Chapter 31 - AcreuBall
The first thing Twilight saw as the glow from the TPT around Sunset’s neck faded was Skylark, standing right in front of them.
“Oh good, you’re back. All things considered, that was actually pretty fast—”
Skylark broke off as she noticed the second Twilight they had returned with, one that bore both wings and a horn.
“This... you—” Skylark’s face contorted and her horn lit. Her magic glow snapped out and grabbed up the husk of Lady Sparkle. “What are you doing, you idiots?! She’s trapped you in her spell, too, and—!
“No!” Twilight cried out. “She’s not—there’s nothing left of her!”
The Twilight floated in the air, eyes wide in the magic aura. “What’s happening?!” She spun slowly, flailing around in the air, panicked. “Is this... magic?”
Skylark let her down, slowly, gently, but kept her horn ready. “What happened?”
Sunset relayed the events that had just occurred to Skylark as Twilight held the trembling husk of Lady Sparkle close. As Sunset spoke, the tension drained from Skylark. As Sunset finished, Skylark hung her head, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow.
Skylark looked up at her Twilight, a calm, sad smile on her face. “Well now what do I do with you?”
The darting eyes of a fearful Lady Sparkle, the Sparkle of the Last Dying Star, ruler of the Twive mind, came to rest on the pony in front of her. Her face relaxed as she met Skylark’s gaze. Lady Sparkle tilted her head. “Who are you?” She took a step closer to Skylark. “I feel... happy when I look at you.
Skylark’s smile turned pained, and she blinked rapidly. “I’m happy when I look at you, too.”
A soft light and a gentle pop broke the silence. A portal opened up near Lady Sparkle, and a black orb emerged and drifted toward her.
It’s her Midnight!
What?
From the Container of Midnight! It must be hers that she removed from herself!
Then it must have been just floating around since they were released, unable to return to its host until—
Until someone made space. This could be bad.
The spot of darkness pressed up against Lady Sparkle’s forehead, the unicorn doing nothing but watching curiously.
The orb passed into her, and she blinked. Then her eyes darted around wildly, and she sank to her knee. Skylark shot forward to wrap a foreleg around her.
“Are you alright? What’s happening?”
“I... I remember...”
Okay, I’m taking over. Time for a fight.
Just hang on! Maybe—
Nope. We gave her a chance, now she’s back. It’s blasting time.
Twilight felt her horn charge with magic.
Midnight! Hang on just a minute.
Her horn remained charged, but nothing else happened.
Midnight, please.
The magic dissipated.
Alright. I’ll trust you.
Thanks.
Twilight watched on.
Lady Sparkle closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was looking calmly at Skylark.
“You... you’re my Sunset.” She glanced around. “There’s another Sunset here, and you’re supposed to be orange, not blue, but... I know it. I can feel it. You’re my Sunset.”
Skylark smiled. A real smile. “Yeah. I’m your Sunset.” She looked to the side. “Um, what’s the last thing you remember?”
“The last memory... it’s hazy, I’m not sure, but—I remember removing my Midnight. After that, there’s nothing distinct.”
“Okay, one question—if I say ‘Skylarks and Nightingales,’ does that mean anything to you?”
“Those are... birds, right?”
“Wonderful.”
Okay, you were right.
Thanks for saying so.
Midnight said nothing.
And Midnight?
Yeah?
I’m glad you’re back.
Yeah, me too.
Twilight felt like a part of her mind was blushing, and she smiled.
They walked back to the epicenter of what was once a giant magical shield worshiped as a god, where four figures stood and one lay.
Shining Armor was on a makeshift pallet, Twily and Serena tending to him. He looked gaunt, with hollow rings of darkness around his eyes, but he smiled at them for a moment before all eyes turned to the new arrival.
“Um, should we be—?” started Spike.
“No, she’s a friend now,” said Skylark.
“Right. Reforming villains,” said Twily. “I’m impressed—that’s usually a Twilight thing.”
“Well Sunsets can do it, too,” said Sunset, with a confidant nod.
“Technically—” began Twilight.
“Shush. Let me have this,” said Sunset.
Everyone present looked appeased save one. Amblejoy stepped forward.
“She’s a mass murderer, Skylark,” she said evenly. “You can’t just say she’s ‘reformed’ and be done with it, you know.”
“The mass-murderer part of her got absorbed by a demi-god of chaos,” replied Skylark, calmly.
“Which was, well, actually all of her, really,” said Twilight. “Anyway, we saw it happen. She’s not a threat anymore.”
You don’t know that! What are you basing that off of?
Um, the magic of friendship, the power of love, and a whole lot of optimism?
Fantastic.
Amblejoy tilted her head and said, “We can’t just ignore what she did.”
Skylark sighed. “So it seems you’re going to be pedantic about this.”
“I’m not being—she has to answer for her crimes!” She stepped forward, her horn lighting up. “We have to give her to the authorities.”
The others took a step back from the two unicorns, though the former Lady Sparkle stayed where she was, pressed timidly to Skylark’s side.
“What, put her on trial?” asked Skylark with a smirk. “Who’s going to run something like that? No way. She’s leaving with me.”
“This can’t be the first time there’s been a multidimensional megalomaniac,” said Amblejoy. “I won’t stand by and let her escape again!”
Skylark pushed Lady Sparkle behind her and leveled her horn at Amblejoy.
Twilight glanced at Sunset, who looked as tense as she did.
“We should give her a chance!” said Sunset, firmly, stepping forward. “She’s reverted back—she’s reunited with her Midnight! She’s not Lady Sparkle anymore.”
“But she’s the pony that turned into Lady Sparkle,” Amblejoy shot back. “I’m not saying anything crazy, here. I’m just saying we can’t let Skylark whisk her off somewhere to become Lady Sparkle all over again!”
Twilight chewed the inside of her lip. It was clear the others were not going to get involved. Twily was shaking her head while holding hoof to Shining Armor’s shoulder, who was trying to get up. Serena looked on, sadly. Spike paced back and forth.
“She was a monster,” said Amblejoy. “She murdered Sunsets and brainwashed a hundred Twilights. She was the biggest threat to the multiverse either of us are likely to ever see. You can’t honestly want to protect her after all this. And what about your Applejack? What about the world you were living in?”
“AJ and that world can wait. I’m going to ask the Sunset in there,” said Skylark, nodding at Amblejoy. “There’s one in there, right? Along with a Twilight and Starlight? Well.” She grinned. “If there was a chance to save her, is there anything you wouldn’t do for your Twilight?”
With a flash there were three Skylarks, all moving in different directions—one went for the TPT around Sunset’s neck, one pulled Lady Sparkle off to the side, and one charged directly at Amblejoy.
“Blasted glamour magic,” Amblejoy muttered as she sent three rays lancing out at each of the Skylarks. “But I got three minds in here. Three minds, three targets! You should have thought that one through!”
The rays passed through the Skylarks, leaving not a trace as the three illusions vanished. Then the TPT around Sunset’s neck pulled free, wreathed in a magic aura, and sailed over to a suddenly prone Lady Sparkle. Skylark reappeared on top of Twilight, her invisibility gone, TPT around her neck. “Ha, real me was invisible! Oldest trick in the book!”
Skylark tore open the TPT and flung out the core Amblejoy had put in previously, leaving only a chaos-magic-riddled device. “This thing’s going to send chaos rippling through a dozen different dimensions when I portal out of here,” she said as she fired it up. “Good luck trying to follow me.”
With a blink, Skylark and Lady Sparkle slid into the multiverse.
Amblejoy let out a sigh. “Well, this ought to keep me busy for awhile.” She inserted the core back into her TPT shell and handed it to Twilight. “Here you take this one.” She turned away. “Spike! Let’s get working on another TPT and start isolating dimensions with that chaos signature. I’m not letting those two get away.”
Twilight glanced over at Sunset, but she was looking away. Twilight followed her gaze to Shining Armor and Twily.
“You should go talk to them,” said Twilight gently.
“Yeah, I know,” said Sunset quietly. “But Shining Armor... doesn’t look so good.”
“You don’t have to do it alone.” Twilight sidled up to her and nuzzled her briefly, blushing profusely. “I-I’m right beside you. Come on.”
Sunset smiled. “Alright.”
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opens my mouth to mention Stella but closes it
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