Twilight was tossing and turning in her sleep. The events with Black Cosmos had dealt her a great deal of mental trauma. She had managed to hide her fears from The Dazzlings, but she could no longer contain in in her slumber.
What Twilight could see was Equestria, wrapped underneath a black, stormy sky. The occasional lightning bolt came down, but most of the time, the clouds did nothing more than add effect. The houses were perfectly fine, but everything was the complete opposite of what they were.
Twilight could see that ponies who were once fillies and colts were now looking after infants that Black had created using the Staff of Time. While it didn't look like the other ponies were struggling with caring for the ones who used to mother and father them, Twilight could see just how much they were struggling on the inside.
The next site was of her castle. Where it once stood, there was now a massive pile of shattered crystals and demolished structure. The map had all but been erased from existence, and the portal to the Human World had been shattered entirely.
"No..." Twilight ran over to her castle and picked up the shards with her hooves. As they quickly tumbled from her hand, tears began to fall from her eyes. "What have you done, Black Cosmos?!"
Suddenly, she was engulfed in a flash of light. A slight yelp escaped from her, but the flash had all but silenced her.
Once it had died down, Twilight found herself in Canterlot Castle's throne room. Celestia and Luna were present, but they were mere foals sleeping next to a massive pony with dark blue skin and long black hair.
"Twilight Sparkle. The fabled Princess of Harmony," Black said as he relished in his victory. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen..." he laughed.
"Black, you have your wish, why continue to press me for tears and screams?" Twilight asked feebly. "You have Equestria at your command, you've made everypony embrace Age Regression, what more do you want?!"
"I want to watch you suffer, to see the last tear fall from your eye when you finally realize that my reign is eternal," Black said as he stood up from his throne. "Everything you have ever worked for, all those friendship lessons, all of those adventures the map sent you on, and I have reduced it all to ashes. None of the ponies in this world believe solely in friendship anymore. And because of this, they long to be foals forever and ever, so that they can see what true friendship is..."
Twilight looked out of the windows of the throne room and saw what he had done. The world she had made for herself was now in ruins. Her friends were missing, likely in the clutches of Black Cosmos himself, and there was little left for her to do.
"Twilight, I know you worked hard on Equestria, and I can't blame you for the project you've made," Black said as he put a hoof on her shoulder, then paced around her. "But we are all still infants in our way. We're all blind to knowledge, we all make messes in our own right, and everything we build, just gets torn down in the process. It's not a bad thing, it's just life."
"What are you talking about, Black?" Twilight's head tilted.
"What I'm saying is that we might not mentally be infants anymore, but we still exist as them. Every empire that was ever forged was torn down by another, therefore causing progression to erupt," Black's prophetic words were beginning to affect Twilight. "Sure, we are capable of speaking perfectly well with each other, but we are all still young, trapped in the eternal nursery of existence. Even I will not deny this truth.
"But look at the empire I have constructed, Twilight Sparkle," Black continued. "I have created a world that lasts forever, with a species that will never die, so long as they believe in the wonders of Age Regression. Unlike the rest of the reigns that this world had, mine will last forever, and won't just be torn down like an unstable stack of blocks."
"Y-You actually have a point there, Black..." Twilight said as she hung her head.
"And thanks to me, I can make you as many friends as possible..." Black said as he held up the Staff of Time once again. "Just let go, free yourself from the chains that bind you, and this nightmare you see can quickly turn into your utopia..."
Twilight sighed and nodded her head. "Fine then, I guess I've suffered enough..." she stepped forward and held her head high. "Do it, Black. You have the permission to free me from my age, revert me to an infant, and restore my friendships with the rest of my former friends, and many more..."
"That's all I wanted to hear..." Black used the Staff of Time to impale Twilight with the energy that could youthen her into an infant. He watched as Twilight shrunk down and bore witness to her transformation into a baby. "With your generous decision, you are free. Your friendships will become limitless, your life immortal, and my victory complete..."
Suddenly, Twilight woke up in bed with her hands tightly clutched onto the sheets. She breathed heavily as she came to the conclusion that it was a dream. However, at the same time, Sunset Shimmer was still missing. The empty space in the bed was proof that Twilight really felt alone. Twilight sat up and thought about all of her stolen friends.
"Sunset... girls... I'll end his madness..." Twilight promised herself as she balled up one of her hands into a fist. "Black Cosmos has committed crimes against friendship, and against the cycle of the life itself. I swear on my life, he will end up in Tartarus for what he has done..."
Twilight got out of bed and dressed herself. After she was fully clothed, she walked downstairs to make herself some breakfast. All the while, she knew that today would be the day that Black Cosmos was finally defeated, and all of his victims would be returned to their normal ages.
Black Cosmos sat on his throne of hard-light in the ethereal realm he used as a home. He watched both the Human World and Equestria, seeing many of the inhabitants of both worlds getting along quite well. But as he watched it all, he pulled out the Staff of Time and rubbed the rod tenderly.
"Today is the day, Twilight Sparkle," he monologued. "I have waited long enough, your friends have all been taken, and now is the time for you to submit yourself to me..." he stood up and swung the staff. In doing so, he looked at The Rainbooms playing together. "When I regress you into an infant I shall do it in front of everybody you ever knew. All of your remaining friends from Canterlot High School and Equestria will witness the greatest spectacle of all time; the fall of the Princess of Friendship, and the rise of the new King of Friendship. And amidst the ashes of your empire, I shall take you for my own. You shall become my seventh daughter, and my seventh and final disciple of Age Regression. You shall have all of your friends back, and I shall deliver many more to you..."
As Black turned the picture back to the Human World and Equestria, he noticed that Twilight Sparkle was meeting with The Dazzlings. Upon seeing the image, he stroked his chin and frowned.
"But as long as you believe that even your enemies can be friends, I still have work to do," Black said, creating a portal that led to Twilight and The Dazzlings. "You must realize that no-one will help you, and that this is a matter that you must resolve alone. I shall take great pride in destroying those witches, and then having you join them in my world. I have lost everything, so I will not rest until you have lost everything and will admit that you have lost everything. Only then will you know my pain and embrace the marvel of my philosophies..."
"Twilight. How did you sleep last night?" Adagio asked when Twilight arrived.
"Not good, girls," Twilight said. "I had a pretty bad nightmare about Black..."
"Oh? What did you see?" Sonata asked as she held out her hand.
"Last night, I had a vision of Black Cosmos' empire. The skies were black, my castle was in ruins, and the other princesses had been turned into foals," Twilight explained. "But to add insult to injury, I admitted that his philosophies were the right way to go about friendship. It mostly showed him monologuing about his victory in a way that used big words, and ended with me being regressed to a foal myself..."
Adagio put one of her hands on Twilight's shoulders and said, "Twilight, you know that's never going to happen."
"But, Adagio... what if we're already too late to stop him?" Twilight asked as her head drooped. "He could be going to make my nightmare into a reality as we speak... or he could be ageing my friends up to believe whatever he told them... This could be one problem that even I might not be able to fix..."
"Listen, Twilight. I'm not really one for all this mushy stuff, but I do know that Black's a total jerk who gets some sick pleasure off of turning others into babies," Aria gave Twilight motivation. "You can't let his pleasures make you want to participate in his cruel game. You have to keep fighting, no matter the cost."
"Aria's right, princess. Black can't get to you as long as you believe that you can defeat him," Adagio continued. "Simply take the staff away from him, and he'll be powerless against you. And knowing him, he'll want to challenge himself by actually fighting you. He won't be satisfied until he breaks you both mentally and physically, making you demand him to stop the suffering."
"That's what villains like to do when they have a confrontation with their enemies after they've made the damage. They just want to see them suffer and make it so they can't win," Sonata added her words. "I mean, where's the fun in having an evil plot without any challenge, am I right?"
"You're absolutely right, Sonata..." Black's voice echoed throughout the area, and in a bright flash of light, he appeared in front of Twilight. Not only that, but The Dazzlings had all been youthened down into newborns. "Twilight and I will fight each other. One-on-one. Winner takes all."
"Black!" Twilight threw a punch, but Black batted it away with the Staff of Time and used it to sweep Twilight off of her feet.
"That infant with the ponytail spoke the truth, Twilight Sparkle," Black began to talk. "Simplicity is a quick way to make uprisings. Uprisings lead to complications, more and more enemies, and more followers for your cause."
"Oh yeah, well—" Twilight then saw that he wasn't holding the Staff of Time in his hands "—wait, you want to fight me? As in punch and kick fighting?"
"Twilight Sparkle, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that not everything is so simple," Black said. "There will always be those who wish to shoot down your visions and reduce them to nothing. However, not letting them have their fun will only anger them and their followers so much that physical action must be taken. I have enraged you by taking your friends, and because of it, I have denied you your entertainment," he opened up a portal, picked up The Dazzlings, and threw them threw it. But the portal didn't close this time. "We will meet again, Twilight Sparkle..."
"You're not running away again, Black!" Twilight got up and grabbed onto his arm.
"You're right..." Black violently grabbed onto Twilight's chest and held her up in the air. "You're coming with me!" he then leapt threw the portal with Twilight still trapped in his hold.
As Twilight was sent through the void, her eyes were blitzed by a series of lights and colours. It was as if she were staring into the world of time itself, and such a sight made her scream. However, she was not physically harmed or mentally damaged because of it, and so she was silenced relatively quickly.
Eventually, the voyage ended with Twilight and Black floating in an endless plane of ocean blue light. There was no platform, no ground, and no sky or sea either. It was just nothingness, and Black smiled as he viewed it
"This is my world now, Twilight Sparkle," Black said as he showed Twilight the full extent of his world. "While it might look like nothing to you and me, I can assure you I have made it quite accommodating..."
"Looks like you've just made it barren to me, Black," Twilight scoffed.
"Mock it all you want. But you will have to scale it to find me!" Black threw Twilight downwards, then used the Staff of Time to create a sizeable chasm for Twilight to traverse. When she landed at the bottom, Black perched himself atop one of the edges of the ravine. "Now listen to me carefully, Twilight."
"I'm listening..." Twilight put her ear out towards him.
"At the end of this ravine lies a tower. That tower is my sanctuary, and the site of your defeat," Black began to explain. "However, this ravine also ends with a door. That door will take you to the home of my children. To truly prove how much you wish to defeat me, you must show that you love my daughters to the point where you would do anything to save them."
"Daughters?" Twilight asked. "I didn't know you had kids, Black..."
"They are quite new. Newborn to be precise," Black corrected her. "Now, if you would let me finish. The room has only one door, and so far, it will only lead you to a feeding area. It will only take you to me when you have shown that you truly do love them. Who knows? You could be lost in that one room forever, driven by boredom to surrender yourself to me..." he smiled. "So to make it to me, you'll have to answer the one question that will hound you relentlessly; do you really love your friends? And do they really love you back?"
"My... friends?" Twilight put everything together in her head, and looked up at Black with fire in her eyes. "What do you mean, your daughters?!"
"Patience, patience, Twilight Sparkle. I shall only talk when you arrive at my sanctuary," Black said as he used the Staff of Time to create a beam of light that led deeper into the abyss. "Find me, and look after The Rainbooms. Only then will you earn the privilege of duelling me for the Staff of Time!" He then leapt into the beam of light and vanished as soon as he touched it.
As Twilight saw the beam vanish, she looked at the path ahead of her. Putting her hand into a fist again, she began to walk.
"You'll fight me if I make it to you? Fine, Black. I'll hold you to that." Twilight was serious with her words. Her tone of voice was a sign that she was going to end what he began.