“What are you playing at?” Rainbow Dash asked suddenly. Gray shifted his attention to the rainbow-maned pegasus allowing Twilight a chance to escape.
“I am not playing. I speak the truth,” Gray said monotonously. His gaze fell upon Ponyville then, frightening the inhabitants and sending them in a manic flurry.
“Alright mister, you’d better skedaddle or else we’ll put the hurtin’ on ya!” Applejack threatened, grinding her teeth and stirring up dirt. Gray Umbra simply scoffed and blinked once. A shockwave escaped from his being and crashed into the six ponies around him. Everypony slammed into the ground, taken aback by Gray’s effortless assault.
“Buddy, you just declared war on Equestria!” Pinkie Pie growled. Gray turned to face the six directly.
“I’ve always been at war with Equestria Pinkie Pie,” he said.
“You know my name?”
“I know all of your names. I know all about you six, I know all about your battles, and I know all about your friendship. Might I add that I abhor the idea?” Gray inquired of the pink pony.
“So then, what’s the secret? How do you know everything about us and how were you able to come about?” Twilight asked displaying a little more confidence.
“I, Gray Umbra, am the sole manifestation of chaos. In essence, I am everything you six have lived to fight against and prevent,” Gray stated. “You know nothing of the powers hidden in those relics,” he continued on. Twilight peered over at the lifeless jewels Gray was referring to.
“The Elements of Harmony were forged in order to dispel chaos and to repair the natural flow of things whenever evil tipped the balance of chaos and harmony. However, this would imply that the reverted chaos could not be destroyed, but instead only contained and then safely restored to the world. In light of recent events, the Elements of Harmony were used in such abundance that the chaos contained in them could not flow out fast enough, and the scale tipped a little too far towards harmony. A tip on the scale in either side could mean total annihilation for the world you all live in. In order to balance out the natural flow of things, you have this creature standing before you.”
“Hold on, are you saying that the Elements are a bad thing?” Rainbow Dash asked with a little contempt in her voice.
“No, I am saying that they are meant to harbor a set amount of chaos and it takes time for that chaos to be released back into the world. Everytime you ponies used the Elements, you reverted a chaotic event and trapped that energy inside of the Elements. Naturally, it takes about ten years for the Elements to properly cleanse themselves after such catastrophic events,” Gray explained. “Your overzealous use of the ancient gems rendered them inert. In this state of dullness, the Elements dispel the stored chaos progressively faster, but at a terrible consequence. They cannot be used at all.”
“It all makes sense now…I was feeling the release of evil energy into the world. I tipped the natural scale of things and when we tried to use the Elements in their inert state…”
“They cracked under the pressure,” Gray finished for Twilight. “You’ve abused the power given to you by your Princess Celestia,” Gray said and stamped his hoof on the floor. The ground below him shattered, raising large spires of broken earth into the air and upsetting a plethora of vegetation.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight yelled out.
“Once, the Elements were used to dispel the chaos that was Nightmare Moon. Second, the Elements were used to amend Discord’s chaotic realm. Both instances erased chaos, overloading the Elements with darkness. Combine that with their next two uses, one to free Discord from his stone prison, as well as activate them while they were going through their cleansing process, and you have one big mess,” Gray said rising into the air.
“Wait a minute! I thought you said you were created to balance this scale thingy!” Rarity shouted.
“That is true, but being the full embodiment of chaos, I find this world quite displeasing. In fact, I think I’d rather see it drown in chaos than live a boring life of mere existence,” Gray bellowed.
“You can’t do that! It’ll destroy everything!” Twilight cried. Gray zoomed down from his perch and stared at the lavender mare.
“I house an extreme hatred towards your harmony Twilight Sparkle. If you did not want this to come about, then you should not have used the Elements of Harmony in the first place,” Gray said.
The evil alicorn began charging an unholy magic in the tip of his horn and set his gaze on Ponyville. Twilight jumped to her hooves as quick as she could, heading straight for Gray. Gray released his dark magic amidst the town of the frantic residents. Twilight teleported just in time and performed a barrier spell to deflect the attack. The force of the two magics colliding caused both spells to break and created a large explosion in mid-air instead of on the ground. The force repelled Twilight away from her friends and into Ponyville’s center, crashing her into a small vendor’s stall.
She removed the wreckage around her and caught sight of Gray Umbra trotting into town. As he moved, the buildings around him shook violently and structures began to crumble. The green grass died under his hoof steps and the sky darkened directly over his figure. Twilight sprung up from her posture and met the villain in the middle of town. Gray ceased his trot and eyed Twilight carefully, a little curiosity brooding within his mind.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted from behind Gray. Spike and the rest of Twilight’s friends galloped over to her, standing firm and clearly showing their defiance towards the evil stallion that loomed over them. Gray brayed loudly and shoved the group aside using his telepathy.
“Hey! That wasn’t very nice!” Pinkie Pie shouted dismounting Applejack’s back.
“Gray Umbra, stop your destruction now!” Twilight commanded rising boldly to her hooves. The dark alicorn halted once more, and turned around. The party of multicolored female ponies stood ready once more, almost as if unshaken by Gray’s last warning shot.
“Twice I have allowed you to perhaps flee with your lives, but I see now that you wish to be destroyed immediately,” Gray said and flew into the air. Twilight held her ground, backed by the five mares she had always put her trust in. She looked to each of them and gave everyone a sorry expression. What she received however, was the very confident and determined faces of five best friends.
“Like I said, we’re in this together,” Applejack repeated.
“Then die together,” Gray cried out and beat his wings in the air. Visible forms of the wind manifested out of his gesture, and tore wildly through the sky. Twilight skipped in front of her friends and formed another shield, this time enveloping them in a spherical orb. Gray’s attack struck the barrier and rocked the party about in a small maelstrom. Twilight could hear the vicious scrapes against her protective magic and concentrated hard to keep the magic solidified.
“I’m going to drop the shield! After I do, I need you two to distract him Rainbow and Pinkie!” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash nodded in response and awaited her window. Pinkie Pie saluted comically. “Applejack, you and Rarity are going to help me launch a ground assault on Gray.” Both ponies agreed and then Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “Alright Fluttershy, you’re going to-”
“Oh please Twilight, don’t make me do anything too dangerous!” Fluttershy peeped out. She was already hiding under her hooves with her rump in the air.
“No Fluttershy! You and Spike need to get away as far as possible. Get a message to Princess Celestia and then have Spike send me a letter telling me where you two are at! Spike,” Twilight said shifting her attention now. The force field around the group popped a hole, allowing a single blade of wind to enter. It lightly grazed Twilight’s mane, cutting off a few strands of hair. “Spike, there’s not much time, get a message to Celestia and Luna and then go someplace familiar to me. Let me know where okay?” Spike nodded, though he too was as terrified as Fluttershy. The shield popped another hole.
“Uh, Twilight?!” Rarity called out trying to patch the magic with her own.
“Don’t bother; I’m going to drop the shield after his attack ends. I can feel it waning,” Twilight responded. As soon as she finished, Gray’s spell ceased and Twilight released her magic as well. Fluttershy picked up Spike and darted off as fast as possible. Twilight tried to catch what Spike was trying to say, but all of her attention was on Gray Umbra at the moment.
Rainbow Dash lifted Pinkie Pie into the air and soared into the sky to meet the evil alicorn head on.
“Hey ugly!” Rainbow Dash called out, seeking Gray’s attention. Gray locked onto the duo flying before him and sent a stream of dark magic in their direction. Rainbow glided out of the way just in time and Gray’s attack collided with the spire of Town Hall. The building shattered in a deafening explosion and lifted more dust into the air.
“Hey, be more careful Dashie!” Pinkie Pie shouted, waving her limbs about.
“Rarity, I need you to locate some gems for me. Large ones preferably,” Twilight said.
“But I can’t detect gems in Ponyville that are as big as you want. Not without digging too deep that is…” Rarity protested.
“Would you just quit yer yappin and do it already!” Applejack shouted. Rarity began dowsing with her horn, occasionally glancing at her friends in the air.
“Applejack, we’ll use those bucking legs of yours to launch any gems Rarity finds at Gray. All we have to do is hold him off until one of the princesses arrive,” Twilight said, going over the plan in her head again. She looked up at her other friends and hoped they would stay relatively okay.
Pinkie Pie hung from Rainbow Dash’s forelimbs and bucked about whenever Dash would get close to Gray. None of her attacks actually landed, but she was enjoying herself.
“Pests,” Gray uttered and roared in their direction. His voice crossed their flight plan and knocked both of them off course, stumbling Rainbow Dash and causing Pinkie to lose her grip.
“AHHH! HELP!” Pinkie Pie shouted, hanging by one hoof.
“Hold on Pinkie!” Rainbow said straining to pick her up. She lost her grip on the pink pony however, and Pinkie Pie fell from the sky and crashed into a building below. “Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash shouted out, rushing to her aid.
“Oh no, he got em!” Applejack yelled.
“Aha! I found one!” Rarity gleefully cheered. Twilight ran over to her position and felt out the crystal’s form. It was moderately sized, but it would do. She concentrated real hard and her horn began to emit a faint glow. Suddenly, a bright flash of light blinded the area and faded to reveal a beautifully formed diamond.
“Perfect, sharp edges,” Twilight said. “Applejack, I’m going to toss it to you. Buck it straight at Gray while Rarity distracts him!”
“Whaaa?! I thought Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were doing that!” Rarity cried.
“Gray Umbra knocked em down, so we need a new distraction before he decides to attack us again!” Applejack said. Quite suddenly the building that Pinkie and Dash had landed in ruptured, opening up the top floor. Everypony turned to see a damaged Sugarcube Corner, and standing on the second floor with her hooves around a large cannon was Pinkie herself.
“Heeeeeeere’s Dashie!” she cried out and fired her weapon. Rainbow Dash sped out of the barrel lightly covered in confetti and party streamers. She rocketed towards Gray and spun about in order to plant a firm set of hooves into his muzzle. The winged beast dodged the assault, but Rainbow quickly zoomed around him and clung onto his mane.
“Never mind, Applejack, get ready! Rarity, help me with the gem!” Twilight commanded. Both she and Rarity lifted the diamond and flung it at Applejack. The orange cowpony situated herself exactly where she needed to be and bucked the jewel at the still preoccupied Gray Umbra.
Rainbow Dash saw the incoming diamond and moved out of the way, freeing Gray from his frantic struggle with her. Twilight concentrated her magic again and aimed at the diamond flying straight at Gray. It absorbed the magic and doubled in size just before impact, crashing into Gray Umbra and sending him, along with the giant rock, crashing to the floor.
"Whooo Wee! We still got it!" Applejack cheered hoof bumping Rainbow Dash.
“What a relief! You think I can keep the diamond now?” Rarity asked.
“Hold on, that won’t be enough,” Twilight said, feeling the rising pressure of Gray’s power seething from under the diamond. Before she could react, a green flame sprouted from above her head and a piece of parchment landed on the ground. Twilight hastily opened the letter and called her friends over to her.
“Okay girls, Spike just confirmed that he's sent the letter, but we can’t remain in Ponyville. If we fight here, Gray will destroy everything,” Twilight informed them.
“Know any good wastelands nearby?” Rarity inquired to Rainbow Dash.
Gray forcefully removed the diamond lying on top of him and crushed the gem into an innumerable amount of worthless shards. He fixed his tattered mane and brayed off the shock that came with being struck by the ton of rock.
“How very resourceful,” Gray complimented soon after rushing the group of idle ponies.
“Everypony move!” Applejack screamed out. Rolling away, she caught a few of her friends and tumbled with them just barely avoiding becoming skewered ponies. Twilight covered the rest of her friends, rolling in the opposite direction. Gray tore up the earth as he passed through the group. Twilight shielded her face as strewn about clogs of dirt littered the air. She quickly pulled everypony to their hooves and braced for another assault.
“Where are we going Twilight?” Rainbow asked.
“Let’s try Everfree Forest. There aren’t too many ponies or innocent animals there,” Twilight responded.
“Fluttershy won’t like that,” Rainbow objected.
“We really don’t have a choice now Rainbow, don’t argue.” Twilight’s voice resonated with a little more authority than Rainbow Dash would have liked. She chose not to respond back however and awaited an order.
“We’ll wait until Gray attacks again and make a break for Everfree,” Twilight planned out.
“How are you so certain he’ll follow?” Rarity asked.
“I’m not. But he seems too focused on us to just let us escape. It’s our best bet,” Twilight reaffirmed. Gray Umbra fell out of his spin and straightened his flight. His glare returned to the defiant ponies before him and he prepared for another charge.
“Rainbow, get his attention so he’ll be more inclined to take the bait,” Twilight suggested.
Rainbow zoomed ahead of the group and stuck her tongue out at Gray.
“Pretty lame for somepony who claims to be all of chaos an evil. You can’t even stop five little ponies!” Rainbow teased.
“I’m working on it,” Gray responded beating his wings in Rainbow’s direction. A small gust knocked into Rainbow Dash and tumbled her about. Twilight halted her somersault and pulled the rainbow pony to her side.
“Sorry, but if it helps, you did a good job,” Twilight said timidly. Gray Umbra charged again, this time manifesting a magic drill over his horn.
“Here he comes!” Pinkie Pie shouted tensely jumping up and down.
Gray lowered his head and flew aggressively towards the group once more. Twilight waited until the last moment and clutched her friends together in a telepathic bond. She shut her eyes and teleported the group behind Gray seconds before impact. With the path now clear, Twilight led the charge, galloping towards the Everfree Forest, with the others following closely behind.
“Where’s Gray Umbra?” Applejack asked suddenly. She increased speed after the ground trembled and began to smell of smoldering ruin.
“Guess that means he’s behind us,” Pinkie Pie answered.
Twilight turned her head to get an estimate on how far away Gray actually was, but she quickly recanted after she saw him soaring through the air instead of galloping as well.
“Figures,” Rainbow Dash shouted, remarking about Gray’s aerial chase. “Why don’t they ever play by the rules?” she questioned. The group was able to maintain a good speed above Gray, just barely avoiding all of the chaos magic he tossed in their direction. However, the evil alicorn was catching up, and Twilight needed to act again.
“I’m going to transport us again, this time deep into the forest. Everypony grab a hoof!” Twilight shouted. The group halted their gallop and locked hooves, now at the complete mercy of Twilight’s rapidness.
“Hurry up Egghead!” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight shushed her and continued to meditate.
“For goodness’s sake perform the spell already!” Rarity cried out teetering back and forth.
“Alright, got it!” Twilight yelled out.
Gray Umbra sent a wave of dark energy to destroy his foes, but instead wasted another spell on the empty dirt beneath him. He brayed irritably and examined the large expanse of tree and root before him. The evil alicorn dropped to his hooves and entered the dark woods, choosing to travel by lesser means. He entered the dank and dreary settlement of the many dangerous creatures that Equestria had to offer, and began dowsing for the group of escaped ponies.
“I’ll see to it that this world suffocates in a cloud of chaos, but not before I snuff out the very light you ponies choose to keep lit,” Gray said menacingly. Although the fluctuation of his voice did not rise above an indoor setting, he was sure at least Twilight would catch his message.
Twilight and her friends manifested within the deep thicket of the Everfree Forest. The group stumbled on the floor and sprawled about groaning in moderate queasiness.
“Ngh…I guess I forgot to mention…I don’t like teleporting much,” Rainbow Dash uttered out sickly.
Twilight picked herself up and began casting another spell. She felt out for her remaining two friends and instantly teleported them to their location.
“Oh! Oh my, that was…different,” Fluttershy said nervously.
“Twilight, I’m happy that you’re still safe!” Spike yelled. He elatedly charged his pony counterpart and hugged her. Twilight shared his relief and hugged him as well, but attended to the matter at hand shortly after. She lifted a misty veil around them and encased the whole area within a sweet smelling purple fog.
“What is this stuff?” Applejack asked, brushing sticks and leaves out of her mane.
“This will keep us hidden from Gray a little longer, just long enough for a response from Celestia,” Twilight said.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you,” Spike blurted out, “The princess already responded. She needs you back in Canterlot immediately,” he finished as he handed Twilight the rolled up scroll.
“What? She expects me to just leave Gray to his own devices?” Twilight hastily concluded opening the paper. Skimming the message, Twilight lowered her head and sighed. “Alright, it doesn’t seem like I have a choice. I need to get back to Canterlot.”
“Hey, what about us?!” Rainbow Dash cried out angrily.
“I’m sorry Rainbow, but in order to get there as fast as I need to, I’ll have to use my instant transmission, and it doesn’t work too well with more than one pony over a distance that far,” Twilight explained.
“But you can’t just leave us here!” Rarity begged noisily. Twilight looked out over her friends and then stared back at the letter. She looked at Spike who simply shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think there’s another way, I’m sorry girls,” Twilight said sorrowfully.
“Don’t worry about us Twi. You need to take care of what you need to. We’ll be all right here,” Applejack suddenly shouted out. Twilight quickly had doubts about leaving again, until Pinkie Pie spoke up.
“You’re trying to weigh the upsies and downsies huh Twilight? Applejack is right. We’ll be okay, especially inside of this funny purple misty stuff!” she said nuzzling the floating mist. Rarity suddenly had a change of heart and nodded as well.
“Well, I do suppose I can live with it. Better to be hidden here, even if it is a little dirty, than to be out there with that brute,” Rarity told her friends.
“I would just feel terrible if something happened to you while I was gone,” Twilight said trotting over to her friends.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll stay with them,” Spike suggested then. Twilight gave her assistant a concerned stare, but the resolve imbedded in his countenance altered her previous reservations. “I’ll give a holler if anything goes down, and you can zip back here on the fly.”
“Okay Spike. We’ll go along with it. Everyone,” Twilight called moving her gaze from face to face. “I’ll be back as soon as possible. Keep each other safe please, and I’m counting on you to hold off until I can get back.”
“Um, if it’s not too much trouble, can’t you take at least one more pony?” Fluttershy whimpered out, trembling uncontrollably. Twilight motioned over to ease her tension, but was beat by Rainbow Dash.
“It’s all right Fluttershy, as long as we stay inside Twilight’s spell we’ll be safe,” Rainbow said comforting her. Twilight nodded and prepared her spell again.
“Thank you girls, I’m sorry we couldn’t have reunited under better circumstances,” the purple alicorn said before entering her trance.
“It’s all good Twilight, we understand,” Applejack whispered respectfully.
“Some of us anyway,” Rainbow muttered under her breath.
Twilight located the magical aura of Princess Celestia and smiled once more for her friends to see. She motioned with her hoof a wave bye and vanished in a flash of light.
“Five minutes tops,” Twilight’s voice echoed throughout the forest.
*****
“This is most disturbing,” Celestia said, sharing her sister’s concern for Equestria’s safety. She motioned for her guards to leave the chamber and joined her sister in the middle of the room. The lunar princess sat across from her sister, silently mulling over the thoughts in her head. Celestia herself seemed preoccupied with the situation as well, unable to explain the sudden occurrence of this chaos.
“How is it that even we did not know about this?” Luna finally asked. Celestia could hear the distress in her voice, and lowered her head somberly.
“It is not important that we dwell on the past Sister, but look forward, and come up with a solution to this problem. All of Equestria depends on it,” Celestia said firmly.
“Well, what do we know then?” Luna asked.
“His name is Gray Umbra,” Twilight’s voice called out. She appeared in the center of the room, landing on top of the table as her spell wore off. “I don’t know how much Spike told you, but this creature is more dangerous than I had previously thought.” Twilight dismounted the table and took a seat as well, catching her breath before continuing on.
“Twilight Sparkle? You are fatigued,” Luna said, examining her.
“Yes, Gray attacked me and my friends shortly after introducing himself,” Twilight explained. “He claims to be the embodiment of the chaos and disharmony that the Elements have purged from this world.” Twilight turned to Luna then. “I figured out that ominous feeling from before was coming from the Elements themselves.”
“Princess Sparkle, your crown,” Celestia remarked. Twilight reached for it, but remembered how it had been suddenly misplaced.
“I’m sorry Princess. In the mass confusion it got tossed aside along with the other Elements.”
“Spike has related to me everything Gray has told you Princess Sparkle,” Celestia said to her then. “I am aware of Gray’s origins, and I am sorry to hear that it had happened as such. I accept some blame for this manner,” Celestia stated in apology.
“It wasn’t your fault Princess,” Twilight said then. “I was rash and rushed to a solution, and I now realize that was pretty out of context for me. If anything, I should accept full responsibility.”
“Regardless of whose fault it was, we cannot dance around the matter any longer. Now, what do you suggest we do in order to deal with this Gray Umbra? What are his motives?” Luna inquired starkly.
“Gray was formed to balance out the order between chaos and harmony, but he’s let his carnal nature rule over that and openly stated that he’d rather destroy Equestria in a chaotic rampage,” Twilight restated. “So, we need to find a way to reset this scale so that Gray shouldn’t exist.”
“That sounds…illogical,” Luna replied.
“What you need is somepony familiar with situations like these.” A small chuckle resonated throughout the room trailing closely behind the mischievous tone of the voice that just spoke out. “Sorry about the awe, but you know me, I have to make a grand entrance,” Discord said appearing in the doorway, bowing haphazardly to the three princesses in the room.
“Discord, I am pleased that you could join us,” Princess Celestia said, extending a hoof towards him. Discord raised a brow and walked into the chamber, admiring the awfully plain set up of the room given its importance. Then again, what did he know about war rooms? The thought lingered in his mind and caused him to grin. He grabbed Celestia’s hoof and bowed again, taking the seat across from Twilight then. He waved a salutation with his lion paw, though kept that smug demeanor over his face.
“Discord…” Twilight said in acknowledgement.
“Twilight…oops, I mean, Princess Sparkle,” Discord said mockingly.
“Enough,” Celestia quickly interjected before either had a chance to speak again. “Discord, we were discussing on how to handle this new threat known as Gray Umbra. What do you suggest?” Celestia asked straightforwardly.
"Right to the point, as always Princess. We never get to have any fun beforehand." Discord summoned a thinking cap and placed the object over his head. He promptly placed his claw under his bearded chin and mumbled about, shifting his eyes back and forth as if stimulating thought.
“I see that we have some bloke who claims to be inherently chaotic, not a bad chap either if I do say so myself,” Discord said aloud, forming a thought bubble of precisely what he was stating. “What I would suggest is the alteration and or subjugation of said issue into the manipulative matter of whence he manifested, performed by a genius of equal to or greater than skill than the average pony.” By this time, the visual Discord had so generously presented skewed into an unintelligible mess.
“We take the foal and crush him,” Discord said in layman’s terms, crumpling the mass of confusion hanging over his head. “Pfft, embodiment of chaos and disharmony; IF that’s the case, then the Lord of chaos shall put him in his place.”
“That makes sense,” Twilight suddenly said, much to everyone’s surprise. Discord reeled back lazily and placed his arms behind his head.
“Well, that’s one vote,” he said confidently. Twilight narrowed her brow and stamped her forehooves on the table.
“Hold on Discord, I said that it made sense. I didn’t say I agreed with your plan,” she shouted out. Discord opened one eye and yawned. “Why is he here anyway?!” Twilight blurted out.
“I have informed Discord of the situation and have asked him to help us,” Celestia said, clearing up the confusion. “He is a resident of Equestria now, as we all are. AND he vowed to me that he would use his magic for the sake of good rather than evil, correct?” Celestia said, eying Discord severely.
“Guilty as charged my dear princess,” Discord said properly. He turned to Twilight now and sneered in her face. “I offered my help to you Twilight Sparkle, so think about that before you go accusing me of foul play.”
“Even if you are the Lord of Chaos, Gray Umbra is nothing to take lightly," Twilight said shoving him away. "We don’t have the Elements of Harmony on our side this time, and he seems pretty bent on not just the destruction of harmony, but ponykind too,” Twilight shared.
“This guy isn’t satisfied with just throwing the natural order out of whack? He wants to erase the world from existence? Kids these days, they dream too big if you ask me,” Discord replied lightly, chuckling at his own comment.
“This is serious Discord!” Twilight shouted again. “The Elements of Harmony are broken and we’re the last defense against Gray. Why can’t you take this more seriously?”
“Wait, the Elements are broken? He broke them? Oh now I am jealous,” Discord said nonchalantly.
“Actually, we did,” Twilight admitted backing off some now. She could feel the pressuring eyes of the draconequus across from her itching to know more. Discord abandoned his lax position and straightened his posture. He was fighting back an outburst of laughter, and needed something else to catch his attention.
“W-well…what else…what else do we know?” Discord struggled to say with a straight face.
“We know that Gray Umbra is situated somewhere around Ponyville, and that he is already beginning his path of destruction,” Celestia intervened for Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, I must ask you to recover the Elements of Harmony so we can find a way to repair them. Meanwhile, Discord will handle Gray until we can figure something else out,” Celestia finished.
“Evacuation measures have already begun,” Luna interjected suddenly. “After Spike sent his message, we ordered a mandatory evacuation to Canterlot for Ponyville and all surrounding cities. Discord, you will be free to handle the situation as you see fit,” Luna said, stating that last part a bit apprehensively.
“Now, I’m all fine and dandy with this plan, but I see one problem,” Discord butted in amidst the planning. “The Elements of Harmony are busted, and even if you ponies found a way to repair them, they would more than likely burst under the pressure of destroying Gray and any residual chaos he would leave behind him. You would be repeating the process,” Discord explained.
“So do you have a plan that will eliminate Gray Umbra without the need of the Elements?” Luna asked.
“In fact I do. Allow Twilight to accompany me back to Gray’s location and there I will combat Gray Umbra while Twilight performs that good ol’ harmony spell of hers,” Discord suggested. Both ethereal princesses stared at Twilight who in turn gave Discord a look of contempt.
“How do you know about that?” Twilight asked angrily.
“Please, you don’t make it very hard to conceal when you practice every day,” Discord said bluntly.
“Twilight Sparkle, are you capable of performing this spell?” Luna asked intrigued. Twilight fumbled about for a straight answer, afraid to dispel the rising hope she could see in Luna’s eyes, but she had to answer honestly.
“No Princess, I can’t. I haven’t been able to once activate it,” Twilight answered.
“Why even suggest such a thing then?” Luna interrogated of Discord. The nature of her voice held a harsh tone, and she nearly sprung across the table to snap at him.
“She’s close, I’ve seen her practice. I know for a fact that she’ll be able to pull it off under the right circumstances,” Discord said positively. “She’s never been able to use it on an actual situation. I’d say this situation is chaotic enough to warrant a bit of harmony juice eh?” He elbowed Twilight a few times before returning to his seat.
Twilight did not feel as assured as Discord did, but what he spoke was the truth. If the spell was to emit an energy similar to the Elements of Harmony, then perhaps it did require the need of a chaotic event.
“What about the Elements then?” Twilight asked.
“Somepony else can deliver them to Celestia. How about your friends?” Discord asked in response.
“Oh no, my friends,” Twilight cried out suddenly, leaping from her seat and running towards the nearest window.
Her eyes scanned the horizon and she looked over the land towards Ponyville. “I had left them with Gray before coming here.” The sentence left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Were they in a safe location?” Luna asked concernedly.
“Relatively…” Twilight's answer came out uneasily. “They’re hidden in the Everfree Forest right now.”
“Then you must hurry,” Celestia commanded. She rose from her seat and trotted over to Twilight. “We will go along with Discord’s plan for now. The safety of friends comes first. Had I known you were actually in their presence, I never would have asked you to leave,” Celestia said a little sadly.
Twilight felt a big rip in her gut and she regretted her decision after all.
“In my blindness to attend to this meeting, I forgot about the safety of my friends,” Twilight said tearfully. “They assured me it would be fine but, I should have never left regardless.”
“Well then,” Discord entered into the conversation brazenly, “I don’t know about you, but I am not going to sit here and contemplate the fate of my friend. I can’t believe you would leave Fluttershy alone like that,” Discord said to Twilight.
“She wasn’t alone Discord,” the lavender alicorn replied defensively.
“You know what I mean,” the draconequus said in all seriousness. He was actually emitting concern now, and that startled Twilight some.
“I bid you good luck, and hope for the very best,” Celestia said in a bow. “Luna and I will take care of the evacuation and recovering the Elements. Once we finish, we will join you and your friends in combating Gray Umbra.”
“Please be careful Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “Discord, you as well. Should anything happen to Twilight under your watch…” Luna left the statement at that. Discord grinned a little and bowed.
“I find your lack of faith in me disturbing Luna,” Discord replied, picking up Twilight in his arms. “Ready my dear Princess? We shouldn’t let you chip a hoof or anything,” he said mockingly. Twilight struggled out of his arms and knocked his leg with one of her hind hoofs.
“I’m sick of your taunting Discord. Let’s hurry up if you really want to help,” Twilight said scornfully, glaring harshly at the draconequus.
“Sheesh. You try and do somepony a favor…” Discord muttered, vanishing Twilight and himself at the command of two claw snaps.