CHAPTER TEN

Twilight Sparkle jumped back in surprise as an orb of light suddenly and inexplicably divided her from the entrance to the Crystal Castle a mere ten feet in front of her. The blinding orb sparked with electricity and magic, melting the snow underneath it and proceeding to melt into the solid ice below. As abruptly as it appeared, the orb suddenly vanished, leaving Twilight to gawk at the pony standing inside the crater in the ground.

"What in Tartarus..."

"Twilight!" Fluttershy screamed in relief. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me! Are you alright, Fluttershy?"

"I can't see a thing. Everything is white..."

"Welcome to Equestria's Arctic North. Here, let me help you out."

Twilight contemplated simply teleporting Fluttershy out of the hole, but after what must have been a truly terrifying teleportation experience for her, she decided it was probably not the best of ideas. Instead, she lifted Fluttershy up carefully with her magic and levitated her onto the snow. Immediately after her hooves rested onto the cold ground, Fluttershy yelped in surprise.

"It's f-f-freezing here! Where are we?"

"The Crystal Empire, about two hundred miles north of Canterlot Mountain." Twilight replied, examining the pegasus for any signs of bodily harm that could have been caused by such a powerful teleportation spell. Despite her temporary blindness due to the brightness of the teleportation spectrum, Fluttershy seemed to be perfectly fine, if not a tad traumatized. "How did you get here, Fluttershy? Who teleported you?"

"T-T-Trixie...oh, Twilight, it was terrible. Nightmare Twilight knows I'm still alive. She's looking for you now! She's going to kill us both!"

"Wait...Nightmare Twilight SAW you? How could you let her SEE you?" Twilight exploded furiously, pacing back in forth in growing panic. "Argh, never mind that. Do you still have the Alicorn Amulet?"  

"In my saddle-pack. Twilight, can you please do something about my eyes?" Fluttershy pleaded, blindly clawing at her sides for the burlap bag.

"I think so. Give me the Alicorn Amulet first."

"I don't know if I should...the dark magic—"

"No!" Twilight snapped. "You don't know, period! Nightmare Twilight is going to destroy all of Equestria, again, because of you! So give me the Alicorn Amulet right now so I have something to fight back with!"

"But the plan wasn't to fight! The plan was too—"

"I know!" Twilight screamed. Fluttershy flinched in fear, she could not see Twilight, but she could hear a distinct difference in the way she had screamed those words. Fluttershy had no doubt that Twilight was looking at her through empty green eyes. However, when Twilight spoke again, her voice was much softer, almost apologetic.

"I know, Fluttershy. I'm sorry I shouted at you. But we need to change our plans now. We're still going to destroy the artifacts, but we need to get it done right now. Now that Nightmare Twilight knows we're both still alive, she's going to destroy this Equestria just like last time and go even further back in time. Except this time I can guarantee she won't let us follow her. It will be completely over. Just, trust me, Fluttershy, please. Just give me the Alicorn Amulet."

Reluctantly, Fluttershy found her saddle-pack and withdrew the Alicorn Amulet, holding it out blindly in front of her. An invisible force lifted the golden necklace form her shaking hooves, and in a sudden flash, her eyesight cleared of the white haze and she was met with even more whiteness as she looked around the swirling wasteland of snow. Directly in front of her was the most amazing building she had ever seen in her life; the crystalline tower rose higher than the clouds themselves, and for the first time, Fluttershy noticed the sun sparkling in the exposed ice crystals. It was dim and gave no warmth to combat the blistering cold, but it was a comforting sight none the less.

Equally as comforting a sight was Twilight Sparkle, who was in the process of placing the Alicorn Amulet around her neck. She smiled when she saw the amazed expression on Fluttershy's face, and turned to face the Crystal Tower as well.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it? Even after so much destruction and neglect, it's still beautiful. Everything is beautiful, when you really think about it...it's like you said back at the lake. Nothing is truly evil or dangerous. There's always something good in everything." Twilight turned around and looked at Fluttershy for a long time, before suddenly leaning forward and hugging her. "Listen to me, Fluttershy, because this is very important. When we defeat Nightmare Twilight, time is going to reset. There...there's no easy way for me to say this, but...when it resets, we...won't. We'll be distant residents of a time that never happened."

"So...there's no way we're surviving this, is there? Even if we win, we still won't survive..."

"I'm sorry. I'm not exactly sure what will happen, but it's entirely possible that we won't."

"Let's get this done then. One last adventure. Just, be careful, Twi. Don't let that amulet change who you are."

"I won't. It might be tough to hold it back, but I think I've got it under control...as long as I've got something to shoot for, I should be fine. Now listen carefully... Nightmare Twilight is going to destroy Equestria now, but if she can find me, she will probably change her mind. I'm going to call her to us, here. I'll hold her off with the Alicorn Amulet while you get to the top of that tower and get the Crystal Heart. The second you see it, smash it."

Twilight remembered what Princess Celestia had done in the realm of dreams...the holographic image of the Crystal Heart. She had never seen anypony use that magic before, but simple light magic was not difficult to do. With a little effort, Twilight created a hovering holographic Crystal Heart in front of Fluttershy.

"That's what it looks like. It'll be behind a large, sturdy looking door...a door that is designed to keep evil ponies out. This is the Crystal Empire before Sombra's reign...I'm not really sure how that chapter of Equestrian history unfolded for you guys here, but either way it look like that whole battle never happened at all. I guess the Celestia and Luna rift isn't the only thing different about this place."

"So then..." Fluttershy blinked, having lost Twilight's explanation at the mention of 'King Sombra.' "Where exactly is the Crystal Heart?"

"Right, sorry. It should be the highest room of the tower, which should be...that spire there." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at the slanted tower swimming in and out of view through the snow. "That's where its kept when there isn't a ceremony or anything, and I don't think they had any ceremonies after..."

"Celestia." Fluttershy finished sadly.

"Mmhmm. So are you good to go? You know what you're looking for, and where?"

Fluttershy nodded solemnly, and tried to unfurl her wings. With shock, she found them to be incredibly stiff and heavy, and a backwards glance told her the ice had already frozen the weak, unnatural muscles she used to operate them.

"I...I was really starting to like these wings..." Fluttershy said in a nervous laugh. "But I guess I won't be needing them after tonight anyway. I guess I'll have to use my feet like before." With effort, Fluttershy folded her wings against herself again and turned away from Twilight, running up the stairs and into the Crystal Castle. The hovering Crystal Heart hologram shifted and changed, transforming into a glowing lantern and flying after her.

Twilight waited until it disappeared into the darkness and turned to face the empty frozen field in front of her. It must have at one point been a courtyard, but now it was the ideal place for a large enough magic spell that would attract the attention of Nightmare Twilight. Bordering the courtyard were small houses or shops, long since buried by snow.

"Alright, let's see how strong you really are, Twilight Sparkle." She told the howling wind, adjusting the Alicorn Amulet around her neck. A satisfying surge of energy shot through her as the amulet glowed red, as if anticipating the battle to come.

Nightmare Twilight stepped over the bodies of ponies and broken bricks, searching the remains of Ponyville for the yellow pegasus who had twice evaded her.

She had her in the tower...she could very well have killed her right then and had one less problem to deal with. What had prevented her from doing it? Whatever it was, it was certainly something that she must eradicate.

Although the piles of corpses amongst the destroyed buildings suggested she already had.

Most had looked at her in confusion and horror as she sprayed death amongst the town. The one pony who dared oppose her lasted for a grand total of thirty seconds, before being completely disintegrated by one of her more lazily cast counterattacks. Nevertheless, she quite respected this blue unicorn, who most likely knew she would be no match against her but chose to die fighting anyway. Quite a shame that she had sided with the timid, yellow coated friend of her nemesis, she would have made a more than suitable protegee.

"Where are you, Twilight Sparkle?" Nightmare Twilight growled, stomping the ground in frustration. The ground shook underneath her mighty hoof, the hard packed dirt cracking in several directions for a few feet. "How many more ponies do I have to kill to find you?"

Suddenly, a bright beam of blue light shot into the sky from far to the North. Nightmare Twilight watched the beacon grow and ascend while listening to the sound of a few ponies wasting their final breaths of air to gasp in amazement. On the contrary, Nightmare Twilight simply regarded the magical phenomenon with an apathetic stare, before unfurling her long, slender wings and tearing off in its direction. Quickly accelerating to much faster than the average wingpower of a pegasus, Nightmare Twilight soon  was a blur of dark purple across the jet-black sky.

Fluttershy sprinted up seemingly endless flights of frozen stairs which ascended much further than the small sphere of light cast by her puny lantern. There was no light above, no sign of any conclusion to her eternal pilgrimage upwards, but she was not going to give up because of that foolish fear. Not when they were so close to the end.

The interior of the Crystal Castle was a beautiful palace of ice and crystal, which reflected the blue glow of her lantern. Even the stars had been constructed from crystal, but they were so coated with ice that it was difficult to tell the two apart. Occasionally she slipped on the smoother of the icy steps and tumbled hard onto them, and when this happened she silently cursed her clumsiness and kept on running. Her sides were covered in scratches from her numerous falls, as well as frost-bite, burn marks, and large clumps of missing fur. Her typically pink mane was stained grey with soot and smoke, and she hoped desperately that this stain was not permanent.

As Fluttershy continued tearing up the stairs and occasionally through sparkling corridors, a sudden explosion resounded outside, audible even through the thick walls of the castle. Skidding to a halt in the middle of what was perhaps once a ballroom, Fluttershy listened cautiously to whatever was outside, but there were no other sounds other than the howling wind of the early troposphere air. Nevertheless, she knew there would soon be much more destruction than what she had just heard, for the explosion outside could only mean one thing.

Nightmare Twilight had arrived.

Twilight Sparkle watched as her alicorn adversary came soaring through the clouds at an alarming velocity, landing hard enough onto the ground in front of her to create a deep crater the snowy ground.

"Twilight Sparkle." She said as she dusted snow off her back, greeting the unicorn as if she were an old friend. "Still alive and well, I see. You are quite persistent on surviving, aren't you?"

"Everypony is. We don't really like being murdered or ruled over like we're dirt."

"Neither do I. Perhaps you can explain then what you did to me, all those months ago. Perhaps you can tell me how that was not blatant murder?" Nightmare Twilight was already charging offensive magic, but from the looks of it she was taking her time, relishing every moment of her final assault.

"I...I can't. I'm sor—"

"You're sorry?" Nightmare Twilight screamed in disgust. "Are you really? You think an APOLOGY is enough to make me spare your life?"

"No." Twilight Sparkle replied. "Because I'm not running or begging anymore. For the first time since that day in the Everfree Castle Courtyard, I'm going to fight you."

"Indeed?" Nightmare Twilight sneered, allowing her magic to die off a little. "No more hiding behind the corpses of the innocent? This should be interesting. Let us see then, how Twilight Sparkle valiantly fights. Her final stand against 'true evil!'"

Immediately after finishing her sentence, Nightmare Twilight unleashed her charged magic; not her full potential but still undoubtedly lethal. Twilight hastily constructed a barrier and the beam was deflected into the sky above. Regardless of her defensive measures, Twilight Sparkle was thrown backwards by the sheer force of the blast, and crashed hard onto the ground behind her. If it weren't snow, she was quite certain it would have been enough to have broken her already weak forehoof and ribcage. Instead, it simply knocked the wind out of her and sent a wave of pain through her body.

In a daze, she almost missed another beam of magic which narrowly missed her and instead crashed a mere five feet from where she had landed, spewing flame and snow alike. Twilight Sparkle tried to force down her growing panic as she hurriedly teleported away from the barrage of lasers. Before long, she could already feel her magical energy draining and realized she had made a big mistake thinking she could hold off Nightmare Twilight for more than a few minutes.

Twilight almost laughed as she realized how foolish she had been. In her mind, she envisioned herself standing her ground valiantly, dueling her foe as if they were equals. In the ugly truth of reality, she knew she would be lucky if she lasted more than sixty seconds.

Mustering the last of her energy, Twilight flung several weak blasts of her own beams of magic at the hovering alicorn. Nightmare Twilight did not even attempt to avoid the incoming attacks, simply grinning in satisfaction as they bounced off an invisible sphere around her.

"The Crystal Heart..." Twilight muttered. "Dammit."

With one last, sparking flicker, Twilight felt the last of the magic drain from her horn and a rush of dizziness overtake her head. Nearly fainting, she managed to fight her body's wishes enough to keep herself conscious.

"Come on, come on..." She repeated, tapping the end of her horn in desperation as Nightmare Twilight continued charging a more than lethal bolt of magic. A sudden notion leaped to her mind and she clutched the Alicorn Amulet in both hooves, feeling a rush of new-found energy explode through her. Without even needing to prepare a counterattack, Twilight cast her own magic just as her foes opposing blaze tore towards her.  

Pain exploded in Twilight's horn as she struggled to hold back Nightmare Twilight's attack, feeling her magic wavering significantly. Any slip up now would be her last, and she was not about to risk her life in a fruitless standoff. Instead, she teleported far beyond Nightmare Twilight into the cover of a mass of snow which she hoped was once a building.

The interior was absolutely pitch black, but in the brief second of light cast by the teleportation spell, Twilight could see that she was indeed in some sort of blacksmith shop. Outside, Nightmare Twilight's attack hit the ground and the whole earth vibrated, some ancient building crumbling to the ground outside. Nightmare Twilight roared in frustration when she realized her target had disappeared, and the sound of her wingbeats accompanied the echo of the explosion in the distance.

"You coward!" She screamed, as she flew overhead. Knowing full well she could not hide forever, Twilight teleported back into the open air and ducked in the shadow the tall snowbank as Nightmare Twilight flew overhead, most likely not seeing her. Dashing through the snow, Twilight ran in the opposite direction of her flightpath, casting panicked glances backwards to make sure Nightmare Twilight had not spotted her.  

"So be it, Twilight Sparkle! I have no qualms about ending this world, too!"  

"Yeah, right." Twilight said sarcastically, skidding to a halt and turning around to fire a beam of magic at Nightmare Twilight. It bounced harmlessly off the invisible shield, but served its purpose of attracting the attention of the alicorn. Nightmare Twilight whipped around to face the source of the blast and laughed madly when she saw Twilight standing her ground in the middle of the frozen street. As she bore down upon her target, Nightmare Twilight returned fire, but missed due to the relative distance and swift movement. As soon as she was within range, Twilight Sparkle had once again disappeared, firing another useless laser at her back.

Nightmare Twilight once again roared in fury, trying in vain to land a single shot on the rapidly teleporting unicorn. Despite being a mere mortal unicorn, Twilight Sparkle had far surpassed what she previously thought was physically possible for a simple pony.

And then she recognized the amulet around her neck.

"My Alicorn Amulet!" Nightmare Twilight bellowed, ceasing fire. "How did you...that's impossible!"

And indeed, it defied any explanation. She herself had been calling on the Amulet's power to hunt down Twilight Sparkle, although its power was weak compared to that of the Tome of Manifestation. How was it that her foe had the same magical artifact?

"Time travel!" Twilight screamed triumphantly. "Might want to think twice before you start altering history!"

"I've seen enough. I'm ending this pointless battle once and for all." Nightmare Twilight scowled furiously, and Twilight recognized her next magical spell as the same one which had previously destroyed all of Equestria. In mere seconds, the same horror would occur again.

Twilight considered firing at the alicorn above, but knew there was no point. All her fighting had truly been in vain.

Suddenly, Nightmare Twilight let out a horrible shriek of pain as the sound of shattering glass was heard at ridiculous volume. What looked like blue shards of crystal exploded from around Nightmare Twilight in a spherical pattern, and Twilight realized what had just happened.

Without wasting a second, Twilight barraged the stunned alicorn with burst upon burst of offensive magic, and with no Crystal Heart to shield her, Nightmare Twilight was completely unprepared to defend herself.

"Yes!" Twilight howled in delight. "Fluttershy, you did it!"

Twilight continued her assault, every resounding impact sending immense satisfaction down her spine. For the first time, she was actually causing damage to Nightmare Twilight. Her advantage, however, was temporary, and Nightmare Twilight finally cast a defensive shield around herself, which despite its hasty construction looked quite durable.

"ENOUGH!" Nightmare Twilight's voice echoed across the empty plains, silencing even the wind. A bright burst of light exploded from her horn and Twilight gawked in surprise as Fluttershy appeared in front of Nightmare Twilight, inexplicably floating in the air, most likely under Nightmare Twilight's magic. Twilight expected her pegasus friend to look terrified, but instead, she was surprised to see Fluttershy simply staring at the snow beneath with a crushing look of defeat.

"Heroic Twilight Sparkle!" Nightmare Twilight mocked. "A more than competent warrior, I must admit. Truly the first real threat I've faced thus far. To be honest, I am almost glad that our final confrontation was so...exhilarating. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. But I'm a kind mare. I shall give you one last chance to sacrifice yourself and save everypony in this world. Or, you can once again watch helplessly as I kill them all. The next move is entirely yours, Twilight."

"What makes you think I can even trust you? After all you've done—"

"Trust me!" Nightmare Twilight chuckled. "Well, of course you cannot trust me! What makes you think you have any other alternative? Make your choice, Twilight Sparkle, I'm growing impatient."

Some twisted part of Twilight's consciousness was half tempted to obey with the ludicrous offer, and to remove tshe Amulet from her neck and throw the golden crown that was the Element of Magic onto the ground. She probably would have, if Nightmare Twilight wouldn't have once again spoken to her.

"Maybe I'll start with you, Fluttershy. What do you think, Twilight Sparkle? I could pluck off her wings, or simply let her drop to her death..."

"Stop doing this!" Twilight screamed furiously, feeling the Alicorn Amulet feeding her more and more energy as it reacted to her hatred. Nightmare Twilight only laughed in response. "She hasn't done anything to you! This is between you and me, so leave her alone!"

"Good heavens, you're pathetic!" Nightmare Twilight managed between bouts of insane cackling. "Both of you, really, but mostly you, Twilight Sparkle. All that dribble of 'friendship' and you can't even save one measly pegasus life."

Suspended above the snow, Fluttershy was still staring down with the same defeated expression as before. It was as if she had simply given up, accepting the fact that she was about to die with little to no resistance. Seeing that look only served to further infuriate Twilight, until she could feel the Alicorn Amulet sparking and sputtering magical energy. A ghostly calm fell over her as she prepared to embrace the darkness within the Amulet once and for all, and to finally rid this world of Nightmare Twilight.

Twilight... A familiar voice spoke without volume, heard only by Twilight Sparkle. Don't give in yet! Not when you're so close! She still has the Tome! Attacking her like this is never going to work!

"L...Luna?" Twilight said aloud, as she opened her eyes, only to be blinded suddenly by an inexplicable light reflecting into her vision. Squinting, she realized the light of the moon had exposed itself through the dark clouds that had grown since Nightmare Twilight had arrived. The moon was directly behind Nightmare Twilight, half obscuring the alicorn and rendering her as a dim silhouette. The bright light had most likely bounced off one of the ice spires and into her eyes.  

"Well?" Nightmare Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Have you made up your mind? Will you finally end this pointless delay of the inevitable?"

"No." Twilight said softly, quiet enough that it was droned by the wind.

"Pardon me?"

"NO!" She screamed louder, and felt another surge of magic shooting through her body, this time fueled by something else. Something...warmer. It wasn't hatred behind this energy, but...determination. Whether she wanted to or not, she knew that this next burst would drain the remaining energy in the Alicorn Amulet, leaving her entirely powerless. She simply could not miss.

Nightmare Twilight cocked an eyebrow in surprise as a bolt of extremely powerful energy shot towards her, with the destructive potential to rival even an attack of her own. It was approaching her at an alarming velocity, and without the aid of the Crystal Heart, it could very well end her life.

Instead of risking it, Nightmare Twilight simply teleported to the side and watched as the bolt flew past her, raising an ear at the sound of it rushing past a few seconds later.

"Wow..." She said, sounding genuinely disappointed, watching as the bolt disappeared from sight and soon from Equestria's atmosphere altogether. The orb imprisoning Fluttershy vanished and Nightmare Twilight casually watched the flightless pegasus fall helplessly, before smiling at Twilight just as the sound of cracking bones cut through the silence. "Quite unfortunate. Although I don't think that fall was quite enough to kill her. I'll take care of that in a moment."

Flapping her wings gently, Nightmare Twilight lowered her altitude before touching down on the ground and pacing towards Twilight Sparkle, who was trying in vain to cast magic. The Alicorn Amulet had stopped glowing completely, not even sparking despite her best efforts.

"I believe you've destroyed it." Nightmare Twilight pointed out matter-of-factually. "How sad."

Without any warning, Nightmare Twilight lifted a hoof towards Twilight Sparkle while simultaneously enveloping her in magic. Twilight tried to fight her magic hold, but it was simply too strong. Even with the Alicorn Amulet also gone, the Tome of Manifestation still gave her more than enough power. Nightmare Twilight said nothing as she intensified her magic, watching the purple unicorn writhe as she was suddenly assaulted by electricity.

A million thoughts darted to Twilight's mind as she felt her last few moments slipping away, although most prominent was the recurring frustration that Nightmare Twilight had picked such an ironic way for her to die. How many times could a pony die of electrocution? Twilight felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest until she was certain the organ would burst. The deafening sound of blood pumping dominated her ears, and her rapidly convulsing eyes were slowly but surely growing dim. Through it all, Nightmare Twilight did nothing but watch, looking as if she was mildly satisfied at the scene unfolding in front of her, but ultimately uncaring. Without any direct source for the electricity to flow to, Twilight assumed it would take some time for her to die. Perhaps she was in luck.

"Any last words, Twilight? Care to justify your horrible attempt at striking me with your final ounce of energy? My, you missed your target quite miserably, it's actually quite humorous."

"You weren't my target..." Twilight croaked in reply, and managed a satisfied grin which completely bewildered the previously overconfident alicorn. Nightmare Twilight looked as if she were about to say something, but a brilliant flash caused her to whip around. She had just enough time to take in the sight of the moon exploding before she was once again caught in the crossfire of time rewriting itself to accommodate the destruction of her precious magical artifacts.

Losing her grasp on Twilight completely, Nightmare Twilight tried desperately to fight the imminent result of the death of the Tome of Manifestation through the ribbon of light wrapping around her body. Twilight herself was still shuddering in pain as the occasional jolt of lingering electricity sent shocks through her, but even through the chaos she found the Alicorn Amulet in the dirt and smashed the red crystal with her hoof, destroying it once and for all.

Nightmare Twilight was thrown into another bout of pain before having a chance to recover from the shock caused by the destruction of the moon, but this time the white ribbon of light was joined by seven more, each a brilliantly colorful strand contributing to a full rainbow which swirled and wrapped itself around the screaming alicorn princess.

Twilight tried to stand but upon rising fell back to the ground as her exhausted legs gave way. Fluttershy was laying in the snow some ways in front of her, her eyes closed. Beneath her, the snow was slowly turning red.

"Oh, sweet Celestia..." Twilight gasped, once again trying to rise and making it a few feet towards Fluttershy before falling back down again. She looked forward hopelessly, noticing with horror that Fluttershy's sides were beating up and down rapidly, as if she were drawing her last breaths.

"Do not fret, Twilight." A kind voice spoke as a shadow fell across the exhausted mare. "You two have both done incredibly. I will not let her die."

"N...Nightmare Moon..." Twilight coughed, her eyes widening in surprise and her horn sparking slightly as she tried and failed to cast a defensive shield.

"In appearance, alone, I assure you." Was Princess Luna's soft reply. "Please do not fear me."

Luna extended a slender black hoof towards Twilight, helping her to her feet and allowing her to lean against the black alicorn's skeletal body. Luna walked slowly towards Fluttershy, closing her eyes and humming some odd incantation Twilight had never heard before. In seconds, Fluttershy was blinking her tear soaked eyes and trying to rise just as Twilight had.

"No, Fluttershy..." Twilight said, sitting down beside her. "It's alright. We did it. We won."

"I...we...Twilight..."

"It is over." Luna said solemnly, looking at the broken body of the other Twilight Sparkle, who was still breathing but evidently dying. Her wings were gone and her appearance was, simply put, horrifying. She looked as if she had just crept from the grave after her body had enough time to decay, which Luna knew was actually the exact truth. It was rotting in some parts, and she was missing her left ear entirely. She was slouching against a hoof which was most likely broken, given its angle relative to the rest of her body. Nevertheless, she continued to watch the reunion through cold, featureless, unblinking eyes. Twice she tried to speak, but no sound escaped from her mouth.

Luna glared at her in disgust, not of her physical appearance but of the knowledge of what this pony had done. She considered putting the grotesque...thing, out of its misery, but decided it would be too cruel to do with her two young heroes watching. Besides, she knew it was already going to die no matter what happened...the stars could reline themselves, the poles of Equestria could suddenly shift, Celestia herself could return to the realm of the living; anything could happen at that moment, but one thing remained certain. Twilight Sparkle would finally die here.

"Speak, thou unholy beast." Luna called, unintentionally readopting her archaic vocabulary as she often did when she was flustered.

"Twilight..." The decaying pony managed, the rest of her sentence completely inaudible. "Not...not finished, yet..."

"Oh yes you are." Luna snapped. "What else could you possibly have? Look at yourself! You cannot speak, let alone counter the magical might of me and my two..." Luna whipped around to face the two huddling mares, trying to think of the most appropriate word to describe them. "...friends..."

"Not....done..." Twilight Sparkle's voice sounded like a harsh wind blowing through a forest of dead trees, but her next sentence rung out with startling clarity. "For...for hate's sake...I spit my last breath at thee..."

Across the clearing, Celestia's Twilight looked up in surprise at the familiar phrase. A pony did not live in a library and not recognize those words, after all. The deformed Twilight Sparkle took a few staggering steps forward, twisting her broken teeth into a demented smile as six colorful stones manifested themselves around her.

Twilight rose from the earth, Fluttershy trying and failing to keep her seated. Luna looked on in shock as the Elements of Harmony began swirling around the hideous unicorn, while Twilight herself faced her doppelganger  directly, the distance between them shrinking as they both walked slowly towards each other.

"Twilight, you fool!" Luna screamed. "Those are the Elements of Harmony she is wielding!"

"I'm aware." Twilight said with a backwards smile, and faced her foe as the Elements exploded to life, surrounding their host in a vibrant magical glow. The sphere intensified until she was completely engulfed in the magic, and just as it finally began imploding back in on itself, Twilight Sparkle teleported straight into the orb in pursuit of her decaying double.

Next Chapter: Reflections (XI) Estimated time remaining: 20 Minutes