Hoofed by Your Own Petard

by Tortfeasor

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Hoofed by Your Own Petard

Disclaimer: For the LAST time! I don’t own My Little Pony!

Chapter Twenty: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Twilight’s heart pounded in her chest. She could hear the beating of hooves on the other side of the door, but the gilded doors were unmoving and Twilight felt utterly alone against the most powerful pony in all of Equestria. She had a lump in her throat the size of a full grown hydra, but she forced herself to stand tall and glare at Nightmare Moon. If she was going to die she was going to die fighting and on her hooves.

Nightmare Moon simply stared at her. Twilight found the gaze of those alien eyes to be incredibly unsettling and it became ever harder to not tremble in fear.

Finally her patience ran out and she cracked. “What? You aren’t going to just blast me into a pile of dust? I know you can! Or do you want me to bow down and worship you like those crazy black robed cultists of yours? Or I know! Now that I’m here and Trixie lost you want me to turn my back on my friends and become your apprentice. Well I’ve got news for you, it will never happen!”

Nightmare Moon yawned like she was incredibly bored before idly repositioning herself in a very relaxed sitting position. Twilight didn’t know what was going on. Elements of Harmony or no wasn’t this supposed to be the epic last confrontation between good and evil? Why did Nightmare Moon look like she was about to fall asleep watching a particularly dull play?

“Would you ever worship me?” Despite her indolent position Nightmare Moon’s voice was sharp. Before Twilight could snap a defiant retort Equestria’s ruler continued. “I know you would never give up trying to defeat me and bring back your precious sun. Oh I could make you an obedient little puppet easily enough, but I’m sure you know I already have plenty of those. In fact, I’m sure you know that better than just about any of my subjects.”

“You let my brother go!” Twilight’s horn flared with magic. “I’m the one you want, and I’m here. So let Shining Armor go.”

Nightmare Moon softly laughed. “Oh you just don’t get it my little pony. I know you will never bow down and worship me, but make no mistake, I will be worshiped as a goddess, I will see every pony in every corner of Equestria bow before me and sing praises to the eternal night, and I will make anypony who dares defy me very, very sorry before I allow them to die.”

“So then why am I still alive? Why are my friends alive? You know we’ll never stop trying to beat you. You tried hard enough with Rainbow Dash. And I know you could have found us any time you wanted and killed us all before we knew you were anywhere near us.”

“Why? Because you amuse me. Watching you struggle so mightily against utterly hopeless odds has been an endless source of laughs. You feared it ever since you learned of them, you suspected it ever since you read about them in Manehatten, and you knew I had the Elements ever since you went to Ponyville. Yet you still came here to face me. How a group of ponies could so blithely march to their deaths is simply beyond me. And now here we are Twilight Sparkle. You’re alone, the Elements of Harmony are hopelessly beyond you, and you have no idea what you’re going to do now.”

Nightmare Moon was right. Twilight had no idea where the Elements were and she had no hope without them.

It was a desperate gamble, but it was her only hope. “So then why not show me the Elements? You have them and I’m sure I can’t use them while you’re in control of them. We both know you can kill me as easily as you’re breathing, but you don’t just want to kill me, you want to beat me. And the only way to do that is to break me, and if you’re going to do that you have to show me that I’ve failed.”

“True,” Nightmare Moon abandoned her languid pose to tap a thoughtful hoof against her chin. “But no. After a thousand years in the moon I’ve learned that victory itself is far more important than how you win. I would love to dangle the broken shards of the Elements of Harmony before you. To see you broken in both mind and body before I kill you, but I would hardly call it settling to remove such a dangerous pony as you from my world.”

That was it. Twilight had nothing left. All she could do from this point on would be buying her friends time to realize they couldn’t help her, and from there trying to escape to fight another day. She wished she could have seen her brother and parents one last time to say good bye to them. But she’d made the best friends she could have imagined and together they’d come farther than she ever dreamed they would. There was only one thing left to do. If Nightmare Moon was going to kill her than Twilight was going to die with nothing left.

She took hold of the crystal that was once part of the Elements of Harmony with her magic and immediately she could feel her concentration sharpen and power swelled into her. As the power swelled into her she felt over her shoulder that seemingly bottomless well of power she’d tapped into those few times in her life when she’d lost all control over her magic and gone on destructive rampages. This time instead of shying away from it she dove into it and mastered it. Enough power surged into her horn that she felt she could juggle a collection of Hydras and Ursa Minors like it was foals play. She didn’t have much time to think though. Even she could only control this much magic for a very short time before it burned her up from inside.

And she had the perfect place to send all that magic. The back wall of the throne room simply vaporized as a beam of pure light erupted from Twilight’s horn. The air around her crackled with energy and bits of the columns that held up the room were blasted off as that energy split the air with cracks of lightning. Twilight grit her teeth and forced the magic under her control. She could only keep this up for a few seconds and she had to make it count. The beam of light narrowed, but at the same time grew in intensity.

Even behind her closed eyes Twilight found the light painful. Then almost before she knew she had started her attack she was slumping to the ground, utterly exhausted. She sucked in several deep breaths and blinked spots and tears out of her eyes for several seconds. As her vision cleared and the dust slowly blew clear she began to see the results of her magic. The once elaborate throne room had been completely trashed. The windows were all shattered, the carpets were ripped and burned, most of the tapestries were bare threads hanging from pitted walls, and still standing on the throne’s dais was Nightmare Moon.

Twilight hadn’t really thought that her attack would actually kill Nightmare Moon. But couldn’t the pony look like she’d at least had to try to guard against Twilight?

“Very impressive Twilight Sparkle.” Nightmare Moon’s smile made Twilight shiver involuntarily. “I can see now that Trixie never had a chance against you. I may have to rethink forcing you into my service.”

Twilight gulped and stepped back from the throne. Being forced to commit all sorts of horrible acts by the very pony she’d tried so hard to defeat? Dying seemed like the better choice by far.

“I’d rather die first!” Twilight tried to sound as resolute as a totally exhausted and defenseless pony could. “And even if you kill me my friends will escape and find other ways to stop you.”

It was totally cliché for a pony in her situation to spout off defiance at her victorious opponent. But when she found herself in the position Twilight actually understood why ponies in all the stories did it. Nothing she could do would change the fact that Nightmare Moon was going to kill her, or worse, and she wanted her last act to be one that said she fought to the bitter end with everything she had.

“Will they really?” Nightmare Moon’s smile was perfectly conversational, but it still chilled Twilight to the bone. “Do you truly think you and your little friends are the only ponies clinging to their pitiful hopes of bringing your precious sun back? Do you truly think I don’t know where every one of them is at every moment of the night and that I couldn’t wipe them all out if I ever chose to do so? Do you truly think that if even Celestia needed the Elements of Harmony to beat me that any of you pitiful creatures could do the same when the Elements are ground to dust and scattered to every corner of the winds?”

“Somepony will! You’re powerful, but Celestia beat you a thousand years ago, and somepony will figure out how to beat you again. Even if it takes another thousand years the sun will come up again!”

“Ignorant foal!” Nightmare Moon sneered. “Do you think that Celestia merely batted an eyelash, summoned the Elements of Harmony, and banished me to the moon in the space of one night? We warred across Equestria for years! We made day and night change as easily as you would toss aside a broken quill. You pathetic ponies are so sheltered many of you have even forgotten the word ‘war.’ Our armies raised the blackest horrors of the abyss to throw at one another. How pitifully naïve your so called histories are. Do you think I could not revisit those horrors on your cities if ever you truly posed a threat to me? What do you think Celestia locked away behind the guarded gates of Tartarus? Why do you think so many books are locked away in the deepest corners of the royal library? And do you think those worthless hordes of scum who parade about are true Nightmare Children? No, the true Nightmare Children of a thousand years bound themselves to me body and soul. They were extensions of my will and the number of pegasi alone was once enough to blot out the sun. With no pesky sun princess to oppose me I will build an army of Nightmare Children who will crush all who would dare oppose me!”

Twilight Sparkle felt herself fall into a sitting position as her legs could no longer support her. They’d never had a chance against Nightmare Moon. They should have simply blended back into the masses after they’d escaped. Working at Touchy Hooves was a terrible life, but she’d made enough to get by, and nopony would bother such an inconsequential pony on a poor level of the undercity.

Nightmare Moon started to laugh. Her mane and tail swirled with energy and grew until they completely covered the hole in the wall Twilight had blasted open.

“You could never hope to defeat me with one shard of one broken element, but you will serve me with that shard. I think I will make a puppet out of you. I will teach you how to use that magic of yours to bring about terror and bloodshed that will make ponies fear the very mention of your name. And then before I release you from my control I will make you enjoy serving. Who knows, I may even extend your life so you can continue to be my terrible puppet long past when you should have died.”

Twilight couldn’t even bring herself to react to Nightmare Moon telling her about a fate that made Trixie at her worst seem almost a kind as Fluttershy. Twilight had thrown everything she had at her opponent and it hadn’t been enough. She knew she was about to be subjected to a fate worse than death, but literally for the life of her she couldn’t think of anything she could have done differently.

“Twilight!” The heavy doors into the rest of the castle cracked down the middle under the assault of her friends.

Twilight Sparkle had never had a eureka moment in her entire life. Certainly never one as life shaking as the moment she had hearing her friend’s voices. The shock of the moment brought her back to her hooves like the last several minutes had never happened.

“You think winning is as easy as breaking some rocks and hiding them? It wouldn’t matter if you’d dumped the Elements of Harmony at the bottom of the very deepest part of the Mareneighas Trench.”

Nightmare Moon actually looked puzzled as Twilight’s friends blasted the door open and ran to her.

“The Elements of Harmony are far more than whatever pretty rocks they were. They’re the best parts of what makes us all ponies, and they’ve been here all along!”

Across the farthest flung reaches of Equestria, from the snowy peaks bordering the Griffon Kingdom, to the burning deserts of the mild west, to the deep waters outside Baltimare, and a few places deep in the dark heart of the Everfree Forest piles of otherwise unremarkable dust began to glow, and vanished.

“Applejack, who made me realize my friends don’t care about my past, represents honesty. Fluttershy, who healed the ponies you sent after us just because they were ponies, represents kindness. Pinkie Pie, who taught us to laugh in the face of the fears and nightmares you made us suffer, represents laughter. Rarity, who gave me her trust, lessons in magic, and gave up her chance to have one of the Elements of Harmony, represents generosity. And Rainbow Dash, who turned her back on you when you offered her the world in order to stay with her friends, represents loyalty.”

“You foal!” Nightmare Moon’s horn began to crackle dangerously. She wasn’t holding back anymore. “You only have five Elements, and I’ll blast you out of reality itself before you can find the sixth!”

“Wrong!” Twilight shouted. “My friends got us all this far, and now I know that our friendship is the spark we were looking for all along. That spark, the strength from my friends, the friendship that lives in all ponies, creates the sixth element, the Element of magic!”

A light flashed through the room, and though Twilight shut her eyes against it the light wasn’t in the least bit painful. Even with her eyes closed Twilight somehow knew that the weight that settled on her head was a magnificent gold wrought crown with a six pointed magenta star adorning its peak. In the same way she knew each of her friends now wore necklaces in the shape of their cutie marks. Butterflies for Fluttershy, a lightning bolt for Rainbow Dash, balloons for Pinkie Pie, a quill for Applejack, and a small mining pick for Rarity. They’d done it, they’d found the Elements of Harmony.

And not a moment too soon. With a scream of alien rage Nightmare Moon’s horn unleashed a torrent of magic that made Twilight’s attack look like a filly making her first tries at magic. The Elements of Harmony were a completely unknown power to Twilight Sparkle, but somehow she knew exactly how to channel the unbelievable power into a bubble of pure light that met Nightmare Moon’s best effort to kill them.

“No!” Nightmare Moon’s shout held a note of desperation. “I did not spend a thousand years exiled in the moon, bend the heavens themselves to my will, and defeat Celestia herself only to be bested by a whore!”

There was a time that insult would have stung Twilight deeply, but that time had passed the moment she’d realized what kind of friends she’d made over the last six weeks. Nightmare Moon pumped more power into her attack until the stones of the castle, each bigger than a full grown stallion, began to crack. Safe inside the protection granted by the Elements of Harmony Twilight could have withstood the attack forever. But every second she waited ponies all across Equestria were suffering without the sun.

It was time for this to end.

The shield took on all the colors of the rainbow and Nightmare Moon’s attack disappeared in a column of rainbow light that streaked towards her.

The would be ruler of Equestria cringed and screamed as the Elements of Harmony surrounded her in a tornado of light. The stones blasted from the walls onto the floor began to lift into the air from the sheer power Twilight was harnessing through her friends. A soundless roar of power drowned Nightmare Moon out. Twilight opened her eyes to a world of pure white light that pulsed with color for a brief instant, and then blackness.

Twilight blinked her eyes as she returned to consciousness. Her head felt like a tribe of buffaloes had decided to use it as the stage for a week long dance festival. She heard groans from her friends and gathered that they were in much the same position. They were alive. Somehow they’d beaten Nightmare Moon. Now she could look for her parents and her… Twilight bolted upright, and even though her legs felt like jelly she ran to the remains of the door back into the castle and practically threw herself through.

Shining Armor had a nasty looking lump on his head, but his chest was steadily rising and falling. Her friends must have knocked him out when Twilight went into the throne room so they could break down the door. Only after seeing her brother alive and well did it truly begin to sink in that they’d done the impossible. Nightmare Moon had been powerful enough to beat Celestia and to stop the sun and moon in their tracks, and they’d found the one thing in all Equestria that could beat her.

Twilight staggered back into the throne room to see her friends back on their hooves. The sight of all her friends moving around brought her almost as much relief as knowing her brother would be okay. The relief lasted only a few seconds though as she saw Rarity pointing, and the others looking, at what looked like a pony lying near where Nightmare Moon had been.

No, after all they’d been through, after finding the Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon couldn’t still be alive. Could she? Ever so cautiously Twilight crept towards the dais to look at the mysterious pony. She was definitely a mare, definitely an Alicorn, but she didn’t look like Nightmare Moon. This new pony was smaller than Nightmare Moon for one thing. She was about the same size as Twilight’s brother. Her coat was the color of the dusk sky, and her solid mane was only a marginally lighter shade. What caught Twilight’s attention was the pony’s cutie mark. Like Nightmare Moon’s it was a crescent moon, but this was a white moon on a splotch of fur the color of Nightmare Moon’s whole coat.

“I don’t know girls.” Twilight turned back to the others. “She doesn’t look like Nightmare Moon, but she has the same cutie mark and she’s right where Nightmare Moon was.”

Then Twilight noticed the broken shards of armor lying around the pony. This pony had definitely been Nightmare Moon. The question was, was she still Nightmare Moon?

And then Twilight’s attention was captured by the most wonderful sight she’d ever seen. Light began to pour through the many rents and openings in the throne room as the eastern sky brightened and the sun began to rise over the horizon.

“Twilight Sparkle.” A voice full of authority boomed.

The mysterious pony forgotten Twilight looked around for the source of the voice. She didn’t look long before a point of light descended from the quickly rising sun to resolve itself into Celestia herself.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said, “I am sorry.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. Had her parents not made it through all this, had being mind controlled done something to Shining Armor, had she used the Elements wrong and now she was dying? She quickly began to hyperventilate as she thought about what could be bad enough Princess Celestia needed to apologize in advance of the bad news.

Then Celestia bowed before her. Now Twilight was really confused.

“Years ago Twilight Sparkle, I did something horrible to you.” Celestia straightened upright with sadness in her eyes. “I knew that Nightmare Moon would be returning on the thousandth year since I defeated her, and that I could not defeat her on my own this time. I began searching for ponies who could wield the Elements of Harmony, and I believed one of those ponies could be you.”

Twilight had gone beyond confusion. She was going to have to hear everything Celestia had to say before she even started trying to piece it all together.

“I devised a special test for your entrance examination to my school to make sure you were who I thought you were. You saw firsthand what Nightmare Moon is capable of and I hope you understand how afraid I was that I might send the wrong ponies against her and cause all Equestria to suffer under eternal night. But having lived so long myself I forgot how young you were when you took your test and how much growing you and your magic still had to do.”

Celestia had given her a special test? Twilight hadn’t ever thought about it, but it made sense that most ponies wouldn’t try to hatch dragon eggs as fillies. What would her life have been like if she’d gone to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns? Certainly she never would have gone to work at Touchy Hooves, and Shining Armor would probably be far beyond a second lieutenant in the guards.

“I wish that were the only thing I had done to wrong you. But you see I can accept students into my schools regardless of what the ponies who run it day to day might recommend. I know that they think less of ponies of lower classes merely because of their birth, and I use my selections to pick talented ponies who can help bring other commoners to better lives, and hopefully show the nobility that ability is more important that birth. In your case though I let my doubts get the better of me and allowed them to keep you out merely because you were not of noble birth. And for my folly I nearly brought about the disaster I sought to prevent.”

“It, it’s not your fault Princess.” Twilight finally managed to get a few words out. “I mean out of all the ponies in Equestria there’s no reason to think I’d ever be special.”

“No!” Celestia’s sharp voice caused Twilight’s mouth to snap shut. “You are a special pony Twilight Sparkle. You are all special ponies. Each and every one of my subjects is special and precious in their own way. I allowed fear and doubt to cloud my judgment and all Equestria paid the price for it. You all performed magnificently to save Equestria. You all discovered who you truly are, and it is no surprise that those of you looking for your cutie marks on this adventure found them.”

Twilight looked up at Celestia. What was she talking about? Twilight hadn’t… She looked down at her flank. There it was. A purple six pointed star over a smaller white six pointed star surrounded by five small white six pointed stars. Twilight Sparkle had finally gotten her cutie mark.

She didn’t realize she’d started crying until her friends all piled on her in a giant hug. Why was she at the bottom of the hug again?

“Princess,” Rarity cautiously said as the pony pile separated, “you said you suspected Twilight might be one of the ponies to use the Elements of Harmony. I never asked, but is that why you made me your student when I first came to Canterlot?”

Celestia sighed before looking out at the rising sun and speaking. “After my failure with Twilight Sparkle I doubted my ability to find and guide the ponies who would bear the Elements of Harmony. After a few years I came up with a different plan. I would find a talented pony who could find and guide the Element bearers in my stead after Nightmare Moon returned. When I made my choice after my search I knew about Trixie’s underhanded methods to gain the spot, but I knew that Nightmare Moon would not play fair and I thought that a pony who could do the same would have an advantage. And then you showed up. I did originally only see you out of curiosity over the scope of your claim, but when I saw you I knew you would be one of the ponies to bear the Elements of Harmony. And this time I wouldn’t let any other ponies dissuade me from it.”

“Sorry,” Twilight interrupted during a pause, “but if you don’t mind my asking, how did you know that we might be able to use the Elements of Harmony?”

“There are certain perks to being a princess.” Celestia smiled. “Once I was sure Rarity would wield one of the Elements I began to train her for the task. In fact I trained her to take the role I had hoped you would have Twilight. I kept training Trixie to help Rarity find the other Elements and guide their ponies, but it seems that Trixie’s pride overcame her better nature. She and I will have a long talk when we are finished here.”

Up till now Celestia had been gracious and polite, but as she spoke of Trixie, Twilight remembered that this single pony was the reason Equestria had only a token police force and virtually no military.

Celestia continued. “I had my doubts about Trixie as the time drew near. She seemed increasingly resentful of Rarity, and she constantly complained that she was not being treated like she deserved. I had thought that when Nightmare Moon returned and Trixie saw the true gravity of the situation that she would realize why I had acted as I had. It is one more failure of mine to have not seen Trixie’s betrayal coming. Because of her many ponies voluntarily bound themselves to Nightmare Moon. Ponies like Shining Armor only served Nightmare Moon under a spell they could not hope to fight, but those ponies who donned black robes did so knowing what it meant. And thanks to Trixie there are still a great many of those ponies, and ponies who allowed Nightmare Moon to bring out the worst in them bringing suffering to a great deal of Equestria. I know I have asked too much of all of you already, but I hope that you will help me to bring those ponies who served Nightmare Moon to justice.”

Twilight and her friends had only to look at each other before they turned back to Celestia and said that whatever she needed of them they would do.

“You have my thanks, and the thanks of all well meaning ponies across Equestria. And hopefully we will have another ally when my sister wakes up.”

Sister? Twilight watched as Celestia walked over to the pony lying where Nightmare Moon had stood.

Celestia looked her apparent sister over, and apparently satisfied turned back to the others. “A thousand years ago my sister, Princess Luna, allowed her jealousy to turn into envy, which turned into hatred, and that hatred corrupted her into the creature of darkness you knew as Nightmare Moon. She sought to bring about an eternal night and an age of evil. I could only use the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the moon. You ponies however were able to unlock the full potential of the Elements of Harmony to purge Nightmare Moon and bring back Princess Luna. That is yet one more thing I must thank you for.”

“There is one last thing I would ask,” Celestia said. “I appear to be lacking an apprentice after recent events, and I’ve grown rather used to having one. Twilight Sparkle, I understand you recently graduated from a rather prestigious college but that you are still looking for a job.”

Twilight could only sputter incoherently. Was Princess Celestia asking her to…

“Sorry Rarity,” Celestia laughed, “I know you’d hoped to have Twilight come work for you when you defeated Nightmare Moon, but this once I think I’m going to invoke my royal prerogative.”

“All right!” Pinkie Pie leapt into the air and threw confetti she’d gotten from nowhere Twilight could see. “We did it girls! Now let’s party!”

--

“Spike!” Twilight shouted. “Spike!”

“Coming!” Came the reply from one of the many other rooms of the suite Twilight had inherited.

Twilight had accepted Celestia’s offer, of course, and had moved into Trixie’s old quarters in one of the towers. She knew that Trixie had had a rather inflated opinion of herself, but the unicorn had put a mirror on every wall to see her reflection, and pretty much every spare bit of wall was taken up with portraits of Trixie. The first thing Twilight had done had been to have those removed.

The other thing Twilight had inherited was Spike. Celestia had tasked the baby dragon to be Trixie’s assistant and companion. Trixie had apparently ignored the latter responsibility and interpreted the first as being a beast of burden and a living message sender. Despite having private rooms almost the size of Twilight’s old apartment building Trixie had put Spike in the smallest and barest closet and forbade him to come out unless she called for him. The second thing Twilight had done in her new home was to give Spike the run of the place and let him know that he could sleep wherever he chose.

Her new assistant had been more than okay with that new arrangement. Spike had also proven quite useful in another way. Since the Summer Sun Celebration Twilight had become rather accustomed to having other ponies around. Now though all her friends had gone back to their homes to check up on their families. Twilight had dearly wanted to go look for her parents, but Shining Armor had recovered rather quickly from being controlled by Nightmare Moon and Celestia had given him a leave from his duties as a royal guard to go make sure their parents were safe and sound.

They would all be back in a few days and then they could start thinking about what to do next. Celestia had decided that the worst thing she could do to Trixie would be to show her mercy. A small room in the lowest level of the lowest dungeon with no mirrors, only bread and water, and a guard coming by twice a day to read off exactly what Trixie had done to deserve her punishment. And oh yes, an enchantment placed on Trixie that would force her to eat her meals and prevent her from harming herself. Trixie would, Celestia assured her, live a very long life.

The only sign of Gilda they’d found was blood, feathers, and broken tree limbs where she’d fallen in the forest. Twilight didn’t know if the griffon was still alive to nurse her grudge against Rainbow Dash, but with Celestia returned to power Twilight did know that Gilda would think long and hard about ever setting hoof back in Equestria.

As for Princess Luna she still hadn’t woken up since being separated from Nightmare Moon. Celestia had told them that having been controlled by Nightmare Moon for so long Luna would be awhile in finding herself and coming back to consciousness. But Celestia was confident that her sister would awake before too long, and that when she did Luna would prove a powerful ally.

That still left several thousands of Nightmare Children and other ponies who’d thrown in their lot with Nightmare Moon or done more than dabble with dark magic during the long night. The royal guards and police would handle most of the now leaderless rabble. But there were still a number of dangerous and powerful ponies who had worked with Nightmare Moon and couldn’t take it back once Celestia returned. They would have to be apprehended or otherwise dealt with by Twilight and her friends.

“What did you want?” Spike came running into the large sunlit room.

“Slow down there Spike,” Twilight laughed, “you don’t have to make Rainbow Dash look slow every time I call.”

Twilight had gotten the impression that when Celestia hadn’t been around Trixie had been a bit less than magnanimous to Spike and he’d learned to come running when summoned.

“I know,” Spike said, “I’m just excited to be working with somepony who’s not totally self absorbed. And you’re actually friends with Rarity! Do you uh, think you could put in a good word for me with her?”

Twilight laughed again. “Simmer down there Romeo. Rarity won’t be back for a few days, and Princess Celestia has plenty for us to do in the meantime. Item one on the list is to give her a written account of everything that happened from the Summer Sun Celebration to when we beat Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony.”

“This is going to mean a lot of writing isn’t it?” Spike groaned.

“I’ll take you out for a basket of gems when we’re done.” Twilight rubbed his spines with a hoof. “Now here goes. Dear Princess Celestia.”

-The End-

Thank you all so much for coming along on the ride that was this story. If you had half as much fun reading it as I had writing it then you are some happy campers indeed.

Comments

[sarokcat]

an interesting and amusing finish. be kinda fun to see an epiloge or two for this.. but just leaving it here is awesome as well. Great story and quite entertaining!

[Havok SCOUT]

Awesome. I am quite partial to the alternate universe stories because I had an idea for one a while ago, so it makes me happy to see one so well written, and even happier when it ends. Good job, Tortfeasor. I hope to see more good stories from you.

[canius]

Interesting what would have ahappened if .. whoa

[i_am_the_jam]

Excellent. And here I thought Twilight was going to defeat NM by convincing her that no one hated or feared the night anymore

[sopchoppy]

awesome

[Evilpresident]

Wow... It's over? Too bad actually, because I've greatly enjoyed this story. Thank you for writing such a compelling story.

[SouthernCross]

This could definitely do with an epilogue or two, tie up loose ends here and there.

[alpha142]

I really hope you end up writing another adventure story, because if it is even half as fun to read as this one, then I will be one happy person. I really liked how you didn't pull many punches when it came to what could have happened to everyone had things not gone as in the show. Very fun and exciting to read. Thanks for the awesome story!

[Soft Shell]

Good story, wish trixie could have been redemed though.

[Xaldon Ajide]

Zis is surprising... I thought there would be more readers of this story.

Tis good to read something so refreshing.

[Starlight Nova]

When does Twilight start being badass?

[raw666]

Good job, and great work. But one question of something I may have missed. Who hatched Spike since it was Twilight that hatched the baby dragon? I assume Trixie, but I wonder how since she never shown that advance form of magic as a adult, let alone a foal.

[Tortfeasor]

4032553

Honestly, I did not give much thought to that during the writing process. I assumed it away by figuring that either a: Celestia hatched him, or b: Spike hatched naturally.

[Commander Jenna Cipher]

This is amazing... Not only does it present an intriguing alternate reality, but this version of Equestria is much more mature (which is very refreshing) and (even if only a bit) less sheltered, there was more time for personality development, awesome fight scenes, and frankly, the story was overall badass. Dare i say it's better than the episode it's based on...

[Tortfeasor]

5595405

Thank you very much for the praise! Ironically, one of the things I would do if I had this story to do over again would be to add on a few more chapters to lengthen some of the character arcs that, in retrospect, I think I didn't make long enough. Hindsight, however, is 20/20, and, like I said, I appreciate the praise very much.

[Commander Darklight]

5598946 you know i love this story the main reason is trixie is portrayed as complete and total CUNT who is ungrateful ignorant and stuck up just the way i like her
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