Just then, John gasps and exclaims “I think I’ve got an idea!” he says as he races out of Fluttershy’s house and into town. He uses stealth to get through town so as to not be seen by anypony Starlight may have converted by her methods. When he gets to his workshop, he piles as many bits and bobs, pieces of machinery and different tools as he can into his magic saddle-bag. Then, he flies as quietly as he can back to Fluttershy’s house and sets up shop in a deserted room in the house. When he returns, the Mane 5 and his friends come down to the room to find out what he has planned. “Well, I was thinking,” he begins to explain, “What if you all gave up your magic to Twilight?”
“Uh, come again?” Applejack asks, “What do you mean, ‘give her our magic’. Not everypony has magic to give, and it would be impossible regardless if we did.”
“But we do,” Fluttershy says, “didn’t you hear Princess Celestia? She said our connection to the elements of Harmony gives us magic.”
“That may be so,” says Jenna skeptically, “but we can’t just simply give it up – we don’t know how!”
“True, but, if I can build a device to take your magic and transfer it to Twilight,” John says, “We may have a chance to take down the villains. It’s the only option we have at this point,” he adds as he notices the looks of doubt on his friend’s faces. Finally, they all agree, and John sets to work on the machine that he promises will “restore Equestria back to what it is supposed to be!”
Over the next few days, John works hard on his machine, sometimes accepting help from other ponies, while the rest of his friends try to comfort Twilight into believing that everything will be alright soon. Twilight, despite still being in her current physical state, is grateful for her friend’s comfort and hospitality, and tries desperately to be able to stand on her own. When the magic transfer machine is finished, John calls everypony down to begin the transfer. When they arrive, they cannot believe what they see – the device has seats for each of the Mane 5, with a partial headset for each seat, all connected to a large, complicated machine with a glass ball on top.
“My, oh my,” Rarity says nervously, “Will it be safe?”
“Of course it will, Rarity,” John reassures her, “You shouldn’t feel a thing.”
“No, I mean for my hair,” Rarity says vainly, “I just got it done this morning!” The others roll their eyes and prepare for the transfer; Jenna and Fluttershy help Twilight into the room, who has barely enough strength to stand on her own. Just as the Mane 5 get into their positions, they hear a sound like hooves trotting around outside.
“Who was that?” Emily asks; since everypony was already in one room, John asks them to go see what made the noise while he completes the finishing touches on the machine. The others trot warily outside, looking for any sense of danger. Then, a beam of light hits the entire group from behind and sends them flying across the lawn; just before they hit the ground, some of them see another pony walk through the from door – somepony who looks very familiar.
John has just completed the sequence for the magic transfer when he hears the front door open and close. “Jacob, Jenna? Did you find out who it was outside?” he calls out, but gets no answer in reply; “Emily? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie?” he continues to ask, but continues to get no response. Finally, he decided to leave the room to see who it is, but as soon as he leaves the room, a figure races in the door and closes it behind her. Twilight, still lying on the floor resting, freezes when she hears the figure speak.
“Hello, Princess Twilight,” Starlight Glimmer says with a sneer. Twilight gasps, and Spike tries to attack her, but Starlight simply grabs hm with her magic and flings him across the wall.
“What are . . you . . doing here?” Twilight asks with a struggle.
“I’ve been observing what you all have been planning, and I’m here to put a stop to it!” Suddenly, John and Twilight’s friends burst in through the door and gasp when they see Starlight Glimmer standing over Twilight. Rarity shoots a beam of magic at her, but she merely teleports to the top of the machine and emits another one of her impenetrable magic force fields, which begins to spin around. Inside, Starlight watches in earnest as Twilight, who tried to sit up, falls back over, as the spinning force field begins to take the last of her magic which was keeping her alive.
Twilight, determined not to go out crying, confronts Starlight, “Why are you doing this? What do you have against us? Against me?” she shouts over the sound of the whirling barrier.
“You don’t understand! All I ever wanted was to have true friends of my very own, but those are hard to come by when your magic hasn’t fully developed,” she explains angrily, “Even when I got better at my magic, nopony would give me a second glance, let alone be my friend. So, I did what I had to do; I used my magic to either make them my friends or destroy those who didn’t want such a privilege. I’ve been scouting Equestria for all my life, finding new ponies to make my friends, but when you became the ‘Princess of Friendship’, all my plans went up in smoke because everypony began to realize that my offerings wasn’t true friendship.” Starlight continues as Twilight become weaker with every second, “It’s because of you that I had no friends, so when you are out of the way, everypony will come to me for friendship!” she says as she laughs evilly.
“No, you don’t understand, Starlight,” Twilight shouts, “If there is one thing . . that I’ve . . learned since I became Princess, . . it’s that you . . can’t force anypony . . to be your . . friend. You have to . . give them a . . chance to like you . . for who you are . . if you want to have any . . friends.”
“I have friends now, and they’ve helped me with my plans to destroy you!” Starlight shouts back.
“And look at how . . they’ve treated you!” Twilight says, “They use you . . as their messenger . . and when all is said and . . done, they all got fancy kingdoms . . but all you got . . was a much less glamorous . . less powerful than the others.” Starlight, realizing Twilight’s words to be true, stubbornly remains in control, but allows her barrier to falter slightly. Twilight continues, despite getting noticeably weaker, unable to stand on her own again, continues, “So go ahead . . finish me and my friends off . . it won’t change the fact that . . you have no . . friends. That, Starlight Glimmer . . is a conflict inside of you . . that you have to face . . on your own.”
Starlight begins to consider what Twilight said, “But, all I’ve ever known is how to be rude and inconsiderate to everypony. I don’t think I know how to make friends your way.”
“You can change, Starlight,” Twilight continues on her last breath, “you . . can . . change . .” and with those last words, Twilight lies on her side, the last of her magic finally escaping her.