Twilight stepped out of the portal, taking in a deep breath. She had missed clean, Equestrian air, having had to spend the last few days fixing dystopian futures left and right. Finally though, she was home and in her own time line. And then, she coughed.

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at nothing. As far as the eye could see, desolate plains of ash and decay ruled the world of Equestria. Until she turned around, and at a human that filled her with dread… and familiarity. She slowly stepped forward, coming closer to the raven winged alicorn. “Who are you?”

The dark enchantress turned her sight from the book in front of her to Twilight, a spark of energy bouncing away from the remnants of her glasses. She raised a single eyebrow, and closed her book. “I was wondering when you would come, Twilight Sparkle. I will admit that I was indeed curious as to how my pony self would look. For this gift, I will use you for my entertainment, before I absorb you to learn all that you do.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she stepped back. “You-You’re Twilight? Sunset warned me about you, but… but I still I don’t understand!”

Midnight shook her head, smiling at Twilight as she stood, towering over the tiny alicorn. “It’s rather simple. I absorbed the magic I stole from your friends, and whatever paultry tricks you had told Sunset to use to bring out her friends’ magic, failed. Not that I’m surprised of course, seeing as I did in fact drain them.”

Twilight’s jaw slowly opened as her ears fell to the side. She had been so confident in knowing how the magic on the other side of the portal worked that she was certain they could fight back. But this was proof that she indeed had been wrong. “And my friends? What did you do to them?”

Midnight snickered as she knelt while she stroked Twilight’s head. “Come now my little pony, I’ve already told you.”

For a few moments, silence filled the air between them, before a single tear splashed onto the ashen ground. “So, why have I not been added to your knowledge?”

The enchantress tapped her chin for a few moments. “A good question, but just the reason why. You are a fellow mind, and I wanted to see what sort of questions I could answer with my new intellect. Consider it an Arabian Nights’ situation. The longer you satisfy me, the more moments of your life you get.” Midnight placed a hand on the side of Twilight’s face. “Sound fair?”

Twilight took in a deep breath, before nodding, forcing back her tears. “May I first know if they at least died quickly? If I have that comfort, my mind will be much steadier, and my questions of a higher caliber than what I may provide now.”

Midnight looked down upon her jester for a few more moments, before sighing. “It is a shame that you only shared part of my love for knowledge, and kept those troublesome feelings. It is a part of your flawed mind though, so I suppose I must answer. They died swiftly, as I conquered this world unopposed. It was useful not having the elements of harmony here to try to slow me down though, so yet another reason I should thank you for the wondrous world I live in.”

Twilight slowly bobbed her head. She wanted to curl up. To simply face the end and be back with those she cared about. But if she was to do that, rest would not be the answer, just as it never had been. Turning away from Midnight, she forced the gears in her head to start, and gave an easier one. “Which came first, the chicken, or the egg?”

Midnight rolled her eyes. “In the beginning of time, one would most likely say that the first being with parts of the chicken’s DNA came into existence from nothing. Whether by the big bang, or an all powerful being such as myself, I care not, but for the modern day chicken, the first one had to evolve into it, and from an egg, so the egg came first. Now, please give me something more challenging.”

A loud clearing of Twilight’s throat filled the air as she slowly nodded. “Umm, couldn’t have put it better myself.” She rubbed her chin for a moment, before snapping her hoof. “I know! Tell me, is it opposite day?”

Midnight’s eyes narrowed, and a few cracks in the sky formed as she began to float. “No, it’s not, for such a thing doesn’t exist.”

Twilight shook her head. “But one could say that all such holidays are made from the minds of ponies and humans, so that argument is invalid. So your answer is wro-”

“No!” Midnight caused a rift to form in the ground beside them, absorbing the ground into nothingness, simply because her foot had slammed into the ground too hard. “It’s a stupid joke of a question, with no answer. You stick yourself into an anomaly about something that no one actually obeys, or believes in. Now, if your next question is not worthwhile, I will destroy this world, and move on to the next!”

Twilight could feel a cold sweat break over her skin as her mouth turned into a desert. She had hoped to buy more time with those other questions, more time with which to form a plan. Luckily, she had one more. “What, is the meaning of life?”

Midnight let out a heavy sigh. “Finally, a worthwhile question. Unfortunately, I still know the answer. It is to learn. This is why you begin to take in sensory information from your very birth. That allows you to infer about the world, learn about it, and follow knowledge where it takes you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, amused at hearing the answer she would have given only a few years ago, “Really? Then why do so many refuse to learn, or shut out education?”

“Because they are idiots.”

“And those who cannot learn, as they are disabled, or unable to?”

“Flawed beings, not able to follow life’s intended path.”

Twilight rubbed her muzzle at that one. “Really? Because many claimed that when I… you know what, never mind. You wouldn’t be interested.”

Midnight rolled her eyes, before picking Twilight up and pulling her over. “I wish not to play your games. You are playing mine. Now, if you had something to try to teach me, as preposterous as that may be, you will tell me quickly, lest I tire of your charade as an intellectual.”

Twilight swallowed hard, a forced smile spreading over her lips. “Well, you see, I once suggested to a now passed on friend of mine that I had come up with an idea. I would push all of my magic within, and then release it in one, large burst. She called me crazy for it, and that I was simply trying to end my life.”

Midnight chuckled at the very idea of such a spell. “A lovely thought experiment, but I don’t need to hear thoughts from when you were a mere foal.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Except I was no foal, and the feats I could accomplish that day were beyond any seen in Equestria.”

A moment of silence passed between them as Midnight now looked away in thought. Slowly, Twilight was lowered onto the ground, the near godlike creature beginning to fly higher and higher into the sky. “Yes. If I could spread my magic over my entirety, I truly would become the strongest being this world, no, universe has ever seen!”

A brisk wind began to blow in as Twilight could feel the magical density in the air increase, causing it to become harder to breathe. The wind became visible as it spun around a glowing Midnight, her wings spread out as a glue aura began to surround her. This aura began to fuse into her skin, just before the density lowered. “No… this is insane.”

Twilight stepped forward, and waved a hoof into the air. “Giving up then? I thought you wanted to learn? Be the smartest being in existence? I guess I will always know something you don’t though.”

The magic increased once more, this time as Midnight summoned a ball of blue fire into her hand. “You are trying to goad me, Do you really think that will work?”

Twilight shrugged. “I have nothing to love, and let me ask you the best question of all.”

“Am I wrong?”

For a moment, the wind became still, and Midnight merely floated. She then let out a might scream, the fire retreating into her veins as she pushed the rest of her magic inwards. Lightning began to crackle around her as the dark purple of her skin transformed into neon blue. For a moment, Twilight thought she heard Midnight exclaiming about power, before all went black.

Coming to, Twilight awoke to a black, raven’s feather floating in ether in front of her. She almost gagged on the magic that surrounded her. Fallout from the god’s folly. Her mind swam as she tried to find her legs, her insides twisted from the shock waves released in the explosion. She was alive though, and that is what mattered.

Looking around herself, she couldn’t help but cry. There was so much she could have learned from a being like Midnight, if only she had been willing to teach, instead of learn. She knew there was little point in dwelling over it, but the tears helped. They helped her focus her mind, and force the thoughts of all she had come so close to losing.

But she wouldn’t lose them. Time Turner’s lessons in time travel wouldn’t let her.

Once she was of sound mind again, she cast a net out, collecting the immense levels of magic that surrounded her. No pony could do time travel by themselves. In fact, the time portals she had gone through before had been caused by thirteen of the most powerful unicorns losing their lives to it. All of Equestria though, beat that by the millions.

She softly spoke the incantations, memorized from the ancient ponies’ tomes, and floated into the air. The air around her spun with the colors of the rainbow, a soft, crackling spark, growing into a thunderstorm as the magic grew faster and faster. She lost herself in the hypnotic rotations, her mind only on the moment that she had to fix. The mistake she had made, for she could only go back to re-inhabit her own self.

And the next moment she knew, was her looking at Sunset’s note. Soon she had to leave, to chase after the anomalies that had been happening. But she had had a moment to respond to Sunset’s worries. To tell her what she thought caused the human’s magic to activate, and weigh in on how to contain it. Before she had much to say on the matter, but today, she merely put her pen around, and walked out of her house.

And the rest, we already know.

Author's Notes:

...or is it perhaps, the true one?