Beyond the outskirts of Canterlot and MorksVille, deep within the artic mountain range of Northern Equestria, a lone unicorn is walking up the face of one of these mountains. In the grizzly rushing of snow and icy wind blasting across his blue fur, the lone stallion finds the entrance to a cave a few meters above him. He climbs in and is welcomed by a brown Earth Pony playing with a small cavern warming the surrounding ice cave. The tired traveler asks,

“Are you, Atlas Goni?”

“Yeah, are you Aaron Grump?” The Midnight’s world’s version of Atlas replies.

“Yeah, I got the letter from you before I had to evacuate Manehattan.”

“Took you a while, months is it?”

“Yeah, I had to help my brother who was in Ponyville.”

“Where is he?”

“Not with me. He’s with a little group of ponies called the Resistance of Empress Midnight,”

“How’s it going?”

“Midnight’s going to tear the place down in just a couple of hours.”

“Why didn’t this brother of yours come with you? Did he at least know about my letter?”

“I didn’t really tell him about it,”

“Who’s this brother’s name?”

“Daniel.”

“Why would you leave Daniel behind if you knew that Midnight might kill him or turn him into a Mork?”

“It’s just, I thought he was going to slow me down and waste whatever limited supplies are in this place.”

“Do you know why I specifically gave you the letter?”

“…Because you read about me in the papers?”

“No, I just randomly picked your name out of the Canterlot post office records.”

“Oh… So?”

“The fact that I chose randomly means that I could have sent it to your brother. What would he have done?”

“He,”

“Yes…”

“He would’ve told me and everypony else about it, pretty much exploiting this ‘secret’ place to the empress and her goons.”

“You have a point, but which usage of my letter sounds more like a true brother?”

“Heh, trying to use truth in a time like this.”

“Ever read the book, ‘Unicorn of the Flies’?”

“For literacy class, yes, the one with the group of colts stranded on an island,”

“Remember what happened to Jacky when he decided to break from civilization due to their current position, and also remember what happened to Roule who clung to the ideals of civilization despite what was going down throughout the novel. Who would you want be?”

“But that was an abandoned island in the middle of the ocean, this is an inter-global conquest lead by an unstoppable army, there is no survival if I was to stick with my brother or take a giant conspicuous group of ponies traveling across Equestria.”

“It may seem like that, but like the book, things somehow manage to turn out on a positive in the end.”

“Well that’s a story book and this is real life, barely anything ever turns out alright. So you might as well keep quiet, I’ve made my decision and going back is suicide at this point.” A wave a silence washes over the two, with only the echoing of the outside snowstorm and the low crackling of the red fire creating any noise. A grunt is then heard as the two ponies jump to their feet and look into the dark deep of the cavern unilluminated by the fire.

“Who’s there?” A small mare walks into the light, wearing a large black cloak. “Who are you?” The pony then slowly takes off her black cape, revealing a shiny ice-pink coat, red and white mane and tail, and a pair of large hazel eyes. She speaks, but in a broken and choppy manner,

“Ponies, m-me, Candy, C-C-Cane,”

“Are you okay?”

“Fine, me is o-okay.” The two stallions give each other a concerned look before turning back on the speak-impediment pony with a noticeable blank rump.

“You seem a bit, off.”

“Unders-s-studing, I lack, show others, you.” She backs into the darkness and a small collection of grunts and mumbles echo over to Atlas and Aaron, both now becoming a tad paranoid. Soon, a group of three stallions, no taller than Candy Cane, enter the light, each also cloaked in a black robe.

“Uh… We come in peace,” The one to the right turns to the middle pony and delivers a short collection of grunts and mumbles to the middle one’s left ear, causing the middle stallion to look to his right and speak a mix of grunts, sounds, and slight pony language to the third pony. The third pony then says,

“We assumed so.”

“Who are you guys and Candy Cane? I’ve never seen you guys here before.” The conversation between the three odd ponies begins again, giving Atlas the impression that they don’t naturally speak his language.

“We are a group of unique ponies that live in these caverns, and we have observed you and your friend’s activities. Apologies if this disturbs you, we are very shy around ponies that come from South.”

“So, why have you guys shown up now?”

“We believe we can help with this Daniel problem.”

“Oh really?” The now annoyed Grump interrupts, “What can a group of anti-social ponies that spend their time freezing their butts off do?”

“We once had a pair of twin sisters that worked on expanding our cave system. One day, during a cave collapse, one of the sisters had to decide either to sacrifice herself to save her sister, or leave her. She left her, causing the poor sister to leave us. Fifteen moons later, selfish sister gave birth to three foals, two fillies and a colt. The colt and one of the fillies followed the example of their selfish mother, and when there was a food shortage in our tribe, they kicked out the youngest filly, leaving her in the snowy wasteland. We never heard from the youngling again, and the two foals grew up to later be kicked out for causing a second and worse food shortage.”

“So the moral of the story is…”

“Don’t be selfish when things become dire, for the survivors only corrupt the next generation.”

“So what, am I supposed to go back down and probably be destroyed just to not be selfish and corrupt this non-existent next generation?”

“What we’re saying is that there is no next generation if you do not tend to your healthy crops. This Midnight is a weed, trying to feed off and destroy the good crops. It is your responsibility to tend to your brother, to rat out these weeds to produce plentiful food.” Aaron takes a moment to process this, and slowly, a smile begins to glow upon his face,

“You’re right, I must help my brother, it’s my responsibility, my chance at making things right, but Midnight’s too strong, she’s impossible to stop now.”

“Nothing is impossible, you just might need some help to see that.”

“Like how?”

“We will be willing to offer some hardware that might be able to help you.”

“What type of hardware?”

“Strong armour, large crossbows-”

“Sold!” Atlas cheers from the sidelines, the cloaked ponies continue,

“Mobile mega-bellows, magic displacement shields,”

“This might work,” Aaron exclaims in joys, raising his front legs in the air, “how can we repay you ponies?”

“Nothing of charge, we see that Midnight is a threat to us and we are willing to help your brother’s team.”

“Can we at least offer something in return?” The three cloaked ponies then huddle together and whisper to each other before turning back around.

“We would like an audience with your governmental leader.”

“Princess Celestia?”

“Yes, I believe we can integrate ourselves successfully into your culture with a little help from your government.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Ready?” Atlas asks the other four, bouncing up and down, anxious to become the cavalry for once.

“Yeah!” They cheer.

“All right then,” Aaron cheers, “let’s do this!”

Meanwhile, in the RAEM, complete silence blankets the empty corridors of the facility. A loud banging of a metal door erupts through the corridors as Applejack, Raindrop, and Shining Armour are bashing themselves against the barricaded door of Major Jack’s room.

“You’ve gotta help us!” Applejack shouts, “Twilight’s been captured by Morks!”

“No,” a mumbled voice calls from the other side, “we’d never be able to save her. It’s everypony for himself now, and you are not going to get me and the ten other mares in this perfectly sealed room!”

”But if we work together,” Raindrop pipes, but is soon cut short by the thick accent of Jack,

“Why are you defending Twilight? I heard you two scrap in the lobby shortly before she was ponynapped.”

“…”

“That’s what I thought-”

“Shut your trap!” An awkward moment of silence strikes the surrounding ponies before Raindrop continues. “I admit it, I’ve been spoiled by Celestia for all of my life and now I’ve made some really stupid choices, thinking I knew better. I’m the reason why Twilight’s in dire peril now, because of my complete obliviousness to her feelings.” Raindrop then slowly walks away from the door and a stunned Jack and slowly makes her way to the lobby. “I’m going out to try and set things right. Although I may not make it, I will at least spend my final moments in a world I have never seen actually doing something right.”

“Wait!” the ex-general shouts from far behind the No-Pony and the others before running in front of Raindrop.

“General Apple?”

“I’ve been thinking, about what you and Applejack have told me. If we work together, we may be able to pull together a plan!”

“But you’ve heard what the other ponies have said, Midnight’s unstoppable now.”

“That may not be entirely true. Raindrop, you have a smart little head, you can think of something,”

“But I barely know Midnight, I don’t know her strengths, her weaknesses, I don’t even know about how the Morks function or synchronize with each other.”

“Hold on,” Applejack interrupts the small mare’s thought process, “Twilight was the only able to pull off Shining Armour’s helmet and grab Empress Midnight without harm.”

“That’s a start, she and Midnight do have similar magic frequencies as Boris has stated…”

“Midnight tends to fight directly,” Rarity yells as she and her group of ponies charge down the hall opposite of Apple’s, “I noticed that she’s taken off-guard by things out of her sight and attention.”

“Rarity?! What happened?”

“Some friends helped me out of my funk and I’m ready to give that Midnight a thing or two!”

“She’s going to pay for capturing Twilight!” Gruncle Borris shouts, firmly stomping his hooves on the ground.

“Oh Celestia,” Jack mumbles as the sound of falling furniture ruptures from behind the gathering, “sounds like things are picking up, something no pony can resist.”

“I’ve got it!” Raindrop exclaims, the others grow quiet and gather around, “Our main priority is saving Twilight, for if we break her out of Midnight’s clutches, she could disable the Morks and possibly the empress for long enough for us to detain Midnight.”

“How do we do that?”

“You Jack, Daniel, and Borris, will lead the resistance at a defensive hold at the RAEM, the rest of us out here will sneak into Midnight’s base from the side where Twilight will most likely be kept.”

“Problem,” Lieutenant Pie replies, “One, Borris left the RAEM and probably won’t be back. Two, Midnight’s castle is Celestia’s old palace in Canterlot, high above the ground. And three, security for the castle is insane, not even my old pet gator Gummy was able to sneak past the Morks.”

“Okay, we’ll need some pony to get us access past the guards, security would most likely be weak if Midnight’s going all-out on this invasion, but who…”

“I can help with that,” the second Rarity calls from the lobby as she slowly and nervously walks towards the mass of ponies.

“Rarity,” the ex-general sternly barks, “why’d you come back?”

“I made a mistake, Midnight tricked me into betraying you ponies for what I thought was honesty. However, I saw some things and realized that you just wanted me to be happy and continue to run the resistance. Even at that, I’m a terrible leader. Applejack, I’m not sure I can still do this, but I’m promoting you to marshal. Just please, give me another chance, I’m so sorry,” The now Marshal Apple’s face lightens up to a joyful smile,

“Rarity, that’s what friends are for,” the two then burst into a blissful sobbing as they hug each other tightly.

“For the record, I like ‘friend’ better than ‘powerful ally’.”

“So Miss Rarity,” Raindrop replies, “ready to set Equestria free and give Midnight what she rightfully deserves?”

“Indeed, I’m still on Midnight’s good side, so I might be able to sneak you guys past the Morks into her palace from the left wing entrance.”

“We’re all set then? Right. Pinkie Pie, sound off the troops!”

“Aye-aye Shorty-Pie.” Pinkie cheers and she runs to the bell and shakes it harder than what the small bell was made for, causing a wave of sound to pound at every door in the entire RAEM. The marshal breaks away from her friend and stands upon the small pedestal before delivering a speech,

“Sisters of the RAEM, of Equestria. My sisters. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come, when the courage of ponies fail, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of friendship, but it is not this day! An hour of Morks and shattered lives when the age of Celestia comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you, stand, ponies of Equestria! Earth Ponies, pegasi, unicorns, take up in arms and prepare for the final showdown. Many of you will most likely die, I cannot sugarcoat it or bend the truth, but your sacrifice will be worth the saving of Equestria, ours, the second world’s, and other worlds’. Your names, both living and dead, shall be chanted amongst the survivors for centuries to come. Remember what Midnight has done to us, she has stolen our friends, our husbands, our children, and turned them into savages that you see on a daily basis. May your suffering end! The princesses, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, are in the clutches of Midnight’s monstrous hooves, never to be heard from since that faithful day when Midnight attacked Equestria. But let that not deter our hopes, but instead, fill us with passion! The passion to end the corruption, the oppression, the brutality, the destruction, the darkness, the dishonesty, the sadness, the greed, the disloyalty, of the tyrant known as Midnight! May we stand together and restore balance to our sacred land, or be divided, and fall into obscurity and forever regret. It’s your choice, for this may be your last choice. All that I ask of you, is to try and set back what’s right, for Equestria!”

Soon, the metal doors of every corner of the base swing open as hundreds and thousands of mares march from the rooms, chanting, stomping, and cheering upon cramming themselves into the lobby. Marshal Apple, Ex-Marshal Rarity, Medic Fluttershy, Lieutenant Pie, Gruncle Boris, Major Jack, Daniel Grump, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Raindrop each look at each other through the leaping crowd, grins beaming off of each other’s faces.

Deep inside Midnight’s dungeon, Twilight’s true Gruncle Boris stands above a laying Twilight, gathering his strength to try and comfort her,

“So, you finally know about the whole Alicorn Amulet thing?”

“Yes,” the mare guiltily replies, “and this is what I became, a monster.”

“No you haven’t,”

“You do know, you know Empress Midnight is the exact same pony as me. Just one slip up, and I’ll turn into a dark mare of pure evil.”

“It’s not your fault, my great-niece Twily Baby, I was the one who created that amulet of destruction. It caused all of this to happen. I was too blind by my own intensions to consider the risks that such power would bring.”

“Hey Gruncle,”

“Yes?”

“Is Isabelle real?”

“Yes,”

“Why’d you keep it secret to me and everypony else?”

“Because I didn’t want any harm to come to any member of my family, I didn’t want to risk injuring you or her if she ever was released from her sanctuary.”

“Has this always been a thing? Has the Sparkle Family doing things with the best of intension, only for it to end in chaos and disaster?”

“Well, the worst things have mostly come from the best of intentions. I guess we’re too ambitious for our own good.”

“What do you think Midnight will do to us once she wins?”

“Not sure,”

“Killing us would be the most likely to happen, I should know.” The old unicorn lets out a deep sign as he lies down next to her, both facing the craggy wall in front of them.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I should have told you the truth about the Alicorn Amulet while you were still growing up.”

“You were only trying to protect me from myself, but I forgive you, and I’m sorry for becoming the empress and destroying our world.”

“It’s okay, at least things can’t get any worse. We’ve hit rock bottom.”

“Aww,” a taunting voice rattles the small underground lap as the three princesses wake up to see Midnight holding a large bag in her claws. “Touching, if only I was still that stupid to still believe in the ‘power’ of friendship,”

“What do you want?” Luna harshly snaps at the evil Twilight, who then laughs before continuing her taunts,

“Moon-sick Luna? All I wanted to do was just to introduce you three to your counterparts from this world.” She then tosses the bag across the room and into the wall, causing another Celestia, another Luna, and another Cadence to fall out of the brown sack and hit the icy floor. “And don’t even think of pulling off that explosion trick from ‘Star Swirl’s Nano-Molecular Studies’. Celestia, I’m looking at you! I’ve done extensive precautions to make sure every hair on these ponies are completely different from yours and would require weeks’ worth of grooming in order to replicate my work.”

“Twilight,” the second Cadence mutters, “don’t do it! We used to be best friends, remember our little song?”

“That’s Midnight to you, princess, and yes, that song still annoys me to this day.” As Midnight turns around to the door, another voice bursts into the conversation, this one belonging to the second Celestia,

“Twilight Sparkle,”

“Empress Midnight!”

“Twilight, I know there’s still some good in you. I’ve known you for most of your entire life. I know I’ve kept secrets from you, but that was only to save you from becoming this, this evil beast. Please, there’s still time, you can end this and we can return everything to its original harmonious state.”

“Never, it’s too late anyways. Fate has fashioned me to become the leader of the new worlds. You were destined to be the fool, a parasite on the potential of pony kind. Morks! Set out now! I’m going to stay here and wait for my new suit!” A door slams loudly behind her upon exiting the room, leaving everypony inside in a complete state of hopelessness.

“Why…” Twilight begins to mumble to herself, but’s loud enough for the seven others to hear, “why did I have to be such a terrible pony and do terrible things?”

“That’s not true,” Twilight’s Celestia argues in a passionate tone, “Twilight, you have done amazing things throughout your entire life. Who returned my sister to normal?”

“Me but,”

“Who saved Equestria by the spirit of chaos himself, Discord?”

“Me but,”

“Who then reformed him to good?”

“Me, but mostly Fluttershy, but,”

“Who saved Canterlot from the Changelings and Queen Chrysalis with her intuition?”

“Me but,”

“Who returned the Crystal Empire to its former glory and destroyed King Sombra by being selfless and loyal?”

“Me but,”

“And who defeated Lord Tirek when all hope seemed lost?”

“Me but,”

“One more, who became an Alicorn Princess? Not because of her powers, or fear, or military strength. Who was given the wings to become an alicorn for her right of mind, dedication to the fair use of magic, loyalty to her friends, search for the truth, her generosity towards other who may not have deserved it, and efforts for the kindness, joy, and peace of her country?”

“Me, b-b-but,”

“You Twilight! You have never stopped living to that standard to this very moment, so are you going to stop all because somepony else gave up? You’ve proved to be stronger than the Alicorn Amulet, you can stop Midnight, and you can set things right.”

“But Midnight is me, I could and have become that in this world.”

“Is that who you want to be, following in the shadow of a possibility?” Boris replies, “Is that really the Twilight you know you are?”

“…”

“…” A small smile grows on Twilight’s face. She slowly begins to stand up and turn to the princesses and her gruncle.

“No I’m not.”

“That’s the Twilight I know and love!”

“Midnight has chosen her fate, and I shall choose mine.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“And if I go down in flames, so be it, for I am not Midnight, but merely, a possibility as well.”

“So what are you going to do?!”

“Fight!” Twilight charges for the door, filled with hype and energy, her horn glowing to attempt to break Midnight’s magical seal over the prison. She instead slams head-first into the metal door, creating a dent in the shape of Twilight’s face upon her pulling herself out.

“Oops, I forgot to mention that Morks seal the door shut upon Midnight entering and leaving. My bad,”

“No matter, we wait.”

“For what?”

“The RAEM, if I know anything about my friends, I know that any moment now, they’ll be marching down here and busting this door open.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to rival similarities…”