Charming Thunder sat in a cage in the Canterlot castle throne room with his horn covered up so he can never use his magic to get out. He then saw Sombra using his magic to place black crystals around the room and walked towards his cage. "You're not my real father," Charming Thunder said as Sombra approached. "What have you done to him?"
"Nothing yet," Sombra said and laughed. "I may have failed to take over the Crystal Empire, but you are now helpless without the source of your power." The doors burst open and Twilight and the others entered along with Discord.
"Okay, 'King' Sombra!" Rainbow shouted. "Time to give up the crown!" Sombra laughed.
"Here to fight the good fight with nothing but your wits? Admirable, but foolish!"
"NO!" Charming Thunder shouted as Sombra fired magic at the six, but the magic was stopped when Discord stood in front of the six and fend off Sombra's magic blasts.
"Well, I guess it's on me to be the MVP today," Discord said as he fended off more magic blasts. "I was betting on you, and I do hate being wrong. Although if you think about it, I am your friend, so maybe you win because friendship wins? Although Fluttershy should get most of the credit for that. She's my favorite." Sombra smiled and fired his magic towards Fluttershy. Discord jumped in front of the blast and got hit by it.
"DISCORD!" Fluttershy gasped. Charming Thunder sat down in his cage as tears fell out of his eyes. Twilight and the others rushed to the downed Lord of Chaos as Sombra laughed.
"Not even the Lord of Chaos can stand against me!" Sombra said. "I am truly the most powerful creature in Equestria!"
"You!" Charming Thunder said as he got up and tried to break the cage with brute strength. "You'll pay for this, father!" Charming Thunder turned to see movement from Discord as he struggled to get up.
"Discord!" Fluttershy said.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Twilight said. "We can't beat him without you!"
"You couldn't beat me with him, either!" Sombra said with a laugh.
"It would appear that you're on your own," Discord said; weakly. He tried snapping his fingers, but nothing happened. "I have nothing left to give."
"That's it, then?" Applejack said. "We're doomed?"
"Of course you are," Sombra said. "I can't believe it's taken you this long to realize it. Now, how shall I eliminate all this clutter in my throne room?"
"Listen to me," Discord said. "You don't need me. You don't need the princesses, and you certainly don't need the Elements. Fluttershy, you will always be kind. Applejack, you will always be honest. Rarity, you'll always be generous. And Rainbow Dash will be loyal as can be. Pinkie will always bring laughter wherever she goes. And Twilight...you are and always will be the embodiment of magic. You lost sight of what's in front of you. You're here, together, willing to give everything you've got for Equestria. Nothing and nopony can ever take that away from you, because that's who you are."
"It's going to take more than a sentimental speech to save you."
"Discord's right," Twilight said. "We've proven time and time again that the real magic is the six of us working together! With these girls by my side, I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of what you can do or how much power you have!" Charming Thunder smiled as Twilight and the others got up and slowly walked towards Sombra.
"You should be." Sombra fired his magic but, Twilight fired hers to block it.
"You may knock us down, but we're gonna get back up again!" Sombra fired again, but it was blocked by Twilight's magic. "And again! And again! As long as we're together, we will never stop trying to defeat you!" Twilight and Sombra clashed with their magic. Twilight resisted Sombra's magic and harnessed more magic from within. Fluttershy and the others joined hooves with Twilight.
"For our friends!" Fluttershy said.
"For our families!" Applejack and Rarity added.
"For our home!" the rest except Twilight said.
"For Equestria!" Twilight said. Sombra was now unable to break Twilight and her friend's magic.
"No!" Sombra shouted. "This can't be possible! Your magic can't defeat mine! I destroyed the source of your power!"
"You can't destroy our friendship, Sombra!"
"And we keep telling bad guys," Rainbow said.
"But y'all just don't seem to remember," Applejack said.
"Friendship is magic!" Twilight and the others said. A powerful magical explosion emitted after Sombra tried to blast Twilight with his magic. The magic hit Sombra then got consumed by light and turned into dust. Everything got returned to normal and every black crystal got destroyed in the process. Charming Thunder's cage got destroyed as well freed him from his prison. Once the six ponies were on the ground, Charming Thunder walked up the steps to the thrones and looked at them. Twilight had a look of concern, but smiled.
"Aren't you thankful for us saving you, Charming?" Fluttershy asked.
"Misdirected passion," Charming Thunder said. "Such a waste."
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked. "Please. Talk to us."
"An infantile display, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy. Reckless pride limned by self righteousness. It's not over yet."
"What's going on?" Applejack said. Charming Thunder turned around to reveal his eyes turned into Sombra's. The six gasped at the sight.
"You stand there because I allow it. Because I do not fear." Rarity was about to blast Charming Thunder with her magic when he fired powerful lightning from his hooves. The storm hit the room electrocuting everyone except Twilight who used a magic barrier around her.
"Fight back, girls," Twilight said. "We can resist him!" As Charming Thunder charged up a strike to penetrate Twilight's shield, Twilight used her magic to blast him through one of the thrones and through the wall. Twilight took a few breaths after lowering the shield and rushed to help her friends up. After she helped up Fluttershy, the debris where Charming Thunder was under blew up and revealed the shadow of Charming Thunder and landed on top of the stairs in front of the hole on the wall as he transformed back to a pony. He laughed as he wiped dust off of his shoulder.
"Who are you?" Rarity demanded. "And what have you done to Charming?" Charming Thunder closed his eyes and opened them again as he grinned.
"Unfortunate for you and your friends," Charming Thunder said. Six guards entered the room as their eyes glowed which represented that they are being controlled. Charming Thunder then turned into shadow as he made a quick getaway. "Destroy them!" Charming Thunder broke through a stained glass window as he made his escape. The possessed guards surrounded Twilight and the others as they aimed their weapons at them. Before they closed in on them, Danny appeared and fired a blast with the power of the force to restore the guards back to their normal selves.
Danny then turned to Twilight and the others and asked, "Where's Charming?"
"He's not himself," Fluttershy said.
"Then I was too late to intervene."
"How did you know what was happening?" Twilight asked.
"I sensed a presence when there was the darker side of Sombra. I tried to get here as fast as I could, but that wasn't the case anymore. Not after what I sensed."
"What was it?"
"Charming is being controlled."