A quick author's note: the prefix A- will be used to distinguish the alternate counterparts. For example, A-Twilight means the alternate, evil Twilight. Now without further ado, back to our story...


The giant, menacing form of Tirek towered over Twilight, his horns lit in a bright orange aura. He glowed radiantly as the magical energy of every pony in Equestria augmented his dark powers. Twilight lay on the ground with Owlowiscious in her hooves, looking at the destroyed husk of her old library. Her pet flew away to join her five friends, Spike and Discord who lay powerless nearby, drained of their magic by Tirek.

A surge of anger filled Twilight, turning her vision red with rage at the monster who attacked her friends, destroyed her home and cared nothing for the countless ponies he'd hurt. All the alicorn magic in Equestria crackled at the tip of her horn as her anger took over. Twilight took to skies, repeatedly hurling bolts of immense power at the centaur.

Tirek put his hands up, trying to block the barrage of magical attacks Twilight threw at him. He fought back, shooting rays of orange light from hit curved horns. It did him no good, as the onslaught forced him onto his knees. Tirek's face twisted into a look of pure hatred, as he realized he was outmatched. He snapped his fingers, and Twilight saw a small, yellow form appear in his hand.

Twilight's anger gave way to curiosity, as she squinted her eyes to see what Tirek had summoned. The villain held up his hand, and Twilight saw him gripping Fluttershy tightly in his large fist. Her friend was clearly scared out of her wits, struggling uselessly as tears streamed down her face.

"Princess Twilight!" Tirek yelled. "If I'm going to Tartarus today... then your friend is coming with me!"

He began to tighten his grip, squeezing Fluttershy with all his strength. She gasped for air, desperately yelling Twilight's name as Tirek slowly choked the life out of her.

"No..." Twilight reached out a hoof as tears distorted her vision. "NO!"

Twilight felt the magic around her horn become 1000 times hotter, twisting into something profane and dark. She didn't care, as long as it would save her friend. The dark bolt of energy zapped toward Tirek, hitting him directly in the forehead. Tirek screamed deafeningly, his expression showing it was a scream of absolute terror. His body turned completely black, and unceremoniously collapsed into a pile of ash.

Orbs of brightly colored light whizzed away from Tirek's remains, scattering in all directions. The magic Tirek stole returning to its rightful wielders. But Twilight wasn't worried about the spoils of the battle. Her eyes scanned Tirek's remains, and found who she was looking for. Fluttershy got to her hooves, still shaking and crying from her ordeal.

Twilight landed next to Fluttershy and reached out a comforting hoof toward her. Fluttershy's eyes widened and she backed away from Twilight, looking scared.

"Fluttershy it's over. Tirek can't hurt you anymore." Twilight reassured her shy friend. Fluttershy squeaked in fear and shook her head, continuing to back away from Twilight. Perhaps Fluttershy just needed time to recover. Twilight walked toward her other friends, who were just getting to their hooves, their magic once again restored.

Twilight smiled at each of them in turn. Their expressions immediately turned terrified, and they ran away as fast as they could. All except Discord, who collapsed on the ground in a fit of laughter.

Confused, Twilight called after her friends, "It's just me! Tirek's gone! What are you so afraid of!?"

Discord finished laughing and got up, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh Twilight. Don't you get it? They're afraid of you!"

"O-of me?" Twilight asked, completely shocked. "But why?"

The Spirit of Chaos coiled around Twilight, smiling maliciously. "After that little display, who could blame them? Maybe it's only a matter of time before you disintegrate them too hmm?"

Twilight felt a hotness coming to her face, as she eyed Discord angrily. "Y-you're lying! I'd never do that to them, never!"

The draconequus grinned and uncoiled himself. "Not even for the greater good? Not even if all of Equestria was at stake? You see, generosity's a tricky thing. Giving up something you love, even someone you love... any so called hero can do that. But giving up your morality? Ah, now that's a real sacrifice. Dear Rarity would be proud... if she wasn't utterly terrified of you."

Twilight paused, mulling over what Discord had said. Sacrifice her morality for the greater good. When he put it that way, it seemed... right. Almost noble even. She remembered her friends' terrified expressions as they ran away from her. The cost of her sacrifice.

Discord eyed his talons uninterestedly, waving a paw in her direction nonchalantly. "Still, dreams are dreams. You can only learn so much from them. Eventually you have to wake up."

He pointed his talon at Twilight, and white magical energy zapped her before she could react. Ponyville, the fires from the battle, everything faded away into darkness. Discord winked. "I hope this helped. See you on the other side, Twilight."

"Twilight." Was that... her own voice? "Twilight, wake up."

Twilight opened her eyes, and through her blurry vision saw a mass of purple in front of her. She blinked a few times and found herself looking at... herself. It was like looking in a mirror. Her counterpart was identical in every detail. A lavender alicorn with purple irises and a dark blue, purple and pink mane done in a simple, practical style stared back at her silently.

Instinctively, Twilight tried to draw on her magic, focusing her thoughts on a stunning spell. But when she reached into herself, searching for her power, there was nothing there. The magic wasn't dampened or restricted... it was as if it had never been there to begin with. As if magic was never a part of her at all. There was a small, tingling sensation on Twilight's flank. She turned her head to look, and found her cutie mark replaced by a black equal sign, which was glowing grey.

Angrily, Twilight turned back to her counterpart, ready to engage her hoof to hoof if she had to. Sadly, she saw that wasn't an option. Blue barriers surrounded her on all sides, projected by shield generators. And Twilight had a feeling she wouldn't be able to go through them this time.

"Give me back my cutie mark! Now!" Twilight yelled. Her duplicate (Twilight mentally decided to call her doppelgänger alternate Twilight or A-Twilight, so that she wouldn't give herself a headache) merely tilted her head, as if studying Twilight like an experiment. Looking closer, Twilight realized there were differences. Subtle, but there. A-Twilight's face bore a look Twilight was used to seeing on Princess Celestia. Her eyes looked weary, as if the world had taken its toll on her. Any vestige of youthful joy or optimism was replaced with a sense of hardened acceptance, gleaned over many years of disappointments and failures. Her expression was one of pity and empathy, as if looking at a foal struggling to levitate his pencil. That patronizing look made Twilight's anger boil even more.

Surprisingly, A-Twilight nodded. "You'll get it back soon, but for now I've given it to Starlight for safekeeping. Special talents make us what we are after all. They're essential to an orderly society. But they need to be controlled, watched over by somepony to make sure they don't get out of hoof."

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "Somepony like you you mean. Where are my friends?"

"Perfectly safe." A-Twilight pointed a hoof to the right, and Twilight turned to see her friends in similar cages to her own. Rainbow Dash was kicking the barrier again and again with no success. Pinkie Pie was blowing bubble gum she'd somehow managed to smuggle in. Fluttershy sat quietly huddled in the corner of her cage. Rarity combed her mane, looking up at the ceiling hopelessly. Applejack had her hat down, and seemed to be quietly brooding. In another cage, the four rebels sat talking amongst themselves. "You'll be able to talk to them soon, but I didn't want us to be disturbed. After all, it's not every day you get to talk to yourself." A-Twilight said, smiling.

Twilight shared the sentiment, though she wasn't happy about it. "How did you find us?"

"How would you have?"

"Tracking spell, on the book."

"Of course. Would you have made it that easy to find?"

"You planned this, all of this. As soon as Cadence and Shining Armor told you about us stepping out of the mirror and escaping with the rebels." Twilight had to admit... it was a brilliant plan, maybe even what she would've done in the same position. She cursed her lack of foresight. It seemed so simple. Get the book, get the elements, use them to defeat their enemies and go home. But it was never that simple. Never.

"Don't feel too bad. Even in a direct fight you wouldn't have won. Six alicorns against you isn't very fair."

"How did you manage to turn yourselves into Alicorns?"

"I think you know that too."

Twilight remembered the cowering statue she hid behind in the garden as she plotted how she and her friends would get past the guards. What a joke. The guards knew they were coming and let them in anyway. "Discord. You drained his power."

"Yes."

"But nopony can absorb that much magic. They'd explode from even trying!"

"Nopony can."

Twilight felt a sick feeling in her stomach. "Tirek. You used Tirek as the conduit."

A-Twilight nodded. "After our battle with Chrysalis, the six of us became dedicated to finding the means to alicornhood. Because Chrysalis, monster though she was, brought up a valid point. We wouldn't be around to protect Equestria forever. There would be enemies like Discord that would eventually outlive us, and return to create havoc again. Discord's magic is so powerful, it can do anything. Our bodies can't contain that kind of power, but our elements could. Before we destroyed Tirek, we used his unique ability to absorb magic like a funnel, and directed Discord's power into our elements."

"But-but that would've been like torture! For both Tirek and Discord!" Twilight protested.

"At least Discord survived. Tirek deserved what he got." A-Twilight said bitterly.

"You didn't have to kill him. You could've imprisoned him. You could've-"

"Reformed him?" A-Twilight asked with a smirk. Twilight kept silent. "Oh yes I studied your Equestria. You reformed Discord, Sombra and the changelings. But I ask you... does that void their past crimes?"

"They're better now. They don't hurt anypony anymore."

"What about the ones they've already hurt? The changelings were ready to drain the love out of everypony you- we care about. Even Flurry Heart, a newborn baby. We've both read the history books. Discord did far worse things during his reign than create chocolate rain. And Chrysalis. You let her go and now she's out there looking for revenge. Creatures like them can never change their true nature. They're just waiting their chance, waiting... to take someone you love. If you really want to keep your friends safe, you can't hesitate. You've got to be willing to put an end to the monsters, once and for all. It's a sacrifice you have to make... for the greater good."

A sacrifice, for the greater good. Twilight remembered vaporizing Tirek in the dream. It was so easy. So simple. But it was never that simple. Never. The terrified faces of her friends as they backed away from her swam through her mind. The cost of her sacrifice... her friendships.

"You're right." Twilight said. A-Twilight smiled widely. "Sacrificing your morality might be the right thing to do. It's probably even the noble thing to do. But you know what? I'd rather let evil win than become like you."

A-Twilight raised her eyebrows. "You'd rather let Equestria be destroyed?"

"Better it be destroyed, than not worth living in at all."

For a moment, the patronizing look on A-Twilight's face gave way to a look of deep anger. But A-Twilight quickly regained her composure. "You'll see differently soon enough. A few memory spells should adjust your point of view. I'm off to your world now, to bring the Harmony it desperately craves."

"No!"

A-Twilight turned away, and chuckled to herself. "They'll thank me later, after I bring them a better world."