Twilight defeats Midnight in Magicant with help from Ness and her friends.
This story was inspired by a noticed familiarity between Midnight Sparkle and Ness's Nightmare. Twilight wakes up in Magicant after bracing the magic she obtained at Camp Everfree. Now she has to conquer Midnight Sparkle with a little help from a bat wielding boy and the mental support of her friends.
'Where am I?' Twilight wakes up in her pajamas, which consists of a light blue shirt and dark blue pajama pants with several different colored stars on them, with a giant tomato beside her. 'What happened? Where's the camp?' Twilight looks around, seeing a multi-hued landscape, featuring several buildings, some furniture, giant vegetables, trees, giant patches of grass and some people, most of whom she recognized, including Shining Armor and her mother. One of the people, a boy about 13 with black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a blue and yellow striped shirt, blue denim shorts, a tan backpack, red shoes, and a red hat with a blue brim approaches Twilight. "Hello. Welcome to Magicant. My name is Ness." "Uh, hello? How'd I get here? Where's the rest of the campers? Where's my friends? Why is my brother here? What's going on here?" "Twilight, please, let me explain. Magican-" Twilight cuts Ness off mid-sentence. "How do you know my name?!" "I'll explain that too. Magicant is the realm of the mind. Everything and everyone that happens here is strongly influenced by one's memories and dreams. There have only been two other occasions where people were known to have arrived in Magicant. I happen to be one of the them." Twilight stares at him skeptically. "It's true." A rift opens in front of Twilight, showing her what Ness is talking about. "I went on a journey with three friends once, and I came across this place." Images of Ness's journey to the Eight Sanctuaries appear in the rift. "Like you, I woke up in the Realm of the Mind, and explored around. I met semblances of my family, my friends, other people I had encountered on my journey, and even a semblance of myself, before encountering my Nightmare." "Wait, your nightmare?" Twilight asks. "My worst fear, which happened to be the evil that was inside of me. I had to fight it. Like you're going have to do with Midnight Sparkle." "Wait, WHAT!" "I told you Magicant is the mental realm. However, I failed to mention that everyone has a slightly different Magicant. You're basically exploring your own mind, so everything here is part of your mind. That explains why your family is here, but it also means Midnight Sparkle is here." "But then how are you here?" "It's possible to travel to other peoples' versions of Magicant by using doors like this one." A blue and red striped door appears behind Ness. "When I traveled through Magicant and beat my Nightmare, I absorbed the energy of my mental realm, and then I thought it faded away. However, it didn't. It became a part of me, allowing me to freely travel to Magicant whenever I want. I used your door which let me come here, because I noticed that the energy here had changed because of your magic." "You still didn't tell me how you know my name, or how you now apparently know that I have magic." "Oh, right." Ness, says sheepishly. "I'm a psychic. I read your mind with Telepathy." "That's impossible." "Coming from the girl who can levitate things with magic. Look, if you want me to, I'll prove to you that I've got psychic abilities." Twilight nods and Ness turns toward the tomato that was next to her when she woke up. "Watch this, PK Fire!" Flames leap from Ness's fingertips, setting the tomato ablaze. The tomato burns for a few moments before Ness puts the fire out with PK Freeze. "Now, if you'll let me, we need to get you geared up." "Why do I need gear?" "Because Magicant usually has a bunch of weird physical threats like living bombs, molecules, and dice. And anything that happens here happens in the real world as well. So if you spend money here, you'll have less money on hand when you wake up, and if you get hurt here, you'll wake up with the same injuries, it's even possible to die here, and it would require a lot of my precious PSI to bring you back if that were to happen." Ness turns to enter the door behind him. "I'll be right back with what you need."
A few moment later, Ness returns with a Goddess Band, a Star Pendant, a Goddess Ribbon, and a Franklin Badge. "Put that badge in your pocket, or pin it to your shirt if you don't have a pocket, and put everything else on." After a moment of hesitation, Twilight slips the pendant over her head, puts the band on her arm, ties the ribbon in her hair, and then slips the Franklin Badge into a pocket in her pajama pants. "Good, now these items should help protect you while you're here. That badge will reflect electricity away from you." Ness emphasizes it by using PK Thunder on his own Franklin Badge. "Everything else will significantly decrease the amount of damage you take, and the pendant reduces fire, cold, and electrical damage, and it will prevent you from being affected by bright flashes of light. Now you can go find Midnight, and I'll help you along the way, if you want me to." Ness sets off through Magicant, with Twilight reluctantly following after a few moments.
The two had been traveling for about thirty minutes when Twilight's curiosity gets the better of her. "Uh, Ness? Can I ask you something?" Ness stops to look at her. "Sure. What's up? "Why did you want to help me?" Ness smiles fondly as he recalls his journey. "Because all I had to help me when I traveled through Magicant were the Flying Men, which represented my courage. And I happen know from personal experience how lonely it can get traveling here after a while." Ness's smile falters as he remembers how he felt back then. "There were lots of times when I wished my friends had been with me." Ness remembers a certain girl with red ribbons in her hair and wearing a pink dress. 'Especially Paula.' "Who's that?" Twilight asks, curiously. "Huh?" Ness sees an image of Paula in the rift in the sky. "Oh, the memory rift, right. That's Paula. My closest friend. I rescued her from a cult that kidnapped her. We traveled together for a long time before I first made it to Magicant." While walking along a pathway, the terrain suddenly changes before them. What once was grass suddenly became snow in a matter of seconds. "When I came to Magicant, none of my friends were here, not even as memories. But maybe if we're lucky we'll come across your friends along the way." Twilight looks curiously towards the snow. "I can tell that you want to know why there's suddenly snow here. This is the part of Magicant formed from your experiences in winter. There should also be an area based on Camp Everfree here somewhere, and that's probably where we'll find Midnight." "How long do you thinks it will take to find her?" Ness considers the question for a few seconds before answering her. "Honestly? I don't know. Hours probably, or maybe even days." "Won't my friends get suspicious if I'm asleep for days on end?" "No they won't, or at least they shouldn't. Time flows differently here in Magicant than it does in the real world." Ness looks at his watch. "And, by my account, you've been here for over an hour. But you've only been asleep in the real world for about a minute or two." Ness waves his hand side to side to indicate his uncertainty. " But lets not stay here too long, because they will notice after its been long enough." Ness starts walking again and starts to hum 'Smiles and Tears'. "What are you humming?" Twilight asks him. Ness stops to respond. "It's called "Smiles and Tears'. I learned it during a journey I went on a few months ago. Do you want to know the lyrics?" Twilight considers the question then nods slowly. "Sure." Ness thinks about his journey as he starts singing. "I haven’t lived even half as long as adults have, but I do have plenty of memories in my backpack My favorite baseball cap, my sneakers with worn-out heels Deep in my pocket is my worn-down guitar pick There were some things sad enough to make tears come out, but you were always by my side I thought of the two of us as just friends the whole time I probably loved you without ever realizing it We walked while we laughed, played, and got hurt I realized it as we took shortcuts and went in circles: that even if you can’t believe in everyone you can’t cast aside a heart you do believe in You made me stronger just being who you are Like a gentle wind blowing and swaying the grass you always walked with a smile Yes, the two who shared smiles and tears one after the other... (I miss you) are now far apart..." "It's pretty, but it sounds kind of sad." Twilight says after he finishes singing. "I guess so. It always reminds me of my adventure with my friends. We live in different places. Two of them even live on different continents. And one of them is a prince, so the four of us don't get together very often. It's been months since the last time we all got together. "You sound close to your friends." "We're as close as best friends can be. Sort of like your friendship with Sunset and the others." The two see a house at the end of the snowy terrain. "Let's check whats inside. We'll probably find the Flying Men inside." The duo heads towards the building.
"Hello? Anyone here?" Ness asks as he opens the door to the building. "Who are you? How'd you get here?" A blue skinned girl with rainbow hair responds. "Rainbow Dash, where are your manners? That's not how we treat our guests." A familiar white skinned girl responds, turning towards the door, "Sorry about that, how are you? My names Rarity." She points to the others in the room. "This is Fluttershy, that's Applejack, you've already met Rainbow Dash and that's-" "Hi! My names Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie exclaims in her usual flamboyant manner. "Yes, thank you Pinkie Pie. And Sunset should be around somewhere. I think she stepped out to go look for Twilight." Rarity says finishing her introductions. "Hello, my name is Ness, and this might be awkward but I'm here with Twilight." "Twilight!" The girls exclaim as one as Ness steps aside and Twilight enters the room behind him. "Hey girls!" Twilight replies as she pushes her glasses up her face. "Why are you wearing pajamas?" Pinkie asks excitedly. "Are you here for a sleepover?! I'll go get some sleeping bags!" "I'm not here for a sleepover." She looks down at her pajamas. "I woke up here dressed like this." Twilight points to Ness. "Ness here says that Midnight is somewhere around here and that I have to face her once and for all." "Sounds like fun! Can we go with you?!" "I don't know. I don't want you five to get hurt." "Uh, Twilight? Can I talk to you, alone?" "Sure Ness." The two go to a corner to talk privately. "Twilight, they're not real." Ness whispers. "They're illusions, created by your mind. Even if they get hurt here, it won't affect your friends in the real world. If they all really want to come with us, and if you want to them come along, then you should let them join us. Even if you only allow them to come to provide emotional support. And I'll protect them if you don't want to see them get hurt." "You promise?" Twilight asks quielty. "I promise." Ness replies just as quietly. Twilight and Ness turn back towards the others. "Are you sure you want to come with us?" She asks Pinkie. "Absolutely!" Pinkie replies almost instantly, jumping up and down. "And the rest of you?" The others turn towards and whisper to each other for a moment before turning back to Twilight and nodding in affirmation. "Then we'd better head out, Twilight." Ness says. "But shouldn't we wait for Sunset?" Fluttershy asks. "Rarity said that Sunset went out looking for Twilight, right?" Ness asks. Rarity nods, confirming Ness's question. "We came from the east, and we didn't run into her, and you can't head any further south or west, so she's probably be somewhere north of here. We'll stop if we find her, and she can come too, that is if she wants to. Sounds good?" The others nod, and Ness turns for the door. "Then let's go." The group heads to the edge of the clearing, and starts off on their path. They were on the path for less than a minute when the group of seven got ambushed by a group of enemies.
A group of five thin, molecular looking enemies attack the group. "What are those!" Twilight exclaims. "Those are Mr. Molecules. They're basically living molecules." Ness chuckles. "It really doesn't surprise me that someone as studious as you would have them in your Magicant. One PK Fire ought to do the trick" Ness turns to look at the others. "Stand back. I don't want any of you to get hit by the flames. PK Fire γ!" Flames leap from Ness's fingertips, destroying the Mr. Molecules in a matter of seconds, frightening Fluttershy in the process, and startling everyone else except for Twilight. "From here on, I want you to stay close to me, and I want you all to keep an eye out for anything that might be moving. And I mean ANYTHING. Known hazards include bears, dice, lips, eyeballs, tree stumps, walking bombs, and the molecule creatures we just saw. I want to keep you six safe, but I can't do that if an enemy manages to get to you first. And don't worry about me. I should be strong enough to handle anything that comes our way." Ness checks to make sure that they understand, and after everyone confirms that they do, he sets off at a run. "If we hurry, then we may not encounter anything else until we get to the camp, because it's harder to catch a running target than it is to catch a walking one." The rest of the group starts to run, too, and they run for about fifteen minutes, with Ness striking down anything and everything in his path with one or two swings of his bat, when Pinkie Pie notices a weird tentacle shaped object in the distance. "What's that?" She asks. "Oh, wait, I know! It's a portal! Isn't it" "I doubt it Pinkie," says Rainbow. "Actually, she's right. This should take us to the camp at Lake Everfree." Ness says. "But how do we get it to work?" Fluttershy asks. "I believe that all we have to do is inspect it." Ness responds. "Twilight, I think you should do the honor." Twilight approaches the tentacle, looking closely at it for a couple minutes, then turning towards the others. "It's not working." "Maybe you should touch it. I forgot about your lack of PSI. Its what I used to get it to work when I traveled through Magicant." Twilight turns back to the tentacle. She mentally builds her confidence before placing her hand upon the side of tentacle. Almost instantly, the group disappears and reappears up to their waists in water. "That was FUN!" Pinkie exclaims. "Maybe for you, but for me it was frightening." Fluttershy replies. "We're not done yet. I can sense enemies up ahead, as well as something very powerful. I can assume that that would have to be Midnight." "You'd be right, but we can't let you get to her." A voice says as a group of three seahorse looking creatures approach them, one colored purple, another light blue, and the third one being a yellow color. "What in the hay are the Sirens doing here?!" Applejack asks skeptically. "I don't know, but I'll handle this. PK ROCKIN Ω!" The Sirens get hit by a massive burst of pure psychic energy, but it wasn't enough to defeat them. They respond by singing with their enchanted voices, trying to make Ness Feel Strange, but it failed to work. "PK STARSTORM α!" A slew of powerful meteors slam into the Sirens, defeating them in a matter of seconds. They fade away leaving a present, which contains a journal with an image of a baseball bat on the cover, which Ness takes. "There's no turning back now, Twilight. Midnight is up ahead. Let's go." The group starts to wade their way through the water working their way to an island located at the center of the lake, where voices see to be emanating from. "Wait!" The group stops upon hearing Pinkie yell. "Isn't that Sunset's voice?"
"You have to fight this Twilight! This isn't you!" Sunset yells at a purple winged human while Twilight, Ness, and the girls approach an island in the center of the lake. "Take my hand. Let me show you there's another way." "I'm not falling for that THIS time." Sunset barely manages to dive out of the way as a beam of magic energy flies past her and lands the water with a loud splash. "Are you all right, darling?" "Rarity? What are you doing here?" "We found her, Sunset! Or rather, she found us!" Pinkie exclaims. Sunset inspects Twilight for a moment, then asks "But if this is Twilight, then who's she? And who is he?" "She's the reason why we're here." Ness answers. "My name is Ness, and that's the representation of Midnight Sparkle, the evil side of Twilight. We're here to destroy her once and for all." "And that's why we're here, too, Sunset. We just couldn't let our friend do this by herself, even if she's traveling with someone already." Fluttershy says in her usual quiet tone of voice. "Yeah, but-" Sunset's question is cut off by Midnight firing another ray of magic towards the group, with the intention of hitting Sunset. However, her attack hits Nes instead, causing him to take mortal damage. "NESS!" Twilight cries out, and runs over to him. "Don't worry about me. You've got to conquer your fear." Ness turns to Pinkie. "After Twilight wins, I'll want you to check my backpack. There should be a Horn of Life in there. You'll know when you've found it. It's the only horn shaped object in there." Ness turns back toward Twilight. "It was a pleasure to travel with you, Twilight." Ness got hurt and collapsed. "That wasn't my intended target, but it looks like taken down a potential threat." Midnight says. "And it seems to have drawn out my other self. Hello, Twilight." "I can't let you win. I won't let you win!" "But how are you going to win? I'm the evil part of your brain. You CAN"T beat me. Because you are the one that forced me into being!" Midnight says as she envelopes Twilight, joining forms with her. "I regret creating you, but that doesn't mean that I AM you!" "Twilight!" Suddenly, Twilight's friends get engulfed in light one by one, each one's light matching their respective skin color. "Twilight, you are in charge here!" Sunset yells. Each one of her friends provides mental support, until lastly Fluttershy says "WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" "YOU ARE NOT MIDNIGHT SPARKLE!" Sunset screams. Twilight smiles. "I AM Twilight Sparkle, and the magic I carry is the MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP!" Upon uttering those words, the wings and horn that had formed when Midnight Sparkle fused with Twilight disappeared and her glasses returned to normal, destroying all traces of Midnight Sparkle. In the center of the island a present was left behind. Twilight opens the box and finds a journal with a purple six pointed star on the cover. Twilight takes it. Suddenly, everything around her suddenly starts to disappear, first Twilight's friends, then the environment surrounding her starts to fade, until it's only her and Ness, who had regained consciousness, floating in a purple void. "What's happening? Ness? You're alive?! But how?" "Magicant revived me after you defeated Midnight Sparkle. And everything is disappearing because Magicant is no longer needed. Eventually I'll disappear and then you'll wake up in the real world. But before I go I need to tell you about that journal you're holding. It appears to be connected to the journal I found when I defeated the Sirens." "Like Sunset's journal?" "Exactly. Anything you write in that book will show up here in my journal. When you wake up, you'll find it with the rest of your possessions. Now would be a good time to remove the gear I gave you and put it in your pocket, otherwise they'll be on you when you wake up." Twilight removes the pendant, the band, and the ribbon she had donned since meeting Ness. "Now's the time for me to say farewell." Ness says as he starts to fade. "I'll make sure to write to you as often as I can. Goodbye, Twilight." Ness fades from existence, as Twilight blinks one last time. "Goodbye, Ness." Everything faded to black.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Sunset Shimmer asks as Twilight wakes up inside of Rarity's protective diamond dome with the rest of her friends. "How long was I asleep?" "You were out for about five minutes. What happened?" "I think it was a dream, but I beat Midnight Sparkle. But enough of that. We've got to protect the campers."
LATER
The situation with Gaia Everfree has been resolved and Twilight can finally enjoy the rest of her stay at Camp Everfree. However, when she attempts to put her hands in her pockets, she notices things there that weren't there earlier. She pulls out one of the objects which turns out to be a badge. "It can't be. That was the Franklin Badge that Ness gave me in my dream." 'But was it a really a dream?' Twilight immediately heads to her tent to check her possessions. Upon entering the tent, she spots the journal she found in Magicant sitting on her bed, which seems to be glowing and vibrating. She picks it up, opens it to the first page, and sees writing on the page. This is what it says. 'Dear Twilight, I know that you might be confused at the moment and think that Magicant was only a dream. I thought so too the first time I traveled there. But let me assure you that everything that happened in your dream was real. Check your pockets and you'll find the stuff I gave you in Magicant. I had a great time travelling with you and hope to meet you in person some day. I'm going to see if a friend of mine and his dad can make a functioning portal so I can visit you and your friends. But until then the journals will have to suffice. Thanks for letting me travel with you. Your friend,
Ness PS: Please thank Pinkie Pie for answering Paula's prayer for me. It helped to save me and my friends in our hour of need.'
"Hello, Twilight." "Ness! You're here! But I thought that you said that you had some things that you had to take care of." "I did. I had to thank Jeff and Dr. Andonuts for the hours of work they put into building the portal, and I had to go find Paula so I could invite her to come with me." "Wait, she's here?" "I told you I'd have to introduce you to her sometime. I figured that now was the perfect time." Ness looks towards the entrance, notices Paula, and waves her over to Twilight and him. "Paula, I'd like to introduce you to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is Paula." Twilight and Paula shake hands in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meat you, ma'am. Ness has told me so much about you and the adventure you two went on." "He's told me a lot about you, too, Paula." "So, what do you want to do while you're here Ness?" "I'd like to officially meet your friends and see the town." "Sure, Ness. I'm sure that they'll be glad to meet you." The three teenagers head to a table where Twilight's friends are sitting and talking to each other. "There you are Twilight! We were just wondering where you went, darling," Rarity says. "Uh, T-twilight? Wh-who are they?" Fluttershy asks. "Girls, this here is a friend of mine. His name is-" "Oh my gosh! Twilight's become friends with NESS! I didn't even know that he actually exists! I thought that he was just a video game character. And is that PAULA!" Pinkie exclaims. "I doubt that Twilight could have befriended a video game character, Pinkie. It's literally impossible." Rainbow says skeptically "I thought so, too. But remember Pinkie's last slumber party? You played a game with Pinkie and AJ? I noticed that Pinkie was playing as someone who looked just like him. So I wrote Ness once everyone else fell asleep using this journal." Twilight shows the other six her journal and explains that it functions like Sunset's journal. She then opens the journal to a certain page and shows it to the others. "He explained that there's a third universe, separate from this one and and from Equestria. One of Ness's friends just barely figured out how to build a functioning portal. And that's why he and Paula are here. They came to visit me, and to meet all of you." "Well, Ness, it's a pleasure to meet you and Paula, dear. My name is Rarity." Rarity says. "I know." "You do?" "I met semblances of all of you in Twilight's Magicant when she fought Midnight back in Camp Everfree." "But, Twilight said she fought Midnight in a dream." Fluttershy said. "That's because I thought that it was at the time. I didn't know it wasn't a dream until I found the journal on my bed. I found it in Magicant with Ness." Twilight explains. "That sounds like a fun adventure! Maybe you can tell us the story some day." Pinkie said. "How about we tell you it tonight, Pinkie? Paula and I have all day to spend here, and all we were going to do today was see the town." "Sure. Hey, how about we make it a sleepover? That would make it more fun!" Pinkie said. "Sure, Pinkie." Ness turns towards Rainbow Dash. "So, I hear that you and your friends are in a band called the Rainbooms. Maybe we could hear you play after Paula and I see the town." "Of course we'll play for you. I never look down a chance to show off." Rainbow beams with pride. "So my band is now known by people in three universes. So AWESOME!" Paula taps Ness on the shoulder. "So, about seeing the town, Ness?"
LATER THAT NIGHT
Everyone is back at Pinkie's house, getting ready for the sleepover. Ness, who is dressed in his usual blue and white striped pajamas, and Paula, who is dressed in a pink nightgown, had a fun day of seeing all that the town had to offer. Applejackk showed them around Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and Sunset showed them around Canterlot High, Ness played a close game of Soccer with Rainbow (Rainbow won), Paula and Ness helped Fluttershy at the animal shelter, and saw the group of girls perform "Shine Like Rainbows" in one of the music rooms of Canterlot High, before retiring to Pinkie's place for the night. "So, Ness, about your adventure with Twilight?" Pinkie asks in her light blue pajamas with balloons on them. "I promised you all that I would tell you the story. But I'll only tell you with Twilight's help." Twilight nods her agreement, and Ness then proceeds to tell the others about their journey through Magicant, down to the smallest detail, with Twilight providing the few details that Ness could not provide, which included everything that happened while Ness was knocked unconscious during the fight against Midnight Sparkle. "After I overcame Midnight, thanks to the mental and emotional support you girls provided me, Ness regained consciousness and explained what the journals were to me. I woke up shortly afterward." Twilight said finishing the story of their adventure. "Hey, Twilight? Do you still have the things Ness gave you in Magicant, you know, like the Franklin Badge?" Pinkie asks. "I sure do." Twilight pulls the Franklin Badge, the Goddess Band, the Goddess Ribbon, and the Star Pendent out of a pocket of her backpack and shows them to Pinkie Pie. "Wait, you carry them around in your backpack?" Pinkie asks. "No. I grabbed them when I stopped by my house to pack for this sleepover so I could show them to the rest of you." "Ah, that makes sense." The group of nine friends spend the next two hours having fun together. Rainbow, having demanded a rematch against Pinkie, lost when Pinkie played as Luigi, however, Pinkie lost when Ness took a turn at the controls. Sunset wrote to Princess Twilight to update her on Twilight's situation with Ness, Fluttershy started writing a new song for the Rainbooms in a notebook, and Paula and Rarity talked about fashion while Applejack turned in early. It was one in the morning before everyone was fast asleep.
THE NEXT MORNING
Ness and Paula are standing before the entrance to the portal, saying goodbye to Twilight and her friends. "Goodbye, everyone. It has been a pleasure to meet you all, but I think it's time that Paula and I return home." "Goodbye, you two. Don't forget about us." Pinkie says. "We won't, Pinkie." Ness says. "We'll visit whenever we can, Twilight." "We'll look forward to every one." Twilight and Sunset say unanimously. "Bye Ness." Twilight says. "I'll write you every week." Ness turns and enters the portal. Paula turns to go through the portal, then stops and looks over her shoulder. "Hey, Pinkie?" "Yeah?" "Thanks for answering my prayer." She says before entering the portal.
