Celestia and Twilight held their items up high. One could feel the tension in the air on their skin while Twilight and Celestia funneled eighty years of sorrow and resentment into their intense stares.
Ace peeked his head further out. He saw Twilight's minions take a cautious step back, as though they were afraid of what could happen near Twilight in their duel. This confused him, for as far as he could see, there was nothing.
“Nothing's happening.” Ace said. He gestured to Twilight's minions. “So why are they going over there?”
Ace soon discovered he spoke too soon. There was a deep rumble within the room, soon followed by the wall of the eastern section blowing out and collapsing. The loud noise and the following rain of debris which ensued startled the pigs, who ran squealing in fear in all direction, in spite of Applejack's best efforts to corral them. “Hey, y'all! Stand at yer posts!”
Mandus observed the destruction around them. He looked at the debris and the empty space where the wall previously stood. “So … this is how the world ends.” He looked to Twilight and Celestia. “Not with a bang, but with a whimper.”
The scattering and scurrying pigs proved to be a frustration for Applejack. She, Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom split off from their group, running around in circles as they tried to get the swine under control.
“Ugh.” Rainbow Dash rolled her uncovered eye at them. She was displeased she wouldn't be fighting with all her companions by her side, but she didn't let it deter her. She turned to the children. “All right, kids. It's time we put these games behind us.” She raised her electric hoof and began to stalk towards them.
Sweet Heart's first reaction was to back away, but Teddy threw himself in front and stood his ground. “Bring it! We've seen a lot since we came here … we're not afraid of you!”
“We're not?” Ace asked.
“Quiet, Ace. You're ruining the mood.” was Teddy's answer.
Rainbow Dash herself seem amused, chuckling at them. “Really? Really? I think you foals may not be thinking that through.” As a demonstration, Rainbow Dash charged up her hoof and slammed into the ground. Sparks of electric current flew from her hoof and traveled through the ground before fizzing out.
“Uh ...” Teddy was intimidated once more. Like he should have been. But he looked up and over Rainbow Dash's side and saw something. Twilight was moving backwards, away from the Princess. Still holding her Orb up high, she began to crawl backwards up the stairs, never turning away from Celestia, who followed her.
Teddy had a realization about what he was seeing. Looking at Twilight retreating away from the Princess, Teddy saw something in her eyes. He saw fear. Twilight – or the monstrous shell of what used to be her – was afraid. She was afraid of the Princess and her Tuurngait. Teddy was distracted by the sudden appearance of The Shadow's leftover material manifesting on the stairs. The red, squishy stuff exploded into a fountain of blood before being frozen over and cracking. The Tuurngait was overpowering The Shadow.
“The fiend thinks to retreat to her lair!” Mandus said. “I'm sorry, children, but I must leave you. I must aid the Princess!” Mandus broke into a full gallop after them, making sure he wouldn't lose them as Twilight went further up the stairs and reached a door.
Even without Mandus providing back-up, seeing Twilight running scared lit a flame inside Teddy. They were winning now. They had a chance, and Rainbow Dash wasn't going to fool him into thinking otherwise.
“We're still not afraid of you! In fact, we're going to beat you.”
“You are?” Dash asked smugly, while Rarity and Fluttershy appeared next to her.
“We are?” Ace asked again.
“We are.” Sweet Heart said, having an idea. “Follow my instructions.” She whispered into their ears.
Rainbow Dash got another laugh out of them. “Well, this is all very funny, but I'm afraid I'm not gonna just let you whisper to each other all night.” She leveled her electric hoof at them and roared as she charged.
Sweet Heart was prepared. “Split up!” The three of them split and ran in different directions, just fast enough to avoid Rainbow hitting any of them and forcing her to redirect like a bull.
“Nice try, but there's no water for me to fry myself in this time!” Rainbow Dash shook her hoof at them.
“Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that.” Sweet Heart said. She looked around the room to make sure the others were following her instructions. Ace was running around near Fluttershy while Teddy did his best to distract Rarity.
“It is long past time somepony taught you some manners, young colt.” Rarity produced a leather whip and cracked it against the ground. Levitating it with magic, she aimed at Teddy and attempted to hit him with the whip. Teddy kept running to keep the whip from hitting her. “Grr! Stay still!”
“Why would I do that? You're trying to hit me with a whip!”
“Well, I … hmm.” Rarity paused to think.
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at Ace. “We've could avoided so much trouble for Twilight and our home if I had just taken care of you three when we first met! I won't make the same mistake twice.” Her throat gurgling as she readied her spit, Fluttershy began chucking spitballs of acid at Ace. Ace kept ahead of them, avoiding each shot.
To rub Fluttershy's nose in it, he hummed at her. “La-la-la ...”
“You can't run forever!” Rainbow Dash swiped at Sweet Heart, who ducked and rolled to the side. She raised up her electric weapon and attempted to smash it into Sweet Heart's exposed stomach, but Sweet Heart rolled away again.
Okay … Sweet Heart thought. We've got all them all fighting, now we just need to …
She ran, circling back around and heading towards Rarity, who was still puzzling over Teddy's questions. “Why would he do that? To avoid getting hit? But he's going to get hit anyways, so ...”
“Hey.” Teddy popped over to her and reached for her whip. “Can I borrow this?”
“What? Aah! No, you cannot borrow it!” Rarity was surprised to see Teddy so close to her. She raised the whip to slap him with it. Sweet Heart ran towards her and ducked between her legs, sliding across the floor under her. Rarity wasn't any more pleased by that either. “Now what?”
“Rarity, look out!”
“What?” Rarity turned around just in time to see Rainbow Dash skidding towards her, unable to stop and with her weapon held high. Rainbow Dash's hoof slammed into Rarity's side, pumping her full of electricity. Rarity's body tightened and she -and her whip - dropped to the ground.
“You ...” Rainbow Dash was reduced to stops and stammers at the sight of her friend, struck down by her own hoof. “You're going to pay for that, little filly!”
“Am I?” Sweet Heart asked innocently.
“Yes, you are!”
What Rainbow Dash didn't realize was this was their plan from the start. Teddy reached over and picked up the whip. He had no experience with using a whip, but he was going to try. Squinting one eye to improve his aim, he tossed the whip at Fluttershy, successfully lassoing it around her hoof.
“What?” Fluttershy asked when she noticed. “Oh dear!” Teddy pulled tightly on the whip and and brought it towards him, swinging Fluttershy around like she was the lasso.
Sweet Heart smiled, even though Rainbow Dash was snorting and huffing and bearing down on her. Sweet Heart looked to the side and took off, dodging Rainbow Dash's swipe yet again. Which frustrated Rainbow Dash.
“You -!”
“Dash, look out!”
“What?” Rainbow Dash turned just in time to see Fluttershy being thrown against her will and coming towards her. There was a still bits of acid dripping from her mouth, so when she landed into Rainbow Dash's face, the acid spilled onto Dash's patched-over eye. “ARRGH!” Just the same way, Rainbow Dash had her hoof out, so when Fluttershy landed on her, the electric weapon went into her stomach, doing the same to Fluttershy as it had done to Rarity. Fluttershy dropped to the ground, unconscious, while Rainbow Dash hit the floor in an effort to wipe the acid off before it melted through her eyepatch.
Rainbow Dash coughed and spit, trying to keep the acid from leaking into her mouth. Sweet Heart, Teddy, and Ace surrounded her, standing triumphant over the twisted pony which had once hunted them.
“Good job, you.” Rainbow admitted with begrudging respect. “Figure out what we can all do … use it against us.” She looked away from them, unable to do anything but wait for the acid to drip to the floor.
“Would you …” Sweet Heart gulped, hesitating. “Would you help us? Princess Celestia told us about what Twilight did to you. How she cut you up … how she made you these awful monsters. Wouldn't you want to fight against a pony who did something like this to you?”
Rainbow Dash laughed off her response. “Believe me, kid. If we didn't want Twilight to make the … changes that she did, we could have stopped her at anytime. But we didn't. Because we trusted her and she was our friend.”
“A friend who cuts you up isn't a very good friend.” Sweet Heart said.
“That's your opinion.” Rainbow Dash said. She looked away form Sweet Heart. “But … I will tell you something. The changes Twilight made? The things she did to us. It … it changed us, inside AND out. We weren't – we're not the ponies we used to be. Not in body, not in personality and not in spirit. And we're okay with that. But Twilight … isn't.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eye. “She wanted her old friends back. You saw her multiple-personality whatever, didn't ya? She developed that, all on her own, so she could play pretend and act like we were still living good times. Some days she'd be one pony, then somepony else the next. Sometimes she would be five different pones in one conversation. It got so bad, she developed her own special super-strong medication for it.”
“But do you really like living your life like this?” Sweet Heart asked. “As a monster, snatching up ponies and cutting them up?”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Kid, we made that choice a long time ago. Twilight's good to us. Keep us fed. Keeps us warm. When the Cutie Mark Crusaders -”
Teddy interrupted. “Who are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
“You've met Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, haven't ya? Well, together, they're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were always trying to find their Cutie Marks. One day, long after they found their marks, they got together again for one last fling. Decided to zipline through some trees. But you wouldn't know it, their tether snapped and they fell to their deaths. We were still alive, and we … we loved those fillies. Some of them are sisters, even. So Twilight took them from the hospital and brought them back to life with the same voodoo she used on us.”
“Voodoo?” Ace asked.
“So that would explain the stitching on Sweetie Belle's leg when we found out.” Teddy said.
“This is all very fascinating, but, uh, why are you telling us?” Sweet Heart asked.
“Honestly? It's just to give Pinkie and Applejack time to get the pigs in position.”
The children turned around to see Applejack and Pinkie standing on a bridge with huge smirks on their faces. Two squadrons of pigs had been set up to flank them from either side, each pig huffing and shorting as it readied to charge.
Sweet Heart chuckled, hoping she could talk her way out of this. “Heh-heh. How are you, Miss Applejack?”
“Fine. 'Cept for tha fact some no-good filly tricked my friends into using their special abilities against each other.” Applejack said, which sunk any hope Sweet Heart might have had.
Applejack directed the pigs, pointing them at the kids with her hoof.
“Git 'em.”
“Now, wait … I'm sure we can talk about this!” Sweet Heart raised her hooves, but to no avail. The pigs began charging like a herd of rampaging buffalo.
“Ah, we can take them!” Teddy said. He reared up and waved his hooves, punching at the air. “Come and get -” He was going to say “come and get some,” but he got some all right. The pigs charged at full steam ahead and bulldozed him over, throwing him to the ground and probably breaking a few bones in the process.
“I can take 'em!” Ace said. He was wrong. The pigs bull rushed from all directions, making sure he was knocked off his hooves and trampled into the ground. Sweet Heart fared no better, as the pigs beat her down with their bare hooves until she was too weak to stand.
“P-please ...” Sweet Heart begged through the blood on her face, weakly raising her hooves for defense. “S-stop ...”
The pigs, ignoring her pleas, squealed as they raised their hooves, ready to deliver the mortal blow and end their constant intrusions to The Facility once and for all.
Twilight Sparkle continued to retreat further and further into the depths of the building, putting more distance between herself and Celestia. It was almost as if she was afraid of bursting into fire should the Princess of the Sun get too near.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia roared at her. No matter how many steps backwards Twilight took, no matter how many stairs Twilight would lead her through, Celestia would follow. One step at a time. “End this game now, and I will let you come quietly.”
“Hmm.” Twilight put about five seconds of thought into her answer. “No.” She was putting on a brave face, as Celestia could see she was sweating bullets.
“Twilight ...” Celestia said. “Just give up. Just give up so I – so we can put this all behind us.” A tear formed in Celestia's eye as she recalled the circumstances which led them here.
Twilight, for a moment, seemed touched by Celestia's heartfelt request. She appeared to consider it before footsteps echoed from the previous set of stairs.
Oswald Mandus came limping the stairs, out of breath but with determination in his face. He limped next to Celestia and wheezed. “All right, you old bat.” Mandus said to Twilight. “What are you up to? What's your plan for dragging Celestia all this way?”
“Mandus?” Celestia asked. “What are you doing here? You should be helping the children!”
“Ah, they can take care of themselves.” Mandus said. “They'll be fine.”
Twilight chuckled. She rolled the Orb across her wings like a basketball and bounced it in her hoof. “Mandus, Mandus, Mandus. Don't you know how I feel about distractions?” She held the Orb up and The Shadow roared. What little lighting was in the room snuffed out completely and its shadowy, gutsy muck appeared and wrapped around Mandus's hooves.
“Mandus!”
“Arg! Get it off of me!” Mandus struggled, trying to pull his hooves out from the muck.
Twilight chuckled, bouncing her Orb on her hooves. “While you keep The Shadow from eating him, I … will make my escape! Toodle-oo!” Twilight turned around and fled deeper into the building.
“Go.” Mandus said. “Chase after her.”
“I will not leave you here to die.” Celestia used the shine of her horn as a light source. She could see the gunk traveling further up Mandus' leg. She aimed the Tuurngait's artifact at it and froze the it solid. She used her magic to begin thawing Mandus' legs out.
“If I know Twilight Sparkle, there's a reason she's doing this.” Mandus said while waiting for the ice to melt. “She's not just running blind and afraid. There's a reason she's taking us down this route of the building. She has something, a contingency, a plan.”
“If we wish to stop her, we will have no choice but to walk into her trap.” Celestia said.
Mandus looked around the room. “Say … I believe I recognize this place during my ill-fated partnership.” He tapped his chin. “But where does this path lead? It's too confusing, this place.”
“There.” Celestia said. Mandus was standing in a puddle of water now. “You're free.”
“Let us pursue!” Mandus and Celestia ran up the stairs to face their enemy.
Up ahead in the higher floors, Twilight was running around frantically. She was biting her lip and swiping her hooves along the walls. “No, not right now … I need to take my medication. I can't afford to mood swing right now!” She banged on a wall, hoping it would have a secret compartment containing her meds or a passageway so she could reach a room that had her meds. She should have known every secret door in the building – she built it – but she tended to forget these kind of little details when she was panicking and having to deal with a murder-bent Princess Celestia.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia slammed her hoof to grab Twilight's attention. “Stand your ground and face me!”
Twilight just smiled and laughed at her. “Oh, well, isn't this just great. I can't find my medication and Princess Celestia is already here. Wonderful!”
“Medication?” Celestia had no idea what Twilight was referring to. “Mandus?”
Mandus shrugged. “She's never mentioned any medication to me.”
“I, uh ...” Twilight chuckled nervously. “Princess, I don't suppose you would be up to postponing this duel long enough for me to take my meds?”
“No. No, I would not.”
“Figured as much. Still, worth a shot.” Twilight raised her Orb and made The Shadow roar. Its fleshy residue began appearing and crawling over the walls. Twilight took the chance to bolt down one of the adjacent halls. But her distraction wasn't enough, as Celestia's Tuurngait had no difficult snarling at the The Shadow's flesh until it retracted and disappeared. She and Mandus ran down the same hall after Twilight, their hooves clanking on the grated hallway.
“I know I recognize this path ...” Mandus grumbled. “So where does it lead?” Celestia didn't bother to pay attention to his question. It was unimportant compared to making sure they didn't lose track of Twilight.
Emerging on the other end of the hallway only to enter another hall, Celestia and Mandus found they had, in fact, lost track of Twilight. Celestia stomped her hoof in frustration.
“Where did she go?” Celestia looked to both directions. “Mandus, you go that way. I'll go this way.” Celestia prepared to gallop down the hall, but what Mandus said stopped her.
“Wait.”
“Hmm?” Celestia looked to see Mandus had stopped moving. He was frozen with fear.
“I know where she's heading.” Mandus admitted with a sense of both shame and uncertainty. “I know where she's been trying to lead us. I recognize this path now. Where it leads ...”
“Where?” Celestia asked. She received no answer. “Mandus, where does it lead?”
“I can't.” Mandus turned away from her, closing his eyes. “It's … too painful. It's all my fault ...”
“Mandus.” Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. “I know you feel ashamed for your role in Twilight's machinations and for being taken advantage of, but you need to put that behind you. Just like I need to put my role in her downfall behind me.” Celestia sighed, but she remained focused. “Now, Mandus. I need you to tell me. Which way did she go?”
Mandus took in a deep breath. “That way.” He pointed. “Through that door, in fact. I'll lead you through.” Mandus gulped. He moved slowly as he led Celestia to what he was sure would be their dooms.
He led her to the door on the farthest edge of the room. He peeked his head over the corner and gulped. “This is the room. She's here.”
Celestia went inside and saw Twilight, standing in front of a massive complex of machinery. There were layers, walkways, and safety ramps all over the place, leading from piece of machine to the next. In the middle of the room was a giant pit with inactive, industrial blades adorning its lip. Twilight herself was standing in front of a control panel.
“So there it is.” Mandus walked forward into the room. “The fruits of my horrific work, The Machine.”
Celestia stepped into the room, narrowing her eyes at Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle. Face me.”
“Oh, hello.” Twilight turned around, bobbing the Orb in her hooves. She rolled it and spun it, playing with it like it was a toy instead of a channeling device for demonic forces. “Enjoying the view, Celestia? Behold, The Machine! Get a good look, because after I'm done with you, you're going to go INSIDE and become one of my loyal pigs, just like all the criminals I've caught!”
“I will never be loyal to you.” Celestia said.
Twilight tossed the Orb up and caught it again. “That's what they all said. But they've proven loyal enough.” She smirked. Then she twitched. She shook her head, placing a hoof on her temple. “Ugh … no, no, not now. Agh!” Twilight shook her head again.
Celestia looked to Mandus. “Do you know what she's doing?”
“Not a clue.”
“I'm … changing … personalities!” Twilight's voice went into a high-pitched imitation of Rarity's accent. “Well, hello, darlings! How do you do this fine morning?”
Celestia took a step back, clearly frightened by Twilight's crude imitation of her friend's former life.
“No, wait, wut Ah mean to say is ...” Twilight continued, veering into Applejack's voice. Twilight slapped herself to regain control. “No! I don't mean any of that! Arg. This is all YOUR fault, Celestia! I told you I needed to take my meds! But did you listen to me? NOOO. Just like you didn't listen to me when I said we needed to leave the Orb alone! None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you!”
Celestia snorted. “I will understand you being upset with me for my actions, Twilight Sparkle. But when you attempt to blame me for your failures, for your own wrongdoings, that is where I must draw the line.” Celestia marched towards Twilight. She raised up her artifact.
Twilight did the same, lifting up her Orb. The Shadow roared. Behind Twilight, The Machine also roared, like a duet. With The Shadow's roar, its residue began manifesting on the walls and many surfaces of The Machine's various parts. With the Machine's roar, the bladed pit began whirring and spinning, ready to dice up all potential victims for fresh meat.
“This ends here.” Celestia's artifact glowed with magical power. Ice began forming around the bridge, crawling up its sides and cornering Twilight.
“This ends when I say it ends!” Twilight responded, her Orb glowing the same way. The Shadow residue appeared around her hooves and spread out. The reside met the ice head on and the two substances began to wrestle for dominance on the bridge while their controllers – The Tuurngait and The Shadow – hissed, growled, and struck at each other in their shared shadow reality.
Twilight appeared, for the first time, genuinely worried about her chances. The ice was surrounding her. The only way for her to flee was to end up in The Machine and possibly its grinder if she wasn't careful. But she saw something which made her smile.
“What are you smiling about?” Celestia grilled her.
In the doorway they had entered, the heads of the Cutie Mark Crusaders popped through.
“Ready?” Scootaloo asked.
“Ready!”
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom leaped out of the door, tackling Mandus and burying him under a dog pile.
Celestia, always caring, turned around to aid him. “Mandus!” Unfortunately, this left her vulnerable to an attack from behind. Twilight launched a spell from her horn which hit Celestia and sent her tumbling to the ground.
Now in control of the situation, Twilight briskly marched towards Celestia and held her Orb up high over her fallen form.
“That's it.” Twilight said. “This is the end. I win, Princess. You lose. Mandus loses. Those irritating brats lose. And you're ALL going to be thrown into The Machine and made into pigs!”
Twilight activated her Orb, and the Shadow's residue begin reaching towards Celestia, climbing over her hooves and consuming her.