Footnotes are numbers inside parentheses. Example: (1)
Twilight and Twivine had locked their horns together, both of them pressing with all their might trying to knock the other back. The force was so evenly matched that they both knocked each other back in a stalemate. Twilight fired a beam of her magic at Twivine who attempted to counter with a beam just like hers, except her magic was colored thorn-aqua instead of purple. The two beams clashed yet neither of them seemed to be overpowering the other. Eventually, the two spells caused an explosion, cancelling them out.
Twivine was to first to break their silence. "I've been waiting for this moment, Twilight. Ever since I stepped out of Tartarus, I've been eager to finally face you in battle and achieve my objectives!"
"I don't care what objectives Tirek gave you, Twivine." Answered Twilight. "We are not going to let him steal our magic, and creating some imposters to do it for him isn't going to make a difference!"
Twivine smirked. "Please, I'm only following Lord Tirek's orders because they share common interest with mine. Ever since I heard about your existence, the only real goal I've had was to destroy you."
"Because you're my 'dark side'?"
"Believe me, Twily, this is more than just being your dark side. You claim that your skills in magic are part of your destiny? Well, I disagree. A gullible pushover like you should never be given such power!"
"What are you saying?"
Twivine grew increasingly angry as she continued to rant. "Don't act like you don't know. How is it that a unicorn, who was able to defeat some of Equestria's greatest foes, could tolerate going nearly unrecognized by her subjects?! How could you have achieved so much, receive next to nothing in return, and allow all those around you to take your power for granted?!"
"How do you know about my accomplishments? They happened ages ago. Plus, Tirek was still in Tartarus so there's no way he could've known what happened back then!"
"Didn't you hear what Lord Tirek said? I'm born from your magic! I'm a part of you! I am your past, present, and future!"
Twilight was astounded. It was almost like she was speaking to a part of her that had been locked away within her mind and was now released.
"If you truly are me, then that means I exist in you as well and my presence would make you realize that everything you're doing is wrong! It would never allow you to turn away from OUR destiny!"
Twivine slowly began to walk towards the alicorn. "Come on, Twilight, be sensible. Surely you didn't think that I was going to come all this way to destroy you just to continue your legacy as the insignificant 'Princess of Friendship'? No, once Lord Tirek takes your magic and puts your fate in my hooves, I'll take your place and forge a new legacy! One that will rewrite the pages of history when I use this magic the way it was meant to be used and become the greatest spell caster in Equestria!!"
Twilight grew more enraged as each word from the dark alicorn's mouth spilled into her brain. "You're lying! Princess Celestia is the greatest spell caster in Equestria!!"
"Princess Celestia's title has been put into question by your existence alone! If anything, she's intimidated by you!"
"Stop it!" Twilight fired a bullet at the approaching adversary only to be cancelled out in another stalemate by an equally powerful bullet.
"Don't deny it. Why would the 'most powerful spell caster in Equestria' rely on a bunch of run-of-the-mill ponies to deal with her adversaries?"
"You don't understa--"
"Why would she have the gall to make you share your role as a princess with a band of peasants?!"
"Don't call my friends--"
"Why?! I'll tell you why! In order to keep you from surpassing her, that's why! She couldn't bare to see another pony take her place at the top, and with Luna and Cadance tamed, you were the only threat she had left! So, when you questioned your role as a princess, she gave you a meaningless title because she knew that having a kingdom of your own with you as its sole ruler would only feed your ego, allow you to recognize your talents more, and give you the idea of demanding a larger role! She's been keeping you at the bottom for her own gain and you were too easily influenced to notice!"
"Shut up." Twilight was on the brink of losing it.
"THERE IS NO 'PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP'! YOUR ROLE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A POLITICAL SCAM!!"
The last sentence rang in her ears and caused Twilight to finally snap.
"I SAID SHUT UP!!!" Twilight lowered her head and strained herself harder than ever firing a very large beam of magic at Twivine.
Twivine did the same and fired an identical beam as if it were nothing. Another explosion went off between the two spells. Still boiling with rage, she continued firing spell after spell at her foe only to have them end in stalemate after stalemate.
Seeing the fight go nowhere only made Twilight all the more angry. "WHY...WON'T...YOU...GO...DOWN?!?!" she screamed as she continued shooting spells with every word she spoke. "How are you able to cancel out my attacks so easily?!"
"What part of 'we're just as powerful as you' don't you understand? Since I'm a part of you, my magic has the exact same strength as yours; no more, no less. No matter who attacks or how strong the spells are, yours will never overpower mine because our magic is one in the same! The same rule applies to the other duplicates as well!"
"I don't believe you! It's impossible for two ponies to have the exact same amount of strength in their magic!"
"See for yourself."
Twivine pointed towards Celestia who was fighting Searing Nova. Her beam of yellow magic had clashed with Nova's stream of fire. Neither side appeared to be moving. Eventually, the clash grew unstable and caused an explosion similar to the one Twilight was making with her spells.
"No way, if our magic is equal, then neither side would win because we would always end in a tie! But, why would Tirek make us have a battle where no pony can overpower the other? It doesn't make any sense!"
Twivine laughed. "Ponies of flesh and blood like yourself grow tired after extended spellcasting, but since I'm made entirely of magic, I don't have that limitation, so my stamina is infinite! Guess that means I can't share the pain with you, I feel so left out! So you're in this alone, get it? THIS WEAKNESS ONLY AFFECTS YOU!! I'll just keep bombarding you with spells and attacks until you're too tired to match me. When that happens, I'll easily overpower and weaken you enough for Lord Tirek to take your magic!"
"We'll find a way to defeat you phonies! We always find a way!"
"I highly doubt that, princess. I'm sure your friends have figured out this disadvantage already; hopefully without the need of the other duplicates to spell it out for them."
Twivine quickly summoned a plundervine beside Twilight's legs and knocked her to the ground. "See? Your reflexes are getting slower already!"
As she prepared to hit Twilight with a spell, a flash of yellow magic came out of nowhere hitting Twivine in the side and knocking her to the ground. Twivine growled from frustration at the interruption.
Twilight looked to her side and saw that the bolt came from Celestia who had managed to fire the beam at Twivine in a split second during her fight.
She smirked at the dark princess struggling to get off the ground. "Still think she's a fraud, Twivine?"
Twivine didn't answer, she just turned to the nearby fight, glared at the white alicorn, and shouted:
"STAY ON YOUR SIDE!!!" She turned back to Twilight. "Now then, let's see how long this renowned magic of yours can last!"
Twivine wasted no time hitting Twilight with multiple spells. At the moment, the Princess of Friendship was able to block them with stalemates, but she knew that wouldn't last forever. All she could do was try to think of something with the limited amount of time she had.
Celestia was satisfied that she was able to help out her student in a tight spot. However, this joy was short lived due to her ruthless opponent, Searing Nova.
"You're dealing with me, princess!" said Nova swooping downward trying to hit Celestia's side.
Luckily she was able to get out of the way in time. Seeing that her enemy's back was turned, Celestia took the opportunity to charge Searing Nova in hopes of catching her off guard. Immediately, she sprang forward at full speed, but as she drew closer, she noticed something was up. She couldn't tell if it was from her adrenaline or her constant movement, but it felt as if the temperature in the area was getting hotter as she drew closer to Nova. It felt like she was speeding towards a massive bonfire. At first, she took no notice...but then she made contact.
As the Solar Princess, heat was never a major issue for Celestia. Equestria's hottest summer days were plenty bearable, she never had a sunburn in her life, and even accidentally burning her hoof on the stove didn't hurt her that much compared to a normal pony.
The heat coming from Searing Nova was nothing like that.
Celestia screamed in agony from the amount of pain she was in. Searing Nova remained firm on the ground, not moving an inch after the collision. To Celestia, it felt as though she had thrown herself into a brick wall, except instead of brick, the wall mas made out of hot metal taken straight out of the forge. Searing Nova grinned from the near sensual delight of her opponent's screams. Only wanting to continue this feeling, she opened one of her wings, placed it over her opponent's body, and held her in between. Her wing was just as scorching as the rest of her body, which caused even more screaming. In an attempt to break herself free, Celestia charged up her horn with magic and aimed right at the duplicate's face. Quickly, Searing Nova jumped back and cancelled out the spell with her own magic. Celestia looked at her body. It was covered in deep red burns; all of them incredibly sensitive to the touch. If it hadn't been for her god-like heat resistance, every one of those burns would have easily been third degree.
"She must have the ability to create heat waves from her body." Celestia thought.
Searing Nova frowned in disappointment. "Your power is strong, but not as much as it should be."
"What's that supposed to mean?" replied Celestia.
"Come on, sweetie. You know as well as I do that this isn't the extent of your power. And here I thought you were Equestria's strongest princess."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Of course I'm the strongest of the four princesses."
"Then why don't you show it? You lead an autocratic government, yet you share your reign with three other princesses; all of them inferior to you. You should allow no creature to threaten your position of leadership. Assert your rightful dominance over your subjects. Forget about all those complicated layers in your hierarchy and cut it down to two: yourself and everypony else, with you alone at the top!"
Celestia was shaken by the images she envisioned with those words. She remembered the shame she felt during the time of Luna's absence when some of her subjects called her a tyrant. Even one of her closest friends went as far as trying to attack her when a disagreement drove him to adopting this belief. (1)
It was even more frightening how they were coming from somepony who sounded exactly like her. Imagining herself like this filled her with complete disgust. "How dare you suggest such a thing?! Even if I was capable of doing so, I would never lead this country as a tyrant!"
"Why not? You could bend anypony to your will and use your power to its full potential! Who cares if those peasants don't agree with your demands? Since they can't match your power, they pose no threat to you!"
"Any servant can still have feelings to his or her master regardless of how much they control them. How could I live with myself if I ruled a nation knowing all of my subjects hated me?"
Searing Nova giggled and licked her lips slowly as if what she was saying gave her some kind of arousal. "The feeling of your unbreakable dominance over them is all you need to be sustained!" she opened her wings as if she were about to take off. "I've seen how you've used this power, Celestia, let me show you how I use it!"
She sent a bolt out of her horn which zoomed past Celestia and struck the ground several feet away from her backside. Suddenly, massive scorching flames sprang out of the ground making a large ring around Celestia. Just as she was about to try and fly out, Searing Nova burst through the flames and locked horns with her. She forced the original all around the ring making swings and jabs with her horn like a mad swordsman. Celestia did her best to stand her ground, but it proved difficult in the position she was in. She tried throwing Nova off with spells but Nova countered them with stalemates without even breaking her stride. Never in her life had she been in a battle so intense. She wished that Luna was fighting alongside her, or at least not locked in another battle, to give her the confidence to stay strong. However, the sight of her duplicate and the words she said only made her feel confused and afraid, and it was clearly showing in her fight.
Luna was firing multiple spells at Starless Night. Unfortunately, Starless easily countered by absorbing them into miniature black holes. Luna grew frustrated from her opponent only using defenses against her.
"Fight back, you coward!" Luna shouted. "You can't keep hiding behind those vortexes forever!"
"In our case, we could if we wanted to," replied Starless in a chillingly hushed Canterlot voice. "but if that's what thou wishes, we shall show you the consequences of thy choices." Starless concentrated her magic and summoned a large shroud of darkness which surrounded both of them, creating a large black dome around them.
Once the dome finished forming, it lit up with a swirl of two conflicting colors. One was a mixture of blues with white star-like sparkles illuminating it, the other was numerous shades of orange accented by black spots in the same star-like shape.
Luna was surprised at where her opponent had taken them. "I know this place. We're in the Dream World, but it looks different than usual."
"It should. The orange is from our domain, the Nightmare Realm. Originally, that would be all thou can see, but since thou has control over the Dream World, thy side and ours are conflicting and they change based on the battle. This place is where our true strength lies. For in this realm, we can harness the night terrors of those who enter it. Every single terror they have experienced in their history of slumber is accessible for our use."
When Luna realized this, she started to smile. "Have you forgotten? Stopping the terrors of other ponies' dreams is part of my job!"
"Thou may be there to save ponies from their fears...but who is there to save thee from thy own?"
"I don't need somepony to save me from my fears! I've proven many times that I am capable of defeating them on my own!"
"It seems a reality check is in order." Starless Night concentrated her magic again, and several dark tendrils popped into existence and began feeding her with magic.
Luna looked away when she saw that Starless was beginning to transform in that mass of darkness. After a minute or so, Luna heard an all too familiar voice.
"Hello again...old friend!" it said
Luna looked up and right in front of her eyes was the creature she had feared since the day it took control of her.
For Starless Night had turned herself into an exact replica of the one and only, NIGHTMARE MOON.
Luna shuddered in horror but still tried to keep her composure. "Y-You're not fooling me! I-I know you're just using her appearance to mess with my head! Well, it's...it's not going to work!"
Starless Night rolled her eyes and spoke in a perfectly executed Nightmare Moon voice. "Behind your words of bravery is nothing more than a fragile little filly."
"If you're trying to say I'm still the same ignorant child I was back then, you might as well save your breath."
"I'm not trying to say it, I AM saying it. Do you honestly think that you have changed since your freedom? Does everypony treat your role as Princess of the Night any way better than they did 1,000 years ago?"
"Of course things are different! I'm a completely different pony than I was 1,000 years ago and Celestia as well as everypony else are more than happy to have me back!"
"You can change yourself as much as you desire, but there will always be somepony who is better than you at something. Put as much effort into it as you want, but everypony will still focus on those more skilled and more popular than you."
"That's not true!" Luna charged at Starless and the two began to lock horns.
"Don't believe me? Just look at your friend, Twilight Sparkle. She's helped Equestria more than you, she's more popular than you, and she may even be more skilled at magic than you. She may even be more fit to rule beside Celestia than you will ever be. And as for you, Luna, you would be better off out of everypony's way like you always are!"
The old feelings of insignificance Luna had were returning to her. She tried to fight it, but they were slowly getting the better of her. "N-N-No...it can't be true...it just can't be true...Everypony still loves me, don't they? Celestia loves me...She'd never let Twilight replace me...I may not be the strongest, but that can't mean I'm liked less because of it!"
"Open your eyes and you will see the truth. Why do you think your night has less appreciation than Celestia's day? Was there any REAL difference between the time you ruled and the time you were banished?"
"SILENCE!!" Luna had enough and fired a spell at Starless Night.
However, Starless Night took to the air and dashed above her. Luna tried to shoot her down with her magic, but Starless countered her once again using a beam of black colored magic. Luna took off after her and the two began an intense dogfight in their nocturnal realm. As they fought, the colors of the colliding Dream World and Nightmare Realm swirled around, reacting to each and every clash like an insane light show. Luna tried waiting for Starless to attack with a spell so she could counter it with a more powerful one and turn the tables, but it seemed Starless Night had already taken that plan into account and only used physical attacks with her hooves and horn; only using her magic to cancel out Luna. Luna kept trying to take down her enemy, but she wondered if Starless Night's words were really true. What if she did win the battle, but wasn't able to help any of her other friends with their battles? What if they had already won theirs and she was just holding them back? What if they moved to different battles thinking hers wasn't as important? Starless Night could tell that her words were taking more and more control over Luna, and while Starless Night didn't show it emotionally, she was content with her results.
Cadance looked amongst the chaos unleashing in the grasslands. Nearly everypony around her was fighting. She grew tense as she saw Twilight becoming weaker and weaker from Twivine's unrelenting assault as well as Spine, Garble, Malik, and Gronkle wiping the floor with Shining Armor and Twilight's friends. She wished she could help them, or at least somepony else, but her heart sank every time she remembered she had to deal with her own duplicate, Shattered Heart, first.
"I know I have to go through this monster first," Cadance thought as she looked at the other battles. "but there has to be someway I can help my friends and keep her occupied. Maybe I could draw her closer to one of them and-"
Suddenly Cadance's thoughts were interrupted when something small and rock-like hit her in the side of the head while she was turned away. Seconds later, a barrage of these objects began flying at her, hitting multiple parts of her body. They weren't sharp enough to stab her, but they were hard enough and coming at her fast enough to make some pretty bad bruises along with mild scratches and cuts. When Cadance got a clear look at the source of the projectiles, she saw Shattered Heart summoning large mounds of dark purple crystals out of the ground, smashing them with her magic, and launching the fragments at Cadance like bullets. With all her might, Cadance was able to endure the barrage long enough to concentrate her magic and create a protective shield to block the onslaught.
Being the Princess of Love, she attempted to reason with her other half. "Listen, we don't have to do this! Can't you see that this fighting is only going to make things worse? We should be out there helping our friends, not quarrelling amongst ourselves."
"Defeating you is my objective." replied Shattered Heart. "Why should I care about the others' battles? They aren't my problem."
"How can you say that? Aren't you worried about the safety of YOUR friends? Wouldn't you feel anything if they were to lose?"
"From the way things are going, it doesn't look like the others will be losing. Besides, I don't care if they win or lose. I wouldn't feel anything as a result because I view neither them nor anypony else as my friend."
Cadance was stunned. "That's impossible! Companionship is one of the most important parts of living. It helps us become who we are!"
Shattered Heart rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you're one of those? The kind who thinks love is something beneficial to your well-being? Well, I have news for you, Cadenza, that theory is nothing but lies! If you go about life gaining loved ones, you'll only attach yourself to them and when times like these come around, you have to take them into account which distracts you from what's important. I don't view the other duplicates as my friends or loved ones because that would cause me to worry about them like you do with your friends. As I showed you earlier, that would only lead me to making the same mistake you made."
"How could not have any compassion towards your own comrades?"
"Who WOULD?! You haven't had the misfortune of listening to those four! Twivine's an egotistical brat, Searing Nova's a psychopath who gets turned on by dominance, Starless Night's voice is just annoying, and don't even get me started on Havoc! Plus, let's face it, your friends aren't exactly the cream of the crop themselves. If you had any common sense, you would forget about them and focus on your own objectives and nothing more."
"I would never discard my friends for my own personal gain!"
"Why not? It's obviously worked for me. Since I have no connections I have nothing to worry about except defeating you."
"You're awful!"
"And you're delusional! But, perhaps you need to experience my ideas first-hand." Shattered Heart lowered her horn and charged up her magic, aiming it at Shining Armor and Twilight's friends in the distance. "Maybe if I take out those seven over there you'll be a little less distracted."
"Leave them alone, it's me you want!" Cadance was growing angrier after hearing such a threat.
"Then why don't you be a good mare and FIGHT ME!! Or would you rather stay in that bubble while I dispose of that washed up husband of yours?"
"You WITCH!!!"
Cadance couldn't take it anymore. She leaped out from inside her force field and clashed with her duplicate. At this point, she envisioned Shattered Heart and herself being the only two ponies on the field of battle. She didn't care what was going on with everypony else, all she cared about was silencing her other half. She had never felt this way during a battle before and it started to feel exhilarating. However, this feeling turned into intense disappointment when Shattered Heart started getting the upper hand. Cadance had only dipped her hooves in the pool of fury while the dark princess was completely adapted to its power. As Shattered Heart continued to resist the Princess of Love, she knew it was only a matter of time before her overloaded emotions would bring her to her knees.
Discord looked at his duplicate. He knew that he could do some major shenanigans on his own, but now that two Lords of Chaos were about to throw down, he had a feeling things were about to get pretty crazy.