Chapter 13: Magic Returns
“How many more times, Tia? I feel better now.” Luna said irritably, unable to move due to the healing aura that surrounded her.
“Just a few more minutes, Luna.” Celestia insisted, maintaining the field around her body. “I want to make absolutely sure that you're in a fit condition.”
Luna sighed impatiently, but allowed her to continue without further resistance, verbal or physical. Celestia had been doing this for the past half hour. In that amount of time before, I just stepped out of Luna’s room to fetch some healing mages after convincing her to not do using a healing spell on herself. I didn’t want her to strain herself, so I went on to get her some medical attention. I would do it myself, but I, unfortunately, hadn’t been born with talent in healing. It was times like this I wished my little brother was here as he was the great healer of the family. Though, walking out of that room, I was instantly met by Celestia. I tried to deter her from checking on Luna, but she saw through the misdirection and went in to discover Luna covered in bruises and cuts along with having painful limbs. At first, she rounded on me and believed I did this to her sister, but I then explained everything to Celestia. Although, I still got snapped at for not doing a better job in protecting Luna. It had been a while since old Tia actually got angry at me like that.
Despite her injuries she had sustained in her battle with Discord’s new minion, Luna believed that it was worth it, telling me that Dusk had all the pieces now as it was what had kept his mind intact when Nightfall took over. She used some of her mind magic to jump-start the resisting side of his mind so that he would gain strength and eventually overcome the dark being formed from madness and regain control of his body. That was the plan and whether or not it had worked was another issue. If he did, then it would just be a matter of whether or not he would be able to figure out the rest.
Seeing the aura finally fade, I watched as Luna regained easily moved her limbs, her injuries completely healed and her strength restored.
“There. That should do it.” Celestia frowned at her. “What were you thinking, Luna? You could have been killed!”
“I’ve been through worse, you know that.” she reminded her. “Besides, I can take care of myself.”
“Well, somepony looks like they almost took care of you, that’s for certain.” She frowned at her further. “I’m truly having concerns if this is part of your plan.”
“To fulfill what is written, it is necessary.” Luna retorted, stretching out her limbs.
“Necessary that you almost died?”
“Necessary to stop Discord.” She gazed directly back at her elder. “You know what is at stake here.”
“I know,” she insisted quickly, “but is it worth almost losing you, when we don’t even know if it truly does exist?”
“I do know it does, even if you don’t.” Luna reminded. “Besides, you know that all is lost if he wins. I’m making sure he doesn’t.”
Celestia’s gaze lingered for a few more moments, then she looked at her with a kind of admiration. “You truly do believe, don’t you?”
“I do.” she said firmly. “Don’t you?”
“I really don’t know what to believe, I just don’t want you to think I’m doubting you.” Her expression became one of concern. “I’m only trying to look out for you, my sister.”
“I know…and I appreciate that.” The two of them shared a gentle embrace. “Thank you, Tia.”
“Anything for you, even if you can be reckless sometimes.” They shared a laugh and broke apart. “So Discord had a new ally then?”
“Indeed.” I confirmed. “A new Kishin who calls himself Diablo Nightfall.”
Luna shuddered at the thought of him. “Imagine King Sombra if he had the strength of a Cyclops, the ferociousness of an angered dragon, and the cruelty of Discord and he is the end result.”
“My goodness.” she gasped. “And you and Dragonis went to fight him?”
“We did, for it was all we could do. He was… quite formidable.” she admitted, no doubt remembering the way he had cruelly beaten and tormented her throughout their duel. “He revels in chaos as much as his master, perhaps even more so.”
“Then things are worse than we first thought.” she declared. “Do you know where he came from?”
“Celestia, that Kishin is Dusk.” I told her.
“What?! How is that possible?” she asked urgently, her eyes wide.
“In the same way that Black Blood was used to transform me into Nightmare Moon after his defeat. I believe that Discord used the fear that Dusk would become him in his mind, using Black Blood to bring him to life.” Luna explained. “He is stronger, faster, and more powerful than Dusk, as well as crueler and more angry.”
“His treachery and deception truly know no bounds.” Celestia growled. “We must act quickly, if we are to stop them both.”
Luna was about to respond but soon became silent for a moment. I soon realized what it was when I felt a sudden jolt in my mind, like somepony switching on a light. Nightfall’s Kishin ki… it was gone. Knowing that Luna had received a reminder from the magic she implanted in Nightfall’s mind. This could only mean one thing and the very thought of it made Luna smile in triumph for now the battle seemed won. Dusk was back.
“I don’t think that Nightfall will be a problem anymore.” she said.
Celestia was taken aback. “What? How do you know? And why are you smiling?”
“I know and because my efforts haven’t been in vain.” Luna replied.
“Tia, Nightfall’s ki just vanished. I can’t sense it anywhere.” I added. “We have reason to believe that Dusk has overcome the madness and has now returned to his normal self.”
“I see.” Celestia nodded in understanding. “Then, assuming the Fore Sight was correct, do you think he can figure it out?”
“If anypony can, he will. He has done it before.” I reminded her. “For now, we can only do what we can.”
“Very well.” She turned to leave. “I need to send Twilight’s report back. If Discord has corrupted her, she needs to be reminded of the magic of friendship.”
“You’re sure that will work?” Luna asked doubtfully.
“I am, trust me.” Celestia smiled in a reassuring way.
Luna nodded, knowing her big sister knew what she was doing and we watched her sister go, allowing herself and I to smile after she left.
“Hopefully, she won’t be the only one.” she said, praying silently that this would work and she that was right.
“As of right now, I do believe she won’t.” I told her, giving the same silent prayer.
Dusk’s view
Putting my necklace back on, I had never been so happy to awaken from what felt like the worst nightmare I had ever had. Despite what was happening around me, I still found myself grinning and feeling the ground beneath my hooves and claws with utter relief washing over me. I’d done it. I’d actually done it and I’d won! Never before had I felt so much pride in an accomplishment, I’d actually done it! Then, everything else began to sink in, what was happening and what had happened.
Several other things happened when I regained consciousness after my mental battle and ultimate triumph over my darker self. First, there was the fact that I no longer felt his oppressive presence in my thoughts, his own desires and wishes growing stronger with every passing minute, and threatening to consume my own. Needless to say, I was thankful to be master of my own thoughts again, especially as my mind now felt…stronger, more fortified than before, somehow. If I were to be infected with Black Blood again, I had a feeling the madness was going to have a hard time taking me over again.
The other most significant thing I noted and that I reviled in horror at were new memories that weren’t my own, but I viewed through another’s eyes. Horrible, terrible things… the sounds of my friends’ cries as I tormented them whilst I laughed… reducing living things so they withered and died and spreading chaos at my very touch… my claws and hooves striking flesh and breaking bone as Princess Luna cried out from each blow…
I physically grabbed my head and collapsed on the floor, tears welling up in my eyes. The mix of emotions from all of this… I was enjoying them, yet at the same time, I wasn’t and was horrified to be even performing such acts. No, it wasn’t me that felt the joy… it was Diablo who was doing it, he was the one hurting my friends… or was it really me? Did I take some joy in it too? How could I tell? No, no it was Diablo’s memories, his acts, not mine…but that didn't make it any easier…
“How could he?” I wept, holding my head in my claws. “How could he be so cruel?”
The worst part of all of this was that it was my fault. I had left Ponyville, my home, my friends, to protect them from Diablo Nightfall, to prevent him from ever hurting them and I’d failed. Diablo had beaten me, taken over my mind and now, thanks to my failure, he had been allowed to wreak havoc and misery without restraint. What would happen when they found out? What would they do to me? Probably just cast me out like a criminal and leave me in the wilderness… it was no less than I deserved…
Discord was right… I was useless… Discord…
But, in the midst of my sorrow and grieving, I remembered what happened back at the castle. The reason I became Diablo Nightfall was not just because I was consumed by madness, but really because of Discord infecting me with Black Blood that inflicted that madness. As such, he was the one who created Diablo Nightfall, the one who turned me into that monster!
Looking around now, at the state my once beautiful home was now in, I could see that there was only one being that was truly responsible for all of this. I might have been a destructive puppet through my darker self, but I was nothing compared to the one who was holding the strings. He had been the one who had planted the idea in my mind, he had been the one who brought him to life, who had tricked me with his lies and deceit despite my knowledge of it, admittedly no less than I’d expected, but I had still fallen for it. All of my grief now, my anger and regret, was focused on him.
“Discord…” I growled in a low voice, wiping away my tears. “This is your doing. Even if I’m not an Element of Harmony, even if I am truly useless, I’m still El Dragon and I’m going to do whatever it takes to bring you down. For good.”
With this vow in mind, I set down to sift through the new weapons that I had been given: knowledge. As painful and horrible as they were to watch, I could analyze the memories of Diablo Nightfall to see exactly what Discord had done, both to me and my friends, figure out some kind of plan and dedicate my best efforts to bring him down. I might not be strong physically, but I was sure I could think of something with the memories I’d been given, even if I wanted nothing more than to purge them from my mind.
I witnessed him bowing to his master, pledging himself to chaos… Diablo, not me. I reminded myself… Wasn’t it? No, it wasn’t me, I’d never bow to Discord… there had to be something here. One particular thing I saw was one involving the girls. I saw how colorless their fur was, how differently they were acting than how I knew them and it didn’t take me long to figure out what he had done. I recognized it from historical accounts I’d read from Discord’s previous rule:
So it was that they who were victims of the chaotic one had their hearts turned as dull as their fur. My mother, usually a kind soul, became vindictive and cruel, whilst my hard-working father became lazy and selfish. I would surely have submitted, were it not for our benevolent rulers, who did banish him and returned my parents to their natural state, bringing much-sought harmony to our fair land. Celestia forbid what may have happened if he had continued in his reign… I might not be here today…
It was definite. Discord had corrupted them with his powers and turned them into the very opposites of who they were supposed to be, just like I thought he would back at the castle. If that were true, then Fluttershy had become cruel, Pinkie had become a cynic; Applejack, a liar; and Rarity became greedy. Rainbow Dash would have looked as if she’d abandoned them completely and Twilight would swiftly lose faith in friendship’s magic as a result of it. It made my heart ache to see her in such a state and I wanted nothing more than to be there and comfort her… if she could even stand to be around me again after what I’d done, if any of them could…
No, I had to stay focused. Worry about that later.
With everything that I learned in the experience today, I knew exactly why Discord had done this. It was because of the Elements of Harmony. Because the girls were the only ones who could use them, disrupting the harmony between them would assure Discord’s victory. Discord would be eliminating his one threat to his rule by breaking apart their friendship! Not only that, but he would also weaken the Element Gang as a bonus by corrupting Rarity and Pinkie. Though I was safe because his magic didn’t work on me, the girls still weren’t.
In an instant, I established where I was, where the library was from here, and sprinted off. From what I could find from Diablo’s memories, they had been there with the guys and Twilight had traded my necklace for a reference guide to the Elements. That book had to be important in finding them again and then they needed to be in harmony to use them. I had to find them, figure out some way to break them from their discorded state, and—hopefully—save Equestria from Discord’s chaotic rule. I already knew what I had could be used to do so, only question: how was I meant to do that?
That relief returned when I saw that great tree. Oh, how I had missed it! But, before I could even start looking for the girls, I saw something glinting on the ground nearby and hurried over to them. There was no mistaking that these were the Elements of Harmony, left discarded and thrown away on this pile by the look of it, all of them except for Magic. But if they were here and had been left in this state, then that could only mean that the girls had already tried to use them against Discord… and had failed as a result.
Gently, I reached out and ran my claw gently over them, feeling all the facets of the jewels in the center, the power of friendship radiating from them, though not as much as before. It was like they had been diminished in their purpose, now that their wielders had abandoned them. They’d all gone their separate ways by the look of it, their friendship broken… I would never see them again, not that they’d want to in the state they were in… there was no hope now…
Except for one thing, something of which I had figured out a while ago. However, my thoughts were interrupted by a flash of magic and the appearance of the one responsible, laughing away at some unbelievably funny joke. But I didn’t find anything funny about this, glaring at him as my eyes closed with mirth.
“Ha, ha! Oh, it was brilliant, Diablo! You should have seen them when they tried to use their precious Elements against me! We’ve almost won!” he declared triumphantly.
I realized that he hadn’t seen yet that I had returned and Nightfall was gone for good, as he was too caught up in his own crapulence and pride. Deciding to play along for now and suppressing the urge to hit him hard, I used my tail spikes to shapeshift into Nightfall and mimicked my darker self’s deeper voice.
“Almost, master? If they have failed, surely we have already succeeded.”
“That may be true, yes, but we need to make sure they've given up completely.” he told me, still not having noticed I was back. “And look at this.” Looking over, I saw Shield, Dog, and Leon being held in tendrils of three odd Paraserpents (one was purple and looked monstrous, one was practically on fire, and one was made of bones) in front of me and Shield growling at me as he thought I was still Diablo. I made him smile by winking to him, my friend now realizing who I really was.
“We even managed to catch these fools of elementals. Not much of a problem now that they're a trio.”
“What makes you think you won’t be stopped?” Leon asked.
“Well, Leon, if you had seen Fluttershy, you would have seen I’m already winning. Once Twilight is truly broken and unwilling to fight, she’ll leave and never bother us again. Diablo, you can have some fun with her if you like.”
Not wishing to keep up the pretending a moment longer at the mention of my best friend and mare of my dreams, I glared right at Discord and spoke normally, feeling no fear.
“The only thing I want to do with her is to help her bring you down from the pedestal you’ve chosen to place yourself on and watch you fall from it, hard and fast!”
“What?!” Discord whirled around and I punched him to the ground.
From there, I then ran over and flipped over the skeletal Paraserpent, grabbing its head and pulling it off. While its body tried to feel for its head, it lost its grip on Leon and allowed him to escape before the water elemental blasted it to pieces. Going over to fiery reptile, I used the living skull’s fangs on it, causing it to screech in pain and let go of Dog.
“Leon!” I called out, getting my friend’s attention. “Hose down this hothead!”
“You got it!” He said before he then got out his cannon and shot a huge blast of water at the serpent, causing it to turn pitch black.
After the thing disintegrated into a pile of ash, I then turned to see the last Paraserpent toss Shield away before whip its tendrils at me. Thinking quickly, I grabbed all the tendrils before pulling it up into the air and then slamming it on the skeletal serpent body, breaking just about every bone on it. As an added bonus, the purple Paraserpent also got punctured by the bones and couldn’t move, Black Blood oozing out of it.
“Oh, crud.” The skull said before Leon picked it up in his hoof.
“Yeah, not so tough now you’re just a head, huh?” Leon said before he tossed the skull to Dog, who kicked it and sent it flying out of sight, the skull screaming as went through the air.
With the guys gathering around me with proud smiles, I shapeshifted back into my normal self and Discord beheld me for the first time as he started to get up. "You?!"
“Yes, me.” I confirmed.
“B-b-but how?” He was staring at me, uneven eyes wide. “The Black Blood, it forced out Diablo! He beat you and took over! How are you back? How are you still here?!”
“Let’s just say I had some help.”
“No, you should have been beaten, unable to return! Besides me, nothing is stronger than Black Blood Madness!” I noted that, while Discord sounded annoyed, there was still a hint of curiosity in his voice. “So, how did you do it? Let’s find out, shall we?”
He shot his claw forward and I felt him invade my mind again, trying to retrieve the answer he sought. But his servant was no more and I was stronger than when he’d last tried this for I had felt his powers were lost in finding my dark half. My mind was now different from when Discord first tried to corrupt me. This time though, I was not only able to force him out of my head in seconds, but also shine a ball of bright light, forcing him back and blinding him.
“NO!” Discord spun around after he’d recovered and glared at me, anger definitely boiling over now. “How did you manage that? That’s impossible!”
“You all of being should know, Discord, nothing is impossible.” I countered, standing ready for another attack.
I saw anger flicker across Discord's face again and also a little…fear? “How are you managing that? You’re nothing!”
“He’s not nothing!” Discord saw Shield walking to stand beside me. “Now, listen here. Dusk is the greatest I’ve seen. It’s gonna take a lot more than hypnosis to take him down.”
“Ee-yup!” I heard Dog’s voice as he did the same. “Dusk might not seem like it, but he’s as tough as steel to his core.”
“He might be a bit annoying, but he’s never afraid to do what’s right.” Leon added as he went to stand beside Dog. “He’s still a great hero and won’t let Equestria be ruled by a jerk like you!”
“You forget the one thing about us, Discord.” I said to the Lord of Chaos. “We’re the Element Gang, which means we never give up!”
Discord was silent for a few moments, but recovered himself and returned to his confident, charismatic persona, floating in the air once more.
“Well, that does sound interesting, but we all know you can never defeat me.”
“Try me, you’d be surprised what you can manage when you try.” I retorted. "You tricked me, Discord!”
“Honestly, you and Twilight truly are such a pain. Why is it so hard for you both to understand that deception and misleading is kind of my thing?” he pointed out.
“You infected me with Black Blood and forced me to become a monster!”
“Did I really force you or were you just itching for a little playtime and I just gave you the go-ahead?” he asked slyly.
“Don’t try to dupe me again, Discord!” I warned. “I know better and you know I can’t be put under your influence. Thanks to my friends, Nightfall is gone for good and we’ll face you with every last ounce of strength!”
“You can’t beat me. All you’ve done is returned yourself to normal just so I can destroy you myself along with your team.” he said, grinning maliciously.
“You can try fighting and we’ll keep getting back up to defeat you, no matter what.” I responded defiantly. “You’ll find we’re not so easy to break around here.”
“I wouldn’t say that, for you have still deceived yourself." He shook his head exasperatedly. “Why don’t you just face the facts, little Dusk? Even if you are back, you’re still useless. You can’t possibly hope to stop me and my chaotic rule with your little team. You know it and I know it, you’re not even an Element, none of you are. Why don’t you just give up and enjoy the chaos? I seem to recall you were doing so easily enough before, Dusk.”
He wasn’t wrong about that, not entirely anyway. I could still feel those words having some impact on me, though not enough to make me look away and consider. This time, I was armed with new knowledge, a new question that had to be asked now that I considered it further. And who better to ask than the lord of chaos himself.
“You’re right, Discord.” I admitted. "We’re not Elements, we can’t stand up to you forever. But there’s also another thing you forgot.”
"And what's that?" he asked in an impatient voice.
Holding up the glowing, blue stone of my necklace in my claw, I gave him a smug. “I still have this.”
Just like that, Discord looked at my necklace with confusion gleaming in his eyes before he shrugged it off. “Your good luck charm? Puh-lease!”
“Well, you seemed pretty annoyed when Diablo tried to get it back. And I do know it’s the reason you targeted me.”
“Um…what?” Discord, ironically, looked confused.
“Don’t play dumb with me.” I started to pace around Discord, keeping his eyes on me. “I know why you targeted the girls: to disrupt the wielders of the Elements so they can’t use them as corrupting them would mean they would not be in harmony with each other and therefore would destroy the only chance they have to stop you and securing your victory and eternal reign of chaos once more.”
“Figured all that out? Well done.” he said sarcastically.
“You should be impressed. I’m kind of like a Rick Sanchez.” I proudly said. “Though better, personality-wise.”
“Well, I guess I would appreciate you being sober and not burping every three minutes when talking, especially in an explanation like that.” What Discord said to me surprised me.
“What?”
“Did you really think you were the only one in Equestria who knows about the Dragon-verse? I found out about it ages ago! Where else do you think I got such wonderful ideas for creating chaos?”
“Yeah, that explains a lot.” After a brief moment, I shook off my surprise and got back on topic. “Anyway, the point is I know exactly why you went after me, try to discord me, and corrupt me into an even worse state. To any other pony, it wouldn’t make sense why you would waste your time only going after me when you can also have the Element Gang elementals of earth, ice, and water under your control as well.”
“Well…it is obvious, isn’t it?” He tried to sound casual, but I could tell my statement had caught him off-guard. “I saw the opportunity for a new servant, controlling a Fire Dragon, and I took it. Plus it would be one more blow to your oh-so-special Twilight when she failed to rescue you.”
“I know that’s not the only reason.” I said, my heart panging at the mention of Twilight. “There’s more to it than forced servitude and emotional warfare. You went after the girls because they were a threat, the same way you went after me, and to stop them from being a threat. Therefore, we can conclude that the reason you went for me is that I’m more of a threat to you than being El Dragon.”
That gotten the others confused from what I said. I could tell they were thinking the same thing: what could be more threatening to Discord’s rule than the leader of the Element Gang?
Discord stared at me in disbelief again, then burst out laughing, rolling around on the floor. “You? More of a threat to me than that? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Like saying an ant is a threat to a boot.”
“Even enough ants can be a formidable force.” I retorted. “If the girls weren't their normal selves, they couldn’t use what was special about them—the Elements—against you. And I know for a fact that what is unique about me that makes me like that has something to with these stones, meaning that they are something I can use to stop you!”
“Oh, really? And what, pray tell, would that be?” he asked mockingly, wiping away his tears.
“I, um… I don’t know yet.” I admitted, suddenly feeling a bit diminished. “But I do know that I’m going to figure out what these stones are and I’m going to use them to end you and your chaos once and for all!”
Discord picked himself up off the floor, still chortling from my speech. “Well, let me know when you figure that out, I’d hate to be left out of the loop. Now, if you don't mind, I need to be somewhere.”
“I’ll figure out!" I repeated, feeling a little foolish now I’d said it. “I’ll…I'll find out how they work and use them!”
“I’m sure you will.” he said sarcastically, summoning a cuckoo clock as he said it. “Anyway, toodles for now!”
As he vanished in another flash of light, I now felt a little more foolish than before for suggesting such a thing. How could I even think of being the end-all piece to defeat the lord of chaos himself? Perhaps Discord was right and I was little more than another tool to make Twilight give up in her fight, not being anypony of actual significance. Everypony would be affected by his rule, what made me so special?
Then I felt a hoof on my shoulder and saw Dog there.
“Hey, don’t start listenin’ to that snake-tonged deceiver.” Dog told.
“Yeah, Discord’s just trying to trick you.” Leon said as he walked to my left.
They were right. I’d seen just there that he'd slipped up a little when I had first made my point.
“You’re right. He knows something we don’t and that is what we needed to defeat him. He had just been trying to distract me from that. Well, it now comes to an end.”
“Okay, then so mind telling us what it is?” Shield asked.
“Sure, but not here. Don’t want a bunch of Paraserpents grabbing at us.” I said.
Agreeing with me, we went to have clearer heads in a place of knowledge. We headed towards the library, picking up the Elements as we went. We might as well keep them safe. Noting the two large holes made in the great tree with some despair and shock for me, we stepped inside, found the hollowed-out book, and placed the Elements inside. At least now they were reasonably secure.
A loud hooting made us turn around and my face lit up at the sight of my faithful Hoothoot.
“Ophelia!” She flew onto my outstretched arm and nipped me affectionately. “I missed you, my little one.”
The hoot she gave in response told me that the feeling was mutual. There was almost a guilty demeanor to her, I noticed, like she felt bad about leaving me before. I stroked her gently, to let her know there were no hard feelings and I was just glad to be back. Hooting gratefully, she flew off and returned with something, a black piece of fabric… no, something else…
“My hat!” I held it in my claws, staring at it for a moment.
“Yeah, Twilight had her keep your hat safe ‘til ya got back.” Dog told me.
Now that I had my faithful pet, my team, and the piece of clothing that had become signature to me, I felt a kind of completion…well, not wholly. I still needed our friends back, our home…Twilight. Well, now that I had these, I was confident we were one step closer to completing that.
“Okay, Dusk, mind telling us what’s so important about those stones?” Shield asked as I put my hat back on.
“Certainly. Take a seat, gentlecolts.” I said as we set down on one of the tables and I began to explain before we moved on to considering our next move.
Twilight’s view
Utterly depressed, without friends, hope, or spirit left in me, I trudged randomly around Ponyville… or rather the “new and improved Ponyville” with a cloud of chocolate rain hovering over my head, completing the image of sadness and despair. The Element of Magic was still on my head, but I could no longer feel its power. It was as useless as I was.
I didn’t care or even look up when long-legged bunnies stampeded by, or buffalo performing ballet pranced past, or even an earth pony floating and babbling whizzed by. I had failed, my home was in chaos, my friends had gone, and even the stallion I felt the most for, the one who had been motivating me all this time, was lost forever in some evil creature, unable to be helped. I’d never even got to say goodbye…
Discord appeared next to me, laughing and chortling away, but I wasn’t even surprised. I just didn’t care anymore about what he did. What did it matter anyway?
“Oh, my stomach!” he made me lift my head up. “Twilight, you’ve got to see what I just did!”
I looked and saw a pink earth pony having pepper being sprinkled on her by a giant shaker. When she sneezed, the houses around her proved to be nothing more than cardboard cut-outs and fell over with loud creaks, a fitting metaphor for my own life in a way and one that made me feel even worse than before.
“It’s priceless!” He seemed to notice my mood and scooped the cloud raining on me in a cone, taking a bite out of it. “Come now, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve got to get into the spirit of things! After all, this is your new home.”
I looked to where he gestured, seeing the town hall floating upside down, the patchwork ground and grass, half a bridge missing, and my mind was made up. This place had too much pain, too many bad memories and it was no longer the place I had called my home for the past year. It was time for me to leave, there was nothing left for me here…
“Not anymore…” With that, I trudged off back to the library to collect Spike and my things, to go to… well, I didn’t know.
The sun shot down and was replaced by the moon, plunging me into a metaphorically appropriate darkness, I noted with mild interest. The Elements were gone, no doubt stolen, and so was Ophelia. She probably saw my failure to uphold my promise and save her master, now leaving me. The last thing I had to remember him by, the last vestige of his presence, gone.
The tears began anew as I climbed the stairs and opened the door to my room, where Spike and one other pony she couldn’t make out lay stood or rather just lay, in the former’s case.
“Pack your things, Spike. We’re leaving.” I ordered him. “Don’t ask where we’re going ʹcause I don’t know yet. Just not here.”
As I said this, I pulled out my suitcase and levitated a few random books to pack. I also removed Magic and put it in the nearby trash can. I wouldn’t need that anymore. I glanced up at the other pony, barely looking at him as I packed. Was he or she walking closer to me and why should I even care?
“Look, I don’t know who you are, but if you want to get out a book, I’m afraid the library will be closed for the foreseeable future.” I bitterly told the pony. “Now, can you please get out?”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
I felt my eyes widen when I recognized that quiet, polite voice. It couldn’t be for him… then I saw him, clad in his hat, the necklace I’d made him dangling around his neck. In his eyes, I saw in there a strong regret, a guilt, but overwhelmed by something I didn’t recognize, but it made my heart glow to see it. Glow, like I could tell his horn was beneath his hat, which was levitated off to reveal it as he neared me, that sweet smile playing on his lips.
“Dusk?” I whispered, unable to gaze at anything other than him. “Is that…really you?”
He didn’t respond to this directly, he only smiled more warmly than I’d ever seen him do before and spoke one word:
“Remember.”
At that, he lowered his horn so it came into contact with mine and I felt something reawaken inside me, that had just started to the instant I’d laid eyes on him. Even if he wasn’t doing this, I was sure the feeling would grow stronger anyway… he was just that special to me.
Discord’s view
After seeing Twilight had finally been broken, I was making a few more houses float up into the air, making confetti shoot out of their chimneys, which promptly either slithered away like snakes or flew away like birds, in celebration of my ultimate victory over harmony. Now, nothing would stop me in my final takeover of Equestria. Not the Elements, not the Element Gang, not Dragonis, and certainly not the princesses. I had won!
And yet… Dusk returning presented a problem. He had been able to resist my influence, something which very few could do and then there were the writings of Fore Sight about him. He didn’t know about them, of course, but he did seem to figure most of it out, so what if I found out or managed to figure it out? I doubted it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
But how best to deal with this? I had more chaos to catch up on and Dusk had proven resilient to my direct influence. It would be best to eliminate him completely, just to be sure, but how would I go about it? Then I had the perfect idea of how to solve this problem.
Tapping into my chaos magic, I formed them like clay in my hands, molding and shaping their bodies until I had a sizable force of them, their black scales glistening in the light, their wicked eyes glinting with malice. Oh, how I’d missed the little dears!
“Black Fang, come over here please!” I called out, my Paraserpent slithering over to me. “I have a job for you and I have given you some extra help to do so.”
“What issssss your will, Lord Disssssscord?” he requested as they all bowed before me.
I made a chocolate sculpture of Dusk and showed it to them. “Find this pony and devour him, however way you see fit.” I crushed it in my hands, so it shattered like glass.
“Asssss you wish.” they hissed, bowing once more and slithering off to find their quarry.
“Oh, and if his little friends try to stop you, feel free to eat them too!” I called out to them, chuckling at the thought of it.
Now in an even better mood than before, I set off to cause even more chaos, pleased that my reign would be secure, prophecy or not. I wasn’t losing, not this time…