My Little pony Friendship Is Magic
Pony POV Series Origins Part 6 Final Part
Princess Celestia
Optional-Canon
"Teacher, er, Princess Celestia. Your friend. Her spirit. Did it, did it stay in her body? Or did Discord force her out?" Twilight asked, her eyes quivering.
"Was she dead or is she a prisoner in her own body?" I repeated. "I can not tell you Twilight Sparkle. Because I don't know. Discord's spirit is a maelstrom of confusion and nonsense, I couldn't tell. I couldn't find her in there in a thousand years of searching. On the one hoof it meant if we had been able to force Discord out of her, she'd have been dead. On the other it means for two thousand years she's been Discord's prisoner. And Discord found it more fun to keep me guessing."
"I"m . . . I'm sure she was freed when you used the Element of Harmony on Discord! I'm sure she was!" Twilight declared as boldly as her transparent uncertainty would allow.
I made a small, wistful laugh. "If you believe so my student."
++++
We were all paralyzed. This was supposed to be the end. And from the looks of things, that was exactly what it was about to turn into for us!
Galaxia began to power up the Rainbow of Light again, but the hearts around her couldn't bring themselves to attack a friend of theirs possessed or not. Yes, yes, yes, Twilight I know! But when you are IN a situation like that Twilight you DO NOT think rationally! That the Rainbow of Light might have actually HELPED HER expel Discord from her body was not something we had time to rationally and logically think about! We hadn't been thinking rationally since Discord's spirit returned. If we'd been thinking rationally, we'd have blasted his spirit point blank with the Rainbow Of Light before he could possess anyone, but we weren't!
Galaxia grabbed Discord and teleported them both high above us. I think she was hoping that with Discord in an unfamiliar body with a spirit that may or may not have been fighting him at the time, she was hoping she could finish him off without the rest of us having blood on our hands. Yes it meant Discord would have just taken another body. She was hoping to leave him helpless enough I think for us to use the Rainbow again on the part that mattered, I hope.
And Discord SANG!
I must admit,
Your parlor trick was amusing
I bet you've got a bunny
Under your hat!
A giant top hat appeared above her and out fell an equally giant rabbit with Discord's eyes.
Now here's your chance
To get the best of me,
Hope your hand is hot!
Discord showed a playing card hand showing Shady, his host, Destruction, his father, and Galaxia!
C'mon, nana,
Let's see what you've got!
Galaxia dispelled the rabbit construct.
A tiny star appeared in Discord's nostril, that then went nova. Several cannons shaped like the heads of Spike's ancestors appeared around her and fired cannon balls with perfectly orderly black and white patterns on them that hit him hard.
You try to slam me
With your brightest stuff
The smoke cleared and Discord dusted himself off. He teleported above her.
But your double whammy
Isn't up to snuff
He hit her over the head with a giant hourglass. It shattered. She fell, her appearance now elderly and decrepit.
I'll set the record straight
You're simply out of date
You're only second rate!
She recovered, reformatting her body, and changed into a dragon and flew at him again. She let out a deafening roar as she spewed white hot flames.
You think your cat's a meanine,
But your tiger's tinny
She flew through a ring Discord created right in front of her and was suddenly a new born foal.
You've got a lot to learn
About the spirit game!
The sky above us turned into an arcade fighting game which Discord then unleashed a million plus combo on her still foal form that lasted long after her life bar had hit zero.
GAME OVER!
DISCORD! WINS!
COOLNESS BONUS: 999,999,999
RADICALNESS BONUS: 999,999,999
AWESOMENESS BONUS: 999,999,999
Final Score: Discord Rules
So for your information,
I'll reiterate
You're only second rate!
Galaxia willed herself back into her prime form, and Discord grew to the size of a building holding Galaxia in his palm of his bird's claw.
Ponies cower, at the power
In my pinky!
Discord's grinning face came into existence on his smallest claw, grinning madly at her. Galaxia blasted it to bit then blasted Discord who was now a giant target with enough force to send him through the moon to Mars. It all turned to sand and fell except his thumb that formed into the real Discord.
My thumb is number one
On-every-list!
He painted a target on his chest.
But if you're not convinced
That I'm invincible,
Put me to the test!
A coffin appeared around Galaxia.
I'd love to lay our rivalry to rest!
The coffin exploded. Mirrors appeared around Discord at every angle, Galaxia summoned points of light that fired lasers at every other angle that reflected off the mirrors. They tore Discord's body to swiss chess. Then in a congo line of attacks the twelve constellations of the eastern zodiac came along and struck him down. Then the thirdteenth Cat constellation then clawed him up for good measure. A black hole appeared at Discord's center and pulled him inside, imploding him.
Go ahead and zap me
With the big surprise
Snap me in a trap,
Cut me down to size
Then a truck in the air zoomed by with the words 'Edge Of Oblivion Deliveries' on the side, tossed out a package and zoomed along, and out of came a cake. Then Discord popped out of the top wearing a bikini.
I'll make a big escape
It's just a piece of cake
You're only second rate!
Galaxia could only have time to gasp and realize she had bitten off more than she could chew trying to face Discord alone. I think in her mind she was still that child draconequus who was always never a match for a fully empowered senior Alicorn.
But this wasn't that Discord. Not anymore.
You know, your hocus-pocus
Isn't tough enough
And your mumbo-jumbo
Doesn't measure up
Let me pontificate
Upon your sorry state
You've always been second rate!
Galaxia did the smartest thing he could at that point and retreated. But Discord had no intention of letting her. He teleported around her, replicas of himself all around, and before you ask: each one was the real Discord.
So show me your tremendous despair!
He zapped her. And to her confusion and shock found herself wearing lingerie.
You look wondrous in underwear!
Buzzsaws zoomed by and cut off her wings and legs.
And I can hardly wait
To discombobulate
Time ta send ya back and be sure to tell
to it to Fauna Luster straight!
Before she could heal he rammed his claw through her throat out the other side. He held up his paw where a sphere of red energy formed. He grinned so wide it was a wonder the top half of his face didn't fall off. The centers of his eyes pulsed different sizes.
You'd make a better spirit
of spinning plates!
And he let out a burst of energy that annihilated her form to ashes, then atoms, then nothing, dispersing her spiritual essence all the way back to the heart of creation and sending her directly back to Mother.
Discord spread out his arms in dramatic fashion shouting at the sky eyes closed. You were only second rate!
Discord, because it was more funny to him, left her armor completely untouched. Her armor? It was golden. And it had a purple gem in the chest piece and in the crown. ... Yes, it does fit me rather well doesn't it?
By this point. We were all scared to pieces. He floated down some. Discord wiggled his rear in front of us. "Oh yeah! Whose a bad ass? Whose a bad ass?"
Twilight, I cannot describe how that moment felt...the only other member of my kind outside myself and my sister I was sure wasn't gone...The one who'd cared for us in our exile here...And in an instant, she was gone...And her murderer was rubbing it in our faces that he'd done the deed...
He snapped his fingers and we were all wearing 'Discord Is Cool' T-shirts. We tore them off in disgust only to find a 'Discord Is Awesome' T-shirt underneath, then 'Discord Is Radical' and 'Discord is 20% Cooler Than You.' Finally I just burned them off.
Discord laughed at us.
"And what is THIS pretty pretty trinket?" Discord held the Rainbow of Light on its chain in his claw.
We had all already gone past shocked.
"What have we here? The one object containing the one breed of magic on this entire planet that can harm me."
Discord crushed it in his claw.
No shockwave, no explosion, it simply broke apart in his grip like it was chalk. The cracking noise was barely audible.
Seven broken pieces of light fell from his grasp. Each one a color of the rainbow.
Discord made wide dramatic gestures. "Now I shall spread them across the land! And you'll have to go on difficult, dangerous quests that'll strength your bonds and you'll meet new allies along the way and become a united whole who shall topple my fun! Reuniting it into an even MORE powerful form! Or I can just do THIS!"
And he vaporized the orange fragment, no, not vaporized, he ANNIHILATED IT! Return it to its base component mana!
At this point, we were all convinced we were having a nightmare. This couldn't have been real.
"Looks like you won't be redeeming seven magic fragments for a happy ending after all!"
Then he reversed time and made us relive that moment again.
"OR I COULD JUST DO THIS!"
Destroyed forever. The rainbow of light never to be whole again.
"I'm sorry. You can't redeem these coupons for a happy ending! You're one short! You're going to have to settle for the grim ironic ending instead!"
And live it again.
Destroyed ones of the seven pieces forever so the others were just useless babbles, "Sorry, looks like you're never going to get a complete set! Maybe you can order a bootlegged version from China or something!"
He blew us a raspberry.
I had never known, such despair, as I did in that moment. Until the next moment.
"I'm sorry! Seventh MacGuffin not found! The game designers must have left it out! You know! That's the PROBLEM with magical items that are just pretty jewelry without all the pieces!"
And again.
Gone forever. "Hmmm. So much for getting the complete set and sending your rebates! You don't get to go to Disneyland! Ha ha! Don't worry! I have a fabulous runner up prize for you! Chaos Kingdom of Discord The Great And Really Great is wide open! All expenses paid, attendance mandatory!"
He giggled. He was grinning so wide. "Oh the LOOKS ON YOUR FACES! Absolutely priceless! Oh I have GOT to save this one!" He took a photograph.
He then picked up the remaining pieces and threw them in my face, the sharp edges leaving red lines along my features.
The Element of Trust had been destroyed. No. It had been completely erased. As good as never were as Troola-Roola and Star-Catcher were.
"There you go Celly! Don't say I never got you anything! Ta-ta!"
And he just teleported away. And Shady with him.
I broke down and cried. Then Luna cried too. Mimic hugged us, she cried too. Firefly let out a howl of loss and frustration so maddening it could barely have come from a pony. Applejack was catatonic. Posey babbled to herself in denial and confusion. Spike slowly shook his head looking to Galaxia's armor.
Twilight brawled. "I WISH THIS WAS A DREAM! I WISH THIS WAS A DREAM! I WISH THIS WAS A DREAM! I WISH I WISH I WISH, I WISH! "
Our surviving intellectual was also quite broken. She had never seen this coming.
Firefly rammed on top of Mimic, hooves pressing on her throat. They skidded across the sand. "YOU! HOW COULD YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN THIS WOULD HAPPEN? THIS IS A GAME TO YOU OR ARE YOU JUST LAZY-?!"
Our mother gasped out, "I-I-can't see into Discord's future! I couldn't know this would happen!"
"Then what good are you?! All those powers and you're completely-"
Luna and I puffed Firefly off her. In all timelines, in all eras, I had never seen Firefly act like that. Firefly's entire body shook,her breathing coming out in ragged gasps. "W-why?"
Mimic slowly pushed herself up. "I'm sorry."
Let me explain something to you Twilight Sparkle. Imagine if after all the times you've saved Equestria and the world, you were suddenly pushed to the sidelines, and the first time you tried to help you made things worse. After all the times you've pulled together and done the impossible, you sudden could only stand back and watch . Firefly had always been a risk taker, 'Danger is my life!' she said. And when Equestria needed help the most? After all the times she had help save ponies from being exterminated? She was simply out of her power-class. All her bravery, all her skill, speed, and wits, dust in the wind in the face of overwhelming power. Imagine Twilight Sparkle. Then you might have some inkling of what was in Firefly's heart. And Mimic, could hear every last one of Firefly's thoughts.
Then Discord teleported back to us.
I was as surprised as you are.
"Okay. I deposited mother back at her private castle. I'm sure her pet will make her happy again, what's its name? Oh yes, Queen Rosedust. You really did give her quite an awful shock! I mean! Killing her own son in front of her? What kind of heartless bastards are you? Oh well." He scratched his head. "I forget, did I want you to wander around in broken misery for the rest of your lives, or did I want to destroy you one by one as the others watched? Both are such fun choices!
"Oh well! I'll just take the middle road! Finish off one or two of you, then slam one of the pieces of rainbow colored rock into your heads for everyone to always see, and have a nice reminder that you can't do a thing! That's chaos for you! Thinking back on it, maybe I should have made Surprise my queen! I mean, Strife never regretted having kids." He cupped his paw/claw and shouted, "Hey Celly! I heard your Aunt/Sister just died! Heard it was really really horrible! How about you and I have some sympathy sex? You can be on top! I have this huge bed made out of pegasus feathers just DYING to be used! Come on! We haven't done it in forever!"
Mimic spoke in an almost ghoulish calm. "You float one inch towards my daughters I will kill you and seal your spirit into one of my horseshoes!"
"Lady! You're crazy! I just kicked the butt of one of your in-laws! You can't hurt me! You don't stand a chance against me! . . . GO FOR IT! COME ON! BABY! SHOW ME WHATCHA GOT! COME HERE! COME HERE! HAHAHAH!"
"Celly, Luna," Mimic whispered, "Get as far away from here as possible. Take the others, find somewhere safe, and just go. Take the pieces of the Rainbow with you. There has to be something you can do."
"Mom. That's suicide."
"You have to go. This could be your only chance. You and Luna together need a way to beat him. I'm the one most likely to keep him distracted."
"LET ME!" Firefly shouted.
"NO!" Everypony shouted at her.
Discord floated above listening in with a megaphone and munching popcorn.
"Mother I can't let you-" Lulu began.
"Celestia. Luna. It's an order. Take the others. Keep them safe. And come back as soon as you can help."
Discord put on some boxing gloves and KO'ed his own shadow for practice.
"Mother you're throwing your life away!" Luna cried.
"Mom you don't have to do this!"
" ... You're wrong. I do. I have the gift of foresight remember? I can't see Discord's future. But I can see yours. And it'll end if you stay to help me or if we all try to flee together. Just go."
And for the second time in our lives, Luna and I were forced to run away as someone we loved faced against an impossible enemy. Though Cadence ... sorry. I don't like thinking about it.
Luna and I teleported the others away from the great desert along with Galaxia's armor, and the six surviving pieces of the Rainbow of Light, now just dead pieces of magic.
Discord was still...well, Discord. The same psychopathic drama queen you saw moments before you defeated him.
He summoned a microphone, the kind that lower down from the ceiling at a boxing match. "Come one! Come all! Watch one pathetic little pony take on the Great and Really Great Discord! It's gonna be a short match folks!"
Mimic then said, "One more thing Discord. I think I should tell you. You know the rainbow that connects this world with the world of humans?"
"Oh yes. Lovely place. I intend to visit there after I'm bored with this dump."
"Don't pack your bags. Megan on her side, and Celestia on our side shattered it. You'll never torture another human again."
Discord's jaw dropped. "You ...you ... you ... " Discord then spoke in a frozen tone that reminded me of his spiritual mother. "You'll regret that."
She fought through storms of ice, lightning, sand, molten magma, exploding mailboxes. Discord's anger keeping him from thinking strategically.
She spun through tornados, she pierced wall of blackness and iron spikes. She copied and sent his own spells right back at him!
Discord was beside himself with anger. And when he was angry, he couldn't be as creative with his magic as he'd like to be. He was almost a wild beast. Or he might have just snapped his fingers and turned her into a Diamond Dog and placed her head inside a vice.
Discord was VERY confused when it seemed Mimic's horseshoes left marks he couldn't just erase from existence. 'What the pony hell did her ancestor REALLY make those out of-?!'
Discord in one swift motion grasped her horn and broke it in two. Not even pausing she struck him with enough lightning to overload Manehatten. She began feeding on her own life-force to power her magic, the final trick of her line.
But Discord was still nearly indestructible. If you had taken a sword to his neck Twilight it would have likely just broken the sword.
Then came when he grabbed her with both his forelimbs and held her to his face. "You lose little pony!"
She smirked and using the power of high speed flight granted by one of her ancestor's horse shoe, hammered Discord in the face. A thousand time, at the speed of sound, in a matter of seconds. The horse shoe broke, as did her leg, that horse shoe fell by fate into a tiny oasis below, where its power of clairvoyance slowly melded with it, and would one day become the Gate of Truth on this world. Or simply returned to its true form. Even I don't know all the true details.
I remember seeing the image of her bleeding, smirking at him. And Discord utterly and completely confused when he found a fang missing. He shrugged and wiped a finger across it to undo the damage. His fang was still broken.
He couldn't erase her breaking it. I couldn't believe it. Even if Discord had still been a normal Draconequus, that would've been an impossible feat. Mother hadn't forgotten Discord's earlier words.
"Who can't hurt who now?"
And the anger he had shown her before, wasn't a shadow of the hate he felt in that instant. She'd done the one thing no one, not even his own family had ever done before.
His mind no longer angry: it was frozen in perfect clarity by hatred. He turned her bones to glass, and rammed into the desert at the speed of a sonic rainboom. Then he did it again, and again, until she was bloody pulp, he kept doing so long after she was dead.
He made a sound of contempt and vaporized her body and scattered her ashes to the winds.
+++++
"Teacher," Twilight asked, "If you really did escape with the others, how did see all this? Another dream?"
"When we found the gateway to The Truth. That fight was the first thing it showed myself and Luna."
Twilight once more allowed herself to hug me. She moved back, slower this time, but stayed closer to me. "Your mother sounds like a great pony...I wish I could've met her."
I smile down to my faithful student, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "She was...You'll meet her someday... thank you, Twilight."
+++++
I took us to a castle that was an oasis in a crystal desert. It was in good condition. But long abandoned. It was where Galaxia had stored my mirror given by Entropy. It was small and did not have that many room, but it was nice to look at, and it was off Discord's radar. Now that the one thing in the world that could defeat him was useless, Discord believed he was invincible. While that meant his 'games' got rougher, it also meant he'd lost interest in us.
Myself, my sister, and our six companions were just so tired, just so broken, we did nothing for the next seven days but sleep and morn. Thankfully there was a magic garden with magically automated tools. One of the previous residents couldn't bear to think anyone taking care of her garden except to her specifications.
To celebrate his victory, Discord recreated his Poison Joke and Parasprites and spread them across the world, leaving them to their own devices. Discord told Queen Rosedust still in her cage how she had her royal subjects back showing her the locust like sprites devouring everything in their path. That the parasprites would mindlessly and happily hug her did not comfort her.
Then the world turned even blacker for me.
Firefly left with Posey in her care, saying she'd find a way to defeat Discord on her own, instead of all of us 'sitting on our flanks doing nothing.' We couldn't stop her.
Applejack left, saying she figured she'd go visit Surprise, see how she was doing on her rock garden. I think her bright soul just couldn't take it anymore. Our surviving intellectual went with her to 'make sure she doesn't do anything she won't be alive to regret.'
This left Spike and Twilight. They both had nowhere to go and nowhere to return to.
Finally Twilight had the nerve to ask the question, "Who lived here before?"
"The Six Princesses Of Ponyland." I told her.
"Well." She made a slight smile. "If we're living here now. That makes us Princesses now too right?"
We all stared at her. Then laughed and nodded.
"YES! It DOES make us all Princesses!"
"Hey!"
"And one Prince!"
"So what do you wish me of PRINCESS Celestia?" Twilight bowed.
"Do not give up hope PRINCESS Twilight."
"Then PRINCESS Luna shall not either." Lulu said simply.
We all grinned. We all laughed. It felt so good! You have no idea.
It took a long time to figure out what to do. We weren't even sure if we COULD do anything. It's easy to SAY you won't lose hope, Twilight, but its another thing to live it. After awhile of sitting in that lonely castle, I can't blame our little group's hope for running thin. We could only avoid discussing the true gravity of our situation for so long...eventually someone had to say it.
"Galaxia's gone...the Rainbow's gone...What can we do?" Spike asked as we sat, thinking over our seemingly impossible position.
Luna lowered her head. "Even Galaxia was powerless against Discord...I think the only the Elders could overpower him now, and they can't even enter this world..."
"We can't give up. And you promised you wouldn't, PRINCESS Luna," I said, looking sternly at them. "Mother died so we could escape, she had faith that we could find another way to stop Discord...She couldn't see his future, but she could see ours, she wouldn't have said that if we had no chance. And ... and I know, Our Parents, are looking out for us too."
"Yeah, we can't give up now!" agreed Twilight, looking at the group. "We didn't give up when Grogar kidnapped all us unicorns! We didn't give up when the Smooze destroyed Dream Castle and swallowed up the Rainbow Of Light! If we found a way then, we can find one now!"
"But that time the Rainbow of Light was just covered up, this time it's been destroyed..." Spike said glumly.
Twilight, there's something you need to know about ponies from the Twiligh the First's time. She was from an age that when things seemed down, when you needed to rise spirits, you did one thing...
"There's always another rainbow...search until you find it. she sang.
"Don't look at the cloud, look behind it.
There's a rainbow there somewhere.
There's always a ray of sunshine though it all seems tragic..." I assisted her by projecting a small beam of sunlight from my horn onto the wall. She went over and pulled Spike to his feet and placed him in its glow.
You may turn around and like magic
There's an answer to your prayer." I sang, trotting over to Luna.
"Now you feel forlorn, but hope can be reborn.
Try and lose the frown..."
"Look up, not down!" we sung, as I continued my light show, causing the spot of light on the wall to grow larger.
"And you'll find another rainbow..."
"I can guarantee it."
"Even though you think you've reached the rainbow's end..."
"There's always another rainbow...
Always another rainbow around the bend..." Twilight and I finished,Twilight using a wish to manipulate the light into a dazzling rainbow.
It was a few moments before anyone said anything. "...Well, we've got what's left of the Rainbow of Light, we might be able to fix it somehow..." Spike finally said.
"And if that doesn't work?" Luna asked, looking conflicted.
"We'll find another rainbow, just like the song says," I replied, giving my twin a nuzzle and getting her to smile.
And so we didn't lose hope...but that didn't make the road easier.
++++
"Eh, Princess."
"Yes Twilight?"
"It's just . . . I must confess. Her singing, wasn't, that strange compared to now. I know Pinkie is over the top with it but, even I sang at the Gala and Winter Wrap Up!"
I smiled and resisted the urge to clop my hooves at her observation. "You are completely and utterly correct my loyal and faithful student. No Age has passed where ponies did not like to sing. That is a constant I worship and praise My Parents for."
++++
With the Rainbow of Light gone Spike was slowly getting older. And Twilight was getting older by the decade.
Spike however found a wandering weather dragon who he chose to continue his line with. Twilight Sparkle, dragons among themselves do not think of these things the way you and I do, Spike acts the way he does because he has been raised by ponies.
But don't think that meant he stopped loving us, dragons consider their friends and family treasure, it's how their love works, but it's no less real than the love we have. He just had his own family to care for then.
Over the decades and centuries, a handful of ponies trickled across the barren crystal desert. The crystal landscape was roasting during the day, freezing at night, dry, lifeless, many places as sharp as knives, but seemingly ignored or immutable by Discord. We welcomed them into the protective illusion of Discord's disinterest.
These nomads were a literal wish comes to Princess Twilight.
Princess Twilight died a grandmother. Her daughter and granddaughter tried to find some way to recreate the Element of Trust or restore the Rainbow of Light to it's true splendor. We found nothing.
Then came the day we found a storm of fire and ice passing our way. Burning and freezing everything in its path. Luna and I investigated and found a Phoenix was fighting a creature of nothing! A Windigo! A WINDIGO! Tiny traces of them had survived in this world and after these thousand years had congealed into one the size and shape of a foal.
Its programming incomplete and broken, its first target had been a Phoenix, who due to being fire incarnate and able to resurrect herself over and over left the Windigo in a logic loop.
It still recognized me as its master, vaguely, it recognized 'an Alicorn' as its master. With its programming with such large gaps I was able to fill in the blanks for it. Now with thousands of years of experience and wisdom I had not had before.
I was able to 'reason' with it that since all the world's hatred was now focused on Discord, a being NOT of the world in its natural state, I was to... trick the Windigo so to speak, into believing that my order had been fulfilled. It didn't know what to do, as it missed Havoc's half to complete it and give it freewill.
Luna 'destroyed' it by filling it with the ice and cold of night. She promised me she would make sure it would not serve the purpose of bringing oblivion to ponies ever again. Now completed by her and capable of thinking on its own, it became her loyal companion. I a way, I suppose you could say she was like its mother.
+++
Twilight jumped to all fours. "Princess Luna has a WINDIGO for a pet-?!"
"In a manner of speaking. She keeps it out of sight and has it spend nine month of the year sleeping, letting it roam during the winter where it isn't noticed. Following the remnants of its old programming it's attracted to bickering ponies. Thankfully it has harmed none in Luna's care. During her time as Nightmare Moon to use it would have been a dead give away, and I had it sealed away when Luna dropped her farce."
"Okay . . . alright then," Twilight said cautiously. "Teacher, er, Princess, just to be clear, how many times has pony civilization ended in an apocalyptic disaster and had to restart?"
"Just a few times Twilight, just a few times. No matter how many times your back is broken, you've managed to rise up and prove again that we were right to chose you for the gift of sapience. I've seen species who just silently and calmly accepted oblivion. Heh. You and humans are a lot alike that way, you both refuse to simply vanish." I smiled at her, "And I'm thankful for that."
" . . . thank you princess." She bowed her head lowly.
+++
I took the Phoenix in, she needed but to shed her feathers and begin a new cycle to return to perfect health. I learned her name was Philomena. She found the idea of living in a castle appealing, even more so at being in the company of 'royalty.'
It was a happy addition to our family. A glimmer of light in what I was beginning to see was more and more an impossible quest.
Luna even went where Midnight Castle once stood and tried to regenerate the Rainbow Of Darkness, the only thing with a power equal to the Rainbow of Light. Remember, the Rainbow Of Darkness was forged by the same hoof as the Rainbow Of Light and was not evil in and of itself, merely misused by Tirek, which was why it was overpowered by the Rainbow Of Light being used as intended.
It was a mad risk. The Rainbow of Darkness was as unruly as the Rainbow of Light, only Luna the Perfect Night could even hope to bend it to her will. If she had accidentally resurrected Tirek along with it, we'd have likely helped him if we thought it would topple Discord's mad world.
It didn't work. The Rainbow Of Light had devoured it, all that remained were wisps. And we didn't have the means to make one from scratch.
I have no idea if Luna's failed attempt set in motion its regeneration a thousand years later.
The Element of Trust was gone, truly gone, it couldn't even manifest in a pony ever as I would later learn. There shall never be an Element of Trust Twilight Sparkle. Not as a bearer or an Element. Any unique power it held is lost forever. Discord is a Draconequus. He did what his kind does best. He ERASED it.
It's funny. It was such an important event. But I can't remember the details anymore of when the truth came to me. Our research into the remaining pieces of the Rainbow of Light showed each one held an aspect of harmony, the one missing of course being trust, gone forever. And without all the element, as you know, they are useless.
The magic of the Rainbow of Light would never exist again.
So I cheated.
It took us forever to identify what each of the pieces held inside them, what each shade of the rainbow represented. And we began to understand that they'd only awaken only to someone whose heart was aligned with them.
In their broken current form they were simply too wild to be directed property. The Rainbow of Light and the Rainbow of Darkness had BOTH always been unruly forces that only served their masters how the Rainbows saw fit.
Discord meanwhile left us to wallow in our misery. Shady continued to live. Kept alive at her prime. She took care of any ponies who tried to harm Discord or who he wanted to spread fear to but he deemed too 'boring' to deal with himself. The world went from being broken to a trash heap of Discord's discarded games: except for one tiny little joyless rock farm in the middle of nowhere.
Princess Twilight the XIIIth proved to be a very lucky pony indeed. She was the one witnessed it happen.
Luna by this point had nearly gone crazy in her own way, thinking she could restore the missing piece of the Rainbow of Light by collecting all the dust particles one bit at a time. I think her plan would have taken only about a hundred thousand years if she did so without help.
But with Princess Twilight XIII's help, and our pets', we forged the surviving pieces into a more usable shape. Sealed inside stone spheres in their sleeping form. They would transform into their awakened shape in the present of worthy ponies. The shape they take is completely dependent on the pony who awakens them. That is why the Elements look different in your book than the shape they took for your friends.
Princess Twilight XIII was a middle aged mare by the time we were done. Her daughter, Princess Twilight XIV studying to take her place. Spike the fifth now entered his own twilight years with his egg waiting to hatch (your Spike's father) to carry on his legacy after he was gone. But as it turned out, he and his father held on longer than their forbearers.
We told the Twilights and Spike to stay at the castle, which had long since modified to suit our tastes, and had begun to grow a forest around after growing sick of looking at a dead crystal landscape. We used the self-sustaining instantaneous spell one of the Princess Ponies had used on her garden to insure the forest could take care of itself. And the forest would protect the castle and the others in the most effective vicious way possible even from Discord. Even if we failed, they would be forever free.
We traveled to Discord's palace/mountain/domain/forest/his place he like to laze about while giving ponies enough time to repopulate so he could have fun again.
It was plug-ugly and mind breaking to look at. Even the modern art lovers would have taken a wrecking ball to it. Discord had had a thousand years to build it according to his whims. We had come prepared to smash through layer after layer of defenses, but there was none, after all, Discord ruled the world, why waste time on defenses when you had nopony to defend against?
Luna and I stood in front of Discord's throne room door (it was hard to miss with the seizure flashing neon sign). The most powerful being in this world, the one who'd plunged it into pony hell for a millennium, the one who had killed Galaxia and our mother while we watched was on the sidelines. To say we were one hundred percent sure of ourselves would be a lie.
I look to my sister, the last member of my kind I knew was alive. "Are you ready for this?"
She looked conflicted, then looked to me. "I'm scared..."
I gave a small nod, I was too. "Just stay close to me, our only chance is to stay together..."
And with that, we entered Discord's throne room.
"Celly! Lulu! It's been forever! Mother just made biscuits! Want some?" He waved like we were house guests.
He was disgusting. He looked fat, lazy, indifferent, passive, his spiritual mother would be proud. His throne was more a couch. His throne room was ... it was the dreams of a thousand maniacs vomited into one mix. The less I describe it you Twilight Sparkle the better.
It was filled with ponies and other hooved creatures, some twisted in body, others in mind, some in both, all in the name of appeasing Discord's boredom.
"Hello Celestia. Hello Luna," Shady said passively. She hadn't aged a day since we had last seen her. She almost dragged her body as she moved.
"Hello Shady," Luna said first.
It had come to me in all things while star gazing. Thinking of my time as Star Catcher. And how my desire to recreate my wonderland, had resulted in just the opposite.
"It's nice to see you again." I heard myself say.
I had thought back to the holiday that had ironically taken place on the same day that Clover The Clever, Smarty Cookie, and Private Pansy had slew the Windigos.
"How are the others?" She asked.
You have never heard of Christmas, Twilight Sparkle. But I'll say that Hearth Warming's Eve at least carries on it's message in spirit at least, of total love and total brotherhood. And your friend Pinkie Pie still celebrates the original too, if I know her as well as I did as Star Catcher.
"I'm sorry Shady, they died of old age a while ago. But Twilight The Thirteenth and Fourteenth are with us back home. So is Spike! I'm sure they'd love to hear what you have to say about their ancestor."
You have never heard of Santa Claus 'Father Christmas' either, he was a visitor from the other side of the rainbow as well, one who visits many worlds. In a quest to meet him once to make up for what for her was a horrid mistake against her friends, Minty just missed him.
"I see." Shady sighed.
When the other ponies found Minty, they all told Minty that they were far more interested in Minty's well being than what she had done. They all hugged.
"Is there a reason for your visit ladies or did you just drop by to say hi?" Discord said not having even gotten up. To him, we weren't even ants.
"We are here to end your reign," I told him. "Leave Equestria now Dissey. And it can just end."
He laughed so loud he burped. "Oh come on Celly! That joke wasn't even funny! Do I need to teach you how to have fun all over again?"
"No. I'm just sorry you've forgotten how to be happy."
He yawned. We were already losing his interest. "I'd say I'm plenty happy. Now do you you please have something interesting to say or am I just missing chaos for nothing?" He waved us off and turned over his big belly looking ready to take a nap.
And in that time that never existed, when we had all hugged in front of Santa's workshop, myself and Minty included. A magic unlike any other was awakened. I think we had just almost managed to call down Mother. But this power ... Mother gave you ponies the power to feel love, and to love something with your heart AND mind! So what am I saying?
"Discord. This is the ending. No grand battles. No more deaths. Just the end." Luna declared. "Your reign is over."
I told Luna the night before we began forging the six elements.
"Luna! I've got it!"
"You found the missing piece?"
"We ARE the missing piece!"
And the combined six lights on us shined. Laughter awakened first on me. And Honesty awakened first on Luna. The rest awoke in turn.
Discord with some effort got off his throne. "Huh? What's this now?"
Power always inside us? Heh. Don't sell short those who put their tears and blood into creating tools that hold a power of their own. I just realized, that while the Element of Trust was destroyed: we had a flawless substitute for it. A perfect replacement part to complete the circuit. We didn't need all seven parts, when we had a wild card in our hooves.
The power a bunch of nearly identical but truly loving friends and three mundane but brave ponies had both been able to awaken. And now that power flowed through the Rainbow of Light.
For seeing the power that had defeated him before restored to glory, he didn't look too worried.
Discord cracked his knuckles. "Well. Let's see what you little ponies can do."
He swept a paw over himself, erasing the chocolate milk stains and pot belly.
Philomena and Luna's pet from our shadows hit him high and low. Philomena turned herself in a full mass of flames sweeping over him, scorching him black. While Luna's pet past below him, and quickly sealing up his entire body in a chunk of ice that took up his entire throne and everything in fifteen feet in all directions.
We didn't give any clever quips or dramatic declarations. We had been past that for a thousand years. Discord was a menace, he was a criminal. We had gotten past wanting to rub it in when we won. We wanted the misery over.
With Discord frozen in place, my sister and I finally allowed the Elements to charge to full power and prepared to fire as the Windigo got out of our line of fire.
Then suddenly my sister and I were slammed into the wall by a wave of pure despair.
"Bad fillies. You shouldn't be so rough with him." Shady said in an empty tone.
"Shady what you're defending is NOT your son!" I replied, seeing Discord's icy prison begin to break. At this, me and Luna bid our loyal pets to hide as well as they could.
"Incorrect." She said evenly. Philomina and Luna's pet came at her from behind, cages of black desperate twisted around both like thorn bushes.
The ice surrounding Discord shattered in a large explosion of heat. He'd essentially needed to set off a miniature supernova to free himself. "T-thank you, mother, I knew you wouldn't let your baby boy get turned into a statue again."
He snapped his finger. "I play 'A Winner Is Me', I win."
The Elements telekinetically slammed into each other, and our heads rammed into each other. I don't go into detail about our horns. You'd be surprise how it wasn't that painful, the brain can't actually feel pain. But powering up of the Elements stopped. As the world turned sideways that had nothing to do with Discord's magic. We fell in a heap.
We floated over to him. The force slowly crushing every bone on our bodies as it closed in around us.
"Mother, will you do the honors?" Discord said with a glint in his eye.
Shady tilted her head indifferently. "Are you sure? They were your best friends before they tried to kill you. Maybe you could fix them."
""Not anymore," said Discord, callously. "Alas, they see me as an enemy now, so it's the only thing to be done," he said, then transformed himself into a replica of his infant self, giving her big puppy dog eyes. "Please get rid of the bad ponies momma, they're trying to hurt me!"
"Shady! You don't need to do this!" I exclaimed. She didn't even look at me.
Shady's face remained expressionless. "They're your friends son, not mine." She shed one tear. "If you really want to do this then make your own choice."
"Well mommy dearest if you insist." Discord reverted back to his adult self, his head turned away from Shady and puppy dog eyes were replaced by a smirk of sadistic glee.
A black and violet scythe of nothing cut off his claw/paw as he reached for us. It hit the floor with a thud.
He raised an eyebrow and move one eye. "Mother what are you doing?" He asked like a child wonder if their parent was in one of their moods.
"How long do you need?" She asked me as me and Luna regenerated the damage we'd been dealt.
"About one minute."
She said, "You'll get it."
"Oh mother please. What has possessed you for this kind of nonsense? Oh never mind! Nonsense is always fun! But maybe you should spend time as an old maid." He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. Discord snapped his fingers again...nothing.
"Despair is the void that's left when hope is gone. You can not alter or erase a void. How can you son, a draconequus, not know this? This despair is my own. You merely helped me give it shape, remember, son? My own despair feeds the Element of Chaos you gave me."
"Mo-ther!" Discord hissed. His hands lifted off the ground, grew giant and tried to grab her, slam, swat, squash her or shoot her with laser or missiles that shot out of the finger tips.
Shady moved leaving a trailing image, exiting between the state of being and not being as she dodged her son's attacks. Black and violet void chains them wrapped themselves around Discord's legs and arms and pulled him taunt. Discord breathed fire at her. This burned half her body, but if she felt pain she didn't show it. She just followed through with her motion and cut him in half.
She apologized to the friend whose soul may or may not have still been in that body.
The bisected halves vanished and reconstituted into the full Discord.
Discord caused the parts of his palace and his swarms of demented ponies on her like a flood, she cut through them all, her by now tattered brown float flapping in the wind of her motions. Philomena and Luna's pet spawned walls of fire and ice to slow down their endless numbers.
But she was right. We needed less than a minute. And that was what she gave us.
"How could you do this to me! You're different from the Old Lady! How dare you do this! You can't do this! How can you-?!" Discord howled in rage. "MOTHER!!!"
"Because I do love you. You're ill son. You have been for a thousand years. I don't know if you can ever be cured. But I won't let my family harm anypony else, anymore."
She then slammed the tip of her scythe into the tip of his tail making him yelp. She bear hugged him from behind, letting black and violet chains of remorse wrap around both them, she laid her head against the back of his furry snake like body and closed her eyes smiling. Philomena and Luna's pet fled at what was about to be ground zero at high speed.
Meanwhile, Luna and I supported each other, thinking of ALL our families. The one in the world that never was. The one among the stars. The one of Paradise Estate. And the one now waiting for us back at our castle.
Surprise made us laugh.
Spike stayed loyal to the end.
Posey's kindness.
Wind Whistle's honesty.
Mother's generosity.
And Twilight's magic.
And the power of the elements, healed pony's bodies and awoke them from their nightmares. And began to undo Discord's declarations on what was and was not reality.
"Mother, Galaxia...Seaponies, Flutterponies...and everyone else whose lives Discord has ruined...this is for you," I whispered.
And the Element of Harmony washed over Discord and Nightmare Shadow. Negating all his magic and leaving him a freezing statue from the waist up.
Did you expect some personal battle that lasted between us and Discord for days, years, my student? A epic struggle that changed the very landscape? I had had my fill of those watching my family fall around me! I wasn't there to prove my superiority to Discord or how great a warrior I was. We were there to free Equestria's people from slavery.
Discord saw what was happening. Discord was shocked, looked down in complete and utter disbelief... And he laughed. "So that's how it is eh Celly? Lulu?"
"That's Princess Celestia and Princess Luna Discord."
"Princess eh? Who shall be queen then?"
Luna startled at this.
"Certain you know Luna there's no such thing as equally shared power. There must always be a Steed to the Alicorn. It is the law of the nature you hold so dear. Do tell me Luna? Which one? Will these ponies look to the Princess of the Sun? Or to the Princess of Night? Here's a hint, there's a reason darkness is associated with fear. Why it's associated with evil. No one trusts it. No one trusts anything that's hidden."
If Discord cared his fortress and world was falling around him, he didn't show it. Any boiling rage he felt in that moment, he hid perfectly.
"Hear these words PRINCESS Luna! Because PRINCESS is all you're ever going to be!"
"Luna don't listen to him!" I cried.
"You're just blowing hot air! You're already beaten! Take it like a man for once in your life!" Luna snapped.
"Did I hit a nerve? Ponies who watched you be born and GROW UP wondered if you were a thing of evil! They thought I of all things was the neutral one, they considered me LESS evil than you. What about a bunch of millions of random ponies who don't even know you? A princess of the night? It is the only thing they WILL see you as! I'll share with you PRINCESS Luna one truth. The only way anyone can, or will, ever accept you, is if you MAKE THEM!"
"You're wrong!"
It was half up his body now.
"Now you're knee-jerking! Answer me this PRINCESS Luna; who has been the source, of every last one of your miseries?"
The stoning shouldn't have been taking this long!
"YOU!"
"Now now, PRINCESS Luna, you're oversimplifying. I had lots of fun with you, I enjoyed every second, but who's the REAL one to blame? Who abandoned you after helping them? Made the choice that made all this happen? Set an entire war in motion? Helped me discover my fun? Whose display of divine magic awoke my real winning personality? Ask yourself; who's responsible for ME and thus everything? Blaming just me is the easy answer, PRINCESS Luna. And since when? Has the easy answer? EVER been right?"
Luna was a deer in the headlights to that. I think you know what answer she came to a thousand years later. She told me so when she shed her pretense of not being Nightmare Moon.
Whatever resistance he had was fading. He made one last stab at me.
"I'll prove to you Celly, this power is a bad joke. Celestia, it could have all been ours! Till the end of time! When our perfect art made history! You and I! It was our destin-"
It made me think of the duet we had once sung together, once upon a time. No Twilight Sparkle, that is a song I shall never sing again.
I said only one last thing to say and narrowed my eyes. "Discord, disappear."
And he was frozen as stone.
And in a tidal wave of rainbow colors, the world was sane again. Discord's desert remained a desert, and the twists to the landscape were not so easily undone he had done with bare telekinesis rather than twisting reality. But every living thing that was not born that way was restored to what they were before being tainted by Discord' power. For some, it was waking up for a nightmare that had lasted their entire lives. Trees were content to stay in the ground. Birds flew. Fish swam. Two plus two equaled four. Mana flowed through life.
Shady fell backwards from Discord, the despair leaving her as dirt would dissolve in water. The dark wings and horn from Shady fell apart, LIFE returned to her figure and the years and darkness left her eyes. She pushed herself up, took one look at Discord, then at us.
"Celly, Lulu, thank you."
Without a Draconequus to patron her, Shady lost her connection to Entropy. And with it, her power. I never said so, but I was relieved she didn't turn to dust the moment after Discord was petrified.
She lived out her life secluded, but peacefully, with Spike and the Twilights as company.
The herd of mad ponies around Discord's throne room blinked as if waking up from a dream, their twisted bodies whole again and their own again, their minds their own again. They looked at us as if not sure we were real.
Finally a unicorn gasped out, the first to crawl from the pile of ponies as they sorted themselves out.
"Princess Luna. Princess Celestia. Thank you!"
++++
"Princess, I'm really sorry to interrupt but ...I'm sorry to say this, Teacher...but what you said about the Element of Trust being destroyed...I can't see how that's right," my student said, looking unsure of my reaction.
Instead of telling her she was wrong like she expected, I replied, "How so, my faithful student?"
"Even if Trust isn't an Element of Harmony, even if there can't be a bearer, its power wasn't destroyed. Friendship can't exist without trust. If I and the other bearers didn't trust one another, our friendship couldn't work. If we didn't trust Rarity, we'd never have accepted generosity from her and she wouldn't trust us to be generous to. If we didn't trust Applejack, we'd never believe she was honest and she couldn't trust us with the truth. If we didn't trust Fluttershy, we'd never see she was truly kind and not trying to trick us and she wouldn't trust us not to use it against her. If we didn't trust Rainbow Dash, we couldn't believe she was loyal and she couldn't believe we would use her loyalty against her. If we didn't trust Pinkie Pie, if she didn't trust us, we'd not believe she really wanted us to smile and she'd not try to make us. And if we didn't trust each other as much as we do, our friendship couldn't exist.
"Even if Discord destroyed the Element of Trust, he couldn't destroy how important it was to friendship and that trust is still a part of it."
This time I can't help it, I burst out laughing and clap my hooves. Twilight startles and trots a bit back.
I give my faithful student the most approving smile I can. "You are absolutely correct, my student. He destroyed the physical form of that part of the Rainbow of Light, its ability to be used to channel the Rainbow's power and My Mother. But he was not able to destroy it's concept. He did not destroy its spirit .
It is the same as if the body before you was to die this instant Twilight Sparkle, it would not spell the end of me ! You are more than the clump of nerves inside your skull Twilight Sparkle, and the Elements, you proved to Nightmare Moon, are more than regalia."
++++
The population practically begged us to be their rulers regardless of what the tabloids say. They worshipped us without question. We'd freed their world from the iron grip of a tyrant whose power and cruelty knew no bounds. I honestly think if the tyrant Grogar had risen again and defeated Discord they'd have gladly become his slaves. I can't blame them, Twilight, after a thousand years of the living pony hell that Discord put them through, there's not a force in creation who could blame them.
Oh? . . . What came after that? Oh nothing much. Shady took us to her castle where Queen Rosedust was held captive. The last Flutterpony alive thank us in tears of joy for avenging her kind, beg us to never forget her people, which we promised.
We left Discord's mountain side castle to gather dust for the next thousand years.
Oh no one recognized Shady as Discord's mother, I mean, without the tattered brown cloak and no scythe, wings or horns or that distant depressing voice.
With Queen Rosedust with us and carrying Shady we did a huge display across the sky bringing order back to day and night.
We picked up the Twilights and Spike carried them on his back. I think I may have seen Cadence for a moment flying next to us but I may have been seeing things.
We had lots of sparkles and bright colors trailing behind with us gliding and using our magic to stay aloof.
We flew across every square mile of Equestria in turn, making sure everypony got a good look at us. There may or may not have been overwhelming cheering from the liberated ponies below. For me, their delight at me showing them my first dawn EVER was what made it for me.
Henceforth, and forthwith
Let it be known to stallion and mare
That dreams and life reign once more
Let choices trot the path of cause and effect again
What we make is to both to have and share
herewith and therewith
Let everyone take note now:
that sincere hearts prevailed
When we look we see again
Listen and we'll hear
Melody flows free again
By true loyalty the new age premiered
(Shady blushed at this part.)
Herewith and therewith
let it be known by all
kindness and laughter prevailed
Henceforth, and forthwith, Let it be known by filly and colt,
That Celestia and Luna now reign!
Harmony's on the rise
Henceforth, and forthwith
Let it be known by all
Love and harmony prevailed
Luna and Celestia now reign for from them
life and dreams reign once more
And May Princess Celestia and Princess Luna reign forever more!
You have no idea how sublime it was to see all those faces. So many ponies. So much life I wanted to know them all. I wanted to be friends with all of them! I smiled until my face hurt.
And Luna, oh Luna! She ate it up! She loved every moment of it! She drank in their love for us! Oh how she smiled again! She would inspired a kingdom's worth of dreams! The moon had never shined so bright.
They made statues of us until I got sick of the sight of them. Our little castle got declared the new capital of Equestria.
We got a cake made the size of a small house, okay small castle, we shared a slice with every pony, dragon, zebra, etcetera, that was in Equestria. Nothing really all that important.
It was wonderful for Twilight XIV to be so delighted at seeing the outside world for the first time in her life, it was everything her picture books said it would be. And her mother was happy to show her child every inch of it as she explored it herself. Little Twilight made so many new friends that day for a filly whose friends before had been mostly books.
And ... I think it's now dawn my student. And that is the story of things. I need to raise the sun. And you need to make like my sister and get some sleep. I doubt I'll be getting much done today after such a long night. Good rest and good day my student. I hope you've learned much.
And remember, hold onto what is dear to you.
++++
Twilight looked up to me. "I will" she said, giving me a smile.
I reach down and give her a nuzzle. "I will too."
"Princess Celestia...I think Mimic would be proud of you."
For the first time since my sister was liberated...I allow my student to see tears in my eyes. "I hope she is...wherever her soul rests...Now, get some sleep, Twilight, feel free to stay here for the night."
++++
"Sir Big Machintosh! Ye shall return the fair doll of maiden Twilight Sparkle or face my lance!" Called Spike's voice.
Big Mac sighed and came out. "Look kiddo, it was cute the first but seriously, I'm tired of bucking you all the way back to Twili's. I hate trouncing guys who don't stand a chance. You really need to stop this before I accidentally hurt you and-" The piece of wheat fell out of Big Mac's mouth as his jaw fell open.
There was Twilight Sparkle, carrying Spike. Decked out in medieval armor of her own. "Ye shall most assuredly return younger Smarty Pants to my shackle or face our chivalry!" Declared Twilight as she lowered the visor.
"The gals at school are never gonna believe this." Applebloom said looking at the window.
~Fin