> The Fall of Twilight, The Birth of Midnight > by Twilight Star > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Release your anger, Twilight! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was in my room, crying a lot. The room had a balcony, a blue telescope, similar to the one I had in my Ponyville castle. The room was dark purple, the bed was gold, the blanket was purple, the pillow was dark blue, the closet was lavender, the desk and bookshelves were white. My hooves covered my mouth. My tears were streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop crying.  “I miss my friends,” I said as I cried even more.  Why? Why did this have to happen to me? Why am I forced to watch the ones I love and care about dying while I am forced to keep moving forward? I started to cry even more now. I started to remember Spike. Spike... he helped me so much during my years as ruler of Equestria... but Spike wasn’t immortal, he just had a longer life than that of ponies. I started to cry even more when I remembered Spike.  I didn’t know why, but since my friends died, I started to feel something inside me. It was an emotion I never felt or imagined having before, at least during my years as the ruler of Equestria. That feeling started to show up whenever I thought about Celestia. I didn’t understand why I started to feel angry at my former mentor and friend. I wish I could talk to somepony close to me about this problem that I was having, but my friends and Spike have died years ago.  Twilight, why are you crying?  I raised my head in a startled way as the tears came out of my eyes. I looked to the side to see if I could find the owner of the voice, but there was no one in the room except me.  “Weird. Am I hearing things?” I asked, now confused.  You’re not hearing things, Twilight.  That voice again! Where did she come from? And why did she look so much like my voice? I looked around again to see if the owner of the voice would show up.  “Who said that?” I asked, already scared.  The mysterious voice laughed. It was me, Twilight. From the shadows came a purple alicorn, mane up, changeling horn and turquoise magic glasses, purple necklace with a pink six-pointed star design, purple shoes with a pink jewel, Cutie Mark of eight six points stars and the wings were dark purple.  “Have you been on my mind the whole time?” I asked.  “Yes, Twilight,” replied the mysterious pony.  “But when have you been inside my mind?”  “I have always been inside your mind since you started to feel sad about the death of your friends and royal advisor.”  “But how do you know that? And what’s your name?” I asked, now surprised that voice knew about the death of my friends and Spike.  Midnight Sparkle smiled. “Twilight, I’m you, and I’m part of you. I am… Midnight Sparkle! But you didn’t answer my question. Why were you crying?”  I looked to the side sadly as I started to cry again. “My friends and royal advisor died. It has been several years since the death of my friends and five hundred years after Spike’s death. I wish I could get rid of my immortality to die too, but I can’t...” I laid my head on the blanket as I started crying again. “... and the worst, I’m feeling a bad feeling in me...”  Midnight Sparkle came over to me and stroked my mane. “What bad feeling are you feeling, Twilight?”  Still crying, I replied, “I-i feel angry that Celestia made me an alicorn. Thanks to her, I can’t see them again in heaven. I don’t know what else to do. I want to retire, but I can’t.”  “Twilight, what if I said there was a way to show ponies your anger?” asked Midnight Sparkle with a smile. I looked at Midnight Sparkle with a smile hopeful. “Really? Which is?”  “Just let the anger take you,” replied Midnight Sparkle.  My happiness changed to fear. “What? No!”  “But why not, Twilight?” asked Midnight, now confused by my answer. “You would be demonstrating what you feel.”  “Because the princesses retired because they believed that I would be a good ruler for Equestria.” I explained to Midnight Sparkle why I couldn’t accept this.  “Twilight, didn’t you realize that it’s Celestia’s fault that you lost your friends?” asked Midnight Sparkle. “It was she who made you alicorn, and now, you cannot join with your friends after death.”  “But, she couldn’t have done for me don’t join my friends and Spike. She must have done it because she believed I was ready.” I denied what Midnight said to me. This couldn’t be true. Celestia would never do this to me!  “But she did it. Since she made you a student, she already had in mind what to do next with you: She planned to make you an alicorn since you became her student when you was a filly.”  I looked away as tears started to come out of my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Midnight was saying that it was Celestia’s fault. But that couldn’t be true. “This can’t be true...”  “But it’s true, Twilight. The whole time, you were just one play piece for that Celestia. Every time she called you to save Equestria, it was nothing more than a test to see if you were ready to be an alicorn,” said Midnight Sparkle. “And when she called you to save the Crystal Empire, that wasn’t just a test, that was a test to see if you were ready to be an alicorn.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was I anything but a play piece for Celestia so i could become an alicorn?  “Was the test to save the Crystal Empire a test to see if I was ready to become an alicorn?” I asked carefully while lifting a hoof slightly.  “Yes, Twilight. Why do you think you received a Starswirl book with an incomplete spell?” asked Midnight Sparkle. “She wouldn’t send that book to you without a reason.”  “But the reason was because she believed that I would be able to solve it.” I defended Celestia.  “No, Twilight. She sent you that book so that you could become an alicorn,“ said Midnight Sparkle, ”and that you couldn’t be reunited with your friends in death too.”  I started to cry again, and this time it was for Celestia. “No! Celestia would never do this to me!”  “But she did it, Twilight. And now, thanks to her, you will never be able to join your friends,” said Midnight Sparkle.  “But what do I do, then?” I asked, while crying even more.  “As I said earlier, release your anger.”  “But…”  “You don’t realize?” asked Midnight Sparkle, now with a smile.  I was confused. “I don’t understand what?”  “Don’t you realize that everypony you care about has died? And this it all happen thanks to Celestia?” replied Midnight Sparkle.  “Celestia isn’t guilty of this!” I yelled at Midnight Sparkle, now angry that she was talking about Celestia like that. Although inside, I started to believe that Celestia was guilty of all that I was going through.  “Why resist, Twilight? The ones you cared about most are gone now.” Midnight Sparkle tried to convince me.  “Yes, they’re gone, but ...” I tried to explain why I couldn’t do this, but Midnight Sparkle interrupted me.  “So, release your anger. Make Celestia regret for what she did this to you! Because after all, thanks to her, you lost the ones you cared about the most!” said Midnight Sparkle.  Suddenly, I started to feel the same feeling as before, and it was anger. Only now, I seemed to accept that more easily than before, because of Celestia, I couldn’t see my friends and royal advisor in the heaven.  “Yes! She will pay for doing this to me!” I said now angry, without looking scared.  In saying that, I felt a magic come into my horn. I closed my eyes, and in a horn glow, I started to transform. My mane went up, my cutie mark changed to eight six-pointed stars, my gold perk changed to turquoise shoes with purple socks with purple wings and a purple necklace with a pink six-pointed star, my lilac wings changed from shape and color, the color was dark purple and the shape was similar to that of a bat, my horn changed to a turquoise changeling horn, a turquoise magic glasses appeared in my eyes, I opened my eyes while smirking. My eyes were no longer the same: My pupil was pink and the sclera was turquoise.  “Hahahaha! Yes! I can feel the power flowing inside me!” I closed my eyes while laughing wickedly.  I decided to leave my room to sit on my throne. But I stopped when I noticed the castle’s decoration. The color of the walls was white and in some parts they had drawings of my old Cutie Mark. Using my magic, I made the colors change inside the castle. As the walls white turned dark purple and the floor dark blue, my cutie mark on the wall changed to mine i had from now on. I noticed that in some parts there was nothing. Maybe, I could make tapestries to put in those places later.   I felt something over the top of my head. I took the thing with my magic and realized it was my crown. But I threw it away, as if it was no longer important to me.   “Stupid crown.” > The beginning of the tyrant reign of Midnight Sparkle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I walked down the hall, I noticed that my royal guards seemed to be afraid of my new form, and that made me happy. Because with this new form of mine, I will start governing Equestria with an iron hoof, and everypony would fear me. I’m going to make Celestia regret having made me an alicorn in the first place and having used me since I was her student.  I opened the new door to the throne room with my magic. Yes. My magic made the whole color of the castle change. The door to the throne room was now turquoise, and the throne room was dark purple, my throne was also purple and had the same wings that I had on my back, and the carpet that led to the throne was now colored dark blue. I smiled just seeing my new throne room. Now, everything was the way I like it. Before, it was awful. Those white colors reminded me of Celestia. I don’t know what came over me when I decided that the wall color would be white in the past. But now everything has changed. Now everything in the castle was better, except the empty walls that had only my Cutie Mark on the wall. I decided that I would make tapestries with my magic. I carried my magic and threw it at a wall.  When I opened my eyes, I saw a lilac tapestry with star designs. I liked this tapestry. Mainly because it had stars on it. But just because I made this one have stars, it didn’t mean that I would make all tapestries just have stars. I planned that some of them would have me too, so that all my subjects would know about their queen and ruler, but I would do that later, since now my motivation was to start governing Equestria in a different way. I sat on my new throne with an evil smile. I looked to the right and saw Squirrels Quill trembling as he held a scroll with his magic.  I smiled when I saw my helper’s fear. I never imagined that I would think so, but it seemed that the Legion of Doom were right when they said that fear is stronger than friendship. Because with fear, I could make no one stand against me or dare to defeat me. Now with friendship, the enemies would pretend to be good and could well stand against a benevolent ruler. I was happy that this morning I had a change of heart, and all thanks to my other self. I was no longer Twilight Sparkle, that benevolent princess who believes in friendship. Now, I am Midnight Sparkle, the queen of Equestria who will rule Equestria with an iron hoof.  “What’s up, my number one helper? Didn’t you like your queen’s new appearance?” I asked with a mean smile.  “Princess Twilight, what happened to you?” asked Squirrels Quill, still startled.   “Don’t call me Princess Twilight, call me Queen Midnight Sparkle!” I proudly put a hoof on my chest while smiling.  Squirrels Quill was surprised by what I said. “What do you mean “queen”?”  “Simple, faithful helper. Celestia and Luna have retired and as I am the only ruler of Equestria, so it is scientifically possible that I am now the queen of Equestria.” I spit when speaking the name of my ex-mentor, and now, ex-friend.  “Celestia and Luna were the rulers of Equestria before you?” asked Squirrels Quill to be sure as he lifted a hoof.  “Yes. But it’s been a thousand years since they retired,” I explained to Squirrels Quill. “Celestia should have thought twice about wanting to make me an alicorn and wanting to retire with Luna.”  “Wait. Did Celestia make you an alicorn? Weren’t you born part of royalty?” Squirrels Quill asked, now surprised by this recent revelation.  “Yes, Celestia made me an alicorn and I wasn’t born at royalty,” I replied, now angrily. “I would be reunited with my friends and royal advisor in heaven, if Celestia hadn’t given me immortality against my own will.”  Squirrels Quill started to shake with what I said. I noticed the fear present in my helper and smiled wickedly. I started to get an idea of ​​what I could do next. I got up from my throne. “Squirrels Quill, I’m going to summon everypony from Equestria to a meeting here at the castle.” I warned Squirrels Quill.  “Yes, queen. But, what are you going to talk to them about?” asked Squirrels Quill, curious and afraid at the same time.  “Simple. I will announce my new plans as the queen of Equestria. And these plans will not be to continue to spread the magic of friendship. Since now, I want to cause fear in everypony, rule tyrannically and take revenge on Celestia.” I explained to Squirrels Quill with a mean smile before laughing and lifting a hoof. I didn’t realize it, but Squirrels Quill was shaking with fear.  “I am going. See you later,” I said as I flew to the door. Squirrels Quill just watched me, still scared with my new form.    I watched in a window, the creatures and ponies being escorted by my royal guards to a place that had several tables. This place was the same when I was crowned the new ruler of Equestria. Each one sat in a place, and they waited for my arrival. Of course, they were expecting my other self, but now they would have to get used to me in this new way and what I will do from now on. I looked at the place again, and realized that Celestia and Luna were not there. I was in a bad mood, but I soon recovered and smiled. I could already imagine the expression of the real ex-sisters when they saw me like this: Celestia would be crying and Luna would be worried about me and wanted to know what happened to me.  I bet they are having so much fun in their retirement, that they didn’t even decide to show up in this meeting. But okay, I’ll wait for them to come to me. Since they are very close to me, it is obvious that one day they will come to Canterlot to see how I am doing as a ruler and when they come, they will see.  I looked at the garden again, and saw that everypony was already seated. I decided that now would be the time. I would now go on the balcony. I could already see the scene in my head: Everypony would be worried and scared about my new form. Upon entering the balcony, I looked at my subjects and noticed that everypony was worried and scared about my new form.  “Subjects, thank you for coming. I need to confess something... ”  “Princess Twilight? Is that you?” asked a green mare and pink mane, worried about me.  I looked at the mare with a sly smile. “Princess Twilight?” I laughed. “I am... Queen Midnight Sparkle!”  Everypony gasped in surprise at what I said. I looked at the crowd and could see that they were speechless. It was this reaction that I wanted them to have from the beginning. Now, I just had to reveal my intentions as the queen of Equestria. But when I was about to speak, I was interrupted by a white stallion, dark blue mane and Cutie Mark from a yellow star near a crescent moon.  “What do you mean “queen”?”  I looked at the stallion not at all happy to have been interrupted, but i soon calmed down and replied, “simple, subject. I came to a conclusion. Since Celestia and Luna were princesses, but they ruled together, it would mean that they couldn’t be queens. And now that I rule Equestria alone and not them, then that means that I am a queen.”  The stallion understood me, but he was still in doubt about something. “But why change your name, then?”  “Because my old name wasn’t good for an evil and tyrant queen like me!” I replied with a smirk on my face.  Everypony gasped in surprise when they heard what I said, especially when they heard the words evil and tyrant. I looked at the ponies and creatures and noticed that they were jaw-dropping. I decided to take advantage of the fact that everypony was quiet for I speak my plans as a queen.  “And as the queen of Equestria, I proclaim that starting today, I will begin to rule Equestria with an iron hoof. And whoever dares to challenge me or stand against me will be destroyed!” when i finished talking, i started laughing madly. The ponies were shocked by my statement and started whispering to each other, worried about what the future would hold for them after discovering that I would no longer be that benevolent ruler of before. > Equestria is no longer the same > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousand three hundred years have passed since Luna and I have retired. We decided to live in Silver Shoals. At first, the ponies who lived there were confused to see the two of us without our crowns, but I explained to them that we had retired from the throne. The ponies were compressive with our decision. We now live in a small house, where there is a beautiful garden. We spent most of our days hanging out in the city together. We were now sitting in the yard, talking. Luna and I were sitting on a chair, relaxing and talking.  “Luna, what do you think of our retirement from the throne?” I asked as I looked at Luna with a smile.  Luna looked at me with a smile. “I’m loving it, sister. Retiring from the throne and moving on to Twilight was the best idea.”  “I agree. Because that way, we can spend more time together.” I agreed with Luna.  My thoughts, then, went to Twilight. I wondered how Twilight was doing as an Equestria ruler. Even though I’m enjoying spending time here, I missed Twilight. Perhaps, Luna and I could visit her to see how she was doing. Maybe, we could spend time together, like before. I looked at Luna again.  “Luna.” I started.  Luna looked at me. “Yes?”  “How about if we go to see Twilight to see how she is doing as Equestria’s ruler?” I asked. “I’m sure she must be doing a great job.”  Luna smiled at my idea. “It is a good idea, sister. Because it’s been several years since we retired from the throne, and what’s more, I miss my best friend.”  “I miss Twilight, too,” I agreed. “Let’s go?”  “Yes.” Luna and I spread our wings, before we left our house.  As we flew we noticed something that we hadn’t noticed before. Equestria no longer looked the same as before. The ponies and creatures looked sad and hopeless, in the cities there was a purple flag of a Twilight-like pony and it looked like the cities were empty, it was as if many now prefer to stay more at home than walking on the roads or seeing friends with frequency. I was obviously confused by this. What was happening?  “Sister, is it just me or does it look like Equestria is different than it was before?” asked Luna, obviously confused.  I looked at Luna now, still a little surprised inside. “I don’t think it’s your impression, Luna. It looks like Equestria has changed a lot, and it looks like it was for the worse.”  Luna was worried about what I said. “Has it changed for the worse? But what made Equestria stay in that state? Did a new villain come and dominate Equestria?”  “I don’t know what made Equestria look like this, Luna. And if a new villain came, I don’t understand why Twilight and their friends didn’t use the Elements of Harmony in it.” I wondered who was this new villain which dominated Equestria. Would it be a new villain or a villain who has appeared before and returned. But it couldn’t be an old villain who has already appeared, all the villains have been defeated! So how did Equestria stay in that state that seemed to be post-apocalyptic?  I didn’t understand how it could happen. Twilight has always managed to save Equestria from villains in the past when Luna and I ruled Equestria, so why just because we decided to retire, does a villain dominate Equestria? This wasn’t supposed to happen! Equestria has been at peace for a thousand years! And now, Equestria was no longer the same.  “Sister, I never imagined seeing ponies and creatures so sad,” said Luna sadly as she looked at them.  “Me neither, Luna.” I agreed with Luna.  “Why are they like this, Celestia?” asked Luna, now looking at me.  “I don’t know, Luna. It looks like a villain has conquered Equestria and now, he rules Equestria with a iron hoof or paw.” I tried to guess the reason for the sadness of ponies and creatures.  Luna was afraid. “And if this villain really conquered Equestria, then that would mean that Twilight is no longer on the throne!”  I was worried about Twilight. “But how did the villain manage to conquer Equestria and get Twilight off the throne?”  “I don’t know, Celestia. I just hope Twilight is still in the castle.” Luna tried to be hopeful, even though hope was almost lost.  “I hope so too, Luna,” I said.    Luna and I landed and entered Canterlot Castle and noticed that the castle was very different than before. The walls were dark purple in color and had tapestries of stars and an alicorn. Luna and I were surprised by the color and the tapestries. We also noticed that in some tapestries they had drawings of stars and a strange purple alicorn. Was this alicorn the villain who dominated Equestria? Could only be.  “Hey! You two there! Stop there!”  My ear and Luna’s cheered up when I heard a male voice. We turned around and saw two royal guards. I was surprised. The royal guards no longer wore gold armor, but wore purple armor and bat-like wings, similar to Luna’s, but the difference was that their wing was bigger.  “What are you doing here?” asked the royal guard, not happy.  “We would like to see Princess Twilight.” I explained to the guard.  The royal guard calmed down and smiled. “Ah yes. Follow me. I will show you the way to the throne room. She is in the there.”  Luna and I followed the royal guard without excitement. We were surprised when he said that Twilight was in the throne room. I wondered how the decoration of the throne room would be. Was it the same as before Luna and I retired? Would be different? Or would it be like the hallway? I just hoped that the villain who dominated Equestria wasn’t in the throne room with Twilight.   “Celestia, weren’t these guards my Lunar guards when I was princess of the night?” asked Luna with a smile.  “They seem to be, but their wings are bigger than their old Lunar guards,” I said.  Suddenly, we stopped walking. The guard looked at both of us.  “Wait here. I’ll let her know that you two want to talk to her.” he ordened before entering the throne room and closing the door. Luna and I wait at the guard’s request.  “Majesty, you have two visitors.”  “Who is it that came to visit me?”  “Celestia and Luna.”  “Allow them to enter. I need to talk to them, especially with Celestia. You can return to your post.”  I heard footsteps approach and the door opened. It was the royal guard.  “You can come in.” allowed the royal guard before leaving the place.  Luna and I entered as soon as the guard left. I noticed that the color of the wall was the same as the corridor and had tapestries of an alicorn and stars.  “You finally came, Celestia.”  I smiled when I heard the voice. That voice was from Twilight. I looked where I came the voice, but my smile fell when I saw that whoever was on the throne wasn’t Twilight, but a purple alicorn with the mane up, changeling horn and magic glasses, a purple necklace with an eight-pointed star, turquoise shoes and purple socks with wings. The alicorn smiled wickedly as he looked at Luna and me.  I could feel tears in my eyes. No. This alicorn couldn’t be Twilight, it couldn’t be the same mare that I passed the throne on several years ago. Luna, on the other hand, was worried. Was this mare sitting on the throne her best friend?  “Twilight? Is that you?” asked Luna worriedly as she approached the purple alicorn.  “Twilight?” she laughed. “I am... Queen Midnight Sparkle!”  Luna and I were shocked by this revelation. No. No! This alicorn couldn’t be Twilight!  “No! You're not Twilight!” I whimpered in denial.  “I was her, Celestia,” Midnight flew over to me and Luna with a smile. “But that is no longer my name. From now on, you and Luna will call me Queen Midnight Sparkle.”  Luna and I couldn’t believe what we were hearing. We felt like we were witnessing our past.  “Twilight! You can’t do this!” said Luna.  Midnight Sparkle laughed at what Luna said. “Why not? I have been the queen of Equestria for several years!”  “Twilight, you’re not the queen of Equestria. You’re the princess of Equestria. Queens don’t rule Equestria, only princesses and princes.” Luna tried to explain to Midnight why she wasn’t a queen.  “I am a queen, yes!” Midnight denied what Luna said. “Don’t you realize that when somepony rules alone, the pony or creature can be king or queen?”  “Twilight, I ruled Equestria for a thousand years and I never became a queen, I remained a princess.” I recap for Midnight Sparkle.  Midnight Sparkle laughed, but this time it was forced. “So it looks like you didn’t want to have that title. Because after all, Luna has been stuck on the moon for a thousand years and you didn’t want to become a queen because you didn’t want to be superior to anypony and neither did your sister.”  I couldn’t believe what I heard. My ears drooped sadly, but Midnight didn’t care if I was sad and continued to say, “And besides, Chrysalis was a queen of changeling, she practically governed the kingdom of changelings alone. So, it is scientifically possible that I am now the queen of Equestria.”  Midnight Sparkle laughed wickedly before looking at me and saying, “Celestia, you really should have thought twice before taking a action.”  I looked at Midnight confusedly. “But Twilight, Luna and I always talked before making a decision.”  “For that very reason. You should have thought twice or more before you made me an alicorn and wanted to retire,” said Midnight Sparkle with a mean smile. “Thanks to your decision, Equestria is no longer the same. And there is nothing, not even friendship that can prevent my tyrant reign!” she started laughing wildly.  I felt tears fall from my eyes. But I remembered something, I wiped my tears away with a hoof.  “You’re wrong. There is something that can stop you.” I said, now with courage on my face. Luna smiled too, because she knew exactly what I was talking about.  Midnight Sparkle stopped laughing, but her smile didn’t waver. “And what can stop me?”  “The Elements of Harmony,” I replied confidently.  Midnight Sparkle laughed wildly again. Luna and I were speechless. It wasn’t this reaction that we expected Midnight to have.  Midnight stopped laughing and said with an evil smile on her face, “The Elements of Harmony were destroyed a long time ago by King Sombra, Celestia!”  Luna and I were amazed at this revelation. “But how did King Sombra destroy the elements?” I asked, still surprised.  “When my friends and I thought we had defeated him, King Sombra returned and destroyed the Harmony tree, the same tree where my friends and I kept the elements after his ‘defeat’,” Midnight Sparkle told me. “And besides, there is no point in coming to my friends, because they died many years ago!”  I didn’t know what to say about that. I looked to the side as I started to cry and my ears went down. I covered my mouth with a front hoof. Luna looked at me while trying to comfort me, but it wasn’t working. I couldn’t believe what was going on. Thanks to these two decisions of mine in the past, Twilight became a tyrant ruler and there was no friendship in Equestria anymore, only tyranny and fear. What will Luna and I do? The elements were destroyed several years ago long before Luna and I retired and Twilight’s friends died several years ago. It would be impossible to defeat Midnight Sparkle. Luna and I didn’t notice, but Midnight was looking at us both with a mean smile. > It's all my fault, Luna! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna and I were now in the castle garden so we could reflect on what happened. I was crying a lot, Luna was trying to comfort me, but it didn’t work. I couldn’t think of anything than that it was all my fault.  “It’s all my fault, Luna,” I said to myself as I covered my eyes with my front hooves.  “No, sister. It’s not your fault.” assured Luna as she stroked my soft back.  “It’s my fault yes, Luna,” I looked at Luna, still with tears in my eyes. “If I hadn’t thought about making Twilight alicorn from the beginning, retired and passed the throne to Twilight, she would have been reunited with her best friends and Spike after death and she wouldn’t have become a tyrant ruler and Equestria wouldn’t be in this post-apocalyptic state.”  “Celestia, don’t blame yourself. You didn’t know this was going to happen,” said Luna.  “But I should have known it would happen. Since Twilight started living in Ponyville, she has become attached to the five mares,” I explained to Luna. “But what was my big idea? Making Twilight an alicorn because I believed she had the potential to be a princess because of her great ability with magic. If I really knew Twilight, I would know that Twilight didn’t want to be immortal from the start and that with the loss of her friends, it could turn Twilight into madness.” that said, I didn’t stop crying anymore. “But it seems that my worst idea was to retire. Because thanks to my decision, Twilight became corrupted and became a tyrannical ruler and now, it no longer has friendship in Equestria, only fear and tyranny.”  “Sister, don’t lose hope. We will find a solution for that.” Luna assured me, now with a smile  I looked at Luna, still crying. “Don’t you remember, Luna? The Elements of Harmony are broken and Twilight’s friends died several years ago.”  Luna’s smile fell at my words. That was true. She had forgotten these details.  I looked at the floor, sadly. “Because of me, I missed Twilight forever.”  I started to remember all the moments that Twilight and I spent together. Since she was a filly, until she moved to Ponyville. I remembered when Twilight was happy to be my student. Even when Twilight became an alicorn, she was still happy, maybe because her friends were still alive. But when Luna and I went to visit Twilight, and when I saw the new form of Twilight, I knew that all the motherly and student love that Twilight felt for me, died several years ago after the death of her friends. I couldn’t help denying that Midnight reminded me of Nightmare Moon, because Nightmare Moon was the manifestation of Luna’s negative feelings, and Midnight Sparkle the manifestation of Twilight’s negative feelings. I didn’t know what to do to get Twilight to stop it. I felt like I had done the same things I did before Luna became Nightmare Moon.  I started to worry. Do the ponies hate me now for passing the throne to Twilight? I mean, I knew that the ponies that lived at the time that Luna and I ruled Equestria together when Twilight wasn’t yet the ruler have died. But what if the ponies who lived in that time of the tyrant reign of Midnight found out that I had passed the throne to Twilight? I didn’t know what to do. Luna said I shouldn’t lose hope and find a solution. But what would be the solution? The elements were broken many years ago.  I wiped the tears from my eyes with a hoof and said, “Luna, let’s go.”  Luna was confused as she raised an eyebrow at my sentence. “Where are we going?”   “For Ponyville. I would like to spend time there to reflect on my mistakes that resulted in the fall of Twilight and Equestria,” I replied sadly.  Luna’s confusion changed to concern. Luna started to think that I had started to think that I was to blame for all this happening. And what Luna thought was true. I needed time to reflect on my actions that led to all of this happening. Sadly, I spread my wings and flew out to Ponyville. Luna, seeing this, spread her wings and followed me.  I looked down, and noticed that there was almost no one in Canterlot. Those who were walking on the street, walked with their heads down and without hope. Many of the stores were destroyed and closed, the windows of houses and stores were broken. I looked away, ashamed of myself. I felt tears in my eyes.  Twilight… I’m sorry…  “Sister, please don’t cry.” asked Luna, already heartbroken when she saw my tears.  I looked at Luna, still with tears in her eyes. “I can’t do it, Luna. Because of me, I lost Twilight forever…”  Luna just looked at me sadly. She didn’t know how to cheer me up. She hoped she could cheer me up, and we hoped to find a way to stop Midnight’s tyrant reign and make Midnight go back to Twilight. But for that, we would need a plan. We were going to stay in Ponyville until we came up with a plan.  “Where are we going to stay, sister?” asked Luna.  “In the old Twilight castle, Luna,” I replied, still saddened by what happened to Twilight and Equestria. Luna and I landed on the Ponyville road and we noticed that in Ponyville there were several purple Midnight Sparkle flags, the houses were destroyed, and the ponies walked in the same way as the Canterlot ponies: Sad and hopeless.  Just remembering the old Twilight castle, it reminded me of when she solved friendship problems throughout Equestria and didn’t rule Equestria with an iron hoof. Tears came back from my eyes, again. I knew I shouldn’t just be crying, but my sadness was much stronger than any other emotion I felt now.  I opened the door of the castle of friendship with my magic and entered with Luna. Then I closed the door with my magic without looking back. I noticed that the castle was covered with cobwebs and dust. I wasn’t surprised by this, since the castle had been abandoned for years and no one lived in it. Yeah. It looked like Luna and I would have to get the webs and dust out of that castle if we wanted to live here, at least until we came up with a plan. I just hoped it wouldn’t take as long as I imagined.  “The Twilight castle is all dusty,” said Luna, “and full of webs, too.”  “Yes. The Twilight castle looks like this because it’s been abandoned for years and no one lives here.” I explained to Luna why the castle was like this.  “Did anypony live here after Twilight moved to Canterlot permanently?” asked Luna, now curious.  I looked at Luna. “I don’t know, Luna. It’s a possibility.”  I opened a door with my magic and noticed that the map room was obviously full of dust and cobwebs. I wondered where Twilight kept the dust mop in the castle. Did she keep it in the closet? I think I would check there first. I started walking. Luna raised an eyebrow in confusion.  “Sister? Where are you going?” she asked.  I looked at Luna. “I’m going to go to the closet to see if I can find the dust mop.”  “If the dust mop isn’t in the closet, can I help you find it?” asked Luna, now with a smile.  I smiled back. “Of course you can, Luna.”  I started walking, and Luna followed me. If the dust mop wasn’t in the closet, I already had in mind where I would look: In the cleaning room. I mean, that if this room is in the castle, of course.  But even though I’m not crying that much anymore, I was still sad about what happened to Twilight. My ears went down. I started to remember when I noticed the new form of Twilight. I couldn’t get out of my head the mean smile that Midnight gave me when I saw her on the throne. I started to feel tears in my eyes again. But I wiped the tears away quickly with a hoof so that Luna wouldn’t notice it.  I opened the light blue cabinet with my magic and realized that inside there was no dust mop, but plates. I closed it straight and looked at Luna.  “The dust mop isn’t in the closet,” I said.  “But where would he be then?” asked Luna as she lifted a hoof confusedly.  “Maybe in the cleanroom?” I tried to guess with a smile of possible nervousness.  “But is there this room in the castle of friendship?”  “Perhaps, Luna. We will see.”  Luna and I turned and walked again. I wondered where Twilight’s cleanroom was. I noticed that there were several doors in the hall that we were in. I decided to open one to see if it was the cleaning room. And to my surprise, it wasn’t the cleanroom, but it was the library. Luna and I noticed a large bookcase. I closed the door with my magic and started walking again. I was about to open the door that was next to the library door, but when I saw a door in the back, I was curious, I decided to go to it and open it. To my happiness, it was the cleanroom. Inside was a broom, cloth and dust mop. I took the dust mop with my magic and looked at Luna.  “Luna, would you like to help me dust?” I asked.  “Yes, Celestia,” replied Luna. “Can I sweep the floor?”  “Sure, Luna.” I took the broom and handed it to Luna and closed the door. Luna took the broom with her magic.  I started dusting and cobwebs on the walls and Luna started cleaning the floor. My thoughts went back to Twilight and tears started to come out of my eyes again. I still felt guilty about everything that happened. I hoped that in the end, I would get Twilight back and could explain my reasons for making her alicorn. > Every queen needs a king > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a day after Celestia and Luna came to visit me at the castle. When I realized that they didn’t come to the dining room for lunch, I tried to think that they had returned to Silver Shoals. I felt angry just thinking about it, because I couldn’t even get even with Celestia right. Okay, I made Celestia cry, but that wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to destroy her. And what about Luna? Since she had nothing to do with what happened to me, I would spare her from death. But if she challenges me or wants to stop my tyrannical reign, I will make her suffer the same fate as Celestia.  I was sitting on my throne with an evil smile on my face. Whenever I was sitting on my throne, I felt superior to everypony. But although I liked to feel it, I started to feel alone. I mean, I had my helper, but I would like to have somepony to stay with me during my difficult times. Somepony who could rule with me, so that me and that somepony could cause more fear in Equestria. I wanted to be with somepony as tyrant as me. The only villain that came to my mind was King Sombra, because he was a king and had ruled the Crystal Empire in a tyrannical way in the past, and when I say in the past, I mean well before I was born. And if there is one thing that every queen needs besides a kingdom and subjects, it is a king to rule with her. I wanted to resuscitate him, but for that, I had to find a resuscitation spell in the library.  I got up from the throne and went flying to the door. My helper just watched me go to the door, go out and close the door with magic my turquoise magic with fear present in it. After I resurrected him I would make a throne for King Sombra with my own magic, then Sombra and I will rule Equestria together with iron hooves and a lot of fear and tyranny we would cause.  I opened the brown library door with my magic and went straight in. I started searching the shelves for a spell book. It took me almost an hour to find a spell book. I took the book with my magic, went to the table, put the book on the table, sat down and started reading.    After reading the book for an hour, I finally found the resuscitation spell. I started reading the spell. The spell wasn’t difficult, especially for somepony who had a lot of power. When I was done, I got up, closed my eyes and started using my magic. My eyes flashed turquoise as I started to float, and suddenly, there was a flash. When I opened my eyes, I saw that in front of me was King Sombra. He was laughing meanly. I just watched with a smile.  “Muahahahahaha! Alive! Alive again! Now, I will take over the Crystal Empire!”  Sombra stopped laughing, looked at where he was and realized he was in a library. He was confused. But when he saw me, he was even more confused.  “Who are you?” asked King Sombra as he lifted a hoof.  I had to laugh at this situation. “Don’t you recognize me, Sombra?”  When King Sombra heard my voice, he instantly recognized who I was and was surprised at what he was seeing in front of him. “Twilight? Did you revive me?”  “Don’t call me Twilight, Sombra. Call me... Queen Midnight Sparkle!”  He was surprised by what I said. “Queen? So does that mean you rule Equestria now?”  “Yes, Sombra. I rule Equestria now. Celestia and Luna retired and passed the throne to me twelve hundred years ago. I’m practically the queen of Equestria now,” I replied.  “And how are you ruling Equestria?” asked King Sombra, now curious. He hoped that I wasn’t governing benevolently.  “Before, I governed Equestria benevolently, but after the death of my friends and royal advisor, I became very depressed. But then, I realized that it was Celestia’s fault, since she was the one who made me alicorn and made me immortal too. And now, I rule Equestria with an iron hoof, with fear and tyranny, and I want to get even with it in some way.” I explained to King Sombra, now angry with Celestia.  Sombra was surprised by what I said. He never expected that I would become mean one day. But he soon smiled.  “You know, I never imagined that you would be corrupted,” said Sombra. “And who would become Queen of Equestria one day.”  “I know. I also didn’t think that would happen,” I agreed. “Sombra, I have a proposal to make for you.”  “What is your proposal?” asked Sombra.  “As I am the queen of Equestria, would you like to rule with me?” I offered it to him.  He was surprised by what I said. “Govern with you?”  “Yes, Sombra. Since I am already the queen of Equestria, you can be the king of Equestria,” I replied with a wicked smile on my face. “Together, we can both cause fear to all ponies, and even get revenge on Celestia. So? You accept?”  Sombra started to think. He couldn’t deny that what I was offering him was something that somepony never offered him. He had never seen an evil queen before in his life, especially one who ruled Equestria with an iron hoof before he was defeated and destroyed three times: the first was by Celestia and Luna, the second by the crystal ponies, and the third was by me and my friends. But now, I was a queen who dominated Equestria, all thanks to the retirement of the two royal sisters and the death of my friends and the royal advisor. He began to imagine the us ruling Equestria tyrannically, and in addition to the crystal ponies, all the other ponies would be slaves to him and me.  He looked at me again and replied with a evil smile, “yes. I accept.”  “Great. Follow me.” I started walking.  Sombra followed me in a confused way. “Where are we going, Queen Midnight?”  Still walking and leaving the library, I looked at Sombra. “We’re going to the throne room. I will make a throne for you with my magic.”  Sombra was surprised by my last sentence. “A throne for me?”  I smiled. “Yes. Because after all, you will reign with me and every king needs a throne too,” I replied.  “Will you make a throne with your own magic?” asked Sombra, still surprised.  “Yes. My magic has evolved a lot over the years since I became a queen,” I replied. “I can even make tapestries appear on the empty walls.”  “So fast like that?” asked Sombra, now with his mouth open.  “Yes. It’s pretty quick,” I replied as I opened the door to the throne room with my magic and stepped inside. Sombra followed me.  Sombra observed the decoration of the throne room. He saw several tapestries of stars and me. He looked ahead of him and saw my throne and me flying up to him. I used my magic and suddenly, there was a flash. Sombra had to close his eyes and cover his face with a hoof because of the light.  When the light dimmed, Sombra uncovered his face and when he saw his new throne, he was amazed. His throne was shaped like a crystal with a gray color.  I looked at Sombra again and approached him with a smile. “So, Sombra? Did you like the throne I made for you?” Sombra looked at me, again with a evil smile. “Yes. I liked the throne. I must confess, I can’t wait to make the ponies afraid of us.”  “Me too, Sombra.” I brought my horn close to Sombra’s horn while smiling, not in an evil way, but in a loving way. Sombra was feeling a feeling he never felt before, but he liked to feel it. > Love is in bloom > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Midnight and I were watching the ponies and creatures sit on the chairs, because as I was going to rule alongside Midnight, Midnight had to inform the subjects of me. Now that I was going to rule alongside Midnight, Midnight had informed the subjects to come to the castle. One thing I realized was that they were not happier than before. And that made me happy, because now that me and Midnight would rule Equestria together, everypony would do what Midnight and I commanded through fear. Honestly, I never imagined that Equestria would look like this just because Celestia and Luna retired and passed the throne to Twilight, and also because Twilight lost her friends and hee royal advisor because she was immortal.  “Everypony has already sat down,” said Midnight before looking at me. “You wait here. When I speak your name, you will appear.”  “Okay, Queen Midnight,” I said.  I looked out the window and noticed that the ponies were scared to see Midnight walk up to the balcony with a mean smile. I liked that reaction.  “Subjects, thank you for coming. I have news to give to all of you.” started Midnight Sparkle. The ponies looked at Midnight with fear still present on their faces.  “Are you going to rule again benevolently?” tried a pony to guess the reason for the meeting.  Midnight Sparkle laughed at the pony’s question. “Oh really? Do you really think I will return to rule Equestria like before?”  The pony was speechless as his ears lowered his ears and looked to his right side before looking back at Midnight. “...Yes?”  “Well, you thought it wrong! Because that’s not the reason why I called you here,” replied Midnight Sparkle, without taking the mean smile off her face.  I was now looking at Midnight. I couldn’t help but love the way she spoke to that stupid pony.  “The real reason why I called you all here is because somepony else will rule with me. He is nothing more than the King Sombra!” confessed Midnight Sparkle. Everypony except Midnight and I was scared.  I loved the fearful looks of the ponies that looked at each other with concerned looks. I approached and entered the balcony. I looked at the ponies and creatures, and I noticed them even more scared than before, because I returned for the fourth time and this time, I wasn’t alone.  “And as he will help me to govern, he has plans for all of you.” Midnight gave me space to speak.  “As the new king of Equestria, I declare that starting today, all of you will be our slaves and will do whatever we say.” I declared.  All the ponies and creatures gasped in surprise at what I said. They couldn’t believe what I said. They needed to get away from here! They got up from their chairs and ran to the entrance. But they were stopped by the Midnight guards who stood in front of the entrance.  Midnight and I went to our subjects. Midnight went flying, and I became a trail of darkness, my eyes shone bright green, my pupils were red and a purple smoke came out of my eyes.  “Where do you think you are going, subjects?” asked Midnight Sparkle, still smirking as she landed on the floor. But they refused to listen to her.  When I landed on the ground, I stopped being a trail of darkness and used my magic, made darkness come out of my horn and made it go to all the ponies and creatures present in the place. The ponies and creatures stopped running as soon as the magic entered them. Their colors changed to a more gray tone and their eyes went light green. They turned and bowed to me and Midnight. They looked like zombies, practically.  “Now, subjects, you can go back to your cities. But if somepony tries to get us off the throne, you will fight that somepony! And you all will not show mercy to the traitor!” I order.  “Yes, King Sombra,” said all ponies and creatures except Midnight, i and the guards in unison as they bowed. Then they left the scene.  Midnight and I watched our subjects leave the scene. When they were out of sight, we flew to the balcony and entered the castle. I started to remember three ponies and looked at Midnight.  “Midnight.” I started.  Still walking, Midnight looked at me. “Yes, Sombra?”  “I’m curious. What happened to Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart? What about the Crystal Empire and the crystal heart?” I asked.  “Shining, obviously died of old age. Cadence and Flurry Heart were destroyed because they tried to stop me from tyrannical reign several years ago,” replied Midnight with an evil smile when she spoke of Cadence and Flurry. “The Crystal Empire is practically in ruins because it has been without a ruler for several years and the crystal heart has been broken. And as for the crystal heart, I broke it when I go over there to announce the crystal ponies that happened to their two princesses.”  I was happy and surprised at the same time. Happy that Cadence and Flurry were destroyed and the crystal heart was broken, and surprised that the Crystal Empire was in ruins because it no longer had a ruler and the crystal heart was broken. I might as well become the king of the Crystal Empire, but if I did that, I would have stayed there and Midnight here in the castle we were in now. And I didn’t want to be away from Midnight. It is better that I stay in Canterlot with Midnight, since it was announced today that I would rule with her.  “Sombra, as we have no real duty at the moment, would you like to spend time with me?” asked Midnight with a smile.  “Yes. I would like to spend time with you,” I replied. “What place do you have in mind for us to spend time together?” Midnight Sparkle looked away, now blushed. “I… I was thinking about the two of us standing on the balcony of our castle together. I would like to confess something to you.”  I was curious. Did Midnight want to confess something to me? But what would it be?  “But what would you like to confess to me?” I asked, curious.  Midnight looked at me out of the corner of her eye, still blushed and smiling. “When we get there, I’ll tell you, Sombra.”  Midnight led the way to the balcony. I followed her, although I was still curious about what Midnight wanted to confess to me. I looked at Midnight and started to feel a feeling that I never felt before. I started to feel the same feeling when Midnight put her horn on mine. I wondered what that feeling was. I started to think. If I liked it when Midnight put her horn on mine, it would mean that I was enjoying Midnight. Well, I wasn’t going to deny what I felt, since Midnight’s company made me happy. Since Midnight wanted to talk to me, I would take the opportunity to confess what I felt for her too.  Midnight opened her bedroom door with her magic and entered with me. We approached the balcony and sat down. I was sitting on the left and Midnight on the right.  Although I wanted to confess to Midnight what I felt, I wanted Midnight to speak first. “So? What would you like to confess to me?”  Midnight looked to the right, now blushed again. “Well… Sombra, after a few days that Celestia and Luna came to visit, I started to feel alone, and I wanted to have somepony to be with me during my difficult times. When I revived you, a feeling that died in me several years after I became mean returned.”  “What is that feeling you’re feeling?” I asked.  Midnight looked at me with a smile and replied, “love. Sombra, will you be my coltfriend?”  I was surprised by Midnight’s confession. I didn’t expect Midnight to feel that way about me. But I soon smiled and replied, “yes, Midnight. I accept.”  Midnight’s smile grew even more with my answer. “Really? Do you feel the same as I do?”  “Yes, Midnight. Since I realized that you touched your horn on mine, a new feeling was born in me, and that feeling is love. If there is one of the things I want besides governing Equestria with you and getting revenge on Celestia and Luna, it is to be together with you.” I confessed to Midnight with a smile while putting a hoof on her chin.  “Me too, Sombra.” after Midnight said that, we both kissed while our eyes were closed. > The final battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna and I were sitting at the table, eating pancakes. Mine had a smile and Luna’s had fruit on the sides and whipped cream on top. While Luna quietly ate her pancake, I had barely touched mine. I didn’t feel like eating. No after what happened to Twilight. I could feel tears come out of my eyes again. Even though Luna said it wasn’t my fault for what happened to Twilight, I still saw myself as guilty. What was I thinking when I wanted to make Twilight an alicorn and retire? Twilight would be together with Spike and her friends if it weren’t my fault and Equestria wouldn’t be in that state.  “Sister, are you okay?” asked Luna, now looking at me. “You didn’t even touch your pancake.”  I looked at Luna, still sad as I wiped the tears away with a hoof. “No, Luna. I’m not well.”  “What happened, Celestia?” asked Luna, now worried.  “I still feel guilty about what happened to Twilight and the state of Equestria,” I replied.  “Sister, I already said. You are not to blame for what happened to Twilight and Equestria,” said Luna.  “But Twilight turned bad because of me.” I pointed to Luna. “Thanks to me, I missed Twilight forever!”  Luna started to think. How could they stop the tyrannical reign of Midnight and bring Twilight back? One thing was certain. She didn’t want to have to kill Midnight, because even though Midnight is mean, Midnight was Twilight after all. And she didn’t want to have to destroy her only best friend. Until Luna started to have an idea and looked at me with a smile. “No, Celestia. You haven’t lost Twilight forever.”  “But Luna, did you forget what I just said? The elements were destroyed and Twilight’s friends died.” I said, now confused as to why Luna said that, but still sad.  “No, Celestia. I didn’t forget what you said to me,” replied Luna. “What I’m trying to say is that if we want to stop the tyrant reign of Midnight and make her go back to Twilight and be a benevolent ruler, we will have to show her that ruling Equestria out of fear is not the best way, that her intentions when she wanted to making her an alicorn was not that she couldn’t die along with her friends and Spike, and that we will be by her side during this difficult time that she was going through.”  I lowered my ears while looking to the side sadly. “I don’t know, Luna. Every feeling of love she felt for me seems to have died a long time ago. ”  “Don’t lose hope, sisters. You’re not going to do all this alone. I will help you bring Twilight back,” said Luna, now with a smile.  I was happy inside that Luna was going to help her. But I was still sad on the outside. “Luna, what if we don’t make it?”  “We will do it, sister,” said Luna as she looked at me with optimism.  “But Luna, Twilight, or also now known as Midnight Sparkle must practically hate me for what I did to her,” I said.  “But that doesn’t mean that inside her I still can’t care about you,” said Luna. “I’m sure if you talk to her, explain your reasons and show that you’re sorry, she’ll be Twilight again.”  I looked sideways thoughtfully as more tears left my eyes. I had to agree. Luna’s idea was a good one, but I don’t know if it would work. Not after what Twilight was feeling about me now. But I think it would be worth a try. I looked back at Luna.  “Okay, Luna. You won. We are now going to Canterlot,” I said.  “Aren’t you going to eat your pancake?” asked Luna, noticing my plate was still full.  “No, Luna. I’m not hungry.”  I took my plate and threw my pancake in a trash can, then Luna and I went to the sink and started washing our dishes in the sink. After two minutes, we finished the housework, dried, put the dishes in the cupboards and left the castle.  Only when we left, we realized that Ponyville was no longer the same, and I say that in the worst sense. Because the color of the sky was no longer blue, but it was a brownish gray. Only beyond that, it was seeing ponies and creatures. They were gray, but they were a light gray shade of hair and the eyes were green, as if they were being controlled by black magic. I kept my mouth open and worried when I saw their eyes. The color of the eyes was the same as that of Sombra! No! Midnight couldn’t have done that! She couldn’t have revived King Sombra!  “Sister, is it my impression that everyone’s eyes are similar to King Sombra?” Luna asked me as she looked at the ponies and creatures that walked the roads.  I looked at Luna, now crying. “It is not your impression, Luna. Everypony’s eyes are the same as King Sombra.”  Luna returned to look at me, now concerned. “You think to which Midnight has Risen Sombra?”  “It seems so! And this is all happening thanks to me!” I put my two front hooves on my eyes while crying. “Equestria is like this and all ponies and creatures are being controlled by King Sombra!” I sat on the floor while crying even more. My tears started to fall to the floor.  Luna was very worried about me. She had never seen me so emotional before. Well, except when I confessed to Luna that I was wrong about her job being easy.  Suddenly, we heard a noise. We looked to the side, saw a purple portal appear and were surprised to see Discord worried about seeing me cry.  “Why are you crying, Celestia?” he asked as he left the portal as he disappeared.  I looked at the floor, still crying. “Discord, I made two terrible mistakes...”  “But what terrible mistakes have you made?” asked Discord, now confused as well.  “Twilight became a tyrant ruler all because I made her alicorn and retired!” That said, I lay on the floor and cover my mouth with my hooves while crying even more.  Discord was concerned about what I said. “What?! Twilight turned evil?! ”  Still crying, I said, “yes. But the main reason is because she was left without her friends and Spike. And now, she hates me.”  Discord was speechless as to what I said. “I ... I didn’t think Twilight would be corrupted by the loss of her friends and Spike.”  “Yes. Worse, I should have known it was going to happen in the future,” I said. “Twilight has always been attached to her friends since she met her, and thanks to my decision to make her alicorn and have retired, she will not be able to die to join them and Equestria is no longer the same.”  Discord was concerned about my last sentence. “Wait. Isn’t Equestria the same anymore?”  I looked at Discord. “Not. There is no more friendship, just tyranny and fear.”  “But it shouldn’t have happened! You said yourself that Twilight was ready to rule Equestria! it was for her to govern benevolently! And don’t tyrant!” Discord desperately denied what I said.  I wiped my tears away with a hoof. “But happened. And Twilight became Midnight Sparkle.”  Discord was confused. “Who’s Midnight Sparkle?”  “It’s the evil side of Twilight,” I replied.  “Does Twilight have an evil side?” Discord was shocked by this revelation. He never imagined that Twilight would have an evil side.  “Yes. And worse, she thinks of herself now as the queen of Equestria since she is ruling alone now,” I replied.  “But it shouldn’t have happened!” Discord denied. “After you and I petrified the Legion of Doom, you told Twilight that she was ready. “Where did we go wrong?” “I think my mistake was deciding to retire too soon...” I said before crying again. “Because of me, Equestria is in this post-apocalyptic state...”  “What? Post-apocalyptic state?” Discord asked, now surprised.  “Yes, Discord. Equestria is like that because of the way Queen Midnight is ruling.” explained Luna while comforting me with a hoof.  Discord still looked incredulous. Post-apocalyptic state? This couldn’t be true.  “... And worse, it looks like King Sombra has been revived again.” finished Luna.  Discord’s jaw dropped. If it weren’t for the laws of physics, his jaw would have dropped to the floor. When he recovered, he said, “Has King Sombra been revived? But how? Who revived him?”  “We don’t know, Discord. The only evidence that shows his return is that all the ponies and creatures are grayer in color with green eyes like Shadow and the sky is brownish gray,” replied Luna.  “Did Sombra take Midnight from the throne and now he is the one who is ruling Equestria?” I asked.  “If he managed to take Midnight off the throne, then that explains why there is no more friendship in Equestria,” said Discord. “Are we going by train or flying?”  “We better get flying,” I replied while wiping the tears away with a hoof.    Sombra and I were sitting on our thrones with evil smiles on their faces. Since we started ruling Equestria together, the fear and tyranny that we were both causing was spreading even further. I was really enjoying being feared by my subjects. I looked at Sombra.  “Sombra.” I started.  Sombra looked at me with a loving smile. “Yes, my queen?”  “How do you feel now that Equestria that we are ruling together?” I asked.  “I’m enjoying. But I can call somepony so it can control the fear,” said King Sombra.  I smiled at the last sentence. Sombra had somepony who could control the fear? But who would it be?  “Really? Who is it?” I asked, curious.  “The Umbrum,” replied Sombra.  “Who are these there?”  “They are my people. They creatures that are now in a port that only I can open with my magic.”  I was excited. Can you imagine how much more fear it could have in Equestria?   “And can you do that now?” I asked.  “Of course.” when Sombra was about to open the Umbrum portal, he was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.  Sombra and I realized that whoever opened the door was one of my royal guards. He looked worried as he approached me and Sombra. As he bowed, he said, “majesties! Celestia, Luna and Discord want to talk to you.”  I smirked when I heard the name “Discord”. So did Luna and Celestia tell Discord about what happened to me? How cute. It is a pity that in the end they will die. I will make them pay, especially Celestia!  “Escort them to the throne room. I want to talk to the three.” I ordered.  The guard bowed before leaving the room and closing the door with magic. I looked at Sombra.  “Sombra, are you ready?” I asked.  “Ready for what, my queen?” asked Sombra, now confused.  “To get revenge on Celestia.”  “Ah yes. I’m ready,” replied Sombra, now with a evil smile.  The door opened. Sombra and I watched Celestia, Luna and Discord enter. I loved Celestia’s reaction to seeing Sombra sitting on a throne beside me. Celestia approached me with concern.  “Twilight! What did you do?” asked Celestia.  “That’s not my name, Celestia. Did you forget by any chance?” I recap Celestia, before smiling. “Oh. It’s true. You still haven’t forgotten what you did to me in the past. ” that said, I started laughing madly. Sombra watched Celestia with a wicked smile on his face.  Celestia and Luna’s ears drooped with what I said. Discord was also saddened, because he felt like this was also his fault, since he was the one who make the test to see if Twilight was ready to rule Equestria.  “Why, Twilight? Why did you resurrect King Sombra?” asked Celestia. She didn’t understand why I did this.  When I stopped laughing, I replied, “I did it because I want to rule with somepony as tyrannical as I am. And besides, every queen needs a king.”  Celestia and Luna couldn’t believe what I was saying to them. It was as if everything I felt for them had died. And what they thought was true. Now I had no more love in my heart, nothing but Celestia’s anger and hatred.  I looked at Discord. “I see that you came with them. Are you trying to get me off my rightful throne?”  Discord was so startled by my sentence that he even took a few steps back while smiling nervously. “I-imagine, Twilight ...”  “Call me Queen Midnight, Discord.” I corrected him.  “Twilight, when we gave you the throne, it was because we believed you were going to be a much better ruler than we are.” explained Luna.  I looked at Luna still with an evil smile. “Did you think so? Well, then you thought wrong! See what happened to your Equestria thanks to your decision. If you hadn’t passed the throne to me, Equestria would still be at peace.”  “But then you won’t have any subjects!” cried Luna as she lifted a front hoof. “And there will be no more cities for them to live in!”  “Subjects? Cities?” I laughed, but it was forced this time. “I don’t care about my subjects or the cities! All I want most as a queen is to be feared by everypony and cause the destruction of Equestria!”  “Please, Twilight. This is not the way! I know you’re upset and mad at me for being guilty of not being able to join Spike and your friends in heaven, but taking your anger out on others isn’t going to be good for you.” explained Celestia.  “I am the ruler of Equestria now, not you! You lost your title a long time ago. Sombra and I decided the fate of Equestria from now on!” I started laughing meanly, Sombra joined me in the laughing.  Celestia felt hopeless. She wanted to stop my tyrannical reign, but at the same time she didn’t want to fight me, even though I was now her enemy.  “Twilight, I know you’re upset and angry at Celestia because she is to blame for you not being able to team up with Spike and your friends in heaven, but taking out your anger on others is not going to be good for you,” said Luna.  Sombra and I stopped laughing and approached Luna. “And what’s wrong, Luna? You did it yourself once in the past, too,” I said.  Luna seemed to lose her strength when I spoke of her past, but she soon recovered and said boldly, “Yes. I have done this in the past. But I managed to forgive myself for what I did. ”  “Did you really forgive yourself?” I asked as I turned my head to the side, but continued to smile wickedly. “Because I think you wanted to retire just so that you no longer had to control the moon so it wouldn’t cause an eclipse, causing and m you become Nightmare Moon.”  Luna could feel tears in her eyes. Celestia approached me.  “Twilight. Stop with that, please. Think of your friends and Spike,” said Celestia. “Imagine the reaction they are having when they see what you have become.”  “I’m not going to stop this, Celestia. I will continue to rule Equestria with an iron hull with King Shadow. And the three of you will not stop me!” I cast a damage spell in the hope of killing the three of them for good and Sombra made gray crystals come out of the ground, but they deflected on the spot. But to my unhappiness, they flew away from all attacks.  Celestia started to cry. She never imagined this would happen. She never imagined that I would want to destroy her.  “What are we going to do, sister?” asked Luna, desperate as she dodged my attacks.  Celestia looked at Luna, started to think of a solution. They had already tried to talk to Twilight, but Twilight refuses to stop being mean. She cried even more. “It looks like we’re going to have to fight it,” she said.  Luna and Discord looked at me with open mouths. “What?!” they cried out in unison in amazement.  “Sister, I can’t fight my best friend!” protested Luna.  “I know that Twilight is your friend, Luna. But if we don’t fight it, Equestria will get even worse than it already is.” explained Celestia.  “I don’t know if I can fight somepony who was close to me, Celestia!” cried Luna.  “Luna, we’re not going to kill her, only when she is on the ground we are going to make her realize that what she is doing is wrong.”  Luna was uncertain. She wanted to stop my reign, but at the same time she didn’t want to have to fight me. “But are you sure we can’t try to talk to her?”  I put my two front hooves on Luna’s chest. “Luna, we’ve already tried to talk to Twilight to stop her. But she is refusing to listen to us. I’m sure that after that, she will have regretted what she did.”  “But what if she is so angry that it results in her not wanting to surrender?” asked Luna, concerned.  “Luna, Twilight has always believed in friendship since she started living in Ponyville. I’m sure that when we defeat Midnight, she will have regretted what she did.” Celeste assured Luna.  Luna smiled. “Yeah. You’re right.”  I cast a great deal of magic on Celestia and Luna, but they cast a spell too. Resulting in the spells colliding. Sombra came to me and helped me. Discord, seeing this, approached the former royal sisters and cast a spell too, but a chaos spell. The two spells were struggling to gain control. While I was making a crazy expression, Sombra was smiling wickedly, Celestia, Luna and Discord were worried about losing to me and Sombra. But to my anger, the magic of Luna, Celestia and Discord was stronger than mine and Sombra. A flash occurred.  “Nooooo!!!” Sombra and I screamed in unison.    Me, Luna and Discord open their eyes. The spell we use has spent a lot of magic on us. We were a little tired. But we got up from the floor. I looked over to where Midnight and Sombra were. And to my surprise, whoever was in Midnight’s place was Twilight with her gold perk, but without the crown. And beside it, there was Sombra, but his horn was no longer red, but it was like a horn of an ordinary unicorn.  Twilight woke up first, put the hoof on her head. “Urgh ... what happened?”  I decided to approach Twilight with a smile. Twilight heard footsteps and looked at where the sound came from. But when she saw me, she felt a great fear to take care of her. She knew she was the ruler of Equestria now, but she feared what i would think of her after what she did.  “Celestia… I…” but I didn’t have time for Twilight to finish speaking because I hugged her while crying with joy when I saw her again.  Twilight was worried about me. “Celestia? You’re crying?”  “Yes. But you don’t have to worry, Twilight. I’m crying with joy to see you again.” I went back to looking at Twilight.  Twilight felt tears in her eyes and hugged me while whimpering. “Celestia. Please forgive me for everything I did as Equestria’s tyrant ruler! I was carried away by my anger, and thanks to me, look at the state that Equestria is now!”  “Twilight, of course I forgave you.” I started to stroke Twilight’s back. “And I’m sure Luna and Discord forgive you, too.”  Luna and Discord approached me and Twilight. Twilight watched them. She looked at the ground with guilt of herself. Luna and Discord hugged Twilight with smiles on their faces.  “Luna, Discord. I’m sorry for ruling tyrannically just because of the death of my friends and Spike,” she said as tears came out of her eyes. “I understand if you two don’t want to forgive me for what I did...”  “Twilight, don’t be like that. Of course, we forgive you,” said Luna.  “It’s true, Twilight. I understand why you was depressed, because I was too depressed with Fluttershy’s death for several years, but I was able to get through it thanks to the other friends of yours who were still alive,” replied Discord with a smile.  “But what about my subjects?” she asked worriedly. “They probably hate me now after all the bad things that I did to them and Equestria. I no longer deserve that title as ruler of Equestria.”  “Twilight, do you remember when Sombra took over Ponyville?” I asked.  “Yes. That was when you and Luna announced their retirement,” Twilight replied. “Why?”  “Do you remember the state that Ponyville was in because of the attack?” asked Luna.  “Yes. All the ponies were under Sombra control, the sky was brownish gray,” replied Twilight. “Why?”  “Because the Ponyville ponies soon cleaned up any mess that Sombra made after the attack,” replied Luna.  “But...” Twilight tried to explain why she wouldn’t be forgiven, but I interrupted her.  “Twilight, why don’t you call a meeting to let them know your subjects that you’re going to rule over Equestria benevolently?” I suggested.  Twilight smiled at my idea, but she had insecurities. “It’s a good idea, Celestia. But I don’t think they’ll want me to rule Equestria after all this…”  “They will, Twilight. They will understand that you were just depressed by the death of your friend and royal advisor.” I guaranteed with a smile.  “Do you really think?” asked Twilight Sparkle, hopefully.  “Yes, Twilight.”  Sombra opened his eyes and stood up. Me, Luna, Discord and Twilight looked and noticed that Sombra was different than before. Twilight approached him with a smile while crying with joy.  “Sombra! You’re alive!” Twilight embraced Sombra.  Sombra was surprised by the hug, but soon smiled and returned the hug. “Of course I am, my queen.”  “My queen?” I, Luna and Discord asked, now surprised by what Sombra said.  Sombra and Twilight looked at them. “Twilight, are you dating Sombra?”  Twilight was nervous. “Hehehe. Yes. Since I relived him.”  Sombra looked at Twilight. “My queen, your shape has changed.”  “Yes, Sombra. Yours too.” Twilight teleported a large mirror in front of Sombra.  Sombra was amazed at his new shape. “How did I get like this?”  “Celestia, Luna and Discord combined their magic to defeat us and make us have our original forms.” Twilight explained to Sombra.  Sombra stopped looking in the mirror and looked at Twilight. “But what about the damage that we cause in Equestria?” asked Sombra.  Twilight took the mirror out of the front and explained, “I’m going to call all of our subjects for a meeting and we will say that we will govern benevolently from now on.”   “But do you think the ponies will forgive us?” asked Sombra, now worried.   “Celestia, Luna and Discord believe so. So let’s trust them,” replied Twilight with a smile. > Epilogue: A companion to my years as ruler > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Me, Sombra, Celestia, Luna and Discord watched in the window ponies and creatures sit down. Since Sombra was reformed and it no longer had darkness in him, all ponies and creatures were no longer under Sombra’s control. I had my crown on my head again and I was also very nervous. Nervous that my subjects will not forgive me for what I did as Midnight Sparkle. I had ruled tyrannically for several years. Now I feared that they would want to take me off the throne after what I did to all of them and Equestria.  When everypony sat on the chairs, Sombra and I nervously entered the balcony. The ponies realized that I had changed shape. I decided to start talking.  “Subjects, thank you for coming. The reason I called you all here is for me and Sombra to apologize to all of you,” I said, now sorry. Sombra’s ears were lowered as he looked to the side with guilt.  The ponies were surprised, but I continued. “I know you won’t want to forgive me for what I did as Midnight Sparkle, but the reason I did it was because in the past I had five real friends and a royal advisor. They were very important to me. But with their death, I was depressed for several years,” the ponies felt sorry for me. “So, I started to think that it was Celestia’s fault, since she made me an alicorn and made me the new ruler of Equestria. With the rage I felt of her, I became Midnight Sparkle in hopes of getting back at her and started to rule Equestria tyrannically,” I let out a breath as tears threatened to fall from my eyes. “I acted out of anger and look what I caused, I relived Sombra, I joined him and almost destroyed Equestria. But thanks to Celestia, Luna and Discord, we have returned to our original forms. I understand if all of you don’t want to forgive me and Sombra for what we have caused you all.”  The ponies started whispering about my recent speech. Sombra and I wondered what they were whispering to each other about. Would they forgive us? I started to sweat nervously. Did my speech have an effect for them to forgive me? Or would they not forgive me? I knew that Celestia, Luna and Discord assure me that they would forgive me and Sombra, but I feared that it wouldn’t.  The ponies stopped whispering to each other and looked at me and Sombra with smiles. “Princess Twilight, King Sombra, we forgive you.”  Sombra and I were surprised, but happy. “What? Really?” I asked, now with tears of happiness.  “Sure,” replied a pink mane with a white mane and Cutie Mark with scissors with a smile.  “But I was so mean to you all,” I said, now with my ears down as I looked down. Sombra conforted me with a hoof.  “It’s okay, Princess Twilight. You were just sad and depressed about the death of who you cared about,” said a yellow stallion, brown mane and apple cutie mark. “It’s normal for somepony to be like that with the loss of who you care about.”  I was happy that I was forgiven by my subjects, but I started to wonder about something. “What about King Sombra? Did you all forgive him too?”  “Yes, Princess Twilight,” replied everypony except me, Sombra, Celestia, Luna and Discord.  Sombra smiled at the answer as he put a hoof on his chest. He couldn’t believe he was forgiven. He even felt tears come out of his eyes.  I looked at Sombra with a smile. Even though in the beginning I revived Sombra for my evil plans, I realized now that I finally had somepony to stay with me during my years as a ruler. In the end, it was worth having revived Sombra.