Twilight let her shield fall as the fragments of the scepter finished raining among her friends and clinking to the tiled floor. Squinting past the diminishing glow of the Elements, she tried to see what had become of Tyranny. Expecting him to crash to the ground as a statue, her irises shrank and her breath caught as he floated in the air above the throne—unaffected. Faint whispers drifted around him as a dark miasma swirled around his body, slowly being absorbed. He looked at his front hooves as if seeing something no one else saw.
Rainbow groaned as she got back to her hooves, her jaw dropping as she also looked up. “What the hay? What happened?”
“D-Didn’t the Elements work?” Fluttershy asked, her ears laying back as she shrank away.
Twilight felt the hairs along her spine stand at the magic that was steadily growing around Tyranny. Unlike the coldness his earlier magic gave off, this magic felt rigid, unyielding, yet strangely... comforting. “Princess Celestia, what happened? Why didn’t the Elements work?”
When no answer came, she looked towards her mentor. Celestia stood stock still, her own expression fearful.
“Sister!” Luna called, snapping Celestia from her daze.
“The Elements worked as they should have, but…” She looked at Tyranny who remained oblivious to them. “He found out what I had hoped he would not.”
Rarity gulped and gave her a worried look. “What do you mean, Princess?”
“When Luna and I imprisoned him long ago, he was too powerful to seal all in one place,” she said, her brow furrowing as the miasma started swirling around Tyranny faster. “To seal him, we were forced to divide his essence separately. We used his crown and scepter as the receptacles. Alone, they could do nothing, but together, they allowed him to influence this world.”
“Even with this separation, his power was mostly sealed within the scepter,” Luna said as she also frowned. “Which was just destroyed by the Elements of Harmony—”
“—and releasing his power,” Celestia finished, her grim tone causing a shudder to run up Twilight’s spine.
Applejack stamped her hoof to the marble floor. “Then what are we standin’ around for? Let’s stop ’im before he gets too powerful again.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed, we must act now. Twilight, you know what to do.”
“All right, girls, again. Form up,” Twilight said. Getting back on their hooves, the six began collecting the energy to charge the Elements of Harmony once more. Even as their magic gathered, Tyranny paid them no heed as he continued to absorb the miasma.
Everypony could only watch as the Elements continued to gather power. From the doorway, Tourmaline and Tormod watched in stunned awe, their eyes locked upon the stallion who had possessed their friend.
“Do you still think he is in there?” Tormod asked her quietly, the fear in his eyes showing he hadn’t forgotten his time as a statue. Tourmaline didn’t answer; her gaze locked on Tyranny’s, whose eyes showed a growing manic expression.
With a bright flash, the Elements of Harmony finished their charge and the rainbow-beam arched out—making its way towards the oblivious stallion. Just as the beam was about to connect, the remaining miasma flew into the spirit and he put both front hooves up above him. With a collective gasp, the ponies stood with wide eyes and dropped jaws, as Tyranny stopped the power of the Elements of Harmony.
Leering, he pushed back the magic of the Elements with his own beam of energy.
With a mocking laugh that roared over the discharge of energy, his colorless beam pushed the rainbow one back into its bearers. Twilight sucked in a breath and cringed as the beam struck and threw her and her friends across the room and into the others below.
As they picked themselves up from the floor, Tyranny hovered above them, an intense gleam in his eyes.
“After all this time, I am whole again,” he proclaimed, holding his forelegs out wide. “The Elements of Harmony have failed you, and with their failure, goes your last hope of defeating me. The entire world shall now fall under my reign!” An arrogant smirk crossed his face. “I truly have all of you to thank. Were it not for your efforts, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“What are you saying, Tyranny?” Celestia asked as she helped Twilight back to her hooves.
“That everything went as planned.” His grin grew wider. “I knew from the moment of my release that the majority of my power was sealed inside my scepter, and that I would not be able to regain it on my own. Not even you, Celestia, had the power to destroy it, but I knew of one source that did. The one you and Luna used to defeat me before.”
“The Elements,” Twilight said, shaking her head to clear the dancing lights from her vision.
He turned his arrogant grin her way. “Indeed, Princess, but when I learned that they had passed on to a new generation, I needed to harness their power in a way that would be of benefit. While it’s true that I could have allowed you to use them in the clearing or at the crystal tower, that wouldn’t have allowed me a satisfying vengeance against Celestia.”
“You egotistical maniac!” Twilight yelled, grinding her teeth. “All of this is just some game to you?”
His mocking laughter echoed through the entire castle. “There was no game, Princess. A game would signify a contest between equals, and you will never be my equal,” he said as he lowered himself to the marble floor, which darkened at his touch, like the very light was being snuffed out.“I did what was needed to bring order to this world and bring about a satisfying revenge in the same process. To simply have overwhelmed Celestia and Luna with my full power would not have been near as enjoyable.”
The ponies bristled when he took a step forward, a contemptuous snort escaped him before he continued, “The hope you felt in thinking you had me defeated—only to have that hope taken away at the last moment and crushed before your eyes—that was what I strove for. And I can see it in your eyes, your hope is dead. And you realize how powerless you are to stop me now.” His arrogant visage turned to a firm glare. “Now, kneel before your true ruler.”
“Oh, pah-leese Tyranny. Could you get anymore melodramatic? That little speech sounded like it could have been on stage,” a disembodied voice said.
Tyranny’s eyes narrowed, and his gaze flitted around the room. “Of course he would dare.”
“Discord!” Fluttershy said happily and with no small amount of relief.
“Hello again, Fluttershy,” Discord said as he appeared. Leaning on one of the few remaining pillars of the throne room, his front paws rested comfortably behind his head. “And to you other ponies and pony—” he opened one eye at Chrysalis “—thing.”
The changeling queen growled at the impudent spirit, who promptly stuck his tongue out at her.
“I had wondered when you were going to show your disfigured face, Discord,” Tyranny said, venom practically dripping in his tone.
“Aw, missed me did you, Tyry my boy? I’m touched.” Discord appeared beside him, leaning on his shoulder. “You know me, always loving a flashy entrance.” With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared by the ponies. “Well my dear ponies, you certainly made a mess of the place.’ He looked around the ruined throne room with a nod of approval. “Very nicely done, I might add.”
“Discord!” Twilight growled. “This is no time for games. Tyranny just—” she was cut off as he rested his elbow on her head.
“Oh I know it, little princess, how about you let me handle mister grumpy over there, hmm?” he said to her in a conspiring whisper, one that was not all that quiet to begin with.
Tyranny glowered at him. “What are you babbling about, Discord?”
He shrugged. “Oh, just about the weather. You know how the winged ponies feel about that sort of thing.” His smirk grew as Tyranny’s scowl deepened. “But really, after all these years, you’re still bent on the classical idea of ruling the world?” He appeared next to the stallion, calmly walking around him. “Must be boring to not have a single different thought in over a millennia.”
“Wait, didn’t you—” Rainbow started before a piece of duct tape slapped itself over her muzzle.
“And you cannot even finish stringing one thought from the next,” Tyranny countered. “Such is the fallibility of chaos.”
Discord appeared next to him again, wrapping one arm around him buddy-buddy like. “You want to know what I think is incredibly ironic?” Discord said, ignoring Tyranny’s glare. “It’s that I, the Spirit of Chaos, have my own original handsome body, whereas you, the Spirit of Order, the one who is supposed to signify stability, has to possess another pony to even exist in this world.” He laughed, slapping at his knee in mirth. “Such delicious irony. It almost makes me want to—”
Tyranny blasted him against the wall, his eyes blazing in rage.
Discord dusted himself off after being dropped to the ground. “Well, that was certainly rude. Guess I struck a nerve.” He smirked and snapped his fingers, and a two-ton anvil dropped onto Tyranny’s head, smashing him to the floor with a loud metallic clang.
“Ah, the classics are always the best,” Discord said, his tone taking a wistful turn to it.
The anvil exploded into a million pieces, and Tyranny picked himself from the ground, shooting another beam. Discord yawned, and a bucket appeared in his paw, trapping the ray inside.
“Really, Tyranny? An energy beam? So overdone and clichéd. Surely you can think of another way to beat me than a boring old energy beam.” The bucket turned into a glass of water, which he promptly drank down. “Why don’t you try a little bit of this?” Tossing the glass over his shoulder, he snapped his claws. In response, a veritable army of flying cows in plate armor gathered around the Draconequus. “Sally forth, my friends!”
With a warcry, the bovine knights charged.
Scowling, Tyranny raised one hoof above him and lightning arced out all around the throne room, destroying walls, pillars, furniture, and even arching towards the ponies, who had to dive for cover. As each bolt struck a bovine warrior, the cow returned to their normal state before panicking and stampeding out of the room—nearly trampling the ponies as they scurried out of the way.
Discord gave him a snide smirk as the lightning missed his face by inches. “Losing your temper? It’s so unbecoming of you. I always thought you were master of your emotions.”
As the lightning ended—the scorch marks still crackling with energy—Tyranny glared at him. “Do you really think you can distract me with words or your foolish creations? You are a bigger fool than I remember.”
“All right, that’s it! I’ve had it with this guy!” Rainbow Dash yelled. Picking herself up, she flew towards Tyranny. She gasped as a large wall of clear amethyst materialized out of nowhere, completely separating them from Tyranny and Discord.
“You will not interfere,” Tyranny told her matter-of-factly. He turned his gaze back to Discord, who was busy idling with a paddle ball.
“Mock while you can, Discord, for it will be your last time.” Tyranny held his front hooves before him, turning them towards each other. A sphere of energy began to form between them as he gathered his power.
“I highly doubt that,” Discord said, a smug smirk spreading across his face before he considered the growing sphere with a raised brow. “Well now, this is a new one.”
Tyranny collected the energy until the sphere was as large as he was, and he hurled it at Discord.
“Oh how I love a ball game,” Discord said happily, instantly dressed in a baseball-player’s uniform, a long wooden bat held in paw. “Batter up!” He swung the bat as the sphere neared.
Unfortunately, instead of reflecting the sphere back at Tyranny as he’d intended, the bat disintegrated.
“Oh bother,” he said and twisted his body so the sphere barely missed him. Twilight saw it singed a few hairs off his hide before going through the wall behind him, leaving a perfectly round hole.
“Your aim is a bit off,” Discord taunted.
“Is it?” Tyranny asked with a sneer.
Discord turned in time to see the sphere race back at him.
“Oh bother,” he muttered again and raced away, the sphere in close pursuit.
No matter where Discord slithered around the throne room, the sphere followed. Any time he flew near one of the scorched marks left from Tyranny’s earlier lightning outburst, a smaller sphere would pop up and explode. Twilight winced as Discord did his best to avoid them, but the larger sphere made dodging the smaller ones almost impossible. Numerous times he had to take the smaller explosions to avoid the larger sphere.
Just when it seemed the sphere had begun to slow, Tyranny appeared before the draconequus and kicked him solidly in the chest. Discord flew backwards and straight into the pursuing sphere of energy. The resulting explosion shook the entire castle, and Twilight cringed as Discord was slammed into the tiled floor.
“No, Discord!” the ponies shouted past shocked gasps.
Discord was slowly pushing himself up when he noticed a small ball of light floating in front of his face. The ball turned into a ring of similar spheres with energy arcing between them.
“Oh no! He landed on a—”
“Trap,” Discorded finished for Twilight just as it exploded.
Fluttershy’s scream was heard above the others.
When the dust cleared, Discord lay in a daze. He moved a bit before a band of shadow wrapped around him and hauled him towards Tyranny. The two were muzzle to muzzle, and he glared at Discord, who still wore a slight grin.
“Something humorous, Discord? As I see it, you’re losing.”
Discord shrugged slightly. “Maybe.” A lemon-cream pie appeared in his paw, and he promptly splattered it into Tyranny’s face. An explosion sent the stallion flying into the amethyst wall, which cracked under the force of the impact. “At least I know how to have fun and not be a pompous stick-in-the-mud.”
“Exploding pies. Why didn’t I think of that?” Pinkie commented.
“Pinkie!” chided more than one of her friends.
“Now, now. One should never doubt the power of pie.” Discord nodded sagely.
Tyranny growled, whipping the remains of the combustible pie from his face and teleported in front of the draconequus. Before Discord could react, Tyranny grabbed him by the face and electrical energy arced out, causing him to writhe in agony under the assault. Any time Discord tried to struggle, Tyranny shocked him with an even stronger jolt of energy.
“Are you having fun now?” Tyranny growled. “What is it that these ponies have given you that you hold so dear? Did you honestly believe it would have aided you against me?”
Discord managed to glare at the stallion. “You call this original? I’ve had worse from a paw zapper.”
Tyranny threw him contemptuously towards the stunned ponies. He landed with a grunt and rolled onto his back, just in time for Tyranny to stomp on his chest.
Discord grunted in pain and tried to pry the hoof off his chest, but Tyranny held a forehoof over him, and numerous arcs of dark energy washed over the draconequus. “For eons, I’ve had to deal with your smart mouth, Discord. Do you find this humorous?” The energy arched out anew. “Do you?!”
Discord writhed in pain as the energy sapped him of his strength. It seemed like the assault lasted forever to those who were forced to watch. When it mercifully ended, Discord let his arms fall to the his side, turning his head to give the stunned ponies an apologetic look.
“It is over,” Tyranny said, his harsh glare upon the ponies beyond the wall. “Order has triumphed over Chaos, and this world will finally, truly belong to me.” He cast a disdainful expression to Discord. “You honestly thought that you could have outlasted my assault? You always were a fool, Discord. Your time among them has weakened your powers and serves no purpose to me.” He lifted a hoof towards him. “I have waited a long time for this.” The dark energy swirled and grew around his hoof.
Discord tried to move again, but Twilight saw he didn’t have it in him. He looked to the gathered ponies on the other side of the wall, even to the two at the door.
“I suggest you ponies all learn how get along.” With a weak snap of his fingers they all vanished in a flash of light.
Just in time for Tyranny to hit him with the spell. The Spirit of Chaos could only watch as his body began to blacken.
“Oh joy, time in the realm of Shadow. Never understood why you love the place so much.” He looked at Tyranny, who stood over him with a smirk. “Oh, don’t be so smug, Tyry. Those ponies are a lot more clever than you think.”
Tyranny snorted. “It doesn’t matter what they do. They cannot stop me now.”
Discord cringed as the blackness reached his face. “You would be surprised. I learned the hard way, and you’ll be no different. In fact, when it happens, it will be hilarious.”
“Either way—” Tyranny looked straight into Discord’s eyes “—You will not be here to see it. Farewell, Discord.” He turned away as the draconequus was banished from Equestria.