“Eli, are you sure this is the place?” Neon asked, worry evident in his voice. He and Eli were standing in front of a nightclub named ‘doppelganger’, the exact same nightclub that Dusk had invited him to earlier that day.

“I’ve already double checked. I’m sorry Neon but it seems that Dusk is involved in these cases, one way or another.” Eli sighed, “So... Which do you think? Victim or murderer?”

A brief silence passed between them as Neon pondered the question. His face grim with determination, he responded, “I do know one thing. If he dragged Twilight into this, he better hope he’s the former, for his sake.”

Eli was about to respond when she sensed movement in the dark before them. She turned to face the newcomers, her rapier drawn and ready to fight. Neon saw her movement and readied his scythe. Both weapons were made of auracite, the hardest material known to ponykind. A white unicorn with a wild electric blue mane and shades together with a gray earth pony with a dark gray mane emerged from the nightclub before them. The earth pony had a cello with her and the blue gleam given off by the strings gave them away as auracite strings. The unicorn was surrounded by multiple floating record disks that were giving off a similar gleam. Four ponies stared at each other, eyeing each other up. A moment of tense silence passed between them. The silence was then shattered with a yell of “DJ-PON3 IN DA HOUSE!” followed by the sounds of battle.

****

Things were not looking good. Twilight was unconscious; Dusk was fighting a losing battle and the only ponies could save them was currently fighting for their lives a few meters away in another dimension. Dusk was rapidly losing ground to the shadow, each step back bringing him that much closer to Twilight. Discord shifted to look at the persona battle occurring outside the pub. The two ponies from twilight’s dorm were outclassed in terms of power but the unicorn’s persona allowed her to foresee the future attacks and avoid them. This resulted in an endurance battle and Discord knew that regardless of the victor, the battle would conclude too late to matter. Twilight only had one chance. He had to awaken her persona. A risky gambit would no doubt ensnare her in the chaos of the ‘reverse’ incidents of Manehattan. However, considering the grand scheme of things, it was a no-brainer. In the event that her persona awoke, even if dragged into the mess that was unfolding in Manehattan, she still possessed a small chance to survive. Alternatively, not making her awake would result in one thing. Her death.

***

Twilight awoke in a room with Discord. His eyes expressed urgency but she found herself strangely immobile. he was frantically gesturing at her; she couldn’t hear him very well it was as if his voice was muffled. WAKE UP! Twilight entered the waking world with a jolt as the sudden loud cry roused her from her stupor. The cry had come from a signed and bleeding Dusk who lay prone before his shadow. As time slowed to a halt, she heard a saw a card floating down to her. Acting instinctively, she slugged the card with her magic and immediately, the card exploded and a thick blue aura enveloped her. She could feel the soreness from her injuries vanish as magic surged within her, filling her with a sense of euphoria. She almost failed to notice a dark-robed humanoid figure emerge from the fog over her. In his left hand sat a leather-bound book and on his head was a crown made from glowing brimstone. Its voice sounded as if it came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, resounding in her mind.

Thou art I and I am thou
From the sea of thy soul I cometh,
I am Lucifuge, Prince of Hell

Twilight had sensed two things. That this being before her was extremely powerful and that it was waiting for her command. “Protect us!” Twilight ordered and her persona wasted no time in following her order. The tall figure raised his hand and pointed and fire engulfed the shadow, setting it aflame. An unearthly scream filled the air as the shadow flailed about trying to extinguish the inferno that was putting him through so much pain. Twilight stood stunned as the true extent of the figure’s power became apparent. Discord had once again come through for her. She smiled; he was just like her guardian angel.

A sudden pain erupted in her head and she doubled over, clutching at it in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. Her scream was echoed by her persona and as she looked up, she saw a draconquus tear its way out of Lucifuge. Its limbs were manacled and its teeth bloody. It let out a fearsome roar and charged at the still smouldering shadow, tearing into it with claws and fangs. The shadow tried to fight back but the draconquus tore his chains apart too. It ended in a matter of seconds, as the shadow exploded into a cloud of black fog, a pony that looked like Dusk fell out too. Twilight collapsed in exhaustion and the persona faded away. Dusk stood up and faced his shadow eyeing it with distaste.

“Life hasn't been fair to us, has it? Misery follows us everywhere. I even caused Starlight, who was kind enough to adopt two homeless ponies off the streets, to die. Maybe if I didn't exist, Soarin' would still be living happily with her...You're right I suppose... I like being in control but... I can't change the past... The only thing I can do now is to make Equestria a safer place. I will become a get rid of the trash on the streets so people like Soarin'...Like Starlight... won't ever have to get hurt again,” Dusk stared at his double, determination burning in his eyes, daring the shadow to challenge him.

Two ponies faced each other on the half-destroyed rooftop. One smiled and a blue fog enveloped both of them. The one who had smiled faded away and a tarot card appeared and floated to the remaining pony. The card touched him lightly before it and the blue fog entered the body of the pony. One pony smiled in content and collapsed

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