//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Fate of Two Universes // Story: My Little Pony Equestria Girls 3: Twilight's Shadow // by Revan //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer rolled, charging her horn and firing a beam of intense orange-white heat at the dragon that confronted her. The dragon shrugged the hit aside, as Sunset mentally berated herself for not remembering that dragons swam in pools of lava for fun. It opened its mouth, and Sunset braced herself, a shield spell slamming into existence around her. But the jet of flame never came, for Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere with an enormous cannon, and it wasn't loaded with confetti. The dragon opened its mouth just in time to get a giant mouthful of over ten thousand cupcakes. The heat of its flame fused the cupcakes together, and sealed its mouth shut like glue. The dragon inhaled through its nose in surprise, right as the second wave of cupcakes came hurtling in. A number of cupcakes in the second launch were inhaled into its nose, and the dragon's airways were now completely blocked. It atempted to exhale, but the cupcakes in its nose were too tightly lodged. Next it tried to breath flame, but that enhanced the gluelike qualities of the melted cupcake mass in its mouth. The dragon reared and began to thrash about, clawing at its face. Sunset grabbed Spike and teleported about twenty meters away, joining Pinkie Pie, who stared at the form of the thrashing dragon with an unusual grimness. "What did you make those cupcakes with?" Sunset asked Pinkie in hushed tones. "Rubber cement, gorilla glue, corn starch, cake batter, and frosting," was Pinkie's somewhat terse reply. Spike looked at Pinkie Pie with newfound respect. "I didn't know that you could do something like that." Pinkie continued to stare at the dragon, whose struggles were now beginning to die out. "I've never had to kill anyone before," Pinkie said with a tone of undeniable sadness. Sunset found herself at a partial loss for words. "Pinkie, I didn't mean to make you have to-" she began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie. "No, it's not your fault. It was bound to happen sooner or later if I kept on helping my friends in defending Equestria from major threats, and I accepted that it might happen after I became the bearer of the element of laughter. Besides, I was protecting one of my friends, not killing it for killing's sake." Sunset was startled by Pinkie Pie's newly-revealed depths, and in that moment she understood Pinkie far better than she had ever had before. Then one sentence suddenly leapt out at her, and she said, "Pinkie? Which friend were you refering to?" Pinkie cocked her head. "Why you, silly!" Sunset was now getting thoroughly confused. "But-tt you-u barely even know me?!!" she stammered. Pinkie looked at Sunset. "Just because you've only known a friend for a short time, doesn't make them any less of a friend," she stated. Sunset fell silent, contemplating Pinkie's words, and the undeniable truth contained in them. Spike interrupted her thoughts. "Uh, not that I want to break this up, but we've got to help Human Twilight!" Sunset shook her head rapidly. "Right!" They ran past the 'corpse' of the dragon, which was slowly starting to dissolve, towards the huge set of doors. Only to encounter a problem: The doors wouldn't open. After an indeterminate amount of time in which they tried everything possible - and some impossible things - to get the door open, they had to admit defeat. "Twilight's alone in there! We have to assist her!" Spike hollered, banging rapidly on the doors. "It's no use. Even I can't get through," Pinkie spoke in an exhausted tone. Sunset looked up at the doors, silent and implacable. "All we can do now is pray and hope for the best." Ka-BOOM!!! Human Twilight dodged once more in desperation, as yet another magical fireball detonated, taking another chunk out of the library's bookshelves. The bedroom's floor had collapsed early on, and now she and Dark Twilight were locked in a deadly dance, each one trying to get to Equestrian Twilight, but also attempting to prevent the other from reaching her. Fortunately for Human Twilight, the normal laws of physics didn't seem to apply here with 100% consistency, which had allowed her to do things such as run along the ceiling. But she needed to make a break for Equestrian Twilight soon: She was tiring, while Dark Twilight seemed to be indefatigable. "GAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Twilight screamed in pain as a magical tentacle of dark energy finally snagged her. She was hung upside down as Dark Twilight gloated. "At last! Now Twilight's body - and all of reality shall be mine!!!" Dark Twilight cackled in malicious glee. She then turned, walking slowly towards Equestrian Twilight's sleeping consciousness. As Dark Twilight walked away from her, Human Twilight fought against her bonds, but was unable to get free. Then, just as Dark Twilight stretched her hoof towards Equestrian Twilight's forehead, Human Twilight remembered something that the Equestrian Pinkie Pie had said to her as she headed back to her counterpart's mindscape. You're just as powerful as my Twilight in terms of magical potential. You just haven't figured out how to tap into it yet - but it will answer your call when you need it most. Now Twilight reached inside herself, and she found something there. She called it forth. "YARRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!" A beam of purple-white energy burst forth, hurtling towards Dark Twilight with the force of a freight train. "What-" Dark Twilight was hurled away, punching through the library's wall. And Human Twilight, suddenly freed from her bonds, made a leap that would be impossible in the real world, reaching out for her counterpart. "NOOO!!!" Dark Twilight called in desperation, but it was too late - for Twilight's hand reached out and touched her other self. Equestrian Twilight's eyes snapped open, and gazed into Human Twilight's eyes. No explanations were needed. "Let's do this," Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and wielder of the Element of Magic, said in absolute confidence.