There were many things in Twilight's life, particularly in the original timeline, which had caused her to feel fear. The possibility of failing to defeat Nightmare Moon. The chance that she and her people could become conquered by the changeling swarm. The literal fear magic of King Sombra. Time and again, she had come across things that had made her terrified, and time and again, he had managed to overcome it, in one way or another. And yet, at this one moment, she felt a chill unlike any other go down her spine as she looked at the sight before her. For there, standing with wings outstretched, was her future self, the alicorn princess of many centuries in the future. The young unicorn had not laid eyes on that mare since this whole ordeal began, back when she first gained those memories. In that moment, she had felt mystery, awe and curiosity when faced with this vision of her future. But now, surrounded by this darkness, seeing the older mare look down upon her, gazing into her eyes as if trying to read her very soul, it was an unnerving experience to say the least. Every fibre of Twilight's being was screaming at her, warning her to stay away, to run. But instead, she found herself paralyzed, unable to even get her words out. Seeing this, the elder mare made the first move, and spoke in a commanding voice.

"Young one...it has been a long time."

Only now did Twilight finally react, shaking her head to get herself out of her near trance-like state, before looking to her older self, a look of confusion all over her face.

"But...what's going on here? How can you be here again?"

The elder mare narrowed her eyes somewhat.

"I came to you once, and I can do so again, whenever I choose."

Twilight gave her a quizzical look at that.

"What are you talking about?"

Frowning, the older Twilight looked down to the younger, in much the same manner as an angry parent looking down to their child.

"I'm the one asking questions here."

Instinctively, Twilight took a step backwards, prompting the elder mare to take a step closer.

"My plan was not to intervene...but now that you have done this, I feel that it is my responsibility to do so. So tell me, Twilight Sparkle...why did you cast the spell?"

The look of anger upon the elder mare's face made it abundantly clear that she wasn't happy with Twilight's decision, and the younger mare's voice wobbled somewhat as she began to explain herself.

"I...I...I...I had to! I had to see what would happen!"

But the older Twilight raised a hoof and ferociously stamped it into the non-existent ground beneath her, causing a loud echo to run all around them.

"You attempted to ascend, didn't you?!"

Although taken aback by the overly-aggressive manner in which her future self was speaking to her, Twilight nodded, leading to the other mare speaking up again.

"After everything I showed you...everything you knew would happen...everything you would lose...you still tried to do it?!"

Now, at long last, Twilight frowned, taking a step closer to the older mare. She knew, in her heart, what this was all about, and why she was angry. It was something she'd know for a long time now, the reason why her older self had caused her to try and change history in the first place. That mare of the future had pinned all of her hopes and wishes on the simple plan of Twilight not casting that spell, and thus, never becoming an alicorn. She had come to view it, in the decades and centuries to follow, as something that ruined her life forever. But the younger Twilight, with all the memories of those future years, had been given time to think on it in a way that, perhaps, her elder self had never seen fit to consider. And now, seeing that she was finally face-to-face with her once again, she would finally get to tell her.

"Look! I know you felt angry at your immortality. I know you've lost many of your friends. I have your memories, remember? I felt that loss as much as you did. But you forgot all the good that came with it! You forgot that those moments you spent with them were to be cherished, not regretted. You let your bitterness take over!"

The older mare frowned at her younger self's defiance.

"You sound like Celestia. Though I shouldn't be surprised, since you ignored my warning and retained your friendship with her."

Twilight frowned right back at her from hearing that.

"Celestia has been a friend to me for as long as I can remember. She's been like a second mother to me ever since I was a filly. I will not forsake her, no matter what kind of hateful feelings you have for her."

The elder Twilight, for a time, said nothing in response to that. Instead, she simply began to walk in a slow and steady manner. Twilight watched as she moved around her, in a circle, keeping her eyes locked on her at all times. Her deepest instincts told her to run as fast as she could from this mare, given that this was not unlike the behaviour of a predator, circling her prey. But instead, she stood her ground, and waiting until her older self finally broke the silence between them.

"You are strong, young one. I'd almost forgotten how stubborn I could be sometimes. If it is your choice to keep to that path, to refuse to reject that treacherous mare...then perhaps I need to take more...permanent action."

Twilight gained a look of concern at that.

"I...I’m not going to let you try and twist me more than you already have! Those memories you gave me...they made me do things, say things...that I never would have said before. I don't care what you say to me now...I won't let you change me more than you already have!"

For the first time in this entire experience, the older Twilight stopped frowning. Instead, and to Twilight's utter shock, she gained an expression that could only be described as amusement. The younger mare watched with confusion as her older self started to chuckle, which, frankly, was a sound that sent a shiver down her spine on top of everything else. But she did not question it, but instead waited for the older mare to stop, after which she watched as she started to speak to her yet again.

"Oh, Twilight...I don't need to talk to you to sway you."

As one might expect after a statement like that, Twilight started to look very worried.

"What...what are you talking about?"

A sly smile crept onto the face of the older mare, as she then looked down to her younger self, staring right into her eyes.

"Are you not curious as to how I can be here? In this place where your ascension should have taken place?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed somewhat. In truth, that question had been burning in her mind for some time now, but with everything else, she simply hadn't been given the opportunity to ask it. So she watched and waited as her older self began to explain things to her.

"Dear child...I never left you. From the moment you agreed to my offer, to gain the memories of the future...I have been there. Hidden, deep within the furthest corners of your mind."

Naturally, Twilight's eyes widened with shock after hearing that, and she took a fearful step backwards.

"You...you what?!"

The older mare nodded.

"Oh yes indeed. Memory and knowledge were not the only things I gave you that night. From the moment you first woke up in your home in Canterlot, on the morning you travelled to Ponyville, I've been there, watching, listening, observing every move you made, every decision you took. But, as you've probably guessed by now...my plan was for history to change for the better. So naturally, I couldn't just give you the memories and hope you would do what I hoped. No...I had to be there to make sure you changed it."

Twilight looked on with utter horror at every word her older self was saying. A fear began to grow in her mind. A fear of what her words meant, and what she suspected this was all leading to. She had trouble getting out the words, but when she did, they were wobbly.

"You...you manipulated me?"

The older mare looked to her younger self, narrowing her eyes as she did so.

"I guided you on the right path. As I said, you are strong-willed, Twilight. But...surely you must have sensed it, from time to time. A little voice in your mind, urging you on, giving you the impulse to take just that one step further?"

Twilight took another step back, shaking her head, wanting to believe beyond all hope that her older self was lying. It couldn’t be true, could it? And yet, when she stopped to think about it, she found, to her terror, that there was truth in the alicorn's words. She recalled that moment, not two weeks ago, when she and her friends had attempted to free Discord from his prison of stone. In that moment, when he walked away from her, angry and powerless, she had felt something. It was like a whisper, a dark urging in her mind, making her think, just for a moment, that it would be wise to take that ancient spirit and finish him off for good, to punish him for everything that he had done to Equestria. She remembered that thought well, and how it had seemed such a rational thing at the time, only to become mortified at the very idea of taking such action. She'd refrained from doing it, and had let Discord go, and for just a brief moment, she could have sworn that she felt that dark impulse turn to anger, maybe even disappointment, though she could never understand why. Looking on, she turned her head upwards, gazing upon the look of utter seriousness that her elder self now bore. It took a few false starts, but eventually, the young unicorn finally managed to speak up again.

"What...what have you done to me?!"

The alicorn narrowed her eyes.

"I helped you. I gave you the drive you needed to take the actions that were necessary. I made you the agent of change that would take history by its throat and forced it to be what it should have been the first time!"

The anger in her voice was growing with every word she spoke, as indeed did Twilight's sense of fear from what her future self now seemed to be. The first time she had seen her, it was like meeting another Celestia. Calm, regal and composed. Now, there was bitterness, and rage, and, above all else, a sense that she was, in some way, broken. Needless to say, this caused more than a little alarm for the young unicorn, who kept her eyes on her older self as she started to calm down somewhat, speaking in a more controlled tone.

"But...then you went down your own path, doing things that I never considered. Recruiting Trixie as a student. Adopting Spike. Wanting to actually help Sombra instead of simply slaying him, as I would have wanted you to. I must admit, I was impressed you were able to resist the urgings I gave you in that particular moment. That showed real strength of will...even if it did go against my wishes."

Twilight narrowed her eyes, taking a step forward and speaking up in a more aggressive manner than before.

"Then...all those other things...the times I become violent. The times...I went too far...that was you?!"

The older mare looked down at her and let out a dry laugh before gaining her previous disdainful expression.

"Are you truly that naïve? Do you honestly think that Twilight Sparkle, the studious, kind-hearted, considerate bookworm, could have ever taken those steps without prompting? Would Twilight Sparkle have ever beaten a dragon to a pulp? Would Twilight Sparkle have imprisoned the entire race of changelings? Would Twilight Sparkle have ever taken the lives of every timberwolf in the Everfree Forest?"

The mention of her past transgressions struck Twilight in the heart every time she heard it, and she looked away, mostly out of shame for the words of her older self. As for the latter, she began to narrow the gap between her and her younger self, speaking up with clear steel in her voice.

"I remember well what I was like back then...how weak in the stomach I was! I could never have taken the actions that I knew had to be done, to make the world better, and safe! Safe for my friends, my family! So I guaranteed that you, my younger self, could do what I never did the first time."

Twilight looked to the older mare, and now, at long last, her eyes began to well up.

"You...you twisted me! You changed everything about me! You poisoned what I was! What I was supposed to be!"

The elder mare frowned at that.

"Do not think yourself absolved of this, Twilight. I admit, it was no small task to get you to do those things. But you forget...I know you well."

She began to approach, slowly drawing nearer to the younger Twilight as she continued speaking.

"Whenever I needed you to take that one step further, you resisted. Your inherent nature would never have wanted to take those actions. I could have used force, or some other coercion, but I didn't need to. Because...I knew that all I needed to do to truly convince you of the right course...was whisper three words."

The two of them were getting much closer now, but Twilight did not back away, for she was utterly enraptured by what her older self had to say. So, she listened on.

"Three little words that, when whispered in the darkest corners of your mind, always provided the justification your heart wanted to get you to take action. Just three words."

When the elder mare finally reached her, she lowered her head slightly, bringing it alongside Twilight's, before whispering those very words into her ear.

"It's...for...them."

In that one moment, Twilight understood that her future self had spoken the truth, and as such, a look of sheer horror crossed her face. After all, it was as she said; she knew her. She knew that all it would take to push her over and get her to take things as far as she had, was to make her believe, even the tiniest bit, that it was for the benefit of those around her. Her friends. Her family. Every action she'd taken had been to protect them, or help them. And she had been truly devoted to that goal, ever since this first started for her. So she knew, then and there, that her elder self was not lying when she said that those three words were all it would take. She was just as guilty of those atrocities as her future self, no matter what role the later had in all of this. And so, the two stood in silence, staring at one another, each measuring the other. Neither gave away what they were thinking, and this quiet was beginning to get under their skin in a big way. But, through it all, a new question began to emerge in Twilight's mind. A question that, quite frankly, she was ashamed at not having asked the moment she laid eyes on that older mare before her.

"Why? Why are you here? In this place? At this time? What is it that you want from me?"

The older mare narrowed her eyes.

"Like I said before...I felt it was time to finally intervene. I've been content to let you stray from the path I intended for you...but this act...this attempt to become an alicorn...is too far for me."

Twilight watched as her older self began to approach her yet again, her face bearing a look of grim determination.

"So...this is it, young one. What lies before you now is a choice. A final fork in the road for you to take. One that could very well result, as you suspected...in your end."

As one might expect, Twilight gained a fearful look at that, but only briefly, for she soon composed herself yet again, not wanting to show such feelings to the other mare. Instead, she kept quiet as the alicorn Twilight continued speaking.

"I present you two options, Twilight. Either you go back to the path I laid out for you, and never again seek to ascend, as our oh-so beloved teacher intended for us..."

Her eyes narrowed further, with her gaze now practically piercing through the young unicorn.

"...or...you refuse my offer, and I take...drastic action."

Twilight took a step backwards, her face one of pure confusion.

"What...what are you talking about?"

The older Twilight frowned deeply before speaking up again.

"I may be a fragment within your mind...but I am still an alicorn in my power. And I will use that power to make you be the Twilight you should be!"

The young unicorn let out a gasp at that, fearing deep down what those words meant. Unfortunately, it was a prediction her older self was more than willing to confirm.

"Yes...I will eliminate the essence of who you are, Twilight. The you that was...will no longer be. And I, the mere fragment of your future self's mind, will take your place, and I will do everything you should have done from the start. I will cut ties with Celestia. I will keep our friends close, for their protection, for the rest of their lives, no matter what they say. I will make the world everything I wanted it to be from the start...even if I have to tear the very fabric of space and time to do it!"

Twilight shook her head frantically.

"You...you're insane!"

But the older mare merely chuckled at that.

"Oh no! You cannot dismiss me that easily, young one!"

Taking a step forward, the older Twilight looked down upon the younger, with the latter now practically in tears over what was happening before her.

"So, Twilight Sparkle...what is it to be?"