//------------------------------//
// The Heroes Return Home 
// Story: The Green Eyed Gryphon 
// by misskoifishpony 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 12: The Heroes Return Home

With a snap of his talon,Discord teleported himself,Fluttershy,and tiny flying orange Ruber to the top of the mountain. There, they meet up with the rest of the gang. The Mane Six in their rainbow power forms, Spike, and Stellar Eclipse greeted Fluttershy and Discord with great excitement and joy. Fluttershy and Discord happily returned in the same feelings.

Meanwhile on the side, Diego gave himself some distance between himself and the group. He softly smirked at them...especially at Rarity. He was happy that the battle was over and that every pony was alright. Emerl was next to Diego as well, observing the group from afar. He too was overjoyed by the fact that Ruber was defeat and that his new friends were safe. However, Emerl kept looking for Ruber and see what the draconequus did to his former master. Emerl couldn't help but feel a inkling of fear whenever he saw the draconequus. After all, he saw this creature at his most furious yet powerful state. It's hard to see the draconequus so calm and happy now. Emerl didn't want to anger him anytime today or days after.

Before Emerl knew it, the terrifying draconequus was walking towards Emerl and Diego. The gryphon could feel his heart pounding in his chest and sweat building under his wings. He just hoped that this mismatched chimera couldn't smell fear.

Diego smirked as soon as he came in front of Diego. Diego returned the same smirk, "So, I guess this means that..."

Discord interrupted him with "You're a lucky guesser."

Diego chuckled at Discord's teasing. The lord of Chaos continued his thoughts with "Thanks for the lucky guess."

Diego smiled at Discord and replied "No prob buddy."

Discord softly chuckled at his silly nickname. Then, he turned his attention to Emerl...who immediately stiffened once Discord stared into his eyes.

He brought his head close to the nervous gryphon and said "So, is this your master?"

Emerl looked down and saw a small cage dangling from Discord's paw. Inside the cage was a frustrated orange with wings on it's back. He uttered in disbelief "Rrruberr?"

Ruber shook his cage violently and squeaked in his highest voice "Get me out here! I command you, gryphon, to get me out of here! At once!"

Emerl couldn't help but sneaker at his former master's new form and new voice. He giggled "Ssorry, butt I don'ttt takeee ordersss from a orrrange."

This made Ruber boil with rage, fire build in his eyes, and he screamed in his fury. This made Discord,Diego, and Emerl laugh eve more. The Mane Six, Spike,and Stellar Eclipse joined Discord and the others. When they saw Ruber in the little cage,they cracked up with laughter too. Especially Rainbow Dash. She couldn't breath because she was laughing so hard.

While Emerl was slowly recovering from his laughter,he turned his eyes back to Discord. He soon realized that...he needed to apologized for kidnapping his friends. Especially for kidnapping his friend Fluttershy.

Emerl carefully opened his beak and muttered "Ummm, m'lorrdd?"

Discord stopped his chuckling and looked at Emerl curiously.

Emerl bowed before The Lord of Chaos and remarked humbly "I apologizzze...for all the trrrouble I caused. M'Lorrd."

"Hmmm. M'Lord. That does have a nice ring to it." Discord pondered aloud.

Fluttershy gently reminded him "Discord."

Discord replied "Don't worry, I was getting to that. There's no need for you bow tweety. You are forgiven by me, The Lord of Chaos."

Fluttershy smiled and rolled her eyes at Discord's last remark. The draconequus helped Emerl back to his feet, and gave me a friendly smile. His smile slightly surprised the gryphon.

All our heroes gathered in a large circle around the dead fire place. They each took each others hoof and claw. They all closed their eyes and focused on going home.

Silence and slow gathering of magic filled the air surrounding the circle. The Mane Six's bodies, manes, and cutie marks glowed brightly together. Even Discord's claws glowed with his friends magic. When our heroes magic was at it's highest gathering point, they released a bright white light and...the large group of friends disappeared from from the mountain.

Their magic lead them to Canterlot. To be more precise, it transported them in the courtyard in front of the Canterlot Castle. All of the Mane Six's families were still waiting for their return. Or at least some sign from the Princesses to know if they're alright.

Their prayers were soon answered when a bright beam of light landed right in the middle of the square. When the light disappeared...and the ponies were able to open their eyes...they cheered and cried when they saw their children. The Mane Six transformed back to their normal forms and embraced their families who missed them dearly. Even all the monsters and creatures in Fluttershy's super large family embraced the shy Pegasus in a giant group hug. Which Diego joined in naturally.

Stellar,Emerl, and Discord felt so proud and joyful,knowing that they did a great act of kindness for this crowd of ponies and their friends.

"Discord!"

Discord turned around, and before he could say a word, he was pony piled on by the cutie mark crusaders.

They exclaimed "You came back!"

Discord chuckled while still holding them in his arms, "Of course I came back! Why wouldn't I?"

Then the CMC kept telling him all at once how much they missed him and the questions they had about his journey. Luckily,Discord was able to stop their chat by showing them the funny orange in the cage. Naturally, the little fillies laughed at it.

Emerl turned his warm gaze away from Discord and his tiny friends,...and found Rainbow Dash in front of him. With a purple stallion who shared Rainbow's colorful striped mane.

Rainbow told the stallion "And this is Emerl Dad. The gryphon who helped us out."

Emerl bowed his head elegantly towards Rainbow's father and announced "It'sss an honorrr to meettt you sssir."

Her father replied in a scared stuttered tone, a little intimidated by the gryphon's massive height, "Um. It-It's nice to meet you too. Um Emerl."

Rainbow giggled at her father's stutter.

Meanwhile, Count Batula and Mavis were crying soft happy tears while hugging their daughter. They kept telling her that they loved her and missed her so much. When Count Batula opened his eyes, he saw Discord crossed the way. He gently released his daughter from his grip...and walked towards the draconequus. Fluttershy and Mavis showed a concerned yet curious look on their faces.

Discord finally saw Count Batula once the bat pony was a few inches away from him. Discord stopped his chit chat with the CMC and turned his bewildered curiosity towards Fluttershy's father.

There was a long and heavy moment of silence between them.

Count Batula smiled through his incoming tears and flew towards the chaotic creature's neck to hug it. Discord immediately stiffened when this pony hugged him.

Discord exclaimed in his head What in the world?! Why is he hugging?! This stallion hates me?! Why is he hugging me?!

Count Batula uttered in between his happy sobs, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Discord replied awkwardly "You're...welcome."

Count Batula loosened his grip on Discord's beck and proclaimed "It's official! You have my approval! Welcome to the family son!"

While Fluttershy's father returned to give the draconequus another hug, Discord squeaked "Son?!"

Every pony in Fluttershy's family cheered, even Diego cheered for Discord. Mavis was the loudest pony with her cheers. Fluttershy blushed a deep shade of red, and chuckled "Oh papa."

All the ponies in the courtyard soon quieted down when the Princesses entered through the front castle doors. Twilight went up to Cadence with a big smile on her face and hugged her favorite foal sitter. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gracefully walked towards Discord,which made the mismatched chimera slightly confused yet suspicious.

Once the three god-like creatures were facing each other, Princess Luna commanded "Did you capture the enemy from the other world?"

Discord responded with a mischievous grin, "Sure did." Then, he hold up Ruber's cage with his tail. When the Princesses looked inside the cage, they saw a orange with wings on his back...absolutely petrified by their inquisitive stares.

Princess Celestia asked softly "I suppose this was your doing...old friend?"

Discord replied smoothly "You never specified what to do with him after I drained him of his magic."

Celestia softly giggled at Discord's remark. Princess Luna took the cage from Discord's tail, and loudly proclaimed to the orange inside it "Tell me, winged orange, of thy name."

Ruber uttered with a lump in his throat "Lord Ruber..."

Princess Luna then proclaimed in her calmest Canterlot voice, "Lord Ruber...for your threat against the harmony of our land and it's defenders...We Princesses of Day and Night condemned you to life sentence in the Canterlot Dungeon!"

Then, she surrounded Ruber's in a dark blue aura of magic and transported him to the deep dark prison underneath the castle.

Princess Celestia, in a motherly tone, remarked to Discord "Thank you Discord. For all that you done."

Discord replied casually "Well, consider us even Princess."

Celestia softly chuckled before continuing with her sentiments, "Despite what has happened in the past, today Discord, you have proven yourself to be a hero."

She turned her gaze to the crowd in the courtyard and announced "And for this bravery, we must celebrate!"

Every pony cheered with great delight, especially Pinkie Pie. She knew that it was party time.