Showdown

After they had passed the shattered stained glass windows and made their way to the throne room, Sombra sent a few more guards to fetch Celestia, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity. As they arrived, Luna locked eyes with Celestia and gave her a dirty look. Celestia returned it with a look she hoped was apologetic, but Luna sighed and turned towards Sombra.

"You have the Elements with you?" Sombra asked, his voice much harsher than Spike remembered. He nodded, trembling, and pulled a golden necklace with a light blue gem in the shape of a balloon in the center to show him. Sombra nodded back. "Good. The plan will be mostly the same, but before we begin the crystallization, we have to make sure we have the right princesses this time."

Rainbow flew in front of Sombra's face and pointed her hoof at him. "And how is this going to be any different than the last time? It's possible you captured both Celestias because you're just bad at that kind of magic! Who's going to stop you from taking the wrong ponies again?"

"I assure you, Rainbow Dash, that the good princesses will be safe. This is my plan, after all-"

"Ahem?" Twilight coughed.

"Fine. It was inspired by your plan, so I am prepared this time. Now-"

Luna snapped, "I still don't see what Celestia and I have to do with this. Are we part of the plan, or should we just head back?"

"I'm glad you asked. This time, you two will be the bait. Attract their attention, and they'll be drawn out of their castle. Also, to be absolutely certain that we'll have those two miscreants instead of our beloved Celestia and Luna, you will each be in charge of securing your own counterpart."

"So you're just going to sit back and let us do all the work for you?" Applejack scoffed. "Typical villain."

"You won't be doing all the work." He didn't elaborate.

They set off for the Castle of the Two Sisters a little while later. Sombra led the party, with Celestia trailing a little ways behind him, then Luna, who was glaring at her sister as she walked. The Mane 6 brought up the rear.

A few minutes into the journey, Applejack walked a little faster so that she could keep up with Twilight. "How has the princess been? I know it has to be mighty hard for her to go through all of this."

"She's been putting on a brave face, but I don't know how much longer she'll keep her act before she breaks." Twilight looked ahead at Celestia, who was doing her best not to look in Sombra's general direction. "Before you guys came over, Sombra took her somewhere, and she came back… not quite in tears, but very close."

"I feel really bad for her," Fluttershy said behind them. "I don't know if I'll ever understand exactly how she feels. This isn't an experience that would happen to any normal pony."

"The best we can do is support her, and be there for her whenever she needs us."

Rarity chimed in, "And hopefully she'll listen to our advice one of these days."

"Yeah. Part of the reason why we're here is because she needs to learn how to leave things the way they are instead of messing with them, leading to more emotional trauma. What?" Rainbow asked as everyone looked at her strangely.

"That's a little harsher than what I was going to say," Rarity replied, "but I was thinking along the same lines."

Fluttershy argued, "But a princess can have feelings too. They shouldn't have to mask their emotions just because they're supposed to be a leadership figure."

The conversation escalated, and Twilight found her friends arguing about Celestia's actions. Rarity and Rainbow Dash took the stance that she needed to think more about her actions, while Fluttershy and Applejack were convinced that they were denying the princess the right to feel vulnerable.

"Can we just agree that when she needs our help, we'll assist her, because she can feel what she needs to, but she also needs to take responsibility and make decisions based on her head and not her heart?" Twilight looked at her friends with a glare to silence them. They looked at their hooves.

"We're almost here," Pinkie pointed out. The six ponies looked up at the castle towering over them.

"What should we do?" Celestia asked from the front of the procession as she walked up to the huge front doors of the castle. "Knock? Break the door down? What?"

"Give me a second." There was a flash of red from Sombra's horn, and it created a series of loud explosions in the air. Inside the castle, the evil Celestia looked out the window and gasped.

"It can't be! Luna!" She scrambled to get up from her lounge chair and make her horn glow. Her robe changed into a dramatic cape, leaving twinkling purple lights in the air that lingered for a few seconds.

Luna's groggy voice could be heard from downstairs. "What is it?"

"Get outside as soon as you can! Today is about to get a little more interesting," she cackled. With a swish of her cape, she flew out the window.

"I guess that worked," Pinkie mumbled.

"You've got quite some nerve, Sombra, coming over here after everything that's happened. And with your lady friend, too. How exactly did she cross over?"

"And with her sister and all of her little friends, too." The dark version of Luna smiled as she looked into the cold eyes of her counterpart.

In a flash of rage, Sombra yelled, "Enough of that! This ends, for real this time, right now!"

"Of course it does," the evil princess said mockingly. "What are you going to do? Surely you're not-"

Her sentence was cut off as her sister was caught up in the good Luna's blue bubble.

"Hurry, Celestia! We need to finish this, quickly!" she said, struggling to keep the bubble intact.

Celestia moved closer, but the other Celestia just swished her cape and rolled her eyes. "Is that what you're planning to do to me? You have to catch me first." She laughed as she dodged the attempts to imprison her in a yellow bubble.

"Twilight," Sombra said suddenly, "I'm going to need you to prepare the spell. Make sure everyone's ready for this."

"Got it. Spike! Pass out the elements, now!" The chubby purple dragon chucked the crown at her head. Twilight caught it just in time with her magic and placed it on her head. "With a little more care next time."

"You need speed? I got this," Rainbow boasted, snatching the bag from Spike. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the ponies of the Mane 6 were wearing their glittering gold necklaces.

Sombra nodded and turned to the battling Celestias. "On my signal, start the spell."

Everypony's eyes were on the sky, watching the fight's events. Finally, Sombra said, "Now!" as a bubble appeared around Celestia. Twilight began the spell.

But Sombra looked closer at the bubble. It was… Purple? And the alicorn inside didn't have the angry look of a villain whose plan was foiled. More like the defeated expression of a hero who had lost a battle.

They had trapped the wrong Celestia, and the crystals were already beginning to form.

Thanks for reading! Please comment if you have any questions or feedback.