//------------------------------//
// Divine intervention 
// Story: The Second Return 
// by Narim 
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Discord sure knew how to get Helia's attention. Her fire changed into blinding yellow, and the room temperature increased. Wasting no time, Discord, with a single finger snap, fixed the room and healed most of the injuries caused by Helia. Celestia was finally able to stand up. She was still weak, but determined to face her foe together with her brother. He had a different opinion. 

"I know you are not a fighter, my dear," refused Discord her efforts. "I will have to call dibs on her. You see, she made it personal and I have something to say to her." He touched the almost gone shield and reinforced it with his powers. It shined with every possible color. It served as a protection from getting inside, and at the same time, from getting out of it. Discord really meant his wish to not let the others interfere.

Now that he had no reason to spend his energy on holding Helia back in the prison, he returned to his obvious chaos making. Another finger snap and his throne of chaos, decorated with deer horns, was summoned. His opponent was standing still, awaiting his attack.

Discord took the seat and with his victory smile, he watched Helia. If there were not for the burning flames, you could easily confuse her with a statue. Still, she emitted a strange aura. Both anger and fear, mixed with anticipation and patience.

"Why. Why, why, why, why," he asked. "Why are the others still alive. Why does Equestria still exist. Why do you hesitate with your attacks," questioned her. "You are powerful, way beyond me. Even now, you could strike me down with a single strike. You can clash the sun into this planet within a second. I was never supposed to imprison you in the first place. So why, why are you holding back?" Is he stupid, thought Twilight. Don't tell her about the powers she might not know about.

Silence. Discord was obviously irritated, but managed to keep it down. Instead, he called for his element at it appeared in his paw. His element looked like a ball used for hoofball. Its skelet was made of various metals, mostly of gold and silver. Inside of that skelet was another one, made of several rings, turning in various directions around the core. The core was a flashy light, emitting pleasant warmth, shining with various colors. If you could picture life, this is how it would look like.

The thirteenth element, unnamed, was connected by a rusty chain to the spear they saw in his hideout. Ponies wondered what it could server for. Except for Shining, they had no idea about the spear. They soon were to learn the truth about it.

If Helia was surprised by the weapon Discord brought to bring her down, she didn't let other know about it. Her flames burned in anticipation. Could she wait for a perfect chance to strike, when her opponent shows even a tiny opening? 

"Do you recognize this spear, Helia?" asked her as he was playing with that weapon. "I am sure you don't. This spear is just a tale, told by guards and soldiers. Spear of an Unknown Pony is its name. It belonged to a common pony, ordinary citizen, who picked this spear and in order to protect his family, he faced his foe, despite having absolutely no chance of success. His story is to inspire others not to hesitate upon giving their life for the sake of others. No one knows the name of that pony, but I know the name of his foe. It was you, Helia," framed her, staring in her eyes, filled with hate and accusation for her past deeds.

"Yes, did you think I had forgotten? Did you think I have forgiven? For the thousands you burned to ashes, the Old Kingdom, scarred by your actions so hideously, we had to sink it into the ocean? For my friends, killed by you right before my eyes? Do you know how hard it was for me to tell their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, their little foals, that their loved ones will never return? Oh, that's right," changed his hate to irony, "I forgot you see us only as a fuel for your flames, a pile of logs, a heap of coal."

"But I am not here to reflect on the past. It is done and gone, only the vague present and the hope of tomorrow matter. Let me ask you, although I do know you won't reply, one thing. What are you going to do, when, purely hypothetical, you defeat us and burn this place in flames, to the core. What then, when your precious purpose is fulfilled, your mission over and there is nothing more for you to do. Will you spend the rest of eternity roaming mindlessly around the dead, cold universe? Of course not."

"There is an answer to all my questions about you. The one thing, explaining your lack of radical and decisive actions. Chaos knew it very well. Should he not, there would be now way for him to join the forces with me. It's all about a feeling. To you, and to Chaos likewise, it's like a disease, a poison to your mind. Something you can not get rid of. With all its pros and cons, it is strongly nested in your mind. The feeling to be... alive."

For a split of second, even Discord thought she moved to attack. He firmly grasped the spear, but Helia stopped her action. Her flames were completely white and the temperature was incredible. Only thanks to Discord's magic was the room still existing. Even when the ponies inside the shield were safe from the heat, they still started feeling sick. Oh no, realized Twilight, she's burning so hot. The radiation! She was not sure if the protective spell works even against that threat, but if not, they had no time before the amount of it gets fatal.

Even Discord noticed it, and hastened his speech. It was time to deal his best strike. "You are like not him, Helia. It is not too late, leave this mad action and the Creator behind. We both know you don't want to do this, that you want to be with us, as a family," tempted her, but the result was the opposite.

"NEVER!" yelled Helia, with the voice way powerful than traditional royal Canterlot one. "The Starfather's Will is absolute. I am perfect, unlike you, I will not betray my purpose. This world will burn, and there's nothing you can do." Her voice was confident. Too confident, realized ponies.

"Indeed," said Discord and offered her an honest bow. "There is nothing I can do. You forget who I am. Who we are," referred to his Terran and Chaos parts.

"The traitor will pay for his actions," she said without any mercy for him.

"And not only us." He closed his eyes and commanded. "Come, my brothers and sisters, the hour you await is here. Stand true to your oath and to Equestria." The sound of his voice penetrated every part of their bodies. The ghostponies looked up, to the ceiling. Even Shagga, blind even in her death, raised her head up. Neklan silently cried. "I have waited so long for this moment, my friends."

All three ghostponies left the bubble and gathered next to Discord. Suddenly, others started appearing! Not only the ghosts of unicorns, Pegasi, earth ponies and zebras, but of a long forgotten races too. Two wereponies, a mix of wolf and ponies, with bristly coat, sharp fangs and clawed hooves. Also, two fire ponies were present. They looked like smaller, wingless version of Helia, with mane and tail burning in their respective ghost colors. All twelve appeared ghosts had different color. All of them gathered next to Discord.

If Helia were like any other pony, she would burst out in laughter. But she remained calm and coldly stated her remark. "It is illogical to rely on someone not of this sphere of existence. Their presence here is a violation of the Law. They are failures, just like this everything."

"They are not the only ones. The wielders of my greatest creation," pointed at the ponies, "my sisters, Celestia and Luna, and every living thing on this planet is with me. They are my family, my children. All of us, against you alone. You are forgetting one thing, all the time, Helia," reminded Discord.

"That is??"

"Friendship is magic."

It was all over before could anypony else beside the actors to realize. At the same moment, Discord, calling Helia's name, threw the spear with all his strength against her. She also threw at him one of her fire spears, but this time, it was blue. With no sides caring for defense, Discord's spear penetrated into Helia's body, and her flame spear stuck out of Discord's dragon tail.

Helia tried to remove the spear from her wound, but Discord was quicker. In the ancient tongue, he yelled his command. "Šagare!" Despite the fact that Twilight and her friends had no idea of its meaning, they were unable to move a single hoof, despite their efforts. The spell was so strong, it left even Helia wide open. Even her fires ceased to move for the time. 

"Too easy," taunted Discord. "I was looking for some challenge, my dear. You were the first one worthy enough to measure the strengths with in years." Now, his element was connected to her body by the rusty chain and spear. The chain itself seemed not reliable enough for this important task. 

Discord picked his element, firmly in his hands, ignoring the burning spear in his tail, and started the ritual. Everypony's element started lending its energy into his. The energy lines looked different for each pony. One was rotating spiral, other was straight, pure red line, one was a thin as thread, and so on. Helia was still unable to move, yet her presence radiated incredible hatred directed at Discord. 

As the energy kept flowing into the orb, ponies started to feel exhausted. To their relief, all lines disappeared when the orb reached its full power. Discord raised his element above his head, to make his boasting speech about it.

"Behold, the greatest art, the marvel of ancient magic and modern technology. The ultimate power in the universe. Your new prison," turned his attention at his target. "Don't worry, it will hurt. A lot. Not like the pain was ever a concern to you, you so-called perfect being," made his bitter insult. 

With his eyes closed, full focus and maximum concentration, the energy slowly poured into Helia. The rusty chained started gaining multiple colors, as it was revitalized by the spell. Even without knowing how it worked, one thing was clear. When the rust is removed and colors touch her body, it will be over. With every single link closer to the goal, Helia's presence was more and more overwhelming. Come on, cheered everypony for the element.

It was too good and too easy for it to be true. The foe's fires ablaze, and without even moving, Helia made something... you can't call it voice or sound. It was speechless yell, but powerful enough to cut the chain in half, right before it was almost over for her. The thirteenth element's light was gone and all the color slowly vaporized into nowhere. Their only hope... failed.

Once again, Helia had a perfect reason to burst in laughter. There was nothing that could save them now. In the end, she is the victorious. Discord was disappointed by his failure and with unreadable emotion, his mind was occupied with thinking.

"You have failed," stated Helia obviously, as if someone could already forget the events of the past minute. "There is nothing you can do now. It was futile of you to resist your fate, his will." 

Twilight knew this was the end. They did their best, she was sure of that. She was glad she met her friends and had two wonderful years with them. She was honored to be Celestia's faithful student. Thoughts about the afterlife started to appear in her head. Everypony will meet at the other side.

Unexpected voice disrupted the silence. "The doors are closed, you are unseen and the darkness awaits you." Shagga made her prophecy. Yes, agreed Twilight. Our doors to the future are closed, and the darkness awaits us. Insignificant lives like our are not worthy of Helia's consideration. They are unseen by her. 

"Shagga," asked her Discord with unbelievable happiness. Was he insane? "Are you sure of that?"

"Always."

Discord changed. His eyes gone red, his laughter was not vicious, but chaotic evil. And the voice. Silent, chaotic and crazy. He was talking to himself. 

"Haahaha," he laughed. "This... is it, Terran! The moment you and I have waited for. Please, let me do it, I want to do it. I have all I need. She's here. And I'll take her with us too. To the ultimate chaos, where insanity is the only rule. Please," he begged himself. It seems like his part, belonging to Chaos, made his appearance.

"No," replied back in his normal voice and look. "We will do it, but together. We started it together, we end it together."

Celestia had a very bad feeling about it. Her brother never told her anything about this. "What are you doing, Discord?" asked him, but got no reply.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me," repeated Helia. "Your attempt followed the most logical way, but its power was no match for me." 

Discord sat on the throne. His ghost companions waited in anticipation. They knew something more about his plan B. "Yes," he said silently, "this is the best way." For a while, he looked into nowhere, making sure he won't fail anything. "It is on, you know what to do," ordered his long-gone comrades. Every ghostpony nodded in approval. 

Each of them stood next to other living pony. Twelve ghosts protecting six mares, three stallions and two princesses. Odd pony out, Napoli, inserted his hooves into the floor. One of the fire ponies, mare incredibly charming and beautiful even in her death, whispered into Twilight's ears. "To ensure your protection, we have to bring you slightly closer to our realm. There is no need for you to worry, as we have complete confidence in this," she said in sweet voice. She gently inserted her hoof into Twilights body. She suddenly became cold, despite the obvious heat from Helia. Her vision became blurred and she could hear some unrecognisable whispers. She felt like... dying. Other ghosts did the same for their respective protégés. 

With a loud snap, Discord summoned a huge, golden gong. Everypony, even Helia, was confused. In silence, he smashed it with a mallet and the sounds seemed to shatter everything. By everything I mean the entire Equestria. All around them, as far as they could see, was black nothing. Above, beneath, left and right. They felt no floor, no ground, but still they were not falling. There was nowhere to fall.

Helia started looking in every direction. As if she had lost something important. Discord knew what it was.

"Looking for you precious Sun, my dear," asked her with a huge satisfaction. "Oh, you won't find it here. Let me welcome you to this place. This is the middle of the universe. A place so old, that the stars from here are already gone, and the light from the new ones has not yet reached it. This is the best place for eternal chaos, the perfect place to lose your sanity."

Celestia could confirm it. Even she could not feel the presence of her star. They had to be really far away. Helia, for the first time and the last time, was in doubts. She had no idea what to do. As always, she chose the most logical way - to attack Discord, now, with her full power.

Every part of her started burning in various spectrum. Starting with red, turning to yellow, white, blue and violet. She burned so hard with so incredible power, that she was almost invisible. Eyes of the ponies could not distinguish the colors of that frequency. Regardless of the flames and light, ponies were still cold. The ghost ponies were keeping them alive.

"Too late for this, Helia. You are forgetting who I am. I am Chaos. This is my realm. What I say here, goes." He started looking all over the place, as if he was looking for an annoying fly. "Can you see us, you puppeteer, the one who is sending others to do his dirty job. I know you can't. And before you can even start looking for us, it will be all over. For you, for me, forever."

His taunting was not left unanswered. A beam of light was approaching them. It seemed so fast, but still so far away. Helia seemed relieved. "You fool. It is over. For you. The Starfather will deal with you personally, as you wish." Now was another good time for an evil laughter.

"Right, no time to waste. I have no intention of meeting him."

With the fiercest roar he could made, his blood veins raised all over his body, pumping the blood with crazy haste. But for him, it was no blood. It was blue, shining with white dots. Pure magic energy. 

It was not still enough for him. He drained the last bits of energy from the Elements. The elements of Strength, Protection and Agility cracked, and their wielders fainted. 

Helia made her charge, only to be pushed away, with no effort at all. 

Discord raised his hands and focused all of his life energy into an incredibly small, absolute black ball. 

Once again, Helia attacked with furious, lightning fast flames. No effect.

Celestia's sense was telling her to stop Discord, but she could not move any part of her body.

The light beam was getting closer, with increasing speed.

Discord was finished.

He took a last look into everypony's face. He was calm. Prepared.

In all his might, he yelled. So hard, it was to be heard in the every corner of the universe.

"LONG. LIVE. EQUESTRIA."

His hands clapped and silent explosion of light blinded everypony. As their sight was returning, they slowly started to see the Observatory room around them. All was back to normal. Almost. The windows, floor, walls and ceiling fixed, but the star map was burned in half, some books torn apart and one of the four royal flags was missing.

Discord and Helia were not present anymore.

The ghostponies were relieved and happy. One after the other made their rejoice known and disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again.

"At least, we have our revenge."
"In the end, all that awaits us, is death."
"We finally made her pay for the crimes she committed, right?"
"Thanks for the help, living ones. Terran would not make it without you."
"See you on the other side, everypony."
"Well, as Shagga predicted, this was the only path he would choose."
"Do you think we shall see him soon?"

Shortly after, only Napoli and Neklan remained. Celestia, Luna and Rainbow Dash were still injured. To Celestia, there was something else causing her bigger pain than this. Just like Luna, they could not sense Discord anymore. He knew how to hide his presence, but they knew this was not one of his doings.

"Twilight Sparkle," approached her Napoli, "You have shown us a great potential. I will watch over you from the other realm, if you don't mind." Twilight doubtfully nodded, as she was not sure if he's going to haunt her. "You all showed us your strength. I thank you for that and bid you farewell." With these words, he parted with them and in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

Neklan, the last one remaining, also wanted to give his speech. "Although this has not ended as we expected or hoped for, it was an honor to meet you all. I wish I could stay here longer and make an epic poem about your deeds, but finally, our oath is fulfilled and I can't resist the call. Terran seems to made a complete explanation in his final letter," he pointed to just appearing scroll, tied by two green ribbons. "I hope it will take you long time before you visit us. Take your time and enjoy living. That's something Terran wishes you to do." He bowed to everypony, and with farewell, he followed his friend into the land unknown to the living.

Everypony gazed at the letter from Discord. What did Neklan meant by "final letter?" Maybe he is afraid to get imprisoned by Celestia again, thought Twilight. But the likely truth was different.





All's well that ends well? Unfortunately, this won't end like other of their adventures. Find about Discord's final letter in the last chapter of The Second Return.