Twilight cut easily through the ranks of white ponies – none of them seemed willing to harm her for some reason. The alicorn was aiming towards where she’d last seen the blue pegasus. Her striking appearance and the glowing pendant seemed to single her out as one of the most important ponies on the field.

It didn’t take long to reach the clearing the pegasus had cleared for herself. Twilight leapt at the pegasus without warning, a slash of her sword sending them crashing to the ground.

“Ugh. Bucking batponies!” the pegasus growled, forcing herself to her hooves. She froze when she saw Twilight. “T-Twilight?”

Twilight growled angrily, brandishing her sword. “How do you know my name, Celestia-worshipper?”

“What are you talking about? Twilight… I c-can’t believe you’re alive.” The pegasus had dropped her sword and began walking slowly towards the princess. "Of course I’m alive. And I sure as buck know that we’ve never met, so how do you know me?” Twilight snarled, flashing her fangs. The princess was slightly conscious about her language, but what were the chances of her mother hearing?

The pegasus froze in her tracks. “Holy buck when did Sombra recruit changelings?!”

“Changelings?” Twilight cocked her head slightly, although she kept her sword defensively in front of her.

“Don’t act dumb!” the pegasus snapped, backing towards her sword. “Heh. You must be pretty powerful to impersonate an alicorn. Queen Chrysalis?”

Twilight groaned. “You must be dumber than the castle guards if you think I’m a bug! I am Twilight Sparkle, daughter of King Sombra and Queen Nightmare Moon; and the Princess of Darkness! And you and Celestia will all be crushed beneath my hooves!” she finished her speech with a flap of her wings, taunting the pegasus to follow her. It worked, and soon the two flyers were locked in a close-combat flying battle.

Twilight instantly knew that this pegasus was a better flyer than her. Every now and then she would see the blue flash of a Wonderbolts uniform beneath the pegasus’ armour, as if it had been thrown on without time to change. The pegasus was constantly trying to aim non-lethal attacks at Twilight’s wings or legs, using her greater manoeuvrability to avoid Twilight’s deadly attacks. The purple-studded sword was flying madly, trying to angle around the back of the pegasus, the speed of their flight making it impossible.

“Twilight, snap out of it!” the pegasus grunted as she ducked under a slash aimed at her throat. “It’s me, Rainbow!”

Twilight snorted angrily. “I know nopony by that name!”

“Twi, I don’t know what Sombra did to you, but please, just snap out of it!” Rainbow pleaded, abandoning her attempts to fight back. The two winged ponies were climbing steadily higher in the sky. Twilight suddenly swerved sideways, aiming a slash of her sword at Rainbow’s neck. The pegasus dodged at the last second, finally mustering the courage to attack her friend. Twilight winced as the blade sliced her foreleg, a powerful flap of her wings pushing the two ponies apart.

Twilight growled, flashing her fangs as blood trickled down her hoof. Her sword sailed through the air, making a deep cut in Rainbow’s wing and sending the pegasus spiralling towards the ground. The alicorn watched regretfully as the blue pony crashed into the ground, making a small crater. Rainbow very slowly dragged herself from the crater, standing shakily and flicking her rainbow-coloured tail.

“Armies of Celestia, retreat!” she yelled over the cacophony of the battle. Immediately the white ponies broke away from their battles and backed towards the pegasus. One of the white unicorns, which Twilight suddenly realised was a mare with a curled purple mane, surrounded the group with light blue magic. There was a flash and they were gone.

Twilight smirked, gliding down towards her father, who looked up as she approached.

“Well, Twilight, I’m impressed. Taking on one of the Elements of Harmony – and winning – in your first battle is no easy feat.” He purred.

“That was one of the famous Elements of Harmony? I expected them to be much stronger.” Twilight huffed. “Yet she refused to attack me properly. The only wound I sustained from any of Celestia’s worshippers was this small cut above my hoof. Nopony seemed willing to harm me.”

Sombra paused before sighing. “I have an explanation for that. You see, you bear a striking resemblance to one of Equestria’s former princesses, who died just a few years ago.”

“If the death was confirmed, then why did they believe that their princess was alive?” the alicorn questioned.

“Because they believe that I’m the one who killed her.”

“Did you?”

“No. Although part of me wishes that I did.”

“Then how did she die?”

Silence.

“Father?”

“I don’t know, Twilight.”

“Oh, Twilight, thank goodness you’re okay!” Nightmare sighed in relief, trotting up to meet her husband and daughter. “I heard about the attack and I was so worried!”

“Were you not worried about me?” Sombra snorted.

“Of course I was. I just had no doubts that you would survive. Twilight is still inexperienced.” Nightmare explained.

“Inexperienced?” Twilight exclaimed, her voice cracking. “I was able to down everypony in my way! None of Celestia’s idiot guards were able to harm me! The only wound I gained was this scratch, and the pony who gave it to me was an Element of Harmony!”

“Element of…” Nightmare’s eyes narrowed. “Sombra we need to talk.”

Her father growled but followed anyway, leaving a confused Twilight behind. “What was that about?”

The alicorn waited a moment before silently following her parents. The two trotted into their room and closed the door, shutting out their daughter, who came by a minute into their conversation.

“Of course I knew one of them would be there!” Sombra growled.

Twilight pressed her ear to the door, using her magic to stop the door muffling her parents’ voices.

“Then why would you send her there?”

“To test her!”

“If it’d gone wrong, she would’ve gotten her memories back! Now all she needs is a picture of herself and Rainbow Dash and her memories will flood back! Celestia will have the most powerful pony in Equestria on her side and we’ll be doomed to banishment.”

“Then it’s a good thing you brought almost every picture of her in Equestria over so that we can hide them where she can’t find them!”

“Fine. But at least wait before sending her to fight another Element.”

Twilight heard hooves coming towards the door and shot upwards, using her magic to cling to the ceiling. Her parents trotted out of the room and down the hall, muttering to themselves darkly. The alicorn snickered softly and ducked into their room.

“Now where are those pictures?” she murmured, trotting to the bedside table. She filed through each drawer, grumbling when she found nothing, and then crouched on the floor. The space under the bed was empty. She pouted and walked over to the dresser, pausing to straighten her mane in the mirror. The top two drawers gave her nothing, but the bottom one contained a large folder labelled ‘Past Twi’’.

She took the folder in her magic and opened it. There was a giant stack of papers inside. She checked the first – a picture of her as a unicorn wearing a golden crown with a large purple star on it – before freezing. Her parents’ voices were attacking her ears from outside the room. With only a few seconds to think, she cast an invisibility spell on herself and the folder, kicking the drawer closed with one of her hindlegs.

“I still don’t appreciate you sending her against one of her friends in her first fight.” Nightmare frowned. Twilight held her breath and began sneaking towards the door.

“I’ll wait a few more battles before pitting her against another Element, if that makes you happy.” Sombra huffed. Twilight used her magic to keep the door from closing behind her parents. She backed towards it nervously.

“It would. I’m sorry for getting mad, but you know how hard it’ll be to keep her on our side if she sees another one of them.” Nightmare sighed.

Twilight fled from the room, closing the door quietly behind her. She dropped her invisibility spell and grinned widely. The folder was going to tell her why Celestia’s army had refused to hurt her, why the name ‘Rainbow Dash’ was familiar, and why her mother was so mad about her meeting them.

The alicorn trotted happily back to her room, to find Comet Trail standing guard beside her door. The dark purple batpony nodded as she passed, his green eyes glancing away as she smiled at him. She closed the room to her door behind her and leapt onto her giant bed. The purple star at the head of it shone from the light of her horn as she straightened the sheets beneath her. She took a glance in her wall mirror before opening the folder.

Twilight took out the first picture and stared at it. She was standing proudly, looking at the camera with a childish gleam in her eyes. Her horn was glowing, the crown resting against it, levitating a scroll with illegible writing beside her. The alicorn scowled at the picture’s resolution preventing her reading the scroll. The pony in the picture was her in every way, except that they were a unicorn.

“I was never a unicorn…” Twilight muttered. She dropped the picture beside her and pulled out the next.

In this picture she was being forcefully hugged by an unbearably pink earth pony. She was once again a unicorn. The earth pony had bright blue eyes and a cotton candy mane and three balloons for her cutie mark.

“I’ve never known a pony like that.” Twilight snorted. The picture was tossed aside and replaced with one of unicorn Twilight laughing with the same pink pony. They were both wearing rainbow umbrella hats.

“I’ve never worn anything like that!” the alicorn groaned. “This folder is complete trash! None of this helps me.” She stuffed the three pictures back into the folder and tossed it under her bed. She fell back onto the bed, sighing. The alicorn knew she couldn’t ask her parents about this – they would just get mad at her for taking it from their room.

The door opening jolted her into a sitting position. Her father trotted across and gave her a quick hug. “Goodnight, Twilight.” The unicorn quickly left, replaced by her mother.

Twilight leapt from her bed as her mother approached, gleefully anticipating what came next. Her mother smiled warmly and crouched down, followed by her daughter.

“Moonlight, moonlight, fireflies awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Twilight giggled happily, leaping at her mother and giving the taller alicorn a big hug. She climbed back onto her bed and pulled the covers over herself.

“Sleep well, my precious light.” Nightmare murmured to her daughter, trotting back out the door and switching the lights off behind her and closing the door.

Twilight buried her head in her pillow and closed her eyes. She’d find out more about those pictures tomorrow.