get another couple of griffons ta help, could ya take the Princess home?” Dusty asked.
“Of course.” the griffon answered. “If you don’t mind me asking, does your sudden appearance here have anything to do with the light show that was coming from that new castle in the mountains?”
“Twilight…” Cadence whispered.
“Are you meaning to tell me that she is in that castle?” South Wind asked.
“Yes. She needs your help more than I do.” Cadence answered.
“I’ll get you some help and then I will go to the castle and try to get Twilight back.” South nodded.
“Thank you.”
South Wind launched into the air and flew toward his home village. He would need to get three griffons and a chariot so that Princess Cadence could be safely delivered to Canterlot. After that he would need to get some of the local warriors to go with him to rescue Twilight.