Cloudsdale Flight Camp
July 1st, Year 989 of the Celestial Era
The atmosphere was the tensest they'd ever felt it. The world's eyes lay elsewhere, simply letting the two mares focus on the scene before them. To the left, stood Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship, now the only line of defence for Equestria as she knew it. Standing with her was Spike the dragon, the only friend she had at this point in time. To the right, Starlight Glimmer. Seeking to undo the past, present and future in the name of simple vengeance.
The two had been jumping between past and present relentlessly, each trying to outwit, outperform or flat out outfight the other. This was the ninth time they had returned to that day at summer flight camp, though neither was keeping count anymore. The more important detail was the scroll being held between them. The time spell of Starswirl the Bearded, the catalyst of their travels. A link between times that now hung to life by a thread as Starlight slowly started to tear the scroll in two, her intent to bring the chase through time to an end and leave her foe trapped in a changed past.
Twilight Sparkle was nothing if not steadfast in the face of world ending danger, however. She had seen the path that had brought the two of them to these clouds, the fragile threads that Starlight Glimmer clung to in the name of her philosophy. She had her words and knew how to use them. Even as she spoke, Starlight seemed to become worn down further with each word. It wasn't too late for her to realise that she didn't need to bar herself from friendship forever because of one bad experience.
"...How will I know they won't all end the same way?"
"I guess it's up to you to make sure they don't." Twilight slowly extended a hoof, a peace offering for Starlight to come down herself. Starlight looked down and closed her eyes, heart in turmoil at the choice before her. Twilight waited patiently, knowing that every passing second looked more optimistic. Eventually, Starlight grinned softly and chuckled, the sound building up until her jaw opened and she delved into full laughter. Twilight flattened her ears at the sound and tensed, she recognised that laugh all too well and it was not the sound of anything good. No, that was the laugh that only came from the mouth of an enemy who felt they had the advantage.
"So desperate," Starlight snapped as her laughter dropped off. "Did you really think that I'd buy into that last ditch effort? If you wanted to help me, you would have me with my village, with TRUE friendships. Instead you strut up and try to force your view on me, all so you can protect your precious worldview that you know better than me, that your talent makes your view more valid, that real harmony is different to what you think and therefore has to be destroyed! You sicken me!!"
Any further venting Starlight Glimmer had lined up was lost as the sound of a magical blast erupted nearby. Twilight, Spike and Starlight all jumped in surprise and looked round for the source, Starlight temporarily too caught out to remember the scroll held in her magic. As they looked out over the edges of the cloud, all three saw a grand spectacle, a shockwave of pure rainbow colour cascading outwards over the lands far below, a true rainbow arching up from the epicentre and over the city above.
The sonic rainboom had gone off, successful for the first time in too many timelines.
Starlight's jaw dropped as she realised the folly of her action. No...Not her action, Twilight had kept her talking long enough to prevent her from changing the past. Twilight had tricked her in order to protect her friendships...Twilight had once again shown that all she cared about was showing how much better she was than anypony else. Well, two could play at that game.
"That, is, it!" Starlight growled, swinging round and laying her eyes on the map, ready to finish the tear and leave them all trapped in the past. The thought had barely finished formulating in her mind before a sphere of light purple washed over her. She disregarded it and moved to fire her magic up, only to find her horn wasn't responding to any new input, neither were her limbs. Twilight...Twilight had the nerve to use a freeze spell on her, after all the harm the alicorn had caused, she still thought she was the good guy here?
"Spike." Twilight said, focusing her magic on keeping Starlight contained as Spike hopped onto Starlight and gripped a hand round her horn, disrupting the flow of magic and releasing the damaged time scroll from her grip. The parchment started to flutter down toward the ground, at which point Spike turned and jumped back toward Twilight, carefully grabbing the scroll out of the air and rolling it up with delicate precision before landing on her back and placing it back into a saddlebag.
"Great work, Spike." Twilight said, smiling back at him before looking forward again. Starlight was still held in the magic field, her right eye twitching with barely contained anger, her mouth curled into a snarl that looked like she wanted to stab Twilight, her eyes blazing with malice and a dark, pure desire to show Twilight the truth of her world. It was in that moment, that Twilight finally saw her opponent for what she truly was.
Broken.
Starlight Glimmer was an incredibly powerful unicorn, but her mind was warped, so deeply focused on her philosophy of markless friendship that she would rather lose her mind and body than accept that anypony might see differently. Twilight had hoped that she might be able to find a way through to her, but maybe...Maybe she was too far gone. The thought was like a dagger to the heart, especially for a princess of friendship, but Twilight knew deep down that, for the good and safety of all Equestria, Starlight could not be allowed to walk away from this.
An idea took root in her mind, she looked back and silently nodded to Spike, he caught on the signal and made sure that he was firmly holding onto her. With that, Twilight subtly lowered the magic she was putting into the freeze spell, waiting until it wore down enough for Starlight to summon her own magic and break free, lifting herself up with self levitation.
"You...You!!! Twilight Sparkle, the fraud, the hypocrite, the pony who refuses to let anypony see the truth! Equestria doesn't need scum like that, you, are, DONE!! You hear me!?! I'll kill you!!!"
Twilight barely took off in time before Starlight's magic shredded the cloud she'd been standing on. She turned and flew at full speed, hoping to lure Starlight away from Cloudsdale before her magic caused serious trouble. It worked; the sky around her was suddenly a storm of turquoise needles shooting past her. Not far behind, Starlight fired wildly, each magical shot more than capable of a crippling blow. She only cared to catch Twilight, make her suffer for her crimes against true harmony, see her scream before the light left her soul. Even if it took every last ounce of her magical capability, Starlight was going to see that her justice was done.
Twilight glanced back and was immediately forced to put her head back in, Spike was having just as many problems, magical shots barely skimming past him. Twilight reluctantly cast a barrier spell behind her, absorbing any attacks that got too close. Her plan hinged on Starlight overexerting herself and running out of magic first, now it was going to be harder to stay ahead with how much effort it took to resist magic that strong.
Starlight was having problems of her own, the drain on her magic far greater than she had anticipated. Yet she kept ramping up the power, she had to. Twilight had to pay for her crimes, no matter what, she was going to receive the most excruciating punishment possible and then some. Starlight gritted her teeth and concentrated her fire into one lethal beam, putting so much energy in that even her levitation wore off as she unleashed the attack. Twilight looked back as the rapid fire faded away and gasped at the sight, twisting her body and wings round in evasive maneuverers as the final blast missed her by no more than two inches.
Starlight's mind blanked, the image frozen in her mind. This wasn't right, Twilight should be plummeting toward the ground as a beaten wreck, instead she was still airborne and staring her down. Starlight snarled and levelled her horn for another blast, she put her everything into her horn and...Nothing. No, no this couldn't be happening, Twilight needed to die for her attitude, if there was any decency in the world she HAD to do this, and yet her magic wasn't responding. Then she realised gravity was kicking in.
Twilight watched, half tempted to let Starlight fall just to make sure it brought things to and end. She knew she couldn't though, as much of a broken psychopath as Starlight Glimmer was, Twilight was the one with a conscience. She reached out with her magic and lifted Starlight back up to a level position before firing a stun spell, hitting Starlight square in the chest and leaving her out cold. With control over the time spell broken, Twilight glanced up and smiled to herself as the portal opened above them, the familiar rush of wind a welcome sign as the three of them were pulled back into the portal.
Twilight's Castle, Ponyville
February 19th, Year 2 under the Four Princesses
The ground reappeared beneath them and they dropped out of the time portal. Their landing point was exactly where Twilight hoped it had been; the Ponyville castle, in one piece and exactly as they had left it. Twilight and Spike landed safely, Starlight hit the map on landing and bounced onto the floor, still out cold.
"I, think we did it," Twilight said, looking round the room and sighing in relief. She smiled softly at the sheer look of glee on Spike's face, happy to see him finally having a moment to relax as he hopped of her back. "Spike, why don't you go check everything really is as it should be?" She waited until he had left the map room before sighing and turning back toward the unconscious Starlight. In truth, she didn't want Spike to see what she had to do.
A scroll and quill were levitated over and she started writing, never taking her eyes off Starlight Glimmer the whole time.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I wish this message could be sent to you under better circumstances. However, I have just returned from what can only be described as a battle across time itself, attempting to stop the thief who stole Starswirl the Bearded's time spell.
While I am thankful to say that Starlight Glimmer has been apprehended, it is clear that she will not relent from her impressions of friendship and cutie marks. I believe there is hope that her mental condition may be healed in time, but it will take a better pony than me. Her natural power is almost unmatchable by any unicorn and so, I have taken steps to ensure that she cannot harness that talent until the day she will hopefully return to society as a balanced pony.
One of the most important lessons you taught me was on the meaning of self sacrifice. This time, I may have to sacrifice part of who I am for the greater good of Equestria and time itself. I only hope that you understand my actions, though I do not ever expect true forgiveness.
Your friend,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Twilight sighed sadly as she placed the finished letter aside and looked down at Starlight, still out cold. Her horn flared up slowly and aimed at the helpless unicorn. Twilight bit her lip slightly, fighting to keep back the tears, she had to take more extreme measures to ensure the safety of the land and she would have to live with her decision for the rest of her life. Suddenly the possibility of alicorn immortality didn't feel so appealing, as Twilight finally managed to bring herself to speak.
"Starlight Glimmer...I'm sorry."
Her ears were ringing hard as she finally opened her eyes again, taking a moment to realise she was still in the land of the living. Starlight slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, taking in her new surroundings. The walls were rock, all four of them, the only furniture in her room was a bed, water trough and food bucket. At the other end of the room was the door, iron and barred. It didn't take long for Starlight to realise where she had been taken.
A dungeon cell.
How could they do this to her? Was Equestria so far up it's own flank that desiring true, equal friendship was a crime? She'd have to show them just how wrong they were once she was out of here. Her horn sparked up but no aura formed, leaving her without magic. She growled in frustration, looking round for any sign of what might be inhibiting her abilities, eyes eventually setting on her cutie mark. No, not hers, instead of the purple and white star, she was sporting a grey equal sign.
She rubbed at it quickly, her blood freezing as she realised it wasn't coming off this time. They'd stripped her of her talent, tried to silence the truth to spare their own ridiculous misconception from reality. Starlight started to pace round, seething in fury. She would make sure Twilight Sparkle paid dearly for this, one day, she would make her way out of here and unleash sweet retribution upon the land.
For now, she'd have to get comfy. A plan was going to take some time.