The Pony of Shadows delighted in boasting to Starswirl's face. "Once again, you have failed to stop me, Starswirl! Getting slow in your old age, perhaps?"
Starswirl only growled as he tried to light up his horn. But he couldn't muster up any magic at all, it seemed that the banishing spell had drained him. "My plan would've worked, had certain ponies known to leave well enough alone!" He remarked and turned to Shining Armor. "Please, you brought us back from limbo! Surely, you must have some plan for this! Some way to send this creature of darkness back to limbo!"
Shining nervously stuttered as he broke out in a cold sweat. "Oh... right. A plan. Uh... Sunburst?!"
Sunburst gulped and started frantically flipping through the journal for answers! "I-I'm working on it! No table of contents here!" He profusely apologized! "Really should've planned for this!"
The Pony of Shadows just laughed. "Allow me to 'help' you!" Just seconds later a tentacle emerged from his body, knocking the journal out of Sunburst's hoofs and impaling it on one of the stone slabs!
"Oh no, the journal!" Sunburst cried in horror, but it was too late! The journal, alongside the stone slabs of Ponhenge were destroyed with a single blast of energy from The Pony of Shadows.
"There, that should level the playing field a little," The Pony of Shadows taunted. "Without Ponhenge, you can't perform the banishing spell! Which means there's nothing any of you can do to stop me!"
"This can't be!" Twilight protested. "You weren't supposed to get out! I just wanted to finally meet my idol."
The Pony of Shadows laughed again. "Your first mistake, but certainly not your last. Oh, but don't worry. Once I've robbed this world of light and vanquished all hope, you won't remember any of this. You will know only darkness, and I shall reign supreme!" Then he threw back his head and charged up his horn, sending a beam of magic towards Twilight.
Shining stepped in to deflect the blast, then lit up his horn and attacked The Pony of Shadows while he was caught off guard! "She's not alone, she's got back-up! And I think you'll find me to be a lot harder to take down, shadow fiend!"
The Pony of Shadows growled as he doubled back in pain. "Not bad, you've actually hurt me. Even Starswirl couldn't do that unless I let him," He remarked. "But even in my weakened state, you cannot stop the might of shadows! None of you can!"
But this time, Starlight jumped in aid to Shining and Twilight, and together the three managed to once again force The Pony of Shadows back. "What part of 'she's got back-up' didn't you understand? And you call yourself a villain," She remarked. "You're nothing compared to Chrysalis. Now there's a villain who knew how to give me a challenge."
"I don't know who this Chrysalis is that you speak of, but I assure you she is nothing compared to me!" The Pony of Shadows commented in an ominous yet weakened tone. "My time in limbo has left me weakened! Yet all you can do is match me. When I'm at full power, you won't stand a chance. I'll make sure of it!"
"That will never happen so long as my friends and I are here to stop you!" Starswirl remarked with narrowed eyes. "And know this, shadow fiend. We will not rest until we find a way to return you to limbo, where you belong!"
At that The Pony of Shadows seemed to lose his composure all together, for he bellowed at the top of his lungs! "NEVER! I'll never go back to that accursed place! Your time is up, Starswirl! Pillars like you aren't needed in this world any longer! When this is all over, you six will bow before your master! And then maybe I'll maybe spare you, if I feel like it." Then he quickly morphed into a ball of pure darkness that was pulled up into the clouds, which then retreated away from Ponhenge. Just like that, the threat was gone.
"This is bad news for Equestria." Shining Armor realized once The Pony of Shadows had left.
"I'll say," Soarin glumly commented. "But now we don't even know where we went. He moves fast. How are we ever supposed to track him down?"
"Ah, that is a riddle we must solve, and quickly!" Somnambula spoke up. "We swore an oath to stop that monster, and it's an oath I for one don't intend to betray."
Mage Meadowbrook then asked. "How long have we been gone? Everythin''s happenin' so fast."
"Over a thousand years." Thunderlane told the pillars.
Starswirl was delighted to hear the news. "Ah, good. So my spell worked, before it was meddled with. And the realm has known peace for a millennia!"
Braeburn couldn't help but chuckle at that statement. "Well, you could say that. That is, if you don't account for Nightmare Moon, and Discord, and Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra, and Lord Tirek, and Queen Chrysalis again, and did I mention the Storm King? Oh, and there's this one time Starlight here tried to mess with time. But hey, that's all in the past now. Fortunately, we've all been there to stop 'em."
Flash Magnus beamed with pride. "Not bad if I do say so myself. If you're really that skilled, then together we'll stop The Pony of Shadows twice as fast!"
"We shall see, Flash Magnus," Starswirl cautioned. "You'll find that it is one thing to say you've saved the realm, it is quite another to have done it."
"Oh trust me, your beardedness!" Soarin boasted. "We've saved the world alright, we've got the skills to prove it."
"Be that as it may, there still remains the problem of tracking down our enemy," Starswirl spoke up. "This land is vast and The Pony of Shadows could be anywhere."
"Indeed it is true, Starswirl," Mistmane nodded in agreement. "And unfortunately, I'm not nearly as fast as I used to be. There's only so much ground the six of us could ever hope to cover."
Then Fancy Pants spoke up. "Sounds to me like you could use a map. Well lucky for the six of you, Shining Armor has just what you're looking for back at his castle."
"A castle, huh? I take it it's not one that dwells within Canterlot or The Everfree Forest? I never quite felt at home in either one to be honest." Starswirl remarked.
"Well then, how does a castle in the middle of Ponyville sound?" Shining asked the wizard.
"Ponyville? I don't believe I've ever heard that name before," Starswirl commented as he put a hoof to his chin. "But so long as your castle has a map I shan't complain. You must take us there immediately!"