Twilight Sparkle always had some problems and even felt desperate sometimes, since everything started. It was just simply too much to take in at once, and who could really blame her for that? The bus driver, Timber and Gloriosa, Canterlot, these fire elementals and their commander and furthermore the uncertainty if her parents were even still alive. Luckily, her friends always stood by her side and supported the lavender girl in her hardest times.

After Rarity and Pinkie Pie made her understand that they had each other and nothing was lost as long as they believed in the survival of their missing family, it would all be fine in the end. Yes, these thoughts calmed the book-loving teenager down, indeed.

Now, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Twilight herself had only one more problem to overcome. The secret dream of the most extreme ecological activists, or eco-warriors, as Shining Armor called them. Nature itself fought back. In the form of giant, thick, dark green vines, no less.

"I can't stop them for much longer!" Rarity announced loudly, with growing exertion.

After the vines started to attack, the three friends summoned their Geo Power and made themselves ready for combat. They could dodge a few times with success, in response the plants started to attack in a more coordinated manner. Rarity used her diamond-formed shield to prevent the attackers from reaching the group, but the first cracks started to spread over the barrier around them because of the never-ending onslaught.

Twilight got an idea, "Pinkie! Can you use your sprinkles to bomb us a way out of here?"

"No silly. Normal sprinkles can't destroy magical plants.” She giggled and snorted. “Buuut I brought this with me in case of baking emergencies. I'm sure it will do," the party planner replied happily.

She took one little can out of the abyss known as her hair and showed it to her friend. Twilight read silently the label and was baffled that something tooth decaying like this existed in the first place. On the can was written:

Mega Sprinkles! - With a big extra portion sugar

Careful: much more effective than common sprinkles!

"My spell is breaking! I would be much obliged if you could hurry!" Rarity warned in panic with a strained voice.

The shield shattered.

"Take that, you meanies!" Pinkie Pie shouted heroically and tossed a lot of mega sprinkles in a single direction, which was blocked by two vines.

The resulting explosion via Pinkie's sugar bomb was much stronger than expected and the vines broke in two at the center of the detonation where most sprinkles were assembled. A sprinkle-made path was created.

"Quickly!" Twilight shouted urgingly.

The girls and Spike ran through the opening and thought they could escape, but one vine managed to grab Twilight's right ankle and pulled the girl back with force.

"Wahhhh! Help!" the bookworm pleaded fearfully.

She couldn't use her magic to help herself. Levitation never stopped the plants earlier, the girl tried that already; it had not much effect on them. Her magic only annoyed the living flora. Twilight didn't know why, she could push this kind of magic-infused plants aside in their fight against Gloriosa when she opened a way for Spike, Sunset and herself in the giant vines that had surrounded Camp Everfree. Without breaking a sweat. She could do the same later when her friends helped the girl to embrace the Magic of Friendship to overcome Midnight Sparkle and she could pull the vines apart with ease afterwards. Why didn't it work now?!

"Hold on Darling! We are coming!" Rarity assured purposefully.

Pinkie and Spike followed right behind her, the hyperactive girl was mumbling something about 'not having a party-cannon to shoot sprinkles'. The fashionista herself was surprised she could move like that, dodging all incoming attacks for quite some time. She blamed adrenaline and the life-threatening situation they were in.

Spike tried to force the vine to release his owner and friend with bites, but the plant ignored the loyal dog's effort.

The vines finally wrapped themselves around Twilight's other two human friends, making sure to bind them strongly.

"Ahhhh! Not the hair, you ruffians!" Rarity voiced helpfully.

"I think we're in what most people would call a 'tight situation'," Pinkie joked with a strained smile, much to Twilight's dismay.

The purple canine could dodge every attempt of the vines to catch him until now. Sometimes his small stature sure was handy. Suddenly he smelled two very familiar scents and ran off, barking with vigor.

"Spike!" Twilight called confused after him. Where did he go?

"I think he found something. Maybe the little dear is searching for help," Rarity voiced her opinion in hope.

The earth broke apart beneath the group and a giant olive colored flower, more like a giant maw, appeared. It looked like a Venus flytrap, with sharp, long teeth. It screamed sharply and made itself ready to devour Twilight first. Pinkie Pie and Rarity could only watch, unable to aid her.

"Twilight!" the aforementioned girl's friends shouted in desperation.

Was that it? Would she die like this? Eaten by a mutated plant? Twilight didn't want to perish in such a cruel way!

"What's wrong? I thought the Magic of Friendship always saves the day? Oh, I forgot, you need all seven of your little 'Friendship Club' to blast something with your rainbow. Here, let me help you," a horribly familiar voice mocked in her mind.

It couldn't be...

"Midnight Sparkle?" Twilight whispered to herself in shock. Her vision went white.

Twilight's vision returned and she stood on a lavender colored platform, a big symbol , a magenta star, was imprinted on the top. Around them was the same light-filled, fuchsia and violet colored background from the time when she encountered her other half before. She was in her mind again.

“Welcome back Twily. I missed you," said someone with Twilight's own voice from behind the lavender girl.

This voice just sounded much more assertive and confident. She turned around.

"Midnight Sparkle! I thought I got rid of you. I-I don't understand. The girls helped me to defeat you!" Twilight replied with a little venom in her voice.

"Didn't you listen when I talked to you the last time before your meddling friends appeared to save you? I said: 'You will never control me. I will always be a part of you.' I meant it exactly like that, you naive fool," Midnight stated mockingly.

The spirit laughed.

"No! You are no part of me! I embraced the Magic of Friendship and with the help of my friends I can defy all odds, I know it!" Twilight answered emotionally.

Midnight groaned in annoyance, “You are so unbelievably stubborn. I am you! There is nothing you can do about this fact, it's an unavoidable truth. I know what you know. We have the same memories. I felt what you felt in the past. I saw what you saw. We are exactly the same, but I have more control over our magic. I'm sure you already asked yourself why your magic didn't work as well as in Camp Everfree, so let me enlighten you. Furthermore, I represent your desires to a point and have much more self-esteem. You may see me as the cool big sister and you are the nerdy doormat." Midnight chuckled at her own joke.

"Hey!" Twilight shouted, insulted.

The dark angel continued in a smooth tone, "Last time when we saw each other, you and your friends forced me to play by your rules. That was the reason why you had control over our magic and were able to use your little levitation with such strength. I recovered in time though and it didn't hurt my pursuit of freedom when you felt down because of the last events. So I took control again over the biggest part of our magic and everything that was left for you was a weakened basic levitation spell," Midnight smugly finished her explanation.

"You can't do that! My body is your body, too! If you work against me then you will ultimately endanger your own life," Twilight concluded fearfully.

"I know that myself, thanks for the brilliant deduction. Your conclusions are as keen as a razor like always, Detective Sparkle," the powerful teenager said facetiously.

Twilight pouted in embarrassment with puffed cheeks.

Midnight circled around her counterpart with a satisfied smirk, "I had to bring you in trouble, because you wouldn't come to this place otherwise. I have a solution which will make both of us happy," she said in a sly tone.

"W-what are you talking about? I won't let you harm my friends!" Twilight declared in full conviction.

The magical entity walked up to her twin until they stood nearly nose to nose, "Have you forgotten what Shimmer told us? Or should I say, you? Let me remind you..."

She put a hand, shimmering with turquoise colored magic, to Twilight's forehead and showed the girl their short private conversation after Commander Raga's attack.

"You did what?!" Twilight screamed deafeningly.

"Calm down, sheesh. Yes, I embraced my other half again, the she-demon from the Fall Formal. No reason to rip my head off," Sunset repeated, worried about her eardrums.

The nerdy girl couldn’t believe it, "No reason to-why didn't you tell us?! We have to make that right again, we have to-" Sunset closed the girl's mouth with her hand.

"That's exactly the reason why I didn't do it. The others would panic like you and there is nothing to worry about anymore. Please, trust me. I only told you about it now with a good reason," Sunset stated. The girl hoped that she could talk with her friend about it and the bookworm wouldn't start to hyperventilate.

"Reason?" Twilight inquired in uncertainty.

"Yes. I thought that my inner demon was gone for good, but she returned and I realized, after a long talk, that she always was a part of me and not my enemy. I was just never ready to accept her, because I feared I would go back to my old ways as a bully again by extension. So I refused to see the truth right in front of me. My point is that I don't think it's over for you, either. When my other half still existed, then that means..." Twilight finished the sentence for her friend with wide eyes.

"Then that means that Midnight Sparkle might still be inside of me, too," squeaked the terrified girl.

"Yes, but you have to let her in. Embrace her as a part of you again. I fear you won't find your human magic before you do it, like me. You have to reason with her," Sunset explained in a serious tone.

"What?! No! No, no, no! I can't do that! She, no, we nearly destroyed this world because of our hunger for knowledge about magic. I refuse to endanger others like that again! Do you know how it feels to nearly commit the biggest mistake of your life?" Twilight asked in panic and fear.

All the lavender girl received as an answer was Sunset's best deadpan stare.

"Oh... right... hehe," Twilight mumbled, blushing.

She remembered Sunset's former plan of ruling Equestria with a mind controlled army of teenagers and the stolen Element of Magic.

"Still, you once said to me that I'm not her and in charge of everything. How can you say now that I should embrace her?!“ she wanted to know, irritated.

Sunset sighed, "You might say that I learned something I didn't want to for a long time. Twilight, I always wanted to follow the path of friendship like Princess Twilight showed me, but after everything that happened I had to acknowledge that the real world doesn't work like that. Terra isn't Equestria. Conflicts won't always be solved with the power of friendship alone. I really want to avoid unnecessary conflict, but when others threaten what is most important for us, then we. Have. To. Fight. We have to do what we think is right. The problem is, there won't always be an easy way out or an option available that we would prefer as a solution.”

The lavender teenager smiled sadly, “It seems you took Ms. Celestia’s speech to heart.”

Sunset Shimmer returned the gesture with a wry expression of her own, “Well, we all needed the cheer up.” She lowered her head in thoughts, “I guess we can't always search for the errors in others just because it's much easier. I blamed my other half for everything since the Fall Formal. She was the 'evil' being in my mind, but in reality she was only the representation and, through magic, the manifestation of my wishes, desires and pride. In the end she was still me. I was just so focused on making her and the 'old Sunset Shimmer' forgotten that I didn't think about learning from my mistakes and making it better in the future. I simply believed that the Magic of Friendship would guide my way and that I should trust in it like the princess said. The 'demon', me, both of us... we learned from the past and are one again. As it should be.”

Twilight wrapped her arms around herself, as if protecting her body from the cold. A wave of uncertainty filled her mind, “I don’t think I can do that, Sunset. I just… can’t.”

Sunset playfully rolled her eyes and put a comforting hand on the other girl’s shoulder, “Try to communicate with her. You both need each other and one of you will always be incomplete without the other. I know you don't like it and have second thoughts about it and I don't blame you. In fact, I can understand you very well. But believe me, it needs to be this way. And,from my own experiences... it will work." the Unicorn-turned-human finished her exposition with an understanding smile.

Twilight was still not convinced. Could she really talk with Midnight Sparkle? Only the future would tell. Hopefully, so Twilight thought, this ‘necessary talk’ could wait for quite some time.

"Sunset was right, you know? We really need each other. Besides, I want to feel my own body again, to be a part of one and no longer exist as a separated spirit in the limbo known as your mind, created by magic. So, are you ready to accept me again? Can we be one once more? I think we both understood that the wish to understand something can't be achieved solely by destroying everything," Midnight asked her twin with hope.

"I-I'm not sure” The book lover feared that this moment would come. But what to do? Perhaps it was worth a try and if she should fall again, then the girls would be there for her. “No, you are right. Embracing Friendship doesn't mean that I should forsake my scientific curiosity when it comes to magic. And always living in fear of the next magical disaster I could cause if I'm not supervised doesn’t sound like a compelling option. OK, Midnight. I will trust you. Don't make me regret it," Twilight warned, very serious.

"I'm glad you see it like that. But there is just one little hook," Midnight replied in an innocent tone.

The glasses wearing teenager didn't like the sound of it.

"What 'hook'?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing major I promise! But you see, I don't want to be a simple part of you again like before, but my own being, to simplify it. I will use my power to fuse back with you, but I will continue to exist in your-our body. You could say I will play the role of your conscience. A very talkative one, so I can always give you helpful advice," Midnight declared with the same tone, still.

Twilight didn't see the mischievous expression of her twin, because she thought about this proposal with closed eyes.

"Seems reasonable. And that won't be schizophrenic? Talking with you I mean? I don't want to be seen as crazy," Twilight inquired nervously.

"Oh please. We tried to destroy this entire dimension to reach Equestria. We've been way beyond the point of being called crazy for a long time. We can talk in your mind so you don't need to use your mouth. Call it a form of telepathy," Midnight assured smugly.

That didn't make Twilight feel any better; more the opposite. How many people thought of her as crazy by now? How many just didn't want to hurt her feelings? Were they fearing her craziness? Was she to them a ticking time bomb?

And if so, she couldn't understand why. Well, OK, she had to concur that she acted a little bit stressed when she was tardy for deadlines, but which normal person wouldn't?

It wasn't like she would suddenly use some kind of mind changing or forbidden spell to make people go crazy so she could just somehow deliver results in time. The absurd thought alone made the lavender girl chuckle. Twilight was sure her Pony counterpart never did something insane and morally wrong like that, so why should she?

"Sparky, calm down! Honestly now! You take everything much too seriously and that is coming from your magical twin. It was just a joke..." Midnight intervened, annoyed.

The other teenager’s eye twitched at the nickname.

"Of course. Hehe. I knew that! I wanted to test you. Yes, exactly! Testing your... quality as my future conscience. You passed!" Twilight said quickly with red cheeks.

Midnight wasn't convinced at all and gave the nervous girl a neutral look.

"OK, I'm ready. Beam me up!" Twilight exclaimed with enthusiasm. Midnight could only facepalm at the misuse of that catchphrase.

The dark angel used her magic to become one with the girl once again. Twilight didn't know that Midnight cast other spells on her. The spirit would use their effects when it was necessary, or at the right time.

The entire mindscape was illuminated by swirling lavender lightning and the star on the platform started to glow. The last thing Twilight heard before she returned to the real world were two words; the name of her magic, "Arcane Magic."

"No!" Pinkie and Rarity screamed in terror. The carnivorous plant would pull their friend further into its maw every second.

Nobody knew about the lavender girl's talk with Midnight Sparkle. What was a long talk for the teenager in her mind translated to only seconds for the others in the real world, it seemed. Twilight used the very disliked phrase, ‘Magic - Don't question it’ to keep her sanity intact. She didn't like it when something happened and there was no possible scientific explanation.

The girl in question had to orient herself again. She felt it, her new magic and focused. Instincts and knowledge told her what she had to do in order to escape. Her body was surrounded by magenta colored energy, much to the surprise of her friends and the hungry plant. In a flash of light she disappeared, free of the Venus flytrap's iron grip.

"She's gone!" Pinkie Pie screamed dramatically. "Oh, wait. There she is," she continued suddenly with a calm voice. The hobby party planner looked at her previously vanished friend.

Rarity moved her head and saw Twilight. She stood, unharmed, on the other side of the deadly hole, quite safe.

She just teleported! Twilight was excited over such an impossible feat. She literally dissolved into atoms and put herself together at another place. A big number of possible experiments shot through her mind. It was unbelievable for the girl.

"Look who is enjoying herself," Midnight Sparkle said, amused. “You're easily impressed.”

Oh, right. The enthusiastic scientist knew she forgot something important. "Midnight?" Twilight asked unsurely in her mind.

"In the flesh... more or less. Focus, girl! We are not out of the woods yet. You have to save your friends," Midnight commented harshly.

"Our friends," the new magician answered stubbornly.

Midnight was confused by her statement, but didn't say anything in return.

Twilight focused her magic again and encased Rarity and Pinkie Pie with it. In a flash they stood beside their savior.

"You're alright!" Pinkie shouted happily and hugged her friend with force. Rarity ran behind a bush.

"That was fun! We should do that again! Who is up for a second round?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly. The girl discovered for herself that she loved teleportation.

Meanwhile, Rarity emptied her stomach behind her cover, overwhelmed by nausea and disorientation. She tried very hard to stay clean, with success. "I refuse to do that again. Ugh..." the fashionista voiced her opinion about Pinkie's idea.

Midnight laughed in Twilight's mind, "This girl has even the stomach of a lady! But I have to give her deductions for unladylike noises. I'm sincerely disappointed in her." Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at her twin's bluntness.

"D-Darling! Do you think that was funny? The nerve!" Rarity exclaimed angrily. She thought that her friend was amused by her suffering.

"What a sissy," Midnight mumbled.

"Rarity is no sissy! Not everyone can handle something like teleportation on the first try. I'm sure of that," Twilight tried to defend her friend's honor.

She could have sworn she saw a mental image of Midnight how she rolled her eyes.

"Twilight Sparkle! Are you even listening to me?" Rarity asked, slightly insulted. First her friend chuckled at her plight and now she ignored her, too?

"W-what? Oh, I'm so sorry Rarity! I didn't laugh at you, I swear! I just chuckled because of Pinkie's... hair. Yes, it tickled me," Twilight replied nervously.

The lavender teenager really didn't want to explain to them that Midnight Sparkle was now there, too. At least not yet.

Rarity looked at her friend, still not really convinced, but let the matter rest.

"And here I thought we were the best of friends, like sisters," Midnight said, mock-insulted and laughed.

Twilight groaned mentally. Would that be the norm for her now?

"Duh," Midnight simply stated.

The dark angel heard Twilight's thoughts when she focused enough, because they shared one mind. But it worked both ways, Twilight clearly felt her twin's annoyance when Rarity voiced her displeasure about her situation.

"Who are you, Rainbow Dash?" asked an annoyed Arcane Magic user. She received no answer.

Well, back to the situation at hand.

"Darling, are you OK? You spaced out there for a bit and I fear the confusion of that brute won't hold for long." Rarity asked in concern.

Twilight made a mental note to be more careful in the future. She didn't want to look weird every time she spoke with Midnight, "I'm fine, don't worry. I just thought about a method to get rid of that thing. I don't trust myself enough to teleport without much practice over high distances, for example back to Sweet Apple Acres and we can't just let it be. It's too close to the farm and uses its flowers to lure innocents to their death, it could endanger the other students as well."

"My little star! You're alive!" a newly arrived female voice shouted.

Spike came running, followed by two very happy parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

"Mo-mom!? Dad!? You are alive!" Twilight replied in sheer joy.

She ran at a speed Rainbow Dash would be proud of in the direction of her parents and hugged them tightly, crying tears of happiness. They did the same. Spike followed immediately and was very relieved as well to find his owner and freind safe and sound. Rarity and Pinkie Pie smiled, touched, tears in their eyes because of the happy scene in front of them.

"Young lady, we looked everywhere for you! Your father and I came to Sweet Apple Acres, because it was one of our last remaining options, before we would have looked for you at Camp Everfree. Luckily, we met one of your schoolmates, a girl named Trixie, on the way. She had to buy new tools in Ponyville or something like that. We bought some supplies there and bags to carry them, you may never know." Velevet blushed when she noticed that she was rambling again. "But that doesn't matter. We came to the farm where we met Mrs. Smith. She said that she saw how you and some of your friends walked in this direction,” she exposited. There was a brief pause. “My little girl is OK!" Twilight Velvet exclaimed in pure joy.

"We are so happy to have you back, Twily." Night Light looked kindly at Spike. "And you too, Spike."

"Thank you. I missed.. you... too. Oops," Spike replied sheepishly, noticing his mistake too late.

Twilight could only facepalm at her dog's carelessness. Her parents looked at the family’s dog for a few moments with hanging jaws, then at each other, then back at Spike, then at the very nervous looking Twilight and again at each other.

Finally, Velvet said in a serious tone, "Twilight Sparkle! Is there maybe something important you want to tell us? Were you doing any experiments on Spike?"

"Busted. Well, at least you don't have to hide your abilities and everything else from our parents anymore," Midnight pointed out helpfully.

Her twin noticed immediately that she called them ‘our’ parents, but when she told her to save the girls, she only titled them as Twilight's friends. It made the lavender girl curious, but that had to wait.

"Mom, I-" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence, the earth began to quake and the vines attacked again.

"W-what is that?!" Velvet screamed fearfully, Night Light didn’t fare any better.

"This mean hungry flower wants to play again. Twilight, do you have any ideas?" Pinkie Pie inquired nonchalantly.

Rarity tried to stop the incoming vines with her shield again and everything she had. Calling Twilight Velvet and Night Light ‘surprised’ would be the understatement of the century.

"Y-yes. I have a plan. We-" once again someone interrupted the lavender teenager. It was this time a very protective Twilight Velvet in mother-mode, who awoke instantly from her awed state of mind in the moment she heard how her daughter was planning to come close near danger.

"Oh no, you don't, young lady! Whatever that is, you won't endanger yourself. That is my final word!" Velvet stated without discussion.

"But mom!" Twilight tried, but her mother would have none of it. Midnight laughed, she found it hilarious.

"I said: 'No'! My baby won't get hurt or worse because of some giant vegetable monster. Not under my watch," came the harsh response.

"Velvet dear, normally I would support you, believe me. But I think we should trust hert in this regard. I think our daughter and her friends know much more about the entire situation than we do. Isn't that right, Twily?" Night Light queried with a half smile.

He silently promised his daughter that they would have a long talk later. The youngest of the family understood the unspoken message.

"Thank you, dad. Mom, I know you don't like it, but before you interrupt me again, listen to me, please. I have certain... abilities, magic. My friends and I can help everyone. So please. Let me do it."

Twilight Velvet looked with a troubled expression between her husband and her daughter, sighed deeply and accepted defeat, still not liking the whole situation at all, "OK, but be careful, you hear? Or you are so grounded."

Their daughter nodded her head. The young magician was grateful that her mother trusted her. Somewhat.

"Twilight dear, normally I absolutely adore such touching family reunions, but I must say... HELP!" Rarity demanded with growing tiredness.

Twilight concentrated her new magic into her hands and created ten spheres of arcane magic. Arcane Spheres, for the ten attacking tendrils. They surrounded Rarity, flying around the strained girl in a circular formation. Under a lot of strain, the lavender girl gave the signal.

"Rarity! Now!" she ordered and her friend complied.

"OK! Here they come!" the fashionista announced warningly.

The instant she let go of the barrier, Twilight shot her spheres upon the attacking plants, destroying and turning them into ash on contact.

"That was unbelievable!" Pinkie shouted in excitement. "Rarity was like: 'I can't hold the shield for much longer!' And the vines were like: 'We will get you! And your little dog, too!' And you were like: 'Taste my magic, you little-" Rarity stopped the girl from further rambling and put her hand on her friend's mouth.

"Pinkie dear, as much as I love your lively expositions of the past events, I think we get it. We were there," the lady-like teenager told her friend in patience.

The party planner just smiled cluelessly. Spike shook his head.

"That was-but-and you... Twily, were you taking some mysterious, unknown drugs by any chance?" Velvet sincerely asked her daughter.

"Mom!" Twilight replied, blushing madly and felt a little insulted. Her friends and father giggled at her plight.

"Twilight! There is something coming fast from beneath you and it. Is. BIG! Hurry, teleport everyone somewhere safe!" Midnight suddenly shouted worriedly.

The girl listened to her ‘conscience’ immediately without any questions. Midnight wouldn't demand something like that if it wasn't important. Twilight teleported their group to an open field to their right, a good distance away.

This time Twilight Velvet and Night Light suffered from nausea and had to hold their stomach contents, Spike was just confused how they got there.

"Woohoo! The second time was even better. I felt like all my worries ceased to exist!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a silly grin.

Rarity only felt a little better than the last time and had to fight the urge to void her stomach again. She gave Twilight an annoyed and slightly poisonous look. "Why did you do that again?" the fashionista huffed.

The answer followed soon. The earth literally exploded at the position where the group stood earlier and a giant monster appeared. It was a Gluttonous Evergreen, one of the newly created beings of the Everfree Forest.

It was, in fact, a creature made of not one, but two olive colored flesh-eating plants, each on one elongated stem, reinforced through thickness, and they were the heads of a tall walking body, made of wood, plant matter and fungi. The second head must have had its place for luring prey some distance away from the encountered one. That was what the group thought, at least. It was 12 feet tall in total and had... not really legs, but thick roots with big yellow-white fungi overrunning them, which caused them to be formed like something similar with two foot-like appendages. The fungi themselves emitted yellow steam over their surface and were thin but long, formed like uvulas. The rest of the body was made of dark red wood speckled with single fungi and dark green plant matter, thus formed like a humanoid body. Instead of arms with hands it had on each side 15 of the former attacking dark green vines, three on the right side, the side of the head they encountered. Two were destroyed by Pinkie's explosions and ten from Twilight. It had no facial expression, but from its aggressive stand alone and how it created crackling noises, it was clear to them that this being was very sour about the fate of its vines.

"OK, I didn't expect that," Midnight ended the silence with worry, for Twilight.

"H-how did you know that it would come out of the ground?" Twilight asked her twin, nervous and curious at the same time.

"I think because it's alive through some sort of magic. I kind of... felt how a strong magical presence moved in the underground and came suddenly closer after your attack," Midnight mused. She was a little astonished herself.

Rarity voiced the same question, "Darling, I think I own you an apology for my rude behaviour before, but how did you know that this hideous thing would come out of the ground to attack us?"

Twilight repeated the answer from Midnight as her own. The others looked interested at the girl, especially her parents.

"That was awesome, Twilight!" Spike said with a wagging tail.

Pinkie gasped loudly, “Do you have a Twilight Sense?!" she demanded to know with a giant smile and stars in her eyes.

"N-no Pinkie Pie, I'm pretty sure I don't have something like that," Twilight replied dryly.

"I second that, because it would be a 'Midnight Sense' in this case, anyway," the free spirit agreed smugly.

The other teenager’s eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm glad everyone is alright, but our ‘friend’ is coming," Night Light commented in growing tension.

"I didn't survive Canterlot and all these crazy things that attacked the town just to end as fertilizer!" Twilight Velvet announced in anger. "And I won't let you harm my family!" she continued.

Velvet took a few stones and tossed them at the Evergreen, it ignored the projectiles or swatted the sharper ones aside with its vines. It started to run faster and sent some of its left vines at the attacking mother.

"Mom!" Twilight shouted and stopped the incoming vines with levitation instead of spheres.

First, to save magic in case this fight would go for much longer and second, because the massive use of the spheres earlier and the three teleportations really took it out of the girl. Especially the last one when she teleported six at once in a greater distance. For a beginner like her, it was exhausting.

But the lavender girl just stopped the three vines which approached from the front and didn't see the the vine from the right. It hit her hard upon the side of her head. She fell down to the ground with a bleeding wound, unconscious.

Midnight sighed heavily in the mindscape. she hoped that she could have kept her placed ‘safety measures’ a secret for longer, but she had no choice. The dark angel activated an on Twilight put spell that would make it possible for her to control their body, in case her nerdy twin would lose her consciousness, to protect them from danger. It was originally meant for situations without many witnesses.

Now she had to improvise and play Twilight until said girl returned to the world of the living. Just great. Midnight hoped she could fool the others long enough.

"Twi... Twili... Twilight?! Are you OK?! Please, talk to me!" Velvet shouted at her daughter, tears streaming down her cheeks like fountains.

She held Twilight's body protectively in her arms and was desperate. Midnight felt the tears upon her face, opened her eyes for a little bit and turned her head. What she saw surprised the teenager.

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Night Light and Spike tried their best to stop the two-headed plant from devouring them. Pinkie Pie had little amounts of sprinkles on hand to stop the incoming vines from reaching them, but her supply was as good as empty. The remaining left head focused on... a rapier wielding Rarity with a completely new outfit?

Wait, wait, wait. 'Remaining’?

Indeed, the right head was cut off somehow. Was that the deed of the prissy girl? Midnight was very confused. Did she miss something? Spike stood in front of Midnight and Velvet. He bit furiously into every body part which dared to come closer, and Night Light took over the task of tossing stones for his wife, with bigger and sharper ones.

But that wasn't all. Everyone had to position themselves a good distance away from the carnivorous plant, because the environment around the attacker was slowly filled with yellow steam.

Midnight opened her eyes completely and locked them with her crying mother. She liked the warmth of Velvet's caring embrace. The magic-created spirit wished her mother would embrace her like that, too. Not only, because she cared for Twilight and thought she would be her. At least she didn't transform into her true form, the twin thought. That would have been awkward.

"Mom?" Midnight whispered, disoriented. She maybe could take over their body, but the girl felt dizzy from the assault, still.

"Oh, Twily, you are awake!" Twilight Velvet said in pure joy and hugged ‘Twilight’ even tighter.

"I'm fine, really. I need to stop-"

"No! I thought for a few moments that this thing killed you when I saw you lying on the ground with a bleeding head wound! You are not OK!" Velvet emphasized.

Midnight touched her pounding skull and regretted it instantly. It hurt. But the wound was carefully treated with bandages. Her parents must have had them in their bags, the injured girl figured.

"Mom I understand, but please. The others are getting tired and I have to help,” ‘Twilight’ reminded in a pleading tone. Even if she didn't really have a choice, because the nerd would be very mad if she didn’t do something to help them. She didn't need such drama. “But just out of curiosity... where did Rarity get her weapon and this new outfit?" Midnight asked.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Velvet answered truthfully.

Rarity saw how one of her best friends laid unconscious and with a bleeding wound no less on the hard cold earth. The mother ran immediately to the side of her daughter, calling her name, tears in her eyes and her father searched for a little first aid kit they bought in Ponyville. Spike whimpered and Pinkie Pie looked distraught and with fear at Twilight, her hair had lost some of its puffiness.

The fashionista couldn't protect her friend with a barrier, because... she felt exhausted. What a pathetic display from her, the girl thought in silent fury. Rarity felt herself responsible for what happened, that if she only would have reacted faster, then Twilight wouldn't be in this state. She was angry at herself, but mostly at this monster, which dared to harm one of her best friends.

If only she could fight! Having the ability to create barriers was nice and all, but defense alone wouldn't stop aggressive foes like this one. She wanted to make this creature pay. Even a lady like herself wouldn't stand idly on the sidelines any longer. That, Rarity swore. She took fencing lessons, because it was an elegant sport in her opinion. One of the few fighting sports which demanded true grace. The beauty of a perfectly balanced rapier and the hard work behind it was something the young woman could admire for hours at once.

Rarity once told her friends about her little hobby. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, these ruffians, laughed loudly and said that fencing was nothing more than 'Frou-frou Swordplay’. The nerve of those two! Pinkie Pie just smiled at her. Twilight wasn't at CHS at this time, Sunset wasn't sure what to say and only Fluttershy supported the fashionista with her whole heart. The kind dear was really a precious angel.

Her entire body started to glow a royal purple, like her hair. Knowledge filled her mind. A sophisticated voice of a woman echoed in her head, "Duelist Magic."

As the light died down, the others could only stare in astonishment at Rarity. The girl herself nearly squealed at the gorgeous clothing she wore.

Her hair changed back to its original state, before the geode had transformed her. The stone itself was now around her neck, protected in a thin white locket, supported by a silver colored necklace. Her clothing was much more suited for her new magic, too.

Black, long, elegant boots, made of a sturdy, but still very soft fabric, flat-heeled, protected her feet. Her legs were surrounded by five purple segmented plates, one plate for the entire shin, one for the knee area and three small ones for the upper leg to the start of her hip. The hip was protected with purple fabric, the shorts and the plates had cyan highlights at the edges. Everything was fitting together perfectly so that no skin was exposed at all and free movement was ensured, still. The shorts were secured with a black belt, in its center a cyan colored diamond. Her upper body was garbed by a dark blue musketeer shirt, with a purple belt around her stomach. Above the shirt was an eye-catching non-segmented armor, around her shoulders, lower arms and chest in the same color scheme like the plates on the legs and shorts. The girl wore on her hands smooth, tight fingerless black gloves, a cyan diamond as decoration on each of them. Lastly, Rarity had a black cavalier's hat with a long purely white feather. It didn't disturb her hair in the slightest; that was most important for the young fashionista... and no green. She hated that color. It would simply be the worst possible thing!

"Uhhhh! Rarity, you look great! Like a superhero, just with a much better costume!" Pinkie Pie judged joyfully.

"Thank you, Darling. I appreciate the compliment... I think. But I must confess my new attire is absolutely divine! And my new magic, Duelist Magic, fits my sense for grace and detail very well," Rarity replied gushingly, admiring her own new outfit.

Since the transformation, she didn't feel the pain in her ankle from the fight with Commander Raga any more. Maybe it was because of the magic. Or the pain might return after she transformed back? Well, that was a thought for another time. Now she had to help. And help, she would.

She wasn't fully finished yet, but her magic gave her the information how to summon her own weapon, too. So she held her hand out in front of her and concentrated.

In a purple flash of magic her future partner appeared. It was a rapier blade, of course. The hilt was silver and fancily built. In its center rested a big white diamond. It was seen on both sides of the hilt. The blade was pearl white, 1.3 meters long, made from an unknown material. The alloy glistened in a mysterious white light of its own.

The young woman looked determinedly at her opponent and decided to give everything she could, "It is on, you ruffian!"

Rarity charged the attacking plant from its right side, the one with fewer vines, sidestepped the remaining three easily thanks to her lessons and attacked with purpose. The left vines couldn't help, because Pinkie Pie somehow built a crudely made sling and rapid-fired very small amounts of sprinkles to stop them from attacking her friend. So they changed tactic and focused on the fun-loving girl instead.

One of her new abilities Rarity could already use was The Duelist's Eye. This ability made it possible for her to find out the weak points in the defense of her opponents or the weaknesses of the enemies in general. If possible, that is. In this way, Rarity could attack with precision, speed and the right amount of strength.

Her now with four small black crosses decorated eyes created white diamond-shaped symbols on every weak point of the Evergreen: on the top of the two heads, the necks and the center of the body. Only the fashionista could see them. Rarity mused that this being may have some structure in its body, similar to some kind of core or a heart.

Now came the hardest part, actually managing to hit the right places without ending up as a meal.

The right head saw her attack as a chance to feast and it charged with open maw at Rarity. The girl anticipated something like that and boosted her speed for a few moments as light cornflower blue magic engulfed her feet. She dodged very swiftly to the left with a few steps and before the right head of the Gluttonous Evergreen could turn around to try again, the young woman charged at the exposed neck and hit the marked point.

The desired effect followed in a blink of an eye.

The head was cleanly cut off and fell to the ground, dead. A green fluid came out of the open neck, but it didn't touch the girl. She activated her magic again to gain higher speed and ran out of range, positioned herself beside Pinkie Pie and was starting to prepare for an assault on the second enemy.

Suddenly, the aforementioned head made loud rustling noises. The yellow steam, which left these strange shrooms, shot out of every fungus in large amounts and condensed itself to a thick fog, protecting the monster. The team had to retreat a little so that they weren't in range.

"So... has anybody an idea of what to do next?" Spike asked with a deadpan.

"And then you awoke, Twily," Velvet finished her short summary.

"So Rarity managed to discover her own form of magic, this... 'Duelist Magic', summoned her own armor and weapon, cut off one head, with, from what you said, nearly inhuman speed in some parts, the second head was angry and this thick yellow fog started to surround it. Did I miss anything important?" Midnight summarized analytically.

She was, in many ways, exactly like Twilight. Her mother would have signed this statement. The girl was just much more assertive and more striving than her twin and if necessary she would use harder methods to achieve her goals.

"Yes," Twilight Velvet answered patiently.

The writer was already accustomed to the antics of her daughter, always trying to formulate everything in a complete and logical essay to catch every single detail. Typical Twilight.

"Twily!" Night Light shouted happily and hugged his daughter, too. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Spike did the same, when they saw that their friend was awake.

"Darling! You are fine!" Rarity said with wet eyes.

"When we are back at Sweet Apple Acres, I will throw you a 'Twilight-you-are-fine' party! Well, if Granny Smith allows it. She didn't permit the party I planned for Celestia, because it would 'waste too much food and we have to save it, with so many people to feed', or something like that. I mean, duh, how can you waste food when everyone will enjoy it at a party?" Pinkie Pie pointed out innocently.

Sometimes Midnight wondered how Twilight could stand this girl, especially in situations like now. How should she react? Ignore her? Scold her? Hit her? After a few moments, Midnight was sure the last option was very ‘Not-Twilight’ and too suspicious. Luckily for the girl, her mother took away this hard decision.

"Hmm. That thing remained there now the whole time and stopped attacking, I'm wondering why," she mused in confusion.

"Maybe it is more careful this time around? It lost a lot of its vines and some are burned or damaged. In addition, it lost one of its heads. I think this fog serves as some kind of defense mechanism," Night Light analyzed.

"I love it when you show your intelligence in dangerous situations," Twilight Velvet said with a seductive voice.

"How you protected our daughter and attacked this monstrosity first was very sexy, too," Night Light replied in a similar tone.

Spike ignored the ogling duo, but he was confused about the reactions of the girls. Rarity and Pinkie Pie released the hug very fast and blushed furiously, but Twilight was even weirder. She looked like she searched for a way to hide herself or to run away, he wasn't sure. Her head was red like one of the apples from the farm, both eyes twitching. Spike felt himself confirmed once again... humans were just weird. They always reacted embarrassed or in some other strange way in such situations. He couldn't understand it. Yes, humans were weird, indeed.

"Mom! Dad! Please!" Midnight shouted in sheer shame. Why couldn't they do something like that when Twilight was still in charge?! Why her?

"Oh, sorry honey. I couldn't resist your father's charm," Velvet stated, chuckling. Night Light rubbed the back of his head with his hand in embarrassment.

Midnight groaned and closed her eyes. Then she felt it. Previously, she was wondering how she was able to feel when this thing came out of the ground before it actually happened. Now that she was in charge of the body, she could explain it better. Midnight was able to literally feel the magical aura of a person, too and could judge their strength. At least when it was noticeable.

So she was sensitive to magic? Interesting.

For the start, there were her parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. They had a weaker aura of magic. She guessed that meant that they had stronger magic inside them than the average, but weren't necessarily able to use it in an active way. Like mages could. Well, not everybody would be able to use magic like that. It was just logical for her.

Then there were Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Both girls had a very strong aura. Rarity's was a good deal ‘brighter’, so to speak. It was hard to explain for her. It just felt more ‘awake’. Midnight was sure that was the case, because the duelist discovered her own magic already and the pink impossibility not so much. Her magic from this world still slumbered. But both felt like they had... two sources of magic?

Ah, of course! That must be the magic from Equestria. It made sense now.

The geodes were filled with both powers as well. They just felt strange to her, like they had both forces of magic inside of them, fused into a new form of energy she couldn't explain or understand at all. The Equestrian magic was much more strongly represented for now, but still.

Finally, Midnight focused on Spike. The dog had a little bit of Equestrian magic. She was sure it was responsible for his ability to talk like a human somehow. He had a second magic too, like everyone else of their group. It only felt much more... feral, yes. Like a storm waiting to be unleashed, or a wild dog, in Spike's case. It really felt like it was ‘chained’, not free like the magic of the others. It was strange.

Midnight was wondering what would happen if she used her power to unlock these chains. Would he become stronger? Faster? Or bigger? Would it be dangerous for him? Twilight would never forgive her if something bad happened to her dog.

After comparing the pros and cons, the dark angel decided she would try to release the canine's inner magic. She was sure Twilight would understand it somehow and forgive her one day. This experiment had to be conducted in the name of science and the pursuit of knowledge! At least Midnight hoped that her twin would forgive her.

"Spike?" Midnight asked unsurely.

"Yes, Twilight?" Spike asked back.

He found it hilarious the first time after the Friendship Games. Twilight always talked to him from time to time, like before he was able to talk. Out of habit, of course. She reacted shocked every time and looked at him in awe when he just answered or had questions on his own.

“Well, I can kind of feel magic that made it possible for me to teleport everyone in time. I just realized that I can feel the magic of any person or being that has a strong magical aura. That being said, I felt how you had two different sources of magic inside of you. The Equestrian magic for example." Velvet and Night Light looked lost, but interested at their daughter, "It was somehow responsible for giving you the ability to talk. And then there is the magic from this world." This world? Now the parents were very confused.

"So?" Spike inquired, curious himself.

"I felt that your own magic is kind of... well, 'chained', you might say. I think I can unlock it with my magic and let it free. Like it normally should be," Midnight replied, still unsure about her idea.

"Cool! So I will be some kind of super-dog? Like Scooby Doo? Or Lassie? Or Pluto? Or-" Midnight interrupted his fanboy behaviour. It creeped her out when the dog did something like that.

"Spike, focus! I don't know what will happen. We will have to test it." the dark angel answered with a smile.

"Darling, do you really think that is a good idea?" Rarity queried, worried for the little dog. The girl’s last attempt of understanding something new ended with her descent into this horrible Midnight Sparkle, who nearly destroyed their world.

"Yes, I'm sure of that," Midnight reassured Twilight's friend.

Why were they always so extremely careful when magical experiments had to be made? Without risking something for science they would never discover the greater secrets and connections from this world or be able to find new knowledge in general. It annoyed her. It was all about trial and error!

"Is something wrong, dearie?" Twilight Velvet asked the pink girl, who had been staring for some time in the direction of the Evergreen.

"Hmm, I'm not entirely sure, Mrs. Velvet. This fog got a lot denser and I can't see this meanie anymore. It didn't move, either. The whole time," Pinkie explained in a confused tone.

"You're right," Night Light agreed.

A happy smile plastered itself on the chipper teenager’s face immediately afterwards, "I know, right? I've had a whoooole lotta situations where I was right, but my friends or others just looked at me like I'm not right at all. But when I'm right, then others can't be right, or were they right, too? Maybe everybody was right all along, or nobody had the right to be right and we had no judge at our hand, who could speak right.” A giggle-snort escaped her throat, “I mean, that would be really funny if someone who has the job to speak right and fulfill the right couldn't be understood, right? Right!”

Midnight had to stop herself from groaning the heavens. All the headaches!

The pink menace continued with vigor, “But sometimes I heard it's very wrong to be right. In the political sense, you know? I mean, everyone drives on the right side here, but maybe sometimes the time isn't right and we have to make decisions, which aren't right at all, or we judge something as right or not right ourselves. How would that look in a courtroom? The judge has to be right, but when we know we are right and the other side of the court demands to be right too and declares that the side knows her rights... then I think something isn't right. Are they thinking right? Or are we thinking right? How do we find out who is right? In the end it could happen that nobody was right, but one side broke the right, am I right?" Pinkie finished her rightful speech of rightness at high speed, with a squeaking sound at the end.

Everybody was confused 1000 times over and decided to ignore what just happened for the sake of their sanity.

Midnight was sure she was very, very close to an aneurysm. Would Twilight really be angry at her for hitting the girl? She would even try to hold back. Maybe. Did they have a silence spell in their arsenal at one point? It would be the gift of the gods.

"I'll just ignore the last 60 seconds of my life," the dark angel muttered to herself. She looked at the fog and concentrated. She couldn't feel anything at all.

"Hmm... It seems that it's possible to block my ability to feel magic. I can't sense anything through this fog, like it just vanished out of existence. But to return to you, Spike. Let us try it out. I'm sure everything will be fine," Midnight assured sweetly.

What she didn’t know, such behaviour wasn’t out of character for the real Twilight Sparkle at all. Spike, as her ever so faithful number one assistant, had his fair share of purple insanity in his life and knew her tone very well.

It ended mostly in explosions and them being covered in soot.

"No problem. I'm trusting you, Twilight," Spike answered in good faith.

The teenager had to oppress the urge to laugh like a maniac, it would've endangered her disguise. Bad habits of the past.

Midnight focused her own magic in her hand, mixed with Twilight's, fearing the moment of truth. But much to her relaxation, it was still purple. She was lucky that the body was mainly poled on the body's original owner and didn't use the color of her own magic. Even when she used some of it as an extra to break the chains. The dark angel was sure that Twilight's friends didn't forget what her magic looked like. They nearly fell into Equestria because of it.

She put her hands on Spike's head, concentrated on the chains, forcing her will and power upon them. She could feel how the bounds tried to hold, but they were no match for Midnight's might. They broke and Spike's inner magic was set free.

The kind dog's body was surrounded by light brown colored magic and his form started to change. He grew.

After some time the wisps of energy vanished and everyone could see the new form of the formerly small dog. Midnight was never this happy to share one body with Twilight. That meant she couldn't really harm her. Rarity just fake-fainted, otherwise her magical new attire would have disappeared.

The former cute little canine had now the stature of a big, heavily muscled, dark-colored wolf. From the size alone Midnight had to correct herself; very big. This was a Dire Wolf, with at least a three meter shoulder height. Spike's brighter shade of purple changed the color entirely to a dark indigo. His chin and underside, formerly in pale green, were now dark olive green. His ears were dark green and the grass green fur on the top of his head was now dark sea green. The nose stayed black, and finally there were his eyes. they changed from their former friendly forest green to a blazing blue. Even his voice changed. He spoke and looked down at the seemingly smaller humans.

"How do I look? I feel amazing, guys!" Spike spoke with his new, very deep, humming voice. Midnight truly hoped she and Twilight couldn't share dreams.

"Fluttershy would have a field day here," Pinkie Pie replied in pure awe.

"Spike, you look... gigantic!" Night Light answered unconvincingly.

"Y-yes. it suits your... dominating personality," Twilight Velvet added. The presence of the Dire Wolf made her nervous.

Rarity awoke from the short loss of her countenance and voiced her opinion, "I think you look dazzling, Darling! Sorry I reacted in such a way at first, but I was simply not prepared for such an event to happen. Twilight, that is your handiwork. Tell me, what do you think?" the fashionista asked this question in a serious tone.

She really wanted to know what her friend had to say to the fact that she turned her cute little dog into such a ferocious-looking, but still majestic sight to behold.

Midnight had to act fast, but she knew how Twilight would react. No, no she didn't. Maybe the girl would cry, but such a behaviour was beneath her. The powerful twin had still her pride, "Spike. I think you are always perfect the way you are, no matter how you look. I will always love and know you as my Spike,” she said with a faked teary voice, supported by a smile. She was sure she nailed it.

"Wah! Stop the mushy speech!" Spike pleaded, feeling a little creeped out by her attitude, "Besides, I can always change back."

To prove his point, Spike's body was encased anew in the energy like before and after the light died down, the little dog was back again. Midnight thanked every higher entity who listened to her prayers.

"I can switch between both forms. You released my inner magic that caused the transformation from a dog to a wolf, but I don't have to always be like this, if I don't want to. Unlike many animals, who were changed forever. I can choose. And my awakened magic is called Feral Magic." Or so said a strange voice in his head, "From what I understand, the Equestrian magic played a role in that, but I have no idea how. You are the scientist, not me,” Spike concluded his explanation, panting, tongue out like a normal dog.

The dark angel heard everything, but most importantly for her was that Twilight wouldn't be angry on her, because she abused Spike for a badly ended test and her own desires or something like that. Everything was fine, the potential crisis was averted.

"Look! The fog is dissolving!" Pinkie Pie announced. Midnight really groaned this time.

After the yellow cloud disappeared, the Gluttonous Evergreen showed itself, whole again. With two heads and all its vines on both sides completely healed.

"Seriously? This thing regenerates itself through this fog?" Spike questioned in disbelief.

"I think we have to destroy it entirely in order to take its life, so that it can't regenerate, I presume," Rarity mused and readied herself for a final battle.

"I have no more sprinkles. Sorry girls," Pinkie Pie commented sadly.

"Don't worry. We will end this once and for all," Midnight stated coldly and determined.

Friends and family were very surprised. Twilight was suddenly much more assertive than usual. But it wasn't necessarily something bad in a situation like this.

"Twilight, are you sure? You were hurt the last time that thing attacked," Velvet asked in worry. Night Light looked concerned, too.

"I'm sure. Don't worry mom, dad. This thing won't know what hit it," Midnight answered with a sincere and friendly smile.

"I will help this time as well," Spike said and transformed into his Dire Wolf form again. "I will destroy the vines with my claws and teeth. You should take out the two heads,” he continued with his deep voice. Rarity and Midnight nodded.

"Here I come!" Spike shouted gleefully, then howled like the wolf he was and charged at an incredible speed toward the Evergreen. The plant noticed its approaching big opponent quickly and sent all of its 30 vines at the same time to make sure that its prey would fall this time. It wasn't enough for Spike.

"Ha!" the canine exclaimed, amused, and focused magic on his claws of the forelegs. He was lengthening and sharpening them. They were glowing in brown, wild, swirling magic. With one mighty slash of his claws, all 30 opponents were cut to pieces. The weakly enforced plant matter stood no chance against the Dire Wolf.

The Evergreen made angry noises, but its demise came near. Midnight focused one big Arcane Sphere and obliterated the newly created right head to nothing.

"Rarity!" Pinkie Pie shouted in excitement, "Finish it!" Her friend already took action.

At the same time, Rarity used the creature's confusion about the sudden amounts of damage it received and cut the left head cleanly in two from the top of the head, down to the lower part of the stem. She instantly pulled her rapier out of her opponent with graceful movements and rammed it with force deep into the being's center, destroying its core in process. Rarity could feel over her sword how something broke apart.

"Fatality!" Pinkie Pie shouted from the distance in a deep voice.

"Darling, I think we should play it safe this time," Rarity commented plainly.

"Agreed," Midnight concurred. She created two last Arcane Spheres and destroyed the rest of the Gluttonous Evergreen's body. It didn't exist anymore. The fight was finally over.

"Give me a R-A-R-I-T-Y! Give me a T-W-I-L-I-G-H-T! Give me a S-P-I-C-" Pinkie Pie couldn't continue for now, because she was interrupted.

"Without a 'C'!" Spike shouted in annoyance.

"Oops! I mean, give me a S-P-I-K-E! You guys were super-amazing!" Pinkie finished in joy.

"I'm so proud of you, Twily," Night Light said, filled with pride for his daughter.

"Yes, me, too. All of you fought brilliantly. You inspired me with many new ideas for new books," Velvet told the team.

Midnight wanted to say something, but she suddenly fell to her knees.

"Twilight!" the others shouted panicky, immediately running to her side.

"Calm down, everything is fine. I guess I'm just not as fit as I thought," Midnight said, closed her eyes and laid herself down on the ground.

She played tired, but the dark angel new the truth. Twilight started to awaken and would automatically gain control once more. The dork was the leader of this body and Midnight was just something like a free spirit with connection to the girl. She knew that. She would never admit it, but she had fun as long as it lasted, even if only for a short time. Midnight felt how she finally lost the connection and was back again in the mindscape.

Oh, how she wished she could have her own body.

Twilight, now back in charge, opened her eyes again, groaning, “I feel like a train hit me," she mumbled tiredly.

"Twily, are you alright?" Velvet inquired with a little worry.

The girl in question tried to focus and saw how Pinkie Pie, her parents, Rarity... Rarity?! What was she wearing?! And to her left was a giant Dire Wolf that had a distant similarity to Spike. What just happened?!

Without a warning, images and memories flooded her mind, everything since the moment she fainted to the moment she awoke, like she was there the entire time. But-she-how…!

"Midnight!" Twilight shouted in a booming voice through her own mind.

"Before you get a heart attack, I have to explain something to you," came the sheepish reply.

She confessed to her twin about the spell she placed on her, which would let her take over the body in the case of Twilight's unconsciousness.

"OK, that makes sense. A very clever safety measure from your side. But you should have told me. And we will talk about what you did with Spike later," Twilight scolded. She nearly thought she lost her sanity after the memories appeared.

"I can do something else. You remember that my biggest strength was to create portals during the Friendship Games, right? I can still do it... in a rather weakened form. Instead of ones to Equestria, I can create portals to places we once visited and remembered the details of, but much more controlled and stable. Without endangering the fabric of space and time. This and the power to sense stronger magical auras are my main abilities for now," the dark angel explained in uncertainty. Who knew how Sparky would react to that.

"Thanks for telling me, Midnight. That will surely come in handy for us in the future," the lavender girl stated.

"Twilight?" Pinkie asked for the fourth time in a row.

"What? I mean, I'm fine, Pinkie Pie. Don't worry. I just thought about something. You remember how I opened portals to Equestria, right?" Twilight asked.

Spike, Rarity and Pinkie nodded their heads with grimaces. Well, Pinkie Pie still smiled. Her parents were confused for the umpteenth time this day.

Twilight repeated Midnight's choice of words to describe the portals. Twilight really hated it to lie about her magical twin, but if the images and reactions from earlier about Midnight's experiment with Spike, under the assumption of the others that her twin was actually herself, were anything to go by, they wouldn't understand. The moment she told them about the existence of Midnight they would try to do something about the other girl. Or worse, they wouldn't trust her anymore.

She couldn't risk it.

"So you can open portals to places you visited and they are stable? Young lady, we really have to talk, when we find Shining Armor and Cadence. Granny Smith told us that they were gone as well, as we asked her about them," Velvet commented, mentally and physically exhausted.

"Yes mom, I will tell you everything. Except about Midnight," Twilight replied as sincerely as possible.

Under her ‘conscience’s’ instructions and some of her magic the glasses-wearing girl managed to open a stable portal, formed like a door and two meters tall. It was made of blue-white magic, like Midnight's. In its center was a colored picture of the main house of Sweet Apple Acres.

"It is sad that there is no spa. Well, I think we deserved ourselves a long bit of rest and relaxation," Rarity said with slight disappointment.

She released her armor and weapon and changed back to her original clothes. Spike took on his smaller form again.

"Rarity, are you feeling better? You ran and fought like your accident never happened in the fight with Meanie McFirepants," Pinkie Pie asked curiously.

"I know, Pinkie dear. I wondered that myself, maybe I'm in luck. But we should return now. The others may be waiting already," the fashionista responded encouragingly.

Everyone stepped through the portal before it disappeared. They were just tired and happy that this adventure came, at last, to an end.

Author's Notes:

Greetings my avid readers!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

In case people are wondering after this chapter:
"Why didn't Pinkie Pie get her magic?"

Or something like that, well, the answer is very simple:
"It wasn't the right time to release the pink, yet."

To better separate the two, I will color Midnight's lines, as long as she is in the mindscape. And now that there are two Purple Smarts, the dosis has been doubled!

Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned!