Pinkamena was running as fast as she could, fleeing from the rampaging three-headed dog chasing her, all of the heads barking at her. The stallion simply grinned.

"Well done, Pinkamena." he said.

She got as close as she could to the crystal bars without touching it, since the smallest touch could inflict severe pain, then stopped. "What do I do now?"

He got close to the bars as well. "Just get out of the way and leave the rest to me."

Pinkamena nodded and jumped to the side. Once Cerberus was close enough to the cell, even more smoke started to flow out of his eyes.

"What are you--"

Before Pinkamena could finish asking the question, Sombra's purple smoke left the cell and went straight into the eyes of Cerberus' middle head, making the canine stop. The grey stallion's body fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Sombra?" she called.

"Right behind you!"

She quickly turned around and noticed that the middle head's eyes, instead of read and yellow, were now crimson red and green. The other two heads looked at each other, confused.

"You're... Cerberus?"

"For a while, yes!"

She looked at his body lying in the cell, then back at Cerberus, then back at his body, then back at Cerberus. "How did you...?"

"Soul transfer! Isn't dark magic so convenient? And now, if you don't mind, I'll be doing the same to you."

"Huh? Why me?"

"Why do you think I asked you to lure Cerberus here, Pinkamena, my dear? Cerberus is our ticket out of this filthy hellhole!"

"Can't I just, I don't know, walk out of here?"

"One does not simply walk out of Tartarus. You don't have a body of your own, the sunlight would disintegrate you in a matter of seconds!"

"Ouch! Sounds painful. But then what, are we just going to walk around in the body of a giant dog with three heads?"

"Will you ever learn, my dear young mare? Do you really think that I, King Sombra, Lord of Darkness, would die without having a backup plan?"

"Well, from what you told me, you've been dead for a thousand years now. Since you can revive yourself, why didn't you do it before?"

"Several reasons, but the most important of them is that my special trinket was only activated recently."

"'Special trinket'?"

"I'll explain it later! For now, let's tame this beast, shall we?"

Pinkamena nodded. Her eyes flashed green and pink smoke slowly came out of her mouth, then lazily drifted toward Cerberus' right head.

Ponyville Town Hall. Trixie sat on a big, red velvet cushion with gold tassels, while watching the Cakes polish her crystal throne.

"You two! Hurry up with Our throne." she said before turning her gaze to Applejack, who was inside a large vat, stomping on apples. "And you, how long do We have to wait for Our applesauce facial?"

Applejack stopped and crossed her forelegs. "Forget it, Trixie! Ah ain't doin' nothin' 'til ya tell us what you did to Twilight!" she gasped when she felt the collar getting tighter. Trixie levitated the mare closer to her, until they were almost touching muzzles.

"Twilight Sparkle is no more. Gone in a cloud of smoke. She was not match for Us, and paid the ultimate price. Now, will you shut your trap and go back to your job or do We have to turn you into another example?"

"A-A-Ah understand..." she said between gasps.

"I understand...?" Trixie said, the collar getting tighter.

"Gr-Greater and... M-Most Powerful... Trixie..." she said, almost whispering due to the lack of oxygen. Trixie threw her back into the vat and loosened her collar, but just enough so Applejack wouldn't die.

"That's better!"

"I don't believe it." Rarity whispered while sewing one of Trixie's flags. "I don't believe it one bit! Our Twilight couldn't be... Dead." she accidently pricked her hoof with a needle and whined in pain. "Could she?"

"Uh... Miss Trixie?" a mint-colored unicorn mare called.

"Greater and Most Powerful Trixie!" the Alicorn corrected.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, Greater and Most Powerful Trixie! But I just witnessed something, and I think you would like to see it."

"What is it?"

"I... I'm not realy sure! I was hoping you could tell."

Trixie groaned and got up from her cushion. The mare lead her to outside of the Town Hall, where she gasped.

"T... T... T... Twilight Sparkle?!"

"Yes, Trixie!" Twilight said, looking very serious. If one would inspect her body carefully, they would notice that her body was slightly taller. Her mane and tail, on the other hand, were considerably larger, a change easy to notice.

"But... We... We killed you!"

"Well, you failed."

"But... But how?"

Twilight only had one moment to act before the bombs touched Friendship Report. She cast the first spell that came to mind: teleportation; since she cast it in a hurry, she had no time to visualize a destination. She successfully teleported in time, but because she didn't chose a specific place to go, she was dropped in a random location: an empty void.

I learned the hard way that the last arena was actually a pocket universe. A pocket universe is a small area that exists outside of our reality. Not big enough to be an alternate universe, and not developed to be an alternate dimension. I don't know how Discord discovered it of if he created it himself, but I knew one thing: nopony knew how to enter a pocket universe, let alone exit one. So I did what I do best: study.

I was entirely sure that I spent years locked in there, doing all I could to understand how the pocket universe worked. It wasn't easy, specially when I had no books to use as reference and work simply with I had memorized. If I am standing here today, it's thanks to two things: my Alicorn longevity and how time works there.

You see, time works in a completely random way in pocket universes! One second there could be a month here, one day here could be a century there, nopony knows. Even I'm not sure how long I spent there, but it felt like a really, really long time.

"Alright, I think I'm ready this time." Twilight said. She pointed her horn to the front and fired a magic beam. First, nothing happened. But after a few moments, a hole appeared in the middle of nothingness. One hole that led back to Ponyville. She smiled and walked through it.

"Of course, nopony can do something on their first try, so I was able to open... 'Windows' from time to time. You know, failed attempts to open doors big enough for me to go through! That's why there's no need to explain. I know everything you did to my friends, Trixie."

"Let Us guess." she said before she stared speaking in a mocking tone: "Oh, Trixie, you meanie, you're going to pay for what you did!" she cleaned her throat and started speaking normally again while grinning. "Are We right, Sparkle?"

Twilight grinned back. "You know, Trixie, during my time in exile, I could think with a clear mind. And guess what? I figured everything out." she pointed at Trixie's necklace. "I know what that is! It's the Alicorn Amulet, isn't it?"

"I'm surprised anypony knows the Alicorn Amulet, since We were very lucky to even stumble across information about its existance and location."

"And while whoever wears it is blessed with untold powers, it also corrupts the user. That is why, Trixie, I know you're not doing this on purpose. It's the Amulet, not you!"

"Whatever are you talking about, Sparkle? Did you finally lose your mind after being away from your precious books for over an hour? We do whatever We want!"

"Why do you think you keep saying 'We' instead of 'Trixie'?"

"Because... Because it is tradition to speak using the royal 'We', of course! Afterall, We are like royalty now."

Twilight shook her head. "Not even you can believe in yourself, can you, Trixie? The Alicorn Amulet is taking over your mind, and you're too blind to notice it."

"Assuming she had a mind to be taken over." Rainbow Dash whispered to Fleetfoot. "With that much empty space, I bet that thing simply opened the front door and made itself at home." her partner chuckled.

"But no more, Trixie. The Amulet may have a magical lock that can only be undone by the wearer, but I can still do this!"

Her horn started glowing and she pointed it at Trixie. The Alicorn tried to shield her necklace with a foreleg, but Twilight's magic beam was able to hit it anyway.

She opened her eyes. All she could see was darkness but, while in the empty void of the pocket universe she was floating around, there she could feel the floor under her hooves. After taking a deep breath, she began walking.

"This looks familar." she muttered while looking around. Suddenly, she felt warmer. The more she walked forward, the warmer it got. It didn't took long for Twilight to localize the source of the heat: a glowing, heart-shaped red crystal with a big crack. It felt so alive that she could swear that it was beating like a real heart would.

"This must be the source of its power." Twilight said while stretching a foreleg toward it. Her hoof was only a few inches away from it when she suddenly stopped. "Huh? I-I can't move my body!"

Her body slowly started to float and purple, shapeless limbs made of smoke started to wrap themselves around her body, specially near her neck. She gasped when the source of the smoke - a pair of giant, glowing, red and green eyes - appeared right in front of her.

"That's... That's just like my nightmare!" she said, then moaned in pain when the limbs around her neck started to choke her.

"That is mine!" the owner of the huge pair of eyes said with his deep, mighty voice.

Twilight thrashed, trying to free herself, but to no avail. She then looked down at the heart and used her magic to apply pressure to the crack.

"No." he said again. "No! Stop!"

Finally, it broke in half.

"What is going on?" Applejack asked. For a few moments, Trixie just lied on the ground, spasming like she was being electrocuted. Meanwhile, Twilight just stood there, her eyes closed. Finally, Trixie stopped moving, the red crystal on the Alicorn Amulet shattered and Twilight opened her eyes.

"It's over." the purple Alicorn said.

From the empty socket where the gem used to be, a dark tendril arose. After a quick spin on the sky above Trixie, it quickly flew toward a small filly, burying itself on her chest. The filly was Diamond Tiara.

She coughed and pressed a hoof against her chest, taking deep breaths. The whole town directed their attention to her.

"Diamond Tiara, are you ok?" Silver Spoon asked, sounding very worried, wrapping her friend's foreleg around her neck, so she wouldn't fall.

"I... I... I'm fine." she said, coughing a couple of times more.

Twilight approached her and touched her horn to the filly's chest. She then smiled.

"It's ok, Diamond Tiara." she said, petting her. "Whatever that thing tried to do with you, it didn't worked! You're still the same as ever."

"So, Diamond Tiara will be ok?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Completely!"

The filly sighed in relief. Twilight then walked back to the pony she had just defeated, who was still lying on the grass. Her body was now considerably smaller, the color of her coat was back to normal and her eyes were once again pink with white sclera, but she still had a pair of wings on her back.

"S... S... Sparkle..." she tried to speak while panting.

"Shhh, everything is fine now, Trixie. You're free." she kneeled and nuzzled the other Alicorn's neck. "Everything is fine."

Trixie started crying. "I'm sorry..." she said between sobs. "I'm so sorry..."

The collars around everypony's necks fell to the floor and turned into dust. The crystal barrier around the town disappeared as well, allowing the Royal Sisters to enter Ponyville and land.

"It's just like we feared." Luna said. "There is another Alicorn."

"There's nothing to fear, Princess Luna." Twilight said while getting up. "Trixie is harmless now."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other and nodded.

"But we still need to bring her to Canterlot." Celestia said.

"We have a few things we'd like to discuss with this 'Trixie'!" Luna finished, levitating the sobbing Alicorn and placing her on her sister's back.

"Will you take care of her?" she asked with true concern in her voice.

Celestia smiled. "Rest assured, Twilight. Trixie is in good hooves!"

Twilight approached Trixie, who was now finally calming down. "I'll check up on you eventually. I, too, would like to ask you some questions."

Trixie wiped her tears and nodded. Twilight watched as they took off. In the background, nopony noticed Diamond Tiara grin evilly, her eyes glowing red and green for less than a second.

Author's Notes:

I did lots of things while writing this! I watched Blind Commentaries, Nostalgia Critic, listened to music, played Silent Hill 4: The Room, Manhunt 2... Well, guess my dream of being able to multitask is finally coming true!

Does that mean I'm slowly turning into a woman?
My girlfriend won't be pleased by this...
Y'know, 'cause women are so amazing that they can multitask with ease and stuff like that...

Also, all the build-up and presentation of the new contestants is over. Back to Twisted Metal, everyone!