> Anniversary in an Alternate World
>  by EquineAvenger
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was supposed to be a perfect day; the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadance for short, to Captain Shining Armor of the royal guard. However, things didn’t turn out quite as perfect as everypony expected. The bride-to-be wasn’t what she appeared to be. Before the wedding, Princess Cadance was abducted and impersonated by Chrysalis, the queen of a race of insect-like, love-sucking, shapeshifters called changelings. The only one who even suspected something suspicious about the so-called bride was Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor’s younger sister. Unfortunately, when she tried to warn everypony, the imposter already had them wrapped around her hooves. Shining Armor banished his sister from the wedding. Not a single one of Twilight’s friends, all whom the imposter manipulated by making them her bride’s maids, supported her. Even Princess Celestia, Cadance’s aunt and Twilight’s mentor, turned her back on her faithful student. By the time the real Cadance was found and the truth was revealed, it was too late. Chrysalis’s army had overrun Canterlot and she had consumed enough of Shining Armor’s love to defeat Celestia in battle. It looked as if Chrysalis had won.
While Chrysalis was overlooking her soldiers overrun the city from the wedding tower, Twilight snuck up to Cadance. “Quick! Go to him while you still have the chance!” she said to her old foalsitter and used her magic to dissolve the green substance that held her hooves to the floor like glue.
Cadance approached her beloved Shining Armor and tearfully embraced him. Then she used one of her love spells to free him from the trance Chrysalis had cast on him. “Wha- where… huh? Is…is the wedding over?” he asked dazed.
“It’s all over!” Chrysalis answered him to his face.
“Your spell! Perform your spell!” Twilight called to her brother.
The changeling queen chuckled. “What good would that do? My changelings already roam free.”
“No!” Shining Armor exclaimed as he saw the vile creatures flying everywhere in the city, the city that he was tasked to protect. He attempted to perform his repulsion spell to repel them but it was no use, he was too weak. “My power is useless now. I don’t have the strength to repel them.”
“My love will give you strength.” Cadance said moving closer to her groom.
“No you don’t!” Chrysalis yelled. She knew what could happen if she just continued gloating and let them do what they thought they needed to do. So she unleashed a devastating blast at the real bride. The blast made a direct hit on the pink alicorn knocking her body through the air and landing hard on the floor. Twilight, Shining Armor, the rest of the Mane Six, Spike, and Princess Celestia, who was encased in a cocoon prison hanging from the ceiling, gasped in horror. When his bride did not move, Shining Armor rushed over to see if she was okay. “Sorry, but I can’t have anypony mess up everything now that I’ve come this far.” The changeling queen said.
After a moment of examining his bride, a look of absolute horror came across Shining Armor’s face. “She’s… she’s gone!” he said with despair in his voice. Twilight and the others all had looks of horror on their faces, but Twilight had the biggest because she realized that her old foalsitter, the mare who had been like a big sister to her, was dead.
Chrysalis laughed wickedly at everypony’s upset expressions. This caused a look of anger to form on Shining Armor’s face. “Murderer! You-!” but when he turned to face the fiend, he saw that his little sister had already engaged her in battle, and she had an even bigger look of anger on her face.
“How dare you! I swear I’ll make you pay for this, you monster!” Twilight yelled at the queen with pure rage in her voice.
“Oh please, your brother failed to stop, Celestia failed to stop me, and Cadance failed to stop me. What makes you think you will succeed where they failed?” Chrysalis asked mockingly.
Rather than answer the question, Twilight shot a beam of magic at her foe who counted it with a magic beam of her own. Both beams intercepted each other and the two combatants were engaged in a magical power struggle to see whose beam was stronger. For a moment, it looked like Chrysalis had the upper hoof until Twilight began to use a strange magic that the others had never seen before. Her eyes started glowing bright green with purple mist flowing from them and her horn was engulfed in a purple haze. Celestia watched what was happening from her cocoon and she knew what kind of magic Twilight had just discovered. She started desperately bagging on the walls of her prison trying to break free to prevent something terrible from happening, but the cocoon was too strong. Twilight continued her struggle with Chrysalis who was surprised at the dark magic the little unicorn was using. Her surprise soon turned to fear as Twilight’s magic started to overwhelm hers, and eventually sent her flying backwards hitting the wall behind her. As the changeling queen struggled to get back up, she looked and saw her opponent standing over her with hatred and fury in her eyes.
“How… how did you become this powerful? It’s not possible!” Chrysalis asked shocked and fearful. Somehow, this little unicorn had gained a new powerful magic that had made her more powerful than her.
“I’d worry less about me and more about yourself.” Twilight replied in cold tone of voice.
“Wait, this isn’t my fault!” Chrysalis said in a pleading tone.
“Not your fault?! You impersonated and murdered my foalsitter, turned my brother, friends, and mentor against me, and tried to take over all of Canterlot!” Twilight retorted in anger.
“Or did I?” Chrysalis replied slyly. “Don’t you think if Shining Armor really did love Cadance he would’ve seen through my obvious façade? If Cadance was really Princess Celestia’s favorite niece she would’ve known if there was something out of place with her? If your so-called friends really cared about anything besides what they could’ve gained from playing their parts in all this they would’ve known better and followed the pony who had the most common sense?”
As Chrysalis spoke, Twilight’s look of anger slowly changed to a look of realization. But then she went back to glaring hatefully at her foe. “Silence, I’m going to do something we should’ve done a long time ago!” Her horn started giving off a dark aura. The others who were watching began to fear that Twilight was about to make a very terrible decision.
“Don’t listen to her, Twilight!” Applejack called to her friend.
“She’s trying to trick you!” Rarity said too.
Twilight shot them a furious glare. How dare they tell her not to let herself be tricked by this fiend when she tried to do the same to them. 
“Twily, don’t. She's defeated, don't stoop down to her level. Cadance wouldn't want this for you." Shining Armor said rushing to his sister’s side and attempting to calm her down. Twilight used a shield spell to repel him; she wasn’t going to let anypony interfere with her business.
“Twilight, stop!” Celestia called to her student. She had finally managed to break a hole in the cocoon and get the upper half of her body out. “You’re using a dark and terrible magic that will consume you, don’t give in to your negative feelings!” But the princess’s pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Think you’ll ever trust your friends and family again?” Chrysalis said mockingly. “What is the lesson to be learned here?”
With that, Twilight had had enough. With the betrayal of her loved ones to the death of her beloved foalsitter, something had finally snapped. The others watched helplessly as she unleashed one final blast of magic at the trembling changeling queen. Outside, guards were fighting with the insect-like invaders while citizens ran in every direction. But then everyone stopped what they were doing when they all heard a deathly scream from the wedding tower and saw what looked like changeling blood splatter on the windows.

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The day was sunny and things were hopping at the Castle of Friendship. The Mane Six were all getting ready for a big celebration in Canterlot. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were returning to Canterlot to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Everypony was excited, particularly Twilight Sparkle, for this was a rare opportunity to spend some time with her BBBFF and sister-in-law. 
“Is everything ready for tonight, Spike?” Twilight asked her little dragon assistant.
“Let’s see, dresses?” Spike had a list and a pen ready while he looked to see if all the girls were wearing their gowns for the party. “Check. Gifts?” He made a check on the list then looked to see if everypony had the gifts they intended to give. “Check. Invitations?” The Mane Six each showed Spike their invitations. “Check. Awesome dragon assistant?” Spike thought for a moment to see if he was here. “Double check.”
“I can’t believe Gilda actually agreed to come.” Pinkie Pie said excitedly to Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah, it’ll be great to hear how things have improved in Griffonstone.” the rainbow-haired pegasus replied. She couldn’t wait to spend some time with her old friend.
“I can’t wait to hear how Sassy Saddles has been handling the boutique in Canterlot.” Rarity said.
“Discord will be there, and I made him promise to be on his best behavior.” Fluttershy said confidently.
“I’m looking forward to spending some time with my brother and sister-in-law.” Twilight said with anticipation.
“Ah hear ya, sugarcude.” Applejack said to her. “First ya hear that you’re gonna be an aunt and now ya’ll get ta spent some more quality time celebrating the two of them getting married.”
With that, the six ponies and dragon left for Canterlot. An hour later, they all arrived at the castle. 

Later that night, everyone was hanging out in the ballroom. Rainbow and Pinkie met up with Gilda, Fluttershy mingled with Discord, Rarity chatted with Sassy, Applejack and Princess Luna conversed, Spike was helping himself to the buffet table, and Twilight met up with Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and Cadance.
“So Gilda, how are things in Griffonstone?” Rainbow asked her griffon friend.
“Great, ever since you two came and taught me how to bake my griffon scones better, things in Griffonstone have changed for the better.” Gilda replied.
“See, I knew they didn’t need some old piece of gold to be happy.” Pinkie said proudly causing the other two to laugh.
Fluttershy and Discord sat at a table telling each other fun stories.
“Oh Discord, I can’t believe you tripped and fell up the stairs in your house.” Fluttershy chuckled at the Spirit of Chaos’ amusing story. 
“I know, but it’s true.” Discord chuckled back.
Meanwhile, Rarity and Sassy were discussing how the business of the Canterlot boutique was going.
“Wow, over 1000 sales in less than a week.” Rarity exclaimed with amazement.
“Yes, things in Canterlot have been moving fast. I have to say, it’s become a little tricky to keep track of the sales.” Sassy said.
“Well, I’m very proud. Not only with the success of the boutique, but because the ponies of Canterlot are getting all that they need just like in Ponyville.” Rarity said proudly as she put a hoof on her partner’s shoulder.
Elsewhere, Applejack and Princess Luna were having a friendly conversation.
“That’s very interesting. But that’s not how mah family does things.” Applejack said.
“I would very much like to visit your family’s farm, if that’s okay?” Luna asked.
“We would be very honored if you would, Your Highness.” Applejack replied.

While everypony was enjoying the party inside the ballroom, a couple royal guards were patrolling the garden outside. Suddenly, a blinding flash appeared in the middle of the garden. After the light had completely faded, two guards rushed over to investigate. They were greeted with a shocking sight. Sitting where the flash had come was what looked like a heavily breathing stallion with a blue mane and a white coat.

“It is so nice that we get these rare opportunities to spend some quality time with each other.” Princess Celestia said to her niece, nephew-in-law, and former student.
“So any news on when the baby is due?” Twilight asked her brother and sister-in-law.
“The doctor says that we should be expecting it in three months.” Cadance answered.
“Yes! I’m gonna be an aunt in three months!” Twilight said jumping with excitement.
“And I’m gonna be a daddy!” Shining Armor said just as excited.
“I can just imagine telling how the little’s parents saved all of Canterlot from a changeling invasion.” Twilight said.
“You left out a very important character, Twilight. How the little one’s heroic aunt saved the parents so they could save Canterlot.” Celestia said playfully.
“You all give me too much credit.” Twilight replied modestly.
“No, she’s right Twily. We wouldn’t even be celebrating our anniversary tonight if it weren’t for you.” Shining Armor said in a gentle and confident tone. Twilight could see deep down that he still felt bad for the way he acted to her back then. But she had long forgiven him and everyone else since then and was happy to still have a good relationship with her brother.
Just then, a guard entered the ballroom. “Your Highness,” he called to Princess Celestia. “A mysterious stallion appeared out of nowhere in the garden a few minutes ago. We’ve apprehended him and thought you might want to see him” 
“Is he some kind of thief?” the princess asked.
“I don’t know but he looks an awful lot like-.” Before the guard could finish, two more guards escorted the stallion into the ballroom. Everyone gasped when they saw him. The mysterious uninvited guest looked a lot like Shining Armor; except he covered in bruises and scratches, his mane was messed up, and he had a long scar going across his left eye, but he had the same shield and star cutie mark. When the stallion saw the princesses, he tried to approach them.
“Twily, Princess Celestia-!” he called to them, his voice even sounded exactly like the captain, but was stopped by the guards.
“Not so fast! Careful everypony, he could be a changeling in disguise.” one of the guards said.
“A very bad one, I don’t remember Captain Armor having a scar.” Remarked the other guard.
“I didn’t fight my way through a horde of griffon mercenaries to be called a vile changeling!” the Shining Armor-looking stallion said angrily.
Everyone was confused, especially Twilight. Her BBBFF was standing with her, Cadance, and the Princess. If this unexpected visitor wasn’t a changeling, then what was he?

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s wedding anniversary had just been interupted by a stallion bearing a striking resemblence to Shining Armor. Everyone in the ballroom was completely baffled, some looked like they were about to freakout. 
“Alright, what are you and why do you look like me?” Shining Armor asked his double in a suspicious and demanding tone. He was eager to get things cleared up.
“Because I am you.” replied the captain’s double which shocked and confused everyone even more, including the captain himself. “Well, actually I’m a different you from a different Equestria.”
“Wait, there are two Equestrias?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in shock.
“Are we sure he’s not a changeling?” Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously.
“I think I have an idea.” Twilight Sparkle announced catching everyone’s attention. “Even since my adventures threw the magic mirrior, I’ve been studying an old theory called the Multiverse Theory.”
“Multi-what?” Pinkie asked.
“Multiverse Theory: where there are multiple universes that are similar and different from our own. I believe there are countless different worlds in the multiverse. Each with it’s own Equestria.”
“So, you’re saying there are many different versions of me out there?” Rainbow asked. Twilight nodded her head ‘yes’. “That is so awsome!”
“So I speculate that this Shining Armor is from one of those different worlds.”
“That’s right.” the other Shining Armor agreed.
“But no matter how many Shining Armors there are out there, for me, there will always be only one.” Cadance said giving an affectionate glance to her husband who blushed happily.
“So what version of Equestria do you come from? And why do look like you’ve this?” Twilight asked the other Shining Armor noticing his injuries.
“Before I can answer any of your questions, first I’d like to ask some of my own.” the other Shining Armor requested to which Twilight nodded in agreement. “First, how did the Canterlot wedding in this world go?”
“The wedding was a success.” answered Cadance affectionately nuzzling her husband.
“So the changelings didn’t invade Canterlot?”
“Actually, they did.” Twilight said.
“Then you all listened to Twilight’s warnings about the evil bride?”
“No, we didn’t listen to a word she said.” Applejack said remorsefully, that was not something she or any of Twilight’s friends were proud of.
“Boy, was that stupid of us.” Rainbow added.
“But then how are you and Cadance married? How is Twilight still here and… is she an alicorn?” the other Shining Armor asked confused and then noticed that this version of his sister was an alicorn just like the three princesses.
“We almost lost everything that day.” Princess Celestia explained. “But thanks to Twilight’s genius and bravery and Cadance and Shining Armor’s love, the changelings were expelled from Canterlot and everypony was able to have a real wedding.”
“And it was the best wedding ever!” Rainbow added happily remembering that momentous day.
This explanation caused the other Shining Armor to bow his head in sadness. 
“Did the wedding in your world not end the same?” Twilight asked noticing his sad expression.
“The wedding in my world was an absolute disaster.” the other Shining Armor replied. Everypony was surprised to hear this.
“You mean you and Cadance never got married?” Twilight asked concerned.
“She’s dead.” he replied mournfully. Everypony gasped in shock when they heard this. A wedding were the bride had died! 
“Cadance… dead… But how?” Twilight asked horrorified.
“Before she could give me her love and the power I need to repel the invaders, she was struck down by Chrysalis, the queen of the changelings.”
“That’s horrible!” Fluttershy said sympathizing with the stallion.
“So in your world, the changelings won?” Rainbow asked.
“Not exactly.” the other Shining Armor continued. “After Cadance was murdered before our eyes, our world’s Twilight, fueled by all the negative emotions she felt for what had happened to her at the wedding rehearsal, unwittingly discovered how to use dark magic on her own. You know what I’m talking about do you, Princess?” he asked Celestia, who nodded her head. She was quite familiar with the dark magic once used by a certain evil unicorn king. “Twily used that power to destroy Chrysalis.”
Everypony gasped in shock.
“Wow! I didn’t think any version of Twilight had it in her.” Discord said surprised.
“What happened next?” Twilight asked concerned.
The other Shining Armor didn’t speak for a moment, a sign that the next part was a very upsetting moment for him to remember. But he continued, “And then…”

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flashback:
In the wedding hall, the Mane Five, Spike, Princess Celestia, and Shining Armor all stared in horror at the sight of what the enraged Twilight just did. Some changelings who had heard some commotion coming from the wedding tower flew up to see what was going on and were greeted with a horrific sight. A small and very angry purple unicorn with green glowing eyes had just turned their queen into a big green splatter on the wall. With their leader dead, and against a unicorn with such dangerous power, they knew they had no chance of winning. With the invasion foiled, the changelings let out a few strange calls to the others. Immediately, all the changelings in the city started taking flight and retreating. In just a moment, the entire changeling force was out of the city and far away with their tails between their legs. The sounds of cheering erupted through the streets of the city.
However, things were not as cheery back at the wedding tower. Twilight took a moment to calm down and the glowing green disappeared from her eyes. She then turned her attention to the pink alicorn lying motionless on the floor and ran to her side. She gently nudged her old foalsitter a couple times hoping to wake her up. Unfortunately, she came to realize her brother was right. Cadance was gone. Tears streamed from Twilight’s eyes as she wept for her old foalsitter who had been so kind to her when she was a filly. The others in the room felt sorry for her. 
“Twily, I’m so sorry.” Shining Armor said gently to his sobbing sister. However, the queen’s final words kept echoing in the young unicorn’s head until something finally snapped.
“You will be.” Twilight replied with icy venom in her voice. Shining Armor was surprised at his sister’s hash reply.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked concerned.
“SILENCE!” Twilight yelled at the pegasus who stepped back frightened. Everyone was shocked at Twilight’s dark mood change. “By the way, I take it back, this is all your fault! None of this would’ve happened and Cadance would still be alive if you had just listened to me!”
“Please calm down, sugarcube.” Applejack stepped in. “We all know y’er upset-.”
“Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth, foolish country pony!” Applejack stepped back utterly offended.
“Twilight, she’s just trying to help.” Rarity said coming to Applejack’s aid.
“Yeah, we’re your friends.” Pinkie Pie joined in.
“You are not my friends!” Twilight replied angrily. The Mane Five gasped when they heard this. “I let you into my life, spoiled you with my connections, made your lives better, and this is how you repay me?! By destroying my family, betraying my trust, leaving me for dead, and letting my beloved foalsitter die! Well, you can kiss all that goodbye! This friendship is over!”
All five mares gasped in horror. Looks of heartbreak spread across their faces. Tears started welling up in their eyes as Twilight’s words cut deep like a knife.
“No, please Twilight!” Pinkie tearfully pleaded. “Give us another chance. We Pinkie Promise we’ve learned our lesson!”
“It’s too late.” Twilight coldly responded. “A Pinkie Promise is as useless as the pony who invented it.” Hearing this, Pinkie’s mane deflated like a balloon and hung straight as rivers of tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Twilight?” Twilight turned to see her young dragon assistant, Spike, approaching her nervously. “I-.”
“Oh Spike, my number one assistant.” Twilight said in a sarcastic tone and putting on a fake smile. “You’re Fired!” she said coldly with anger in her eyes. Spike felt like he had had his heart ripped right out of his chest, tears formed in his eyes and a moment later he broke down into a bawling mess.
“Twilight, please stop this.” Celestia commanded her pupil. “My faithful student, this is a terrible mistake that has brought terrible consequences to all of us. Cadance would still be with us if we’d just been more open minded and observant, we understand that. But shutting out your friends isn’t the way to handle this.”
“My ‘friends’ are nothing but selfish and pathetic idiots, and your rule is as weak as your teaching skills.” Twilight retorted. Celestia was taken back by this unexpected hostility. “Back at the rehearsal, you told me I ‘had a lot to think about.’ Well, now I’ve learned the ultimate lesson: you can’t trust anyone, especially your ‘friends.’ With that being said, I relinquish my title as the Element of Magic and denounce you as my mentor.”
Everyone in the room was horrified at what Twilight had just said. They all looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Twilight, please think about what you’re doing.” Celestia desparately tried to talk some sense into the young unicorn. “Without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria is without one of its greatest means of protection.”
“With Cadance gone, there is nothing worth protecting anymore.” Twilight responded coldly with tears in her eyes.
“Twilight, I-.”
“-Have a lot to think about!”
Celestia was at a loss for words. Her own student had turned on her and used her own words as a weapon against her. And worst of all, the fact that she had brought this on herself was making it harder to argue with her.
Then Twilight turned her attention to her brother. Shining Armor was nervous because he knew it was his turn now. “I never wanted this for you, my former BBBFF.” Twilight said with a sad expression on her face which then changed to an angry one. “This outcome is of your own choosing.”
“Twily, you were right all along.” Shining Armor said in a remorsefull and pleading tone. “We should’ve listened to you, and I shouldn’t had treated you like that. I’m sor-.”
“Your foolish and selfish actions have gotten the real Cadance, your real bride, killed! This is unforgivable! I acted the way I did at the rehearsal because I was trying to prevent something like this from happening. Because I did care about your stupid wedding. But apparently, it was you who didn’t care for it as much as you claimed!” Shining Armor felt as if he had been blasted through the chest leaving a huge hole as his sister berated him. With each word, more and more guilt consumed him. “You are starting to feel what I felt when you said what you said to me, aren’t you?”
Twilight turned and started heading for the doorway of the hall, but she stopped and turned to say one last thing to her former companions who all had miserable looks on their faces. “Mark my words this time, everypony. This won’t be the last time you all see me. When I’m stronger, I will return and everything you have ever known will suffer because of your self-driven ignorance! You, Princess, have proven yourself unworthy of ruling Equestria any longer. It needs a more competent and responsible pony to make sure its inhabitants will be safe, and that pony will be me!”
“Twily, Wait!” Shining Armor yelled desparately make a dash to stop her from leaving. But before he could reach her, she used a teleportation spell and was gone. Shining Armor stood in the spot his sister once stood processing what had just happened before breaking down into tears. He was supposed to be the captain of the guard, how could he had let this happen? The others weren’t taking things very well either. They all had their heads bowed in shame, some were shedding tears. This seemingly perfect day had become the worst day ever.
End of Flashback

Everyone was absolutely horrified and disturbed by the other Shining Armor’s tragic story. It brought back memories of the same mistake they made in their version of the wedding. The possibility that the same outcome might have happened to them scared them.
“That’s terrible.” Fluttershy said visibly disturbed.
“I’m afraid things just get worse from there.” the other Shining Armor replied sadly. “That was the last time any of us saw Twilight. A big funeral was held for Cadance shortly after. After that, the Princess had me organize search parties to search every part of Equestria to find Twilight. I vowed I would never rest or get married to anypony unless Twilight would be there by my side, where she rightfully belonged. We searched for weeks but found no sign of her. Eventually, we had to put the search for my sister on hold because a new important issue arose in the northern part of Equestria.”
“The Crystal Empire.” Celestia confirmed.
“Yes, but without her prized pupil to take up the task of defending the empire from its tyrannical ruler, King Sombra, the Princess had to send her sister to accompany us instead. I really didn’t want to give up on the search for Twily, but this was a task that needed our attention.”
“In our world, Cadance used a barrier spell to keep Sombra out of the empire.” Twilight said.
“In my world, I had to cast a shield spell to ward off Sombra, it took a lot out of me to do it. But the strange thing was, he never made any attempts to break through the force field. He just stood there outside as if he was waiting for something.”
“That is strange.” Cadance said. “What could the King Sombra in your world bide his time for?”
“Well, we eventually learned we needed to find the Crystal Heart in order to keep the empire out of his grasp for good. It took some time but Princess Luna eventually figured out where Sombra had hidden the Heart.”
“Spike and I found the Crystal Heart hippen in one of the castle towers.” Said Twilight. “It took some figuring out the king’s traps though.”
“Our Twilight figured it out too.” the other Shining Armor in a very disturbed tone.
“Wait, I thought you said your Twilight wasn’t with you during that time.” Rainbow Dash pointed out in confusion.
“She wasn’t with us. During the time she went missing, she had stumpled across the Crystal Empire first and… and…” the tone of the other Shining Armor’s voice was becoming shaky. “She allied herself with King Sombra!”
Everyone in the room gasped in shock and horror when they heard this. Twilight allying herself with evil? It was an unthinkable idea.
“No way!” Rainbow denied.
“Twilight would never do something like that!” Applejack said.
“Perhaps you’re mistaken, I can’t believe any version of my faithful student would take things that far.” Celestia said.
“Yeah, Twilight’s our friend!” Pinkie said confidently.
“At first, I didn’t want to believe it either.” the other Shining Armor sadly continued. He looked like he was on the verge of shedding tears. “But this was no trick, it was all true. My little sister had turned her back on all of Equestria!”

Flashback:
In the crystal tower, Princess Luna, Spike, and Shining Armor were staring in disbelief at the area were the Crystal Heart should’ve been and in its place stood a young purple unicorn with a very dark expression on her face. At first, they thought it might’ve been another one of Sombra’s tricks, but they eventually came to face the facts; Twilight Sparkle, the pony they had been looking for ever since the disasterous wedding, was standing right in front of them and she was not here to help save the day this time.
“Twilight, where is the Crystal Heart?” Luna asked in a serious tone.
“Someplace only I would ever think of looking.” Twilight replied in an unfeeling tone.
“Twilight, if we don’t find that Crystal Heart, the Crystal Empire is doomed!” Spike said.
“It is you who would doom the crystal ponies! I will not stand by while Celestia fills their hearts with false hope just like she did me!”
“And you believe allying with Sombra will protect them?” Luna asked trying to make sense of Twilight’s insane-sounding words.
“King Sombra is a means to an end. I convinced him that in order to regain his empire and not lose it to the princesses again, he would need help. So I offered my assistance and in exchange he taught me more about dark magic.” Twilight said as her eyes and horn started glowing a light blue. 
“Twily!” Shining Armor called to his sister with pleading eyes. “We’ve all been looking everywhere for you ever since the wedding. Mom and Dad have been worried sick, your friends haven’t taken a single break, and Celestia has poured so many resources in the search for you. I know you’re angry and I don’t blame you, I’ve been such an irresponsible and insensitive fool.” Tears started welling up in the stallion’s eyes. “But please, for the sake of your family, your friends, the Princess, everypony, and yourself; come home. I lost Cadance, I can’t bear to lose my little sister.”
“I would urge you to listen to your brother’s words and take them to heart.” Luna sincerely instructed.
Twilight stared into her brother’s sad eyes with a look of pity on her face, but then she hardened her heart. “No, I have no brother! And you didn’t lose me, you threw me away like a broken toy! And now you and everypony else will reap what you sow!” And with these words, Twilight’s eyes and horn glowed even brighter. Then her body started levitating off the floor. Soon a bright field of energy engulfed her entire body and she started to transform. She grew twice in height, her horn grew longer and twisted, her teeth grew sharper, her mane and tail grew longer and darker, her coat became a darker color, her cutie mark became dark and twisted, a dark shoes and a neck brace bearing her cutie mark appeared on her hooves and around her neck, dark feathery wings portruded from her back, and light blue flames appeared around her eyes. Shining Armor, Spike, and Princess Luna all stared in horror as the once beloved and gifted unicorn transformed into a creature that brought horrible memories back to Luna. Nightmare Moon had returned in a new form; Midnight Sparkle.

Back at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was having her afternoon tea. She was not happy because she knew her beloved pupil was still nowhere to be found. Suddenly, she felt a terrible feeling that sent chills up her spine causing her to gasp and accidentally drop her teacup which shattered when it hit the floor. The Princess took this as a bad omen and turned her gaze in the direction of the Crystal Empire. Something terrible had just happened.

Back at the Crystal Empire, Midnight Sparkle’s transformation had been completed. Luna, Shining Armor, and Spike all looked horrified as the new nightmare let out a maniacal cackle. 
“TWILY, PLEASE!” Shining Armor desparately cried out to his now-transformed sister and ran toward her. “I beg of you don’t do this!”
But before he could reach her, Midnight Sparkle let out a blast of magic that hit him in his left eye causing him to fly backward and hit the floor. Luna and Spike rushed to his side and Luna got into a defensive stance ready to retaliate if the dark mare attacked again, but she didn’t.
“Everything you’ve ever known will now suffer because of your unfaithfulness!” Midnight Sparkle said in a threatening tone to her fallen brother who looked up at her with a hoof over his left eye. Then she used a teleportation spell and vanished before their eyes.

Down in the town surrounding the crystal castle, the Mane Five were desparately trying to boost the crystal ponies’ happiness with the Crystal Faire they set up and keep them from panicing. 
“Flugelhorns!” Rainbow Dash called to anypony who might want one. Unfortunately, the only pony who seemed to want a flugelhorn was Pinkie Pie.
“Oh dear! I wish I had more straw.” Rarity quietly and nervously said to herself as she made another straw hat at her booth.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the faire, and when it cleared, there stood a dark and menacing alicorn as tall as Celestia. The crystal ponies were frightened, this was not Sombra but her very presence was intimidating. Immediately, the Mane Five stopped what they were all doing and got into a battle formation to confront this new threat.
“Who are you? Are you an ally of King Sombra?” Applejack asked in a demanding tone.
“Whatever you are, we won’t let you ruin the Crystal Faire!” Rainbow Dash confidently proclaimed. “We’re here to protect these ponies and that’s exactly what we’re going to do!”
“You’re going to protect these ponies?!” the dark mare said almost laughing at the preposterous idea. “You couldn’t even protect Canterlot from the changelings! Maybe it was because you cared more about the stupid wedding than your roles as the Elements of Harmony or as friends!”
Instantly, the Mane Five realised who this dark mare was. “Twilight, is that you?” Fluttershy nervously asked to confirm their terrible suspicion.
“Twilight Sparkle is no more! I am Midnight Sparkle, successor to Nightmare Moon, fallen Element of Magic, bringer of order, and your worst mistake come back to haunt you!”
“Twilight, we’re so sorry for what we did!” Pinkie tearfully said falling on her knees as if begging for forgiveness.
“It’s too late! Your hooves are already stained with Cadance’s blood!”
“Twilight, darling, we know we haven’t been the best of friends as we should’ve been. But now that we’ve finally found you, we’re ready to make amends as much as we can for the wrong we caused you.” Rarity said with a face that begged for sympathy.
“We should’ve been twenty percent better friends than we were.” Rainbow added.
“Please hear us out and try to understand, sugarcube.” Applejack said with tears in her eyes. “Ya mean more ta us than anythin’ in this whole world.”
“We love you!” Fluttershy said on the verge of bawling like a baby.
“You all betrayed my trust once, what makes you think I will let you do it again?!” Midnight Sparkle said rejecting their apologies. “Though I admit, the times we spend together were the most happiest moments of my life. If you truly want us to be six once more, than you must swear your alliegence to me and King Sombra.”
The Mane Five couldn’t believe what she was asking of them. She wanted them to betray all of Equestria and plunge it into darkness; something that completely went against what the Elements of Harmony stood for. After a moment of thinking, the Mane Five came to a decision. It was a decision that was very hard for them to make.
“Sorry Twi, we love and miss you so much, but ah’m afraid we can’t do that!” AJ said with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Then you leave me no choice!” Midnight Sparkle said feeling insulted. She flew up into the air, charged up a spell with her horn, and released a purple wave of magic that soared all over the empire. When it made contact with the inside of Shining Armor’s shield, it broke the spell and the shield shattered. Seeing that his opportunity had finally come, Sombra’s shadows started entering the empire. Panicing crystal ponies started running in all directions. Soon the dreaded unicorn tyrant finally took his physical form.
“At long last, the Crystal Empire is MINE AGAIN!” Sombra cackled wickedly as dark crystal shards started appearing everywhere.
The Mane Five looked on in horror and despair at chaos around them. Then another flash of light appeared, and from it came Princess Luna, Spike, and Shining Armor who was still clutching his eye with his hoof. 
“The Crystal Empire is lost, we have to retreat!” Luna called to the Five. It took a moment, but the Five finally snapped out of their trance and joined with the other three. Using another spell, Luna teleported everyone outside the empire. Once out, they immediately started running back to the train station that would take them back to Canterlot.
“Yes! Run everypony!” Midnight Sparkle’s voice called to them as they ran through the snow. “Tell your Princess that her time is coming to an end and mine is just beginning!”
Shining Armor looked back once to see the Crystal Empire being engulfed in darkness and his now-transformed little sister with it. One last tear fell from his good eye as he knew he would have to deliver the bad news to the Princess, his family, and the rest of Equestria. Not only had he failed to save the Crystal Empire but he might have lost his beloved Twily forever, and it was his fault.
End of Flashback.

Everyone in the ballroom was horrified. Never had they heard such a dark and tragic tale. 
“That was the saddest story I ever heard!” Pinkie said with tears running down her cheeks.
“When our Princess Celestia heard the news of her student’s fall into darknes, just like her sister before, she was so devastated.” the other Shining Armor said. “She wept for days.”
“How awful!” Fluttershy said.
“Sometime later, Midnight Sparkle and King Sombra raised a huge army of crystal slaves and declared war. For awhile we were able to defend most of Equestria, but then Midnight began gathering more allies to her cause; like the Spirit of Chaos, Discord, the magic-stealing centaur, Tirek. She even bought the loyalty of the griffons, one of them in particular joined for a chance to fight a certain pegasus.”
“Gilda!” Rainbow said turning her attention toward her griffon friend who looked just as disturbed at the idea of them being enemies in war as she did.
“Yes.” the other Shining Armor continued. “Eventually some ponies, like the former bride’s maids, started turning over to the other side. Either out of fear or they believe Twilight’s right and are giving in to her madness. With more powerful allies joining Midnight Sparkle’s side, the tide of the war turned in her favor. Towns and cities started falling one by one, and now the only free city left is Canterlot. Our only hope now is the Elements of Harmony, but with our Element of Magic having turned over a darker leaf, that hope was nearly lost. But then while looking through the books in Canterlot’s library in hopes of finding something that might help end this war, Celestia came across a notebook by Starswirl the Bearded. The book contained notes of Starswirl learning how to travel to different worlds. Hence the Multiverse Theory was made. The Princess taught me how to perform the spell in the book and tasked me with traveling to a world where my sister didn’t become the greatest threat Equestria has ever faced and to ask for her help. That’s why I’m here; to ask you, Princess Twilight, for your help. Things are looking pretty bad in my world and the ponies need a hero. Please, I beg of you.”
Twilight looked into the other Shining Armor’s eyes which were filled with sadness, remorse, and desparation. Everyone else in the ballroom stared at her waiting for her decision. 

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a whole minute since the end of the other Shining Armor’s tragic tale. Everyone looked to Twilight Sparkle awaiting her answer. Twilight stood thinking to herself.
“What are we going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked her friend.
“Twily?” The real Shining Armor approached his sister.
Then Twilight raised her head and everyone saw she had a serious and determined expression on her face. She walked by everyone as she approached the other Shining Armor. “How do we get to your world?” she asked.
“You’re going to help me?” the other Shining Armor asked feeling his spirits rising.
“My duties as the Princess of Friendship don’t stop at the borders of my world.” 
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Twily,” other Shining Armor said with deep gratitude.
“So how do we perform this multiversal travel spell?”
“Let’s get started.”
After an hour of preparation, Twilight and other Shining Armor had drawn a huge circle with strange markings and symbols on the ballroom floor.
“What do we do next?” Twilight asked.
“Next we use the spell that activates this circle together,” other Shining told her. “That should transport us both to the world I came from.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we go with Twilight too?” Pinkie asked.
“We are her friends after all,” Rainbow added.
“And I’m her number one assistant, she’ll definitely need me at her side,” Spike pleaded to be taken along.
Other Shining thought for a moment, then spoke. “Well, I can see that the friendship between all of you is still intact, so I guess that could prove useful.”
“YAY! We all can go!” Pinkie squealed with excitement.
“Wait!” the real Shining Armor spoke to his counterpart. “From what you’ve told us, the world you say you come from is a lot more dangerous than ours. Twilight and her friends could get hurt or worse.”
“I’m not a little filly anymore, BBBFF,” Twilight assured her big brother. “You don’t have to always look out for me anymore. Besides, I’ve got some very good friends who will always have my back. You’ve got a wife and a future baby that need your attention more.”
Shining Armor was still pretty concerned for the safety of his little sister, he gave a warm and agreeing smile of love and pride because he knew she was right. “Promise me you’ll bring her back safely,” he told his counterpart.
“I give you my word I’ll protect her and her friends,” other Shining promised. “I can see that you really care a great deal for your sister. I just wish I’d done more.”
“I made the same mistakes you made,” real Shining told his counterpart in a comforting tone. “We may come from different worlds, but we are not so different.”
“Yes, but you all were lucky. You still have a wonderful sister with wonderful friends, a beautiful wife, and a filly on the way. I could have had all those too.” The look of sadness on other Shining’s face made everyone feel a great deal of sympathy for him. Twilight walked over and gently put her hoof on his shoulder in an attempt to give him a little comfort. “Well, we’d better get going. There’s no time to lose,” he said regaining his composure.
Other Shining led Twilight, her friends, and Spike into the center of the circle.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready!” Twilight confirmed.
Other Shining lit up his horn and the markings in the circle started glowing. Twilight’s friends and Spike watched nervously as the markings and other Shining’s horn glowed brighter by the second. Then the lights became so bright that those who were watching had to avert their eyes.
“Good luck, my faithful student!” Celestia wished her pupil good luck.
“All of you take care of each other!” Shining called to his sister and her friends.
“And please come back safely!” Cadance called to Twilight.
In a moment, the light died down. The symbols in the circle had stopped glowing and the group that once stood inside it were nowhere to be seen. Celestia and Luna stared down at the empty circle with looks of nervousness and hope.
“What now, Your Highnesses?” a guard asked the two alicorns.
“Keep watch and make sure nothing happens to this circle,” Celestia told him. “I have a feeling we may need this incase I fear the worse.”
“I just hope Twilight and her friends will be okay in this different Equestria?” Luna said suspiciously.


Other Shining, Twilight, her friends, and Spike suddenly found themselves standing in the castle yard of Canterlot. The weather seemed a little bleak, the sky was gray and cloudy. The grass wasn’t as green as it was back in their world. This version of Equestria didn’t look at all like the one they lived in. They were all speechless as they stared with disturbed expressions on their faces.
“I’m afraid things are much worse than they seem,” Other Shining regrettably told them.
“Where’s your world’s Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked. She felt that if they were going to try and figure out a solution to this problem, they needed to talk with the pony in charge.
“I’ll lead you to her,” Other Shining complied and began leading the group out of the courtyard.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a mysterious group of three cloaked individuals hiding behind some bushes.
“This is a strange turn of events,” one of the cloaked ponies said in a male voice.
“We’d better report this to the queen,” another cloaked pony said in a deeper male voice. 
Then the other cloaked male cast a spell from his hidden horn and opened a portal for him and his two comrades to enter. The portal closed as soon as they all had gone through.

The Crystal Empire was a dark, grim, and unpleasant place. There were no citizens, just slaves. When Sombra took over the empire many years ago, he enslaved its citizens and forced them to do horrible back-breaking labor. When he returned from his banishment, he was able to regain control of the empire with the help of a young and gifted rogue unicorn. Now once again the crystal ponies found themselves subjected to a life a slavery. However, this time some of them found it a lot less horrible than it was in the past. They had a new dark queen who wasn’t nearly as abusive as their king and often gave charismatic motivational speeches that encouraged the crystal ponies to do their best and made them feel like the work they were doing was for a good cause.
“FOOL!” King Sombra ruthlessly berated a slave who had accidently tipped over her mine cart and spilled all the materials in it on the ground.
“I… I’m sorry my king,” the slave mare timidly apologized. “It… it was an accident.”
“I can make accidents too!” the tyrant king said threateningly.
“Enough!” came a powerful female voice. Everypony turned to see a tall, dark, and imposing mare.
“The Queen!” the slaves exclaimed and bowed their heads respectfully. Some of them stared up at her from the ground. Their eyes weren’t filled with fear, but amazement. This was their new dark queen of the Crystal Empire, Midnight Sparkle. Even Sombra bowed his head to her.
“There are other alternatives, My King,” Midnight Sparkle said to her partner, then turned to the slave he had been scolding. “Don’t worry, this was a minor hiccup, easily fixed.” Then she used her magic and turned the mine cart back up and levitated all the spilled materials back into the cart. “See, no harm done. Remember, ponies like you are what helps the Crystal Empire with the war effort. It is all of you who help make this empire great. And it is you who will help make Equestria great.”
“Th… Thank you, Your Highness,” the slave mare expressed her gratitude.
“Tell you what, after you’re done here, why don’t you all take the rest of the day off,” the queen suggested. The crystal slaves all took a moment to rejoice before going back to their work, but with happy expressions on their faces. Midnight Sparkle and King Sombra then retreated back into the shining halls of their castle.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sombra asked uncomfortable with his queen’s methods of motivating the slaves. To him, her tactics seemed a little too soft.
“While cruelty and fear are effective ways to motive servants,” the dark mare explained. “Compassion and understanding work much better. What good are servants if we ruthlessly force them to work themselves to the bone out of the threat of harsh punishments? Now if we tell them that their efforts will help a good cause and reward their hard work, then they will trust us and continue to do their duties willingly and with passion. The results will be very pleasing I assure you.”
“I guess you know what’s best,” the dark king agreed, but a little confused. Then he took a moment to look out one of the castle windows down at the progressing empire. “Almost all of Equestria has fallen,” he said with a malicious grin. “Once we defeat Celestia and take Canterlot, then all of Equestria will be mine!” He smiled with sinister excitement at the thought of finally winning the war. But his smile faded when he turned and saw his queen looking down at him with a displeased expression on her face. “Pardon me, I meant all of Equestria will be ours.”
“If you recall, when I joined the Crystal Empire, I agreed to work with you, not for you,” Midnight Sparkle said with a small threatening tone in her voice. “You would be wise to remember the difference.”
Sombra nervously nodded his head to show that he understood, then he and his queen continued walking down the crystal hall. Ever since Twilight Sparkle had turned into Midnight Sparkle, she had become much more powerful than even him. While he was the king of the empire, it was clear she was the one running the show.
The two monarchs soon entered the royal dining room where their allies and top subordinates were all seated at a long rectangular crystal dinner table enjoying the huge feast that was laid out. Midnight Sparkle took her seat, which was the tallest one at the end of the table, while Sombra took his, which was a tiny bit shorter than hers and seated to her right side.
“Well, it’s about time our glorious dark queen came to join us,” Discord teasingly said.
“Your presence is much appreciated, Your Highness,” Tirek said.
“We’re so glad you’re here, Your Majesty,” the three former bridesmaids (Lyra Heartstrings, Minuette, and Twinkleshine) said happily.
“Thank you, my loyal subjects,” Midnight Sparkle said to her followers. “A toast to Gilda and her griffons for her successful conquest of Manehattan.”
“Yeah, it was nothing,” Gilda boasted. “Those pathetic ponies were no match for us, griffons. No offense.”
“And here is your reward for a successful mission,” Midnight Sparkle levitated a big bag of bits over to Gilda’s place on the table. The griffon looked inside and counted the bits. She gave a dissatisfied look once she was done counting. “Is something wrong?”
“I thought since we did such a great job, we should get paid more than this.”
“This was the exact percentage we agreed upon, remember?” the dark mare politely reminded the dissatisfied griffon. “But if you must have more, then I will pay you double the amount for your next victory.” Then she levitated her teacup to her face and began drinking her tea as her other cohorts all chatted in agreement.
“Hm,” Gilda grunted dissatisfied. “First Rainbow, now this,” she said to herself. “Should’ve listened to Grampa Gruff about choosing my friends carefully.” Then she slapped her claws over her own mouth to prevent herself from saying something she might regret, but it was too late.
Upon hearing Gilda’s complaint, Midnight Sparkle spat out her tea and coughed a little. The others at the table gasped in shock and horror as if Gilda had said the nastiest swear word ever. King Sombra shot a glare mixed with both anger and fear at the griffon, his face practically said ‘Idiot! What have you done?!’
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Midnight Sparkle bellowed in a room-shaking voice filled with immense anger. Many of the other subjects cowered in their chairs. Discord snapped his fingers and made a bed appear behind his seat. The draconequus immediately dove under the covers and trembled like a scared child hiding from a monster in a closet. Midnight Sparkle flew up from her seat and landed on the table facing Gilda with eyes filled with fury. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”
“Uh… Nothing!” the intimidated griffon assured.
“You know the law: never ever mention that word in my presence,” the dark queen threateningly reminded her. Then she turned to the rest of her allies. “What have I taught you all?”
“There is no such thing as friendship,” the other guests timidly answered.
“Yes, that was a lesson taught to me by one of my greatest teachers,” Midnight Sparkle said. Then she motioned to a crystal guard carrying a small box to come near her. The guard did as he was told and presented the box to her. She used her magic to open the box, took out what was inside, and dropped it on Gilda’s plate. The object looked like a black crooked stick. “What is this?”
“The horn of the Changeling Queen Chrysalis,” Gilda nervously answered.
“That’s right, she both ruined my life and opened my eyes,” Midnight Sparkle explained. “I used to think friendship was magic. That was a mistake that has caused me a lot of pain. I soon realized that the true magic in this world isn’t friendship, it’s knowledge! That is why we plunder the libraries of conquered lands for their books because books carry knowledge. The more knowledge we have, the more advantage we have over our enemies. And while I admit that I mostly value your services to our cause rather than your company, unlike Celestia, I fully intend to see that you are all fully compensated for your troubles and devotion. But should any of you dare to cross me, I will see to it that you join Trixie and Starlight Glimmer in my chamber! Do I make myself clear?” The others all nodded nervously at the threat. When she’s in a good mood Midnight Sparkle was a much more affable leader than Sombra, but when she’s in a bad mood she had a rage that made the tyrant king look like a kitten. Getting on her bad side was the last thing you wanted to do. “Good! Now if you’ll excuse me, I must retreat to my chambers.” The dark mare got off the dining table and left the dining room leaving her guests to all stare angrily at Gilda for stupidly ruining a perfect evening.
Midnight Sparkle had entered her royal bedchambers and walked up to a huge frame on one of the walls that was covered by a pair of long curtains. Positioned on both sides of the frame were two ponies encased in crystal. These two crystalized prisoners were her two annoying rivals: Trixie and Starlight Glimmer. The dark mare used her magic to pull down on a rope hanging from the ceiling which opened up the curtains on the frame to reveal a huge beautiful portrait of her late former foalsitter, Cadance. The picture brought tears to the dark queen’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she tearfully said to the portrait. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. If only everypony had listened to me from the start! But now I’m going to make things right.” Then she heard a knocking on her chamber door and immediately closed the curtains covering the picture and wiped away her tears. “Who is it?” she asked in a more regal tone.
“It’s the spies here to report,” a guard said.
“Show them in.”
The chamber door opened and in walked the three cloaked ponies from the Canterlot castle yard. The three removed their hoods and revealed their faces to their queen and bowed their heads respectfully. One of them was a male earth pony with a white coat and a light cyanic gray and white mane. Another was a male unicorn with a light cyan coat and a light cobalt blue mane. The last one was a female pegasus with a moderate azure coat and a white and light bluish gray mane.
“Ah, Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider,” Midnight Sparkle greeted her spies warmly. “So nice to see you again.”
“It is an honor to be in your presence again, My Queen,” Double Diamond politely said.
“We bring some new information,” Party Favor announced.
“Information you might find very interesting,” Night Glider added.
Midnight Sparkle arched her right eyebrow to show that she was interested and listening intently.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle and her friends were now in the Canterlot of the alternate Equestria. It looked the same as the one back in their Equestria but the atmosphere felt gloomy. The sky was gray and cloudy, not a single ray of sunlight anywhere. The state of this kingdom made Twilight and her friends nervous and uncomfortable. 

“What happened here?” Fluttershy nervously asked.

“Everything looks so bleak,” Rarity added.

“There haven’t been many sunny days since the war started,” Other Shining Armor sadly informed them. 

“What of Princess Celestia?” a concerned Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid she hasn’t been fairing well either,” a familiar female voice suddenly answered. 

They all turned to see… Princess Luna. No, this was the Other Princess Luna from this world. The Princess of the Night had a serious and slightly sad expression on her face when she appeared, but managed to give a little smile when she saw that Other Shining managed to return with some help. The fact that the help all looked very familiar made it even better.

“It is good to see you back safe and sound, Captain Armor,” Other Luna greeted the loyal captain. “And it pleases me to see you’ve found help.”

“He filled us in on everything that has happened,” Twilight informed her. “Where is Princess Celestia, the one in your world I mean.”

That question brought a frown to the moon princess’s face. Apparently, her sister wasn’t doing too well.

“You’d better come with me,” she replied and began leading the group into the castle. 

While guiding Twilight and her friends through the castle to Other Celestia’s royal chambers, Other Luna told them the terrible state of depression and despair her sister had been in lately.

“Ever since our Twilight became Midnight Sparkle, my sister hasn’t been herself at all,” she sadly explained. “Nopony sees her anymore because she’s confined herself to her chambers. Most of the time she wallows in despair and sometimes cries for long hours. Occasionally, I’m barely able to calm her down enough so she can help with battle strategies but other than that I’m the one who’s been running the kingdom most of the time.”

“That’s terrible,” Twilight exclaimed. The idea that her beloved mentor could fall into such a state of depression was both alien and horrifying to her. 

“I was hoping that introducing you all will help snap her out of her depression and renew her hope,” Other Luna explained. “Equestria really needs her wisdom and leadership.”

“What do you say, girls?” Twilight asked her friends.

“We’re with ya’!” Applejack replied.

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow Dash answered eagerly.

“You can count us in,” Rarity proudly declared.

“I thought you’d never ask me,” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

“Mm-hmm,” Fluttershy agreed.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Twilight said.

They eventually arrived at the doors to Other Celestia’s personal chambers. Other Luna opened the doors and led the group in. Once they entered, they were presented with a very sad and disturbing sight. Sitting on her bed was the Princess Celestia of this world, she looked vastly different than the one back in their world. Her mane was limp and colorless, her eyes had a little redness in them indicating she had been crying a lot, and her expression looked full of despair and almost completely devoid of hope. For a moment, Twilight and her friends almost didn’t recognize her. 

“Sister,” Other Luna spoke to her elder sibling. “I’m here to inform you that Shining Armor has succeeded in his mission and he has brought with him ponies that could help us.”

“Thank you, Luna,” Other Celestia said managing a warm smile. Then she turned to look at the ponies her sister had brought. 

Twilight and her friends bowed their heads respectfully to the princess.

“Your Highness,” Twilight addressed their host. “It is with great honor that—” But before she could finish her sentence, Other Celestia suddenly enveloped the young alicorn in a warm hug, much to her surprise.

“I know you are not my pupil, but it fills me with joy to see a version of you that has not fallen to darkness,” Other Celestia said with tears dripping from her eyes. 

“We heard about what happened to your Twilight,” the Princess of Friendship informed her mentor’s doppelganger with sympathy in her voice. “I’m so sorry. Even I’m having a difficult time trying to imagine myself ever turning against you and going down a dark path.”

“Terrible mistakes were made on both sides,” Other Celestia said sadly. “But much of the blame falls to me. As ruler of Equestria, aunt to Cadance, and mentor to… Twilight, I had responsibility. To guide them, to look after them, and to care for them. But now I’ve lost them all because of one foolish mistake. If I had been more observant and listened to my student, Cadance would still be here and I wouldn’t be fighting this terrible war with my former student.”

“A few of the same mistakes were made in my world, but everything turned out fine,” Twilight said. “Cadance and Shining Armor are married with a baby on the way. But despite what happened in this world, it’s still not right what the other me is doing and she needs to be stopped.”

“I assume you have a plan since you sent your Shining Armor to our world to ask for our assistance,” Rarity guessed.

“Indeed,” Other Celestia replied. “I believe the best way to stop her is extinguish the darkness from her heart. But to do that, we need the Elements of Harmony.”

“Well that’s a BIG problem, because in our world we gave up the Elements to save Equestria from some nasty thorns Discord planted a long time ago,” Pinkie said discouraged.

“What about the Elements of this world, do they still exist?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, they do,” Other Celestia answered. “However, you may find that they may not be very useful.”

Sometime later, Other Celestia and Luna led the Mane Six to the Element chamber in the castle. When they presented the Elements to the six heroes, they were shocked and surprised to see that the Elements had taken on an unusual and disturbingly grayish color.

“What happened to the Elements?” a shocked Twilight asked.

“Why are they such a grayish color?” Rarity also asked.

“It is because they’ve lost their power,” Other Celestia explained. 

“They are now as useless as a fireplace during a hot summer day,” Other Luna added.

“How could this have happened?” Applejack asked.

“According to rumors from Ponyville,” Other Celestia explained some more. “Some time after the failed mission to the Crystal Empire, things weren’t well with our Twilight’s former friends. We heard that they started frequently getting into arguments and blaming one another for the recent events. Eventually things got so bad between them that they all left Ponyville and went their separate ways.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy said. 

“And without their friendship, the Elements lost all their power,” Other Celestia added. “They were our last hope of putting an end to this, but now they’re just relics. Only somepony as smart as Twilight could be able to remedy this.”

“But because your Twilight has turned on you, you needed to find another Twilight to do this task,” Twilight deduced. “You discovered the possibility of alternate worlds, with alternate Equestrias, and possibly alternate Twilights. So you sent your Shining Armor to find one that had not been corrupted.”

“I’m glad to see your knack for figuring things out is something you share with our Twilight,” Other Celestia warmly congratulated.

“So what you’re saying is that there are many different versions of me in the multiverse?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s a possibility, Pinkie,” Twilight answered.

“YAY! I can throw a huge party with many different Pinkies!”

“After that Mirror Pool incident, ah’m in no hurry to deal with multiple Pinkies again anytime soon,” Applejack said.

“Well, no matter how many versions of me there are, I doubt any of them will be faster than me,” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“If I could meet other versions of myself, we could create the most stylish outfits have seen in this or any other world,” Rarity fantasized.

“There is only one Rarity for me,” Spike said blushing and earning a look of gratitude from the mare he loved.

“Focus girls,” Twilight snapped her friends back to the task at hoof. “We need to restore the Elements of Harmony.” Then each of them put on their respective Element. “Ready girls?”

“Ready!” they all confirmed.

“Friendship is Magic!” they all chanted in unison. Nothing happened.

“Wow! The Elements really are out of juice if that doesn’t make them light up,” a disappointed Pinkie said.

“I don’t understand,” a confused Rarity said. “We’re all here and we’re all friends, so why aren’t the Elements working?”

“I think I might have a theory,” Twilight replied. “Different universe, different Elements.”

“What does that mean?” Rainbow asked.

“It means that the Elements of another universe probably work differently than the ones from ours. Like they might only work with the ponies from their respective universe,” Twilight explained. Then she turned to Other Celestia. “What happened to the friends of the other me?”

“Sometime after the failed mission to the Crystal Empire, they suddenly split up and left Ponyville going their separate ways,” Other Celestia sadly explained.

“We don’t know why they left or where they have gone to,” Other Luna added.

“Perhaps some residents of Ponyville might know where they went,” AJ suggested.

“Then it’s settled,” Twilight confirmed. “Girls, we must go to Ponyville and ask the ponies there if they know where our counterparts are. If we’re going to have any chance of fixing the Elements and saving this world, we’ll need their help.” 

“Well, what are we waiting for?!” an excited Rainbow said. “Let’s go!” All the other members of the Main 6 agreed.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back with help,” Twilight promised the princesses.

“Please stay safe,” a concerned Other Celestia said. “My heart can’t bear to lose my faithful student again.” Then both she and Twilight exchanged warm hugs.

“Alright, off to Ponyville,” Twilight announced to her friends to which they all cheered with determination and excitement. Then they all set to head for the Ponyville of this dark version of the world. What surprises awaited them? What challenges? What dangers?

“I wonder how much the town has changed in this world,” a curious Fluttershy wondered.