Twilight Sparkle slowly regained consciousness, her impressive mind quickly working over the clues left behind in the haze of pain and confusion. She had been in Canterlot, checking the elemental seal on Discord's statue. Something in the magical field of the castle had tweaked her senses into overdrive as she went to report to Princess Celestia. There had been some kind of magical explosion, causing the hallway to cave in. She had barely gotten the shield dome up in time to prevent herself from being crushed by debris. Now, she was trapped in hollow of stone.
Looking around and seeing no exit, the unicorn took the risk of teleporting directly to the throne room. The sight that greeted her was impressive and terrifying. The entire room was destroyed, pieces of tapestries and mosaics littering the floor. The thrones that her mentor and Princess Luna usually occupied had been reduced to molten slag. Several members of the royal guard lay about, one completely torn to shreds. None of them were breathing as she checked for survivors. Confused and in a panic now, she sprinted down for the balcony and looked out over the gardens. Pegasi swarmed through the air as a battalion of Unicorns marched into the statue garden. Discord's statue was completely missing, and two alicorns fought hoof and horn over the former location of the sealed god of chaos.
One she immediately recognized as Nightmare Moon. The alicorn she was facing had a vague resemblance to her mentor, but the being's mane and tail were blue and white flames that left the air shimmering in heat as they passed. The two creatures battled, hurling spells at each other with abandon, not caring who or what was caught in the crossfire. Twilight moved to run for the Elements of Harmony vault when she was stopped dead in her tracks by the creature now occupying the throne room, sitting on his own throne of jelly beans.
"Discord!"
"My my, Twilight Sparkle. So good to see you again. I must thank you for mercifully allowing me to dream while I was imprisoned this time. I only hope you prove as amusing as Jean-Luc," the draconequus said with a grin, "I should also thank Moony and Flare for letting me out."
"Who?" the unicorn asked, "Are you behind all this?"
"Oh no, Twilight, of course not. I only spread chaos, not destruction. You see, poor Luna's guilt at becoming Nightmare Moon allowed the Nightmare to come back in full force even as the Nightmare used Celestia's guilt at being forced to banish her sister as a way in."
"No..."
Discord grinned even wider, "Yes! Nightmare Moon is back, and Solar Flare has come to be! It's wonderful, don't you think? I could just sit here and watch the chaos those two would raise, but I would become bored. So, Miss Sparkle, I propose we play a game."
"Not another one of your tricks, Discord."
"Twilight, please, no tricks this time. The game is simple. Two rules! Rule number one, I am not allowed to interfere with your fight to subdue the nightmares in any way, helpful or otherwise. Rule number two is a little more difficult for you to follow. You don't get to stop me until you've stopped them. Before we begin however, I think all the players should be on the board," he says, snapping his fingers.
Around Twilight, her friends suddenly appeared, in positions that indicated they were in the middle of something before being so rudely teleported. Applejack bucked empty air and landed on her stomach. Rainbow Dash landed on her back with a start, likely having been relaxing on a cloud. Pinkie Pie continued to mix air for a moment before waving at Discord with a huge smile as Rarity fell forward with her ponequinn no longer supporting her. Fluttershy dropped the fish she had been holding in her mouth and immediately hid behind Twilight.
"Ah, excellent, you're all here."
"Discord! Ah oughta buck you right back into that statue of yours!" Applejack hollered, getting to her hooves.
"Now, now, ladies, no need for language. I simply thought you should all be here for this," he said as an explosion rocked the castle, "Oh, it seems they're coming this way. I do believe I would rather watch from a distance. Here are your precious elements, girls. Have fun!" he said before vanishing, the box containing the elements replacing him and bouncing toward the assembled mares.
"You too, Discord!" shouted Pinkie Pie, bouncing happily in place.
"Pinkie! Calm yourself!" Rarity scolded, making sure her mane was in place, "Twilight, darling, what in Celestia's name is going on?"
"Yeah, Twi. One minute I'm taking a break from training, the next thing I'm on my back in... where are we anyway?" Rainbow Dash said, flying over to the purple unicorn.
"This is the throne room of Canterlot Castle, Dash. We have some problems..." Twilight sighed before relating everything that had happened up to that point.
The other mares, save Pinkie, could only gape in confusion at the events that were unfolding. Pinkie, for her part, was positively giddy, "Oh, this is going to be so awesome! We're going to have epic battles and dramatic moments and this is going to be the best story arc for us ever! I am so excited I can't stand still!"
Twilight ignored the party pony and looked at the rest of the group, "Elements on girls, we have a world to save."
They all nodded as Twilight levitated their respective elements over to them before the group turned and looked out at the battle unfolding below the balcony. Some of the guard had chosen sides, becoming imbued with darkness or fire as they did, still others fought solely for Equestria and the true princesses. The battle below was chaotic and disorganized on all sides, ponies fighting desperately for their lives and freedom even as they tried to organize the defense of Canterlot itself. The alicorns above were taking time to simply direct their troops as they fled to recover from the battle. Twilight looked to her friends and they ran for the stairs, intent on joining the battle and securing the city before finding the Nightmares.