S4 E26: Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2 (What If?)
It was amazing and yet unfortunate how quickly things had changed in the span of a day for Equestria, and for Twilight Sparkle. The young alicorn had spent the night before wondering about something very important, at least to her. And it was all she could think about as the Equestria Games drew to a close in the Crystal Empire. "It feels like my new title doesn't seem to matter much. In fact, it barely seems to matter at all." She'd willingly confessed to her friends.
Her friends were quick to try and cheer the young alicorn up, and they were not the only ones to take a role in doing so. The other princesses sought to encourage Twilight as well. "You may not believe your role amounts to much yet, but in time it will." Princess Luna had reassured Twilight that night.
"Princess or not, you've done many great things already." Princess Celestia had added, and then it was off to bed for Twilight in order to be well rested for the trip home to Ponyville in the morning.
But that night, a lone centaur with a black robe over most of his body made himself known as he drained an innocent unicorn stallion of his magic. "I am Lord Tirek! And I will take what should've been rightfully mine long ago."
This had the unintended consequence of alerting Princess Celestia to Tirek's presence, and she was quick to explain to Twilight and Cadence the next morning about who Tirek was. "Tirek came to Equestria from a distant land with his brother Scorpan. Their intention was to steal the magic in Equestria for themselves. Tirek was captured and sent to Tartarus for his crimes."
Princess Luna had added. "Now Tirek has escaped! With each passing minute he grows stronger still."
Yet Celestia decided against sending Twilight to capture the escaped centaur. "I'm afraid I must turn to another."
This "another" was none other than Discord, who couldn't resist gloating about his important assignment. "Seems like my unique abilities give me an important role to play in Equestria."
Yet after a bit of teasing, Discord ended up revealing something to the ponies that would later prove useful. "Haven't you girls just learned so much in so short an amount of time?" He commented while reading through the journal they'd been keeping for quite some time. Then he left with Fluttershy to hunt down Tirek.
As it turned out, Discord had managed to book mark sections of the journal that had something in common and had something to do with keys for the mysterious chest. "In each marked entry the pony who wrote it faced a time where living up their element wasn't easy," Twilight had deduced before pointing out that the ponies who'd written those segments received a gift. "I think Discord must've realized that those items were connected to the keys."
But in fact it was the items themselves that were the keys, and one by one each key was inserted into a lock until only Twilight's key was left. "I don't have it." And the only thing that came close, Trixie's old hat, didn't react at all to being brought before the lock.
Meanwhile, Discord had located Tirek but quickly fell victim to the centaur's manipulations. "I already escaped Tartarus once before, how can you be sure I won't just do it again? I know exactly where I'll go. And you won't be able to stop me until it's too late. if you serve me and serve me faithfully, I promise you that I won't harm Fluttershy or any of your other friends."
And so it was that Discord aided the very creature he'd been sent to capture, helping the centaur to grow stronger.
It was this turn of events that prompted an emergency meeting in Canterlot as Princess Luna informed Twilight of the unfortunate and fast worsening situation. "Discord has, for reasons unknown, betrayed the ponies of Equestria and now allied himself with Tirek. He is no doubt on his way here to steal alicorn magic."
Princess Celestia had then boldly declared! "We must rid this place of alicorn magic before Tirek has a chance to steal it!"
Twilight was rendered speechless by the announcement! What should she do? What could she do?
Once the shock of the situation had faded and Twilight was able to think clearly, she cleared her throat and spoke up. "Get rid of alicorn magic? That's not actually possible, is it? I mean, I always believed magic couldn't simply disappear."
"Indeed it cannot," Princess Celestia explained. "And even if it could it would do us little good, we'd have no way to recover it. Instead, the alicorn magic will be broken up and split among multiple carriers."
Twilight wasn't so convinced. "Why not just concentrate all the magic into one pony? I'm sure you could wield all the alicorn magic and defeat Tirek and Discord all by yourself, Princess Celestia."
The sun princess shook her head. "Such an act might be possible, but in doing so it would inflict unnecessary collateral damage. It could very well destroy half of Equestria. It would be much worse than anything Tirek could do."
"Well, I'm prepared to do my part no matter what," Twilight insisted as she looked at her fellow alicorns. "So if you need me to give up magic or hide it away, I'll do it."
Princess Luna nodded. "That is why a system has already been worked out. You shall inherit Princess Celestia's magic, and Cadence shall temporarily inherit mine. Then the both of you are to go into hiding as far away from Canterlot as possible."
"And then what?" The young alicorn asked with concern. "Just stick our heads in the sand and hope Tirek doesn't find us?"
"The rest is up to you," Princess Celestia informed Twilight and Cadence. "Together or alone you will have to find a way to stop Tirek for good, even if it means having to imprison Discord in stone again."
"Perhaps the keys my friends and I discovered earlier today will come in handy?" Twilight thought aloud. "It's possible that the Tree of Harmony knew something like this would happen, and gave us the keys so we'd be ready."
However, Princess Cadence commented. "You don't have your key yet though, do you, Twilight?" And upon receiving a shake of the head she sighed. "Well, we can't afford to wait for it to show up. And even if it appeared now there's no way we can guess what's in the chest or how helpful it will be," Then she stood up. "I should be safe in the Crystal Empire. It could take Tirek a long time to reach it and I'm sure even he and Discord will be weakened by the Crystal Heart. The light seems to react against anything evil."
Princess Luna nodded once again. "That sounds like a plan. And that will also give Twilight free range to continue her own pursuits."
"But what about Discord?! He knows about all of us!" The young alicorn pointed out as her wings puffed outward. "He could rat us out to Tirek at any time. And even if he doesn't tell there's stained glass windows that'll be a dead giveaway."
"Not much can be done about the stained glass windows," Princess Celestia reluctantly commented in reply. "However, the fact that Tirek has not already showed up here in Canterlot means he has not extracted the information from Discord. But I suspect it won't be long before he finds out," And she cautioned. "You must be very careful about your newfound powers, Twilight. It will be more magic than you are used to handling. Be mindful of how you use it, especially around your friends."
Princess Luna then offered to her fellow alicorns. "Despite all the risks, do you both agree to this important assignment? Do you both promise to wield the magic my sister and I give to you accordingly?"
Princess Cadence immediately declared with firm determination. "I'll be fine! If Equestria needs defending I'll do my part as I've done before!" Then she looked across to her sister-in-law. "What about you, Twilight?"
Though hesitant for a moment, a sense of great urgency flashed in Twilight's eyes as she then nodded her head. "This is the role that I'm meant to play in Equestria, aiding in its defense. I will not fail to do my duty!"
The sun princess and the moon princess both nodded their heads in agreement. "Then we must act now before things go from bad to worse," Luna remarked. "And no matter what, the magic inside you both must NOT fall into Tirek's evil paws!"
Both older alicorns then stood before the ones they intended to transfer their powers to, quickly expelling it all into powerful, glowing balls. The balls descended before long, the glowing yellow one enveloping Twilight and the glowing blue one enveloping Cadence. Their manes and tails surged, flowing freely like waves as their eyes briefly glowed a brilliant, blinding white!
When the light faded and both younger alicorns had gotten their bearings, they saw that Celestia and Luna's manes and tails had stopped flowing and their cutie marks had faded away completely. Neither no longer seemed all powerful and majestic, both appeared to look far more advanced in age than outward appearances would suggest.
Twilight immediately hugged both royal sisters firmly, letting a few small tears spill out. "I promise you, I won't let you down! One way or another, I'll find some way to save Equestria. Whether it's with Cadence, my friends or even by myself."
"I have no doubt you will, Twilight," Celestia managed to smile despite her exhaustion. "Even so, my visions are now clouded completely. The future is impossible to predict. Please be careful, I don't want to lose you like I once feared I had lost Luna."
Luna then encouraged to both alicorn princesses. "You two should go now while you still have time. Every passing second is another second that Tirek spends potentially drawing closer."
Obeying their fellow alicorn's request, both Twilight and Cadence exited the throne room and soon were outside the royal palace. It would only be a matter of seconds before both would return to where they had come from to hide and think of a plan.
In fact, Twilight had actually gotten an idea all by herself in just the short amount of time she'd been blessed with Princess Celestia's powers. "Cadence," She spoke up while locking eyes with her sister-in-law. "There's no reason for us to both risk our lives for Equestria. You've already got an empire to defend and of course a loving husband to be concerned about. You've helped save Equestria twice already, you shouldn't have to do it again."
Princess Cadence blinked in confusion. "What are you suggesting, Twilight?"
Twilight gestured to her horn and then Cadence's horn. "Transfer all the alicorn magic inside of you to me, even the stuff you got from Princess Luna," And with a smile she explained her reasoning. "You were born a pegasus, you're not as skilled with magic as I am."
"But I've also been an alicorn more longer than you," Cadence protested. "Twilight, I know you want to feel important but this doesn't seem like the way to achieve it."
Twilight shook her head. "It's not for my own glory, Cadence! I really do think I can handle Tirek and Discord if I have all the alicorn magic inside of me. At times like this, anything that could tip the scales is worth considering," And she pointed out. "If worse comes to worse and I should fail, I can always just teleport to you and give you the magic. In that case, Tirek will be weakened and you'll have a better chance at stopping him."
The candy colored princess was still rather skeptical of the suggestion. "I really don't think it's a good idea."
"Please?" Twilight desperately pleaded. "It'll give us both more time, and if Tirek makes Celestia and Luna blab, we'll still have something that he won't know about."
Reluctantly sensing that Twilight wasn't willing to take no for an answer, Cadence agreed against her better judgement. "I hope you know what you're doing for both our sakes, Twilight. You will be Equestria's last line of defense, guard the alicorn magic with your very life if you must!" And then she made her horn spark to life, conjuring up a huge magical ball just like the ones Celestia and Luna had made earlier.
The ball was soon transferred to Twilight's horn tip, and just like before her eyes glowed brightly while her mane and tail flowed. The display soon ended, and now Cadence was looking exhausted. "Head back to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible, I'll take it from here." Twilight instructed to Cadence.
Cadence reluctantly nodded. "Make sure you have that magic mastered. Tirek will come looking for you as soon as he knows." She cautioned and then trotted away to find the royal chariot that had brought her to Canterlot (and hopefully her husband would be waiting for her at said chariot).
As for Twilight, she fled back to Ponyville on her own power and was quite surprised by how much extra energy she seemed to have. "This is gonna take some getting used to," She thought to herself. "But I'll manage. The fate of Equestria depends on it!"
Tirek wasn't aware of anything that was transpiring in Equestria, he was too busy draining various ponies of their magic in a town a ways away from Canterlot. He'd been doing this for quite a while now, only now having his black horns fully grow back.
However, Discord was focused on something else. He felt his entire body shake and twist about all by itself, and he knew what that meant. "Wait, that can't be right. Can it?" He muttered to himself.
Tirek happened to overhear. "What can't be right, Discord?"
The draconequus quickly protested. "N-nothing, nothing at all. Nothing that concerns you." But in his mind he was thinking. "Why would they do such a thing? Why give all the magic to the least experienced one?"
Tirek was satisfied by Discord's answer and chose not to pry. "You're probably right, Discord. Besides, whatever it is I will inevitably find it and snuff it out. Anypony foolish enough to resist me will pay the price," Then he brought his paws together like fists and made them crack. "It's time for the main event. Time for me to make my grand entrance to the ones responsible for my predicament all those years ago."
The witty spirit felt a lump form in his throat. "You don't mean..."
The centaur smirked as his yellow pupils flashed and blinked. "...Oh, I do. Taking down the capital city and the leaders will demoralize any who would resist," And he stormed off. "Come along, Discord. Those foolish ponies will be in for a shock when they get a load of us."
"Yes, Lord Tirek," Discord gave a salute as he did his best to mask his uncertainty. But in the back of his mind he thought to himself. "Oh Twilight, I don't think you realize how much Tirek wants his revenge. He'll stop at nothing to get it."
It was dark by the time Twilight could make it back to Ponyville, though this was because she had to keep making numerous stops along the way to keep her horn from sparking too much and drawing unwanted attention to herself. It'd be hard for her plan to work if ponies knew what was going on.
Once satisfied that she'd gotten her surges under control, Twilight snuck back into Ponyville and returned to the comfort of the Golden Oak Library to rest. She needed time to gather her thoughts and think about where that sixth key might be just in case it became necessary to open the chest.
Eventually, a sleepy Spike happened to open an eye and he yawned. "Twilight? Is everything alright? You were gone a long time. I was starting to think something bad happened to you."
Twilight nervously giggled. "Who, me? Come on, Spike. I'm tougher than I look. I've come a long way from being bested by some out of control plants in the Everfree Forest." She hoped Spike didn't see the faint sparks forming on the tip of her horn.
The baby dragon just stretched and then murmured while turning over in his basket. "Well, guess I had nothing to worry about," He yawned again. "Now I'm just gonna go back to bed. Princess Celestia hasn't risen the sun yet. Guess maybe she's sleeping in today too."
That set off an alarm bell inside the young alicorn's head! "That's strange," She commented to herself in a whisper. "The sun should've been up by now," Then it dawned on her! "The sun should be up by now! No wonder my horn was sparking!" She rushed to a nearby window to get a good look at the outside world. Her mind must've been on auto pilot while the moon had been raised earlier.
Breathing deeply in the way Cadence had taught her, Twilight let her horn spark to life and tried to focus on setting the moon and letting the sun rise as if everything were natural. However, the process was far more complicated than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had ever made it seem on their own. Twilight cursed herself under her breath for not anticipating how many years of experience the royal sisters must've had.
The sun and the moon didn't seem to want to stay in one place, and Twilight kept bringing up the moon accidentally when she was trying to raise the sun. This process repeated itself for what felt like ages, until at last Twilight was sure she'd gotten the sun up and that it would stay up of its own free will (for a couple of hours, anyway).
Such an unusual display drew a lot of unwanted attention, especially miles away in Canterlot as Shining Armor and several royal guards patrolled around the city. "What in the wide world of Equestria is going on?!" Shining thought to himself. "First Cadence tells me to stand guard here in the city to keep up appearances, and now this? Something's happened to the other princesses, I just know it," And he mentally cursed himself. "If only I were an alicorn too, I could help them. I hate feeling useless like this."
But there were more pressing concerns that had to be addressed, as some of the royal guards suddenly found themselves floating up towards the sky seemingly all by themselves.
"You're still here?!" A familiar, wacky voice gasped in dismay! "I'd have thought for sure you'd all have run away." And its owner soon revealed itself to be a very familiar draconequus, who was looking unusually worried about something.
All Shining Armor could think about, however, was what he'd been told about the spirit. "You!" He coldly hissed as he narrowed his eyebrows and pointed a spear at Discord. "You got some nerve showing your face around here, traitor! I've half a mind to throw you in a dungeon right now!"
Discord tried to protest. "Please, you don't understand. It's not like I wanted to do this! It's not like I wanted to be a traitor!"
"Well too bad, that's what you are now!" Shining hissed again. "You betrayed us all! Have you no shame?!"
But at that moment Tirek happened to come stomping up and he declared. "The only one that Discord ever betrayed was himself. Abandoning his true nature in order to make friends with pathetic and weak minded equines, who offered him nothing but 'friendship'. They thought they could keep him on a tight leash, mold him into the perfect weapon. Unfortunately, they never anticipated that a better deal would be presented and that their desire to 'reform' Discord would be their undoing."
Despite knowing there was nothing he could, Shining Armor turned his spear towards Tirek while saying to Discord. "This isn't over between us. You're going to pay for selling us out!" Then he let out a cry as the stallion charged boldly toward Tirek. Of course it accomplished nothing, he was easily picked up by the centaur and brought close.
Tirek scoffed at the display. "Is that the best you can do? I'm not impressed." And he soon drained Shining of his magic all together.
Shining took it as best he could, his hooves wobbling before his cutie mark faded away and his eyes dulled. Weakly, he collapsed the ground and looked back toward Discord. "How could you? Why? We trusted you."
Discord said nothing, he just looked at the display with guilt flashing across his eyes.
Tirek seemed to sense this as he pulled the spirit aside. "You seem a bit troubled, my friend."
"It's just an illusion, you're seeing things!" Discord insisted. He didn't want to give Tirek any reason to doubt his commitment.
The centaur saw through the lie in a heartbeat. "It's alright, I know this isn't easy for you. But you're on the right side, you're backing the winning team," Then he encouraged the draconequus. "Why don't you go and have a little fun? I won't stand in your way. I've got pressing business elsewhere." And he walked away with his back now turned to Discord.
"Maybe I can use this time to my advantage!" Discord realized! "If I can figure out where Twilight went with the magic, I can warn her and maybe convince her to let me take it all. Tirek will never see it coming!" And he set off to conduct his own search for the magic, knowing that Tirek's search was about to come to a screeching halt.
Meanwhile, in the throne room, a weakened and exhausted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat there. They hadn't even bothered to move from their current locations since the magic transfer.
Suddenly, the throne room doors were broken down as an all powerful Tirek came storming in. Time had run out, Tirek had finally returned!
"Hello, princesses," Tirek smirked, certain of his victory. "Let's get this over with, shall we? You know what I'm here for, cough it up!"
But when the centaur tried to drain Princess Celestia of her magic he found that not a single drop would escape her. And the same thing happened when he targeted Princess Luna. "What have you done?!" He stomped a hoof down in fury and bellowed at the top of his lungs. "WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC?!"
With the sun having risen, Twilight was fast becoming aware of how powerful she was and just how destructive all that alicorn magic flowing through her was.
She hoped to get out of town and go somewhere safe to practice, but attempts to keep the magic under wraps were fast becoming impossible when Twilight accidentally blew the library door right off its hinges upon trying to open it. "Oops!" She declared and trotted outside as fast as she could, not even bothering to try and repair it.
"Twilight?" Spike blinked, catching a faint glimpse of purple out of the corner of his green eyes. Something was definitely up.
The young alicorn didn't have time to notice or even care about Spike spotting her (albeit briefly), because in her haste to leave she ended up taking to the skies! This was a mistake, her wings propelled her faster than she had ever flown before! And to make matters worse they left a telling streak of dark purple behind her.
Rainbow Dash was the first to take notice of this, rudely awakened from her power nap when Twilight zoomed past her! "What the hay?!" She remarked, seeing the dark purple streak.
The studious alicorn eventually managed to bring herself back down to the ground near the edge of Ponyville. But by now she had left a rather obvious streak of magic that was sure to draw unwanted attention. And it wasn't long before her friends (as well as Spike) were all crowding around her to demand an explanation for what they'd just seen.
"Twilight, what in the name of Celestia was that?!" Rarity was the first to speak up. "When did you suddenly know how to fly faster than Rainbow Dash?"
Pinkie Pie pointed out. "Is this about that freaky sun and moon stuff earlier? You haven't been acting like your old Twilight self since you came back from Canterlot. You're acting like you're an entirely different pony," Then she gasped! "Maybe you are! Maybe you're some kind of magic duplicate or something!"
Twilight protested immediately. "No, it's me," And she sighed, confessing. "I guess I should've known I couldn't keep anything secret from you girls. If you must know, Tirek has proven to be a threat even more dangerous than the princesses initially thought."
"And Discord?" Fluttershy asked with concern. "Is he okay?"
"Discord has..." Twilight began only for her lips to quiver. She couldn't bring herself to say what had actually happened and what the spirit had actually done. "No one will ever trust Discord again if they know he's betrayed us," She thought to herself. "They can't know, at least not yet." Forcing herself to lie she declared. "Well, Tirek moved faster than anticipated. Discord wasn't able to track him down before he became too powerful. Even if he were to find Tirek now it wouldn't make a difference." At least that part was sort of true.
Fluttershy wasn't convinced. "Something else must've happened to Discord. Tirek must've tricked him somehow."
"The point is," Twilight continued, not wanting to dwell on the Discord subject any longer. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decided it best to transfer all their alicorn magic."
Applejack blinked. "And they just gave it all to you? What about Princess Cadence?"
"Actually, we were supposed to take half. I got all of Princess Celestia's and Cadence got all of Princess Luna's," Twilight confessed. "But I thought it would be better for both of us if I had all the alicorn magic," Then she frowned. "I didn't anticipate it would be nearly this difficult."
"So, what, you can't be near us because of magic?" Rainbow Dash pondered. "Seems a bit excessive. In fact, it seems like it's made it possible for you to fly like a pro!"
The young alicorn shook her head in protest, promptly shooting off several sparks from the tip of her horn. That conveyed more than words how dangerous she'd become in such a short amount of time. "I just need to go somewhere where I won't be a danger to anyone or anything else, at least until I can figure out how to keep my horn from having a mind of its own with all this power," She then began to trail off. "Because if I don't..." But she was unable to bring herself to say the rest.
"Anything we can do to help?" Rarity offered.
Twilight shook her head even as her whole body seized and shook as the magic flowed through her without end. "As long as Tirek is on the loose and I have all this magic, it's too dangerous for anyone else to get involved. All of you stay away, and make sure everypony in town knows to stay inside until further notice. We can't risk letting Tirek get any more power than he already has!" And with that, she unfolded her wings and zoomed away again.
Spike called out as he saw Twilight fly away. "Be careful, Mom! Please come back safe and sound!" But he received no reply, no indication that Twilight had heard him. The reality slowly settled in. This time, there really was no guarantee that Twilight would be safe. And all anyone else could do was hold down the fort and hope for her to return.
Back in Canterlot, Tirek seemed to have somewhat deduced what the royal sisters had done as he sat upon the throne and looked down at the defeated alicorns. "Getting rid of your own magic so that I cannot take it away from you. I see, how very clever. But is that really all your plan amounts to?" He taunted them, hoping for a reply. There wasn't one.
Tirek continued to press, hoping to hear some sort of remark. "Come on, speak up. I know this must be humiliating for you. This time it's you who are powerless and I who is all mighty." Still, neither alicorn said a word.
Tirek began conjuring up orbs displaying the three different pony tribes that had united all those years ago to form Equestria. "How does it feel, hmm? Knowing that soon every last unicorn, pegasus and earth pony will bow to my will, and that there is NOTHING you can do to stop it?! Doesn't that just burn you up, knowing that your subjects will suffer and grovel at my very hooves?!"
Princess Celestia could hold back her feelings no longer. She glared up at the centaur and boldly declared to him. "You will not prevail, Tirek. Evil never wins in the end."
And Princess Luna added. "It won't be by our hooves, but you will be defeated. Equestria will never belong to you."
The centaur just laughed. "Ha, weak words from a bunch of washed up princesses!" Then he lifted them up using his unique, centaur magic that glowed ominous shades of orange and black. "Give my regards to Cerberus and tell him I said 'hello.'" Then he opened up a portal to where his cell in Tartarus was (now empty) and hurled both alicorns through it before he slammed it shut.
"Uh, you meant our will just then," Discord pointed out while manipulating the stained glass window display of himself so that it was again making ponies dangle over a fire. "Didn't you?"
"Oh, yes, yes, of course," Tirek appeared to correct himself before he stood up from the throne and walked over to Discord. "In fact, here, I have something I want to give you. A little token of my appreciation. It was given to me long ago by someone close to me, and now I give it to you as a sign of our trust." In his left paw he held up a gold medallion roughly in the shape of an M. It had several small jewels in it.
When the medallion was placed around Discord's neck he felt something off about it. What it was he didn't know, so he just commented aloud. "Ooh, I do love a good accessory," Then he put a paw to his goat like beard. "Hmm, I suppose that must be Rarity's influence." And just like that, the guilt began washing over him anew for what he'd allowed to happen. How would he ever be able to look his friends in the eyes after all of this? Would they believe him if he told them he'd wanted to protect them?
The crafty centaur seemed to sense what his spirit ally was thinking, for he quickly pulled him close. "Don't beat yourself up too badly, Discord. Those ponies already believe you're a traitor. But you're actually staying true to yourself. This is what your heart has desired. The real you that's been clawing and scratching, begging to be let out. And now it has," Then he took notice of a stained glass display of himself brandishing a sword while Discord held up a slice of bread. It was styled so that it would look like the sword was cutting the bread. "Amusing." Tirek chortled despite his best efforts not to.
Discord nodded, sharing what he felt was a genuine laugh with the centaur. "Oh it is."
Tirek quickly recovered. "Yes, but we have no time for such silliness. For now that the main princesses are out of the way we must figure out where they've hidden their magic," He began rubbing his paws together. "I must have it, I will have it! No magic in Equestria shall escape my sight!" And then he asked Discord. "Any ideas, Discord? Where do you think those princesses would have stashed it?"
"Well..." Discord began, scratching his beard. "There are two other princesses, and it's likely each has some magic. Why not start with Princess Cadence? She's all by herself in the Crystal Empire, she won't be a threat. And then you can use her magic to go after Princess Twilight, if you want to."
Tirek appeared to be satisfied with the answer as he walked away, a fiendish and sadistic smirk creeping onto his face again. "I like the way you think, Discord. Come, let's pay this 'Princess Cadence' a little visit." And as he spoke several of the stained glasses began to melt, courtesy of his magic.
Discord gulped. He wasn't sure if he could keep Tirek distracted and unaware of Princess Twilight's whereabouts for much longer.
With Twilight's absence, her friends could only do what she had instructed them to. They went around Ponyville and passed word as fast as they could to all who would listen. Everyone obeyed, needing no real motivation to stay inside when there was the possibility of a dangerous and powerful criminal on the loose (especially one that had the ability to drain magic from whoever he wanted).
The five mares (along with Spike) met back up in the center of town once they had accomplished this task. Applejack wiped the sweat from her brows, observing the results of the hard work. "Well girls, I reckon we did it. Twilight would be proud."
"I just hope it all turns out to be unnecessary," Fluttershy commented as her thoughts turned to Discord. "I still believe that Discord's going to track down Tirek and send him back to Tartarus, and this will be just a fond memory very soon."
"Knowing him, I'll bet he's taking his sweet time." Rainbow remarked while shaking her head.
"Maybe, or maybe these things just take time." The familiar voice of Discord called from afar, soon revealing itself to be the chaos maker in all his chaotic glory. But he didn't seem particularly happy. Strangely enough, he'd avoided making a big entrance even though one would think he'd have wanted to.
Four of the mares were in disbelief and didn't know what to think, but Fluttershy was so overcome with joy and happiness that she ran right up to Discord and hugged him! "Discord! Oh thank goodness!" She happily exclaimed! "The others didn't believe in you, but I did! Oh, I can't wait for Pinkie Pie to throw you a hero party!"
But Discord didn't reply. He said nothing at all. In fact, he seemed to look down at the ground and kick up some dust. It was as if he could barely bring himself to look the ponies in the eyes.
Fluttershy soon took notice of the way Discord was acting and became rather concerned. "What's wrong?" She asked her friend upon noticing the pronounced frown he was wearing. "You caught Tirek, right? Right?!"
The spirit remained silent for a bit, before he spoke up. "You... you have to listen me. Please, all of you have to get out of here. You're in terrible danger."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Yeah, real funny, Discord. Twilight's got all the alicorn magic in Equestria because you dragged your heels hunting down Tirek! Why didn't you just capture him like you were supposed to instead of waiting until the last minute?!"
"Believe me, I know. And I'm sorry," Discord apologized, appearing to sound sincere. "I never meant for any of this to get out of control."
Rarity snorted. "It's a bit late for that, don't you think?! How hard was it to do one little favor for us after we worked so hard to befriend you even when we didn't want to? Do you really think so little of our friendship?!"
Discord pleaded again. "You can be mad at me all you want later, but right now you need to get out of here! Get somewhere safe, maybe even go find Twilight!" And he desperately added! "I can't hold off Tirek any longer! And if he finds me talking to you... you don't wanna know what's gonna happen. Forget about me, save yourselves before... before... I can't say it! Just go, now!"
But it was too late, at that very moment a huge cage came down from the sky and imprisoned all five mares alongside Spike! Discord realized at once where it had come from. "No!" He gasped in dismay! "It wasn't supposed to be like this."
Tirek came walking up on the scene a moment later, the stomping and clopping of his hooves echoing quite audibly as they shook the ground. "I knew you'd betray me eventually, Discord. You thought you could trick me by sending me on a wild goose chase all the way to the Crystal Empire," He declared with narrowed eyes. "Too bad you forgot that I can cover miles in an instant now. With all this magic coursing through my veins, teleportation is a snap."
Fluttershy could only sob and bury her face into Applejack's lap. "How could you do this, Discord?! I thought we were friends!"
"We were, I swear!" Discord protested as his felt his heart sink so low he was certain it would've fallen right out of him if it could've done so. Looking up at the centaur he declared. "You lied to me! You said my friends wouldn't get hurt!" But all he could do was watch in helplessness as their magic was absorbed by the greedy centaur.
Tirek simply scoffed and coldly retorted. "And you actually believed me? You're an even bigger fool than I thought, and that's saying a lot," With a laugh, he explained. "If there's one thing you should've known about me, Discord, it's that I'm not a centaur of my word. You've helped me to grow strong and provided me with the means by which I can take Princess Twilight's alicorn magic. You served your role well but now you're of no further use to me."
"Well that's your first mistake!" Discord bellowed as he snapped his talons, made himself bigger and dawned a bright red cape with a golden D emblazoned onto a necklace. "Soon it'll be your last! I'm gonna do what I should've done in the first place, I'll send you back to Tartarus even if I have to drag you there myself."
Tirek laughed off the suggestion. "Ha! You? You couldn't hurt me if you tried. You're a joke!"
At that, something inside Discord snapped! "A joke am I?! Well then, why don't you see how much of a joke I can be!" He immediately shot off several blasts of chaos magic, pelting Tirek all over and kicking up a huge cloud of smoke! It seemed to take everything he had.
The smoke faded all too soon, and Tirek was still standing as if nothing had happened to him at all. There wasn't even a scratch or a cut on the centaur's face. "Well, that settles it. I very well can't have you running off to warn the princess," He flashed a sadistic grin as he grabbed Discord and pulled him close. "Every little bit that could tip the scales in my favor will be appreciated."
Discord was unable to stop his chaos magic from being drained into Tirek, the funny noises it made doing nothing to mask how grim the situation was as Tirek grew taller and stronger by the second. Soon, a powerless Discord was thrown to the ground like a broken toy no longer wanted. Weakly, he held up the medallion Tirek had given him and held it close to his chest. "Wait..." He called out in a whimper to the centaur. "You... you said this was a sign of our trust. Given to you by someone close?"
Tirek snorted, coldly replying. "A gift from my useless brother right before he betrayed me to the ponies. It is as useless to me as you are now. Goodbye." And he trotted away without another word.
As soon as Tirek was out of ear shot Applejack looked to Discord and commented. "Surely you saw this comin', right? This was all part of your plan?"
"No, I had no idea about any of this," Discord whimpered. "It's out of my paws now. It's all up to Twilight. If she can't defeat Tirek, there's no future for any of us," And he then weakly whispered to himself. "I'm so sorry, I failed."
Far away from Ponyville, far away from the Everfree Forest and far away from any civilization at all, Twilight Sparkle was finally free to start practicing her newfound magic. She knew it was important to get it under control. Unless the sixth key miraculously turned up all by itself, there was only one way she was going to stand any chance against Tirek (and Discord too if he decided to assist).
Perched high atop a cliff overlooking a waterfall, Twilight started lighting up her horn. She focused on teleporting quickly from place to place, going all over Equestria in the blink of an eye. It was quite a liberating feeling, actually. Or at least it was, until she ended up teleporting herself right into a bunch of huge rocks. She groaned, cursing herself under her breath for this unfortunate turn of events.
Suddenly, a booming voice almost like thunder roared out from the distance! "PRINCESS TWILIGHT! SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!"
Reluctantly, Twilight forced herself to teleport out of the rocks and soon found herself looking up towards a very familiar looking centaur. There stood Tirek in all his evil, unholy glory. Needless to say he cut quite the imposing figure just by looking at him.
Tirek grinned. "So the rumors are true, there is indeed a fourth alicorn princess."
"And you I suppose are-" Twilight began even though she needn't have asked.
"-Lord Tirek, yes," The centaur replied with a nod. "But I'm not here for idle chit chat. You have something that belongs to me, and I want it. So give it to me and no one has to get hurt."
Twilight stuck out her tongue while lighting up her horn. "Well since you 'asked nicely' no!" And then she disappeared, soon teleporting to the balcony of the library. She was convinced that she'd given Tirek the slip as she looked through the lens of a telescope.
Yet it only took a little bit of looking around for Tirek to spot his target. His horns pulsed with magic as a giant fireball materialized! Then, without warning, he hurled it right towards the telescope!
The young alicorn soon realized what was happening, and reacting quickly she teleported inside the library! Quick as a flash she snatched up the friendship journal and Owlowiscious, and then teleported back out just before the fireball struck the tree dead on! Twilight only just thought to throw up a wing to shield herself and her belongings as she landed on the ground outside!
When Twilight looked up her moderate violet eyes were ill prepared for the horrible sight that greeted them! The Golden Oak Library was no more, completely destroyed! Where once there had stood a beautiful oak tree now stood only a charred and burnt out stump. It was just her luck that no one was inside, which worried her ever so slightly. "Where's Spike?" She thought to herself, but she had little time to worry about that when she saw Tirek approaching.
Owlowiscious quickly picked up the friendship journal and flew away, leaving Twilight alone. She realized now that she could run away no longer. The time had come for her to stand and fight! She unfolded her wings, ready for action! "You want my magic, Tirek?! You'll have to take it from me the hard way!" She thought to herself while gritting her teeth!
Tirek was most surprised when he was suddenly struck head on by an enormous ball of charged up, magical energy! He was soon buried under a mountain of rubble and had to push aside huge rocks in order to emerge. Upon locking eyes with Twilight and seeing the fire in them, a realization dawned on him. "Ah, now I see what your fellow princesses have done. Very clever of them."
Twilight only growled. "Enough talk, fight me!"
"Very well," The centaur declared. "I'll get the alicorn magic even if I have to destroy you completely to obtain it! It's your funeral, princess." And so it was that an incredible struggle commenced not far from Ponyville, though thankfully (for Twilight) far removed from any traces of civilization.
The fight raged on, constantly teetering back and forth as both sides tried to gain the advantage. Tirek attempted to hurl Twilight directly into a mountainside and crush her, but Twilight teleported onto the centaur's back and shot him down! Tirek wasn't so easily bested though, he used his magic to isolate and lift up the section of ground Twilight stood on and toss it. Twilight flew off just before the slab crashed to the ground and crumbled, blasting her way through several stones.
Eventually, both sides charged head on into each other with fully charged beams in an attempt to force the other to yield. But the beams and the power behind them were equally matched, they eventually burst open and exploded, generating enormous clouds of dust! Yet neither side seemed even the slightest bit wounded or exhausted. Both stared each other down as if daring the other to fall over first. But neither would.
"You're quite strong for someone so young and so small," Tirek commented to his opponent as he continued to stare her down. "But so I am! I'm the unstoppable force and you're the immovable object!"
"You've got it the other way around, Tirek!" Twilight hissed in defiance.
Tirek ignored the remark, just grinning. "Well, it would seem we're at an impasse. I cannot take your magic and you won't give it to me. However, you'll find that I'm prepared for any possible situation, unlike you," A sadistic and knowing smirk crept onto his face as he declared. "You know, I think there's some special individuals who are just dying to see you again! Kind of like a birthday party, but the complete opposite."
The young alicorn quickly realized what the centaur was implying. "You didn't!"
Tirek just laughed. "Why don't we make a little trade, princess? I'm sure you'll find I have something you hold dear," Snapping his fingers, he made several bubbles appear that held all of Twilight's friends as well as Spike and Discord. Then he laid bear his terms. "Their release in exchange for all of the alicorn magic in Equestria. So whaddya say? What will it be, princess? Better hurry, I don't have all day."
Just like when she had learned of Princess Celestia's plan to "get rid of" alicorn magic, Twilight could initially only stare in shock and disbelief. There was no easy answer and she wasn't sure what the right call to make in this situation was.
"Don't do it, Twilight!" The five mares protested all at once, hoping to persuade their friend.
"Please, we aren't worth it!" Fluttershy insisted.
Inside of his own bubble nearby, Discord could only glumly and forlornly put his paws to his face. "Maybe I'm not, but all of you certainly are. Especially you, Fluttershy. You more so than other pony taught me that friendship was in fact magic," Looking down at himself he added. "I had magic and friendship, once. But now I don't have either. Now I've doomed all of Equestria because of my mistake."
Tirek just stomped a hoof down and snapped! "That's enough out of you, Discord! I'm sure Princess Twilight doesn't need to hear your practiced speech of self-pity," Then he turned to the alicorn. "I grow tired of waiting, princess. Make up your mind soon or I might just decide to make it up for you!"
As Twilight looked up at the bubbles again, something suddenly seemed to dawn on her as streaks of rainbow light reflected off of each of them. With firm determination she declared to Tirek. "Let them go, Tirek and I'll give you all the alicorn magic you want."
The centaur grinned. "Excellent! I knew we could come to an agreement." And he opened his mouth, preparing to take away the magic.
But Twilight interrupted him. "Not so fast, Tirek. You have to give me back my friends first. Until you do you won't get a single drop out of me. I'll fight you to my last breath if I must."
"Oh, you wanna be stubborn now, huh?" Tirek groaned in annoyance. "Well, fine, have your friends for all the good it will do you!" And he floated them over to the alicorn before popping their bubbles one by one.
One bubble still remained and it housed Discord. Upon seeing it, Twilight firmly demanded. "All of them, Tirek."
Tirek looked across to Discord and seemed to roll his eyes in disbelief. "Really? Even after the way he's treated you you still consider him a friend? I suppose it's only fair to mention that I drained all of his magic too, he'll be of no use to you."
"Let him go or the deal's off!" Twilight protested while keeping that firm look in her eyes.
The centaur reluctantly obeyed. "He's yours now. But if he betrays you again, you've no one but yourself to blame."
Discord looked down towards Fluttershy as he lay weak on his side. "I'm sorry." Was all he could bring himself to say. Fluttershy said nothing to him in reply, the wounds of betrayal cut deeply.
Tirek then demanded of his opponent. "Alright, princess, now it's time to fulfill your end of the bargain! I want your magic and I'm not taking no for an answer!"
Reluctantly, Twilight held still as Tirek drained every drop of magic out of her. "I hope you choke on it, Tirek!" She thought to herself even while she winced from the pain.
With all the alicorn magic now surging through his body, Tirek grew to an enormous height! The shackles around his arms broke off and his white mane now flowed freely. "Oh yes!" He proclaimed as his voice echoed and shook the ground all around him. "At long last, Equestria is mine! And now, all shall burn!" From his horns emerged a powerful surge of energy not unlike his fireballs, and it began setting fire to everything it touched!
"Why, Twilight?" Applejack inquired of her alicorn friend. "Why'd you do it? Far better to have kept on fightin' rather than let Tirek win."
"Some things are more important than victory, Applejack," Twilight explained. "I'm not really sure what it was, but something inside me knew that I couldn't abandon you all. Magic alone isn't what got me to where I am now."
Discord then spoke up. "I can see that now. And I see too that I failed to realize just how important friendship could really be. It was something I took for granted for far too long, and thus I allowed myself to be used by someone who only cared about himself," He held up the medallion he'd been holding onto since being gifted it by Tirek. "I know this can't make up for all the horrible stuff I've allowed to happen by aiding Tirek, but I at least hope it's a start."
Twilight said nothing as Discord bestowed the medallion upon her, tying it around her neck. "He was lying when he said it was a symbol of his trust. But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I am telling the truth." Once the medallion was firmly around Twilight's neck, it gave off a rainbow colored shimmer and this time all were around to see it!
Realization seemed to set in amongst the group as Applejack hopefully asked. "You think that's the last one?! The final key?!"
"There's only one way to know for sure," Twilight replied. "We need to get to the chest before there's nothing left to save! Hurry!"
All rushed as fast as they could to the six sided chest, and all watched as Twilight held the medallion up towards the only lock that didn't already have a key next to it. Sure enough, the medallion turned itself into a key with a six sided star on the handle. Just like that, the mystery of the chest was nomore and it was ready to be opened!
"Go ahead then!" Rainbow Dash eagerly encouraged to her alicorn friend and occasional flying partner. "Open the chest and use whatever's inside to kick Tirek's sorry butt! You've earned it!"
Twilight shook her head. "No, we all earned it. We all worked together to find the keys, so we should all open the chest together!"
"Well why didn't you just say that in the first place?!" Pinkie Pie eagerly asked! "Let's teach old tall, dark and ugly a lesson he'll never forget!"
So it was the six mares all turned their respective keys at the same time, each key clicking simultaneously as the chest opened up and bathed the whole surrounding area in blinding white light!
Six orbs surrounded the six mares as they were transformed right before Spike and Discord! Their manes and tails were extended considerably and took on rainbow like colors, as did their coats and even their cutie marks.
Spike happily cheered this transformation on while Discord could only stare in amazement and comment! "It's overkill, but it's just so irresistible!"
Once fully transformed, the six mares floated up from the gorge and soon presented themselves united to Tirek. The centaur gasped in horror and disbelief! "No, it's not possible!" He protested! "I took away your magic, you have nothing! NOTHING!"
"That's where you're wrong, Tirek," Twilight pointed out with a smile. "I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I posses within me a magic far greater than that. A magic you could never comprehend. The magic of friendship, channeled into the might and power of a rainbow! A magic you can never take away, because it can be never owned by an individual!"
Six rainbow colored beams shot out and enveloped Tirek, overwhelming the centaur completely! "No!" He cried as he felt himself shrinking, all the magic he'd worked so hard to steal leaking out of him like a runny faucet. "Not back to Tartarus! Not again!" But he was powerless to stop it! In a matter of minutes he was right back in his cell in Tartarus without a drop of his magic to his name. Just like that, the threat of Tirek was gone.
The "rainbow power" (as it would later be called) didn't stop with Tirek's defeat, however. It quickly spread out all over Equestria to undo all the damage Tirek had done during his brief reign of terror. It also freed the trapped Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from the depths of Tartarus, breaking the lock on their cell and restoring their magic that thus enabled them to escape.
At last, all that was lost that could be restored had been restored. The magic in Equestria was safe, Equestria itself was safe once again. And just as quickly as it came the new power vanished while the mysterious chest buried itself deep into the ground.
However, there was one thing that had not been restored and could not be restored by the rainbow: The Golden Oak Library. Its burnt out stump still presented itself to Twilight and Spike when they came near it. "Where are we going to sleep now?" Spike wondered. "The Castle of the Two Sisters?"
"No, Spike," Twilight shook her head. "That castle still isn't safe, no one should have to live there. Besides, it just wouldn't feel right taking over something that used to belong to Celestia and Luna."
The little dragon then gulped. "Does that mean we'll be moving back to Canterlot until a new library is built?"
Again, Twilight shook her head. "No, Spike. We'll just have to move in with one of our friends for the time being. We'll have to see which of them has the space to accommodate us."
But as mare and dragon prepared to set off and try to find out which of their friends they would inform first, the ground started to shake and shake quite vigorously!
Suddenly, from the ground and in the center of Ponyville there emerged a huge crystal castle shaped like a tree! Just like the library it had a balcony, and it had huge steps leading up to the front door.
By the time Twilight and Spike had reached it there was already a rather massive crowd that had gathered in front of the newly erected castle. "Sweet Celestia!" Rarity gasped as she looked upon the majestic building. "Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?!"
Princess Celestia happened to come upon the scene at that very moment. "This is most unexpected, but perhaps fitting. Every princess deserves a castle to call her own," And she turned to Twilight. "You do wish to claim this castle as your own, right? I would think it would make for a suitable living arrangement in light of what happened to your previous living space."
"I... I don't know what to say, this is all so sudden," Twilight declared as she trotted to the front door of the castle and went inside. The interior was designed with beautifully decorated hallways, lush red carpeting, almost identical looking doors and a central room with seven thrones laid out next to each other (one of which rested next to the one that had Twilight's cutie mark, and the other five bore the cutie marks of her friends). "What is all this?!"
Celestia just gave a warm smile. "Well, Twilight, you were wondering what your role in Equestria was meant to be. It would seem this castle has chosen to give you the answer. You are now officially Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship!"
Even Discord seemed to be impressed! "Wow! This was even better than I expected! I knew there was a great power within that chest, but I never knew it could house an entire castle too!"
At that, Applejack couldn't help but arch an eyebrow upward. "Wait a minute, Discord. It sounds almost as if you knew all of this would. Is that true? Did you put us all in danger because somehow you knew it would all be okay in the end?"
The spirit confessed. "Well, yes and no. You must understand, Princess Celestia chose me to track down Tirek not just because I could sense magical imbalances, but also because she knew of the search for the keys and believed that Tirek might possess the final one," He looked down in shame. "But my orders were still first and foremost to capture him, not to help him. I could've easily taken the medallion from him at any point and given it to Twilight, it would've served a similar purpose without needing to put you all in danger."
Princess Celestia, however, reassured the draconequus. "Do not be too hard on yourself, Discord. It would seem Luna and I were not aware of just how much of a silver tongued devil he was. He knew what buttons to push, what strings to pull."
"Still, I feel so ashamed of myself for letting things get so bad," Discord willingly admitted and looked at Twilight. "I know this castle is nice, but it can't make up for what you lost. And for that I'll always be sorry. I'm not asking you to forgive me, not yet anyway."
But Twilight shook her head. "There's no need for bad blood between us, Discord. You were a big help, even if it wasn't in the way you were supposed to be. And as my first act as the Princess of Friendship, I hereby grant you my forgiveness and my blessing for you to forgive yourself."
"Thanks, I think." Discord blinked, unsure of how to take the news.
Princess Celestia then told her fellow alicorn. "So it seems you will embrace your new title, Twilight. And from these thrones I can safely say that you will not be undertaking your new royal duties alone."
The young alicorn firmly nodded in reply. "As princess, I believe it is my duty and my role to spread the magic of friendship all across Equestria. Perhaps even beyond. And with my friends and my son Spike by my side, I know I will not fail in that duty!"
Everyone cheered at the news, and then Pinkie Pie excitedly declared! "Well, what's everyone just standing around here for?! It's time for one doozy of a housewarming party, or in this case a castlewarming party!"
The party was a grand affair for all involved, ponies and non-ponies alike flocked from all over town to get a look at the castle both inside and out. Twilight was on hoof to welcome them and could be heard happily singing:
Each one of us has something special.
It makes us different, it makes us rare.
The singing was so contagious it spread to Twilight's other friends, beginning with Fluttershy:
We have a light that shines within us.
One we were always meant to share.
Soon, all of Twilight's friends were joining her in singing as they posed in the throne room in the center of the castle:
And when we all come together,
Combine the light that shines within!
There is nothing that we can't do.
There is no battle that we can't win!
And it wasn't long before a powerful rainbow colored light was sweeping across all of Equestria, passing by the likes of Coco Pommel hard at work in her apartment, the Wonderbolts as they soared overhead near Ponyville, Cheese Sandwich and Boneless Two while they were strolling across the land, the breezies (including Sea Breeze) in their own little land and Silver Shill who was now trying to make an honest living for himself.
All the while, a joyous and triumphant chorus from the six mares was heard singing:
For when we come together,
There'll be a star to guide the way.
It's inside of us every day.
See it now! See it now!
Let the rainbow remind you,
That together we will always shine!
Let the rainbow remind you,
That forever this will be our time!
The rainbow beam of light eventually returned to the castle, though not without passing through Discord was rather surprised and delight to have his chaotic powers fully restored. He even pulled out a bouquet of flowers from seemingly nowhere and offered them to Princess Celestia.
Then, Twilight, her friends and even Spike all gathered together for a group photo to be taken. And as everyone came together Twilight happily sang:
Let the rainbow remind you,
That together we will always shine!
The photo was taken and the castle warming party continued well into the night. Although Twilight was still greatly saddened by the loss of her old home in the Golden Oak Library, she now had a castle all to herself and knew for sure what her role as princess was meant to be.
She and her friends would soon come to learn just how important the mission of spreading friendship would become, and would receive a tool to help them do it. But that's another story.
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Again, the stuff in the author's notes make really good points and the exchanges, characterizations, action and general wrap-up are all rather well done in all the right places. Really enjoyed Discord's attempts to at least slow Tirek down (even if they were in vain) as well as the admission about how it only went about HALF of what was expected, the admitted remorse for some big mistakes and the better reason for the castle to replace the library.
Some possible dialogue for your "Beginning of the End" remake (assuming you like the idea):
Tirek: Look, Grogar, I admit all of us joining forces against our mutual enemies SOUNDS good on paper, but in practice - well, all of us have mutually conflicting end goals. Plus each and every one of us has too big of egos to easily take orders from anybody - even you. AND each and every one of us would all too gladly betray the others at a moment's notice. I should know. I've been on both ends of the betrayal factor before.
and
Twilight: (after Tirek's defeat) Something tells me it would be extremely advisable to check on Tartarus before we do anything else. If Tirek escaped, it's very likely Chrysalis did too. And, even if she didn't, it would still be a really good idea to try to improve security in general.
But anyway, definitely looking forward to the rest of the Volume (as well as Volume Thirteen AND the other future volumes [including the long-awaited Equestria Girls Edition and Comics Edition]).
What about Fluttershy? You said she said nothing to Discord after he said I'm sorry because the betrayal hurt to much, is this gonna be addressed in another rewriting episode? Make New Friends, But Keep Discord perhaps?
10725681 Yes, I could work that in. But really, all Fluttershy needs is time.
10725742
Yeah I know. I just thought that you know maybe when Fluttershy and Discord are arguing while he was almost about to send Tree Hugger to another dimension and He thinks she abandoned him because she made a new friend and asked her as her plus one at the gala instead of him, Fluttershy would unintentionally call him out on his hypocrisy by angrily blurting out "Besides you shouldn't be calling me out on abandoning you when you did the same thing to me and my friends when you teamed up with Tirek! And then she covers her mouth in shock realizing what she just said not just her but everypony including Twilight and the others, that same outburst stings Discord because now he knows Fluttershy has been holding this down for a while. Fluttershy tries to regret what she said to Discord but he sadly says, "I should've known, it's no wonder you made a new friend." He glumly releases Tree Hugger, takes the Smooze, apologizes for ruining the gala, and disappears before Fluttershy could stop him
10725819 Something like that could work.
10725922
Yeah, but wait there's more! Fluttershy finds Discord and Smooze in the Canterlot gardens, there Discord is lamenting about how he screwed things up with Fluttershy and Tree Hugger and even apologizes to the Smooze for ignoring him all night which results in the Smooze forgiving him by kissing him on the cheek. Fluttershy comes to Discord and they reconcile. they talk about the Tirek incident, how he was jealous of Tree Hugger, and Fluttershy apologizes for not realizing Discord's feelings all night, and having other new friends while still keeping old friends,even joking about Rarity's reaction when meeting the Smooze back at the gala Discord makes up with Tree Hugger and Fluttershy decides to spend the rest of the night with Discord which they share with a dance while Pinkie Pie dancies with the Smooze and the usual with Celestia and Twilight. So what do you think?
10726239 Maybe something like that.
10726481
Well we'll see I'll leave it to you