~Chapter Five~

~The Dream~

~Pinkie Pie~

Worst. Party. EVER. Pinkie Pie miserably walked up to her remaining firework cannons, which she hadn't had the chance to explode yet. Pinkie Pie found a broken lighter on the ground, and she picked it up, and fiddled with it a bit, eventually fixing it. She lit it up, and put the fire next to the strings of the firework cannons. At first they made a quiet, crackling sound, before a loud explosion, as the twinkling colours soared across the sky. Pinkie Pie nestled down in the grass, watching her own fireworks display. Tears ran down her eyes, as every boom lit up the name of all of Rainbow Dash's friends. The forth name read out: TWILIGHT. Pinkie Pie sobbed slightly. What had gone wrong? Before they were all so happy, and then BOOM! Twilight was being so mean! The fight was kind of cool though… the one between Twilight and Discord. Pinkie Pie was unsure who to support! What if Discord killed Twilight? Would that mean they'd never get the old Twilight back? And what if Twilight killed Discord? NO MORE COTTON CANDY CLOUDS?! Pinkie Pie couldn't think of possibly anything which could be worse than that.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity called. Pinkie Pie turned around to see Rarity cantering up to her.

"Hi Rarity! I wasn't crying just then or anything," Pinkie Pie fake-cheered. Rarity didn't say anything to that; she just gave Pinkie Pie her amulet to put around the neck. The golden one, which held Pinkie's element of harmony in it.

"Thanks Rarity!" Pinkie Pie shrilled, and placed the chain around her neck.

"No problem," Rarity yawned, and stumbled away. Pinkie Pie yawned as well, and trotted up to where she thought was home, but instead, was towards the Everfree Forest. Too tired to realise where she was going, she continued trotting around. Pinkie Pie's eyes were half closed now, as she trotted further and further into the undergrowth.

Yawning, Pinkie Pie mumbled, "I should be back home at Sugarcube Corner by now…" But Pinkie Pie kept walking, until her aching muscles could take it no more. She tripped over a tree rout, and fell face first onto the grass. Almost instantly, she was forced into a deep, dreamless sleep.

…

When she woke up, it was a bit later that night, and she was no longer on the grass. Pinkie Pie was in fact, in Zecora's hut.

"Pinkie Pie, I see you've woken. I'm surprised you have not yet spoken," Zecora approached the pink mare curiously.

"What? How did I get here?" Pinkie Pie peered around in surprise.

"I saw you asleep in the Everfree, I couldn't let the animals have you for tea," replied the zebra.

"Oh no… I must have been so tired I just walked right into the forest, without realizing where I was going." Pinkie Pie's stomach growled and Zecora gave her some soup. "Well now that I'm here, I may as well ask you for help." Pinkie Pie explained what had happened to Twilight.

"Those dark spirits are no good at all. They steal your body, but keep your soul," replied Zecora.

"Is there any way we can help get the old Twilight back?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Zecora looked down at the ground. "Something to help set Twilight free? I do not know of such remedy."

Pinkie Pie looked up miserably. "Is there a possibility that Twilight will come back though?"

"Just wait, only time can tell, and maybe that monster will be sent back to hell."

~Dark Spirit~

She watched, peering out the cave which she was hidden in for any upcoming danger. She could be no happier than she was right now. Finally she had been set free from the pages, and now she could get revenge. Revenge on all pony-kind. And there couldn't have been any better pony than Twilight Sparkle, to fall into the trap.

She squinted, and saw some silhouetted structures from Equestria in the distance. Soon they would be hers. All hers! Excitement flooded over the Dark Spirit.

"What I can do! All those possibilities!" What you need to do now is rest, she told herself. "So when the time is right, I can strike with full power, and there will be nothing to stop me!" She backed away into the cave, and felt the cool stone under her hooves, spicing up her heart, making her veins run icier blood. And she sang.

Oh, their innocence.
They don't know what's going to come to them!

She spun in circles, using her magic to shoot icy snowflakes over the cave.

They desperate ponies,
they can't harm a fur on my head!

She forced the snowflakes to the ground suddenly, and they melted under her hooves.

Soon I will be their ruler.
Soon I'll retrieve my throne!
They can't do anything to stop me!
I'm going to destroy all their hopes!

She morphed an ice crown and dipped her head, for it to levitate over her horn.

They can't run, they can't hide.
Their queen's going to find.
They cannot disobey my rules!

I'll chain them up,
with their necks,
Then corrupt
All their nests,
They cannot flee from their queen!

I work my way up the ranks.
Make them pay, for what they did.
I will be the one who is going to win!

"I will be the one who is going to win," she repeated before nestling down in a bed of snow and fell asleep.

The tiny lullaby she made up- with such a sweet tune. Anypony could only listen to the harmony and consider the innocence. If there was only lyrics, those words could send a pony crying in fear, grasping for dear life.

~Twilight~

She opened her eyes. Around Twilight, was a grey room, with lots of seats, each seated by different ponies. Twilight recognised all of them. There were all of her five friends, and the princesses and her family, including here parents and Shining Armour. They all glared at her though.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked peering around, before her head was forced up, to… herself? An exact copy of Twilight was standing on the highest seat in the whole room. She was also glaring down at her.

"Twilight is sentenced for to reading an illegal book. Have you got any words to defend yourself?" snarled the other Twilight.

The real Twilight's eyes widened. "This is all a mistake!" She turned to Celestia, "please forgive me! I didn't mean to read the book!"

Celestia just turned away.

Twilight stared around. Everyone was turning away. "And that pony isn't me! I mean, it looks like me, but it isn't!" Twilight desperately looked around.

"Of course it's not you! It's Twilight," Pinkie Pie jeered.

"The consequences to this action permit to… DEATH!" The fake Twilight lampooned.

"No… NO!" The real Twilight cried. "Please believe me! PLEASE! That Twilight isn't real! I'm Twilight!"

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" everyone in the crowd intoned.

Twilight turned around to see two royal guards marching up to her, each holding a sword. Twilight tried to back away, but she was locked in the spot. The guards tilted their heads up, ready to do the death blow, when a loud voice charred the audience.

"LEAVE THEE ALONE! OFF THEE BEASTS! THOU NEVER RETURN!"

All of the guards and ponies in the audience and the fake Twilight disappeared into a mist, before vaporising and turning the room completely black.

Twilight looked up to her saviour. "Princess Luna! Thank you so much!" Twilight cried, running up to the Night Princess before her, giving her a hug. Luna's face looked concerned, and Twilight went serious, facing the princess, waiting for her to interrogate.

"Where are you hidden? Where are you sleeping right now?" Luna questioned.

Twilight cringed, "in my self-conscience. I'm not alone in there… There is a weird white fog as well. I tried to battle it earlier, but it ended up knocking me out," Twilight explained to the princess.

"The soul that has enhanced your body right now craves tyranny. They managed to escape us, but I am afraid that they might be coming back soon. The only way to get you back, Twilight, is to kill that white mist. That mist is the soul of the Dark Spirit itself. I'm not sure what happens after that, for this has never happened before, but I trust thee to try," Luna nodded, before giving a miserable expression. "If thou don't succeed, we will be forced to… kill thou. That is the only other way to get rid of the Dark Spirit, but if we do that… It will mean thee die too."

Twilight nodded. "That is the price to pay for reading that book. I caused this problem, it will be me who fixes it and makes everything right."

Luna nodded. The blackness around them started to shrivel like a plant, and peel down like wallpaper.

"You are awakening. Thou stay strong Twilight! May thee light of my moon, and of Celestia's sun guide you, in the most darkest of times forever!"

Everything was overpowered by a blinding light, and then nothing.

…

Twilight opened her eyes, remembering where she was and looked around, searching for what Luna had blessed her with. "…May thee light of my moon, and of Celestia's sun guide you, in the most darkest of times forever!" The words still ricocheted in Twilight's mind.

"I need to find light… but how?" Twilight mumbled.

"I see you have awakened. Sorry for bashing you out before, but I was getting tired, and it was clear you were not going to give up."

Twilight looked up at the white mist, and tried to seize on it, but she couldn't move a muscle. She was paralysed.

"Oh, yeah! I couldn't risk you getting up again, so I decided to paralyse you!" The mist sneered. Twilight just glowered at it.

"Let. Me. Go," she scowled.

"But what would be the fun in that? Besides, you might make not a bad sculpture to put up somewhere…"

"I refuse to become one of your garden ornaments," snapped Twilight.

The mist didn't answer, only came closer.

Twilight's limp-self tried to twitch the slightest. How she despised this mist. How she longed to give it one nasty slap with her hoof.

"Come to think of it, you're not bad company, even if all you feel for me is hatred," the mist alleged coolly.

Twilight could feel the iciness of the mist, as the moving fog brushed her fur.

"Get away from me," Twilight hissed through gritted teeth.

"Are you afraid of me?" the fog asked maliciously.

"You should be the one petrified of what I'm going to do to you…" Twilight hollered.

"No, no. I can only look forward to it." The haze disappeared.

~Celestia~

The crumbling states of the structures. Fearful screams resonated throughout the air, pinning Celestia to the ground as if the cries were hitting her physically. Celestia used her hooves to cover her ears, but the moans of terror only got louder. Pain like no other hit Celestia, sharper than any knife. More depressing than any death.

"No… stop!" Celestia's eyes widened, so much that the boiling red veins bulged out furiously from her pink eyes. "Stop!"

A cheer of bliss made time slow down. Every falling bit of debris stopped and slowed 80% more. Celestia raised a hoof, over her head and squinted. Her sun was even turning on her, blazing more furious than ever before, scorching the tortured souls beneath.

The laugh sounded again. It was sort of like a little school-fillies laugh. The laugh belonged to a child. One of Celestia's subjects. The laugh was so innocent, but something about it… made it sound more… wicked? Celestia saw the source of the laugh. A tiny lavender filly which had blue-black hair with pink and purple highlights. Her flank was blank, and she had glistening purple eyes.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia approached the filly, who had a massive smile on her face. "My faithful student?"

"Princess Celestia!" the filly screeched. Hope lifted in Celestia's mind. Could this be her? The filly bowed her head, crouched as low as possible. "Oh what a fan I am of you! How honoured I am to meet a princess!"

Celestia tilted her head. "Twilight, you are a princess-" then Celestia noticed. The filly was no Alicorn, just a plain unicorn. "Oh what am I thinking? You're only a filly. What are you to know about your future," Celestia sighed and turned her head.

"Celestia! Don't worry! I'll save you!" Celestia turned her head to see another Twilight filly. She lunged on the Twilight Celestia had been talking too, and dissolved into the filly's soul.

"What are you doing?" Celestia cried in horror. Twilight filly's eyes flashed red.

"Now it's your turn Celestia!" She screeched, before lunging at Celestia.

The princess's eyes flashed white before shaking her head furiously, flipping the filly off.

"Twilight! Stop!"

"Never! I am not Twilight I am Nightmare Moon!" The filly howled, before turning into the evil version of Celestia's younger sister, Luna.

"What?" Celestia backed away in horror.

"No, I am Tirek!" The pony before Celestia turned into the monster who had recently attempted to take over Equestria who was now in Tarturas.

"What is going on?" Celestia was now pressed against a wall, staring in horror at what was next.

"Oh Celestia. I should stop lying. The truth is… I am actually you!" The creature's final form was a spitting image of Celestia before her. The princess stared in awe, and cocking her head, trying to work out what was going on. There was no mirror, it was truly… herself.

"Why could I do this…?" Celestia sat down miserably, gesturing to the torn up town.

"You'd think I'd stop at Twilight?" asked the other Celestia.

Celestia's eyes widened. "You!" Celestia leapt forwards, her hooves craving flesh. Flesh she'd never receive as the pony before her dissolved, bellowing out one last evil laugh before everything disappeared into nothingness.

…

"Celestia! Celestia!" Luna rushed into Celestia's room. "I heard you screaming!"

Celestia lowered her head, her eyes still watery with fear. "It was just a nightmare."

"Looks like everypony's having a bad dream tonight," Luna trotted up, and hopped onto the bed next to Celestia. "Tell me, what was this dream about?"

Celestia told her younger sister everything.

"Well at least it was just a nightmare, nothing else," Luna offered.

"I'm not sure…" Celestia lowered her head, "it seemed awfully realistic."

"Well it's over now," Luna nuzzled her sister, before hopping back off the bed. A mischievous grin mounted on Luna's face, "sleep tight, little filly!"

Celestia felt ridiculous. She used to be the one who comforted Luna after nightmares. Now it was the other way around.

~Discord~

"Oh, this is the second time I've hurt Twilight this week! And this time it was physical! How could I?" Fluttershy hid under her mane in fear.

"Remember, it wasn't really Twilight," Discord reminded.

"Oh! But I've never hurt anyone physically before! Oh my Celestia! Am I now a mean pony?" Fluttershy cowered. Discord only smiled.

"No. She was about to kill me, and your instincts kicked in. Fluttershy, I'd be dead right now if you hadn't done that."

Fluttershy looked up. "Really?"

Discord nodded. "Yes."

"Well I'm glad I did it then!" Fluttershy smiled, giving Discord a light hug, before turning away. "I need to get back to my cottage now. Bye Discord… remember, you have a job to do from Celestia."

Then he remembered. Oh yeah, I have to find Twilight. He made it look like he was working, but he was really watching Fluttershy trot away. She had hugged him! Well… she had hugged him many other times, and he had hugged her, but this was the first time she had hugged him after the encounter with Tirek. And how pleased he was at that. He'd been missing her. And she must be a true friend indeed, considering she was willing to attack her own best friend to save his life. Of course, Discord wasn't actually planning to die. He intended to teleport out of Twilight's grasp just before the blow hit him, but the fact Fluttershy had actually cared, and had sacrificed her for him, had only made matters more satisfying.

Fluttershy disappeared into the distance, only a silhouette against the majestic moon.

Discord then got back on track. He needed to locate Twilight.

"Here, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight," he called, as if he was looking for a cat. "Puss, puss, puss!"

He peered under a rock. No Twilight. He looked in a tree. No Twilight. He teleported to the moon. No Twilight.

"How to find Twilight," he mumbled, now back in Ponyville. He morphed a detective hat and gown on him, with a magnifying glass. "How to detect Twilight." He then sent several stalking- ahem, finding spells, but he was unable to locate her. He then looked at her history on a big screen, but as soon as Twilight changed into the Dark Spirit, he could no longer see anything. The screen just went static. "Hmmph," he grumbled. The Dark Spirit had obviously cleared up her evidence pretty well.

"Well if I can't do this draconequus style, I'll have to do this," he cringed, "pony style."

He was now looking for any evidence Twilight could have left behind. All he found were some splats of her blood on the ground in which he had fought her. She had teleported somewhere, therefore there was absolutely no possible trail of her in between the area she had teleported from and the area she had teleported to. Why does she have to make things so complicated? Even Discord's magic had its limits. There was no way he could track her down. Well, if the cat can't catch the mouse, the cat will just have to wait for the mouse to come out the hole.

~The Next Morning~

~Fluttershy~

Today was Rainbow Dash's last day. No! Fluttershy cantered out of her cottage. She was still a little sleepy, and stifled a yawn. She stretched out her wings and took flight. It didn't take her long to reach Rainbow Dash's home in the sky.

"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!" she chirped, knocking on the front door.

A very sleepy Rainbow Dash came out the door, and gave a massive yawn. "Oh… Hey Fluttershy. What brings you here?" There were bags under Rainbow Dash's eyes, influencing that she hadn't received much sleep.

"Today is your last day in Ponyville before you go to the Wonderbolts, and I thought it would be nice if we could spend the day together," Fluttershy smiled up sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"My… last…" Rainbow Dash lowered her head down and began to snore, but then her head shot up. "MY LAST?" Rainbow Dash hopped up. Whatever signs of tiredness Rainbow Dash had before were now gone. "Yes! I need to spend this day with my friends! Let's stop at Rarity's first, we need to receive our Elements of Harmony."

Fluttershy nodded, and followed her friend out the door. The two Pegasi reached Rarity's in no time.

"Rarity!" Rainbow Dash called. The door swung open and a tired Rarity stood at the door.

"Hi girls… what are you three here for?" she asked.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked around. "Um… Rarity… There's only two of us here," Fluttershy mentioned.

"Oh, sorry. Well… what brings you two here?" Rarity groaned.

"Well… It's my last day in Ponyville, and I wanted to spend time with my friends, and it would also be nice if we could get our Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash offered.

"Oh! Yes!" Rarity was no longer tired, and she trotted inside, before returning with two amulets in her mouth. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy speedily put them on.

"How about we wake the rest of our friends up?" Rarity asked. "I still need to give Applejack her amulet."

"Of course," Fluttershy replied.

The three of them got to Sweet Apple Acres eventually, and Applejack was already up, doing her Agility Course with Apple Bloom. They couldn't find Pinkie Pie though.

"Where was the last place any of ya'll saw her?" Applejack questioned.

"I was the last," Rarity stepped forward. "I gave her, her amulet and she was still at the party, looking pretty sad.

Fluttershy thought for a moment. "Maybe we should go to the party area then… I doubt she'd be there, but I'm sure she might be near there."

Every other pony agreed, and the four of them trotted (or in Rainbow Dash's case, flew) to the party area. It wasn't the same as it had been last night. The ground was littered, and had some splats of blood all over the place. The balloons had all deflated or popped, and the streamers were no longer neatly set up, but all over the place. The stage Pinkie had set up had all scrapes on the sides, and the microphone and it's stand had been tipped over.

"So… where's Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm here!" chirped the squeaky voice, and the sounds of nearing hoof steps intensified. Soon the bright pink mare burst out of the Everfree forest and approached them.

"What were you doing in the Everfree forest?" All four of them asked in unison.

"Well, I was like, so tired, so I ran into the forest, thinking I was running to Sugarcube Corner, and then I fell asleep in the middle of it, and then Zecora saw me, and she took me to her home and I asked her if there was any way we could get Twilight back, and she said no, and then I had a sleepover at her place! It was so fun!" Pinkie rambled.

"Of course. How didn't I guess that," Rarity muttered.

"Wait. Did she say there was no way we would get the real Twilight back?" Rainbow Dash questioned in horror.

"Oh! No! She said there was no cure for it. So she can't just use her leaves and stuff to create a medicine. But she said that if we wait, time can tell whether Twilight can escape. And she made everything rhyme!" Pinkie shrilled.

The other four nodded.

"Just wait, only time can tell, and maybe that monster will be sent back to hell."