For a moment, Luster Dawn smiled as she looked at the lovely table of desserts and tea surrounded by all of these highly-esteemed guests as well as her trio of nearly reformed ne’er-do-wells. This reform party had endured some shaky moments so far, but all in all it was actually going well. Maybe everyone hadn’t ‘broken into a harmonious song about friendship’, but they were at least acknowledging each other on equal terms. And for the first time Luster genuinely wondered if maybe she really had succeeded in her mission to bring friendship to these three creatures…even if she hadn’t done it in the way Twilight had expected. Of course, there was the problem of Twilight’s expectations for her after this reform was behind them…but Luster Dawn just took a breath and decided to worry about that problem later. For now she would enjoy the little bit of something good that was in this room. For now, maybe, she could let herself be happy in the start of this new part of her life.
She glanced at the former villains. They were smiling to themselves. Granted, their smiles looked a little…evil…but she figured they would eventually learn to let their happiness show in a way that seemed slightly less malicious.
The teapot had just made a fresh round of the table, refilling everyone’s cups. But before they began to eat, Discord lifted his teacup up with his tail and tapped the side with his spoon. All eyes turned to him.
Discord cleared his throat and lowered the cup. “Before dessert begins, some of us would like to say something…to you three, actually, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.”
The villains’ smiles constricted, and they eyed Discord with various uncertain looks.
“In case you didn’t notice,” he went on, “there were a few ‘sidebars’ taken by myself and others during the first portion of this party.” He shrugged with a sheepish grin. “No rudeness intended, we just had something to talk about, because you three gave us a lot to think about.” He glanced at Celestia and Luna who were already looking up at him with smiles. Then the pony sisters turned to the trio along with Discord.
“Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow,” Celestia started, “though your past deeds had to be stopped, perhaps your lives didn’t need to be interrupted so completely. Maybe we should have waited and listened and understood you better before acting. We should have thought more about the effect on you three of your punishment.”
Luna went on. “Banishment, for any period, is difficult to endure. Being in stasis may take away some of the discomforts and may make time pass more quickly. But you lose time that you don’t get back. You lose a chance to see the world grow…and to grow too. And then you come back but feel out of step with everything, and it’s not an easy situation to make peace with.”
Discord clasped his hands together, his smile faint, his voice a little low and more serious. “I was wrong when I used you three to make myself feel better about the girls taking over Equestria. To my surprise, you three formed some kind of bond together. I didn’t make it easy for you not to do evil back then as part of it, but I want to help make it easier for you to do good now.”
The pony sisters and chaos master looked to the princess of Equestria.
Twilight rose, a gentle smile on her face. “You three are pardoned and you will not be banished again, and I will help you with whatever you need to go forward and find your happiness. What we are trying to say is, you have our friendship. And also…”
The four beings spoke at once: “We’re sorry.” They each bowed their head.
When they looked up they were met with the sight of Luster Dawn with wide eyes shining in joy… and, beside her, Tirek with his jaw slack, Chrysalis with a scowl that kept trying to fade over and over (resulting in a very odd twitch), and Cozy Glow glaring with her head tilted entirely to the side.
Cadance applauded. Flurry Heart looked back and forth between her aunts and uncle and the trio, but then finally took a deep cleansing breath with her hoof to her chest. With a dull look she offered a mild applause as well (keeping her eyes on the villains).
Luster Dawn sprang up and teleported across the table to hug Twilight around the neck. “Thank you, Princess Twilight! That was beautiful!” She pulled back, and a smiling Twilight laughed. Luster Dawn blinked then smiled sheepishly and teleported back to her chair. “I mean, thank you very much for your kind words, Princess, and you as well, Celestia, Luna, and Discord.” She bowed her head to them. Then she glanced at her trio, and bit her lip.
They were frozen in their various respective faces.
Luster Dawn smiled more and cleared her throat. “Well, guys…?”
“Can we have a moment?” Tirek and Chrysalis asked at the same time.
“What?” Cozy Glow raised an eyebrow at them.
Chrysalis stood. “My party and I need to confer.”
“Yes! What she said.” Tirek quickly seconded, standing as well. “Er, where is this kitchen you kept going to?”
“Down the hall, second door on the left,” Luna pointed. “Also, don’t step on any of the blue stone tiles—they will make the floor fall out from under you.”
“And don’t touch any paintings on the walls—most are trap doors,” Celestia added.
“Oh and do not, under any circumstances, pull the third torch sconce,” Discord piped up. “You will be hit with a party canon blast of confetti.”
The trio glanced at each other. Cozy Glow brought a hoof to her forehead. “What, is all that some kind of weird security system you put in just for us?”
“Oh no,” Celestia shook her head, “that’s just the way the castle always is. It’s fun!”
Cozy Glow tilted her head entirely to the side again. Tirek and Chrysalis just sighed and walked forward: when she didn’t follow, they each grabbed a hoof and dragged her along with them.
“I’ll go keep watch on them.” Flurry Heart stood and powered her horn.
“You will let them talk.” Cadance held up a hoof. “They have every right to process their feelings on their own.”
“They’re really not so bad,” Luster Dawn offered timidly. Cadance and Flurry Heart turned to her. “I mean, I know they did bad things, but deep down they’re not entirely bad creatures. They’re just…very frustrated. And they don’t know how to work through it. They have no control over what bothers them so they lash out. But if you trust them a little, it goes a long way to helping them be better.”
“What a wise thing to say, my faithful student,” Twilight said gently, her eyes hazed, as she reached across the table and patted Luster Dawn’s head.
Discord, Celestia, and Luna looked on with warm smiles. Celestia wiped a tear from her eye, Discord crossed his arms and shook his head at the nostalgia, and Luna watched with interest, her eyes twinkling a little in wonder at the display of student-teacher relationship.
Flurry Heart sat still for a moment then bowed her head. “Very well. I trust my Auntie Twilight’s judgment which means I trust your judgment too, Luster Dawn, as her student.” Flurry Heart smiled a little and held out her hoof. Luster Dawn shook with her. Cadance looked on with a smile of relief.
Then Celestia glanced at the table and swallowed. “I just hope they come back quickly. It would be rude to start eating without them, but there are so many cakes…”
Discord held her hoof. “Breathe, darling, you can resist.” She nudged him and he chuckled.
Cadance inhaled through her nose, eyeing a certain item at the center of the table. “Is that a chocolate fountain Discord?” It had just started to flow.
“Yup.” He smirked.
“Milk or dark?”
“The darkest.”
Cadance pouted as the mini chocolate fountain continued to produce its heavenly smelling contents.
Twilight observed the desserts closely now then blinked. “Is that cake filled with…chocolate pudding?”
Discord’s grin grew ear to ear. “Added it myself.”
Twilight let out a very deep sigh of longing.
Luna laughed. “I’m sure they shall return soon and we can have our dessert together as better friends than ever.” A certain platter suddenly caught her eye too. “Are there chocolate chip cookies? I, er…didn’t know those would be present.”
“Extra double chocolate chunk with walnuts from scratch.” Discord held out his paw proudly. “I was up early, had some time to make a few additions to the menu.”
Luster Dawn watched the alicorns with an eyebrow raised. “Are you guys…okay? I mean, does alicorn magic need desserts?”
Flurry Heart surveyed her fellow princesses with a dry look. “No. It does take up a lot of energy, so sometimes we eat more. But at the end of the day my mom and aunties just really, really, really like sweets.” She held her head high and smiled more. “I’ve gotten very good at surviving on just military rations though if I need to.”
“Ah I didn’t forget you, Flurry Heart.” Discord snapped—pitchers of rich chocolate milk filled the table.
Luster Dawn tilted her head. “Is that chocolate milk?” She glanced at Flurry Heart, who now observed the pitchers with wide eyes. "And are you okay, Princess Flurry Heart?”
“Yes, Princess, are you okay?” Cadance asked with a playful smile.
Flurry Heart blinked and pouted. “Uncle Discord's chocolate milk is a different story. It’s full of calcium and protein…” She swallowed. “Also it’s delicious.”
Luster Dawn raised an eyebrow in confusion then glanced at Discord. He chuckled. “I love watching them like this. I could tell you some serious dessert caper stories about these five…”
Luster Dawn broke into a smile again. “Maybe we should wait until Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow get back so they don’t miss out. I think you’ll see another side of them for the rest of the night—a friendlier one.”
Twilight nodded. “That would be a lovely end to today, Luster Dawn.” She glanced over her shoulder…her smile wavered just a little for a moment…but then she turned back to Luster Dawn with her usual warm approving look and was met with her student’s happy face.
Twilight went back to trying very hard not to look at the pudding-filled cake in all of its glory.
Tirek and Chrysalis burst through the kitchen doors, dragging a fuming Cozy Glow behind them. “What are you two doing? Why are we in here? Answer my questions, and let me go now!”
They released her instantly, letting her drop to the floor. She rubbed her head then flew up and glared at them.
Tirek huffed through his nose and stomped as he paced across the floor. Chrysalis fluttered her wings and hissed with her tongue out, darting around in frustration.
Finally the two creatures slammed into each other—they scowled at each other for a moment but then pouted in looks of distress.
“This is not fair!” Chrysalis hissed. “That draconequus ruins everything!”
“And those stupid perfect sisters ruin everything too!” Tirek groaned.
Cozy Glow zipped right between them. “Well duh—they all ruin everything all the time. What’s your point?”
Tirek and Chrysalis batted her away.
Chrysalis snarled. “Our point? Did you hear what just happened out there?! Those three APOLOGIZED! They said they were WRONG! Twilight Sparkle PARDONED US! None of that was part of the plan!”
“How can they regret always rejecting us when they’ve suddenly accepted us?!” Tirek threw his arms up. “We were supposed to demand and apology, they were not supposed to actually give us one! Then they were going to lament how horribly they had treated us after we released Sombra to attack them. And later we would have let things cool off for the sake of hearing formal apologies and to talk to Luster and to fill in Sombra.”
“But for now there would have been humiliation, regret, sweet irony!” Chrysalis bellowed. “Twilight Sparkle’s reign would have been marred! Her first major action as princess come back to haunt her in the form of our revenge for her injustice to us, and right in front of her little student no less!” Her tone was near hysterical. “But now it’s ruined!” She swiped an empty tray off of the counter, stomped it with her hooves. “Stupid-Twilight-Sparkle!” She caught the tray in her fangs and shook it back and forth. Then she dropped it, fangs bared, breathing heavy.
“Chrysalis, temper.” Tirek smirked. “You saw how easygoing Twilight is even in difficult situations—don’t you want to have the same regal bearing?”
“You do NOT talk to me about Twilight! Only I may talk about Twilight! Not that I want to talk about Twilight! Why are we talking about Twilight?” She leaned up into his face, her eyes crazed.
Cozy Glow turned to Chrysalis with a sigh, pulled her purple stick out from under her crown, and popped it into her fangs. “Hold your stick for a while—that always calms you down.”
Chrysalis spat out the stick but then hugged it close, hissed at Cozy Glow, and finally it away under her crown again.
Tirek was trying very hard not to laugh.
Chrysalis looked down with wide eyes then cleared her throat, looked up, and spoke with her voice smooth and poised. “And what are you being so smug about? You’re the one who assured us that you knew Discord well enough to know that even if the princesses somehow apologized, he would never humble himself like that in a million years!”
Tirek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “How was I supposed to realize that fool would lose so much of his arrogance and pride? If he really is married to Celestia, imagine how far that’s sunken him!” He snarled a little. “Besides, I was specifically looking forward to watching those pony sisters get taken down a peg as well, and in their own home no less.” He heightened the pitch of his voice for an impression. “Oh look at us, we’re the pony sisters and we got to rule all we wanted then retire and live in a big castle, singing and laughing and always getting along!” He flung out his arms, his voice almost a growl. “I deserved to see their stubbornness give way to shock and fear at our surprise guest! And they deserved to know they’re not better than anyone else once and for all!” He looked skyward, a fist raised.
“Hmm, jealous of the sisters much?” Chrysalis smirked.
Tirek narrowed his eyes. “Stay out of it.”
“Okay, focus!” Cozy Glow pushed them apart. “And, seriously, someone tell me why we are here? Nothing has changed! The plan is still all set!”
“Everything has changed! That’s what we’ve just been explaining!” Chrysalis flung herself to the floor in a lament.
“If we attack now,” Tirek explained, arms behind his back, “then we’re not getting justice and revenge for ourselves and Sombra; we’re just…proving them right about all their doubts about us.”
“We become the jerks instead of them!” Chrysalis moaned. “It's almost diabolical.”
“Heh…” Cozy Glow started to laugh. “You care what they think of you? What any of them think of you? Newsflash: we ARE the jerks! We are the bad guys! We do not ‘have doubts’ because stupid ponies and stupid draconequui suddenly apologize to us for stuff they shouldn’t have ever done in the first place! We are better than that!”
Tirek rubbed his temple. “Oh calm down, Cozy Glow, and let us think…”
“Yes.” Chrysalis hung her head and cringed. “Your incessant whining is not giving us a chance to reassess…”
Cozy Glow was stunned for a moment. “So you really do care what they think? I can’t believe this: you’ve both gone soft.”
Tirek and Chrysalis glared at her for a moment, then looked to each other. Their gazes eased very slightly.
“We don’t care about all of them, of course,” Tirek grumbled.
“But this puts us in a delicate situation about Luster Dawn,” Chrysalis finished. “We were going to show her how stubborn and inconsiderate and false all of her mentors are: pretending that they’re so loving and friendly and kind but in reality biased against us and unable to forgive until their backs are against a wall.”
“Then she would have sided with us during the attack, and we could have started over on our terms! We could have molded her into a fine leader…” Tirek mused. “But she’ll forever bend to the will of those silly alicorns and Discord if we keep going now.” He sighed in defeat.
Cozy Glow took a deep breath. “I don’t care how it’ll look, I don't care what the plan was, and…and I don’t care about Luster!” She had tears at the corners of her narrowed eyes that she quickly wiped away.
Chrysalis blinked and Tirek raised an eyebrow.
“She’s getting hysterical.” Tirek glanced at Chrysalis. “Chrysalis, let her hold your stick.”
Chrysalis covered her crown and hissed but then shook her head and turned back to Cozy Glow. “Cozy Glow, be reasonable. We discussed this already: Luster Dawn let us out and wants us to stay out and actually listens to us and didn’t disguise herself as a goat for three months. We agreed not to harm her because she has not harmed us or kept from us anything we wanted; we even had her sit near us to keep an eye on her!”
“We promised each other about Luster Dawn.” Tirek nodded, arms crossed. “And we don’t betray each other; that's the only rule we have left. We’re all each other has in this world—and Luster Dawn and Sombra will be one of us too once they agree. We’re not like Discord who betrayed us just to feel good about himself, or like the pony sisters and Twilight who dismiss inconvenient creatures.”
“Oh gosh,” Cozy Glow made her eyes wide and her voice sweet, “so you think we should go back in there and eat lots of pretty colored cake then trot back to Ponyville to get stuffed back into a crystal castle of friendship and only be taken out when Twilight needs to give an example of bad guys gone good?”
“Twilight is not in charge of our lives! Luster Dawn was in charge of our freedom, and now we are in charge of the rest,” Chrysalis replied, eyes fixed on Cozy Glow’s. “I will not give those ponies out there another reason to feel superior by proving them right about us.”
“She’s right for once.” Tirek nodded. “We can do anything we want now that we’re free and especially now that future banishment is off the table. We could even try to take over Equestria again later at some point if you’re so desperate. But doing something today would be cheap. Look, why don't we just go back to the castle, let Sombra out one night when we're alone, talk to him about things, bring Luster in when we’re ready, and then go from there?”
Chrysalis sighed but nodded. “I suppose that’s our best course of action for now. Ugh, I hate delays…”
Cozy Glow looked from Tirek to Chrysalis once more. Then she sighed and shook her head, almost laughing. “You've become friends with Luster. You don't see it, but you did… and you’ve become friends with each other. Goodie-two-shoes friends, not evil alliance friends. I always felt like I was on the outside trying to keep you two in line, but at the end of the day you don’t need me—you just need any pony who’s around to give you orders. You want Luster Dawn to replace me? Fine. I have bigger plans…” Cozy Glow removed the Amulet from behind her bow and placed it around her neck.
“Cozy Glow, enough!” Chrysalis hissed. “Put that thing away!”
“We won’t lend you our magic for it.” Tirek scowled. “This is the wrong time.”
“You can’t even say that you need me, even after I said all of that…” Cozy Glow wiped another tear from her eye, her smile wicked. The Amulet glowed red.
Chrysalis raised her wings higher. “We will discuss this later, Cozy Glow.”
“Stop acting like a child,” Tirek added, clenching his fists. “It doesn't help anything.”
They approached her.
Cozy Glow’s eyes glowed red now too. “I’ll show you a child! I’ll show them all! I’ll win! I’ll be the best one of us! No one can stop me!” She flew up and out of the kitchen.
Tirek and Chrysalis took off after her at a gallop.
In the throne room, the princesses were still eyeing the desserts while trying to pretend they weren't eyeing the desserts. And Discord was still being quite amused as was Luster Dawn at this point.
“Now me,” he started and snapped his fingers to make a pink cotton candy cloud appear, “I don’t go in for all these heavy sweets. Give me good old fashioned puffy cotton candy any day. What about you, Luster Dawn?”
Luster Dawn smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. “Actually, I really like lemons - lemon squares, lemonade, lemon meringue pie—“
Discord snapped, and a large wobbling lemon meringue pie appeared on the table. “Lemons, huh? Nice idea. Mixes things up a bit.”
Luster Dawn’s smile brightened. “Thank you, Discord.”
“For Twilight’s little student—anything.” He took a dramatic bow.
Luna blinked and touched the side of her head.
Celestia frowned. “Luna?”
She shook her head. “I’m all right. I just had a strange flash feeling come over me.” She put on her best smile, not wanting to put a damper on the party about her dream last night that might be a premonition. She and Celestia could discuss it later. “I’ll be fine.
At this point Cozy Glow came barreling into the room wielding the Alicorn Amulet and laughing maniacally, Tirek and Chrysalis chasing after her. She flew up above the table, eyes flaming with rage. “No more Miss Nice Cozy!”
Tirek and Chrysalis leapt to grab her but she flew back at the last moment resulting in the two large villains crashing down upon the desserts. The table flipped, creating utter bedlam: the guests fell to the ground and the precious desserts went flying and tragically landed everywhere. The group was trapped under plates and sweets and chairs and each other.
Chrysalis stood up and wiped frosting out of her eyes as Tirek popped a cake off of one of his horns with a glare. Chrysalis sneered. “This is why we’ve never gotten along, Cozy Glow! You are not royalty and you have no class when it comes to making plans!”
“Stop being such a predictably difficult pony! I will absorb your magic if I have to!” Tirek powered his horns, creating his orb of light. “If anyone conquers Equestria it won’t be you!”
“It’ll be me!” Tirek and Chrysalis announced at once. They glanced at each other then sighed with dry looks.
“Maybe we should table this debate for now,” Tirek mumbled.
“Agreed.” Chrysalis nodded. “The most important thing is not to end up with a grade school overlord…” she turned to Cozy Glow as she added, “who spends TWO HOURS in the bathroom each morning putting in her ‘natural’ curls!”
“You swore you’d never tell!” Cozy Glow flung a hoof in her direction. Her eyes turned red and she fired a shot out of the Alicorn Amulet.
Tirek shot his own magic forward to absorb hers. The two beams met, and he grinned. “Oh calm down…Cozy Glow.” His voice was strained but his smile grew. “We all knew. It’s about as much of a secret as Chrysalis’s Twilight stick!”
“SHUT UP NOT NOW!” A panicked Chrysalis yelled, blushing green. She turned into a snake and wrapped herself around Tirek’s mouth to keep him quiet. Tirek stumbled at the action, and it was all the opportunity Cozy Glow needed to overpower him—her beam of magic overtook his own and extended into a transformed Chrysalis too. There was an explosion of magic and when the dust settled…Tirek was withered-looking, Chrysalis was on her knees, and Cozy Glow was an alicorn, glowing with power.
By now the other members of the table had finally come out of a large degree of shock and helped each other stand as best they could. Discord flew up and snapped his fingers. “Time out!” A yellow orb of light dispersed outward from him over the room.
Everyone was frozen in place except for him. He teleported in front of Chrysalis and Tirek, scowling. “Are you three kidding me? You come into our home, we eat together, this whole thing clearly means a lot to a lot of creatures, we APOLOGIZE to you, and you pull this? You don't even let us have dessert first? What do you have to say for yourselves?”
Obviously, Tirek and Chrysalis said nothing because they were still frozen. Discord rolled his eyes and snapped, releasing their heads.
Chrysalis panted. “It wasn’t our idea. I mean, it was our idea, but that little treacherous puff of a pony went rogue!”
“She’s having an absolute tantrum with a very powerful artifact!” Tirek added. “We told her now was not the time!”
“So there was going to be a time?” Discord leaned down, arms crossed, looking from one to the other.
Tirek and Chrysalis’s stern gazes wavered.
“What a disappointment…” Discord stepped back and shook his head.
“It was to right an injustice against us!” Chrysalis hissed. “Something you caused, Grogar!”
“It was a chance to prove how the princesses say there’s love and friendship and acceptance for all but they don’t really mean it if you’re not perfect just like them!” Tirek added.
Discord frowned then rubbed his temple. “And this was really the most productive solution you could come up with? Do you really think Cozy Glow is the only one in the wrong right now? You three could have just talked to me—“ And then he gasped because, in the few minutes they had been talking, Cozy Glow had used the Amulet’s magic to break free of Discord’s spell. She shot a bolt of magic right at him that turned Discord into a very stunned-looking statue of stone.
His magic hold on the room released, and everyone could move again. Wide eyed, Celestia teleported to him. “Discord!” She looked into his eyes touching his face, her head against his. “Discord.” She let out a deep breath then used her horn to create a scroll in the air and make it disappear in a green flash of magic. Celestia moved away from his statue with a scowl, her wings flared. “How dare you attack my husband!” She boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice to Cozy Glow.
The other princesses were up as well now, horns powered. Flurry Heart climbed onto her chair, head held high, battle ready. “I knew something like this would happen!”
Luster Dawn stood, confused, and opened her mouth to speak but was instantly teleported behind Twilight. She blinked “I—Princess? Wait, I—“
“Luster, it's okay, just stay behind me,” Twilight replied, glaring at Cozy Glow. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Realization of the current situation washed over Luster Dawn, and she hung her head. But then she rushed over to Chrysalis and Tirek, helping them up. “What happened? Why is Cozy doing this?”
“She went too far… We told her to wait.” Chrysalis rubbed her head.
“The attack was supposed to be far more coordinated.” Tirek added. “Can we hear a speech about why it was a bad idea later instead of now?”
“You…you were planning this? The whole time?” Luster Dawn whispered.
Tirek and Chrysalis saw her eyes wide with tears. Their eyes widened a little too.
“Luster, we didn’t tell you because you wouldn't have understood yet…” Chrysalis started.
“You were going to be part of it! The three of us decided!” Tirek assured.
Tears fell from Luster Dawn’s eyes, and she lowered her head. She walked away, sat behind Twilight, and did her best to disappear into a collapsed pile of pink and gold pony.
Tirek and Chrysalis watched her with frowns.
“Ladies!” Celestia called out. “We can beat her if we work together!” Luna came to her side. Twilight glanced at Luster Dawn, frowned at the sight of her looking so forlorn, moved what was left of the table in front of her to shelter her, and then teleported over to help the pony sisters.
Cadance was about to follow the lead of her fellow princesses, but when Flurry Heart tried to join her she held up a hoof. “Flurry, take care of Uncle Discord’s statue. And in case this doesn’t work, you need to get help.”
“But I am help! I can fight!” Flurry Heart powered her horn.
“For Uncle Discord, please.” Cadance hugged her then pulled back and went to the other princesses.
Flurry Heart teleported over to Discord’s statue with a scowl…though the sight of him frozen softened her gaze.
“The four of us together can defeat you, Cozy Glow!” Twilight announced, wings spread. The four princesses already had their magic summoned.
“Hmm…” Cozy Glow bellowed, a sphere of the red magic around her body, the Alicorn Amulet shining brightly. “Oh no, no, no, it’s not me you have to beat… It’s me and him.” She released a blast of magic that nearly knocked the princesses back. The air sizzled and then dark laughter filled the room. They each looked around, horns at the ready, until out of the shadows strolled a dark stallion with metal armor, fangs, a curved horn, and green and red eyes streaked with purple.
“So happy to be back…” Sombra grinned.
“Sombra!” Cadance gasped. She went to shoot a spell at him, but Sombra beat her too it and fired a shot of dark magic her way. Cadance fell to the ground, green magical bolts sizzling around her.
“Mom!” Flurry Heart teleported over to her. She tried to pull up Cadance but couldn't touch her without receiving a shock from the remains of the dark magic.
Cadance struggled but got standing on her own “Flurry Heart, stay with Uncle Discord. Mommy’s okay.” Cadance closed her eyes—when she opened them they were dark and glowing. She absorbed the dark magic then dissipated it and sighed heavily. She blinked and her eyes looked normal again though her mane and coat were scuffed and battered now.
Flurry Heart watched the process in amazement but then scowled as she helped her mother to remain steady. “I’m not going anywhere unless you do—you’re weakened now.”
Cadance smiled a little. “Sweetheart, I’m just getting started.” She winked at her daughter then took off with the other princesses into the fray. A beam of crystal blue magic shot out of her horn and hit Sombra square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Flurry Heart watched in awe. While Celestia and Luna tried to hold Cozy Glow in their magic, and while Twilight covered Luster Dawn and made sure Tirek and Chrysalis couldn’t be a threat anymore, her mother teleported in and out around Sombra. He shot more beams of dark magic at her but she dodged each one and got off a dozen hits of her own. The next time she reappeared, her eyes glowed white with magic—scowling, she charged Sombra and thrust him to the ground. She towered over him. “Remember me? Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire. I conquered you once, and I can do it again.”
Sombra smirked. “Love magic. So strong…but also so breakable.” His eyes flashed with darkness. Cadance already had a shield spell over herself, bracing for the impact. But then Sombra tilted his head to the side and looked over her shoulder. Cadance turned just in time to see that he was aiming at Flurry Heart.
“Flurry Heart!”
Sombra shot off his magic.
Flurry Heart saw the blast and teleported Discord’s statue out of the room just as Cadance teleported over to her and pushed her to the ground. The blast took out the wall behind them. As the rubble cleared, Cadance held Flurry Heart’s face in her hooves, her eyes searching. “Are you all right? Flurry Heart?”
“Yes, mom, yes, I’m fine.” Flurry Heart caught her breath and hugged her mother tightly.
From her place of safety, Luster Dawn watched the battle. She gasped and stood at the attack on the Crystal Empire princesses.
Tirek and Chrysalis saw the direction of her gaze and dragged themselves over to her through the rubble.
“Luster, princesses are always fine. Stay here or he’ll come after you as well,” Chrysalis advised.
“And then us,” Tirek added. “We…we need you Luster Dawn. We’re too weak. And Twilight probably needs you too for whatever outrageous princess plans she has in the future.”
Luster Dawn’s brow furrowed. “I’ll go help whoever I want to help whenever I want to help them.” Tirek and Chrysalis were too weak to do anything else but frown.
Luster Dawn sat back down though. “And I’ve decided I want to stay here for now and make sure nothing hurts you in this state. Just because you two don’t know how to care about me doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”
Tirek and Chrysalis looked down with pouts.
Cadance pulled back from Flurry Heart after their embrace. “Go hide wherever you put Uncle Discord’s statue.” Then she turned back to Sombra, her look dark. “How dare you attack my daughter!” He was laughing. She fired a beam of magic at a pillar nearby that fell just in front of the evil stallion.
Cadance caught her breath and rubbed her forehead from the heavy use of magic.
Flurry Heart moved in front of her mother. “Mom, you really need to rest. I’ll leave too if you’ll just come with me. We can take Uncle Discord’s statue and fall back. Besides…” she blushed, “you know we aren’t as powerful as Auntie Celestia and Luna and Twilight.” She swallowed. “A good military leader always knows when to—“
Cadance looked at her, her smile warm and gentle. “It’s not that we’re not as powerful. We’re just powerful in a different way. And I’m staying to fight. I wish you’d go to safety, but I know you’ll stay too because that’s who you are. It’s not that I don’t want you to fight because you’re weak, Flurry. I don’t want you to fight because I know this enemy and you don’t. And because we might need one of us to be fresh and strong just in case.”
Flurry Heart wiped a tear from her eye. “In case what?”
Cadance kissed her forehead. “In case something goes wrong for a little while before everything eventually becomes right again.”
“Mom…” Flurry Heart tilted her head. But then her eyes widened and she pointed her hoof and opened her mouth, about to call out.
Cadance turned to see Sombra had teleported right over to them. He powered his horn and released a dome of black magic to encompass Cadance and Flurry Heart.
“Mom!” Flurry Heart reached for her, but Cadance teleported her daughter away.
The dome didn’t hit the love princess; Twilight now stood in front of her sister-in-law, her eyes aglow with dark magic, and absorbed the impact to send it back to Sombra threefold. The evil stallion was knocked back across the room. Twilight flew over to fight him as Cadance caught her breath then teleported over to Celestia and Luna to help them keep a hold on Cozy Glow.
When Flurry Heart opened her eyes, she found herself deep in the Everfree Forest. She flew up and saw the castle in the distance. She considered teleporting herself back but didn’t want to spend the magic; not if they might need it like her mother had said. Flurry Heart winged her the castle instead—she would be there if the other princesses needed her. She would wait and listen and play the right role for her in all of this.
Sombra lay in the center of the room, sizzling with green magic. He lifted his head, catching his breath as he looked at Twilight. He had an eyebrow raised at first but then his eyes narrowed and he stood up. “I remember you. You and that stupid little dragon…you found my staircase and found the heart. And then you and your ridiculous friends rallied against me after my revival! You caused my exile!”
The dark magic dissipated from Twilight’s horn, but her scowl remained. “And I’ll do quite a lot more than that to you if you don’t stand down. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria. And I do not like when creatures hurt my friends.”
“And I don’t like being banished into a void of shadows.” He raised his head in a defiant, sweeping motion. His horn was powered, his voice was low. “But I’ll make you a deal—I’ll leave if you point me in Grogar’s direction. That old goat never revived me again to be part of his plans to take over Equestria, and I have a score to settle.”
Twilight tilted her head.
“Sombra!” Cozy Glow yelled, her magic still engaged against the two sisters and Cadance. “Grogar was a lie! He was Discord in disguise the whole time, using us for the sake of his stupid friends! After he left you behind, he set the rest of us up to fail! Then Tirek and Chrysalis became suckers for these stupid ponies. It’s just you and me now.” She shot him a mischievous smile. “Will you be my evil friend?”
Sombra’s eyes had gone wide at the revelation about Grogar, but now he smirked and nodded to her. “Show me to the draconequus so I can take my revenge, and you’ve got a deal.”
Celestia gasped at those words and almost lost her hold on Cozy Glow.
“Enough!” Twilight yelled, using her own Royal Canterlot voice: the castle shook. She lunged forward and so did Sombra—they were locked, horn to horn. Twilight’s eyes glowed with her own magic, and she released a dome of it that surrounded her and Sombra. When it cleared, Sombra’s horn was smoking but he was still present.
“You foolish princess!” he boomed, dusting off his coat, fangs glinting. “I’m a villain from centuries ago: the undeniable master of dark sorcery. My magic runs deep; your modern magic of friendship can fight me and banish me, but you’ll never break me. Shadows always exist. And that stupid Crystal Heart and your silly bonded friends and that old Harmony Tree of yours aren't here to help you cheat my inevitable rise.” He smirked. "Your age is over, Twilight Sparkle; time for mine to return. Now then, where is that stupid draconequus so I can make my point?”
“He’s right—“ Cozy Glow glanced around then blinked and glared, her eyes and the Amulet glowing red. “Grr, they sent him away!” she yelled in a rage as she shot out a blast of magic that overpowered the pony sisters and love princess to free her from their magic. She teleported herself beside Sombra, crazed smile back again. “But I have a consolation prize for you for now—those traitors Chrysalis and Tirek.” She teleported the weak changeling and centaur right to them.
“Okay, this…” Chrysalis scoffed and rolled her eyes, grinning desperately, “this whole situation has been blow wildly out of proportion. It was our idea together to summon you from the shadows again. We wanted you free to be on our team.”
“Yes, yes!” Tirek nodded. “Heh, Cozy Glow, just—well, you know children. We weren’t going to leave you trapped. We had this plan, you see. It's actually a funny story…” He smiled sheepishly. “It all started when this little pony named Luster Dawn—“
Sombra, unphased, shot a bolt of dark magic between Tirek and Chrysalis that left a small, smoking crater in the floor.
Tirek and Chrysalis clammed up and huddled close.
Twilight’s eyes widened at the situation before her. She teleported over to the pony sisters first and helped up Celestia and while Cadance and Luna helped each other up. Twilight kept her voice low. “Celestia, Luna, you two defeated Sombra once. Maybe it really will take a deeper, older magic than mine alone to defeat him again. I’ll get Cozy Glow under control, and Cadance can—“
“Get away from Tirek and Chrysalis!” Luster Dawn suddenly galloped into the fray and right in front of the two creatures in question. She glared Sombra. “They’re weak and they don’t owe you anything. I’ll protect them.”
“Hmm…” he chuckled low, “Why?”
Luster Dawn swallowed. “Because…they’re my friends.” She scowled, determined. “And Cozy Glow is my friend too even if she’s making a mistake. And so is Discord, and so are the princesses. But you are not. And I’m not afraid of you.”
“Pity. You should be.” He fired a beam of black and purple magic at her.
Luster Dawn powered her horn and held him off for a few moments. Just before his power overtook her, Twilight stepped in and joined her, keeping Sombra back. She spoke in a strained voice as she called upon more of her power. “While I question the motives of some of your ‘friends’, Luster, I commend you for standing up for them."
“Thank you, Princess Twilight.” Luster struggled even more, pouring out as much power as possible.
“I can…” Twilight took a breath, squinting in her effort, “I can send a message to your friends at the school. If they join you, then maybe…I know it’s a lot to ask of them so suddenly, but…”
“I…I…” Luster Dawn’s eyes widened, “I can’t. I don’t have any friends at school!” Tears came to her eyes and then her magic was overwhelmed. She fell back into Tirek and Chrysalis who caught her.
“Luster!” Twilight called, glancing back to her, still fighting off Sombra.
Tirek and Chrysalis stood. Chrysalis got Luster onto her back. “Deal with the shadowy psychopath! We’ll take care of Luster!”
Twilight blinked but then nodded and turned back to Sombra. Chrysalis headed in the direction of the kitchen; Tirek followed, covering her and Luster Dawn from any attacks.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadance teleported to Twilight’s side.
“Twilight, you are right. My sister and I shall handle Sombra!” Luna announced. “You and Cadance shall manage Cozy Glow. Twilight, you have fought against the Alicorn Amulet before; and Cadance, you have the most experience with children.”
The four princesses nodded to each other then went to their tasks.
In the kitchen, Chrysalis collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily, and Luster Dawn slid off of her back. “I can’t…I can’t do this. I need to rest… Tirek, pick her up, put her on the counter.”
Tirek did as she asked then sighed, his brow furrowed. “Don’t tell any of those princesses what I’m about to do, okay?”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.
Tirek closed his eyes; his horns faintly glowed with a small orb of magic between them. He knelt down and set the orb in front of Luster’s Horn. Some magic drifted into her. She moaned and turned, then her eyes started to blink open.
Tirek collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.
Chrysalis moved close to him, nudging him up and scowling. “Reckless! You could have made yourself faint, and then you would have been the largest dead weight to keep away from Cozy Glow. And if Luster wakes up, she might try to go back out there, and you and I are in no condition to prevent her from doing so.”
Tirek coughed as he got himself steady. “She belongs with the princesses even if she is better than the princesses. We all know it, and the three of us agreed.”
They both turned to Luster as she sat up, rubbing her head. “What…what happened?”
“You stood your ground against Sombra at full power.” Chrysalis smirked. “Of course he bested you, but I think you took him down a peg. Bravo.”
“You got hit,” Tirek said curtly. “Twilight had us bring you in here to keep you safe.”
Luster Dawn blinked twice. Then she frowned, looking down. “Great. Thanks.” She climbed off the counter, wobbled on her hooves, but got standing. She headed toward the door.
“Wait.” Chrysalis held up a hoof. “You’re not fully healed yet. Before you go out there trying to make some kind of unnecessary noble sacrifice at least give yourself a moment to rest. It’s okay to be a little selfish, Luster.”
“Her majesty is right however much I dislike admitting it,” Tirek added.
Luster Dawn just turned back to stare at them with a disappointed look—brow furrowed, mouth frowning, eyes big with tears at the edges.
Tirek and Chrysalis pouted at the sight, shuffling their hooves awkwardly.
Luster Dawn took a breath. “You two and I are not okay.”
Chrysalis held her head high. “You called us your friends before Sombra attacked you. And Tirek used some of his magic to revive you.”
“Shut up!” Tirek glared at Chrysalis.
She glared back at him and blushed. “You made a crack about my special stick right in front of Twilight!”
Luster Dawn stomped the floor with her front hooves, and the two creatures stopped bickering and turned to her.
She looked more sad than angry now. “You’re better than what you did here today. But maybe I’m just not the best pony to bring that out with you.” She turned back to the door. “Stay here—you’ve done enough already.” Then she ran out into the throne room again.
Once back inn the throne room, Luster Dawn watched the pony sisters fighting Sombra while Cadance and Twilight fought Cozy Glow. Everyone seemed evenly matched, and at this point she wasn’t sure how she could be anything more than a liability to the princesses.
Finally, though, Luster Dawn settled her focus on Cozy Glow. She knew Cozy Glow well, so she knew that even if Cozy Glow had gotten desperate enough to use the Alicorn Amulet she wasn’t as vicious as the Cozy Glow she was seeing now: the Amulet had affected her too deeply. But Luster Dawn had heard the story of how Twilight had guided Trixie out of the madness the Amulet caused—so maybe she could guide Cozy Glow out too.
Luster Dawn kept to the edges of the room so as not to attract Cozy Glow’s attention as she considered what to say and waited for the right time to confront her.
Chrysalis and Tirek had watched Luster Dawn walk out of the room. They both finally sighed and looked down, brows furrowed.
“Why do I feel…bad?” Tirek grumbled. “I didn’t feel bad when I double crossed Discord all those years ago.”
“And why do I want the mayhem to stop instead of continuing and driving those pony princesses insane?” Chrysalis sighed, perplexed.
Tirek took a deep breath and sat on the floor, pulling his withered legs into his chest. “I’m tired, Chrysalis.”
She shrugged. “It’s just your lack of magic. You’ll feel better once—“
“No, I mean…inside I’m tired.” He looked down, gaze stern but voice quiet.
Chrysalis hesitated, lips pursed stubbornly. But then she glanced around, realized there was no one else to hear her, and finally sat down and sighed too. “I’m tired as well.”
They remained together for now, quiet and thinking.
Flurry Heart reached the perimeter of the castle but stayed airborne instead of teleporting inside. She didn’t know the situation in the throne room and didn’t want to risk a hazardous arrival. Her eyes widened when a bolt of dark magic shot out of the castle and Sombra elevated himself into the sky. Celestia and Luna followed, eyes aglow with magic, flanking him and attacking in aerial formations Flurry Heart had never seen done before. She watched in awe as her aunts fought with grace and strength. He was just able to keep up with their attacks, though they were corralling him more and more.
A surprise strike could take him down.
Something deep inside of herself told her she could take him down.
Flurry Heart steeled herself then powered her horn until it buzzed with electricity. She glanced down at her body and smiled. “This regalia stuff really does sort of work as lightweight armor.” Her hooves, neck, and head were all protected; vital areas in any battle. Yet she had freedom of movement and the ability to fly swiftly. “I have to be fast.” She spread her large wings. “And…maybe there’s no one here to throw me at Sombra like Dad threw Mom… but since I conserved my magic like Mom said to, I’m strong enough to throw myself.” She smirked, then gave her wings a giant pump and took off. She built up speed in a few quick flaps then tucked her wings tight against her body, corkscrewing through the air. The three beings were so engaged in battle they didn’t notice her until she was close. Sombra’s head turned first, eyes wide. In his distraction, Celestia and Luna got full hold of him with their magic.
“In the name of the Crystal Empire! Semper Crystallo!” Flurry Heart yelled.
She disappeared in a blink then appeared right in front of him. A large burst of magic left her horn—her own special blend of alicorn power plus the little bit of chaos she’d picked up from Discord. Surrounded in an aura of blinding pale gold while the bright yellow and bright blue magic of the sun and moon still hit him, Sombra cried out then fell from the sky.
Celestia flew down quickly and used her own chaos skills to make one of her white clouds (that rained blueberries) appear on the ground just before Sombra fell. He crashed into it, lying still. His eyes blinked open; but the moment he tried to move, the bonds of gold magic surrounding his body constricted him.
Luna came alongside Flurry Heart and flew down with her.
Flurry Heart approached and glared down at Sombra, keeping her magic strong as it pulsed through her more and more. She felt like something inside of her was awake; for the first time she felt just like the other princesses and understood in a new way their instinctive need to keep others safe. “That’s for attacking my mother—and from behind, no less. You’re no king. And my Empire will never bow to you again.”
He glared at her, but as he struggled the gold magic only gripped him more.
Twilight and Cadance were still fighting Cozy Glow. Cadance glanced over, eyes wide. “Flurry Heart?”
Twilight smiled, eyes still on Cozy Glow though. “Flurry, Celestia, Luna, you did it!”
“For now!” Sombra spat, then he chuckled low.
Flurry Heart looked to Celestia and Luna—the princesses were leaning against each other, clearly spent. Her mother and Twilight were still engaged with Cozy Glow. And she herself would only be able to hold Sombra for so long before her magic grew weaker and he found a means of escape. She considered her options quickly and carefully, then smiled as an idea occurred to her.
Flurry Heart cleared her throat. “Hear that, Cozy Glow!” She held her head high. “We beat your shadowy friend. Is this the best soldier you could enlist? What a disgrace!”
Cozy Glow’s eyes stopped glowing with red light; she put up shields to block Cadance and Twilight for a moment as she glared at Flurry Heart and the defeated Sombra.
Flurry Heart smirked. “I can’t wait to let the Empire citizens and all of Equestria know how useless your first lackey proved. And all the proof is right here.” She gestured to Sombra.
The pony sisters looked at each other in concern then went to approach her.
But before they could reach Flurry Heart, Cozy Glow used the Amulet to make Sombra disappear. She laughed, her grin maniacal. “Well, now he’s back in the shadowy void where he belongs. He was a distraction at best anyway. Now I work ALONE! I am all powerful! I am Empress of Equestria!” All of her glowed with bright red magic…and the glow grew brighter and stronger and bigger.
The four older princesses went wide-eyed—they could sense the power of the attack coming.
Flurry Heart just looked at Cozy Glow, her own eyes wide but no sense of fear or concern in her features. A shimmer of magic passed over her eyes, like a deep understanding had just come into place.
Twilight turned to the others with a look of panic. “Everyone, run!”
Cozy Glow fired—a massive dome of red started to spread throughout the castle.
But it was stopped by an even more massive wall of white rimmed with gold: a shield generated by Flurry Heart. Her eyes glowed bright white with power as magic swirled around her body, levitating her into the air.
Cozy Glow blinked. “This magic isn’t friendship…or love… or the sun or the moon. What are you?”
“This is my power!” Flurry Heart’s hair was flowing. Her voice reverberated like the Royal Canterlot Voice of her mother and aunts, the words coming to her as she spoke. “I am Flurry Heart, Heir to the Crystal Empire. Princess of Protection!”
Her white shield spread throughout the room, overwhelming cozy glow, containing her magic more and more until Cozy was trapped in a red orb of her own magic surrounded on all sides by walls of Flurry heart’s white magic shield.
Once contained, Flurry’s eyes stopped glowing and her hair went still. She blinked and landed, catching her breath.
“Flurry Heart!” Cadance ran over and hugged her daughter, smiling and crying. “Are you okay? You’re okay, right?” She held up her face and examined it.
“Yes, Mom, of course.” Flurry Heart wiped some tears from her eyes and looked at the effects of her magic in awe. “I just did that…and said all of that…didn’t I?”
“Yes you did.” Twilight smiled warmly. “And we are all very proud of you, Princess of Protection.” Twilight bowed her head. Luna and Celestia joined. Cadance did too.
Flurry Heart blushed. “Stop, please—it’s just me, and now’s not the time.” She cleared her throat and shook her head, trying to regain herself again. “I, uh…we have more important things to figure out. Like what to do with her.” She quickly approached Cozy Glow’s prison where the little pony was raging and fighting to get out. Flurry Heart swallowed, hesitant. “I never thought I’d have to banish someone before. But…if that’s what needs to happen, I’ll do my best if my magic’s the best to do it.”
Twilight touched her niece on the shoulder, her smile gentle. “I promised the three of them no banishment in our apology, and I meant it. Even after this.”
Luna and Celestia came alongside them. “Agreed. I think the era of banishments is over,” Celestia said, glancing at her sister.
Luna nodded. “Indeed. We shall try a different approach.”
“I…I think I know a good way to start.” Luster Dawn came forward now from her place on the sidelines. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually.”
Twilight tilted her head but then moved to the side to let her student pass.
Luster Dawn looked up at Cozy Glow. “Cozy Glow…I know the real you is in there. All this rage and cruelty and badness—that’s not all of who you are. You think about other things too. And you care about things. You have so much potential. You don’t have to fight, Cozy Glow. Let’s just be friends. Please…”
Cozy Glow’s eyes met hers, and her look softened for a moment. But then the Amulet glowed and she shook her head and growled.
Two other figures approached now, weakly walking across the room.
“There’s a slim possibility that we can help,” Chrysalis said, not making eye contact with anyone.
“Indeed.” Tirek agreed, trying to keep himself tall despite his withered body.
Luster Dawn hesitated. But then she let them approach and turned back to Cozy Glow.
Tirek and Chrysalis glanced at each other then looked to their partner. “Cozy Glow,” Tirek started, voice calm and steady, “That’s enough now. You can stop. You don’t have to do these things. There’s a better way to be… Trust us.”
Chrysalis went on. “However much it pains me to say so, we might not be the best grown creatures for you to have befriended.” She rolled her eyes, “You’re…ugh, young and have a whole life ahead of you. So perhaps…you want to reconsider being bad. We make it look far more glamorous than it is.”
Cozy Glow was breathing heavily and still scowling but was at least looking at them, listening.
“We shouldn’t have even entertained this silly plan of ours,” Chrysalis finally mumbled with a pout. “In this situation, our actions were…you know…” she spat out the last word through gritted teeth, “wrong.”
Tirek nodded. “It was one more wild scheme that sounded good in theory but didn’t work out in reality. One more trap, just like the one Discord set for us as Grogar, only this time we set it for ourselves. Falling into it won’t prove anything.” He shook his head.
“It’s okay to be tired, Cozy Glow,” they both said at once, looks slightly softened.
Luster Dawn was watching, tears in her eyes. She came between Tirek and Chrysalis, looking up at Cozy Glow who wasn’t fighting anymore. “You made a mistake, but I forgive you. All of you. Because that’s what friends too. That’s where the power is, Cozy Glow—unconditional love.” She touched one hoof to Chrysalis and another to Tirek. “I promise it’ll be okay if you let go.”
“So do I…” Cadance came forward with a warm motherly smile.
The pony sisters approached. “And we do as well…” they added.
Twilight approached. “And I do too.”
Flurry Heart was the last, but she did come forward. “And I do too. We want you to feel better Cozy Glow. You don’t have to fight so hard. Find what’s really deep down inside of you… Find yourself. You deserve to be happy and safe.”
“Please.” Luster Dawn finished softly with a small smile.
Cozy Glow’s eyes had tears at the edges. She moved, like she wanted to rage more, but then let her hoof touch the Amulet which fell from her neck with a clang to the floor. Her magic disappeared and Flurry Heart’s shield caught her. The little pony fainted right against it. Luster Dawn came forward and held Cozy Glow in her foreleg
At that moment, two creatures swooped into the throne room from a window above: Spike and Smolder.
“Spike!” Celestia waved them over. “You got my letter! Excellent! Thank you for staying in Canterlot in case you were needed like I asked you!”
“Of course! Sorry it took so long for us to get here!” Spike landed. “I wanted to wait for Smolder to come for extra support.”
“But it looks like you guys got everything under control.” Smolder glanced around, arms crossed. “Darn, I was looking forward to a good fight.”
Spike’s gaze caught the familiar Amulet on the floor and he scowled. “Oh no, that thing again?” He picked it up and gave Twilight a dry look. “Twilight, I know we’re supposed to cherish magical artifacts, but I can’t think of one good thing this one has the ability to do. It just makes ponies go crazy with magic they can’t handle.”
Twilight sighed. “I think I have to agree with you, Spike.”
“Can we do the honors?” He grinned.
She nodded.
Spike turned to Smolder. “Hey, Smolder, want some magical target practice?”
She grinned. “You know it!”
“Great. Go long!” Spike threw the Amulet high. Smolder flew up a little and shot a ball of fire at the Amulet that melted it in mid air. As the remains fell, Spike hit them with his fire until they were nothing but smoke and ashes.
Spike brushed his hands together. “Anyone else need help? Ember has troops standing by.” He glanced at Flurry Heart.
Flurry Heart smiled but shook her head. “Actually, I think we’re all good. But thank Ember for us, Uncle Spike. And thank you very much, and Smolder too!” She waved to Smolder who waved back at her with a smile.
The other princesses shared smiles of relief but then Celestia blinked. “Where’s Discord?” She proceeded to teleport around the room, looking everywhere with concern.
Suddenly a painting in the wall moved to the side and Discord tumbled out of a secret tunnel, no longer stone. “Okay,” he coughed and dusted himself off, “first of all, that’s the third time I’ve been turned to stone in my life, and it’s getting passe.” He raised an eyebrow. “Second of all, who teleported my statue onto the ferris wheel we keep in the catacombs?”
Flurry Heart raised a hoof with a sheepish smile. “It was the most secret and secure place I could think of, Uncle Discord.”
He chuckled. “Ah, excellent chaotic thought.” Then Discord’s eyes found Tirek and Chrysalis and Cozy Glow (who was still being held by Luster Dawn). He scowled and stepped toward them. “You two…and that little one! If any of you three touched even one hair on my family’s head—” He was stopped when Celestia flew at him in a powerful alicorn hug that knocked him onto the ground.
“Discord!” She beamed. “You’re safe! I was worried!”
Discord’s scowl quickly melted to a big smile. “Yes, yes, Celestia, I’m fine! I’m just glad you’re clearly okay too.“ She cut him off by planting a deep kiss onto his mouth that lingered. Discord blinked in surprise but then settled in and held her shoulders as she snuggled up against him.
“Ugh,” Tirek cringed. “Okay, okay, I finally believe you two are married. Happy now?”
“This is just inappropriate.” Chrysalis looked on in a mix of disgust and hunger and just a little curiosity.
Cozy Glow’s eyes blinked open. The first sight she saw was Celestia all but necking with Discord on the floor. She moaned and turned away to rest against Luster Dawn. “Ew…is watching that my punishment? Grown ups are gross.”
The other princesses just looked on with warm smiles and blushes.
Finally Celestia pulled back, blushing with her eyes hazed. Discord was blushing too with a grin. “I’m happy to have you back to normal,” she finished then stood and helped him up.
He just leaned close to her. “Very happy to be back to you, darling.” He winked at her and they shared a coy look.
Twilight lightly cleared her throat and stepped forward. “We’re all glad you’re safe, Discord.” She glanced at the trio. “But speaking of what Cozy Glow was just saying about punishments…”
Tirek and Chrysalis frowned then looked down and forward—Cozy Glow remained clinging to Luster Dawn. Luster Dawn glanced at them then looked back to her mentor. “Princess Twilight, can we talk before you decide anything? Please?”
Twilight nodded. “Very well, Luster. It’s late. We’ll make decisions in the morning. But all things considered, I don’t want you three loose until then.”
“Let me guess—Tartarus, stone…?” Chrysalis started naming punishments.
“You can all stay here.” Luna came forward. “We have plenty of room, and I have personally magically secured all of them from spells, teleportation, and abuses of magic.”
Celestia and Discord glanced at each other then nodded and turned to the villains. “We can work with that,” Discord added.
“Thank you for letting us stay in your home.” Luster Dawn came forward to the pony sisters and Discord. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”
Luna cleared her throat, smiling sheepishly. “Er, please don’t worry. This is certainly not the first battle to have happened in this castle.”
Celestia smiled and touched her sister’s hoof as she spoke to Luster Dawn. “And we are very impressed by how well you handled yourself, Luster Dawn. We are happy to have you here.”
Discord grinned. “And, anyway, I make this place much more of a mess on a regular basis. You’re actually lucky I was turned to stone and my magic was put on hold during all of this. Otherwise all of my failsafes in this room would have gone off—we’d be having this conversation knee deep in banana cream pies, and all the paintings would be singing and telling bad jokes. And there would have been so many streamers.” He considered, twirling his beard. “Eh, what the hay.” He snapped, and all of his failsafes went off, leaving the room an absolute glorious mess. He shrugged. “It would have been a shame to waste everything!”
Luster Dawn actually laughed.
Twilight sighed and removed a large blob of banana cream pie from her mane. “Interesting, Discord. But let me clean up so we can actually eat breakfast in here in the mornin.” Twilight powered her horn and sent out a dome of her pink magic. Instantly everything righted itself and became orderly again. She sighed in satisfaction.
Luna and Celestia smiled but then sighed as their eyes found the table that was now bare of the desserts it had formally held.
Discord noticed and snapped: dessert plates appeared for each princess with their favorite treats, as well as a plate of lemon meringue pie for Luster Dawn. “We have to have dessert of course though before our tea party can officially be declared over.”
The princesses and Luster Dawn all smiled gratefully.
Tirek and Chrysalis looked on but said nothing. Discord sighed and snapped—plates appeared for them and Cozy Glow too with samplings of each dessert. Tirek and Chrysalis’s eyes widened at the gesture.
Cadance moved alongside her daughter. “We’ll send word to the Empire and Canterlot that we’re all fine and will be spending the night here. Come on, Flurry Heart.”
Flurry Heart hesitated for a moment but then nodded and went off with her mother.
Luna and Celestia approached the trio. “We’ll see these three to their rooms.” Luna smiled down at Luster Dawn and gently took Cozy in her magic. “Don’t worry, they will be safe and comfortable. I promise you, faithful student of Twilight Sparkle.”
Luster Dawn nodded in appreciation.
The pony sisters went off with their charges.
Twilight approached her student with a hesitant smile. “Luster? Would you like to go back to Ponyville? It’s okay if you do. I could stop by the castle in the morning to talk to you about Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. Then…maybe we could talk later in Canterlot about some other things?”
Luster Dawn swallowed, her eyes down. “I’d rather stay here and see things through with those three. Thank you though, Princess Twilight.” She frowned and followed after Celestia and Luna.
Twilight sighed as Luster Dawn exited.
Discord came beside her. “She needs to hear that she didn’t disappoint you. You know that, right?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. But it’s not that simple…” She took a breath. “She called Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow her friends. Then she said she didn’t have any friends in Ponyville she could bring here. I don’t know what that means.”
“I think it means she’s only like you to an extent. Maybe she’s a little more like Fluttershy—she doesn’t need her villains completely reformed before she strikes up a friendship with them.” Discord smiled.
Twilight smiled too. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Discord.” She gave him a sheepish shrug. “Sorry again for trashing your house.”
“Ugh, are you kidding, my only regret is being stone for the worst of it.” He laughed. “Besides, next time you have us over Celestia, Luna and I will just start a food fight at your place to make things event.” He nudged her and winked.
Twilight smiled a little but then looked away again in the direction Luster had gone. “I hope I’m doing this right.”
“I’d be the first to let you know if you were doing it wrong.” He crossed his arms.
She grinned. “True. Thank you for the reminder. I’ll see you at breakfast, Discord.”
As she walked away, he waved to her. “Okay, but if another battle happens at that meal, I’m definitely not being stone for it!”
She shook her head, trying not to laugh as she walked into a secret stairwell behind a statue.
Discord laughed to himself then snapped himself away to his own room for the night.