6338195

I meant the Discord chat, not the character Novel.

6338199
Probably!

6338226
Sweeeeeet!

Chapter 18 - Dubs Rewatcher

Now wearing the garb of a Prench military general, Discord thrust his inflatable sword into the air. “Allons-y, mademoiselles!” he cried. “Le Lady Sparkle awaits!”

How do you think he’d sound with that sword shoved down his throat?

Twilight flinched. Back home, she'd always described anxiety as like having a voice in her head, constantly dragging her down. But nothing could have prepared her for having a literal voice in her head. Twilight took a deep breath, but Midnight spoke over the whish of inhaling. Not even the clanking clatter of Daybreaker’s armor could drown out the she-demon.

Oh, you still want to drown me out? What a pity. I thought we were really bonding!

Twilight snorted and whispered, “As if I’d ever bond with you.”

She took a step, but a chill wrapped around her gut and her forehooves shot off in separate directions. She hit the ground with a dirt-mouthed grunt.

Keep up that attitude, and there’ll be more where that came from.

Twilight just grumbled and picked herself back up.

The party of four headed away from Twily and Sunny’s house, out to an empty field nearby. Discord had warned that his teleportation methods could be “explosive,” and that hopping between dimensions was no easy feat. If this plan was going to work, he needed space, fresh air, and a tall glass of lemon-tinted iced tea. “An artist’s most important tools,” he’d mused.

So the group trudged, over hills and through the valley, headed for a clear spot Daybreaker had scouted.

As they walked, Twilight kept an eye on Sunset. The mohawked mare walked like Spike after being caught chewing Mom’s shoes: head drooped, ears flat, and gaze cast down. She’d been silent for minutes now. Whatever she and Twily had talked about must have hurt. Bad.

Very poetic.

Twilight imagined herself soccer-punting Midnight into a garbage can.

The sight of Sunset moping hung heavy on Twilight. The two of them weren’t exactly best friends, sure, but adventuring through the multiverse together had at least made them allies. And if hours playing Ogres & Oubliettes through online chatrooms filled with emotionally unstable thirty-year-old men had taught her anything, it was that being a true ally meant lending an open ear.

She drew close to Sunset. “Hey. Are you alright?”

“I think you can answer that yourself,” said Sunset, voice flat.

It took a moment for Twilight to process. “You’re… sad?”

Sunset shot Twilight a slicing look. She sped up.

Twilight hurried after her. “I just want to help,” she said through a huff. “What’s wrong? What did you and Twily talk about?”

Sunset sucked on her bottom lip. Twilight recognized that tic; her own Sunset did it whenever she was nervous. “Nothing, really,” she said finally, speeding up once again. “We just caught up. She’s happy, and I’m—well, I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Now I just need to focus on getting you home.”

“Right.” Twilight paused for a moment, caught in a memory of her original universe—Goddess, how she missed her bedroom, water stains on the ceiling and all—but then ran to catch up. She didn’t need to be a social butterfly to understand that Sunset was still hiding something.

There are easier ways to make her confess.

I’m not trying to make her do anything, Twilight thought back. I’m trying to help. She raised a hoof. “Sunset, please, can we talk?”

“Sparky, how about you leave me alone for a bit?” said Sunset, raising her voice. “Twilight—Twily and I talked in private for a reason. Calm down.”

Twilight cringed back. “Oh. Okay, sorry.”

Goddess above, you’re pathetic.

A familiar chill washed over Twilight as her control slipped away. Midnight, what are you—

“Let me guess,” said Midnight, scratching her chin. “She still blames you for killing her brother?”

The entire group stopped. Daybreaker stared, and even Discord gaped. But Sunset—Sunset just stood, looking like she’d been pushed in front of a truck. “What?”

Stop, Midnight! Please!

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Midnight smirked, tapped her chin. “I suppose you didn’t kill him, per se. You merely left him to trap himself in a magic prison for all of eternity. Quite different.”

Inside, Twilight screamed.

Sunset’s gaze sharpened into a lobotomizing glare. She stomped up to Midnight, her breathing hard, violent. “You’d better shut up,” she hissed. “What happened to Shining was not my—”

“And did you return whatever it was you stole?” Midnight asked.

Sunset’s face went from pink to bloody red.

The chill disappeared, and Twilight found herself back in control of her speech and movement.

I got her to start talking. Enjoy, Little Miss Friendship!

Twilight backed up. “Oh gosh, Sunset, I swear that wasn’t—”

“I don’t care. Why don’t both of you just mind your own business?” Sunset said, jumping forward fast enough to send Twilight falling back. “I don’t know what that snake of a Sunset told you, but it’s wrong.”

Twilight tried to spit out a meek “Okay,” but couldn’t find her voice.

“I don’t need your help or your pity. Were it up to me, I would have dumped you off in some backwater universe ages ago. We’re not friends, and you don’t know anything, so leave me alone!” Sunset’s voice echoed down the valley like a cannon’s boom.

Twilight cowered in her shadow, eyes shut tight, not wanting to cry, trying not to cry, waiting for the onslaught to end.

“Oh, now you’ve got nothing to say?” said Sunset.

Twilight searched deep for a rebuttal. She found nothing of the sort. What she did find, however, was a memory—a memory that had since taken on new meaning.

As Sunset scoffed and turned away, Twilight managed to open her mouth. “You were looking.”

Sunset looked back over her shoulder. “What?”

“When we met, you told me you were looking for something.” Twilight stood on shaky legs. “What—what is it?”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

Discord popped in between the two of them. “Girls, girls, stop! Your interdimensional drama is as juicy as it comes, but could we please save it for the reunion show? We’ve got work to do!”

“He’s right,” said Daybreaker. “We need to find Lady Sparkle, and quickly.”

Twilight and Sunset kept their gazes locked for a moment more before breaking. Sunset growled and stormed away, while Twilight just picked herself up and sighed. She imagined grabbing a baseball bat and beating Midnight into pulp.

Daybreaker took a curt glance around the open field. “This should be good enough. All clear.”

“Hold on tight, ladies,” Discord said, adjusting his seatbelt. He snapped his fingers, and the world around them melted into white. “Time for the main event!”

The first thing Twilight noticed was the rain, cold and soaking deep into her coat. The second was the taste of concrete on her tongue.

She yelped and leapt to her hooves, gasping for air as consciousness returned to her. She and the others had landed on a dark, rainy street, somewhere in Lady Sparkle’s world. The scene looked like something out of one of her cyberpunk novels. Endlessly tall skyscrapers surrounded them, awash with the flickering glow of neon signs and orange streetlights.

Discord twisted himself up like a corkscrew, popping what sounded like every joint in his spine at once. “Next time we teleport, remind me not to fly coach.” Meanwhile, Daybreaker trotted to-and-fro, darting glances down the street, around corners, up at windows, like an impatient child waiting for candy.

Sunset cast a spell and shielded herself, Discord, and Daybreaker from the rain. Twilight tried to join in, but found no space under the umbrella.

“Now what?” Sunset asked. “Where do we go?”

“The Lady’s throne. Remember, this is a sneaking mission,” said Discord, donning a leopard-print leotard. “Try not to get caught.”

The ear-wrenching sound of sirens erupted from every corner of the city. Twilight shrieked and hit the deck, while Sunset and Discord tensed their legs.

A familiar army of Twilights poured onto the street, surrounding them. Their horns were lit up bright, ready to incinerate the intruders with magic at a moment’s notice. And above them all, high in the darkened sky, opened a pair of massive violet eyes.

“Greetings,” came Lady Sparkle’s voice from the clouds, drilling into Twilight’s skull. “Twilight, Sunset. And Discord—it’s been a long time. You all look well.”

“But how?” Sunset asked. “How did she know we would be right here—aaugh!”

Twilight gasped as Daybreaker bucked Sunset hard in the side. Sunset crumpled, while Daybreaker laughed and ran to the army. Everypony watched as her armor, skin, mane, dissolved. Seconds later, she was indistinguishable from any of the other Twilights.

“Daybreaker, my ‘original’ Sunset,” said Lady Sparkle. She laughed hard enough to shake the city. “As if I would leave somepony so close to me alive.”

“But—but Daybreaker!” Discord said, looking like his favorite puppy had just been revealed as an interdimensional double agent terrorist. “Our plans, our long talks over PB&J sandwiches… our sponge baths! I thought what we had was special!”

The Daybreaker-turned-Twilight blew a raspberry.

“Surrender now,” Lady Sparkle said, “and I will take care to kill you in one shot.”

Twilight could barely hold herself up. She felt Midnight raging, grabbing for control.

Sunset, teeth bared, sidled closer to Discord. “So, escape plan? Or are we ready to take them out?”

“Neither,” whispered Discord. “I need a few more minutes before I can teleport between dimensions again. And there must be close to a million Twilights in this city—not even I could take them all.”

The army of Twilights took a unified step forward.

“So what do we do?” Twilight asked, hyperventilating.

Discord stayed silent. Then he looked down at Twilight. “Combine and conquer?”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Shrinking his insectoid arm down to the size of a paper towel tube, Discord leaned over and shoved his claw deep into Twilight’s ear. Twilight had the urge to scream, but was too stunned to even take a breath. A moment later, he grunted, twisted his claw, and pulled out a flaming blue orb.

Twilight gasped and jumped back, throwing a hoof to her head. What did he do? What is that? What did he…?

For the first time in too long, Twilight realized, Midnight had stopped talking.

Discord had ripped Midnight out of Twilight’s brain.

He held the orb up high, letting its ghostly light shine through the night. The Twilight Army stopped, scrambling backwards. Even Lady Sparkle’s eyes, huge as they already were, went wider.

What was he going to do with it?. Maybe throw it down and spark a magical explosion? Or create a portal to throw the army into another dimension? She grinned and braced herself, waiting for whatever awesome stunt Discord was about to—

“Bottoms up!” Discord said. He ate Midnight.

He ate Midnight.

Twilight and Sunset’s jaws fell loose.

The entire universe seemed to shift at that; Twilight felt a pulse of invisible energy pass over her one way then back again, like the push and pull of an ocean wave.

Discord grunted, doubled over, grasping at his stomach—then opened his eyes. They’d taken on a piercing gray-blue aura.

“Twice the power,” he said, standing up straight. He snapped a finger and was now wearing Midnight Sparkle’s outfit, exposed cleavage and miniskirt included. “Twice the sex appeal!”

Discord grunted, doubled over, grasping at his stomach—then opened his eyes. They’d taken on a piercing gray-blue aura.

“Twice the power,” he said, standing up straight. He snapped a finger and was now wearing Midnight Sparkle’s outfit, exposed cleavage and miniskirt included. “Twice the sex appeal!”

And the next author is one of the comic artist types. Welp. Good luck, Multiversecruise, don't bruise your sanity too much!

6340584
That ending is both fantastic and just evil for Multiverse!

6340614

6340616

This will create a new tag on derpibooru, just you watch!

Well, Midnight awakened after Twilight ate something she really shouldn't have. I suppose this is a poetic next step for her.

I have to admit, I didn’t see that coming.

6340584
...Well, even for this twist-filled series I never expected any of that.

6340614
...comic artist type? Well, this is certainly not the circumstances I expected the Discord I (mostly) created getting drawn.

6340584
Hm, gotta be honest not fond of the Daybreaker twist, it introduces several plot holes that subsequent authors will have to fill in.

But Midnight Discord should be fun,

Hey, novel has informed me that I made a continuity and tonal error in my chapter so after discussing it with him I've removed it and it will not be considered canon!

Though since many of you were probably looking forward to a pretty picture update today, here's an animation that would have made it into my chapter had it been canonical:

6344467

wait, so did discord/midnight open a portal into our world? I guess discord was always able to see the fourth wall but does that mean midnight can see it too?

6344467

Oh for the love of--

Great. Just great. We've got at minimum five separate individuals running around this place. Watch what you say, everyone, they're going to be busy driving each other mad. And maybe interrupting our conversation SUNSET PUT THAT BACK RIGHT NOW DON'T THINK I DON'T SEE YOU.

6344467
Oh great! Now they've punched a hole into the memeverse!

Hey, novel has informed me that I made a continuity and tonal error in my chapter so after discussing it with him I've removed it and it will not be considered canon!

So... does Cynewolf know about this, and should we expect a chapter come... the eighth?

6345343
He's been informed, yes!

Some shocks can be processed by simply locking them up in a box and reserving the panic they deserve for a more opportune moment. Some shocks come in waves, peaking in intensity like the beating of a vast malevolent heart. Some bring us to our knees, or steal our breath away. But some shocks go beyond all others. Some are simply so out there that the uninitiated have no way of even comprehending them.

So it was that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer found themselves staring in bewilderment at the absurdity before them.

“Oh.”

That was Sunset.

“Did…?”

Sunset nodded dumbly. Which was wasted, because no one saw it. All eyes were on the abomination before them, the draconequus ascended to some stranger, slightly more unsettling form. He had always been cartoonish in his antics and form. But this was somehow so overly silly and cartoonish as to be unnerving in the same way that the strangely lit smiling figures in certain amusement park rides had about them.

Discord looked around, shrugging his shoulders and making little “Eh? Eh?” sounds as if hoping at any moment, the crowded audience would begin to applaud.

Finally, he sighed and wilted just a bit. “Really? Nothing? That had something for literally everyone. The surreal, the comedic, the surprising! I was expecting, I don’t know, a guffaw perhaps? A chortle? A cheer? Ah,” he scoffed and smoothed out Midnight’s--or, perhaps it was now his own?--dress with exaggerated huffiness.

The Twilight at the End of the World, the Final Twilight, recovered first. She manifested physically in an explosion of magic. The alicorn reared up and from all directions, the army of Twilights charged.

It was, perhaps far too literally, chaos.

Twilight, the only one not in the hands of a mad goddess, found herself pushed along as Sunset tried to move them away from the epicenter of a magical hurricane. Twilights swarmed around them both, no longer interested in them in the slightest. She felt her head swim trying to parse that, to come to terms with being unescapably several’d. Something about being in the midst of them, seeing face after face, tugged at her sanity. It was if they were blurring together literally, and...

No, it wasn’t just her. Something was horribly wrong everywhere. She had thought it a trick of the mind, but reality itself was warped. The impossibly tall skyscrapers bent as if seen through shaped glass, and flickered strangely from color to color. The street beneath their hooves sloped first one way, then another.

Something… something broke. Perhaps it had always been breaking, since the moment that Sunset had tumbled in from god knows where, bleeding and frantic. There was a certainty about things. She was, in her own way, a scientist. The world was a machine and one could shift it into gear if only the manual were studied. Things made sense.

“Sparky! Sparky, you… oh Celestia, hey, you with me?”

Sparky.

Behind her, she heard the cries of unknown numbers of Twilights. She heard herself repeating ten thousand times over a dozen battlecries as the Twilight at the End of the World battled the delightedly laughing Discord. She heard all sorts of things, but her mind latched onto that one word. Sparky.

“Sparky, are you with me? We gotta… you gotta… oh, what the hell? What the hell, this is just--”

Before she had been Sparky. That was when things made sense. When they were normal. When 2 and 2 made 4, and when Sunset Shimmer wasn’t an interdimensional thief, and there weren’t millions of her or of anyone because there was only one, and…

“That’s it! That’s it! I can’t do this any more!” Sunset backed away, lighting her horn. She pulled the TPT desperately, and started to shout something.

Twilight snapped.

She summoned every ounce of her magic she could. She called it up and willed into a furious scream. Light exploded out from her and where it touched, the constant shifting of reality stopped.

Sparky and Sunset stood in the eye of an impossible storm.

Both of them stood facing each other, panting, still trying to come to grasp with… well, everything. Even as reality obeyed its own laws, she still felt her own mind slip one way and then another. She felt off-kilter.

“How did you… No, I guess the real question,” Sunset Shimmer said, “Is what in Harmony’s name is going on here anymore?”

Twilight, trembling, shook her head. “I don’t know. Midnight is gone. She’s not in my head. I’m… I think it did something to me.” The mare took a breath, and then continued. “Right now, we have some kind of… of Discord-Midnight Sparkle thing happening. I think that’s what’s happening. A version of me that wants to break the multiverse by breaking up every pair of us ever that can exist ever in any way is fighting the Thing. The Spar...DiscNight? The…”

“Chaos Sparkle?” Sunset offered.

“I… you know what?” She laughed deliriously. “Yeah, honestly that’s a pretty great name. Chaos Sparkle and Final Twilight. Fighting. That’s… that’s happening. We can’t run. Even if we could, we have to stop this. We don’t know what… what will happen if she gets her way. What if she wins? What if that Twilight beats Chaos itself? Do you want her in charge of existence?”

Sunset growled, “Weren’t you wanting to go home? Wasn’t that your number one goal? Well, these two are going to conjure up some major magical artillery and personally, I think any chance we had of getting anything done is--”

Twilight took a step forward.

“I do want to go home. I… I don’t like this.” She gestured all around her. “Not just this, right now. All of it. I’m tired of being constantly in danger. I’m tired of not knowing what to think of you and of myself, and of the two of us!”

“Then why not?” Shimmer dug out the TPT and magicked it into the air. “Climb aboard!”

“We can’t, it’s--”

“Look! The magic in the air, the chaos? I don’t know, but look at this thing. It’s hot, Sparky. We can just slide off.”

Twilight took a deep breath, or tried to. “I… Sunset, something is wrong.”

She tried to say more. Her mind was rioting. Emotions came and then went, as if the part of her that had once sustained them hadn’t quite rebooted. Behind them, there was an explosion that she felt the heat of on the back of her neck. They couldn’t stay here. Not this close.

“Yeah, that’s wrong!” Sunset pointed frantically towards the titanic struggle. Twilight turned and saw the final alicorn and the newly minted god of chaos and apparently Twilight’s libido flying into the air, circling each other and brimming with power. They were like twinned comets locked in vicious dance. “Look. You coming?”

“I… no, I mean…”

Sunset’s brow furrowed. There was another explosion high above them.

“Come. Don’t come. I’ve got nothing either way,” she spat. “My Twilight is just… gone. As far as I’m concerned. These Twilights are… doing whatever. Who even cares? We can just bail. Keep dialing and get you home and then I can do whatever, life goes on, gotta slide. All that. Or maybe we just keep going, huh? You? Me? This thing here? Come on! Game over, Twilight.”

Another explosion. Around them, the last Twilight’s impossible city was beginning to buckle under the strain.

“Can you really get me home?” Twilight asked. She swayed a little. “If you can get me home, then let’s go. But I’m… I think Discord messed something up, and I can’t really handle parsing out the truth, so I need you to tell me. Can you really get me home? Is that something you can do?”

Sunset’s mouth opened. It closed. She worked her jaw.

Twilight began to shiver.

“Eventually,” Sunset said. “Eventually.”

“She was what you were looking for, wasn’t it? You dragged me along with you… no, you didn’t, did you?” She laughed bitterly. “I set off the TPT, didn’t I? But you would have done it anyway. You can’t get me back. You never could. I made a mistake, and now I’m stuck with you forever. And you would have done it too. I’m just another Twilight, aren’t I?”

Sunset flinched as if she’d been struck. She tried to speak, and then she clenched her teeth. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I… I didn’t… It’s not like I can’t. I can’t, like, right this second! And you aren’t just--I mean, look, all of you aren’t just exchangeable! I never meant that!”

The earth shook.

Obviously exasperated, Sunset shouted, “You can come. You can not come. I don’t care. I’m out. I’m out of all of this.”

Twilight swallowed. Her head swam. Her thoughts came in confused double-lines. She felt certain Sunset was lying. But she was just as certain that Sunset wouldn’t lie to her, not like that. Not about that. She tried to reason it out, but she couldn’t. Not now. Not with all of this. It was jump or don’t jump. Trust or not trust. Sunset or whatever was behind her.

Sunset held up the restored TPT, but she didn’t activate it. Her chest heaved. Her eyes were… pleading. She said she would leave Twilight behind, but her eyes were like prayers. That would have to do for now. Jump it was.

Twilight took a listless step forward. She squeezed her eyes shut and the light bled through them as Sunset sent them elsewhere.

Discord and the last alicorn dueled.

The city of Twilights was in ruins. The ground had swallowed it up. Jagged spires, half gone, dotted the polka dotted and taffy landscape. Fire and devastation side by side with chocolate rivers and lemon trees that bore only pumpkins that sang slightly off key. Cats and dogs living together.

More succinctly, everything was chaos.

Discord, true to their name, decided that it was absolutely wonderful. It was perfect. It was everything they had dreamed of and more. Midnight Sparkle knew what it was to be absolutely unleashed, and Discord knew what it was to be at the center of an entire world in chaos once again.

“Is that all you’ve got?” They cried aloud, in a twinned voice. “Come on, Twilight!”

The alicorn didn’t use words. They were less efficient than arcane blasts. Discord dodged them all, making sure to glance behind to see their lovely arcs wreak havoc. Below, an army of Twilights struggled in futility in now somewhat molten chocolate, which was worse yet tastier than any quicksand trap. Wonderful! Better than he had ever hoped!

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner!” They cackled with glee as they conjured up a perfectly mint-condition Challenger 2 tank, complete with a tea kettle nestled inside. They hurled it at the alicorn, who flew up at them like a missle, cutting through the armored vehicle and continuing on like Achilles.

It didn’t matter how many tanks she cut in twain, or how many armies of brainwashed Twilights she commanded. They’d let him in! And given him prime access to perhaps the greatest treasure of all: a piece of the pie. A volatile shard of universal kismet. Midnight herself. And now he and she were Chaos itself. The more she fought, the more the chaos spread, like putting out a fire with flour.

Where would it go? Why, anywhere. Everywhere.

You know I can’t last that long like this, right?

Ha! Of course not. You were never meant to be your own thing for long. You’re a part of a system. An overgrown part! A vital part! But just a part. Never a whole. You know that.

Cackling, Discord did a loop and dodged another blast. And count on the persistence of Twilight Sparkle in a rage to not notice that she was just helping the spread! This had definitely turned out better than could have been hoped for! Another blast, and another gleeful dodge.

Think of it this way! You’re not long for being awake, and I’m not exactly going to let The Fussy One remake everything in her image. Two birds with one stone, right? One last hurrah?

So: you, me, one last battle and the job’s done. You know… I kind of like it. Sounds fun. I lock this bitch down with you, I can fade away happy.

Multiverse, here they came. They’d give the final Twilight enough rope to hang on, and have fun doing it. If anyone was going to break multiverse-spanning rules of reality, it was going to be them that did it.

And a bit of chaos here and there afterward?

Oh definitely.

6346304
also *she

6347548
Seriously, it's a freaking miracle Twi managed to hold together for that long. Sunset's lucky she didn't get bucked ten ways to Tuesday (no, not that kind of bucked). She ain't exactly been nice to poor Twi.

And hell now that's a way to go out. A brilliant wrap to the Lady Sparkle arc, and the beginning of a whole new one! Brilliant job!

6347548
Interesting chapter
But one thing: Midnight's inner dialogue has the color of Sci-Twi. Is it intentional?

6347549
Woops, apologies!

Oh horseapples. *heads to dungeon to brainstorm*

6347590

Just wrong colors. Whoops I’ll fix st a computer

6347548
Oh hell yeah! This is a great way to handle the battle! And, perhaps, a fitting conclusion to this part of the story. Though I am greatly worried about SciTwi's mental state now...

6348289
Agreed. Discord did explicitly say Midnight was a vital part of her.

Well. Um. Not going to lie, I'm more than a little concerned about SciTwi here. I think losing Midnight hurt her more than it helped her.

I should forewarn everyone that I...

Am Taking Notes.

Just a little warning for you all.

6348479
repression is dangerous for the soul.

One assumes emotional lobotomy is too.

The portal dumped Sunset and Twilight into a darkening world, the song of crickets and other life gently wafting on the air. Groaning, she pushed herself up and glanced around.. Tall grass and reeds surrounded them, the dim haze of a forest barely visible. Warm pinks and reds spanned the sky as the sun set and the stars began to come out.

Human here, she thought with a glance down at herself. She felt something around her neck and she pulled at it, revealing a long braided length of her fiery hair, wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

“Ok.” Sunset glanced at the Talisman to check the recharge indicator. “We’re safe for now, Sparky.”

No response. She turned and blinked at her companion.

Twilight shivered on the ground, almost as if she were freezing. Her skin was pale and her eyelids were fluttering. Sunset gawked at the short horn sprouting from the bookworm’s head, but concern overrode the notice.

“Sparky!” Sunset bent down and turned the delirious girl’s head. “Sparky, you ok?” The girl's skin was burning to the touch.

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, and Sunset gasped. What had once been a vivid purple gaze now seemed muted or washed out, as though someone had taken an eraser to the color in her eyes, but hadn't finished.

“Don’t… call me… that,” Twilight rasped, her voice quiet. “Why is it… so cold?”

Sunset thought quickly. Twilight had been reeling from Discord ripping Midnight from her head, but in her panic she hadn’t considered side effects from having a hand shoved into one’s mind. She cursed for triggering a jump like she had. She still felt the fear of the world bending under Chaos Sparkle’s magic and the sight of two powerful beings clashing.

Sunset had been the one to suggest they flee, but Twilight had agreed!

“Hold on, Twilight,” she said softly, glancing around. “We’re safe for the moment. Just take it easy for right now.” She laid the jacket she had been given over the shivering woman before going to run her hand through her hair and was stopped when it connected with a horn of her own.

“Is she all right?” asked a soft voice said from behind her.

Sunset spun, her horn flaring with light. A robed figure with furled midnight wings stood behind her. Sunset took a step between her and the prostrate Twilight.

“What do you want?” she asked as she dropped into a low crouch. She could see the flickering light of her magic shifting between red and teal on the ground around her.

Sunset had already caused enough harm to Twilight, to more than just this one behind her.

She would be damned if she let it continue.

The figure took a step forward, hands raised. “I am merely curious. It is not often you find someone out here injured.” She paused and studied Twilight. “I am somewhat versed in the healing arts. May I take a look?”

Sunset hesitated briefly. She kept her horn lit as she moved to the side to let the hooded woman come over. Still, she didn’t take her eyes off the newcomer and stayed close enough to reach out if needed. “Help her if you can. Make a wrong move, and you’ll wish I had killed you instead.”

The stranger seemed unaffected as she placed a hand on Twilight’s forehead, a fingertip to either side of her horn.

“What is her name?” the woman asked.

“What’s yours?” Sunset fired back.

“A fair point,” the woman responded, lowering her hood to reveal a short silver hair framing a youthful face, horn almost hidden in her bangs. Despite the young face, she held a calm wisdom in her posture. Something about it was familiar, something about her wavy hair and turquoise eyes pricked at her mind. What the answer was, however, remained just out of reach.

“My name is Serena.”

Sunset frowned, trying to place the name or face. She felt like she should know this woman, though she couldn't figure out why.

“Twilight,” she said finally. “Her name is Twilight.”

Serena glanced at her, then looked closely at the shivering girl. She brushed a lock of hair from Twilight’s face in an almost maternal gesture. Then Serena replaced her hand, her eyes sliding shut as her horn lit with a raspberry light tinged with red and teal.

Her eyes flew open after a moment. “This is no physical ailment,” she said, her voice grave. “There is… a hole in her mind. Her psyche is in tatters, and her personality slips away.” She locked eyes with Sunset. “What has transpired?”

“We were... attacked,” Sunset said. “There was nothing I could have done.”

Inside, a tiny voice told her just how wrong that was.

Serena looked at her for a moment before rising. “My home is not far from here,” she said. “We should make our way there where I can better tend your friend, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I never told you my name,” Sunset said, rising from her crouch with her eyes narrowed.

Serena raised her hood again. “I have met sliders before,” she said. “Any further questions would be best left until we are indoors. The nightlife here is not what you would want to see too closely.”

Sunset peered around at the clearing. A thick fog was rolling in from the distant forest and with it, a strange, unnerving silence.

“Agreed,” she said, suddenly feeling like something was watching her.

Her head was pounding, and she could barely get her bearings. She was moving, but how? Was someone carrying her? No... she was walking, she could dimly feel her feet moving... but someone was helping her? Who…

She tilted her head, causing the world to swim for a moment. To her left, her vision dim despite her glasses being perched on her nose, was Sunset with an arm around her waist. She swallowed and tried to form words.

“Sunset?” she rasped.

Sunset looked down at her, the braid wrapped around her neck shifting down slightly. “Don’t try to talk, Sparky,” she whispered. “We’re going to get you some help. Hopefully.”

“Midnight,” Twilight rasped. “She’s gone. She’s…”

“I know, Sparky,” her companion whispered. “I know.”

A wave of heat flowed through her body and Twilight felt her legs giving out. A few more staggering steps and Sunset grunted as she tried to bear her weight.

“Where are we?” Twilight mumbled, blinking at the blurry darkness all around them. “It’s so cold here.”

Sunset held her a little closer.

“How much farther?” Sunset asked as the moon peeked over the horizon. They had been walking for thirty minutes and she had long since taken to carrying Twilight. Twilight kept mouthing words, her eyes wandering and focusing on nothing.

“Not far,” Serena spoke, picking her way across a shallow brook. A mesa split the plains. As they approached, Sunset saw a tiny cottage set inside a nook of the stony tower.

As Selena held the door open, Sunset carried the rapidly weakening Twilight to a small cot just inside. Serena lit several lanterns. Earthenware pottery rested on shelves built back into the stone of the single room cottage. A small blackened wood stove watched silently as a low fire crackled within. A few sparse bits of wicker furniture dotted the interior and a low workbench and table were the only two wooden accouterments of decor. She watched as Serena knelt down and laid a hand on the trembling girl’s forehead, closing her eyes again. After a moment, she looked at Sunset with hard eyes.

“Her mind was ripped into without thought to her safety.” The woman rose and walked over to a shelf where many leather-capped jars sat and pulled two down. “I can stabilize what remains for now, but I am unable to heal this wound. Her self leaks away like water through a split basin.”

Sunset looked at her friend, biting her lip. “What can I do?”

Serena pulled several leaves from one of the jars and dropped them into a clay mortar. “If you believe in Harmony,” she said as she started grinding with a pestle.. “I would consider praying.”

“Praying?” Sunset stuttered. “What do you mean, pray?”

The robed woman plucked several leaves from the other jar and dropped them into the mortar, a sweet smell wafting out as she worked. “If she cannot regain control of her mind,” the woman said as she poured some water into the clay vessel. “Then she will become nothing more than a shell. Living yet not, and lost in the depths of her own mind. As to what has been taken it will either return on its own or she will adapt.”

Sunset looked back at the shivering Twilight. Her emotions begin to war inside, guilt railing against her cynicism.

“Is there—” Sunset began but Twilight sat up, her eyes flying open and blazing with white light.

“High above sits the crown untold,” she whispered, her voice eerily sepulchral. “And the snake is eating its own tail…”

The light faded, and she began thrashing violently on the cot.

“Sparky!” Sunset cried, then hissed as the Talisman resting against her chest began to burn. She pulled it off and threw it to the ground, the power indicator blazing with light. “What in…”

“Hold her down!” Serena cried, rushing over with the clay vessel. “She is slipping!”

Sunset dove forward and struggled to grip Twilight’s shoulders, trying to hold the trashing girl steady so Serena could administer the concoction in the mortar. A few drips touched Twilight’s tongue and the convulsing eased. Sunset began to relax her grip when Twilight grabbed her arm tightly, her eyes glowing again.

“You left me,” she whimpered, breathing ragged. “Y-you took me apart and spread me across the sand, blue and gold and black. I can hear them coming, too much screaming…” Tears streamed down her face, twitching between fear and anger.

Sunset flinched when Twilight’s horn started to glow with a raspberry hue. Trying to calm her companion, she reached out and cupped Twilight’s face, feeling the fevered skin beneath her own.

“I never left you, Sparky!” she said firmly, almost pleadingly. “I’m right here! I promised I’d get you home, you got that? I promised you. I won’t break that promise.”

Twilight’s eyes faded back to the muted purple, even paler than before. “Liar,” she whispered, horn dying as lucidity returned. She turned her head away and faced the wall. “You can’t. You said so.”

Sunset slid back, her heart aching like she had been punched there. Selena slowly poured the rest of the liquid into Twilight’s mouth, then looked up at Sunset with hard eyes.

“You took her sliding without her consent.” It wasn’t a question.

Sunset shook her head, eyes still locked on her companion. “It was an accident when we met,” she whispered. “I never meant to drag her along.”

A single word started echoing in her mind. Liar...

Vessel empty, Serena stood and walked back to her workbench. She set the mortar on the rough stone surface and sighed. Silver hair swayed as she shook her head. “I suspect you’ve had a great many such ‘accidents’ in your life,” she said. “Sunsets are often rash and quick to anger. You seem no different.”

“You’ve met other Sunsets?”

“One or two,” Serena said, returning and resting a hand on Twilight’s forehead, her horn lighting and a cloth floating over in her multi-hued aura. She laid it on the shaking girl’s forehead and glanced up.

“My mother once told me ‘It’s a dangerous business, stepping out your door,’ ” she said, facing the redhead. “‘You step onto the road and if you don’t keep your feet…’”

“There’s no telling where you might be swept off too,” Twilight whispered slowly. “I loved that story as a girl.” Her eyelids slid closed as her breathing steadied.

Serena smiled and patted the bespectacled girl’s shoulder. “Rest,” she intoned seriously. “The elixir I gave you should help the fever and stabilize you, but unless you conserve strength, I cannot say if you will be the same or not.”

Twilight nodded weakly as the healer draped a blanket over her.

Sunset’s eyes fell upon the Talisman and she gave the device a dirty glare. It’s warm white glow mocked her.

“I hate that thing,” she muttered.

A hand touched her shoulder. “I would not despair,” Serena said. “She is stronger than one may think to have made it this long.” She glanced at the unconscious girl. “There is nothing more we can do at this moment. You should rest as well. Guilt will not resolve itself, nor will staying up for days on end do much good for you. You will be safe inside these walls and you can stay for as long as you need to.” She noticed the singed portion of the redhead’s shirt and pulled a small jar from her shelf. “Here. This should ease the sting of that burn.”

Sunset looked up and took the jar and saw something under the robes the woman wore, a round pendant with a charred edge, several torn wires peeking out. She stared at the mystic, her mind still unable to place why she knew her.

“Who are you?” Sunset asked again. “How were you able to tell what was wrong with her?”

“You have not guessed?” Serena smirked, pulling a destroyed Talisman from underneath her robes and held it out to Sunset. Attached to it was an amber gemstone with a two-toned sun image within it.

“I am the daughter of a Twilight,” she said. “And a Sunset.”

6351718
Oh boy... Discord what did you DO?!

6351718

Human here,she thought with a glance down at herself.

Sunset spun, her horn flaring with light.

Um... okay you repeatedly refer to them with both human and pony terms. Are they anthros, because that would be a new one and I'd think Sunset might react to that.

6351718
A still-bleeding wound to the soul. That's not good. Neither is spouting vague prophecies... or just nonsense. It's often hard to tell the difference between the two.

Also, magical lesbian spawn. Always fun.

6351805
They seem to be humans with small horns. Not the first time that's been done.

6351718
Poor Twilight.

Also, ooh... I really like the Serena!

6351954
Glad you liked her! The original version had her rhyming!

6351718
Ooh, excellent work! You handled the gravity of the situation quite nicely. Also, I totally thought Serena was a Luna at first, and I was totally wrong!

6352423

6352460
I see someone else remembers the good days.

6352511

I actually don't think I ever really saw the series. One or two episodes, it left some sort of impression, but my family was never big on network television.

But internet culture being what it is, I got into SMA, and through that the original.

On a slightly more serious note:

While MultiverseCruise's chapter has been Exiled From Continuity, I do think their artwork is pretty cool. What if, as a compromise, we allow them to create the cover for the final compilation?

With Twilight in her current state it was obvious that the duo wouldn’t go anywhere for now. Luckily Serena was more than willing to let them stay in her cottage. And with no more to do than waiting for Twilight to recover Sunset soon found herself talking with Serena. She even gave her a general rundown of the events from meeting this Twilight up to the Chaos Sparkle incident hoping it would help the silver-haired girl.

“You are taking the reveal surprisingly well.” When Serena saw the confusion on Sunset’s face, she added, “I mean in regards to my heritage.”

“It doesn’t have any affect on me personally and I’ve been to enough universes to expect just about everything. And it’s not like you’re my daughter.” (She was only 91.37% sure) “Though in retrospect I could have noticed it sooner. You have your mother’s face.”

This actually got a small chuckle out of Serena.

“But wait, does that mean a Twilight and a Sunset are here in this world? I’m usually not one to do that, but…” Sunset took a glance at Twilight. “...right now I need all the help I can get. She’s all I have left.”

“My deepest apologies, but they left this world a long time ago. They were Voyagers. Maybe even more than you. They made it their goal to solve every mystery across the multiverse and make sense of it. One night Twilight disappeared and Sunset soon followed to bring her back. That was the last time I saw my parents.” She pulled out her own Talisman again and stroked the gemstone. “And this is one of the few mementos I have left of them.”

Sunset decided not to voice her suspicion and instead said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Do not be. I am quite content with my simple, peaceful life in this world, helping the occasional Voyager. I also like to imagine that they are just busy helping other worlds. And if not… then I am just glad that I only have good memories of them.”

The rest of the night passed without issues. They distracted themselves with lighter topics and Serena teaching Sunset how casting magic in this world worked.

Sunset Shimmer levitated over a wet cloth, dabbed the sweat from Twilight’s face and tried to figure out what in the worlds she could do. Not every day was she faced with a girl literally losing half of her mind.

Her eyes darted to the Talisman on the table, mocking her with its glow. Sunset tried her best to suppress the voice in her head that told her to just run away again.

She bit her lip and brushed back a strand of Twilight’s messy hair.

Twilight’s violet eyes snapped open. A fist came out of nowhere and cracked Sunset across the jaw.

“Ouch!” Sunset cried as she toppled against the side of the bed. “What the hell–”

Twilight had already leapt to her feet, her eyes wild and a little crazed. “That was for abducting me. And that–”

She grabbed the dazed Sunset and gave her passionate kiss. “–is for you being your beautiful, sexy self, Shimmy.”

Sunset’s mind went into overdrive. This seemed to become a common occurrence.

She wrangled herself out of Twilight’s grip and nearly shouted, “What’s gotten into you, Twilight?”

Twilight just ignored her and instead looked down at her clothes. “Where does the jacket come from? I like it. I’ll keep it. Technically it’s mine, anyways. Hmm… But something’s still wrong.” She suddenly ripped her skirt on one side. “That thing was way too restricting.” Then she took a long piece of cloth and wrapped it around her neck like a scarf. “And this is just for style points.” She pointed at Sunset’s hair. “And we’re in partner-look now.”

Twilight got close to Sunset again. In any other situation Sunset would have enjoyed this. “And now something we two pushed back for way too long.”

To Sunset’s luck Serena came back at this moment. “What is this commotion?”

“Well, I just stole a kiss from SunSun,” Twilight answered first. “And in return I wanted to have some sweet alone-time with her, M-rated preferably. You can join in, too. Everybody knows three’s a charm. Kyeehahaha!”

Sunset used this distraction to escape Twilight again. “I promise that she’s usually not this way. And Midnight should be gone.”

“Aw, come on, notice me, Sunpai.” Twilight replied with mock dejection.

“It is possible that in order to deal with this unique trauma Twilight’s mind created a persona based on Midnight’s character,” Serena theorized.

“I’d say Arsene or Carmen.” Twilight gave Serena a wink.

“Or at least what she thinks how Midnight would act.”

“I’ve never seen someone misunderstanding themself so much,” Sunset commented. “Twilight, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Twilight put her index fingers on her forehead in an exaggerated thinking pose. “Hmm… We went with Discord to the world filled with mes, Daybreaker betrayed us and then… nope, blank, nada.”

“She is repressing her memories.”

“And what can we do?” Sunset asked.

“Her mind is too unstable for travelling let alone sliding. We must wait until she fully recovers.”

“But I’m bored here already,” Twilight interjected. “I wanna go out, see the worlds, eat ice-cream, have adventures and build a harem of Sunsets. How about a dragon-Sunset? Or a maid-Sunset? I know, a dragon-maid-Sunset! Just imagine what she could do with her horns.”

Sunset tried her best to ignore that comment. “Twilight, you’re forcing me to be the voice of reason and both of us know I suck at that. So how about we first calm down, alright?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Try me, bacon.”

Before the other two girls could react, Twilight grabbed the Talisman, shoved Serena to the ground and ran out of the cottage. Sunset quickly helped Serena up and dashed after her. Serena ran after them, but hesitated in the door frame for a moment and took a look back at her small home before following them.

Even with a new personality Twilight was no athlete, but she had a head start and determination. That’s why it took the other two girls nine full meters before catching up and wrestling her to the ground. But Twilight didn’t give up and fought for her freedom to the best of her limited physical abilities.

Unfortunately during the brawl the Talisman got accidentally activated and opened a new portal, which all three fell through.

The trio landed in an old-fashioned mansion. Sunset was the first to regain her bearings and almost out of reflex her hand went up to her hair.

Short… Horn gone… Spiky… Big spike in the middle… Holy Harmony, I’m an RPG-protagonist.

Her eyes fell on the other two girls. She felt a pang of guilt at the sight of Serena. Another girl she had taken from her home and roped into this mess.

The sound of a gun being cocked distracted Sunset from her self-misery. She turned around and faced a group of policemen pointing their guns at the trio.

“Hold! This is a restricted crime scene!”

Sunset and Serena raised their arms in compliance.

Twilight did not. Instead her eyes lit up. “Ohh! Please tell me a murder happened! I always wanted to solve a real one. Detective Twilight’s on the case!” she declared and started humming the theme of one of her favourite animes. All guns were now pointed at her.

“What’s going on here?” The policemen made place for their superior and told him what happened. Meanwhile Sunset started contemplating if her hatred for the universe was mutual.

“You three will now tell me how you managed to sneak into Lady Cadenza’s manor without being seen by my men!” Commissioner Armor demanded.

Sunset's hair is basically Cloud Strife from FF7. You're welcome.
And yes, Twilight is humming the "Detective Conan"-theme.

Sweet Luna, what have you wrought?!?

Well. That's certainly one way to compensate for losing an essential part of yourself. Not a good way, but a way.

Hmm.

I had idea... now to thinkjust.

Gotta tie me some plotlines.

"I wouldn't exactly call 'opening an interdimensional portal' sneaking," Sunset pointed out flatly. "I mean, yeah, there are plenty of worlds where nobody seems to care, but it's still pretty obvious."

Serena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sunset..."

"Ooo! Hi Shiny!" Twilight waved with a bright smile. "You look professional!"

Commissioner Armor gave them all a flat look. "Interdimensional portal. Next you'll be telling me you're all magical unicorns."

"I am. Twilight's human. Serena..." Sunset frowned, turning to the girl. "Actually, you had a horn and wings on a human frame, what--?"

"The species of my homeworld is known as the Álfar, and I specifically am Vægherálfar. Very rare, akin to the ponies' alicorns as I understand it..."

"Ooo! Ooo! Shiny! Are you dating Cadence?" Twilight asked eagerly. "How did you become a commissioner? Do you recognize me? Tell me everything!"

Sunset twitched her fingers experimentally, noting the magic flowing through them. "Look, take us into custody if you need to. But Twilight needs help. She's... she took a head injury, and she's not completely herself."

"Hahahahaha that's hilarious! I don't know why, but that--"

"I understand your disbelief," Serena said gently. "We truly do not intend harm."

Commissioner Armor looked from her, to Sunset, to the eagerly bouncing Twilight. He pinched his brow with a sigh. "Call the precinct. Tell them we have three young ladies to put into protective custody."

Sunset sighed in relief. "Thank you. It's... I know this is weird for you, but it's good to see you again, Shining."

"Suuuuuuuuuuuuuunniiiiiiiiiiiiii...."

Sunset kept her expression stoic as Twilight bent over her, dangling the glowing Talisman in front of her face.

"Come on, Sunny... It's still filled up with magic from that thing I can't remember." Twilight giggled. "We can just break free, go wild across the multiverse!"

"Leave Serena behind?"

"We can take her with us!" Twilight beamed. "I'm booooooooooooooored! I want an adventure, Sunny! Let's have fun!"

"Twilight... what about your home?"

"What about it? It's a place and it has people." Twilight shrugged. "That's pretty much anywhere anyway."

"Emotional disconnect," Serena said softly from the other side of the room. "It keeps her stable, for the moment, but if left for too long..."

Twilight rested an arm on Sunset's head. "Serena, has anyone ever told you you're a bit of a buzzkill?"

Sunset's eyes drifted to the Talisman. Its cord was still in Twilight's grasp, but the actual object now rested atop her chest. She could, if she wanted, snatch it right now. Not even to use it, but just to keep it out of the girl's hands while she was in the state she was in...

The door swung open, and Commissioner Armor stepped through. "Passed your story to the higher-ups. One of them wants to talk to you."

"Really?" Sunset shook her head. "Which one?"

"Some woman from the government. Calls herself Amblejoy."

An amber-skinned woman stepped in, sweeping her gaze over them. A sly smirk was on her face when she looked at Sunset, but it fell away when she saw Twilight, and her violet eyes went wide when they landed on Serena.

“...Thank you, Commissioner Armor. I am afraid this is above your pay grade, I will have to ask you to leave us.”

“Agent Amblejoy—”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do not force me to make that a request.”

Commissioner Armor quirked a brow. “For the record, I would be willing to help any way I can if their story is true.”

“That is much appreciated, Commissioner. I shall debrief you after I am done here.”

The man nodded. “I’ll hold you to that, Agent.” He shut the door behind him quietly.

After a moment, Amblejoy swallowed and stepped forward. “Serena... it really is you...”

Serena blinked. “I apologize, have we met? Perhaps you know an alternate universe counterpart of mine—”

“Oh, of course, I looked rather different three years ago.”

The young woman took a sharp breath.

“...mother?”

Amblejoy nodded. “And then some...”

“I’m lost here,” Sunset admitted. “Are you her Twilight or her Sunset?”

“Both. And an unrelated Starlight Glimmer, we had to merge shortly after... oh, Serena, I am so sorry we left you behind...”

“Hold on, shouldn’t you be called Moonrise Glitter?” Twilight asked. “Like, Skyfeature Lightpattern, that's how it works, isn't it?”

“It would have been too obvious. We needed to hide from Lady Sparkle.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. "And there she is again..."

Amblejoy finally tore her gaze away from her long-lost daughter. "I... I must thank you, Sunset Shimmer. I know not how, but your journey has led me to rediscover all that which I thought lost."

"Yeah, uh... reuniting daughters with their long-lost mothers who have merged into a full-time threesome is totally a thing I do regularly."

The woman hummed in amusement. "Your acerbic humor aside, the fact remains that without you, I would never have found the world I had first left." She smiled. "Speaking of which, there is someone who I believe would be very interested in meeting you again..."

"SPIKE!" Twilight proclaimed, practically pouncing on the purple pup. "Holy Heisenberg, look at you!"

The small canine ran his metal hand through his fur. "I know, I know. I'm just a rugged example of a man."

"Rugged indeed," Serena managed with a grin. "Is this the famous lab assistant I heard so much about in my youth?"

"The very same," Amblejoy confirmed with a fond smile.

Sunset rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "This is all moving so fast... what, is every random person we met on our journey just going to start crawling out of the woodwork?"

The woman fingered a necklace with twelve twinkling shapes. "Possibly. I have been following you since Feybriar, making resonance markers of the worlds you passed through."

Twilight tilted her head. "Resonance markers?"

"Every universe has a particular song, one shared by the souls born within." Serena nodded toward the necklace. "With that, and a properly crafted Talisman, you could easily return to any world you visited."

"Well, any world prior to your encounter with a draconequus," Amblejoy amended. "My magic would not mark there, and I had thought you quite lost. What good fortune it was to stumble upon you again, and with my daughter no less!"

Serena smiled. "The spheres work in mysterious manner, though I find I cannot complain."

"Wait wait wait." Twilight put Spike down. "If every universe has a resonance, and every soul from that universe has the same resonance--"

"The version of the TPT I had when I appeared in your room wasn't equipped with a resonance tracker," Sunset explained. "By the time we got a version that was, you'd gone all Midnight, then we got caught up in Discord's thing, and... well, I don't know what he did to you, but it might be that we can't get a resonance of your homeworld now."

"Of course, I had to take your individual resonances to follow you," Amblejoy noted. "Still, Sunset is correct. Your resonance is... damaged. What occurred with the draconequus?"

"Oh, see, he..." Twilight frowned. "Sunset, what did happen?"

Sunset pursed her lips. "Well... you awakened your Midnight Sparkle, and that's what got the attention of Daybreaker, who was working for Discord. Or..." She frowned. "At least... she said she was the Sunset of Lady Sparkle's, but it turned out she was one of the Twive Mind in disguise... and apparently whatever Discord had wanted to do when we kidnapped Lady Sparkle for her wasn't going to work, so Discord took Midnight out of your head and ate her. We slid off during the battle and ended up being found by Serena."

"That would explain her ailment," Serena said warily. "Touched by a draconequus... the effects can be unpredictable at the best of times."

"You're acting like I'm falling apart," Twilight accused.

"That is an accurate description. Slowed it might be, but..."

Amblejoy held up a finger. "Hold. You say this Daybreaker... she claimed to be the Sunset of Lady Sparkle?"

"Yeah." Sunset scoffed. "Obviously she wasn't, Lady Sparkle killed her Sunset."

"...so the Archmage's deception yet works..."

Twilight's gaze snapped to her. "What?"

"In my travels after you, I encountered the mare who wore an illusion of blue coat and teal-green braids."

"Skylark--Oh, duh!" The girl facepalmed. "Lady Sparkle's thing about nightingales and skylarks, how could I have missed that?"

"Well, she didn't tell you she was a Sunset," Sunset pointed out. "Wait, hold on, if Skylark is Lady Sparkle's Sunset, then who did Lady Sparkle kill?"

"...the Sunset of High Equus." Amblejoy sighed. "Skylark revealed the truth to me--that another had taken her place, in hopes of protecting her from the growing power of that dark goddess. She also claimed that this Sunset had managed to steal something precious, and send it to the Archmage. I am versed in the ways of the soul, and my brief tarry to the world of Lady Sparkle revealed that all the members of her captive horde have lost something. The very thing that this Twilight has also lost."

I’m just the… passionate side of her, let’s say.

Twilight noticed all the eyes on her and waved. "Hey, is anybody else in the mood for coffee? I'd like coffee. So much coffee. Drown me in coffee."

"...Twilight, does the world feel..." Sunset gestured vaguely. "Gray, I guess?"

"Oh yeah! I mean, I guess I should be worried about not having Midnight, but... meh."

Amblejoy nodded. "Yes... take the passion of a Twilight, and replace it with a link to the greater mind. That is how Lady Sparkle formed her power, I believe... and why she stomps out all knowledge of the Container of Midnight."

"The container of...." Sunset blinked. "Wait, is this thing... do you know what it looks like?"

"Skylark did describe it," Amblejoy admitted. "A dodecahedron the size of a pony, emblazoned--"

"--with the images of a dark star..."

The woman tilted her head. "You have seen it, then."

"Yeah, I... stole it from the Archmage a while ago." Sunset rubbed the back of her head. "It's... sort of why I was banished from my home."

"Oh, right! Your Shining Armor put himself in a shield ball in the sky with a big monster thing." Twilight blinked. "Which, hold on, is apparently some sort of MetaMidnight?"

"High above sits the crown untold," Serena murmured.

"If a draconequus is battling Lady Sparkle with the power of a Midnight," Amblejoy mused, "then it is only a matter of time before he wins. And with the passion of a Midnight... Lady Sparkle was at least predictable in her advances. This Midnight Discord might well become a danger to all spheres."

"Hold on!" Spike hopped forward, holding up his glowing hand. "I've got a scan of Sunset's resonance. If we get the Midnights back into the Twive Mind, they'll be freed, right?"

"It is conceivable," Amblejoy mused. "And while one passion fueling a thousand souls might not be able to defeat Discord, a thousand souls with one conviction should be able to do so."

"And should he be defeated," Serena finished, "we can take that which he took from Twilight and return it to her!"

Twilight beamed. "It's perfect!"

"It's dangerous," Sunset objected. "I mean--we're talking about just us five taking the combined darkness of I don't know how many Twilights!"

"Come oooooon!" Twilight leaned forward, dangling the talisman in front of her. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Sunset took the talisman in her hand, considering its glow.

"...Sparky... you deserve better."

In a flurry of motion she reached out, her magic snapping the necklace from Amblejoy's neck as she kicked Twilight away. Before anyone could react, she had opened a portal and was gone.

Twilight blinked.

"Oh."

She fell to her knees.

"She left..."

Her hands clutched at the ground as tears clouded her vision.

"She left me... Heh... ha.... haha.... hahahahahAhahAHAHaHAHAHAha!"

Well we've got something between ten and thirteen more chapters left to go. I'm sure this will turn out fine. My apologies to Undome and all that come afterward, but Sunset demanded to do this and I couldn't deny her.

.........well, that was a thing that happened.

Incredible weaving of earlier chapters into this one. This sets me up quite well; I'm already having ideas about the next chapter.

6355884
You were definitely taking notes. Awesome work in tying everything together for what will likely be the final act.

That said, watch it with the Season 8 spoilers. Skyfeature Lightpattern was supposed to be an unexpected twist.

6356262

I thought it was Moonrise Lensflare...

6355884
This Twilight is so much more fun, can we keep her?