Ruin

by RB_

Return

Twilight opened her eyes and found herself once again in that vast, dark expanse of nothing but stars.

Stars and her other self.

“I told you you would need me,” Midnight said.

Twilight grimaced, but said nothing.

“What?” Midnight asked. “Cat got your tongue? You’re going to get lonely in here if you won’t talk to me.”

“Just hold up your end of the deal,” Twilight said.

Midnight tapped her chin with a finger. “Deal? I don’t recall making any deal.”

“I set you free,” Twilight said. “You owe me.”

“Do I now?” Midnight said. “I think that’s awfully presumptuous of you, Twilight.”

Twilight glared at her counterpart. “I don’t care. Just get Sunset to Canterlot.”

“And what if I don’t want to?” Midnight said. “Sunset was the whole reason I got pulled out of you in the first place. It was all I could do to squeeze myself into that little disk. Why should I help her?”

“Because,” Twilight said. “You owe me.”

Midnight’s smile was venomous. “Hm… I’ll think about it.”

“Midnight!”

“No promises.”

“But—”

“You’re kind of an idiot, aren’t you Twilight?” Midnight said. “Releasing me over something so trivial. I don’t owe you anything, Twilight.”

She smiled.

“But I’ll think about it. Maybe. If I decide not to take my revenge first.”

“Don’t you dare hurt Sunset!” Twilight shouted.

“You’re not in charge of me,” Midnight said. “I do what I want, not what you want.”

“You can’t—”

“Well, it’s been fun,” Midnight said. “But I really have to get going. The real world awaits. Oh, I’m so glad you finally freed me; I can’t wait to stretch my wings again. Goodbye, Twilight.”

“Wait—”

Midnight faded away, leaving Twilight alone amongst the stars.

---

Midnight Sparkle floated in the center of the tent. Sunset could only look on in awe and fear.

“Oh, it feels good to be back,” Midnight said. She conjured up a ball of magical flame and tossed it from one hand to the other.

“What are—what are you doing here?” Sunset asked, her voice catching in her throat. “How can you be here? You were destroyed!”

“Hardly,” Midnight said. “You never destroyed me. Just cleansed me from Twilight. I survived, and she kept me as a sample. Half of her knowledge of magic came from experimenting with me.”

Midnight smiled. “I’m practically the reason her little ‘Can-Opener’ even exists. She used me to calibrate it.”

“Then… you escaped?”

Midnight scoffed. “Hardly! Twilight freed me. On purpose.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Oh, some nonsense about helping you get to Canterlot,” Midnight said. She floated the ball of fire on her index finger, let it spin. “Her last-ditch attempt to open a new portal to Equestria.”

“Then… she freed you… because of me?”

Midnight narrowed her eyes and smiled an evil smile. “Exactly.”

Sunset’s eyes grew wide. Mer mind whirled. Her heart sank into her stomach.

She grit her teeth. Now was not the time. She could deal with all of that later. For now…

Sunset stood up.

“Alright then,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Midnight laughed. “You really think I’d help you? After what you did to me at the Friendship Games? I don’t think so.”

Her mad smile grew even wider. “I should just get rid of you,” she said. She flicked the ball of fire at Sunset. It landed about a foot away from her, scorching through the tarp. Sunset did her best not to flinch.

“But you won’t,” Sunset said.

“Oh, won’t I?” Midnight said, and scoffed. “What twisted gnarl of logic let you come to that conclusion?”

“You’re an avatar of pure curiosity,” Sunset said. “The only reason you were such a danger last time was because you were willing to tear apart all of reality to see what made it tick. You didn’t want to hurt anyone, you just didn’t care. You just wanted to know.”

“True enough,” Midnight said.

“So then we have a shared goal,” Sunset said, trying to act confident despite the hammering in her chest. “Don’t you want to know what happened to Equestria?”

Midnight stopped.

“I know how much it’s eating me up inside,” Sunset continued. “To you, a being fueled by Twilight’s insatiable need to understand things, it must be almost unbearable.”

She tapped her chin. “Well,” she said. “You’re not wrong. But what’s stopping me from going to Equestria without you?”

“You’re a magical being,” Sunset said. “You wouldn’t survive.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong,” Midnight said. “I know how to protect against the magic drain.”

“You… what?” Sunset said. She hadn’t expected that answer.

Midnight grinned. “You three never figured it out, did you? Twilight should have freed me sooner, it would have saved you all a lot of headaches.”

“How?”

“Well, if you’ll allow me to explain,” Midnight said, floating down to the ground. “Twilight wasn’t far off in her estimations of what’s causing the magic drain. It is a form of anti-magic—particles diametrically opposed to magic itself. When they come in contact with magically-charged particles, both are destroyed. This acts like salt absorbing water; it slowly leeches the magic out of anything it comes in contact with.”

“Anti-magic,” Sunset breathed.

“Equestria is flooded with it,” Midnight said.

“Why?”

Midnight scowled. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t need to go there.”

“So… how do you counteract it?”

“What, you haven’t guessed by now?” Midnight said. She gestured towards the Can-Opener. “With a precise mix of electromagnetic radiation and archano-electric energy—the same field that Twilight’s little machine generates when it opens the portal.”

“Then… this whole time—”

Midnight laughed. “Not just that,” she said. “That field? It’s the only thing that’s stopped the anti-magic from flowing into this reality as well.”

The colour drained from Sunset’s face as realization set in. “Then… the anti-magic could have been released here, too?”

“Why did you think your Princess Twilight shattered the mirror?” Midnight said. “It was to keep the magically-inclined pony-siders safe.” She grinned again. “The only reason the pony-siders are still alive is because Twilight got lucky. You were this close to killing everyone you were trying to save, and you didn’t even know it.”

Sunset’s knees went weak, all of a sudden; it took everything she had to keep from falling back to the ground. If what Midnight was saying was true…

“Well, not entirely lucky," Midnight said. "I may have influenced her thinking a little bit in order to manipulate her into freeing me—if all the pony-siders had died, it would have ruined my opportunity. But to answer your earlier question, all I have to do is erect a barrier with the same properties of the field generated by the Can-Opener, and the anti-magic won’t even be able to touch me.”

Sunset shook her head. There was nothing to be gained by thinking about that now. She had to keep cool if she wanted to get out of this unscathed.

“You still need me,” Sunset said.

“And why is that?”

“You know nothing about Equestria. It’s my home; I can guide you.”

“Need you? I think you underestimate my intelligence.”

“But it would make everything a whole lot simpler if you had a guide, wouldn’t it?” Sunset said. “You can take whatever revenge on me you want later. But only after we get to Canterlot.”

Midnight seemed to ponder that offer.

“You know what? Fine,” she said at last. “I’ll take you along.”

Sunset let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“But mark my words,” Midnight said, her eyes narrowing. “I will have my revenge on you, Sunset Shimmer.”

“That’s fine,” Sunset said. “After what I made Twilight do, maybe I deserve it.”

She was gambling with her life.

But gambling was all she could do.

---

Sunset stepped through the tear in reality and set her boot down in Equestria.

They weren’t in the library—Midnight’s new portal had taken them to somewhere in the middle of Ponyville. Sunset didn’t recognize where, but a quick scan of the horizon revealed the location of Twilight’s castle, obscured as it was by the dust.

Midnight floated in after her. A crackling spherical barrier surrounded her, gave her protection from the anti-magic that had consumed this place.

“Alright,” Midnight said. “Where’s Canterlot?”

“If that’s Twilight’s castle,” Sunset said, pointing, “then Canterlot should be…” She ran her finger along the horizon. “…over there.”

“Okay,” Midnight said. “She lifted a hand and her barrier expanded; Sunset felt a tingle as it encompassed her. Sunset rose into the air, surrounded by an aura of magic. “Here we go!”

Midnight flapped her wings; a purely symbolic gesture, as her propulsion was magical. The two of them flew away from the ground at speed, Sunset’s stomach turning over as the ground rapidly receded.

As their altitude increased, so did their horizontal speed. Ponyville zoomed by below them.

“You know, if I dropped you from this height, it would probably break all two-hundred and six bones in your body,” Midnight said.

Sunset swallowed.

Soon, they were flying just below the thicker dust clouds that choked the sky. Sunset was thankful for her respirator mask.

They flew for some time.

---

A shadow in the dust loomed over the two of them.

Midnight looked up towards the summit of the mountain, hidden by the clouds. “This is the Canterhorn?”

Sunset nodded. “Canterlot is built onto the east side of it.”

“It’s huge!” Midnight exclaimed. “Taller than it is wide? That’s unusual for a mountain. How does something like this form?”

Sunset shrugged. “It was like this when ponies first settled here, as far as the historical records describe.”

“Fascinating,” Midnight said. She sounded just like Twilight.

“Keep yourself focused on the mystery at hand,” Sunset said.

Midnight pouted, but they began to rise all the same.

---

Sunset braced herself as they floated down to the street. Midnight set her down gently, and her boots made quick contact with the paved road. The dust was thick, here.

They had arrived.

Sunset looked around. This was the first time she’d been here in five years, but it still felt familiar. Too familiar.

“Alright,” Midnight said. “We’ve made it to Canterlot. Now where?”

“The castle,” Sunset said. “It’s the only place I can think of. I’ll lead the way.”

They traveled through the streets, Sunset walking, Midnight floating along behind her. The streets of Canterlot were no longer the pristine wonder that they had once been. The buildings here were mostly made of stone, unlike the wooden homes of Ponyville, so they still stood, but everything was choked under the thick clouds of dust. The plants in the flowerboxes were dead; the flags and decorations hung limp and moth-eaten.

And then there were the bodies.

Sunset inhaled sharply. Bones littered the ground, laid down in pony-shaped piles and picked clean. Sunset had to weave her way through them as she made her way through the streets.

“This is… this is horrible,” she said. Midnight said nothing.

They continued onwards.

---

“There’s the castle,” Sunset said, pointing. Sure enough, there it was, or rather its shadow, appearing dark through the thick clouds.

“And you’re sure that’s where we need to go,” Midnight said.

“Well, no,” Sunset admitted. “But I don’t know where else Princess Twilight would have been headed”

They kept moving. Soon, however, Sunset noticed something.

“The bodies are gone,” she said.

“Hm?” Midnight looked around. “You’re right.”

Unlike before, the streets were clear of bones. Sunset cast her thoughts back. Had they become lesser the closer they got to the castle? She supposed they had.

“What does that mean?” Sunset asked.

“How should I know?” Midnight said. “Perhaps someone has been collecting them?”

“That would mean that someone’s still alive out here,” Sunset said. Her heart jumped at the possibility.

Eventually, after much walking (floating, in Midnight’s case), they reached the gate to Canterlot Castle. The walls stood tall around it, but the gate itself was largely ornamental, golden and intricately decorated.

It was also open.

Sunset swallowed. Even after all this time, even under the desperate circumstances they found themselves in, she still hesitated. The castle was intimidating; like it was telling her that she wasn’t welcome inside.

“What’s the hold up?” Midnight said.

“Nothing,” Sunset said. She exhaled, and stepped forward.

They passed through the gate and were greeted by the tall towers and parapets of the castle.

“Pretty impressive,” Midnight said. “I wouldn’t mind living in a castle like this. Maybe I’ll conjure one up later… after I’ve dealt with you.”

Sunset ignored the comment.

“So now where?” Midnight asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sunset admitted. “Maybe the throne room?”

“You don’t sound very confident, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I’m not,” she said.

Regardless, they started forwards…

…And then came a voice, not Sunset’s nor Midnight’s. It was small, and disbelieving.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

It came from behind them. It was a voice Sunset knew fairly well.

Sunset spun about. Her eyes fell on the speaker’s diminutive figure.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“…Spike?”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

“You know, if I dropped you from this height, it would probably break all two-hundred and six bones in your body,” Midnight said.

”Even the ones in my ears?”
“Should you really be asking an avatar of curiosity that question? I might try to find out.”

And that last bit… Well, it makes sense. We know Ember’s survived thus far. Now to see where this new development leads.

[Sovks]

“…Spike?”

I can't believed I forgot about him... Oh jeez, was he the one who cleaned up the bodies? Poor spike

[twilywily]

TWILIGHT STAYED BACK FOR SPIKE aa my gosh !!! this story is so good