News had spread in the city about Cadance’s death and the offer of the Iron guard. Blood Moon had hid and escaped in the commotion. But the news of the identity of the Iron Guard who committed the atrocious act spread even faster. A pony mare who looked just like Princess Twilight, down to the eye color, but was not an alicorn. She was locked up in the dungeons with magic suppressing relics from Queen Chrysalis’s throne so that she could not enter her Iron Guard form. Everypony had heard Shining blame Cadance’s death on Twilight, saying that it was her fault that he even left the crystal empire – but he was even angrier when he accused her of betraying everypony and being the one who killed her. His anger and grief overwhelmed him, and he was left alone in the east wing of the castle for everypony was too scared to be in the same room as the furious vortex of pain.

Twilight meanwhile, sat outside the cage of Midnight star with a disgusted face to interrogate her. “Who are you?” she asked as her mirror image stirred awake with an evil chuckle.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m you, or more correctly, you’re me.”

“I’m my own pony, and that doesn’t answer my question.”

“Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. You know, why don’t I tell you a story to cheer you up.”

As they spoke, Blood moon had infiltrated the room with the shards from Chrysalis’s throne, stunned all the guards, and was in the perfect position to deactivate them.

“The story of why you are doing this?”

”Oh you already know that.”

Blood moon broke one of the four shards, rendering it useless.

“Don’t test me, you’re lucky this isn’t Tartarus.”

She broke a second.

“Oooh Tartarus? I’m terrified, then again – could you really put yourself through that much pain?”

She smashed the third.

“I don’t care about you. Burn for all I care.”

Blood Moon stepped towards the fourth.

“Wow – I didn’t think the peace-loving version of me was capable of saying something like that… But! Before somepony unrightfully changed the subject - I meant to tell you the story of a young foal…”

She broke the last shard.

“The story of Twilight Sparkle.”

With that her eyes flared red, she burst out of her chains and sent Twilight flying into the dream-world with a burst of red lightning.

She landed, finding herself in a small room. It was littered with things a small foal would play with. Her confused and furious train of thought was interrupted by the sound of crying. She approached the crib in the room, to find a small, very unhappy purple foal. “Oh little Twilight.” A soothing voice sounded behind her. Spinning around, she saw her mother, Twilight Velvet, trotting into the room to console the crying foal. “Mom?” Twilight whispered as Twilight Velvet walked towards and then through her. Twilight suddenly realized that she was in a memory. The door behind her gaped open into a void that sucked her just as she saw her mother pick up the foal in her forelegs and begin humming softly. She screamed in confusion, once again landing on her back. She got up to see her old house on fire. It was being raided by a rouge group of dragons, something very remotely possible as this home was before her father became a Royal Guard and before they lived in Canterlot – possible, but it never happened. “Twily!” the voice of a scared foal shouted, as she turned to face a partially burnt Shining Armor as a foal, being pulled back by her father and her weeping mother. She looked back toward the fire to see one of the dragons lift the figure of a crying foal and fly away with it. “No… that never happened...”

“Did it?”

She turned to face Midnight’s face. The scene had changed. They were in a Dragon’s den.

“Or were those memories never yours?”

She turned again and saw the dragon who had Foalnapped the baby Twilight prepare itself to eat his late night snack, when a burst of Blue Lightning flew from a dark area of the room - sending the dragon flying into a wall of jagged rock. She made out an Iron Guard, but its eyes and lightning were blue as it scooped up the foal and disappeared through a cauldron-shaped portal.

“I have come to terms with Citadel’s decision that day. I do not regret not being returned to my family. Mainly because of what they were going to do.” Twilight looked at Midnight. “As far as they were concerned, I was already dead – and they were too selfish to keep my memory alive the right way – so they willingly replaced me.”

The scene changed and Twilight saw her parents, grieving over a tiny headstone marked ‘Twilight Sparkle.” They clutched a burnt smarty pants in their hooves. They looked weary, it must have been a few months. The figures of Twilight and Midnight followed them back to their home where they had a heated discussion that left Twilight Velvet with tears in her eyes. Twilight Sparkle gasped. Her father had asked her permission and help to carry out a spell. Black Magic. One that could be used to create an identical clone of a dead pony using the memories of those who loved them and something they had once held dear. Her father looked at the smarty pants doll and swore that he would get his daughter back.

Twilight dropped to her knees as the scene swirled and changed once again. Both her parents were on board with the forbidden plan and were now performing the spell – creating a sphere of light above their heads with their magic. In a burst of light, a tiny foal slowly descended from that and into the waiting arms of Twilight Velvet. Both parents were overwhelmed with joy as they hugged each other and the clone of their thought-to-be lost foal.

The scene changed again, a few weeks into the future, they had somehow managed to convince everypony – including the young Shining Armor - that they had recovered their daughter from the dragons, and now aimed to do the same to themselves. They felt terrible guilt after creating the clone to replace their supposedly dead child, so aimed to force a memory spell on each other to convince them that their daughter had never died, and that their little clone was the real one – erasing every memory they had of the forbidden spell they so secretly cast.

“No, no, it’s not true…” Twilight gasped in shock.

The scene faded to white as Midnight Star stood in front of her. She was a regular pony. She stooped over Twilight as she laid down in shock. “Yes,” she said, “You are not a real pony. You are an abomination created by foolish mourning parents.”

Twilight looked up to her tormentor, with her eyes welling up with tears. “I am the TRUE Twilight Sparkle. You are nothing but a cheap imitation of me – you are not real, and nothing you have ever been through has been different from a destiny stolen from the original. You disgust me pathetic worm – you will disgust your friends, your family and all your subjects once they find out the truth of what you truly are.” She bent down lower toward the crying Twilight. “Live with that truth – abomination.”

Blinding light.

Twilight awoke back in the dungeons with Midnight, now in her Iron Guard form – looming over her. Tempest burst through the door – late again – with a group of Royal Guards. Midnight Star moved her head upwards and shot a bolt of lightning at the roof, splintering it and breaking a hole in it. She flew through, quickly made eye contact with a startled Blood Moon and said, “Time to go.” She teleported both of them out of the castle with a burst of red lightning and a white, cauldron-shaped portal.

Tempest and the rest of the Royal Guards rushed toward a crying Twilight to ask if she was okay. She replied that she was not, and asked who she was – Tempest, not questioning why she asked or why she was in that state, responded by putting a hoof on her shoulder, saying that she was her friend, Princess and role-model, and that she had a kingdom of ponies who loved her fiercely. Twilight said that Tempest did not understand, saying that she was not even a real pony, that she was an abomination of magic. Ignoring Tempest trying to help her up and argue otherwise, she teleported away to confront the parents that had lied to her about her life and existence.

They were surprised to see her, more so in that state. Her mother tried to console her, but Twilight backed away, asking her mother what she was. Velvet responded with a soothing, yet confused voice that she was her daughter, but Twilight cut her off. With a flash of light from her horn she performed a memory purifying spell, then repeated her question with tears in her eyes. The answer was delayed, but the same. Suddenly angering, she shouted at them, telling that she knew that they thought the real Twilight died and they created her as a clone. They both looked back at her in shock – they had just had their original memories restored. Her father nodded with tears in his eyes saying that he couldn’t bear the loss. They tried to embrace the clone, but she shook them off, saying that they lied to her and then teleported away, leaving them alone in tears.

Then she went to confront her teacher.

She looked Celestia in the eye without greeting her and ignored Luna’s confused remarks. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow dash and Fluttershy had just entered the room to seek help finding their friend, to find Twilight yelling at Celestia. “DID YOU KNOW?” Celestia sighed, looking down – ashamed – and muttered, “Yes.” She went on, saying that she thought it unwise, and once she gained a cutie mark and became as real as anypony, she thought it would be best to keep it from her. Twilight asked why she didn’t stop her parents, ignoring the more confused and worried remarks from her friends and everypony in the room. Celestia opened her mouth and then closed it. Twilight shook her head and said through gritted teeth, “Everypony… who I have ever… looked up to… have lied to me… my entire life…” Celestia looked at her former student for forgiveness, but Twilight shook her head as she lost her colors and become consumed by hopelessness magic, and teleported out of the room with a bang.

Everypony looked towards the now noticeably saddened Celestia for the lengthy explanation.