[AiE] Disharmony - Part 8

>You are Twilight Sparkle... waiting.
>To recap: You were transported to a parallel Equestria where the Anonymous here is an evil tyrant and has taken over in some form or another with a magic crystal.
>...
>There is no possible way you can tell Princess Celestia about this without sounding insane.
>At least it's nearly over.
>You and your friends are sitting outside the castle grounds, out of sight, waiting for this Alter-Anonymous to appear so you can hit him with the Elements of Harmony.
>Your duplicates didn't want to risk you getting hurt.
>This is their home and they want to put you in as little danger as possible.
>How they think they can possibly bring you all here and make that claim, you have no idea.
>It should be fine, though.
>The plan is reasonably sound, despite how dangerous it is for their group.
>It's the waiting that has you all on edge.
>"This isn't right!"
>Right on cue, as always.
>Rainbow Dash is looking over the wall to see anything that might be happening.
>"They're putting themselves at major risk just being here by themselves. Twilight #2 is who this Anon wants, and she's just gonna be out in the open for him."
>Rarity moves to her side.
>"That was the plan, Rainbow Dash. She's drawing him out for us."
>"But they're practically blind out there. My double can't even fly and their Fluttershy is gone. They have no eyes in the air. They don't even know where Anon is; he could sneak up behind any of them!"
>"Well what do you expect us to do? We can't risk being seen by the guards; they'll either attempt to detain us, or go warn Anonymous when they see our Elements."
>"Argh! I just feel so useless! They're putting way too much on the line for us!"
>To be honest, you feel the same way.
>It's about more than just helping them get through this; it's about helping all of this Equestria.
>The Princesses are frozen in stone in the gardens just a few meters away, and you're just waiting it out.
"I feel the same way, Rainbow. Look at it from their perspective though. Alt-... Umm... Twilight #2 brought us here out of desperation, and without her friends knowing. How would she feel if she saw any of us get hurt, just like they've been? Because I know I'd feel... BEYOND terrible."
>Rainbow Dash looks down in thought for a moment before looking back towards the castle grounds. She sighs deeply.
>"I guess... She'd have to know that we're willing to do more than just sit here, though. I'm telling you, if I see any of them in trouble, I'm bolting to help!"
"Understandable. I'd rather you didn't, but I feel like I'd do the same thing."
>The rest of your group has joined her at the wall.
>You move there too, just in time to hear a loud *BANG*, and see some confetti and balloons appear in the air behind the tower Cadance is in.
>The guards outside the entrance of the castle respond immediately and go running towards her.
"This isn't our fight, but they need us. We just have to wait for the moment we were brought here for."
>You see Alter-Twilight and Rarity move towards the entrance of the castle.
"And that moment will be happening shortly. Stay alert."



>You are Alternate Twilight Sparkle.
>You're waiting a few more seconds for any guards inside to come rushing out from Pinkie's distraction.
>Note to self: never question the practical use of the Party Cannon ever again.
>Before long there are no more guards running out.
"Alright, Rarity, let’s move."
>"After you, Twilight."
>Moving through the doors and into the main hall of the castle, there's not a guard in sight.
>"Which way?"
>To be perfectly honest... you have no idea.
>You start moving up the stairs and Rarity follows behind.
"Uhhh... up and in the direction of the tower!"
>"You don't know?!"
"I'm very tired and haven't been here in a while, Rarity! I chose to remain in Ponyville, remember?"
>"Here's a thought: why didn't you fly up and teleport out with Princess Cadance?"
"Because I can't use that much magic when I need to send our duplicates back home. Also, I can't fly properly..."
>"Twilight, it's been quite some time since you became an Alicorn; how could you still not know how to fly?!"
"It’s not that, I’m just exhausted! You know how much I’ve been doing; it’s not just magical fatigue I’m putting up with!”
>“I understand that, but you still don’t fly as gracefully as a Pegasus would. It seems somewhat embarrassing, given how you’re a Princess!”
“I've been preoccupied!"
>That's a lame excuse.
>She raises a good point though.
>WHY haven't you learnt to fly properly yet?
>Turning a corner, you arrive at some doors that lead to a balcony connecting to the tower.
>Good, at least you still have your sense of direction.
>You open the doors slightly to have a peek.
>A cursory glance reveals two guards on the balcony looking out upon the grounds.
>You look around for a moment before whispering to Rarity.
“Alright. Two guards. Could you rip a long strand off that curtain and get ready to tie them up with it so I can move in and knock them out?”
>As expected, Rarity looks absolutely mortified at the proposal.
>”Rip it?! Twilight, this is a palace curtain! I couldn’t possibly do such a thing!”
“After everything that’s happened, Rarity, I really doubt anybody will miss a curtain...”
>You can practically see the gears turning in her head as she struggles to find a flaw in your reasoning.
>Finally, she relents.
>“...I suppose so.”
>She uses her magic to rip a large strand from the curtain – a reasonable length.
>Good enough to distract the guards.
>You slowly and quietly move out onto the balcony.
>They’re not facing you so you quietly sneak up behind them.
>As they’re talking among themselves about what they’re seeing, the curtain strand is carefully weaved through their legs, up and over their backs.
>You nod to Rarity and the strand tightens around the guards, pulling them together and yanking them back to sit in front of you.
>Before they realise what just happened, you use both of your hind legs to buck each of them in the helmets, knocking them unconscious.
“Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!”
>You can’t believe you had to resort to violence.
>A part of you feels guilty, but then you had little choice…
>If you could use magic, you’d have used a safer method to get past.
>Hopefully they’ll be okay.
>Rarity moves out onto the balcony, her magic still gripping the torn curtain.
>The strand around the guards wraps around them a few more times, tying into a bow.
>With that out of the way, you both survey the castle grounds.
>"So what exactly WERE you preoccupied with? I understand there's this whole 'running for our lives on a daily basis' situation since Anonymous took over, but you'd had plenty of time before that."
>Is she really back to this?!
"Ergh! I was just falling into old habits quickly! Nothing has really changed since I got wings; I spent all my time reading and studying! Regretfully, I was helping Anonymous with his magic crystal!"
>Oh, how you'd love to reuse that time spell right about now.
>"So even when he left for his journey, you never once thought "Oh, perhaps I should learn how to use these appendages on my back!" at all?!"
"No, I didn't. When I gained control of them and they stopped getting in the way, I just forgot I have them. It's not like I really needed to use them that much anyway..."
>"No, not at all. This situation right now couldn't possibly be a good time to fly."
"Give me a break, Rarity! Nobody could have predicted any of this would happen! Why don't you ask the other Twilight why she doesn't fly very often instead?!”
>Why are you even arguing about this, of all things?
>This is not the time or place to bring it up.
>You look down below you at the base of the tower, and spot what looks to be a party.
>Strangely, it looks like a few of the guards are... having fun?
>Pinkie's ability to party is so strong that she can even have the guards forget their training and enjoy themselves.
>While that's incredible, it's far more amazing that she's looking like she's becoming her old self again for this situation.
>You can't quite tell from this height, but her hair may have poofed out a little more.
>She hasn't quite been the same since the incident, so it's great to see her like that again.
>Looking further out, near your old tower you lived in before moving to Ponyville, there's a few guards lying on the ground.
>Rainbow Dash is near them, talking to somep0ny.
>It looks like a changeling.
>Good, she must've found and gotten help from one of them. That's two accounted for.
>"Look, Twilight. All I'm saying is that it's been a few years. It seems strange that somep0ny would sprout wings and not adapt to them in that amount of time.”
"Ergh! Look, can we drop it, please? I promise when this is over that I'll learn to fly properly! It's a moot point, anyway; I can't use my magic to help Cadance out of the tower without your help."
>"Alright, I'm sorry."
>Moving to the other side of the balcony, you see Applejack running, three guards chasing her.
>Hopefully her endurance holds up and she can keep outrunning them because you can't go help her now.
"Besides... with what happened to Rainbow Dash, I think even if I could fly properly, I'd be trying to avoid it anyway. I feel like I would be unintentionally taunting her..."
>"Ah. Yes... the poor dear. Even Rainbow #1 tried to avoid flying in her presence."
>...Why exactly are you Universe #2?
>This is your world; just because their Pinkie thought of the number system doesn't mean they should be #1.
>And why are you thinking about this NOW?!
>Maybe Rainbow was right; you aren't thinking straight.
>Your thoughts trailed off twice while you've been in this tower.
>"Still no sign of Anonymous anywhere."
>Rarity snaps your attention back to where it should be.
>Shaking your head a few times, you examine everything in eyesight on the castle grounds.
>If he suddenly appears and interrupts your current task, that could be trouble.
>You see Group #1 still outside the walls in their position.
>At least they haven't been spotted yet.
>"Are you alright, dear?"
>You turn to Rarity, who wears a look of concern.
>"You seem very distracted."
"Yes, I'm still just really tired. Every possible thing that can go wrong is just playing over in my head continuously, then I started questioning why we're the #2's like our duplicates call us instead of the #1’s, and..."
>This is all unimportant and you're wasting time!
"…don't worry, I'm fine. After today, I'll have the longest rest I've ever had and we'll be back to normal."
>You hope.
>"Alright, then. Shall we proceed?"
"Let's go."
>Moving towards the door to the tower, you open it slightly to peer inside.
>All clear.
>You move in and proceed up the stairs until you're at the top door.
>Opening it slightly to peer inside, you view a hallway.
>This is the last stretch before you hit Cadance's room.
>There are two guards outside her door.
>Considering you'd made it all the way up here with only these two guards in your way, this could have gone a lot worse.
>Rarity looks in and starts whispering to you.
>"What's the plan, darling?"
>You rummage around your cloak and pull out a smoke pod.
"I'll throw one of these towards them as a distraction; you find anything you can lift with your magic to knock them out."
>She nods and begins looking around the hall for anything she can use.
>You roll a pod with enough force that it taps the hoof of the first guard.
>He looks down, confused for a moment, before the pod starts shooting out smoke.
>Both guards react and attempt to ready themselves through their coughing.
>Before they have a chance to do anything else, a flower vase smashes over the head of one of the guards, knocking him out cold.
>The other guard turns to his fallen comrade, searching for the attacker, before the same happens to him.
>Both are now unconscious.
"Nice work."
>You both enter the hallway and move up to Cadance’s door.
>Before you open it, you remember what she told you before addressing a situation...
>Deep breath in...
>...release.
>You calmly open the doors and both of you step inside.


>"Twilight! Rarity! What are you doing here?!"
>Cadance is lying on the bed.
>As you were informed, her horn, wings and one of her back legs are turned to stone.
"We're getting you out of here. Shining Armour doesn't want you to get hurt anymore, so we're taking you with us."
>"But I can't move very fast. I'll only slow you down. What about Shining?"
>"He'll join us afterwards, darling. Now let’s get you up and out of here."
>You move to the side of the bed and Rarity helps Cadance to climb on your back.
>It's an awkward situation considering how much bigger she is than you, not to mention the added weight of her heavy stone parts.
>Rarity is easing the load with her magic by holding her steady, as well as keeping her wings and back leg in the air.
>"I don't think this will work. I'm too big for you, Twilight; by the time you get to the front of the tower, the guards will have seen you..."
"It's fine! And we're not going back that way; we're going off your balcony!"
>"Wait, WHAT?!"
>You move over to the window doors leading to the tower's balcony.
>"Twilight, I can't fly us to safety and I know you still can't fly properly! Even if you could, you can't carry all of us!"
>"Relax, Princess, we've got everything under control... I think."
>"You THINK?!"
"Cadance, calm down! We'll be fine!"
>As you open the doors, you can feel her starting to panic on your back.
>Worse than that, you can hear a certain voice making its way to the room...
>"Princess, where the hell is your husband? Those fucking ponies are back and there aren’t enough guards here to stop them from fucking shit up!"
>It's Anonymous!
"Rarity, he's coming! Move, now!"
>"Drat!"
>You move to the edge of the balcony just as you hear the doors opening.
>Rarity starts to work her spell to surround the three of you, and you do your best to assist it without using too much magic.
>"Why are your guards unconsci- WHAT THE HELL?!"
>You turn your head to see Anonymous framed in the doorway of the balcony.
>He's standing there with his arms folded, crystal in hand.
>"Well... that explains why I wasn't hearing of anyone seeing YOU down there. You're terrible at hiding and escaping."
>You look at Rarity for a second, who nods at you, before turning back to him.
"Guess I'll have to try something different, then."
>With that, you and Rarity both jump with Cadance still on your back.
>You're falling at terrifying speeds, so you increase your magic a little and hope that Rarity is doing the same.
>Cadance is holding onto you tightly, sounding as if she's trying to hold in a scream.
>She's not the only one.
>Rarity grunts loudly and you suddenly feel yourself falling slower.
>An aura of light-blue and purple magic surrounds you.
>The speed at which you're falling is slow enough to have you land without much force.
>Or at least, not enough to hurt you. Cadance made your landing a little heavier, but Rarity was fine.
>Rarity opens her eyes, sweating a little and out of breath.
>"That was surprisingly taxing."
"Sorry I couldn't help anymore."
>You look back up at the balcony and spot Anonymous looking over the edge down at you.
"We need to move, quickly."
>You start heading to the front of the castle to get outside the walls, but you feel a certain presence behind you.
>Turning around, Anonymous is drifting slowly to the ground where you just were, surrounded by a black and white aura with a fiery effect.
>"You forgot you taught me how to float around with this, didn't you? Why would you think just jumping off the tower would stop me following you?"
>You and Rarity start backing away slowly.
>Anonymous lands softly on the ground and slowly approaches you.
>"Seriously, Twilight. Eight goddamn months. Your attempts at stopping this are getting worse, and this one looks like it's the dumbest. Why are you trying to save Heartbutt? Is your brother in on this?"
>You glare at him.
>Hopefully Group #1 was watching because this could be the end if they don't act now...
>"Ohhhh, wait, I get it. You told me about how they stopped that changeling queen at their wedding. You're gonna try and have them do the same thing to me, right? Vanquish me with the Power of Love? Believe it or not, I did consider that possibility, which is one of the reasons her horn is stone. I didn't think it'd work, but I’m not dumb enough to take that chance anyway."
>Cadance gets off your back to stand and confront him.
>"Lucky for you, because I'll have you know that Love is one of the strongest forces this world knows!"
>He's standing there, cracking a smile at her.
>"Yeah, they said the same thing about Celestia, and look where that got her."
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT THE PRINCESS LIKE THAT!"
>Anonymous looks back down at you, irritated.
>"Like I told you a thousand times already, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I didn't know what would happen to her, I was just trying to make sure she couldn't harm me! All she had to do was stop and find a way to send me home!"
"And what about Luna? Or Fluttershy?! You say a lot of things are accidents yet they keep happening!"
>He's getting more aggressive and the aura around him is getting both lighter and darker at the same time.
>"I told you, I overreacted and blacked out with Fluttershy! I didn't mean for that to happen, even if she was extremely annoying! Luna was practically trying to kill me, I had to stop her!"
>As you continue to back away, you feel your flank hit a wall.
>Rarity and Cadance realise it as well.
>Now you're cornered and the others are nowhere in sight.
>He's noticed and his anger seems to fade a little.
>"You know, I heard that you had duplicates brought here… or at least, some were seen. At first it worried me a little because I didn't know what you were planning, but then I thought the guards were mistaken because your other three friends are the only ponies wandering around the castle grounds..."
>…
>Wait...
>He doesn't think they're real?!
>"I mean, let’s face it. What logic is there in bringing more innocent ponies here? If you were able to do that, you'd pretty much have no excuse NOT to send me home. Every other pony here would look at you and wonder why you're prolonging the crap-tastic state the world is in while letting the Princesses remain as garden ornaments!"
>If you could make others explode with your rage, he wouldn't exist right now.
"Maybe that's just what I wanted you to think... maybe have you go looking around to get you away from the castle..."
>"Well, bravo. You failed."
>You're about to consider blasting him with some magic, despite how futile you know the effort is, but you suddenly notice something forming in your peripheral vision.
>He hasn't quite noticed yet.
>"Now, since you're obviously screwed, why don't you cut the shit and come with me? I'll give you free access to the library in the castle so you can find a way to send me home... Ooooooor, I can turn all of your legs to stone and put you in there anyway where you won't have a choice. Your call, Purple Smart."
>...
"Your choice of nicknames is stupid. I believe I'll take my chances and keep fighting you. Besides, you haven't even seen the rest of this current plan."
>He scowls.
>"Oh, goodie! Is Applejack gonna come and throw a rope around me?! That'll sure put me in a pickle!"
"Not quite... maybe I should let THEM show you."


>Pointing to your side, he turns to look at what you're referring to.
>There you both see your duplicates, Elements of Harmony already charged up, floating in the air.
>"What the SHIT?!"
>He starts to back away, clearly afraid of what’s coming.
"Retribution!"
>You take the opportunity to nudge Rarity and move under Cadance, lifting her back onto your back and moving away from the wall.
>Anonymous has backed up a good distance, staring down the group of ponies wielding the Elements.
>As the other Twilight opens her eyes to reveal the power coursing through her, the Elements start to fire off colours.
>This is a moment you've never seen from the outside.
>It's beautiful.
>The colours all meet in the middle to spiral around each other before they form a rainbow.
>The effect is enough to light up the sky with a certain blue that you hadn't seen in so long.
>Twilight #1 smiles at Anonymous, who has a look of frustration on his face.
>"This is for Fluttershy!"
>With that, the rainbow launches from the center of the group.
>Anonymous braces for the impact as he erects a shield around himself from the crystal, arms in front of his face.
>The wave of rainbow magic trails down and at first conflicts with his shield for a few seconds.
>It's enough that he's actually grunting trying to resist it.
>Eventually the elemental magic and the crystal's magic start to clash with each other, causing a bright light that's enough to blind you.
>Yourself, Cadance and Rarity are shielding your eyes, but you need to see this end.
>The Elements seem to be winning out as the rainbow completely engulfs Anonymous and the light is far too intense to keep staring at.
>You can't see a thing.
>You hear what sounds like stone breaking.
>The force of which these two powerful magics are clashing is too much and you're sent flying backwards from a shock wave.
>Sliding to a halt, you open your eyes.
>You can at least see the sky above you, now returning to its deep orange evening colour, but there's a big white light coming from the ground you were just sent flying from.
>Squinting, you can see light fading.
>There's smoke lingering in the air where it was.
>The other ponies are landing on the ground now and looking at where the Elements’ rainbow beam had hit.
>Cadance is on the ground next to you struggling to get up while Rarity is moving back to your side.
>Nop0ny can take their eyes off the impact zone, desperately trying to see through the smoke...
>...
>...
>...
>...
>...
>"*cough*"
>Oh no...
>The smoke starts fading and you can see the silhouette of Anonymous through it.
>He's still got his arm covering his face, but he's taken a knee.
>Rarity gasps and Cadance stares in disbelief, panicking.
>"How could he have resisted the Elements?!"
>The smoke fades completely and Anonymous is kneeling down on... what looks to be stained ground?
>There's a black circular burn in the ground with white glowing lines through it.
>Anonymous himself has little streams of black and white flames spiraling around him.
>Out of breath, he opens an eye to survey his surroundings before relaxing.
>Seeing the shocked reactions of disbelief on the face of everyp0ny surrounding him, he looks back down at the crystal.
>"HO-LY SHIT! This thing can even withstand the Elements of Harmony... Hahaaa... Wow!"
>This is...
>This is just impossible!
>The most powerful magic known to ponykind and he still resists it?!
>What do you do now?
>What CAN you do now?!
>The other Twilight wastes no time and in a flash of purple, she and the duplicates are teleported away.
>Anonymous looks back over to you.
>His happiness in discovering just how powerful the crystal is fades.
>"So... you DID bring some duplicates!"
>This is bad.
>You have nowhere to run.
>You can teleport away, but you'll use too much magic if you do because you have to bring Rarity and Cadance with you.
>"What's the story, Twilight?! Did you clone yourself somehow? Magically copy each other? No, that can't be right, they had a Fluttershy! A FUCKING FLUTTERSHY!"
>The three of you start backing away, but he doesn't look as if he’s matching your pace to move forward.
>"So what was it? Dark magic? Alternate dimensions?!"
>He stops and thinks about this for a moment.
>"Wait... Ohhh, you bitch... That Twilight looked exactly like you without the stupid cloak and scar and whatever! You would've had to have pulled her in from somewhere else!"
>He starts moving closer to you.
>How did he reach the conclusion of an alternate universe so quickly?
>"So enlighten me! How the FUCK are you able to pull in six other fucking versions of yourselves, AND STILL CLAIM TO NOT BE ABLE TO SEND ME HOME?!"
>Every time he shouts, he radiates with that magic.
>It's even making his eyes turn black with white irises.
"It's not the same magic! I researched possibilities for months and tried dangerous new magics to find parallel universes, but I can't use it to find your world!"
>"OH, WELL I'M SURE YOU COULD IF YOU PUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF EFFORT INTO IT! COME ON, TWILY, LET'S GO STUDY!"
>...
"No."
>You move closer to Rarity and let Cadance stand back up.
"I'm not giving up. Your actions have brought too much misery to this world, and I swore that today would be the last of it!"
>His eye twitches.
"I may not be able to fulfill that vow today, but I promise you... Your time is coming! And you WILL answer for your crimes!"
>As he's about to grab you, a black blur suddenly lands on him from out of the sky.
>You quickly identify it as a changeling from the blue eyes as it sinks its teeth into Anonymous's shoulder.
>"ARGH! WHAT THE FUCK?!"
>Anonymous is brought back down to a knee before he reaches over to grab the changeling.
>Before he can, another comes charging from your right to knock him back over.
>You're about to seize this opportunity to try and grab the crystal, but the hand he's holding it in starts glowing.
>He punches the changeling on his shoulder in the face and it is sent flying with quite a bit of force.
>He staggers back to his feet, but he seems unbalanced.
>Waratah drops down next to you, sans the disguise.
>"Twilight, go! We'll distract him!"
"I'm not leaving you here!"
>"We'll be fine! We'll try to drain him while you leave with the Princess!"
>You look back to Cadance and Rarity who are looking worried at the current situation.
>A purple flash appears next to you.
>The other Twilight has come back.
>Waratah wastes no time in addressing her.
>"Take them, and go!"
"No, don't! I'm not leaving them!"
>Your duplicate thinks for a second before responding.
>"I'm not going without bringing you with us!"
>Waratah stressfully looks back to your duplicate.
>"Do as I ask, PLEASE! If she's taken, then everything we've worked for is over right now!"
>You're about to argue with her, but Waratah anticipates it and clonks you on the top of your head with her hoof before you could start.
>The blow to the head has put you down before she runs to join her friends in attacking Anonymous.
>The feeling has made you dizzy.
>You can't quite tell what's happening anymore, but you notice your duplicate rummaging around in your cloak.
>She pulls out a pod and rolls it towards Anonymous before her horn starts to glow.



>You are Twilight Sparkle #1.
>And this is bad!
>Very bad!
>The worst, even!
>You'd quickly gone and teleported around the castle grounds to retrieve Alter-Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack as they distracted the guards.
>Then you teleported back to retrieve Alter-Twilight, Rarity and Cadance.
>Against your better judgement, you did as Waratah told you to and left the changelings with Anonymous.
>Not before rolling one of Alter-Twilight's smoke pods at him, though.
>Alter-Twilight gets up, shaking the dizziness away, and looks at her surroundings.
>At least everyp0ny is safe, so far.
>Moving to join the others at the wall to watch Anonymous struggle against the Changelings, you start to consider teleporting in to get them away from him as well.
>He's swinging his arms wildly as the three changelings swarm around him.
>Waratah is clinging to his leg with her teeth in his thigh while her two friends are attached to his arm and flying around his head, respectively.
>Why hasn't the smoke pod popped yet?!
>Anonymous's hand starts to glow and he smacks Waratah off his leg, following it up by swatting away the changeling in the air.
>He then moves to the wall to slam the arm the last changeling is attached to against it.
>No longer being hindered, he picks up that changeling with his free hand by the neck and holds it up against the wall.
>His other hand begins glowing again, as he makes a fist.
>Before he could deliver the blow, the changeling that was flying around his head charges the back of his leg, causing him to drop the one in his hand and tumble over backwards.
>Waratah has recovered by this point. She notices the smoke pod on the ground and rushes over to stomp it.
>White smoke fills the scene and a few seconds afterwards, the three changelings fly out in different directions.
>Waratah starts to make her way out of Anonymous's sight before she goes lower to the ground to fly towards your group.
>The smoke is suddenly blown away with an enraged roar as Anonymous stands there radiating the black and white magic.
>"THAT'S IT! I'M DONE!"
>Waratah lands beside your group and collapses, a large crack in the carapace on the side of her head.
>"I WAS WAITING FOR YOU TO COME TO YOUR SENSES, TWILIGHT! I WAS TRYING TO MAKE SURE I WOULDN'T MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR ANYONE!"
>Alter-Twilight moves over to the wall to see him looking around frantically for her.
>"BUT NO MORE! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE! NOW EVERYONE CAN SUFFER BECAUSE OF YOU! TOWNS, CITIES, FORESTS... ALL OF THEM WILL BE FLATTENED UNTIL I FIND YOU!"
>That's not good.
>He's completely unstable now.
>The guards have started to gather around him, unsettled by what they're seeing and hearing.
>You turn back to everyp0ny with determination.
"We have to go, now!"
>Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grab Cadance and start to fly away, low to the ground.
>The rest of you run.
>Canterlot is not a safe place to be for the moment.
>You stop when you notice Waratah on the ground, still wincing in pain.
>A little blood is seeping from the crack of her carapace.
>You start to help her up, but she bats your hoof away.
>"No... don't. I need to stay!"
"No you don't! You're coming with us!"
>"He still doesn't know who I am... I can... learn what he plans... Then I'll find Shining Armour when he comes back... I'll take him back to the cave to meet you..."
>She struggles to stand, before she flashes green and her disguise is back on.
>"Leave me here. I'll return soon!"
>You nod and begin to move, but take one last look at Anonymous.
>He's radiating so much power, that he's got black and white flames surrounding him like a shield.
>You can vaguely hear his words echo through the grounds and in your mind...
>"All who stand against me will burn in the fires of my hatred!"