CHAPTER TWO

Surrounded by a dissonance of light and sound, Twilight found herself being thrown violently around some discernible area, with texture like water, and yet she was breathing fine. Breaking through the deafening sound of a thousand waterfalls was Fluttershy's panicked screaming and her own magical aura as she attempted in vain to do something, anything to free them from the limbo between realms.

"Do something!" Fluttershy screamed, her voice converging from everywhere. "Twilight, please do something!"

"I'm trying!" She cried out in reply, only to be confronted by the deafening sound of her voice echoing in a feedback loop.

She was quite positive that this had NOT happened the last time she had traveled through the Mirror Pool, in fact, from what she had experienced, the process was surprisingly smooth. Suddenly, she recalled the spell Princess Celestia had taught her that changed the water from its ordinarily still, lifeless state to the murky, rough surface they had seen when they first approached. It was a long shot, but it was all she had to go on. Focusing her magic on the spell, it took the best of her studious ability to concentrate on casting it as she was thrown in every direction and blinded by light.

Immediately after she cast the spell, the two ponies were thrown through space, actual, discernible space, crashing hard onto rocks. Without even a moment to react, an immense fireball narrowly missed where Twilight lay. Fluttershy was on her feet in a second and dashing away, and Twilight quickly followed her.

"What in EQUESTRIA is HAPPENING?" Twilight screamed as another fireball exploded where she had been. Mustering enough magical energy, she teleported herself and Fluttershy some distance ahead, and after some time of running, they came to a towering magical barrier. Not noticing the nearly invisible wall, Fluttershy slammed hard into it, bouncing back and tumbling onto the ground. Twilight skidded to a halt next to her, examining the barrier and attempting to ascertain its nature as swiftly as possible. She did not exactly have the time for this inconvenience, especially with the fires growing taller around her.

"We're teleporting." Twilight announced, and Fluttershy gulped expectantly. One quick flash, and the two ponies were once again sprinting away from the roaring fire, which continued burning through the barrier as if it was not even there.

After what seemed like an eternity of sprinting, Fluttershy came crashing to the ground in exhaustion, the fires some distance away from them.

"We...we should be far enough now..." She gasped, and Twilight sat next to her. Behind them lay the smoldering remains of a small town, bouts of flames shooting into the sky. Some distance from the town, a wall of fire stretched as far as the eye could see, and Twilight realized with shock that she was looking at the burning remains of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Even at their significant distance, the heat of the fire was almost enough to make her loose consciousness.

"Sweet Celestia, what happened here?" She asked, coughing violently from the billowing black smoke.

"I...I can't really explain it right now." Fluttershy said, rising from the ground and starting to walk away from Ponyville. "We need to regroup with Rainbow Dash and the others."

"No!" Twilight yelled suddenly, and Fluttershy yelped in surprise. "Don't do this again! I deserve to know what is going on!" A sudden burst of magic exploded from Twilight's horn, and the two ponies were surrounded in a protective sphere. "We aren't budging from this spot until I know exactly why Ponyville has been destroyed!"

Fluttershy exhaled loudly and returned to where she had been sitting.

"Fine. But I don't know everything either."

"Well, tell me as much as you can at least."

"Umm...well..." Suddenly, Fluttershy's ears perked up and she leaped to her feet. "Ah yes! I completely forgot! She can tell you! She knows what's going on better than anypony!"

"Who? Rainbow Dash?"

"No...no. Princess Luna." Fluttershy was pacing back and forth in excitement, the hints of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "She's been waiting for AGES to talk to you!"

"Except she's dead. You already told me that." Twilight Sparkle rose from her uncomfortable seat on the rocky rubble and touched her magical barrier idly, marveling at the ripples enveloping the sphere of light.  

"Yeah, she is. But she can still talk to us sometimes. It's kind of complicated, but you need to fall asleep. She comes to us in our dreams if she wants to tell us something, or wants to know how Equestria is holding up."

"Hmm. That makes sense." Twilight muttered, closing her eyes. "Except I'm not even remotely tired. This could take awhile."

Twilight Sparkle found herself standing in her library, completely alone. Outside her windows lay Ponyville, dimly lit by the crepuscular sky above. Other than herself, the entire town seemed to be deserted, but the buildings looked rather ordinary.

"Hello?" Twilight called cautiously. "Anypony here? Spike, are you home?"

"I know of no 'Spike.'" The voice of Princess Luna said softly. "But I recognize you quite well, Twilight Sparkle."

"Princess Luna? What are you doing here?" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, whipping around to face her. The Princess of the Night stood solemnly, her regal stance outlined by a brilliant magical aura.

Princess Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance, as the magical aura slowly died. "I do wish ponies could decipher dreams from reality more often. Explaining this every time is quite tiresome. You, Twilight Sparkle, are dreaming. I, Luna, being Princess of the Night, have joined you in your dream to converse with you."

"Right." Twilight said, remembering clearly now deliberately trying to fall asleep in the middle of the rocky ruins outside of Ponyville.

"Now then." Princess Luna's annoyed expression suddenly changed to one of complete joy. "Let me just say how incredible it is to see you again, Twilight Sparkle. Your presence in my realm was missed greatly. How have you been?"

"Umm...alright, I guess. And yourself?"

Princess Luna shrugged. "Being dead has its advantages."

"It does?" Twilight asked, shocked and embarrassed. She hadn't meant to insult Luna...it was surprisingly easy to loose track of whether or not somepony was alive or dead when they were speaking with you face to face.

"Oh yes. The most significant being the chance of reuniting with my dear sister."

"That's...nice..." Twilight managed, completely befuddled on how to reply to that, not to mention utterly shocked that BOTH of the Royal Sisters were dead, and Luna seemed rather indifferent about it.

"I have been teaching her the art of dream-walking for some time, and she has grown quite skilled. In fact, she might even be able to join us in this dream. Pardon me a moment."

Suddenly, Luna's form exploded in a brilliant flash of light, leaving Twilight once again alone in the library. In time, Luna reappeared as suddenly as she had disappeared, except this time she was joined by another flash of light.

"Twilight Sparkle, my older sister, Celestia." Luna introduced, grinning. At the sight of the regal Princess of the Sun, Twilight bowed immediately. Celestia was still coated in some excess light, her form rippling slightly in and out of view.

"Focus on HER consciousness, sister, not your own!" Luna called with the tone of a mildly annoyed school-teacher. Accordingly, Celestia reappeared, the excess light gone.

"Thank you, Luna." Celestia smiled, before noticing the bowing unicorn in front of her. "Twilight Sparkle, I presume."

"Yes, Princess."

Celestia cast a sideways glance at Luna, narrowing her eyes. "Even after death ponies still refer to us as royalty. I believe 'Celestia' and 'Luna' should suffice." Luna shrugged, obviously not fazed by the no-longer relevant title of 'princess.'

"I do not think Twilight remembers the events of her last journey in our realm, Celestia." Luna whispered, and Celestia's eyes grew wide.

"Ah yes, that's right! Shall we remedy this, then?"

"Indeed." Without any warning, two bursts of magic struck Twilight Sparkle, swirling around her and encompassing her in a magnificent stream of magic, looking as delicate as the gossamer thread of a spider web. Twilight was thrown backwards, smashing into the book shelf behind her.

"Oww!" She uttered irritably, before looking back up at the two alicorns. "A bit of warning would be nice, next time, Princes--" Twilight stopped suddenly, her eyes darting in surprise from one alicorn to the next, the relevance of their presence finally clicking in her mind as she remembered clearly the events of that one week so many months ago.

"She remembers." Luna whispered into her sisters ear, and Celestia nodded.

"Ooohh k..." Twilight Sparkle said drowsily, slumping back against the bookshelf. "This...this feels weird..."

"You are simply feeling disoriented by the sudden reacquisition of your memories. The feeling should pass momentarily." Luna explained. "You remember me, though, correct? And defeating Nightmare Moon with the alternate versions of your friends?"

"Y..yeah, I do. I sort of remembered it before, too, sometimes...but never clearly. I think I'm good now." Twilight felt her legs growing weary, and she allowed herself to fall back onto the library floor. "Fluttershy said you would be able to explain what happened to Equestria, and why you need my help."

Outside of the library, a light wind was growing, clouds slowly forming in the growing night sky. A few stray raindrops streaked down the windows. Luna, noticing this, quickly assumed a more sombre expression. Celestia, on the other hand, looked just as confused by her sister's urgency as Twilight did.

"Is something the matter, Luna?" Celestia questioned, following her sisters troubled gaze.

"I fear Twilight's slumber is being interrupted. Lightning storms are typically an early indication of a dream breaking apart. We must talk quickly." Luna began pacing back and forth across the library floor. "As you now recall, you and your friends were successful in freeing me from the force of evil know as 'Nightmare Moon,' returning me to the form you see in front of you. After you returned to your Equestria, things settled down quite nicely here. There was fear amongst many of my subjects, many were still wary of my intentions, but as the weeks turned to months, that fear and anxiety slowly dissipated. Indeed, it looked as if peace had finally reached Equestria after more than a thousand years. I..I suppose it was that peace that caused me to..."

"Luna!" Celestia scolded. "What happened was NOT your fault!"

"Oh, come now, Celestia! I was foolish to lower my guard so significantly." When Luna turned back to face Twilight, she saw not guilt, but what looked like an almost minor regret, as if what happened were a simple and insignificant annoyance. "Twilight Sparkle, do you remember your confrontation with your counterpart in this world?"

Now it was Twilight's turn to feel guilt. She quickly found herself unable to bring herself to admit to the truth while looking into the eyes of Princess Celestia, even if this realm's Celestia hardly even knew who she was beyond what Luna had told her. Instead, she turned to the window and looked out at what was now pouring rain

"I wish I didn't. I can't believe what I did to her. It was...it was murder."

To Twilight and Celestia's surprise, Luna scoffed loudly in anger.

"Don't do this, Twilight. Just don't."

Twilight was speechless for a moment, but managed to force out two words.

"Do what?"

"This whole guilt routine. I have lived thousands of years with a similar sense of guilt, and it is only upon dying and realizing that Celestia had never once blamed me for what happened, that it occurred to me how much I could have done to help my subjects, instead of wallowing in my own pathetic self-loathing. My world needs your help, and standing around blaming yourself for events out of your understanding is NOT helping it in anyway."

"I'm sorry, Luna. It's just...difficult, I guess."

"Do not be sorry. Guilt is a healthy emotion. It shows you have a conscience. However, healthy does not always guarantee efficiency. And you need to be very efficient if you hope to best the foe which has defeated even me."

Celestia, who had remained quiet for a long time, spoke up thoughtfully.

"Despite how powerful she might be, I haven't the slightest doubt you are capable of defeating the pony who has stolen Equestria from my dear sister."

Luna nodded in agreement, still pacing across the library floor. Outside, the rain was pouring in torrents, and lightning split across the night sky, followed closely by claps of thunder, growing in volume and frequency.

"We do not have long, so I shall swiftly inform you of just who you are up against. As I was saying earlier, the Twilight Sparkle of this realm had been...defeated, by none other than you. Similarly, Nightmare Moon was also defeated when you and your friends used the Element of Harmony against her. However, something unexpected seems to have happened. Nightmare Moon is less a pony and more of a...parasite, for lack of a better word. She lives within a pony with enough negative emotions to sustain her. She is also immortal, however, immortality is not necessarily synonymous with power. Despite being presumably destroyed by the Elements of Harmony, she seems to have found a pony without enough hatred and evil to allow her to dwell within."

"Twilight Sparkle." Celestia finished. "And in many ways, Twilight Sparkle possessed by such a malevolent spirit renders her much more dangerous than my sister. You see, while Luna was indeed driven to near-insanity by her rage and jealousy, she was never at any point truly evil. My death was completely unintentional, and the guilt such an act of fratricide would induce on a pony was enough to shake Nightmare Moon from any of her true evil intentions. She had no real control of Luna's actions, however, she could manipulate them through the uttering of lies or mocking threats. But due to the nature of Luna's consciousness, Nightmare Moon could never fulfill any of her true evil desires."

A sudden clap of thunder shook the library, causing all three ponies to jump in surprise. Even more shocking was the fact that the thunder did not stop, simply dying down to a low, ever present rumbling.

"It is unsafe to stay here much longer." Luna warned. "We must end this conversation soon."

Celestia lifted a hoof, and Luna fell silent, a smug frown forming. "Luna is correct, but before we depart, there is one last thing you need to know. As I have stated, Twilight Sparkle possessed by evil renders her much more dangerous than Princess Luna. She has no guilt. She has no mercy. The only thing motivating her intentions is hatred and the desire for revenge, and she will stop at nothing to see both our Equestrias destroyed. However, in the end, she is a simple unicorn. She has gained no real powers from Nightmare Moon. Her power is derived from—"

"That is enough!" Luna shouted, her horn bursting into a sudden blinding light. "I am ending this dream now! Twilight Sparkle, we shall speak again when it is safe to do so. Good luck!"

Without waiting for consent, Luna flooded the entire room in the brilliant light, and when it dissipated, Twilight could see she was completely alone in the library again. The claps of thunder and flashes of lighting outside were coming in at ridiculous speeds, the intensity of the thunderclaps completely deafening. Twilight forced her eyes shut as she felt the entire library torn apart by the sheer force of the surreal storm.

"Wake up, Twilight!" Fluttershy was screaming, nearby explosions shaking the ground around the two mares. Twilight blinked several times, and found herself looking up into the panicked face of her friend. "Get up, Twilight! Hurry!"

Leaping to her feet, Twilight immediately noticed that her magical shield had completely disappeared, but even more concerning was the wall of fire surrounding the two mares.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, searching for someplace to teleport to through the flames.

"One of those fireballs from Ponyville set fire to the grass around us. I wasn't really concerned until the magic barrier you set up started to fade. I was trying to wake you up, but nothing was working. S...sorry I kicked you..."  

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. It was stupid of me to stop us here. You have wings, Fluttershy, so fly to safe ground."

"I'm not leaving you here, Twilight!" Fluttershy asserted, peering at the sky above, obscured by black smoke.

"I appreciate that. But I need to know where to teleport to, which is why I need to use your voice as a reference."

"Oh, right." Fluttershy said sheepishly. "Sorry!"

With that, she unfurled her unnatural wings and tore into the sky, her form quickly disappearing into the black smoke. All around Twilight, the flames were spreading, their fiery fingers extending skywards.

"Here, Twilight!" Internally, Twilight calculated just what distance she should shoot for by how far Fluttershy had sounded. A sudden explosion followed by a loud shriek promptly interrupted her, but thankfully, Fluttershy's voice came again. "Um, never mind! Not there. Give me a second...OK, now, Twilight! Hurry!"

Before another fireball destroyed any further chance of escape, Twilight teleported to the source of Fluttershy's voice, appearing right beside her. Behind them, a wall of fire was stretching across great distances, the flames covering every foot of tall grass.

"Run!" Twilight screamed, and the two mares dashed onwards, Twilight occasionally teleporting them further.

"We...we need to regroup with Rainbow Dash and the others." Fluttershy panted.

"Where would they be?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nearly lost her footing as she turned around to face the smoldering remains of Ponyville in the distance. "I don't know! They were in Ponyville last time I saw them. The fire had just started in the Everfree Forest at that time..."

"They wouldn't have gone far from Ponyville." Twilight assured. "I just hope everypony got out before the fire got there."

Ahead, a wide river cut through the burning field. Without missing a step, Twilight teleported herself and Fluttershy to the other side and the two continued onwards. Fluttershy was panting heavily, and Twilight realized just how much difficulty she was having. They had been sprinting for at least a solid fifteen minutes, without stopping or even slowing.

"The river should slow the fire." Twilight called out, slowing to a light trot, Fluttershy following suit. "So, you said this fire started in the Everfree Forest, right? Well, what caused it?"  

"Did Luna tell you who rules Equestria now?" Receiving a curt nod from Twilight, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, she did. She threatened to destroy all of Equestria if we did not tell her the location of the Mirror Pool. Of course, we all refused. I guess we just assumed she was bluffing, but it looks like she wasn't. All of Equestria is covered in these fires."

Twilight looked up at the night sky, and then realized with horror that it most likely wasn't night at all. The Mirror Pool did not affect time. The sun and sky had been blotted out by the black smoke billowing from the violent flames.

"I would think she would have found the Mirror Pool by now though. I mean, it wasn't THAT well hidden."

"Oh, she did find it. But it was just plain water." Fluttershy reached to her battered saddle pack and withdrew a sparkling golden necklace. Located in the middle was a beautiful crystal butterfly. Twilight recognized this immediately as the Element of Kindness. "Twilight Sparkle had been searching for the Mirror Pool quietly then. We had no idea she had even returned until she destroyed Princess Luna's castle in the Everfree Forest. We all thought Luna would be able to stop her, but even her magic wasn't enough. After killing Luna, Twilight turned on us...I guess since we're the Element Bearers."

Fluttershy carefully clipped the golden necklace around her neck, the butterfly briefly flashing pink in approval of the pony wielding it.  Twilight cursed herself for not thinking to bring her own element, but Fluttershy surprised her further by withdrawing the golden crown from her saddle-pack and pushing it across the dirt towards Twilight Sparkle.

"Wear it all the time. As long as you're wearing it, Twilight Sparkle won't be able to hurt you."

Twilight nodded, placing the crown atop her head.

"So, if Luna was killed, I guess it was her blood that re-opened the Mirror Pool." Twilight began. "So if that's the case, Twilight Sparkle should have known that the Mirror Pool was once again active."

Fluttershy brought a hoof  to her chin thoughtfully. "I suppose so. Maybe Luna placed some sort of spell on it to prevent just anypony from using it. I guess that would explain what happened to us when we were coming through it today. It must mistaken you for her and tried to keep you out."

"That...is actually a rather good point." Twilight stipulated, surprised by Fluttershy's knowledge at a type of magic she had never actually experienced, that is, unless you counted being thrown around the empty, unconstructed void between two worlds as 'experience.' "I guess you didn't try using the Elements of Harmony against.." Blushing slightly at the odd act of mentioning her own name in such a fashion, Twilight concluded it would be wise to set up a bit of clarification regarding her doppelganger. "For convenience sake, we'll call her 'Nightmare Twilight."'

Giggling softly, Fluttershy shook her head. "No, we haven't. Luna told Rainbow in one of her dreams that we shouldn't try that without all the Element Bearers."

"Alright." Twilight doodled idly into the dirt with her hoof, five distinct symbols surrounding a shining star. "This seems simple enough. We meet up, find Twi—Nightmare Twilight—and use the Elements against her. We'll be done by supper."

The two ponies sat in silence for some time, listening to the crackling of the fire behind them and watching the smoke dancing across the sky, layer upon layers of the sickening byproduct of destruction. After nearly an hour of quiet meditation, Twilight rose to her feet, lighting the dark area with her horn.

"Well, we should get moving." Adjusting the crown atop her head, Twilight Sparkle extended a hoof towards Fluttershy, helping her to her feet. "Let's go find the others and end this thing." Next Chapter: Reunion (III) Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 24 Minutes