The crystalline features of the cutie map and the seven thrones surrounding it sparkled as the glow of the crystal mirror shone throughout the room, illuminating the features of everypony present in radiant tones. Twilight watched the endless spirals of the red vortex contained within the mirror's dimensions as the machinery around it hummed with electricity. She turned her gaze, observing the span of expressions on her friends' faces as they watched their counterparts step into the mirror's light. Spike shifted uneasily beside her, observing the duplicates as they glanced back with regretful or disgruntled expressions, their flanks now bearing a small black equal sign instead of their cutie marks. One by one each of them silently trotted into the portal, resigned to whatever punishment awaited on the other side. With the last of her friends gone, A-Twilight trotted up to the mirror, stopping just in front of it and turning to face Twilight with a bitter expression.

"One question. Why?" the former alicorn asked resentfully.

"Because Equestria deserves a chance. A chance to be something better than what you would make it." Twilight replied.

"We created a world of friendship, a world of Harmony!"

"You made a world where friendship was meaningless. There may have been Harmony, but it was based on fear and tyranny." Twilight replied looking her counterpart in the eye as she searched for the right words. "The Elements of Harmony aren't something you can force ponies to live by. They're meant to inspire us to bring out the best in ourselves and each other! They need to be guided by friendship and tempered by love... and compassion-"

"And forgiveness." Starlight finished. Twilight felt her pupil's comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Those are the values Princess Celestia taught us, the values you've forgotten." Twilight said sadly.

A-Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Princess Celestia is weak... too weak to do what needs to be done. That's why your Equestria will never be safe."

"No, she's not weak." Twilight said firmly. "She could have done what you did, but she was wise enough not to. She knew where it would lead."

"And so do I." A-Twilight shook her head, stepping into the portal. "There'll be a day her mistakes catch up with you. And when that day comes, you'll learn that fear, fear is more powerful than friendship could ever be."

As red light of the mirror absorbed her, the portal faded, leaving the mirror reflecting only Twilight's face back at her.

"Are you sure we made the right choice... sending them back?" Rainbow asked uncertainly, with an almost angry edge to her voice. "They took over Equestria, brainwashed anypony they didn't like, and tried to..." she bit her lip and looked at Spike nervously. "hurt us. Badly."

"Indeed! No matter what that other Starlight says, I'm not quite sure they can be reformed." Rarity agreed, brushing her mane nervously.

"That's what we said about Discord too Rarity." Pinkie replied, pulling out a Discord plushie toy from seemingly thin air and hugging it. "But he ended up saving us!"

Fluttershy nodded, accepting the toy as Pinkie handed it to her. "We've got to give them a chance. They're us Rainbow, and if there's no hope for them, well..."

"Besides, without their special talents they ain't a threat no more." Applejack added.

Starlight sighed, levitating the small jar as she stared at the six glowing cutie marks within. "Don't be too sure."

"What do you mean dear?" Rarity asked worriedly.

With a small smirk, Starlight set the jar down atop the cutie map's projection of her old village. "Just... don't underestimate yourselves."

A familiar beeping noise filled the room, and Twilight instinctively looked to her flank. Sure enough, her cutie mark was glowing, moving in a inward pattern.

"Ah guess that means a job well done gals." Applejack said with weary smile. Everypony rose from their thrones, making preparations to leave.

"It's still so unsettling." Fluttershy shuddered. "I never thought we could be so... evil."

"They weren't evil." Twilight sighed. "In a way... they were still us."

"Yeah it's strange." Spike said uneasily. "When they were in Ponyville, they acted exactly the same as you. I guess because, they were you. But they were sort of... different. More efficient I guess. But besides that, they also seemed afraid, paranoid even, trying to keep me with one of them all the time like something was gonna happen."

Twilight caught her friends' gaze as they fidgeted uncomfortably in their thrones. They'd decided not to tell Spike some of the darker details of their adventure, especially the root cause of their counterparts' fall: Celestia's death. He was still a baby dragon after all, and some things were better left unsaid.

"Yes... although, they were rather effective weren't they?" Rarity commented as she levitated a few more clothes into her saddlebags. "They managed to achieve all our goals."

"Yeah, but they felt so... hollow." Applejack said darkly. "I suppose they were something like us, us without any... restraint ah guess-"

Rainbow Dash yawned loudly, interrupting Applejack and earning a dirty look from the farm pony. If Rainbow caught it, she acted oblivious. "All this existential talk is great everypony, but I'm beat. Think I'm gonna head home and hit the hay. Plus, I gotta find a good spot to display my original Daring Do hat! How many Daring Do fans can say they have that?!"

"How many fans are gonna believe her when she says she got it from an alternate universe?" Twilight heard Applejack whisper snidely.

Pinkie jumped off her throne in a backflip and landed in front of Rainbow. "Sleep?! Are you kidding Dashie?! I could stay up forever and ever and zzzz..." The party pony collapsed midsentence and started snoring. With a heavy sigh Applejack picked her up and hefted her onto her back, mumbling something about too much sugar.

"I should get home too Twilight, Angel tends to get cranky without a bedtime story." Fluttershy said. With a slight gasp, she covered her mouth with her hooves, a look of horror in her eyes. "Y-you don't think he'll be scared of me do you? Oh dear... that other me... she probably used the Stare on him when he tried to argue! Oh that poor thing!"

"To be honest Fluttershy, I'm worried they'll all be afraid of us now." Twilight replied in a troubled voice.

"Why?" Applejack asked indignantly. "They know we didn't do those things."

"Even when that dark water corrupted you into your evil opposites, it's not like anypony was actually afraid of you afterwards." Spike pointed out.

"I'm not so sure this time..." Twilight said somberly. "They know what we're really capable of now."

"It isn't our abilities that make us who we are Twilight, rather it's our choices of what to do with them." Rarity stated eloquently. "I suppose that this whole ordeal proves that."

"But I don't wanna be a Hufflepuff!" Pinkie muttered in her sleep.

"I better get her home." Applejack sighed, trotting towards the door. "Ah gotta say, in all this friendship mission business ah never expected we'd be saving a whole world!"

"Totally!" Rainbow agreed. "I've had enough adventure for a while at least!"

"Ten bits says she'll be moaning about how bored she is tomorrow." Applejack joked.

"Oh I won't challenge you on that one dear!" Rarity chuckled.

"I heard that!" Rainbow yelled crossly, chasing the two out the door (three counting Pinkie Pie) as Fluttershy timidly followed. Despite the throne room doors swinging shut behind them, Twilight could hear Rainbow and Applejack bickering loudly as they trotted toward the castle's front doors. Some things never changed.

Spike rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn unsuccessfully, letting out an involuntary cloud of smoke. "I think I'm gonna call it night too Twilight." he said sleepily. He walked over to the doors and made to push them open, but paused as if in thought. "What did that other you mean Twilight?"

"About what?" Twilight asked, exchanging glances with Starlight.

"She said her world was a world of Harmony. But the stuff she did, it just felt... wrong. Freaky even." Spike said uneasily. "What exactly is in that other world?"

"It's weird Spike." Starlight replied pensively. "So much like our world, yet so different in... tone I guess. Less... carefree."

"Huh, sounds sorta dark." Spike mused. "I never thought of Equestria as carefree really."

"Believe me Spike," Twilight said, looking up at the gem lined chandelier that lit the room. "There are some things you don't miss until you know what life's like without them."

Spike looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by another yawn. He settled for a mumbled 'goodnight' as he let the door close behind him.

"You weren't just talking about the old library were you?" Starlight asked softly, slumping her shoulders. "You were talking about your friends."

"Starlight I forgave you a long time ago." Twilight replied. She looked at her reflection in the enchanted mirror, observing the details of her fatigued visage. Her face looked weary, as if the world had taken it's toll on her. And, it had in a way. The face staring back was so similar to her counterpart's... except the eyes. They weren't quite as... cold. There was some indescribable softness there, a warmth... but how long would it last? Every fire burns out eventually.

"You may have forgiven me, but I've learned it's just as important to forgive yourself. You didn't do those things Twilight. And you never will."

"Never." Twilight repeated sadly. She turned to face her pupil. "Maybe I didn't do those things... but in a way I did. It's horrible, but I can understand why my counterpart did what she did."

"She was afraid, afraid of losing her friends." Starlight guessed. "So she used fear to control things, make sure the same thing would never happen again. I guess... I know what that's like more than anypony. When you succumb to fear once, it gets easier and easier to justify things." Starlight looked down at the floor regretfully. "Control becomes more important than the ponies you're trying to protect."

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm the Element of Magic Starlight. But it's equally correct to call it the Element of Friendship. I care about my friends... and I am afraid of losing them. It's led me to make questionable decisions in the past. Do you remember the Secretariat Comet?"

"I remember. It passed over Equestria a couple years ago and it amplified everypony's magic. Applejack told me Chrysalis captured the Cutie Mark Crusaders and tried to bait you into a trap so she could use the comet's power to get revenge for what happened in Canterlot."

Twilight merely nodded, sitting in her throne as she looked over the flickering map.

"But... you beat her right? You stood up to her and blasted her and her army with powerful magic, saving the day!"

"I wish it had been that easy." Twilight said in a troubled voice. "I did blast Chrysalis with the most powerful magic I had, but it wasn't enough. She threatened to hurt my friends, unless... unless I joined her. I agreed Starlight, I... I just couldn't lose them. Before anything could happen, the comet passed over, and I managed to win the fight. I didn't really think much about it afterwards, but now I can't help but wonder... would I have become the very monster I was trying to stop?"

Starlight hesitated. "You- you had no choice Twilight. You can't blame yourself."

Twilight sighed. "That was the first time I faced that kind of choice, but it wasn't the last. When Tirek offered to trade my friends for my alicorn magic I... I couldn't refuse. I should have chosen Equestria's safety but..." Twilight looked at Starlight sadly. "They're like a part of me Starlight, a part I can't live without. What if one day I'm pushed to my limit and I have no choice but to use dark magic... or-or even kill? You said it yourself. The more lines you cross, the easier it gets. It isn't hard to see how that other Twilight and her friends ended up where they did. Or how I could do the same."

Starlight looked away, as if in deep thought. "When I was being controlled by the amulet you should've zapped me when I was vulnerable. It was the rational thing to do... maybe even the right thing to do. It's definitely what that other Twilight would've done. I would've been gone, but at least everypony would be safe. But you found another way. You always do." Starlight paused, glancing at Twilight's throne. "I think... I think that's why you're the Element of Magic. You have this... faith, faith that there's good in everypony... everybody."

Twilight thought about that. "I suppose... I suppose it's because I have no room to judge." She cracked a small smile. "Maybe there is something to that whole equality in friendship thing you were talking about.

"Ha ha." Starlight laughed sarcastically, rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"And what if faith isn't enough Starlight?" Twilight asked, her tone slightly serious again. "What if it's too weak to bring Harmony?"

"I-I don't know Twilight." Starlight admitted hesitantly. "I guess... all we can do is make things better, one friendship at a time."

"Using my own words against me again?" Twilight joked. "That's not much of an answer."

Starlight shrugged, grinning guiltily. "No... but it's something, something to live by."

Twilight couldn't help but crack a small grin of her own. "You're a good friend Starlight. And... I'm proud of you."

"Does this mean I get a break from friendship lessons tomorrow?" Starlight asked hopefully.

"Not a chance."