Twilight found herself in the middle of Ponyville.
How did she recognize that it was Ponyville?
Not far away from her was her library now sporting two big, wooden legs and a cowboy hat. It seemed like it was playing poker with Pinkie's alligator, which now was as big as her library and wearing a suit. It was missing a few branches, a door, and two windows which now laid with a few other things next to Pinkie's pet. Jumping around them was Sugar Corner frisking and barking happily.
Note to herself: after everything is over check if something is missing in the library, and if so then check Sugar Corner. But she didn't have time to worry about her library, she had much more important matters- she had to find a way to defeat Discord.
To do this she needed to find the only known thing that had ever worked on him- The Elements of Harmony, but she had only one, her Magic, and she didn't know where she could find the rest. It was said that Elements are connected.
Maybe I can use my Element as a tracking device to find others.
With this in mind, she galloped through the town to find them and tried to avoid the surrounding chaos.
Luna knew that fighting Discord was a bad idea, but she didn't have much choice.
Sure, she could run away with Twilight, but it would not work for long. Lord of Chaos was too powerful to hide endlessly. For him normal magic was like a toy, he could do everything he ever wanted with it. The only thing he ever cared about was his amusement and unfortunately for Luna, she was one of the best for him. The being that was somewhat immune to his magic while could not harm him too much. It was a perfect doll to play with in his eyes.
Furthermore, even if they successfully run away and hide, what type of life it would be? A constant fear of being discovered, not living between your own species, knowing that it is only a matter of time before the place that you are currently in would become a new playground for him.
Luna would not wish this upon her daughter, so she would make sure that it wouldn't come to be. Even if she had to suffer because of it.
But the fight wasn't ideal either.
For normal pony Discord wasn't well known. He was a being erased from history. A creature that only a few researchers could remember on top of his head and even less describe how he looks.
As for Nightmare Moon?
She was a monster from a fairy tale. A true monster given shape, eater of colts and fillies on a dark night. Who wouldn't know this tale if every mother repeated this story to their children to make them behave? There was even a celebration created to placate her to keep her away from towns and cities. Sure now it was mostly a funny way to collect sweets, but who knows how it came to be?
Moreover, Luna was easily spotted on a sunny day, so she naturally became the center of attention. The fight didn't help her either, with the chaos everywhere ponies could easily mistake the fight against Discord with them fighting against her.
In conclusion, dark alicorn became in their eyes the perpetrator of the attack and they came to unanimous decision.
Luna needed to rest even for a short while, her breath was shallow and her legs were shaking. The fight was much more tiring than she anticipated, she should have exercised more.
She landed in one of many streets in Canterlot, empty since ponies hide in their homes, but even then she didn't let her guard down, she cast a protective barrier, just in case.
As she rested a unicorn with a red coat showed himself leaving one of the houses near where Luna landed. His horn was lit, but he didn't seem to be casting a spell. Instead, it appeared as thought he was using telekinesis on something. He approached her with a determined look not saying a word until he was near her.
"You are Nightmare Moon." It sounded more like a statement than a question with a hint of anger beneath.
"That's how you all described me." She answered honestly, which resulted in silence.
As she contemplated what he wanted from her she heard new sounds around her. These were ponies leaving their homes and slowly but surely surrounding her. Many of them were carrying their magic knives, rollers, chairs, or even whole tables with them. They didn't look happy.
"Nightmare!" The first pony who spoke to her, shouted, acting as a leader of the group."We had enough of your terror, we won't allow you to continue anymore!" With this everypony prepared themself to attack her." Attack!"
The array of numerous things flew at Luna but bounced harmlessly off her shield. The quantity was quite large but not enough to be a danger to her, they needed few more powerful mages to even dent her barrier, but they believed they were enough for her weakened state. How foolish.
"Hmmm, how interesting." Discord which chose this moment to show his present, rested on top of a nearby building. Well, maybe the word rested was wrong for the thing he was doing. He currently was sunbathing in a dark swimsuit while the chocolate was raining on his head, sipping colors from the building with a straw."Hated by ponies you are trying to protect" He took another sip, while those who noticed him started cheering for him"How pitifully, dear Luna. How long it will take for you to finally understand that they will always hate you."
"You are mistaken." Her horn flared up, knocking away attacking ponies."I understood long ago that there is no place for me in their hearts."She broke pieces of a nearby building, preparing to fire on Discord.
"Then why are you fighting for them?" He asked surprised.
Luna only smiled. "Who said that I'm fighting for them?" And the battle started anew.
Twilight was currently busy battling through the Everfree Forest together with her friends.
How did she get to this point?
While she tried to find some quiet place to make a tracking spell for Elements she was knocked over by Rainbow Dash. She tried to be a hero and was battling the chaotic weather without any idea how even to proceed. In the end, she was caught by chocolate rain and she landed on Twilight.
Applejack together with Rarity was raining from a colony of dancing bunnies. This view didn't help the fact that both of them looked like they ran through a clown shop. At the end of this charade was Fluttershy trying to convince bunnies to return to their homes and promising carrots.
She didn't know when and how Pinkie Pie joined them but considering who she was she didn't dare to ask for her sanity, no matter how little she still had.
After they all gathered she explained that this all was caused by Discord and only Elements of Harmony could stop him. She said that she didn't know where that was.
Then Pinkie Pie produced a Guide to the Elements of Harmony.
She could feel her eye twitching and she really tried not to scream from the absurdity of this situation.Deep breath, deep breath. She repeater to herself. She didn't have time for a nervous breakdown. They weren't even anywhere near a library or anything that could be considered a place for books.
After they learned that the last known place for Elements of Harmony to be seen was A Castle of Royal Sister they head to the Everfree Forest.
Back to the present.
"So even Everfree could stop completely this chaotic magic, huh" Noticed Applejack and it was true. The edge of the forest couldn't be distinguished from the rest of the country. However the deeper they went the more natural, considering it was Everfree Forest to begin with, it looked. Because of that, they couldn't know how it could react to their present.
"Better be prepared for everything." Warned Twilight." This mix of magic could be very unstable and we don't know how animals and whatever lived here were changed by it and how it affected their behavior." The monsters living in the forest were very dangerous to ponies to begin with now with unstable magic they could spell disaster if not cautious.
"No monster is too dangerous for the hero, Rainbow Dash." Procalimed said pony.
"Please Rainbow, don't jinx it." Replayed Applejack.
However, they didn't encounter any animals and then entered the ruined castle peacefully.
"Huh? Anypony feeling that something should happen, or it is only me?" Asked Applejack. "No not only you, it was boring." Answered Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, hush you." Twilight silenced them."We don't know where Elements could be so we should split and search the rooms. If anyone spots something, shout." She declared and the rest went searching.
While it was true that she didn't know where Elements could be she had a good guess where they could be. There were many rooms and corners in this old castle but only one room wasn't searched by her and her mother. This room was sealed by powerful magic and there was an alarm system in case somepony went inside. Because of this, they could just barge in that day, but now? There was a high possibility that the pony who created this was too busy with the chaos outside to even check this place. Moreover, the enchants could become unusable by the powerful magic now spread through the kingdom.
As she navigated through the castle she prepared herself for the worst.
Thankfully it wasn't needed.
The doors to the room reassembled noodles more than wood, so she could easily slip through.
The room inside was enormous, remaining her of a dance hall in the castle, but now empty. The light was sipping through many windows, some completely destroyed, some still picturing moments from history. Twilight could recognize some of them from her mother's stories, the founding of Equestria, the first defeat of Discord, and many more. The floor was made from marble in different shades, but it wasn't caused by different stones, but by things that once laid upon said stone. From square shades she could piece the layout of carpets, furniture, and other things, now long gone.
This room had been beautiful a long time ago, but now it was only a shadow of its former glory.
The most fascinating piece was standing in the center of the hall. The monument is reminiscent of an upside-down chandelier holding five stone balls, each picturing a gem.
Could they be?
She activated her magic and levitated five orbs to her while checking if they really were the Elements they were looking for.
"So these are the Elements of Harmony." Somepony said behind her causing her to jump to the ceiling. When she looked back she was met with the faces of Pinkie Pie and the rest of her friends.
"Wha... how are you all here?"
"My Pinkie sense told me!"Singed Pinkie Pie. Twilight decided that she had enough on her plate to not question her.
"It seems so, but why are they stones?" Wondered Twilight.
"Maybe they are in some sort of dormant state, waiting until awakened by the bearers"
"It makes sense." Said Twilight."Thanks."
"You're welcome" A voice answered while big yellow claw snatched orbs. The mane 6 followed it to see a familiar face to Twilight."And I wondered where have you been?"
"Discord!"
"Why are you here?!"Demanded Twilight.
"Simple Twilight."He bumped her nose."I got bored and decided to check on you." He snapped his tail rearranging the room to his liking. Seeing this Twilight didn't give up."But even if I would you still would lose."
Twilight didn't wait for him to finish, she teleported herself on top of Elements and there one to her friends. "It isn't nice to interrupt somebody" He wanted to snap his fingers again, but a blow to his face didn't allow him.
"Girls, get them!" She shouted while preventing Discord from focusing on other ponies. Her friends encouraged by her bravery finally had taken action.
Each one had instinctually taken place in the battle. Applejack together with Rainbow Dash was mainly focused on retrieving stones from his grasp, while Rarity acted as a stand-by guardian, controlling if her friends didn't make mistakes and if so help them. Fluttershy was keeping herself outside of the main battle, she wasn't good at fighting, and she was more like an additional distraction.
But none of this would have been possible without Twilight. Every time Discord used his magic she would counter it freeing her friends and allowing them to fight more. Of course, the ability to counter his magic didn't go undetected by Discord.
"How are you doing this?" Demanded Lord of Chaos. "You could do this well in Canterlot!" Disguised alicorn only smirked. "Who said that I was fighting with full power then?" This statement caused deja vu for Discord, but he could remember where she heard something similar.
"This is pointless, you can't win against chaos!" Shouted Discord while receiving a kick from Applejack."You are only six mares, you can't do anything to me!"
"This is true, but it doesn't mean that we shouldn't try." Answered cowboy-pony while stealing an Element from him. "Twilight said that these orbs can defeat you and we believe her."
"What? You just believed her?" He started to play seriously."You don't even know her well!"
"We may don't know her long but she is our friend. She earned our respect and our friendship." As she spoke one of the orbs started shining. "She may know more than she wants to share, but it's ok, everypony has secrets. We will stand with her."
"She is a loyal friend, so why I should be loyal too to her? She didn't leave any of us, so we won't leave her!" Rainbow Dash proudly stated."No matter what you throw at us we won't give up!" Another orb started shining.
"Sometimes the best gift you can give is a little of your time, a few seconds to listen to others, a minute to chat." Proclaimed Rarity." Friends need to be generous to maintain their friendship, it is not possible to grow anything by only taking." Twilight noticed the third orb shining. Her friends were beares and she was thankful that she could trust them a little more but at the same time the only dangers awaited them.
"You can't laugh alone, silly."Pinkie said with a smile."The best smile is with a friend, it is the biggest and the longest smile you will ever know!" As to her belief, an orb shined like it was laughing.
"A little kindness is in every creature, no matter if big or small."Quietly whispered Fluttershy."You don't need to be brave to show it to others, everyone is different."
Discord raged."Oh, bu hu. You still need the last Element and I'm not telling you."He crossed his arms."Without it you can parade with the rest all you want but it is still my victory."
"It is?" Questioned Twilight. As Discord looked at her with raised eyebrow, she summoned her Element.
"Oh, come on!"
"Girls, together!" As the last remaining piece was summoned, the stone orbs shattered relieving the shard of Elements. Twilight's horn shone bright multicolored light slowly connecting her with her friends. The shards combined themself creating on their respectful beares necklaces and on a twilight head a crown.
Twilight managed to say something before they fired at Discord." This is the end of this battle. Together with my friends, because friendship is magic!"
A rainbow flew from them enveloping Discord and turning him back to stone. When it was finished it spread through the world marking a new age to come.
Mane 6 was slowly lowered to the floor after this ordeal. The dangers have passed, and they succeded. With adrenaline still in their veins it took a few moments for them to fully realize what happened.
"We won." But when they did they were overjoyed."Ha! Did you see that? We totally kicked his flanks!" Rainbow Dash could not contain his excitement. While Dash was more focused on battle, Rarity and Fluttershy admired their new necklaces.
"I must say that they are fabulous! the shape and colors are just perfect!"
"Oh yes, I must agree."
"I must say that this day was really something. "Said Applejack to Twilight." Friendship is magic, right Twilight?" She winked.
"You are right," the purple unicorn said while giggling. She was happy that it was over and she wasn't discovered.
Crack
"What was that?" Rarity and Pinkie Pie said simultaneously. Small stones started falling from the ceiling, cracks started appearing on the walls. The room was falling apart.
"Run!" Ordered Twilight but before they could leave, the door out was blocked by a falling stone. The room was kept in shape by remaining magic from centuries ago, but Discord destroyed the balance that it had. Now he was gone and any support his magic provided was gone too.
"Dash, look for the exit!" Disguised alicorn hoped that there was another door."On it!" But before she could even move a large stone hit her in the wings. Twilight caught her, before she could hit a floor, and brought her together with the rest. She cast a shield over them, but without her releasing her alicorn form it could not hold for long. There were many rooms above them if everything fell apart they could be buried alive.
She could feel her seal weakening from overusing her magic. It wasn't possible to forcefully seal their magic, but it was possible if they were remaining on their own. Now she could revert to her true state at any moment.
"Twilight we need a plan and now!" Shouten nervously Applejack.
She could reveal herself and save her friends but then they would know and the question would follow. She looked at their scared faces and decided.
A pair of wings sprouted from her back, and as she grew a little the glow of her horn became much brighter. "Twilight!?" Her friends noticed the transformation, but she didn't have time to explain it at that moment. "Hold on!" She used her wings to draw them closer to her and then teleported out.
Just in time to prevent them from being buried beneath the rubble.