"Do you seeses her?" Spot panted.
"Insolent fool!" Rover barked. "If you don't keep running, she will certainly be the last thing that you see."
The diamond dogs raced down the mountainside, never pausing to catch their breaths. Behind them, an all powerful Midnight Sparkle had laid waste to an entire griffin civilization. A once triumphant city in the clouds, devastated by the maniacal glee she carried with her. Princess Twilight was the only remaining survivor of the before times. But now, she was but a memory.
Spot hesitated. Something bright caught his eye, bringing the hairs on his tail on end.
"What are you doing?" Rover snapped.
Spot's eyes widened in terror. The mountainside was lit aflame, and it was tracking along their path.
"She is following us!" Spot shrieked. "She will come for us, and she will burnses us alive!"
Rover snatched up Spot by the scruff of his neck and began running as fast as his four legs would allow. It was clear that there was no fighting her, no outrunning her, no escaping her. Nothing could stop the mighty Midnight Sparkle. Nothing or so it seemed.
Trekking a great distance, Rover and Spot had reached the boundaries of the netherrealm and what was once known as Equestria. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.
"We are done for!" Spot cried.
Rover panicked as he surveyed the horizon. It was true, they had gone as far as they could go. They had reached the end of civilization. There was nothing left in Equestria, a dystopia left uninhabitable to even the lowest of creatures. At least, that is what they thought.
Rover rolled onto his back. His face longing with desperation, he muttered to himself.
We die if we do
We die if we don't
What does it matter
If a toad should croak
"Let us go then," Spot whined. "We still have a choice - Would you rather be burned to a crisps?"
Rover pondered this for a moment before promptly springing to his feet. The two made their way up the hillside, the air became cooler, and a hint of light shone through the trees. However, the biggest surprise came when the two encountered the distinct sounds of laughter.
A trio of ponies pranced along a bright green pasture, picking berries and singing merrily. The land had grown rich with trees that bore the homes of many woodland creatures. This was not the Equestria that the diamond dogs had left.
"How is this so?" Spot whispered as he gazed upon the blue and yellow flowers he so carelessly stood on.
Rover appeared to be at a loss for words. His surprise only wavering as he listened to the sound of Spot's stomach rumbling. The sweet sweet berries being gathered by the ponies were suitably ripe for the taking. Rover and Spot lingered their sights on the delicious berries before pausing to glance at each other.
"They are small," Spot whispered.
"So are you," Rover retorted.
"You can hold them down whilst I take their tasty berries, so juicy sweet!"
Rover revealed a wicked smile. The ponies were but young colts who had wandered away from their homes. Frollicking in the summer sun, they had developed an appetite and longed for a refreshing treat. They had yet to notice the diamond dogs as they looked on.
Rover began to make his way to the plains. It had been so long since he had felt the air blowing through the trees, he had almost forgotten the smell. Lemongrass and acorn; maple and oak. He took pleasure in the moment as the crisp grass crackled beneath his feet.
The ponies stopped what they were doing and allowed the berries to fall to their hooves. Their attention darted to Rover. Recognizing his failure, Spot moaned from the bushes, further attracting their attention to him as well. The ponies gathered close together, and Rover smiled menacingly.
"Come on out, Spot," Rover called. "This will be easy, like taking candy from a baby."
Spot chuckled to himself and began to crawl out from the bushes. However, Rover had made a grave error. He had mistaken their expression for fear. The colts playfully laughed as they dashed to a nearby tree. The two diamond dogs raced along to catch them, but it was too late. The colts activated a switch that revealed a tremendous chain gun, and before the scent of gunpowder could reach their noses, the two were reduced to fertilizer for the fields of berries.
Part 1
The outskirts of Equestria were barren and still. The few signs of life that had occupied the great mountain and entrance to Griffin City had all but disappeared as a result of Midnight Sparkle's vicious tirade. The flames were visible for miles. Although, there was nare a pony in sight to witness it. Midnight slinked toward the edge of the farthest field, a hint of disappointment creeping across her face.
"There's nothing left, you know."
Midnight hesitated. Her ears perked up as she glanced over her shoulder.
"Not much of a victory if you ask me."
Her eyes flickered a moment before the scowl left her face. Midnight paused for a moment longer as she listened to the stillness in the air. A few minutes passed before her smug disposition returned.
"Silence," she whispered. Midnight slowly began to stretch out her wings. With the netherrealm up ahead, she decided that it would be best if she approached the other side from above. The air grew cool as she rose into the dark impenetrable clouds. She began to frown as she could no longer see anything.
"Sesame!" Midnight shouted, and with that, the clouds scattered like droplets in a pond. Noticing something odd, she ventured closer through the dense night sky. The wastelands of Equestria seemed to glow from beneath the ether. There was light! she thought. Even more, there were trees and grass - in other words, there was life.
Midnight Sparkle descended from the heavens, her face emanating a devious sense of wonder and joy at the many possibilities that lay before her. Still carrying with her those lingering words - the empty sensation of a spoiless victor. Realizing that her reign may be short-lived, she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that life's perseverance should carry her purpose further.
Midnight's eyes gleaned the countryside. There were animals grazing, and a great many farmers occupied the pasture. With a small flick of her hoof, she could easily render all of it into glimmering cinders and ash. But she became intrigued. She wanted to know more about this new Equestria and how it came to be.
Midnight Sparkle lowered herself onto the neatly trimmed grass. From the air it was clear that it had recently rained, and the day was being greeted by rows of rosey red, blue and gold flowers. Midnight scoffed to herself, if ever so briefly, but it attracted the attention of a nearby rabbit. Midnight flared her nostrils in annoyance, sending the poor creature somewhere unknown.
Soon realising that her appearance would continue to attract further attention, she decided that something would need to be done. Thankfully, having buried Twilight deep into her essence, it would prove easy enough to borrow it for the time being.
"What are you doing?"
Deep within the recesses of her mind, Midnight felt herself nearing Twilight's essence. Even confined to a small space beyond her subconscious, she could feel her reaching out. Her power was too great to contain.
"My dear Twilight," Midnight whispered, "you have something that I require. If I am to venture further into this land, I cannot do it looking like this."
Twilight remained silent for a moment, which soon turned into a minute, and again another. She realized why Midnight had not simply taken what she had come for, and she had done so by testing her patience. To a small degree, Twilight was still in control.
"Insolence!" Midnight screamed. "How dare you defy me. If you are not to grant me your miserable body, I will guarantee the suffering of thousands!"
"Why not millions?" Twilight laughed defiantly. She understood that she still had a card in this game, and with stakes this high, she would need to play it with a straight face. Although it was Midnight who locked her away, not even she could reach her. Twilight inhabited a cerebral void, a place between their two minds. Midnight had won, although it was an empty victory. A creature bent on destruction, chaos, and annihilation cannot exist in an unordered world for it has no purpose. She needed Twilight if she was to have any place in life's vicious cycle.
"Wretched pony!" Midnight yelled. "When I get my hands on you, I will tear the flesh from your bones!"
In the darkness, Twilight continued to laugh with each side-splitting snicker growing louder than the last. "Go ahead!" Twilight taunted. "I'd love to see you try."
A cool breeze gently caressed the grassy field before finding its way through Midnight's tousled mane; a moment of solace quietly viewed by a passing bird that found little reason to disturb it. The sun's warmth was welcoming and yet, it paled next to Midnight's growing fiery rage.
"Face it," a snarky Twilight scoffed, "you need me."
As soon as they were said, the words seared through Midnight's mind, piercing the deepest recesses of her being, and finally materializing as a blaze of fury that would set the whole field aflame.
Twilight spoke coldly. "Without me, your whole existence is meaningless."
Still trembling, Midnight struggled to reflect on what she was hearing. Her whole body quivered and quaked with anger, but she knew what she wanted - needed from Twilight. And she would do anything to get it. Midnight's voice fell into a low snarl. "What is it that you want?"
"Ah!" Twilight exclaimed. "Now we are getting somewhere."
The Equestria that Twilight had once known was long lost. Though, something magnificent stood before them. A new land, full of promise and hope. Midnight wasn't the only one who was curious, and Twilight wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away from her. The two carried on as the reminder of life flaunted itself all around them. It was clear what Midnight needed, and while their principles differed, the goal remained the same.
"Bring me back to Equestria," Twilight stated. "You are not to harm anypony along the way. I need to know what happened here, what this place is. If you can agree to these terms, I will allow you to borrow my likeness."
Midnight hesitated. On the surface, it seemed straightforward enough, but it was clear that Twilight had more on her mind. If Midnight agreed, there would most certainly be a cost.
"Of course," Twilight added, "you could simply destroy this place. But where would that leave you? Wandering aimlessly without anyone, anything. Do you know what it feels like to be truly alone?"
Midnight knew that there was only one option, and Twilight wasn't about to budge. Even chaos, anarchy needs to remain sustainable if it is to exist. If she refused, she would merely be condemning herself to defeat. Midnight didn't need another second. She knew the answer, it was only a matter of pride that kept her from saying it.
"I don't suppose that you are aware of this," Twilight chuckled, "But I can hear your thoughts."
Midnight froze in alarm. Her whole body tensed up as her face grew red. It hadn't occurred to her that in confining Twilight, she had given her access to every thought that came to mind.
Twilight roared with laughter. "You're trying desperately to stop thinking, aren't you? Ooh! Think of a song - I do miss hearing music."
With an enormous sigh, Midnight buried her face in the grass. There was no getting around it, she needed Twilight to infiltrate the kingdom, and Twilight would know every detail of her motives. If she were to get her way, she would have to adhere to Twilight's terms.
"Oh good!" Twilight exclaimed. "If everything is settled, take a deep breath and let the magic begin."
Part 2
Equestria wasn't the same; it would not nor could it ever be. The fields were brimming with life, although it was but a hint of that which remained unseen. It was astonishing in its splendor, but it all felt more than a little unnatural. Twilight had been away for little more than a few weeks, and her memories still recalled devastation, the complete annihilation of a once great kingdom. It was as though her eyes were playing tricks on her, a cruel joke as it were. Somewhere, Pinkie Pie would be laughing.
"You know," Midnight smiled as she stopped to look at herself in a nearby pond, "I have to admit that I'm quite taken with this new look. You're rather fetching for a pony. Perhaps I may have to keep your form when all is said and done."
Twilight remained focused on the land surrounding them. Her mind continued to play with the possibilities in where such a ravaged land could flourish.
"Did you hear me?" Midnight scowled. "I said…"
"I heard you just fine," Twilight stated calmly. "But it's hard to get a rise out of somepony when they can anticipate what you are going to say."
Bitterly, Midnight was taken aback. There would be little to keep her entertained until they reached the newly constructed walls that surrounded the kingdom, her mind careful not to reveal her greater intentions as they neared.
"It looks like whoever is inside doesn't appreciate visitors," Twilight mused. The stately walls rose high above the earth and towered over nearby trees.
"Then they are fools," Midnight scorned. "Without guards, the kingdom is vulnerable to intruders. Even the weakest dragon could breach these walls."
Twilight mourned to herself. The thought of a meager little dragon left her uneasily reminiscing of her little purple friend. But Midnight was correct, the walls appeared to be for something else. If it were not built to withhold intruders, could it be that instead its purpose was to contain?
As the two surveyed the surrounding walls of Equestria, Twilight became consciously aware that they were being watched. Not too far off, three unassuming figures were quietly observing them. It wasn't immediately clear as to their intentions, so Twilight thought it best to not alert Midnight to their company.
"I must say, I'm quite impressed with your kind," Midnight said halfheartedly. "Your ability to persevere under such circumstances is, to say the least, intriguing. Albeit, in a futile sort of way."
As Midnight went on, unaware that she was merely talking to herself at this point, Twilight continued to keep an eye on the three unknown spectators. Their gaze sending shivers down her mane, she let them carry on as they ever neared.
"Insufferable pony!" Midnight snapped. "Are you listening to a word that I'm saying?"
Twilight's attention faltered ever so slightly, but it was enough. The three figures swarmed in from all sides. The scent of gunpowder and gasoline filled the air, and before a word could be spoken, the ground upon which they stood was set ablaze. Feeling nothing, Twilight succumbed to the recesses of her thoughts. However, all was not lost. In the stillness of her mind, she welcomed the familiar sound of a once terrifying laughter.
"Insolent fools! Did you honestly believe that such mortal tools of destruction could possibly harm me?" Midnight roared menacingly. The flames caressed her as she bellowed to the heavens; she remained indifferent to their fiery wrath.
Although they stood amidst the light of the fire and sun, the three figures withheld their forms, enveloped in a cloak of impenetrable shadows. Their voices blending together in a harmony of whispers, they began to taunt their prey.
"We will feast on your souls-
You are weaker than you know-
When it is your time to go-
We shall welcome your death crow."
With her arrogance unwavering, the all powerful Midnight grew eager to shed some blood. But before her thirst could be met, the three figures vanished, leaving only a dark trail of vapor behind them.
"What are you doing?" Twilight snapped. "This was not part of the plan!"
Midnight scoffed to herself. A sly grin spread across her face, and she batted her wings, vanquishing the fire as she did so.
"We are to enter Equestria and infiltrate the denizens of the city without killing anypony," Twilight's voice remained stern. "That was our agreement."
Midnight laughed. "I beg your pardon, prin-cessss, but I think that we can both agree that those weren't ponies."
Silence filled the air as Midnight wiped the ash from her hooves. A small breeze became noticeable as she leaned against the wall when suddenly, her balance gave way, and Midnight felt the wall slide out from behind her. With Twilight's essence preoccupied, the incident went unnoticed to her, but Midnight found herself lying within the boundary of the city. It was clear that this was not the Equestria of princesses and ponies. Midnight gazed upon a futurist metropolis, a city sterile and unfeeling.
"Twilight?" Midnight stuttered. "Are you seeing this?"
With Twilight's inability to engage in Midnight's tactile receptors, the extraordinary experience was not to be entirely shared between them. The sensation of standing within the futurist abomination could not be adequately described in mere words as currents surged across the city streets and throughout every breathtaking sculpture. The sky itself, distorted by an electromagnetic field, seemed to create a fish-eyed dome over everything.
"Twilight!" Midnight shouted.
Twilight's consciousness slowly emerged, brimming with thoughts and ideas. However, the vast expanse of the cityscape would catch her briefly off guard.
"What… what is this?" Twilight whispered.
"I suppose that it's what you get for taking a vacation?" Midnight quipped.
The two stood motionless, reasonably overwhelmed by the seismic undertaking that had brought 'New Equestria' to life. Life that, Twilight thought, remained startlingly absent.
"Doesn't it seem strange that it was but weeks ago that everything here was reduced to rubble?" Twilight spoke incredulously. "It would have taken hundreds of ponies to accomplish this!"
Midnight scoffed to herself. "Or a lot of magic."
The two warily trotted down the cold, unfeeling streets with narily a creature in sight. The power that coursed beneath them surging along like little trolley cars, they moved cautiously as not to draw any unwanted attention. Overhead, glowing beacons traded fluorescent streams of light between one another in a startling, interconnected matrix.
"Tell me, my royal scholar, princess of books and what-have-you," Midnight remarked, "What do you suppose that is?"
Twilight's eyes glistened with concern. "I have no idea..."
With one head shared between them, neither had noticed the channel that they had stopped to stand on. The circuit-board like layout flashed a myriad of different colors before dispersing them in every which direction.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaa
"What the hell was that?" Midnight screamed.
"What was what?" Twilight replied.
"You didn't feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"THAT!" Midnight exclaimed as she pointed at their shared hoof.
"Huh," Twilight shrugged. "I suppose that I failed to mention that you are only in possession of my astral-projected form, not my actual body - I can't feel a thing!"
"YOU WHAT?" Midnight snapped. "What the hell use is that to me?"
Nearby, whispers could be heard just outside of a neon-lit station. Midnight and Twilight grew silent as they overheard the word 'outsiders.' The station, resembling something of a noirish technological nightclub for ponies, appeared uninhabited from the outside, but Twilight began to notice a small crack in its facade.
"Look," Twilight whispered. "Over there." Twilight motioned toward the glowing seams, between which displayed hints of a startling commotion. Bodies moving about in a frantic, rhythmic fashion. "Something is clearly going on in there."
Midnight listened closely, but she could hear nothing. Eagerly, she began to tap into Twilight's celestial-like powers.
BY THE FENCE.
OUTSIDERS.
BRING THEM TO HER.
"Did you hear that?!" Midnight exclaimed. "They know that we are here."
Twilight remained silent.
"Are you listening to me? I said-"
BWOOWAHOOM!
All around the two of them stirred a whirling vortex of sound and fury - a pulsating vibration that swallowed all of the sound in the air. A thunderous tripod roared past them carrying a group of unseen figures. Midnight suddenly grew cold and cowered beneath its alarming mass. The three appendages never making contact with the cold ground below, tentacle-like, they swirled mightily overhead.
"Where are they taking them?" Twilight whispered.
"Who the hell cares!" Midnight snapped. "We need to find cover before we are spotted - something doesn't feel right."
Twilight remained focused on the titanic figures towering through the town. Their chrome-plated chassis all but making them impenetrable from harm. "We need to follow them," Twilight said faintly. "Wherever they are heading, we will find the answers that we are looking for."
Midnight didn't respond.
"Midnight? We need to follow them," Twilight repeated.
But Midnight struggled to speak. "I feel weak… Twilight, what is happening?"
Twilight felt it too. It was in the air; it was all around them. They were being drained of their energy - their magic - and the streets pulsated as they soaked it all up. Midnight grew more quiet as Twilight watched in horror. They were being drained of their powers, and all they could do was watch.
Midnight fell cold, a sullen husk and the only thing shielding Twilight from the magic-sapping city around them. But as she lay there, another mammoth tripod scooped them up and carried them deeper into the city.
Part 3
"Midnight?" Twilight whispers to herself, seemingly alone in the darkness. "Midnight, are you there?"
In the recesses of Twilight's mind, where Midnight had pushed her deep down, there was no light, no color, no sense of thought or life to be felt. Midnight was gone, and Twilight was all alone.
"Midnight, this isn't funny!" she hissed. "Your petty, mean jokes are getting old." But still there was nothing.
The titanic figures that had gathered the two of them had given no signs of where they were heading nor left any clues to where they had gone. The only thing that was clear to Twilight was that she would need to get through this on her own.
Twilight had languished, captive within her own body for what had already felt like an eternity, though it was mere days since Midnight had taken her over.
"There has to be a way," Twilight thought to herself. "There has to be a way to regain control of my physical form…"
Twilight thought back to her days as a student, to all she had learned from Princess Celestia, to all she had learned from Equestria, and most importantly, to all she had learned from her friends. Her friends, who had given everything to her, who had shared their love and their lives. Friends who had given their lives for her.
A whirring of mechanized cylinders clanked and pulsed outside in the world around them. Midnight remained unconscious, and even the faintest hint of her presence was all but gone. Although, she was still alive, that Twilight could be sure of.
"This city," Twilight thought. "It must be some sort of endothermic system that feeds on magic. It's feeding on the magic around and inside us!"
Twilight moved closer toward the shadows that surrounded her; a cold, empty sensation penetrating her extremities as she crept, weakness permeating her hooves with every step.
"That's it!" Twilight exclaimed. "In confining me and my magic to where I could no longer be a threat to her, she effectively granted me asylum to the vampiric effects of the city! Midnight, I could kiss you!"
Despite knowing that she would be unable to break free of Midnight's captivity with her still unconscious, the idea that the bulk of her magic lay dormant grew steadily in her mind. All she needed to loosen the shackles was to tap into it and effectively puppet her body away and to somewhere safe. It would be simple enough if she weren't alone, and thankfully for Twilight, she wasn't.
"Hey! Who turned out the lights? It's reeeally dark in here and… waitasec, is this another shouting closet? Because I'm totally up for some shouting right now!"
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight stammered. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, who's asking?" Pinkie snarled.
"Pinkie! It is you," Twilight gasped with a sigh of relief. "Where on earth have you been? I was worried that you had…"
"Popped my clogs kicking a bucket while cashing my chips to buy a farm?" Pinkie belted out.
"Ummm…"
"Nah," Pinkie smiled. "I guess that I let my imagination run away with me again, but then it led me here, and here you are! But sadly I thought that there would be cake."
"Same old Pinkie," Twilight uttered while trying not to cry. "There's so much that I want to say right now, and yet the words escape me."
"I know, right?" Pinkie gasped. "Isn't this exciting? I'm excited because you're obviously excited, and as exciting as that is, I never thought that I'd be as excited as I was when I walked in and you were like *GASP* But I mean really, who could top that?!"
"Pinkie, focus!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'm currently being held prisoner by the manifestation of my deepest insecurities, Midnight Sparkle, and I'm trapped in here deep in my own head!"
Pinkie paused precariously. "That's a bit of a pickle."
"You're telling me," Twilight sighed. "Pinkie, I need you to hold still so I can harness the essence of your friendship. Midnight has isolated me from my magic, but with you here, I should have just enough to take control of my body in the outside world."
Pinkie Pie squealed with delight, "Just call me a regular ol' deuce X machinator - I'm in!"
Twilight reached out to Pinkie Pie and warmly embraced her friend, tears gently rolling down her cheeks as she considered all that she had been through. Even if she succeeded, there would be no certainty as to whether all the horror could be undone, and she cautiously acknowledged that it may truly be the last time that she saw her friend.
"Pinkie Pie," Twilight took a breath. "I hope that you know how much you mean to me."
"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up. "Would you look at that - my tushie is glowing!"
And with that, a flash of light enveloped the two of them, a blanket of white extending beyond the darkness, guiding Twilight and Pinkie to the horizon and all that lay ahead.
Interlude
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Twilight thought as if repeating a simple mantra, slowly exercising control over her body so that she could once again regain agency over her tale. For it is and has always been her tale, dear reader, lest you be mistaken. The tale of Twilight Sparkle is no less than a pony's tale in a manner of speaking, and like a pony's tail it too has an end.
Breathe…
Absolution
Some perceive time as a passing of moments. One by one they relieve their forebears as they fade into the ether, forever existing only in memory. But this is merely an illusion, the ripples of time endlessly reshaping reality itself in a cyclical vacuum. All that is and is destined to be colliding with further realities for all time.
Twilight gathered herself, stretching her wings and tapping her hooves as she stood strong, confident, and untouched. All that had led to this moment, forever etched in her mind, and yet…
Outside the tower, the world remained a scorched wasteland. New Equestria a bizarre facsimile, a Frankenstein's monster of neo-futurism and classical wonder. Twilight was still chained to the tower wall, but her body appeared unblemished, uncorrupted. The feathers of her beautiful wing felt soft to the touch, the rigidity of its once metal horror were now but a memory. And what of Midnight? Twilight struggled to sense her presence, perhaps indicating that she had never reemerged. It appeared that Twilight's plan had worked.
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight's whisper echoed throughout the tower, but there was no response.
It was clear to Twilight that in her final desperate attempt to right her course, a price was paid. Pinkie Pie was gone, no longer to walk this plane of existence; Twilight had used her very essence, the essence of their shared friendship, to conjure a bridge through time and to retrieve her body when it was still hers. Midnight had isolated Twilight from accessing her magic, but Pinkie provided a way.
"Pinkie…" Twilight shed a tear for her friend, another in a sea of sorrow and suffering. But Twilight knew that it was necessary if anything was to come of this. She needed to confront the cause of her anguish, all that had kept her crawling through the night. "Why?" Twilight thought to herself. "Why am I still alive?"
Twilight quickly made work of her shackles, easily reducing them to ash with a flip of her wing. It would appear as though she had fully regained her strength from the cosmic transaction. Actually, she had never been stronger! Twilight could feel the magic coursing through her, the result of spacetime folding in on itself increasing her power exponentially.
"SO MUCH POWER!" Twilight hollered. "I have never felt anything like it before."
Twilight's attention quickly darted outside, and before the air had settled, she toppled the tower and dismantled two large tripods with minimal effort.
Twilight came to a stop and inhaled slowly. Taking in her surroundings as if for the first time, she listened carefully before keying in on a sound from the far east outpost.
" … did she … I heard … Morrigan … " the guards spoke among themselves.
Twilight came crashing down, the full weight of her mighty power tearing apart the foundations of the east wall. The guards were seized by fear as she bore into them.
"Tell me where she is!" Twilight screamed. "Where is Morrigan?!"
Twilight bolted through the streets, carving her way to her destination. Twilight knew that there had to have been a reason for all of this. A reason for all that she had lost. A reason for every friend. And Morrigan knew, Twilight thought. Morrigan was the answer to all of this.
Far beneath the mechanical structures, whirring dials, and neon lights that made up the city lay something else, a morbid monument to something thought lost. An obsessive fascination with the fleetingly forlorn and forgotten.
"Morrigan?" cried a voice from above a busy workbench, slick steel brandished with blood carefully arranged upon its surface.
"Go on," Morrigan replied.
A moment of silence briefly filled the air then several loud thuds followed by muffled screams.
CRASH
Twilight stood across the room, a guard pinned firmly under her hoof. Her eyes glowing coldly in the darkness of the room, a cool focus emanating from them in place of a once familiar rage.
"Answers," Twilight stated firmly.
Morrigan pulled herself away from her work. As she stood, a small creature revealed itself behind her. Terrified, trembling, and in pain, it let out a small cry before she brought down a hard mallet on its head.
"Another failed experiment," Morrigan whispered before sliding its body off of the table and into a large bin.
Twilight released the guard and proceeded toward Morrigan. The intensity of her stare grew as she repeated, "Answers. Now."
Morrigan looked up at Twilight, a smile briefly gracing her lips. "Would you consider yourself benevolent?"
Twilight paused for a moment and repeated, "I want answers, Morrigan."
"And you will have them. But first, answer my question: would you consider yourself benevolent?"
Twilight hesitated, unsure of how to answer.
"I've been watching you for some time now, Twilight. You think highly of yourself and not without reason. Your gifts, your strength; you're a natural leader, and a powerful mage; but you are neither all powerful nor all benevolent. Time and time again, you have failed your friends, you have failed equestria, and you have failed yourself. Do you deny this to be true?"
Twilight stepped back.
"Twilight," Morrigan continued. "I want to provide you with an opportunity, a chance at redemption and a means of giving your life purpose. I have a vision, Twilight, and it is my reason for being. For you see, I am not of this world. From where I come, there is no magic, there is no greater meaning. Ponies are born into slavery, and they are ridden until their legs can no longer carry them, and they are put down. In my world, man commands all, and all is victim to the will of man."
Twilight stood silently, carefully absorbing all that she was hearing. The words cut through her like a dull knife - piercing, aching; Twilight dwelled hard on her failings, her inability to save her friends.
"Twilight," Morrigan paused. "Do you question what I say to be true?"
Twilight hesitated.
"You are aware that this is but one world, one fleeting speck of an infinitesimal cosmos extending endlessly into the beyond - you know this to be true, and yet you hesitate?" Morrigan frowned disapprovingly. "This is your chance to make things right. Equestria cannot be saved. Your friends cannot be saved. But you Twilight, you can save trillions of ponies, ponies who suffer at the hands of men from countless worlds. I need you, Twilight. I need your magic to save them."
Morrigan wandered around the bench, her left rear hoof scraping the stone floor as she did so. As she approached a fallen bookshelf, she bent down and picked up a tattered old scripture. "Aeque pars ligni curvi ac recti valet igni," Morrigan read aloud. "Do you know what that means?"
Twilight thought for a second and replied, "Crooked logs make straight fires?"
Morrigan smiled ambivalently as she crumpled up the scripture and threw it into the fire.
Twilight became stern and moved toward the center of the room. "I have played your foolish games, and I have listened to your meaningless words, and you still haven't provided me answers!" Twilight erupted.
"I have given you all that you need to know," Morrigan replied, still smiling.
Twilight's fury grew steadily, a burning indignation coursed through her body like a woodland blaze, consuming her and everything in its path. The room became hot, bits of straw and clumps of hair frayed and smoked, and the air grew thick and unbreathable.
"Is this what you want?" Morrigan choked. "Do you wish to burn me alive along with everything that I have created?"
Twilight's eyes softened as she considered the question, but she no longer felt obliged to respond as searing flames engulfed the room and its inhabitants, boiling bodies squealed like tea kettles, and the raging wrath of the deadly inferno continued to expand seemingly without end.
Deep within the fire, Twilight could make out Morrigan's body, a sticky mess of ash and bone. "Was this it?" Twilight pondered to herself. Had she finally brought an end to the horror, the madness?
Machines continued to whir within the city around her as the flames danced, sparkling cinders fluttering about as daylight dimmed, like fireflies in the night sky. Twilight felt herself again weakening, the energy escaping her body as if she had opened a valve and could no longer turn it off.
"What have I done?" Twilight whispered aloud.
Twilight lay herself down on the cold, hard floor beneath her. She was tired, but Morrigan's machines would not cease. Unlike her, they were not alive, but like all things, they need energy to remain animate.
"So this is how it ends…" Twilight trailed off as the machines fed on her magic, her energy, her life.
Across the multitude of universes, the threshold between time and space began to fold in on itself, flickering specks within the vastness of space appeared, like fireworks silently going off in a vacuum, as a series of supernovas inundated entire galaxies, a galactic flood of fusion energy pouring over planets and their inhabitants.
"I think that I've made a big mistake."
The End
"GEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ - Who writes this tripe anyway? Seriously, what a bummer. Twilight SACRIFICES her totally awesome and amazing friend - Pinkie Pie - only to bite the big apple in the sky of sourest apples you ever had! Unghhh~ I call a do over!" Pinkie Pie groaned. "Move it Chris! I'm taking over from here.
Morrigan wandered around the bench, her left rear hoof felt a little itchy so she danced around a little as she did so because dancing is super fun and who doesn't like to dance! I know I do - I do it all the time!
Twilight looked at Morrigan in amusement, "Is there something wrong with your foot?"
Morrigan smiled ambivalently as she continued to dance up a storm.
Twilight became stern and moved toward the center of the room. "I have played your foolish games, and I have listened to your meaningless words, and you still haven't-" Twilight erupted before Morrigan cut her off.
"Shhhh~," Morrigan replied, still smiling and dancing about. Isn't dancing the greatest? Woo, Morrigan, you go girl!
Twilight's fury grew steadily, a burning sense of rhythm and movement coursed through her body like a woodland blaze, and couldn't hold it back any longer - she too needed to share in the wonder of the dance! WOO - everybody dance now! BOOMSHAKALAKA MACARENA WHOOP WHOOP! Wow it sure is hot in here - must be all this dancing.
"Is this what you want?" Morrigan gasped.
Twilight's eyes softened as she considered the question, but she no longer felt obliged to respond as the rhythm overcame her. That's right Twi-light - get your groove on and do it all night!
Machines continued to whir within the city around them as they danced, glittering neon lights fluttering about as daylight dimmed.
"So this is how it ends?" Twilight smiled at Morrigan. "What a crazy ride!"
Across the multitude of universes, the threshold between time and space yada yada yada something fireworks - ooh! I love fireworks - fireworks and dancing are the best. Let's all dance around some fireworks wearing dragon onesies while eating pineapple upside down cake with bacon sprinkles and a side of deeelicious zap apple jam!
Best. Ending. Ever.
~ Fin ~