Twilight could see what happened despite even being in Grogar's lair at the time. How could she have let this happen? She felt like a failure to everypony she was destined to rule over. Everything was over. Twilight broke down and cried.
Her friends crowded around her including Princess Sugarmoon with concerned looks on their faces. "Twilight, what did you see?" they all asked frantically.
Twilight sobbed and sobbed. "I saw.... Discord being held captive by Grogar due to those events when Discord impersonated him," Twilight said. "And all this time it was right under our muzzles and we didn't do a goddamn thing to stop it! And now that Discord has fought back against Grogar and failed to comply with his evil orders, Discord has been found dead by none other than Grogar himself."
"That's terrible!" Fluttershy said. "What will we tell Chrysalis? She'll be devastated!"
Twilight wiped her tears and stood up. "Maybe we won't have to," she said.
"We can't lie," said Applejack. "You know I suck at that."
"No, no. We're not gonna lie," Twilight said. "We are going to march right into Grogar's lair and confront him! Force him to tell us everything! Then after we defeat him with the sword, we'll revive Discord."
"But how are we going to go about reviving him?" Princess Sugarmoon asked. "We don't really know what the sword can do, and obviously our magic is not strong enough to bring back the dead. Not even mine."
"We'll figure out a way," Twilight said. "We always do."
"I hope you're right," Sugarmoon said.
* * *
"Excellent," Grogar said. "Everything is falling into place. It's only a matter of time before my plan is complete!" He let out an evil laugh.
* * *
Twilight pulled out a map of Equestria.
"I know where it is," Princess Sugarmoon said. "Don't ask me, but I've been there before."
"How?" Twilight asked.
"OK, OK. I'll explain," Princess Sugarmoon said. "After I found the sword, I wanted to see what was beyond the ruins before I made my way into Equestria itself. So letting my curiosity lead the way, I stumbled into a dark and gloomy cave that reminded me of a villain's lair. And boy, was I right. I caught eye of this menacing blue goat who I could tell was planning something at the time. Not wanting to get caught or disturb him, I ran out immediately and made my way to Ponyville."
"Damn, that's scary," Rainbow Dash said. "But nothing's too scary for me!"
Princess Sugarmoon chuckled. "You sure about that, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.
"Damn right," Rainbow Dash replied with confidence. "I'm not afraid of anything!"
"We'll see about that when we get there," Princess Sugarmoon said. "And I have a feeling that he's not expecting all of us. He only wants the sword and I have it."
"But Sugarmoon! It's too dangerous!" Twilight cried.
"I've gotten myself out of my mom's prison of hell, so I can get myself out of this mess," she said.
"Prison of hell?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, that's what I call it when my mom grounds me for stupid reasons," Princess Sugarmoon said. "Like that one time she grounded me for going out without her permission. And after that, she said since she's the queen, I must obey her. I was enraged. I mean, who treats anypony like that? So eventually I got through to her, and here I am helping you."
"So how much longer until we reach Grogar's lair?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We'll arrive there in approximately two hours," said Princess Sugarmoon. "If you want, I can teleport us to the ruins so it makes the traveling faster."
The Mane Six nodded. So Princess Sugarmoon used her magic to teleport the seven of them to the ruins.
"This place looks like hell broke loose," Rainbow Dash remarked.
"They aren't called ruins for nothing, Rainbow Dash," said Princess Sugarmoon.
She took a deep breath when they faced the entrance to the dark and gloomy cave. "You guys stay here. Since I found the sword, I'll deal with Grogar."
"Do you know what Grogar looks like?" Twilight asked.
"Uh, no. But I have a feeling it's that goat I saw that day," Princess Sugarmoon said.
"That's right," Twilight said. "But are you sure you can do this alone? If you get hurt, I won't be able to forgive myself."
"It'll be OK, Twilight," Princess Sugarmoon reassured her. "I'll be fine. I have magic and the sword on my side. If he tries to reach for it, I know what to do."
"We're coming with you!" Rainbow Dash said.
"I advise against it for your own safety," Princess Sugarmoon said. "So, please. Stay behind while I deal with this. It's me he's after, not all of you. If you can just trust me, you'd know that I don't want to lose any of you just because I have the sword!"
Her friends looked concerned, but knew to confide in Princess Sugarmoon.
"I hope you'll be OK, darling," Rarity said.
"Good luck!" the rest of the Mane Six said, with Pinkie being the loudest out of the five.
Princess Sugarmoon gulped, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. In she went to face Grogar.
"Well, hello there, young pony," Grogar said. "Funny seeing you here."
"I'm not here to chat, Grogar! I know you're up to something!" Princess Sugarmoon said. She held up The Sword of Friendship. "If you want the sword so badly, just get it from me!"
Grogar smiled. "You're making this quite easy, Princess," he said. "May I ask you why?"
"I don't give a shit," said Sugarmoon. "Let me repeat. If you want the sword, then come and get me, you vile motherfucker!"
"I don't wanna play games with a pony who plays hero!" Grogar roared. "Just give me the sword and get out of here!"
Princess Sugarmoon smiled. "Of course, of course. You want the sword. And I'll give it to you. Only on one condition."
"And what's that, clever bitch?" Grogar asked.
"Oh, just for you to tell me where you're hiding Discord's body so I can go along with my plan," Princess Sugarmoon said. "You see, you're not the only one with the clever mind for schemes around here. The difference is I use my cleverness for good and you use yours for evil. In the end, they're all wonderful plans."
"What are you getting at?" Grogar shouted.
"You tell me the whereabouts, I give you the power you so desire," Princess Sugarmoon said. "Do we have a deal?"
"Not a bad compromise from the heroine," Grogar said. "I'll take it. But if it's a trick, I will destroy you and your pathetic friends!"
"Oh, don't worry. All you gotta do is touch the blade and then the power will be yours," Princess Sugarmoon said.
Grogar was hesitant. Why the hell am I trusting this bitch? She's out to defeat me! She's the heroine for Celestia's sake!
But Grogar gave in like any villain would, touching the blade and expecting absolute power. Even the most clever of villains can be outsmarted and have an incredibly stupid side of them.
After touching the blade, Grogar turned to dust.
Princess Sugarmoon emerged unphased. Twilight and the rest of her friends were relieved to see that she was alright.
"How did you do it?" cried Rarity.
"That must've been impossible without the help of your friends!" Twilight cried.
"What did you even do to stop him?" chimed the rest.
"Slow down, everypony!" Princess Sugarmoon said. "I can only get to one at a time!"
Her friends grew quiet.
"I just convinced him to touch the blade and he turned to dust," Princess Sugarmoon said. "I think it has something to do with the Sword of Friendship. What did the book say, Twilight?"
"It said that whoever touches the sword with a dark heart incapable of reformation would turn to dust," Twilight said.
"Then that's what happened," Princess Sugarmoon said. "Now what? We've defeated Grogar and we still haven't figured out how to bring Discord back to life!"
"That's the least of our worries," Twilight said, opening the book. "First we need to test if the sword can heal like the book says."
"If we're going to test its ability to heal, why not test it on Discord directly?" Princess Sugarmoon said. "That'll be a waste if we're for certain it works."
"That's exactly why. We don't know the sword's full capabilities. We aren't even aware that it can heal. That's why we've gotta test it on something to make sure it doesn't backfire and we feel like failures," Twilight said.
"I'm sure it'll only be you that feels like a failure," Rainbow Dash said.
"Rainbow Dash, that was uncalled for," Princess Sugarmoon said. "Twilight is clearly trying to think of a solution. Let's test it on that hurt animal over there. Then we'll be for certain it works."
"Aww! That poor thing!" Fluttershy said, running over to give it bandages.
"Or we could do that," Princess Sugarmoon said. "How about a plant? That's alive, right? So we'll see if the sword can restore the wilting plant to its prime. How's that sound?"
They all nodded in agreement.
Princess Sugarmoon put the sword up to a potted flower. To their surprise, the flower rejuvenated. That, Princess Sugarmoon knew, would work on Discord.