//------------------------------// // The Return of Harmony, part 2 // Story: My Little Pony: Friendships and Magic [Season 2] // by Alpha Wolf 4500 //------------------------------// Discord was still laughing at the group, neither Bandit nor Twilight were liking this. Pinkie glared at him. “And what are you laughing at?” Pinkie shouted, not taking kindly to the laughing. Discord wiped a tear from his eye as he was still laughing. "Oh, you ponies are just the most fun I've had in aeons!" He stated happily. “Well quit it!” She exclaimed as she poked him with a hoof. “You’d better think before you laugh at the Pink-” She looked around for a moment to think of what to call herself before quickly giving up. “…ie Pie!” “Oh, yeah? Well, ha, ha.” Fluttershy taunted from behind her. Pinkie zipped over to her, not liking the fact that she was being laughed at. “Quit it!” She exclaimed. “No.” Fluttershy told her. “Ha, ha!” “QUIT IT!” Pinkie shouted, covering her ears. “No.” Fluttershy taunted again. “ Ha-ha-ha, ha, ha!” Over with Rarity and Applejack, Applejack moved over to the rock. “Uh, Rarity?” She called. Rarity turned around to face her. “This here diamond of yours? Twilight said we should split it six ways since we, uh, found it together.” Applejack lied. “Hai-Ya!” Rarity exclaimed as she hit Applejack with a flying kick, which sent her flying the other way. “Try it, punk! He’s mine! All mine!” Applejack was backing away from Rarity’s multiple high kicks. “Girls, why are you all acting like this? We need to stick together!” Twilight exclaimed. “Cause we know we’re beaten.” Lightning Sprint said rather dejected as she was now lying face down on the ground. As they argued Bandit and Twilight shot glares at Discord, who was sitting on a couch, eating popcorn and enjoying the show. “It’s just too entertaining.” He said. The two stepped over to him. “Stop it, Discord! You’re not playing fair!” Twilight exclaimed. “I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met.” Discord said as he stood up. “I’m Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony?” He then got in Twilight’s face. “Hel-looo?” Bandit snapped his jaw down, but Discord teleported back to his seat before he could get the bite. Bandit then stepped forward. “Taking away the elements as soon as I got to the end was a dirty move Discord.” Bandit glared at him. “How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony now?!” Twilight added. Discord looked at both of them before he started to laugh. Twilight and Bandit both looked confused. “Did you really think I was going to keep the Elements of Harmony in the wrong location?” He asked before laughing harder. He then teleported both of them back in time as ghosts, to when he first gave them the riddle. “Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began.” The windowed Discord said before they teleported back. Discord then looked at Bandit. “Prior experience has taught me that a nose like yours would’ve been able to detect where they were and keep the ponies from ever entering the labyrinth. So I had to think outside to box. Send you on the right path, in the wrong direction.” Discord told him. Bandit’s eyes narrowed at him. Discord began to walk the opposite way. “Keep trying you two.” He said before turning around. “Maybe the magic of friendship can help you.” He mocked before going back to his normal voice. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some chaos to wreak.” With that, he snapped himself away, and a thunderstorm of chocolate rain poured down on the two of them. Pinkie looked up in disgust. “Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk!” She exclaimed. My Little Pony, My Big Changeling too Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh… [Bandit] (My Little Pony) We used to wonder what friendship could be (My Big Changeling too) [Twilight Sparkle] Until you all shared its magic with me [Rainbow Dash] Big adventure [Pinkie Pie] Tons of fun [Rarity] A beautiful heart [Applejack] Faithful and strong [Fluttershy] Sharing kindness! [Lightning Sprint] Motivate the team [Bandit] Heroics makes it all complete You have my little ponies Do you know you're all my very best friends? Fueled with anger and frustration, Bandit’s wings broke the golden cobra statue as he managed to finally spread them. The pieces fell off of him, allowing him to finally move with no dragging weight. He then placed a hoof on his head. “Okay Twily. You and I gotta think.” He said. “‘Find the Elements back where you began’.” Twilight recited. Bandit paced back and forth. “Back where you began.” Rarity was hauling off her boulder before Applejack jumped onto it. “Don’t touch my gem!” She scolded. Fluttershy flew over and placed a hoof on the rock. “I’m touching your gem, Rarity! Ha, ha!” Fluttershy taunted. Pinkie zipped over. “What you laughing at!?” Pinkie exclaimed to all three of them. “My joke of a life apparently.” Lightning Sprint added. Bandit rubbed his head in frustration. “I don’t think I’ll be going home until I figure this out.” Bandit said. That made it click in Twilight’s head. “Wait a minute. Home!” Twilight said. Bandit looked at her before also getting the click. “Our journey began-” Bandit started. “-when we moved to Ponyville.” Twilight finished. “So the elements must be in Ponyville!” Bandit exclaimed happily. “Bandit, you really do like showing your genius.” Twilight said, Bandit looked confused for a brief second before sighing in relief. “For a brief moment, I thought you said something completely different.” Bandit admitted before Twilight started heading back to Ponyville. As she moved, Bandit and the others followed, except Lightning Sprint, who Bandit had to go back and grab by the scruff. Sometime later, the group was on a road leading into Ponyville, and Ponyville was in chaos. Trees and buildings were on floating midair islands; the town square pavilion was completely uprooted and hovering upside down; bright pink water flowed in the stream at the border; separate pastel blue and pink checkerboard patterns were covering different stretches of the ground; houses were plunked on crazy-quilt hills; clouds were over the whole town, but only one section getting rained on; a faded lime-green sky was what was above the town. “Come on, everyone.” Twilight started. “I’m certain this is what Discord’s riddle really meant! If we get back to the library, I have a book that I just know can give us a clue!” Bandit dropped Lightning Sprint, causing her to face plant, and grabbed Twilight, pulling her away from the rabbits with the incredibly long legs from their first encounter with the chaos ran by. Nearly trampling Twilight. “Whoa!” She exclaimed as she saw this happen. She then looked at Bandit “Thanks for the save.” Bandit let go as Fluttershy began talking. “Ugh. Angel you missed!” She was heard saying before shaking her head. “Mama’s so disappointed.” The sun then zipped down and darkened the entire area. “Wow, I can see so much better now.” Applejack sarcastically said. She tried to walk, but she only ended up skidding into the four friends she was in front of. Stopping before getting to Twilight and Bandit. “I meant to do that. Twilight was trying to stand up but had no luck doing so, Bandit was able to stand, but he was sliding across the road. The sun came back up, revealing the road to be made of bubble soap. “Discord’s turned our dirt roads into soap!” Twilight exclaimed. “Not even the good kind either.” Bandit said as he started flying. That’s when Discord began to skate on by. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” He asked before he gestured to the town. “This is the new and improved Ponyville, and these are only my first changes.” Pinkie began to glide by with ease, striking a few poses. “This may look like fun, but it’s not!” She said with a completely stern look on her face. Discord’s lion paw wrapped around Bandit and his talon around Twilight. His body materializes next to them and he begins to lift Twilight into the air and had the ground below Bandit lift up so they could see Ponyville. “Picture it—the chaos capital of the world!” Discord said as he took his paw from around Bandit and held Twilight out, right as the sun went down. “I can’t picture anything. It’s too dark.” Twilight said. “I can picture something. Your defeat.” Bandit said to discord. Discord tried to drop the ground below him, but Bandit started flying, keeping him there. Then he let go of Twilight, making Bandit drop down to catch her. He dropped below her and she landed on his back. “Well, for all of you pony folk, wait a few minutes and you’ll see it in the beautiful light of day—or not.” Discord said, skipping over them and disappearing. Bandit stood up and looked at Ponyville. “I am not about to let him turn my home...or anywhere of Equestria, into a chaos capital.” Bandit said. “He won’t be. Not if we have anything to say about it.” Twilight said. Then Fluttershy glided by. “Don’t worry. You won’t.” She said before laughing. Twilight groaned as she lowered her head. Bandit placed a hoof on her back. “Keep your cool Twilight. They aren’t being themselves.” He comforted. A few more minutes goes by and the group arrived at the Golden Oaks Library. As they arrived, the sun shot up into the sky. “Okay, we’re here. Everyone please, please, please just go inside, please?” Twilight asked, wearily. “I absolutely refuse.” Applejack said, contradicting her statement as she trotted in. She got even greyer. Bandit doubletaked as he saw this happen. “With Pleasure.” Fluttershy said as she flew over. She stomped onto the flower bed before entering the building. Also turning greyer. “I hate libraries.” Pinkie said as she trotted in, turning greyer. Bandit and Twilight turned around and saw Rarity trying to move the heavy boulder still, and Lightning Sprint just sitting there, not even wanting to move. “Pleeeeease? We gotta hurry!” Twilight begged them. “There’s no point.” Lightning Sprint said as she flopped onto her side. “Forget it, you three. I know what you’re up to. The second I go in, you’ll have your little minions Spike and Chad come and take Tom!” Rarity accused. “Tom?” Twilight asked. “You named it?” Bandit asked. “Well, it’s not going to work!” Rarity exclaimed as she started stroking ‘Tom’, turning even greyer. Bandit looked at Lightning Sprint before reaching into his bandana and taking out a cookie. Lightning looked at the cookie and stood up. Bandit threw the cookie to the library and Lightning Sprint took off after it. “You’re not going in without him, are you?” Twilight asked. Rarity shook her head firmly. Bandit walked over. “I got it.” Bandit said as he lifted it onto his back. “Much easier than that statue, though there’s no guarantee it’s fitting through that door.” He said. Inside the library, Chad was curled up on the floor sleeping with his ears constantly twitching. Next to him was a bucket of water, which Fluttershy had picked up. Chad’s shell shook, waking him up. He quickly rolled to the side, barely missing getting splashed on. He looked up. “Fluttershy!? What was that fo- hey are you getting grey?” Chad asked. The bucket was thrown at him. He ducked and began to scurry under the table. That’s when he heard Bandit’s voice. “It’s not gonna fit through the door!..... I said it before we even got to the door!.... You know what? Forget it, forget it. I’m going to teleport it into the library….. Too bad Rarity. Three. Two.-” Suddenly, a large boulder was teleported right next to the table Chad was hiding under. Rarity then scurried into the library and dove onto the boulder protectively. Bandit and Twilight walked in. “Be careful next time, You’ll ruin his beautiful finish.” Rarity complained. “Oh for the love of-” Twilight was about to complain. Spike poked his head out of his and Chad’s room. “Twilight! Bandit!” He exclaimed as he ran out and over to them. “What’s going on?” “And why is everyone so-” Chad started to ask. “Grey?” Spike asked to finish for him. “I was gonna say the opposite of how they normally are.” Chad finished. Both were placed on Bandit’s back by Twilight. “Don’t ask.” Twilight said. “We need you to help us find something.” “Think Big Macintosh could help?” Chad asked. “Hey, Twilight. What’s soaking wet and clueless?” Fluttershy asked. “Wait, Big Mac is here?” Bandit asked in response to Chad. “Fluttershy, I’ve had just about enough—” Twilight was responding to Fluttershy. Chad’s shell shook, distracting Twilight, who looked right as Bandit backtracked. Twilight was drenched by Fluttershy pouring water onto her head. “Your face!” Fluttershy said before slamming the bucket on her head. Bandit ran over and took it off. “What’s happening to everypony?” Spike asked as he got off Bandit’s back. “I guess you just bring out the worst in us, Spike.” Applejack said as she walked by. “Ignore that Spike.” Bandit told him. “Long story short, Discord did something in that maze, and now our friends are acting the exact opposite of how they usually would.” “And now, We’ve got to find the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she’ll regret!” Twilight gritted her teeth at the end. “The Elements of Harmony?” Spike asked before remembering. “Oh! I know exactly where that book is!” Spike climbed up a ladder and pulled the book out. “Found it!” He called out. He was then smacked with a scroll, making him drop the book into Fluttershy’s hooves. “Ha!” She taunted. “Oh no you don’t.” Bandit said as he got into a pouncing position. “Keep away!” Fluttershy said as she tossed the book. Bandit turned to look at who she threw the book to. It landed on Applejack’s nose. He ran over to her. “Give up that book!” He exclaimed. She tossed the book into the air. Bandit jumped up and swatted it. Chad looked at the book and ran to it, Fluttershy flew after it. Chad’s ear twitched and he stopped, which left Fluttershy fly ahead of him to the book. Before she could get to the book, the door opened and she flew right into it. It was Big Macintosh who opened the door. “Everything okay?” He said before realizing the door had a thud. He looked and saw Fluttershy rubbing her head and Chad running over to grab the book. He picked it up and threw it to Twilight. She tried to catch it, but Rarity interfered. “Mine!” She exclaimed as she grabbed the book and ran with it. “Hey! Do you even know what you just stole?!” Twilight exclaimed, running after Rarity. “No, but if you want it, I want it!” Rarity said back. Twilight pounced, only to land short and face plant. She looked up in annoyance. “GIVE ME THAT BOOK!!” She shouted. “Big Mac! Help us get that book!” Chad exclaimed. “Uh...Eeyup?” Big Macintosh said. Initially confused, he waited for Rarity to run his way before he stuck out his hoof and tripped her, sending the book into the air. It landed next to Lightning Sprint, who dejectedly slapped it towards Pinkie. It would have gotten to her if it wasn’t for Spike pouncing on the book and sliding it back to Bandit, who grabbed it and tossed it to Twilight. She held it with a death grip, and Bandit, Chad, and Spike stood in front of her defensively, armed with teeth, fangs, and a scroll being used as a sword. “Get back! All of you! This is my book, and I'm going to READ IT!” Twilight exclaimed. Big Macintosh was confused but moved over to Bandit, Chad, Spike, and Twilight as she flipped through the pages. Inside the book, the eight elements were all there. “The Elements!” She exclaimed happily. Big Macintosh looked at the book in slight amazement. “So that’s the elements look like.” Big Macintosh said. “Eeyup.” Bandit said. Big Macintosh glared at him. “Stop stealing my line.” He said. “Now that the elements are here, you can turn everyone back to normal.” Spike celebrated. “See, girls? We did it! We found the Elements of Harmony, together!” Twilight also celebrated. None of the girls were replicating her feelings. This made her look deadpan. “You don’t even care, do you?” “No.” They all said. Twilight’s ears flopped and she began to look sad once more. “I never thought it would happen. My friends…” Bandit tried to give her a comforting hug but flinched upon her being suddenly fueled with anger. “…have turned into complete jerks!” One by one, she gave a necklace to each friend in the room. “Necklace…necklace…necklace….necklace…necklace...and-” She placed the crowns on Bandit’s head and the tiara on hers. “…big crown thingies!” She exclaimed. “Come on, everypony, let’s go!” Twilight said as she started to walk out the door. Bandit pulled her back by the tail. “Twily, I’m eager to take discord down too, but we are forgetting something important.” He hinted. Twilight turned to face him. “No we’re not. We got the liar, the grump, the downer, the hoarder, and the brute.” “We’re forgetting treachery. A.K.A, Rainbow Dash.” Bandit said. Twilight looked at Big Mac, Chad, and Spike. “Spike, you’re the new rainbow dash.” She said, placing the necklace on him before walking towards the door. “Me!?” Spike exclaimed. “B-b-but what if she finds out I’ve been impersonating her? Ugh…that won’t end well.” Spike said envisioning could possibly happen. Nothing he thought of ended well with him. “Don’t worry Spike, I’ll protect you if anything happens.” Bandit said, placing him on his back. “Now let’s go defeat Discord so we don’t ever have to talk to each other again!” Twilight said. Bandit was a bit concerned upon hearing that. He then quickly moved out of the way of the stampeding four. Bandit looked at Lightning Sprint, who was still unmotivated to move. He walked over, picked her up by the scruff, and moved out. Chad looked at Big Macintosh. “You have no idea what just happened do you?” Chad asked. “Eenope.” Big Macintosh answered. “Want me to explain everything?” Chad asked. “Eeyup.” Big Macintosh answered. Rarity was pushing Tom in a very slow, struggling manner towards the door. Bandit poked his head in and used his magic to teleport them both out of the library. Bandit pulled his head back out and Tom and Rarity were falling down. He used his hoof to catch Tom and his wing to catch Rarity. Sliding them both down as Twilight stood in front of the group. “Well, well, well, I see you’ve found the Elements of Harmony.” Discord was heard saying. The group looked and saw Discord floating a short way away from them. “How terrifying.” “Discord! I’ve figured out your lame riddle! You’re in for it now!” Twilight exclaimed. “I certainly am. You’ve clearly out-dueled me, and now it’s time to meet my fate.” Discord said as he put on a pair of sunglasses. “I’m prepared to be defeated now, ladies and gentlestallion. Fire when ready.” Discord wiped a target onto his mid-section. “Formation! Now!” Twilight exclaimed. The other five ponies walked over rather unenthusiastically. “Eh.” They all said. Bandit turned his head to look at Spike and nod his head. “Go on.” He said. Spike gulped and got off his back to get in the formation. “We can do this. I believe in us.” Bandit said. Twilight wasn’t so optimistic. “Let’s get this over with!” Twilight said. The tiara and the crown both began to glow. Bandit and Twilight rose into the air, with their eyes blazing white. The same magic they used against Nightmare moon began to awaken. One by one, those of the other five ponies threw off brilliant white auras, all the while floating clear of the ground. Discord lowered his shades briefly in surprise, there is one last flash—and then the power is gone. They all dropped to the ground, and Bandit was the first to sit up. “Should’ve known.” Bandit said as he looked at his horn. “What’s going on?” Twilight asked as she sat up. Applejack sat up next. “Mine’s workin’. There must be somethin’ wrong with yours.” Applejack said. “I hate the elements of harmony!” Pinkie exclaimed. Fluttershy floated down with her element before tossing it to the side. “Hmph. Garbage.” She said. As soon as the element hit the ground, Rarity scooped it up. “Mine!” She exclaimed as she zipped off. Spike took his element off and placed it on the ground. “Sorry Bandit.” Spike said. “It’s not your fault. Go back inside, we’ll find a way to deal with this.” Bandit told Spike. Spike nodded and began to run back to the library, only to get tripped by Fluttershy. “Oops. Sorry, Rainbow Crash.” She taunted before giggling venomously. Discord strolled over to them whilst clapping tauntingly. “Bravo, ponies, bravo! Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools.” Discord said, placing a talon on Bandit’s nose. Bandit went for a bit again, but Discord made the talon disappear as if he actually bit his talon off, only for it to reappear back. He began laughing and Bandit let out a tiger-like growl. Discord skated away. "It's your fault it didn't work!" Pinkie complained, seemingly looking towards Discord. "Who are you talking to?" Twilight asked. "Any of you!" Pinkie shouted. "ALL OF YOU! I'm outta here!" She hopped off. “Now wait, we don’t have give up.” Bandit tried to tell the group. “Yeah we do. We just did.” Lightning Sprint said as she began flying off. "I better go, too.” Applejack said as she walked by. "I've got new better friends waiting for me at the farm." “Guys wait.” Bandit tried again, raising his voice. "Yeah!" Fluttershy agreed. "I'm sick of you losers." Rarity didn’t say anything, only hauling off her precious rock. It then proved too much for Twilight. “FINE!" She screamed after them. "Leave! See if I care! I don't need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs…" She looked at her leaving friends. Her last hope was finally diminished. "enemies…?" She finished sadly as she hung her head. Bandit turned to look at her. Her tail began to grey. “No. No no no no no no no.” Bandit said as he ran to her. Placing his hooves on her shoulders. “Twilight please.” The greying didn’t stop. “Twilight. Twilight look at me.” Bandit begged. Twilight’s head still hung. “Please Twilight please.” She finally looked up, and her eyes told him everything. She had given up. “I promise, everything’s gonna be okay. I promise we’re gonna fix everything. Okay? Pinkie promise. Chadwick’s promise. Okay?” Bandit tried, slowly getting desperate. The greying didn’t stop and was reaching her neck. “Cross my hurt and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. The words I speak give you no lies, you’ll see the truth before your-” It was over, Twilight had turned completely grey. She used her magic to gently take his hooves off before she hung her head to start walking back to the library. Bandit reached a hoof out to her as she walked away. “........eyes.” As twilight walked away, a single tear fell out of her eye, and it landed in a heart that had broken in two. It was no coincidence that one of those hearts reflected at Bandit. Bandit’s ears flopped and when he tried to take a step forward, the floor he was standing on spun him around, making him look at the even more chaotic ponyville. The long-legged bunnies were now accompanied by ballet dancing buffalos. Pies that fell up, a stallion running across the frames of the device the readers were reading on, and a googly-eyed purple mare floating around while flicking her bottom lip. “Oh, my stomach!” Discord laughed as he popped up next to Bandit. Bandit looked back at Twilight, but Discord turned his head forward. “Bandit, you’ve got to see what I just did!” Berry Punch was unfortunate enough to be standing under a giant pepper shaker. The pepper caused her to sneeze and upon doing so, the buildings around her collapsed like cardboard cutouts. “It’s priceless!” Discord guffawed happily. Bandit teleported himself out of his grasp and in front of Discord. “Forgive my lack of humor, but I don’t find turning my friends against me, and changing my home into a chaotic dystopian dimension straight out of a Marevel comic to be particularly funny.” Bandit told him, his eyes narrowed. “Ah yes, the one home that didn’t send you away. Third time’s a charm am I right?” Discord nudged him. “Your friends have all turned their backs on you. Shifted the blame. And left you behind.” “And guess what.” Bandit said as he lit his horn. “I’m still here. My friends can leave all they want. But I won’t leave them.” Discord became amused with Bandit’s lit his horn and he started laughing again. “You think.” He guffawed. “You think that you can take me on your own?” “No. But I’m out of options, and I’ll be darned if I let you take over my home without a fight.” Bandit said. Discord laughed once more, but when the crown started glowing, Discord’s laughter stopped. The symbol on Bandit’s crown caused two electrical bolts, one red, one yellow, to shoot out onto his horn. Bandit’s magic aura on his horn began to shift from red and yellow. Discord was slightly amused and impressed by what he was seeing, not perceiving this to be a threat. He makes the motions to snap his fingers, but it was too late. A red and yellow beam shot out of Bandit’s horn and encased them both in a blinding light. The light went away and Bandit was on the ground, the crown landing next to him, smoking hot. Bandit opened his eyes and looked at the crown, before looking at Discord and was shocked at what he could see. Discord was currently encased in stone, and in just the nick of time, as his lion paw was just about to snap, with a grin on his face. Bandit was surprised, to say the least. “I...I...I don’t believe it.” He said, tired from what he just did. He looked at the crown. “It actually worked. It actually worked it-” Bandit reached for the crown to pick it up. As he did, he began to get memories of his past. Not the negative ones that weighed down on him so much, but the positive ones that kept him going all those years. Being pulled out of the river by Celestia, Getting his cape from his Grandma Galaxia that later turned into his bandana, creating Anubi, flying for the first time, meeting Twilight, taking care of Spike and Chad, meeting the rest of the Mane 8, hanging out with Big Macintosh and beating him in a field plow race, being there for the lessons his friends learned, taking them to the gala, seeing Night Ace again, putting on his scrunchie with the streamers of his mom and auntie’s cutie marks. The element was reminding him who he was, not because he forgot, but to show him how he can save his friends. “They need to be reminded who they are.” He said. The element shone and stopped smoking. Bandit picked up the element, and at that moment, he heard a cracking sound. He looked towards it and saw the top of Discord’s head beginning to crack. “Without the other elements, Discord’s gonna break out of there in no time.” Bandit said. He picked up his crown and placed it back on his head. “I don’t have much time, but I know I have enough.” Bandit began running off back to the library. Discord’s statue cracked a little bit more. Inside the library, Chad just got finished telling Big Macintosh everything. “And that’s why they were trying to get the elements.” Chad finished. “That all make sense?” “Eenope.” Big Macintosh answered. Twilight was then heard opening the door. Chad turned and then tilted his head. “Twilight?” Chad called, noticing her greyed out. “Chad, you and Spike Pack your things. We’re leaving. All 4 of us.” She said. “What?!” Chad exclaimed before zipping over to the stairs. “B-b-but. We can’t just leave.” “Yes we can, and we’re going to.” Twilight said as she picked him up. Chad tried to wriggle out of her grip. “Please Twilight, we can’t leave. Where will we even go?” Chad sadly asked as he kept trying. “I don’t know yet.” Twilight answered. “Just not here.” Chad then grabbed the top of the stairs. “I don’t want to leave.” Chad began to beg. Twilight started to pull him. “Let go Chad. Now!” She demanded. Chad held on, but his horn sparked and propelled him backward as a letter came out, Twilight caught him but looked at the letter that came out. She put Chad down and picked up the letter. As she did this, Spike stumbled towards them, grasping his stomach. “Spike? Spike!?” Chad exclaimed as he ran over to him. “What’s wrong?” “The Princess…has been sending these…” Spike struggled as he turned to the scrolls behind him. “…since I came back upstairs!” Chad took a look at the scrolls and saw what they were. “Wait. Those are the letters Twilight and Bandit sent to mom. Why would she send them back?” Chad asked before a letter came out of his horn again. Chad rubbed his horn as he looked at the letters. Spike had lied down on the floor, grabbing his side. Twilight looked at the pile of scrolls and walked over to start reading them. “Real friends don’t care what your cover is. Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing…And like the path cut through the orchard, there’ll always be a way through. The best thing to do is to stay true to yourself…Everypony everywhere has a special magical connection with her friends, maybe even before she’s met them.” Letter per letter, Twilight’s color was coming back, remembering all lessons about friendship she and Bandit learned while they were in ponyville. As she read the last letter, all of her color was back. And Bandit had arrived and ran up the stairs. “Twilight are you up here!?” He asked worriedly. Seconds later, he was glomped. “Bandit! It’s all so clear!” She happily said before pulling him to his hooves and hugging him tightly. “Discord’s trying to distract us from what’s important! He knows how powerful our friendships are!” “And he’s trying to keep us, and the others, from seeing it.” Bandit said as he hugged her back. “When we first arrived, I thought the fate of Equestria didn’t rest on the two of us making friends.” Twilight began as she released the hug. Bandit let go as well and listened to what she had to say. “ But the opposite is true! The friendships we’ve made since we’ve been here are what saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon.” “And now, it’s time for our friendship to save Equestria from Discord.” Bandit added. The two shared a nod. Spike let out a groan, making the two look down at him. Chad rubbed his horn as he looked at the poor dragon. “Chad, take care of Spike, he definitely needs a rest.” Bandit said. Chad saluted. Bandit turned to Twilight. “Come on Bandit, we’ve got to fight for our friendships.” Twilight started. “For our home!” “For equestria!” Bandit reared as he began to run out of the library. As he did so, he slid to a stop and looked at Big Macintosh, who was still sitting in the library kinda confused. “Hey Big Mac. I know you’re confused and a bit outside your comfort zone, so I won’t give you a heroic speech telling you to join us and yada yada. Wanna lend us a hoof?” He asked. Big Macintosh shrugged. “Eeyup.” He said. “Follow me.” Bandit said as he ran out the door. Where Twilight was waiting for him. Outside, Twilight and Bandit quickly discussed their plan. “We’ll split up. Twilight. You go after Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, Big Mac and I will go after Fluttershy, Rarity and Lightning Sprint.” Bandit told her as he took the crown off and placed it in his Bandana. “You got it.” Twilight answered. “We need to hurry, Discord isn’t gonna be happy when he gets out of that stone prison.” Bandit said. Twilight doubletaked at him. “Wait, he’s encased in stone?” Twilight asked. “Long story. Let’s go.” Bandit said. The three went their separate ways. At Sweet Apple Acres, A herd of fat, happy pigs flew across the field. In a cornfield, a Discorded Apple Bloom was zipping around, panting and wagging her tail like a dog. Towards the farm, Granny Smith was doing a high-speed tap dance on her hind legs, needing no help from the cane she was carrying. Applejack was leaning against the wall. She had an apple core balanced on one hoof and took a reverse bite out of it. She was also, not wearing her element any longer. “And so I tried to defeat Discord, but none of my so-called friends would lift a hoof to help me.” Applejack fibbed as she tossed the apple. At that moment, Twilight showed up. “Applejack!” Twilight was heard calling, getting Applejack’s attention. “I’m here to fight for our friendship!” She was then startled by Apple Bloom, who zipped over to her panting. She jumped up and licked her cheek and zipped off again. “Oh, now you want to fight." She scoffed before standing up and pretended to do box. "Where you went when I was battlin' Discord?" As his back was turned, Twilight dove and tackled Applejack to the ground, pinning her down. “Snap out of it! This isn’t you! You’re not a liar!” Twilight told her. Applejack attempted to struggle, but Twilight lit her horn, applying magic towards her head and restoring her memories. As her memories returned, her color also came back. She stood back up, a little bit confused. “W-what-” She said before shaking her head. “What happened?” She spotted Twilight at that moment and began to walk over. “Twilight! Oh, I saw a vision of us feudin’ and fightin’.” Twilight gave her a warm smile in understanding. “I couldn’t face the truth, so I started tellin’ lies.” Applejack said as she removed her hat. “Can you ever forgive me?” “We already have.” She turned and got ready to gallop off. “Come on!” As Twilight and Applejack were running to Sugar Cube Corner, Big Macintosh was holding the rope to keep Fluttershy still as Bandit used his magic to restore her. Fluttershy’s color began to come back and upon completion, she opened her eyes and looked at Bandit. “Oh, no! Bandit. I just had the worst dream.” Fluttershy said. Big Macintosh began to untie her. Fluttershy looked at him. “Oh, Hi Big Mac.” She greeted. Inside Rarity’s boutique, there was quite a commotion going on inside. “What do you think you’re doing?! Let go of my gem this instant! Get away-” One flash of magic being heard later and Rarity was back to normal, pushing Tom out into the chaotic Ponyville before looking back at Bandit, Fluttershy, and Big Macintosh. “Let us never speak of this again.” She told them. “Ee-” Bandit was gonna say, only for Big Macintosh to glare at him. Bandit chuckled and rolled his eyes. “All yours pal.” Big Macintosh smirked as he got the line off. “Eenope.” With Twilight and Applejack, Applejack was pulling a cart that had Pinkie in it. And she back to her much more chipper self. “Oh, and I…I turned gray! Can you believe it?” Pinkie was saying in between giggles. Bandit walked to Lightning Sprint’s house, and the door was unlocked. He took one step in and saw Lightning Sprint just there, on the floor. Bandit, Big Mac, Fluttershy, and Rarity all looked at each other and shrugged. Bandit walked over and used the magic to restore her. She stood up with wide eyes, looked at Bandit, and hugged him tightly, nearly knocking him over. “ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou It’s so boring being so unmotivated all the time.” Lightning Sprint exclaimed. Bandit smiled and hugged her back. The two groups met up at Rainbow Dash’s residence and Lightning Sprint was looking through her window, only for Rainbow Dash to not be in her house. “She’s not in there.” Lightning Sprint said as she poked her head out. “Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the Elements.” Twilight complained. “She could be anywhere by now! We’re never gonna find her.” Applejack said. “Found her.” Bandit said literally the moment Applejack finished talking. The others looked where Bandit was looking and saw that he was looking at a greyed Rainbow Dash, resting on a cloud. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called. “Hey guys.” Rainbow Dash said in a bored tone, her back still to them. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Twilight said. “That’s nice.” Rainbow Dash brushed off. “Discord’s still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat him with your Element—loyalty!” Twilight told her. “Pfft. Loyalty, schmoyalty.” Rainbow Dash waved off before turning over to face them. “Have you guys seen Ponyville? It’s a disaster! I’m staying here in Cloudsdale where everything’s awesome.” She jumped and landed back onto the cloud with her back facing them. “How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?” Rarity asked. "The same way he got you to think that cheap rock was a bona fide diamond." Applejack suggested with a smug grin. Rarity’s eyes went wide, but then she glared. “I guess Bandit never spread the word that we agreed never to speak of that again.” Rarity said. Bandit and Twilight looked at each other. “Plan B?” “Plan B.” She answered. More time went by and the mares, except for Lightning Sprint and Fluttershy were in a hot air balloon. Fluttershy was pulling the hot air balloon and Lightning Sprint had no rope on her. “Okay, Lightning Sprint. You grab Rainbow Dash and hold her down.” Twilight began to whisper to her. Applejack will lower me down from this rope so I can cast the memory spell on her.” Twilight told her. “Fluttershy, get ready to pull the balloon.” “Got it.” Both pegasi said. Lightning Sprint slowly flew behind Rainbow Dash so as to not make a sound. As soon as she was close enough, she pounced and held her down. “Hey! Get off me!” She exclaimed. Twilight started to place the rope around herself and got to the edge, just in time to see Rainbow Dash use a hoof to shove a cloud into Lightning Sprint’s mouth. Lightning Sprint sputtered out the cloud and used her hooves to whip the taste off of her tongue. At that moment, upon being freed, Rainbow Dash zipped off with the cloud, which made Lightning Sprint flip off of the cloud. Lightning Sprint recovers and glared that way. “Why that little-” Lightning Sprint took off after her. Twilight took off the rope and looked at Fluttershy. “Come on, Fluttershy! We gotta catch her!” She exclaimed. Fluttershy started to fly after them. Lightning Sprint was on Rainbow’s tail, so she began to zip around in other directions to try and shake her off. Not too far ahead of the group, Bandit was diving down towards them, Peregrine Falcon style. And Big Macintosh was on his back, looking like he regretted every decision he made to lead him to that moment. “Not where you thought today would go, huh Big mac?” Bandit asked as he looked back at him. “Eenoooooooooope!” Big Macintosh exclaimed, sounding like he was panicking. “Throw the rope on three!” Bandit told him. Big Macintosh got the rope ready. “One! Two!” Bandit got optimal distance, and Rainbow Dash was right-wear they wanted her. “Three!” Big Macintosh threw the rope at the same time as Applejack. Both ropes managed to rope Rainbow dash on the shoulders and waist. Lightning Sprint dropped onto Rainbow Dash and held her wings closed. Bandit started to drop straight down and his weight dragged Rainbow Dash off the ground and towards the ground. Unfortunately, Applejack’s rope wasn’t tied to anything, and Rarity and Pinkie’s rear hooves were coiled in them. Once the slack was no longer there, the two mares were pulled out of the balloon. Both of them let out a shriek. “Pinkie! You were supposed to secure the rope!” Rarity exclaimed. “Oops.” Pinkie sheepishly replied. Lightning Sprint looked at them and quickly flew over to them. Grabbing them and slowly began to descend. On the ground, Bandit was holding two of the ropes to stop Rainbow Dash from bucking, while Applejack and Lightning Sprint held the ropes from the front. “Let me go! I don’t need you guys!” Rainbow Dash struggled as Twilight approached. “Leave me alone!” Twilight lowered her head to Rainbow Dash and began to restore her memories with her magic. The color returned to her. “Wh…what happened?” She then became panicked and came out of the loose ropes. “How’s Ponyville?” She zipped over to Pinkie. “Where are the Elements?” She tackled Lightning to the ground. “Did we stop Discord?” Rainbow Dash asked. The girls all walked over to hug her Bandit walked over and hugged the group. He released them and looked at Big Macintosh. “Sorry about making you ride on my back, I won’t do it again.” Bandit told him. “Eenope.” Big Macintosh chuckled. Bandit looked at him confused. “Wait, you like flying?” Bandit asked. “Eeyup.” Big Macintosh said. “Eh, fellas. I think it might be a little early for a little chat.” Lightning Sprint said, pointing to the ballet dancing bison. Bandit looked and then looked back at Big Macintosh. “Thanks for your help Big Mac, we’ll take it from here.” Bandit said. “Eeyup.” Big Mac said. The group ran back into town. The group wound up running back to Discord, just in time to see Discord sitting on a throne, on a small pink-checkered hill, with the exception of his talon and paw, most of him was free from the previous stone prison. Discord looked towards them. “So you’ve returned. Come to reconsider? Surely you’ve realized how wonderful chaos is.” Discord sarcastically spoke down to them. “Not nearly as wonderful as friendship.” Bandit smirked, then he replayed what he just said in his head. “Okay, that was pretty corny.” “Great, attempt number 3?” Discord asked, slightly irritated. “That’s right! You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long!” Applejack said. Only for Discord’s talon to break free of stone, and he began making it glow, pulling Applejack towards him. “Oh, Applejack, don’t lie to me.” He said, hoisting her up so they could take face to face. “I’m the one who made you a liar.” His lion paw broke out, and he snapped his fingers, teleporting the others, bar Bandit and Twilight, to him. He made the lion paw glow and hoisted them up by their elements. “Will you ever learn?” Discord asked. Twilight sparked her magic and teleported to her friends. Using her magic to grab everyone in a ball of magic and disrupt Discord’s magic. Twilight landed the ball of magic on the ground next to Bandit and turned the patch below them from the blue checkerboard to the ordinary green grass as the energy dissipates. Bandit hopped over and opened his wings so that they could land on him. Sliding off as they faced Discord. “We learned more than you could ever know Discord!” Lightning Sprint announced to him. “Friendship isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth fighting for.” "Ugh, gag." Discord said, pretending to gag. "Fine, go ahead. Try and use your little Elements. Frenemies." He teleported back to his throne. "Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here." Under the impression that he’d be able to break out easily as he did earlier. "All right, everyone." Bandit said as they got into formation. "Let's show him what friendship can do!" "Wait-wait-wait!" Pinkie said. Bandit turned to see her standing under a pink cloud, drinking the chocolate rain. The group looked unamused, all but Bandit, who playfully rolled his eyes. Pinkie hopped back over, growling like a wolf. Bandit and Twilight exchanged a look and nodded. They sparked their magic and tilted their heads downwards, closing their eyes. The six other elements began to glow. Discord’s reaction to all of this was a bored yawn. That was until those six elements began to shoot off short beams shaped like marks. His cocky demeanor was replaced by bewilderment. “Huh. What’s this?” He asked as more shots went by. “No.” Bandit and Twilight’s eyes blaze white as they all rose into the air. A multicolored blast wave exploded outward from them, and out came a broad rainbow, shooting skyward and reaching the peak of its arc, thundering down towards the draconequus. “NOOOOOOOOOO!!” Discord screamed as the rainbow engulfed him, turning to stone from the tail up. The last thing to turn to stone was his bewildered face. The rainbow split into two copies and folded out and down to either side toward the ground before a large hue of white light restored Ponyville back to normal, and did a little something extra. The 8 of them were lowered to the ground and the statue fell over. As Bandit got to the ground, he stumbled a bit, the bright glow hurting his eyes a bit. He took a seat and shook his head a bit before hearing Twilight gasp. “What?” He asked as he opened his eyes and looked her way. His vision focused and she was in utter shock, looking towards him. “Is something wrong?” He asked. Then he heard the others gasp. He stood up and turned to look at the other six, who were to his right. They were also looking towards him in utter shock. “What’s wrong?” He asked very worriedly. “It’s! It’s!” Twilight started. “It’s your cutie mark!” Lightning Sprint exclaimed excitedly. “It’s amazing!” Rarity commented. Bandit looked at his flank and saw a yin yang symbol in the form of a yellow sun with a red sun in it, and a red cloud with a yellow crescent moon in it. He was shocked at first and thinking it wasn’t real, he made an attempt to wipe it off. It wasn’t fake, that was really his cutie mark. “My cutie mark!?” He exclaimed before looking at his friends. “I GOT ONE!!” He flew over and got them all in a group hug, spinning happily as the girls all giggled and laughed in support of him. Later, in canterlot, a celebration was being held for the 8 heroes, with a fanfare starting for them as they walked through the doors. Bandit was obviously the happiest out of the group, so much so, that his tail didn’t stop wagging the entire time, even though he kept a straight face. Upon getting to the thrones, Celestia exchanged a proud look to Bandit. Bandit smiled back, looked at Twilight, and winked. Twilight nodded and then looked at Spike who waved at her, only to have his wave stopped when Chad used his front hooves to place onto his head to get taller than him before also waving. Spike stepped to the side and Chad fell back on all fours. “We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism of these eight friends who stood up to the villain Discord and saved Equestria from eternal chaos.” Celestia said. As she said that, the crowd cheered for them, Celestia turned to a curtain and used her magic to open it, revealing a stained glass window of the eight of them giving Discord his just deserts. Then, Celestia spoke up again. “And, let us also Celebrate my dear little nymph.” Celestia began. “Who not only saved Equestria along with his friends, but has become the first Changeling in history of Equestria to earn a cutie mark.” The crowd began cheering yet again. All of his friends hugged him tight, and he hugged right back. Celestia hugged him and nuzzled him dearly. “Does this mean I get my own Cute-ceañera?” Bandit asked Celestia. Celestia gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Of course it does dear.” She said, very proud. Bandit let go of his friends and hugged Celestia tightly.