Flashback:
In the wedding hall, the Mane Five, Spike, Princess Celestia, and Shining Armor all stared in horror at the sight of what the enraged Twilight just did. Some changelings who had heard some commotion coming from the wedding tower flew up to see what was going on and were greeted with a horrific sight. A small and very angry purple unicorn with green glowing eyes had just turned their queen into a big green splatter on the wall. With their leader dead, and against a unicorn with such dangerous power, they knew they had no chance of winning. With the invasion foiled, the changelings let out a few strange calls to the others. Immediately, all the changelings in the city started taking flight and retreating. In just a moment, the entire changeling force was out of the city and far away with their tails between their legs. The sounds of cheering erupted through the streets of the city.
However, things were not as cheery back at the wedding tower. Twilight took a moment to calm down and the glowing green disappeared from her eyes. She then turned her attention to the pink alicorn lying motionless on the floor and ran to her side. She gently nudged her old foalsitter a couple times hoping to wake her up. Unfortunately, she came to realize her brother was right. Cadance was gone. Tears streamed from Twilight’s eyes as she wept for her old foalsitter who had been so kind to her when she was a filly. The others in the room felt sorry for her.
“Twily, I’m so sorry.” Shining Armor said gently to his sobbing sister. However, the queen’s final words kept echoing in the young unicorn’s head until something finally snapped.
“You will be.” Twilight replied with icy venom in her voice. Shining Armor was surprised at his sister’s hash reply.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked concerned.
“SILENCE!” Twilight yelled at the pegasus who stepped back frightened. Everyone was shocked at Twilight’s dark mood change. “By the way, I take it back, this is all your fault! None of this would’ve happened and Cadance would still be alive if you had just listened to me!”
“Please calm down, sugarcube.” Applejack stepped in. “We all know y’er upset-.”
“Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth, foolish country pony!” Applejack stepped back utterly offended.
“Twilight, she’s just trying to help.” Rarity said coming to Applejack’s aid.
“Yeah, we’re your friends.” Pinkie Pie joined in.
“You are not my friends!” Twilight replied angrily. The Mane Five gasped when they heard this. “I let you into my life, spoiled you with my connections, made your lives better, and this is how you repay me?! By destroying my family, betraying my trust, leaving me for dead, and letting my beloved foalsitter die! Well, you can kiss all that goodbye! This friendship is over!”
All five mares gasped in horror. Looks of heartbreak spread across their faces. Tears started welling up in their eyes as Twilight’s words cut deep like a knife.
“No, please Twilight!” Pinkie tearfully pleaded. “Give us another chance. We Pinkie Promise we’ve learned our lesson!”
“It’s too late.” Twilight coldly responded. “A Pinkie Promise is as useless as the pony who invented it.” Hearing this, Pinkie’s mane deflated like a balloon and hung straight as rivers of tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Twilight?” Twilight turned to see her young dragon assistant, Spike, approaching her nervously. “I-.”
“Oh Spike, my number one assistant.” Twilight said in a sarcastic tone and putting on a fake smile. “You’re Fired!” she said coldly with anger in her eyes. Spike felt like he had had his heart ripped right out of his chest, tears formed in his eyes and a moment later he broke down into a bawling mess.
“Twilight, please stop this.” Celestia commanded her pupil. “My faithful student, this is a terrible mistake that has brought terrible consequences to all of us. Cadance would still be with us if we’d just been more open minded and observant, we understand that. But shutting out your friends isn’t the way to handle this.”
“My ‘friends’ are nothing but selfish and pathetic idiots, and your rule is as weak as your teaching skills.” Twilight retorted. Celestia was taken back by this unexpected hostility. “Back at the rehearsal, you told me I ‘had a lot to think about.’ Well, now I’ve learned the ultimate lesson: you can’t trust anyone, especially your ‘friends.’ With that being said, I relinquish my title as the Element of Magic and denounce you as my mentor.”
Everyone in the room was horrified at what Twilight had just said. They all looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Twilight, please think about what you’re doing.” Celestia desparately tried to talk some sense into the young unicorn. “Without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria is without one of its greatest means of protection.”
“With Cadance gone, there is nothing worth protecting anymore.” Twilight responded coldly with tears in her eyes.
“Twilight, I-.”
“-Have a lot to think about!”
Celestia was at a loss for words. Her own student had turned on her and used her own words as a weapon against her. And worst of all, the fact that she had brought this on herself was making it harder to argue with her.
Then Twilight turned her attention to her brother. Shining Armor was nervous because he knew it was his turn now. “I never wanted this for you, my former BBBFF.” Twilight said with a sad expression on her face which then changed to an angry one. “This outcome is of your own choosing.”
“Twily, you were right all along.” Shining Armor said in a remorsefull and pleading tone. “We should’ve listened to you, and I shouldn’t had treated you like that. I’m sor-.”
“Your foolish and selfish actions have gotten the real Cadance, your real bride, killed! This is unforgivable! I acted the way I did at the rehearsal because I was trying to prevent something like this from happening. Because I did care about your stupid wedding. But apparently, it was you who didn’t care for it as much as you claimed!” Shining Armor felt as if he had been blasted through the chest leaving a huge hole as his sister berated him. With each word, more and more guilt consumed him. “You are starting to feel what I felt when you said what you said to me, aren’t you?”
Twilight turned and started heading for the doorway of the hall, but she stopped and turned to say one last thing to her former companions who all had miserable looks on their faces. “Mark my words this time, everypony. This won’t be the last time you all see me. When I’m stronger, I will return and everything you have ever known will suffer because of your self-driven ignorance! You, Princess, have proven yourself unworthy of ruling Equestria any longer. It needs a more competent and responsible pony to make sure its inhabitants will be safe, and that pony will be me!”
“Twily, Wait!” Shining Armor yelled desparately make a dash to stop her from leaving. But before he could reach her, she used a teleportation spell and was gone. Shining Armor stood in the spot his sister once stood processing what had just happened before breaking down into tears. He was supposed to be the captain of the guard, how could he had let this happen? The others weren’t taking things very well either. They all had their heads bowed in shame, some were shedding tears. This seemingly perfect day had become the worst day ever.
End of Flashback
Everyone was absolutely horrified and disturbed by the other Shining Armor’s tragic story. It brought back memories of the same mistake they made in their version of the wedding. The possibility that the same outcome might have happened to them scared them.
“That’s terrible.” Fluttershy said visibly disturbed.
“I’m afraid things just get worse from there.” the other Shining Armor replied sadly. “That was the last time any of us saw Twilight. A big funeral was held for Cadance shortly after. After that, the Princess had me organize search parties to search every part of Equestria to find Twilight. I vowed I would never rest or get married to anypony unless Twilight would be there by my side, where she rightfully belonged. We searched for weeks but found no sign of her. Eventually, we had to put the search for my sister on hold because a new important issue arose in the northern part of Equestria.”
“The Crystal Empire.” Celestia confirmed.
“Yes, but without her prized pupil to take up the task of defending the empire from its tyrannical ruler, King Sombra, the Princess had to send her sister to accompany us instead. I really didn’t want to give up on the search for Twily, but this was a task that needed our attention.”
“In our world, Cadance used a barrier spell to keep Sombra out of the empire.” Twilight said.
“In my world, I had to cast a shield spell to ward off Sombra, it took a lot out of me to do it. But the strange thing was, he never made any attempts to break through the force field. He just stood there outside as if he was waiting for something.”
“That is strange.” Cadance said. “What could the King Sombra in your world bide his time for?”
“Well, we eventually learned we needed to find the Crystal Heart in order to keep the empire out of his grasp for good. It took some time but Princess Luna eventually figured out where Sombra had hidden the Heart.”
“Spike and I found the Crystal Heart hippen in one of the castle towers.” Said Twilight. “It took some figuring out the king’s traps though.”
“Our Twilight figured it out too.” the other Shining Armor in a very disturbed tone.
“Wait, I thought you said your Twilight wasn’t with you during that time.” Rainbow Dash pointed out in confusion.
“She wasn’t with us. During the time she went missing, she had stumpled across the Crystal Empire first and… and…” the tone of the other Shining Armor’s voice was becoming shaky. “She allied herself with King Sombra!”
Everyone in the room gasped in shock and horror when they heard this. Twilight allying herself with evil? It was an unthinkable idea.
“No way!” Rainbow denied.
“Twilight would never do something like that!” Applejack said.
“Perhaps you’re mistaken, I can’t believe any version of my faithful student would take things that far.” Celestia said.
“Yeah, Twilight’s our friend!” Pinkie said confidently.
“At first, I didn’t want to believe it either.” the other Shining Armor sadly continued. He looked like he was on the verge of shedding tears. “But this was no trick, it was all true. My little sister had turned her back on all of Equestria!”
Flashback:
In the crystal tower, Princess Luna, Spike, and Shining Armor were staring in disbelief at the area were the Crystal Heart should’ve been and in its place stood a young purple unicorn with a very dark expression on her face. At first, they thought it might’ve been another one of Sombra’s tricks, but they eventually came to face the facts; Twilight Sparkle, the pony they had been looking for ever since the disasterous wedding, was standing right in front of them and she was not here to help save the day this time.
“Twilight, where is the Crystal Heart?” Luna asked in a serious tone.
“Someplace only I would ever think of looking.” Twilight replied in an unfeeling tone.
“Twilight, if we don’t find that Crystal Heart, the Crystal Empire is doomed!” Spike said.
“It is you who would doom the crystal ponies! I will not stand by while Celestia fills their hearts with false hope just like she did me!”
“And you believe allying with Sombra will protect them?” Luna asked trying to make sense of Twilight’s insane-sounding words.
“King Sombra is a means to an end. I convinced him that in order to regain his empire and not lose it to the princesses again, he would need help. So I offered my assistance and in exchange he taught me more about dark magic.” Twilight said as her eyes and horn started glowing a light blue.
“Twily!” Shining Armor called to his sister with pleading eyes. “We’ve all been looking everywhere for you ever since the wedding. Mom and Dad have been worried sick, your friends haven’t taken a single break, and Celestia has poured so many resources in the search for you. I know you’re angry and I don’t blame you, I’ve been such an irresponsible and insensitive fool.” Tears started welling up in the stallion’s eyes. “But please, for the sake of your family, your friends, the Princess, everypony, and yourself; come home. I lost Cadance, I can’t bear to lose my little sister.”
“I would urge you to listen to your brother’s words and take them to heart.” Luna sincerely instructed.
Twilight stared into her brother’s sad eyes with a look of pity on her face, but then she hardened her heart. “No, I have no brother! And you didn’t lose me, you threw me away like a broken toy! And now you and everypony else will reap what you sow!” And with these words, Twilight’s eyes and horn glowed even brighter. Then her body started levitating off the floor. Soon a bright field of energy engulfed her entire body and she started to transform. She grew twice in height, her horn grew longer and twisted, her teeth grew sharper, her mane and tail grew longer and darker, her coat became a darker color, her cutie mark became dark and twisted, a dark shoes and a neck brace bearing her cutie mark appeared on her hooves and around her neck, dark feathery wings portruded from her back, and light blue flames appeared around her eyes. Shining Armor, Spike, and Princess Luna all stared in horror as the once beloved and gifted unicorn transformed into a creature that brought horrible memories back to Luna. Nightmare Moon had returned in a new form; Midnight Sparkle.
Back at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was having her afternoon tea. She was not happy because she knew her beloved pupil was still nowhere to be found. Suddenly, she felt a terrible feeling that sent chills up her spine causing her to gasp and accidentally drop her teacup which shattered when it hit the floor. The Princess took this as a bad omen and turned her gaze in the direction of the Crystal Empire. Something terrible had just happened.
Back at the Crystal Empire, Midnight Sparkle’s transformation had been completed. Luna, Shining Armor, and Spike all looked horrified as the new nightmare let out a maniacal cackle.
“TWILY, PLEASE!” Shining Armor desparately cried out to his now-transformed sister and ran toward her. “I beg of you don’t do this!”
But before he could reach her, Midnight Sparkle let out a blast of magic that hit him in his left eye causing him to fly backward and hit the floor. Luna and Spike rushed to his side and Luna got into a defensive stance ready to retaliate if the dark mare attacked again, but she didn’t.
“Everything you’ve ever known will now suffer because of your unfaithfulness!” Midnight Sparkle said in a threatening tone to her fallen brother who looked up at her with a hoof over his left eye. Then she used a teleportation spell and vanished before their eyes.
Down in the town surrounding the crystal castle, the Mane Five were desparately trying to boost the crystal ponies’ happiness with the Crystal Faire they set up and keep them from panicing.
“Flugelhorns!” Rainbow Dash called to anypony who might want one. Unfortunately, the only pony who seemed to want a flugelhorn was Pinkie Pie.
“Oh dear! I wish I had more straw.” Rarity quietly and nervously said to herself as she made another straw hat at her booth.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the faire, and when it cleared, there stood a dark and menacing alicorn as tall as Celestia. The crystal ponies were frightened, this was not Sombra but her very presence was intimidating. Immediately, the Mane Five stopped what they were all doing and got into a battle formation to confront this new threat.
“Who are you? Are you an ally of King Sombra?” Applejack asked in a demanding tone.
“Whatever you are, we won’t let you ruin the Crystal Faire!” Rainbow Dash confidently proclaimed. “We’re here to protect these ponies and that’s exactly what we’re going to do!”
“You’re going to protect these ponies?!” the dark mare said almost laughing at the preposterous idea. “You couldn’t even protect Canterlot from the changelings! Maybe it was because you cared more about the stupid wedding than your roles as the Elements of Harmony or as friends!”
Instantly, the Mane Five realised who this dark mare was. “Twilight, is that you?” Fluttershy nervously asked to confirm their terrible suspicion.
“Twilight Sparkle is no more! I am Midnight Sparkle, successor to Nightmare Moon, fallen Element of Magic, bringer of order, and your worst mistake come back to haunt you!”
“Twilight, we’re so sorry for what we did!” Pinkie tearfully said falling on her knees as if begging for forgiveness.
“It’s too late! Your hooves are already stained with Cadance’s blood!”
“Twilight, darling, we know we haven’t been the best of friends as we should’ve been. But now that we’ve finally found you, we’re ready to make amends as much as we can for the wrong we caused you.” Rarity said with a face that begged for sympathy.
“We should’ve been twenty percent better friends than we were.” Rainbow added.
“Please hear us out and try to understand, sugarcube.” Applejack said with tears in her eyes. “Ya mean more ta us than anythin’ in this whole world.”
“We love you!” Fluttershy said on the verge of bawling like a baby.
“You all betrayed my trust once, what makes you think I will let you do it again?!” Midnight Sparkle said rejecting their apologies. “Though I admit, the times we spend together were the most happiest moments of my life. If you truly want us to be six once more, than you must swear your alliegence to me and King Sombra.”
The Mane Five couldn’t believe what she was asking of them. She wanted them to betray all of Equestria and plunge it into darkness; something that completely went against what the Elements of Harmony stood for. After a moment of thinking, the Mane Five came to a decision. It was a decision that was very hard for them to make.
“Sorry Twi, we love and miss you so much, but ah’m afraid we can’t do that!” AJ said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Then you leave me no choice!” Midnight Sparkle said feeling insulted. She flew up into the air, charged up a spell with her horn, and released a purple wave of magic that soared all over the empire. When it made contact with the inside of Shining Armor’s shield, it broke the spell and the shield shattered. Seeing that his opportunity had finally come, Sombra’s shadows started entering the empire. Panicing crystal ponies started running in all directions. Soon the dreaded unicorn tyrant finally took his physical form.
“At long last, the Crystal Empire is MINE AGAIN!” Sombra cackled wickedly as dark crystal shards started appearing everywhere.
The Mane Five looked on in horror and despair at chaos around them. Then another flash of light appeared, and from it came Princess Luna, Spike, and Shining Armor who was still clutching his eye with his hoof.
“The Crystal Empire is lost, we have to retreat!” Luna called to the Five. It took a moment, but the Five finally snapped out of their trance and joined with the other three. Using another spell, Luna teleported everyone outside the empire. Once out, they immediately started running back to the train station that would take them back to Canterlot.
“Yes! Run everypony!” Midnight Sparkle’s voice called to them as they ran through the snow. “Tell your Princess that her time is coming to an end and mine is just beginning!”
Shining Armor looked back once to see the Crystal Empire being engulfed in darkness and his now-transformed little sister with it. One last tear fell from his good eye as he knew he would have to deliver the bad news to the Princess, his family, and the rest of Equestria. Not only had he failed to save the Crystal Empire but he might have lost his beloved Twily forever, and it was his fault.
End of Flashback.
Everyone in the ballroom was horrified. Never had they heard such a dark and tragic tale.
“That was the saddest story I ever heard!” Pinkie said with tears running down her cheeks.
“When our Princess Celestia heard the news of her student’s fall into darknes, just like her sister before, she was so devastated.” the other Shining Armor said. “She wept for days.”
“How awful!” Fluttershy said.
“Sometime later, Midnight Sparkle and King Sombra raised a huge army of crystal slaves and declared war. For awhile we were able to defend most of Equestria, but then Midnight began gathering more allies to her cause; like the Spirit of Chaos, Discord, the magic-stealing centaur, Tirek. She even bought the loyalty of the griffons, one of them in particular joined for a chance to fight a certain pegasus.”
“Gilda!” Rainbow said turning her attention toward her griffon friend who looked just as disturbed at the idea of them being enemies in war as she did.
“Yes.” the other Shining Armor continued. “Eventually some ponies, like the former bride’s maids, started turning over to the other side. Either out of fear or they believe Twilight’s right and are giving in to her madness. With more powerful allies joining Midnight Sparkle’s side, the tide of the war turned in her favor. Towns and cities started falling one by one, and now the only free city left is Canterlot. Our only hope now is the Elements of Harmony, but with our Element of Magic having turned over a darker leaf, that hope was nearly lost. But then while looking through the books in Canterlot’s library in hopes of finding something that might help end this war, Celestia came across a notebook by Starswirl the Bearded. The book contained notes of Starswirl learning how to travel to different worlds. Hence the Multiverse Theory was made. The Princess taught me how to perform the spell in the book and tasked me with traveling to a world where my sister didn’t become the greatest threat Equestria has ever faced and to ask for her help. That’s why I’m here; to ask you, Princess Twilight, for your help. Things are looking pretty bad in my world and the ponies need a hero. Please, I beg of you.”
Twilight looked into the other Shining Armor’s eyes which were filled with sadness, remorse, and desparation. Everyone else in the ballroom stared at her waiting for her decision.