//------------------------------// // Chapter 44 // Story: The Darkness Shard // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// Everyone was now back at the Tree of Life, with things back to the way it was now, as they were all ready to send the Equestria villains back to the badlands and all go back home and to their universes. Celestia, Luna and Twilight agreed they should send Cold Wind and the Warlocks there as well as their actions are unsuitable for Tartarus or prison and they refused to let Cold Wind hurt Lightning again. With the help of Doctor Strange, he opened a portal to the badlands as Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow walked in first since they all knew this was coming and refused to try to escape or do anything else to defeat their enemies. “We should have never agreed to join Ardyn,” said Cozy Glow, “This was a mistake.” “For once, I agree with you,” said Chrysalis. “Finally, something we call agree with,” added Lord Tirek. As for Cold Wind, Fluttershy was worried that he might try to hurt or foalnap Lightning as well as say horrible things to him on the way back and when sending him to the badlands. So Starlight made sure he was tied up properly and also placed a cloth around his mouth to keep him quiet. And speaking of Cold Wind, Starlight used her magic to place him through the portal and into the badlands. He was struggling to break free, but he was tied up real good that he couldn’t escape or take the cloth off his mouth. He was then dropped on the ground that was away from the portal in case he tried to jump or crawl his way out. The Warlocks weren’t happy that they were being sent to the badlands instead of prison this time. Mrs Warlock was on her knees as she pleaded Oliver to not send them to where the other four villains are. “Please, Oliver! Don’t send us there with them!” Mrs Warlock pleaded, “I’m begging you! We won’t be able to survive there with them! Please, just send us back to prison! Please!” “Sorry, Mrs Warlock, but you brought this on yourself,” said Oliver crossly, “You wanted to treat me bad, and this is what you get.” “Oh Oliver, please!” Mrs Warlock continued to beg, “It was my husband’s fault! He made me become a bad pony for only treating you at the orphanage! I only wanted to treat you better from the start!” Oliver wasn’t going to believe that. “Nice try, but you were on board with treating me as a slave and a monster, my mother caught you trying to take me back when I was a colt, so you can stop with the lies.” “No! None of this is my fault!” Mrs Warlock shouted in fear before pulling Oliver to her face, “Please let me go! I can’t go the badlands! I’m too young to suffer there!” “She has gone mad,” said Flurry Heart. “I agree with you, sweetie,” said Shining. “Get off me!” Oliver said crossly as he shoved Mrs Warlock away from him, “You brought this on yourself! Your actions and the way you treated me is unforgivable! This is the punishment you get! The both of you!” Celestia used her magic to lift both Mr and Mrs Warlock up and threw them through the portal and into the badlands as they hit the ground. They both got up and looked through the portal in fear. “Please! Don’t leave us in here! Please!” Begged Mrs Warlock once more. “Trust me, I don’t like it here either,” said Lord Tirek, “But we rather be in here than being turned to stone or banished to the moon.” “I’m with Tirek on that,” said Chrysalis. “SHUT UP!” Shouted Princess Luna making the villains jump in shock and fear, “I’m already getting tired of your wincing about your punishment! Yours too, little brat.” Doctor Strange closed the portal locking the villains up. The four, including Cold Wind who was still tied up, turned to look at Cozy Glow in fear as they saw she was starting to get very angry. “Did you hear Princess Luna say what I just heard her say?” She then let out the biggest outburst she could ever let out, “I AM NOT A LITTLE BRAT!!” Back at the Tree of Life, Doctor Strange and the Wizarding World people were ready to return back to their own worlds. Grindelwald was still tied up as Theseus was pointing his wand at him in case he gets any ideas and try to escape. “So I guess you’re now going him then?” Sandbar asked. “Afraid so,” answered Doctor Strange, “We can’t all live in the same world. With Ardyn now gone and the villains either arrested or somewhere away from us, we must now return to our own worlds before anything happens to this world.” “Well it was nice to have you lot helping us,” said Twilight politely, “And thanks for all your help.” “And thanks for letting me see all the creatures you look after, Newt,” said Fluttershy. Newt actually let her see the creatures he looks after in his briefcase when they got back at the Tree of Life since he needed to do take care of them and feed them before returning home. He also let her help since she loves helping take care of animals and creatures. “You’re welcome, Fluttershy,” said Newt while smiling, “And thanks for helping me with them. You did a good job with them.” Fluttershy blushed while smiling. “Thanks, and you’re welcome.” Doctor Strange opened up a portal and both him and the Wizarding World people walked through as everyone waved and shouted goodbye to them while Jacob waved goodbye to them in return before the portal closed. “So I take it you’re leaving too then?” Rainbow asked while looking at Sonic. “Yep,” answered Sonic, “And like Doctor Strange, we can’t stay in this world forever since there’s no telling what will happen next. And besides, Green Hill still needs us and since Eggman is now far away again, it should be easy and relaxing while looking after our home this time.” “And I need to go back to being frozen again,” said Shadow causing everyone to stare at him in shock and surprise. “You…you want to go back to being frozen?” Sunburst asked in shock. “Yes,” answered Shadow, “I’ve done lots of horrible things, and fought the wrong person who wasn’t my enemy. I decided to go back to being frozen until I awaken in the right present and at the right time. “Are you sure, Shadow?” Sonic asked, “I’m sure we can help you fix all those mistakes and find you a home in Green Hill to stay at.” Tom was confused by that. After Tails and Knuckles entered Green Hill, he and Maddie allowed both of them to stay at their place since Sonic’s living with them, but this was like the first time he heard Sonic say find a new home for their new friends. “What do you mean, Sonic? Why can’t he live at our house like you, Tails and Knuckles do?” “Well we are running out of room in the room me, Tails and Knucks sleep in,” answered Sonic. “Okay yeah, that’s a fair point. I totally understand now and agree with you, Sonic.” “Thanks, Sonic,” said Shadow, “I appreciate the offer, but it is for the best. I wish to be unfrozen when I’m in the right time in the year we’re in now or soon.” Sonic nodded his head before saying, “I understand. But hey, when you do wake up again but at the right time, you won’t have to worry about Eggman or anyone using you anymore.” “That’s true.” “Well shall we get going?” Tails asked politely, “We’ve got a town to fix and to make sure everyone’s alright while we were gone.” “Right behind you, Tails!” Sonic said happily before taking a ring out of his bag. Sonic threw the ring forward as it grew big and opened up a portal that leads to Green Hill. Tom and Maddie were the first ones to go through before Knuckles, Shadow and Tails followed. Sonic was the last one to go through, but he was stopped by Rainbow’s voice. “Hey, Sonic!” Sonic turned to look at Rainbow who was smiling at him as she said, “Next time you come to visit, I want a race to see how fast you are compare to how fast I am.” “I’ll be waiting,” said Sonic while smirking playfully. The two fist bumped each other. Sonic walked through the portal as it shrunk down and disappeared. “Well, we might as well head home too,” said Sora while placing his hands behind his head, “I think our work is now done, and hopefully the last.” “And let’s hope the next time you return, nothing bad will happen,” said Gallus. Sora gave the blue griffon a thumps up and a wink. “Thanks for your help again, Sora,” said Lightning, “I really hope we get to see you again soon.” “You will, buddy,” said Sora while gently rubbing Lightning’s mane, “And no need to thank us. We’re friends. We help each other no matter what.” Lightning just smiled at Sora and nodded his head. Xion and Spike were hugging each other. “See you soon, Spike,” said Xion, “Be good for your mother.” She kissed him on the cheek which made him chuckle and blush. “Don’t worry, Xion,” said Twilight softly, “I know he will always be a good dragon for me.” She pulled the baby dragon towards her for a hug of her own as he returned the hug. Xion smiled at them. “All right, everyone,” said Mickey happily, “Time to go home.” “Ready when you are, Donald!” Goofy said. “Oh boy!” Said Donald happily as he summoned his staff. Donald magically made a bright light appear above them as it grew brighter ready to take the guardians and Yozora back home. They all smiled and waved to their friends as they did the same. They all disappeared into the light before it faded away leaving just the Equestria group and members of the Tree of Life. “So it looks like you’re leaving too then,” said Bunga. “Afraid so,” said Twilight, “ But this isn’t really goodbye. We will meet again soon. And hopefully when it’s not a bad time.” “Twilight’s right,” said Applejack, “We will see each other again no matter what happens next. And we do have some things to take care of back home.” “I agree,” said Solar Eclipse, “I’ve got some making up to, and to fix everything I have done before falling for Ardyn’s trick, even if I was forced by him from the beginning.” “We shall help you, brother,” said Celestia as she and Luna approached him, “You shouldn’t fix everything alone, even if you were forced to make them happen.” “Yes,” agreed Luna, “You are still our brother no matter what you did, forced or not.” Solar smiled as the three hugged each other like a happy family once again. “And when we get back to the Crystal Empire, I’ve got some fixing to do of my own,” said Shining, “Starting with the bullies that treated my daughter badly.” Flurry Heart gasped before smiling happily at her father while saying, “You are?!” “Of course,” he replied while smiling softly, “After all, you are the future princess of the Crystal Empire.” He pulled Flurry Heart close to him for a hug, “And they need to learn to let go of the past, especially since what happened wasn’t your fault.” Flurry smiled as Shining nuzzled her on the cheek while she did the same with him. “Well, looks like things are starting to go back to the way they were and also beginning to feel better,” said Oliver, “But I think we’ve all learned something during the fight and rescue mission.” “Yeah, don’t listen or bring Discord on these trips ever again,” said Sunset. “It was not, my fault, Sunset,” said Discord. “No, no it definitely was,” said Sunset crossly. “One hundred percent,” added Rainbow with Rarity nodding her head in agreement. “Yeah well who decided to let me tag along?” Discord asked while placing his fists on his sides. “I did, because I refused to hear you begging me about returning to Equestria,” said Celestia crossly. “And we were more focus on helping Lightning rather than argue with Celestia about letting you back,” said Twilight. “And some of us actually thought you were gonna change and treat Lightning better!” Pinkie said crossly. “Yeah, literally nothing you did proves you wanted to make up for what you did in the past, Discord,” said Capper. “I…had a plan originally, but Ardyn just went…” he was interrupted by Starlight, “If you say you had a plan one more time, Discord, I might actually hurt you. I might pour a lot of that snow on you with tiny rocks.” “I did!” “NO, YOU DID NOT!” Fluttershy shouted angrily making Discord flinch, “YOU DID NOT HAVE A PLAN AT ALL! YOU DID THIS! YOU WANTED ME TO SEND MY SON AWAY! BUT GUESS WHAT?! IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!“ “As punishment for all those hurtful things you said to Lightning Twister and Spike, freed a most dangerous threat in all worlds and caused all of this to happen, you are to spend three months in prison while doing community service and your chaos will be taken away,” said Celestia. Discord was in shock after hearing what his punishment was. “What?! You can’t do that to me and I can’t spend that long in prison or do community service! I’m the lord of chaos!” Celestia stomped her hoof down to the ground which made DIscord flinch again as he shook in fear. Celestia angrily said, “You may be the lord of chaos, but you are not in anyway more powerful than I am! Now you can either do the punishment or me and Luna can find another way of banishing you to the moon for a thousand moons without needing the elements! Which one do you prefer?” Discord didn’t like the other option of being sent to the moon for a thousand moons. He knew that the sisters will definitely find a way to send there if he refuses to do option one of his punishment. “Okay! Okay, I’ll do option one!” He said in fear, “I’ll do prison and the community service! Just please don’t send me to the moon! Please!” “That’s what I thought.” Luna levitated a magical crystal ball from her bag with her magic and used it to drain all the chaos from Discord and locked them away just so he doesn’t get any funny ideas, even before going home. “Serves him right,” said Cadence crossly. “Now then,” said Celestia before looking at Cosmos, “As for you, Cosmos.” Cosmos sighed before saying, “Don’t worry, I was planning on leaving anyway. Don’t think Equestria needs another Draconequus around.” “Oh don’t worry, I wasn’t going to tell you to never return to Equestria,” said Celestia with a smile on her face. “Huh?” Cosmos asked in shock and confusion. “Yes,” said Luna, “Since you’re not really evil and after all the help you’ve done, we were gonna ask if you would to visit Equestria whenever you want.” Cosmos gasped in happiness. “Really?! Oh ahem, I mean, yes please, your majesties. On one condition.” “Name it,” said Luna politely. “I would like to be part of Lightning Twister’s family as one of his aunties.” “Does that mean, I can call you Auntie Cosmos?” Lightning asked happily. “Yes, it does,” answered Cosmos softly while smiling, “Now come and give your Auntie Cosmos a hug.” Lightning smiled with joy as he ran up to Cosmos and hugged her around him. Cosmos hugged him with tears of happiness in her eyes. Everyone else smiled at the two. Fluttershy flew up to Cosmos and said, “Welcome to the family, Cosmos.” Cosmos smiled at Fluttershy and said, “Thank you, Fluttershy.” Discord, however, was not happy from what he has heard and seen. “But that’s not fair! Why does she get to return to Equestria but I don’t?! She’s a Draconequus, like me! She does cha…!” He was stopped by a magical zip on the mouth by Cosmos. He tried to unzip it, but thanks to Cosmos’s strong chaos, he was unable to continue talking. “You might wanna keep that on him in case he still winces when we get home,” said Cosmos. “Good idea,” said Luna. The Equestria group, Constantine and Vincent all turned to the Tree of Life group. “Well, we best be going,” said Twilight, “Thanks for helping us save Lightning and defeat Ardyn.” “No worries,” said Kion, “And thanks for helping us save Roni. We couldn’t have done it without you.” “Feel free to come back anytime you want,” said Rani. “We shall do that,” said Celestia softly. “Hey Lightning,” said Roni, “I just wanted to say thank you for all your help. You were amazing.” Lightning smiled at the cub as Cosmos gently placed him down the ground and in front of Roni. “Thanks. And thanks for helping me out as well. You’re a real amazing cub.” Lightning and Roni hoof and paw bumped each other while smiling still. “See you around, Lightning.” “See you around, Roni.” The two waved goodbye to each other as Lightning went back to the group. Everyone else waved goodbye to the Tree of Life team while they waved goodbye back to them. Constantine used his magic to teleport them all back to Equestria as a dark golden magical grasp ball formed around them and shrunk into a tiny ball before flying into the sky. The Tree of Life team watched the ball disappear into the sky. “Bye, new friends!” Binga said while still waving. Everyone was still waving goodbye while smiling as they stopped waving. “Shame we didn’t get the chance to get to know each other before facing Ardyn,” said Makini. “Yeah,” agreed Bunga. “Well, there’s always next time,” said Kion while smiling, “Besides, everything’s back to the way it was, Ardyn’s gone and we don’t have to worry about Makucha or his allies for a long time. And our new friends are back home now where they belong.” “And similar to what you said, Kion, time for us to go back to where we belong,” said Rani happily. Kion gave Rani a nod in agreement as they all went back to the cave of the Tree of Life and start cleaning up the mess that the villains caused. Back in Equestria, everyone was at Twilight’s castle as Pinkie Pie was throwing a huge party to celebrate their victory of defeating Ardyn and saving Lightning Twister and Roni from his nightmares. Twilight wanted to throw one and asked Pinkie to help. Celestia, Luna and Solar Eclipse was there after putting Discord in prison to begin his punishment. They plan on sorting his first community service later as they want to be at the party as well. Cosmos was asked if she would like to sing at the party which she accepted the offer as she was singing a reprise of the song she sung to Lightning and his friends a few days back. Can your friends do this? Cosmos twisted her body round before twisted her body back to normal. Can your friends do that? Cosmos made more balloons appear in the room. Can your friends pull this? Cosmos pulled a cupcake from Pinkie’s mane. Out their little hat? Cosmos tossed the cupcake up and fell into Pinkie’s mouth to which she ate. Lightning was standing near a table eating a chocolate cupcake while happily watching his new aunt sing. Fluttershy, Capper and Twilight walked towards him and stood by him. “You feeling more better now, sweetheart?” “Yes, Momma,” answered Lightning politely, “And with Daddy gone, I don’t feel worried about him coming after me again or anymore nightmares happening.” Fluttershy smiled proudly at her son and said, “I’m proud of you, baby.” “Besides, if anything like that happens again, I’ll always know I’ll have my friends and family around to help me.” He looked at Twilight, “While the magic of friendship grows.” Twilight nodded her head at him as Cosmos finished her song. You ain't never had a friend, never had a friend, you ain't Never had a friend, never had a friend You ain't never (never!) Had a (had a) Friend (friend) Like (like) Me You ain't never had a friend like me The end Cast: Ashleigh Ball - Applejack, Rainbow Dash & Nurse Redheart Kathleen Barr - Chrysalis Shannon Chan-Kent - Smolder Devyn Dalton - Ocellus John de Lancie - Discord Taye Diggs - Capper Andrew Francis - Shining Armor Ian Hanlin - Sunburst Lauren Jackson - Silverstream Gavin Langelo - Gallus Andrea Libman - Fluttershy & Pinkie Pie Britt McKillip - Princess Cadence Nicole Oliver - Princess Celestia Katrina Salisbury - Yona Kelly Sheridan - Starlight Glimmer Rebecca Shoichet - Sunset Shimmer Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity, Princess Luna, Nightmare Moon & Lightning Twister Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle Vincent Tong - Sandbar Cathy Weseluck - Spike Mark Acheson - Lord Tirek Sunni Westbrook - Cozy Glow Emily Blunt - Tempest Shadow Liev Schreiber - Storm King Vivien Lyra Blair - Flurry Heart (young) Haley Joel Osment - Sora & Vanitas David Gallagher - Riku Willa Holland - Aqua Alyson Stoner - Kairi & Xion Bret Iwan - Mickey Mouse Tony Anselmo - Donald Duck Bill Farmer - Goofy Quinton Flynn - Axel Jason Dohring - Terra Jesse McCartney - Ventus & Roxas Corey Burton - Yen Sid Dylan Sprouse - Yozora Oliver Churchill - Oliver Sparkle Matt Ryan - John Constantine Jenna Coleman - Princess Amore Awkwafina - Cosmos David Harbour - Solar Eclipse/Midnight Crown Burt Ward - Vincent the Purple Guard C. Thomas Howell - Mr Warlock Jennifer Hale - Mrs Warlock Patrick Fabian - Cold Wind Max Charles - Kion Joshua Rush - Bunga Diamond White - Fuli Atticus Shaffer - Ono Dusan Brown - Beshte Landry Bender - Makini Bryana Salaz - Anga Steve Blum - Makucha Kimiko Glenn - Chuluun Andrew Kishino - Ora Peyton Elizabeth Lee - Rani Miki Yamashita - Nirmala Hudson Yang - Baliyo Lou Diamond Phillips - Surak Vyvan Pham - Ullu Behzad Dabu - Azaad Fiona Riley - Binga Grant Feely - Roni Benedict Cumberbatch - Doctor Strange Tika Sumpter - Maddie Wachowski Jim Carrey - Robotink Ben Schwartz - Sonic James Marsden - Tom Wachowski Idris Elba - Knuckles Colleen O’Shaughnessey - Tails Lee Majdoub - Agent Stone Keanu Reeves - Shadow Darin De Paul - Ardyn Izunia Mads Mikkelsen - Gellert Grindelwald Eddie Redmayne - Newt Scamander Jude Law - Albus Dumbledore Dan Fogler - Jacob Kowalski Ezra Miller - Credence Barebone Alison Sudol - Queenie Goldstein Callum Turner - Theseus Scamander Katherine Waterson - Tina Goldstein