Back at Empress Midnight’s palace, inside the corridor leading to the throne room, the two Celestias and Raindrop observe the decrepit surroundings of their once home. The walls that once displayed vibrant colors and shades amongst the chandelier lights are now grey discolored boulders teetering in the wind. The carpeted floor that was once fuzzy and warm had turned into a mess of gross rags the sent a cold chill up the hooves of the trio. The warm, calm air that circulated around the palace had turned damn, cold, and violent with the multitudes of drafts pouring in through the holes in all the faces of the chamber.

The mild howling of the outside wind was silenced by a single voice being Raindrop, “How much farther?”

“Not much,” her caretaker replies, staring at the pair of massive dual doors closed in front of her, “we’re just at the doorway. We had to go several chambers away in case Midnight was following.”

“Okay.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes Princess Celestia, I am.”

“…”

“Celestia?” Raindrop continued to walk after not getting a reply the second time, thinking that her adoptive mother wanted some quiet time at the moment. As she want deeper into the throne room, she noticed that the second Celestia hoofsteps have grown slightly heavier, as if her shoes have had a large amount of metal inserted them midway through entering the room. A low ominous hum also echoed in Raindrop’s ears. “Other Princess Celestia, are you alright?” Once again, no reply returned from behind. “Celestia?” The hum grows louder as Raindrop nears closer to halfway across the chamber. Suddenly, the stone floor beneath her font hooves crumbles and Raindrop quickly backs away as she realizes that the floor ahead had already fell a while ago, and that she nearly fell. Her rear then bumps into a pair of long, metal fingers. “M-M-M-M-M-”

“Yes?” The figure with the claw behind her asks, her haunting voice spiked through the filly’s mind.

“Midnight!”

“That’s right!” With one swoop of her claw, she grabs Raindrop by the tail and dangles the body over the edge.

“HELP ME!”

“No pony can hear you now; your mama’s frozen along with her duplicate. This may seem a bit extreme, dropping you off the edge into the abyss below, but I’ve worked hard to reach this point and I can’t let any distraction keep me from achieving it, even if that distraction is tiny and pathetic in any other circumstance.”

“NO!”

“And speaking of ‘hard’ and ‘distraction,’” With a swift motion of her other free arm, Midnight plucks Twilight out of thin air mid-teleportation, causing the purple mare in the metal fist to gasp in shock. “Twilight, how nice of you to join us for the going away party,”

The surprised alicorn asks, “How did you,”

“I figured you show up sooner or later, where are your friends at? Surely they would simply die for a spectacle like this.”

“Far away from you,”

“Going solo aren’t you? To be fair, you were always a loner, I should know by experience-” Midnight taunt is cut off in an instant by a white ball of magic hitting her in the back of the head. “Who?!” Midnight snaps her head around to see the two white alicorn princesses right behind her, both having their horns aimed directly between her eyes. “Oh, the screaming, that probably was it…” Midnight then teleports away in response to the surprise attack, leaving Raindrop and Twilight to fall. However, before Raindrop could get below the floor level, she and Twilight are enwrapped in a white aura of magic and pulled back to the ledge.

“Thank you!”

“No time for thanks,” the other Celestia barks, “we have to go!” The three princesses teleport themselves and Raindrop over the gap and to the back wall. Celestia then uses her magic and opens the two large hidden doors to the dark hallway behind leading into the alternate Raindrop’s room. Twilight and Raindrop are the first two ponies the scramble in as the other Celestia is watching out for the first. As Twilight turns to look at them slowly following behind, about to enter the tunnel, she notices a faint beam going through the walls between them.

“Stay back!” In an instant, a series of five wild burst of magic rupture across the beam, obliterating the tunnel section and separating the two parties with a wall of boulders. ”Can you teleport to us?”

“No! The area surrounding Raindrop’s room is a permanent barrier; we can’t get in without removing the boulders!”

“We need you to convince your Raindrop though!”

“Go on, there isn’t much time before Midnight makes a way in!”

“But what about you getting to see her one last time?” A loud sniffle echoes through the cave-in and into Twilight and Raindrop’s ears before the princess continues,

“That isn’t important anymore, just go on, just let her know that I, even in death, will always love her!”

“…Okay.”

“Now go,”

Twilight’s Celestia is then heard screaming, “Midnight’s attacking with magic swords from below the floor!”

“GO!” Twilight obeys and she runs up to Raindrop as they approach the bedroom ahead. Twilight is blinded once again by the immediate brightness of the room like her first time. Her eyes readjust as she sees that it all looks exactly like her world, as if nothing ever happened. The silence of the room caught her ears as she scanned her eyes across the uncannily exact positioning of the furniture that she saw in her world. She then focused on the flowing soft pink veils cloaking the massive royal purple bed with a small, turquoise and white figure lying on top.

“I-” Raindrop stutters, “I remember this, this is my room. I’ve nearly forgotten what it was like in here.”

“Yeah,” Twilight replies with guilt in her voice, “in here…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Me, dragging you into this, only for you to come back to be sacrificed. I’m sorry,”

“But it wasn’t your fault,”

“I know, but, I just feel like I’m responsible for this, I have good reason to.”

“Hey,”

“What?”

“Smile, at least you did your best and you’ve taken the effort to reverse the damage. From what you might think, all I’ve heard outside of my room was war, torture, suffering, and disgust.”

“You did.”

“But what I heard, what I felt, what I saw, was heroes, heroes that, despite having their enemies be them and cause great suffering, the heroes would face their self-conflicts and confront the evil. Friends that would stick together at all costs and even if one slips up, they could be forgiven. Family that despite having problems in the past and present, can see past that and still love each other. Kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty, and laughter, even in the cold face of war, are still present and shared by ponies. Magic, beautiful magic that can perform miracle actions and summon the greatest in ponies. And do you know what’s best of all?”

“What?”

“Purpose, purpose for living, for developing and sharing talents and traits with others, for being what you are for the good of harmony and peace, and for exploring every world out there and experiencing it’s wonders. I have a purpose to fulfill now, and I thank you for such a wonderful adventure.”

“Thank you as well.”

“Shall we wake up the other me?”

“Oh, well, yes.” Slowly, Twilight approaches the still sleeping No-Pony on the bed pokes her head through the silk veil, and lightly brushes her nose against the warm back of the filly. “Raindrop, wake up.” The small mare soon began to stir and wake up from her slumber. Her glazed eyes opened towards Twilight just before a yawn escaped her mouth.

“Princess Celestia?” The drowsy filly slurred, “Is that you?”

“No, I’m her student, Twi-”

“Twilight Sparkle I presume.”

“Yes,”

“How did you get in here?”

“Celestia let me in, but-”

“Where is she? I haven’t seen her in months,”

“It’s a long story and I don’t have time to explain. There’s another Raindrop right next to me,”

“A what?”

“Another you that’s not you, what I need you to do is to touch your alternate’s right hoof with yours.”

“Why?”

“I can’t explain, just do it.”

“But what’s so urgent?” A loud thud roars into the chamber, shaking the entire structure. “What’s that?!”

“The reason it’s so urgent, now go!”

“How can I trust you?!”

“She’s coming through the window!” The Raindrop next to Twilight squeals, causing the other on the bed to open her mouth in a gape.

“Was that my voice?”

“Yes, what Twilight is saying is true. Get out of the bed. Midnight’s going to break through the illusion barrier any second now!” The confused mare gets up on her hooves and stumbles out of the large bed.

“Midnight?” In that moment, the massive six-armed creature burst through the window, sending clear shards and rock hurdling all over the room. The great sound of the smash causes the two Raindrops to freeze solid in fear.

“I’m back!” The empress hollers in glee, “I just had to get those two pesky Celestias out of this world and seal the portal. I tell you, they can put up a good fight.”

“What did you do to her? Who are you?” The frightened Raindrop sputters at the edge of the bed.

“Ah, so that’s why your group was so desperate to get back here. Because that tiny little gnat’s Celestia’s pet. Ha! Have you told her that you’re about to kill her just to end the world?”

“What?!”

“Oh, poor dear,” Midnight then starts to make her way to the bed, only to be cut off by Twilight running in front of the disfigured villainous version of Twilight. In response, Midnight grabs the purple alicorn with one swing of her claw and pitches her out the window, launching her into the dark horizon with Twilight screaming throughout her entire flight.

“Twilight?”

“She’s no longer a problem, you see, you’ve been living a lie for most of your life.”

“I have?”

“I’m afraid so,” Softly, Midnight moves next to the shivering filly and brushes her hair with her bruised hoof. “What’s even sadder is the one leading the lie was no pony other than Princess Celestia.”

“She wouldn’t have lied to me, she’s honest and kind.”

“You’re half right, Celestia hasn’t lied to you, she’s lied to everypony including you. You may think that she actually cared about you, but in actually, you’re nothing more than a tool.”

“That’s a lie; Princess Celestia loves me with all of her heart!”

“Oh, you poor pony, what has that princess done to your head? Why would the ruler of all Equestria dedicate her life to a blind, pathetic, filly that hasn’t even received her cutie mark?”

“Well…”

“The only reason she keeps you locked away in here is so that when her tyranny is threatened, she can just use you and another Raindrop she found and obliterate the world with everything and everypony in it. You’re just a tool to activate a bomb. But luckily, I saved you and everypony else.”

“No, that can’t be true!”

“Can’t it? Or do you find that a royal princess would raise a rat like you more believable?”

“Well… uh… she…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, poor little pony. Let’s say this, you come with me, and I can turn you into the most powerful pony ever. I could fix you, make all your dreams come true.”

“You don’t know what my dreams are.”

“Oh, I do. Your dream is to be recognized as a true pony, not just some dead weight that somepony has to look out and push around.”

“…If that was true, how would you fulfil it in the first place?”

“First, I’d give you a pair of wings, just like mine, so you wouldn’t be tied to the earth. Then, I would give you a helmet, just like mine, so you’d have a horn to project magic and no pony would ever notice that you’re blind. Finally, I’ll teach you every magic trick in the book, with you by my side, heir to my empire.”

“You can really do all that? You’re bluffing,”

“I never bluff, so what do you say?”

“Well…”

“Stop right there!” The first Raindrop shouts, Midnight ships her head to the right and sees the turquoise mare glaring right into Midnight’s red eyes.

“What? Midnight might be right.”

“I know the truth, I’ve been out there. Midnight is controlling ponies to kill all for her own gain because of the corruption of the Alicorn Amulets on her chest. She’s the liar, Celestia truly cares about you. Remember when she first found you? Cold, alone, about to die?”

“That one Hearth’s Warming Eve night…”

“Yeah, that one, she recued you because she cares for all ponies, big, small, blind, weak, strong, all of them.”

“Ho, ho,” Midnight chortles, “I see that somepony is refusing to break the wall of lies in front of her eyes. Tell you what?” Midnight then picks up the pony right next to her and drops her right in the middle between Midnight and Raindrop. “Let’s have our little pony decide who’s right. Whoever she goes to is the winner…”

“Raindrop, you can trust me, I am you!”

“Don’t listen to her little Raindrop. She wants you dead.”

“I’m only doing this so we can save everypony in this and all other worlds from Midnight, she’s the villain.”

“Celestia and the other princesses are villains; their lies have forged fear with duty, and unhealthy combination.”

“It’s the Alicorn Amulets that are saying those things; they want more power from her.”

“This debate is pointless Tiny, I am the one who is right. You can’t see what’s right in front of you, literally, so how would you know what is right?”

“Because I do more than see, I listen, I feel, I smell, I taste, I know, I learn, I love, and I discern. I have learned and seen more in a couple of days than you have ever since you turned you back to your friends and the good life you once had.”

“So you think experiencing gives you more power? You are still, a blind, tiny, useless, pathetic pest. If you think you’ll actually be able to convince this pony between us, then you must also be incredibly stupid.”

“Go on Raindrop, make your choice…”

“Hahaha, we all know who it’s going to be.” Midnight then closes her eyes and sticks her front hooves up, awaiting a hug from the pony. However, a good chunk of silent time passes and Midnight’s patience begins to run thin. Her eyelids slightly open as she peeks across the room, only to see the second Raindrop slowly approaching the first one, now being only a couple of hoofsteps away from each other. “NO!” Midnight yanks her six arms out from behind her back and begins to chase after. However, she is suddenly caught off guard by one of her claws slamming her in the center of the face and launching her into the wall behind. Midnight tries to pull the out-of-control claw away, only to catch a glimpse of Twilight using her magic out of the corner of her eye before having her vision being once again obscured by the metal fingers. “NO! You don’t know what you’re doing! STOP! NOW!” The screams and wriggling of the empress are soon tuned out of the two Raindrops’ heads as they are now only a centimeter space between their small noses.

“I know this, is scary, and we might never be with Celestia ever again, but she saved us, raised us, loved us. Now…”

“Now it’s our turn to return the favor.” At the same time, the two No-Ponies raise their right hooves, slowly approaching the other.

“Goodbye Celestia…” The two speak in complete unison, “Goodbye Luna, goodbye Cadence, goodbye everypony, goodbye Twilight…” At that moment of completing their final words, the two hooves meet. Midnight then manages to overcome Twilight’s magic, only to see the two Raindrops connected.

“No…” Midnight mutters, slowly stumbling towards the fillies, “No!” Her crippled walk soon escalates in pace, eventually turning into a full run. “NO!” Her two front claws reach forward, only for them to phases right through the two bodies as if they were water. “NOOOOO!!!” The two unified bodies then begin to turn a white bright glow, nearly blinding Midnight and Twilight watching in absolute disbelief. “This can’t be! I won’t let it be! All that I have done! All I have worked for! NO!”

“It’s too late,” Twilight replies solemnly, “you lose.” The two continue their attention towards the bright light, now turning into a large ball. It slowly begins to grow as glass shards and smaller rocks begin to gravitate towards it. As they disappear upon entering the growing ball of white void, Midnight begins to back up, ending up right next to Twilight.

“This isn’t…”

“It is… the end of the world.”