Twilight blinked away her tears and sniffed, wiping her muzzle with a forelimb. All around her was unending blackness, except for right in front of her. It was something else entirely. It was a magenta blob, nebulous in shape, but it danced playfully in front of her.
She couldn’t help but chuckle at the little thing. So she did, shaking loose the last of her tears as it rolled down her cheek and dropped from her face. But instead of falling to the mushy ground, it fell sideways at an angle.
Then, with a ripple, it blipped into the pinkish red solution that was bobbing and weaving in front of her. She marveled at the apple sized orb and she reached out to touch it. The edge of her hoof felt warmer the closer it got to it. Right before she was about to make contact, it made a tiny bell-like sound and it did a little loop-de-loop.
It finished the loop by jumping into her waiting hoof and her senses were flooded with light. Twilight Sparkle’s burden, great as it was, was lifted off of her shoulders and she found herself filled with hope. Hope for the future. Hope for Equestria.
Her life flashed before her eyes again, but this time instead of regret and sorrow there was encouragement and joy. She remembered the reassurances of her parents before she took that fateful entrance exam for Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. How they promised her that no matter what they would always be there for her.
She remembered making five of the best friends any girl could hope for and how they were always there for her, just like she was for them. Twilight Sparkle remembered becoming a Princess and the promise she made to not let anypony down. She remembered the promise her little Smarty Pants made her with that one fateful hug the night she got her cutie mark.
Twilight Sparkle shook away the last of her gloom and stood up on three legs, still reveling in the warmth of the other. She had a world to save. Something tingled in her warmed hoof, and she looked down.
What she saw made fresh tears come to her eyes. Not tears of sadness or melancholy, but tears of joy. She could have cried, but she chose to laugh instead.
It was a gilded tiara, studded with sapphires and crowned with a six-sided magenta star. It was Magic; her Element of Harmony. And it had come in her darkest hour.
Her wings fluttered softly, as she raised the tiara up and placed it on her head. She grinned widely as she felt its warmth spread from tip to tail. She felt like she had opened her eyes a second time and it’s soft red light flowed all the way up to the surface. She couldn’t really see that far, she just knew, somehow.
Princess Twilight could feel the tides of magic and the ley lines of Equestria as if they were her own. She could no longer tell where her magic began and the tides ended. It was all a tangle of whispers and sighs. With a thought, she willed the tides be still, and they obeyed.
With another force of will, she pushed away the grime and muck that collected around her hooves. Like a musty old carpet, it rolled away from her in all directions, revealing a mirror smooth surface beneath. She looked down at her reflection and laughed again.
She was a right mess, her ethereal hair bandied about in the still tides, collecting where and how it pleased. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she didn’t mind. Atop her head sat her long lost Element of Harmony, and maybe that would be enough to save the day.
She looked up and felt the distance between her and the surface. It was a long way. She extended her wings and gave them a solid flap. Nothing happened. Whatever had pulled her down here didn’t seem keen on letting go.
The magenta light faded slightly as her newly found hope began to dwindle. That’s when she heard the sound of hooves approaching from behind her.
“Need a leg up, Twi?” said a voice.
The Princess spun around and nearly fell over from shock.
“Applejack?” she said, not believing her own eyes.
The country mare just smiled at her in the cocksure way that only she could manage. “The one and only! Now let’s see about gettin’ you up on outta here.”
The farm pony adjusted her hat and took a step forward. Twilight galloped over the two ponies embraced.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Sugarcube.”
Their hug lasted a little while longer before Twilight released her grip.
Twilight had so much to ask her. There was so much she wanted to know. How did she get here? What was it like on The Other Side? Were there any Alicorns? Her mind raced a mile a minute but she stood there in silence, watching her friend as she stretched.
“Now,” Applejack said while popping up from touching her back hooves, “I can’t buck you all the way up to the top, but don’t worry. That’s what the others are here for.
“Others?” asked Twilight, looking this way and that.
Applejack grinned at her “You’ll see,” she said as she turned around and tapped her back hooves on the ground one at a time.
“Okay, we’re ready. All you gotta do is put your back hooves on mine and aim yerself up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me.”
It was all that was needed to be said. Princess Twilight put herself in the right position. Then she stared straight up and spread her wings.
“Okay, countin’ down from three. Three…”
“Is that three, two, one, pause, then go? Or is that three, two, one, go?”
“Two…”
“Wait, you didn’t answer my question! Which is it? Applejack, I need to know!”
“Dang Twi, you’re ornerier than Honeycrisp.”
“Wait, how do you know Honeycriiiiiiisp!“ shrieked Twilight as she was flung up through the tides..
As she rose higher and higher she remembered to flap her wings. So she did. They didn’t do a whole lot, but she felt like it was helping. She flapped as hard as she could, but she was just barely beating the pull of whatever was trying to keep her down.
That was when she felt a pair of canary yellow forearms wrap around her waist. They locked around her barrel and she felt like she was finally gaining some real height. She looked over her shoulder and couldn’t help but beam.
Fluttershy was flapping her soft yellow wings as hard as she could; her face set in steely determination.
“Fluttershy!”
The demure mare made eye contact with her old friend and smiled softly. “Hello Twilight. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Did you come here with Applejack?”
Fluttershy nodded and then set her eyes back towards the surface, her wings beating frantically. Twilight took the hint and did the same. Their speed increased and soon Twilight felt her equilibrium return to normal. She knew which way was up again, without having to look.
For just a moment she turned her long slender neck to look at Fluttershy again. The determination was still on her face, but so was that smile.
They flapped for another minute rising as fast as the two could manage. Then Fluttershy broke the silence. “Okay, that’s as far as I go. I’ll see you later, Twilight.”
“I miss you, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, not knowing when she’d have the opportunity again.
“I miss you too, Twilight. Big Mac says hi, by the way. Actually, he said ‘Eeyup’, but you know what he means.”
Twilight laughed, and wiped a happy tear from her eye. “Tell him I said ‘Eeyup’ back.”
“I will. Give my love to Rarity and Sandy, won’t you?”
“I wi-wait. Hang on. How do you know Sandy?” Twilight looked back at where Fluttershy had been, but there was only empty air.
The pouty purple pony crossed her forelegs and harrumphed mightily as she continued to rise, flapping all the way. Again the strange force pulled down at her and she flapped and flapped. With every foot of elevation, she felt her strength begin to sap out of her.
Something from beneath touched her hooves and she looked down. It was the snout of a massive alligator. She screamed like a little filly and tried very hard not to wet herself.
The alligator blinked its left eye first and then the right, but did not appear interested in eating her. Good thing too, because the beast looked like it could swallow her whole. Instead it was swimming straight up, propelling itself with its huge scaly tail. The monster must have been nearly twenty feet long.
She felt a weight come to rest on her head and something tickled the back of her neck as it swished this way and that.
“I dunno Gummy, she’s supposed to be around here somewhere,” said the weight on her head.
Twilight looked up at the underbelly and chin of her silliest friend. “Pinkie?” she asked incredulously “What are you doing?”
Pinkie Pie looked down at her friend. “Oh hiya Twilight! I’m looking for a Tubelight Spackle. Today’s her birthday and I got her a present!”
She looked back up surveying the horizon all around her with her head on a swivel. “Do you know anypony by that name?”
“Pinkie…” said Twilight as she shook her head. “No, just… Get down here.”
The pink mare hopped off of her head and sat right next to her on Gummy’s snout. “Yes, Twilight?”
Twilight pointed at herself with a hoof. Then two hooves. Then started gesturing wildly, tapping herself in the chest.
Pinkie’s face scrunched up in thought and she rubbed her pink fuzzy chin. “Hmm. Are...”
“Yes?” nodded Twilight encouragingly.
“Are you…”
Yes! Come on, that’s it.”
“Are you sure you haven’t seen her?”
“Pinkie it’s me! I’m Tubelight Spackle!”
Pinkie Pie leaped up and grabbed her face in shock, her eyes wide with realization. “That was entirely unexpected!” she shouted. “Who would guess that a Princess would be hiding under a fake name, living a fake life?!”
“No, Pinkie, I wasn’t… Gah,” she groaned.
Before Twilight could say anything else, a chocolate cake was thrust in front of her face.
“Happy Birthday!” giggled the pink party pony.
Twilight smiled warmly. “Aw, thanks, Pinkie. I needed this. It’s been a tough day.”
She turned the cake around in her hooves and noticed that a slice was missing. She raised an eyebrow.
“What? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get really, truly, sinfully good chocolate frosting in the Elysian Fields?” she said licking her lips and staring at her own creation. “Momma needed a little taste.”
Twilight laughed a good natured laugh. She put the cake down on Gummy and hugged her old friend. “I missed you, Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie Pie hugged her back. “I missed you too, Twilight.”
When their hug came to an end Twilight picked her cake back up and smiled at it.
Pinkie Pie took a deep breath to steady her emotions. “I’m not going to cry… I’m not going to cry…” she repeated to herself as she flapped her forelegs about in the air.
“This is our stop, Gummy,” she said to her pet Alligator, with just a hint of bittersweetness. “Goodbye Twilight. Oh, and say hi to—“
“Smarty Pants?”
Pinkie Pie guffawed, “How’d you guess?”
“Process of elimination, my dear Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie reached up and nuzzled her old Alicorn friend one last time before climbing down to sit on the ridge between Gummy’s eyes.
“Prepare to fire, Mr. Gummy!”
“Wait, what?”
Gummy blinked, but otherwise didn’t move.
“Fire!” commanded the pink earthpony, jamming her hoof up towards the surface.
The alligator performed a rapid 180 degree turn and smashed his tail into the dumbfounded backside of Twilight Sparkle, Goddess of Magic.
She rose towards the surface like an arrow, the force that tried for so long to pull her down was forever broken, and she ascended laughing and screaming in equal measure. At some point the cake she’d been given had fallen out of her hooves and sank back down, lost in the magenta depths.
Her wings were flapping, and with each flap she felt lighter and more secure in the path she’d chosen. She knew that she’d beat the Beacon of Order. And if she didn’t then she’d try again. And again, until Equestria was safe once more.
She wore her fiercest grin and rocketed upwards.
“Geez, took you long enough to get up here, Twilight. Oh well, at least I don’t have to carry you like Fluttershy.”
Twilight lowered her gaze and looked straight ahead. There, flapping her wings just as quickly as the Alicorn, was Equestria’s fastest flyer. It was Rainbow Dash.
She had her forehooves resting behind her head and her back legs crossed. She was leaning back like she was sitting in a hammock. Eyes closed, she stifled a yawn.
The rainbow maned pony opened one eye to see her reaction. Twilight shook her head with a smile.
“You been practicing like I told ya?” asked Rainbow, settling into a more natural flying position.
“I’m a little rusty,” said Twilight with a blush.
The cyan pony snorted “Yeah I can see that. So… Wanna race?”
Twilight arched an eyebrow at her. “Do I want to race? I want to get back to my body as fast as I possibly can so I can try and save Equestria from a fate worse than death... followed by death.”
“Uh huh, are we going to race or not?” scowled history’s most famous Wonderbolt.
Princess Twilight sighed. “Okay, we’ll race. On three, ready?”
“One…”
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Twilight’s chest, “Wait a sec, Is that one, two, three, then go?”
“When is it not?” puzzled Twilight.
“Okay cool, cool. It’s just that Applejack is always changing it up, and it throws me off.”
Twilight nodded, understandingly, and started counting again.
“One… Two… Three!”
Twilight flapped with all her might, but Rainbow Dash was right there with her. They traded first place back and forth like it was an ugly sweater on Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Soon the surface was in sight, their silently agreed upon finish line. Twilight pushed and pushed, willing every ounce of her strength into the race. She strained and strained, extended her long neck as far as it would go.
Rainbow Dash beat her by thirteen seconds anyway. Even after Princess Twilight broke through the surface, she kept going. She looked around herself, expecting to see more those awful tendrils, but they were gone.
“Good race!” shouted Rainbow Dash from where she hovered just above the tides. Twilight nodded back, but kept flying up and away towards her body. She was a Princess on a mission.
Still watching her old friend, Rainbow Dash waited until the Alicorn was out of earshot before she whispered to herself, “I miss you, Twilight.”
The Goddess of Magic continued on her meteoric rise, willing herself back into her body. But nothing happened. She’d never gone so deep before and now she couldn’t feel her way back. She would have panicked as she flew higher into the void, but the voices started to pepper her mind once more.
But this time it was different. She could hear through their demands to join the ranks of order to the truth of their call. She heard their pleas.
“Save us,” they begged.
“Help us,” they cried.
It fueled her determination.
She pushed again, straining with all her effort and the magenta light of her Element began to bend behind her. As she flew up, she saw the barrier that stood between the physical and magical realms. She wondered at its immense size, spanning from horizon to horizon.
She frowned but flew on. She knew there had to be a way through. She heard that bell-like tingle again from below her. The same one she heard when she first discovered her Element of Harmony at the bottom of the tides.
Flying in formation with her were four colorful blobs. She didn’t know what to think of that, so Twilight turned her attention back to the rapidly approaching barrier for now. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement.
It was a ripple in the barrier. A ripple with a white hoof sticking out of it. Twilight banked and four blobs followed. She slowed to a hover in front of the hoof and gripped it with one of her own. She gasped at how cold it was, but she was unable to dwell on it any further before it pulled her through.
Rarity walked as gently as her hooves could carry her, careful not to wake the adorable little dragon sleeping on her back. The streets and buildings around her were in a dreadful state of disrepair. But such was the way of things whenever it was the End of the World.
She turned another corner and stood just beyond the edge of the Grand Central Plaza. Rarity peeked over the shoulder of the nearest corrupted unicorn and blinked in surprise. Then frowned in concern.
Apparently they found Celestia. Unfortunately she and Luna were stuck in crystalline cages. Like the one she used on Cadence. How uninspired. She was putting Princesses in crystalline cages before it was popular in Canterlot.
“I never get any recognition for being a trendsetter,” she sighed.
The unicorn ahead of her turned around and looked at her.
“Don’t mind me darling, I’m just talking to myself. As you were.”
The corrupted unicorn nodded mutely and turned back to his position.
She turned her attention back to the Princesses in the center of the plaza. She huffed and rolled her eyes as she watched the Beacon twist Twilight’s words and actions. Please, she thought to herself, that’s the oldest trick in the book, causing a schism between allies. It’ll never work.
She planted a hoof in her face when Luna turned on Twilight. They argued and bickered and Rarity just shook her head. She was just about to go over there and set the two old friends straight, but the unicorns around the circle began cast magic into the ground and it poured into channels carved throughout the plaza.
An instant later and Rarity was surrounded by ponies. Completely surrounded. Her head began to swim with a new mental attack and she instinctively donned her icy armor, retreating within herself.
No longer affected by their mental compulsions, Rarity wadded forward against the teeming mass of ponies.
“Pardon me— OH! Um, excuse me but could you— OOF! Terribly sorry but would you kindly— NOT THE HAIR!”
She pushed against the throng of ponies that were milling about like… clams in a fish barrel, or something. She was an Empress, not a poet. Eventually she reached the Princesses. They sat trapped in their cages with their heads hung low.
“Psst.”
Other than Celestia’s left ear wiggling, neither pony moved.
“Celestia,” hissed Rarity under her breath.
Still nothing. Maybe the voices she was able to tune out were louder than she thought. She walked in front of the Princess and tapped her face with a cold hoof. That got her attention. Celestia looked up and studied the bizarre crystal and ice covered unicorn with a hooked horn and blinked.
Rarity turned and pointed at the cutie mark on her armor, just below the soundly sleeping Spike. Realization splashed across the Sun Goddess’s face and she almost sprang up. She stopped herself before she did though, desperate not to draw attention to herself or her potential savior.
The former Element of Generosity whispered something in her ears and her eyes went wide. Celestia glanced nervously at the Beacon, but it wasn’t watching them. She nodded to Rarity.
The white unicorn motioned over to Luna and gave Celestia an encouraging smile before slinking over to the other cage. She too kept her eyes on the Beacon of Order as she moved. It was torturing Discord in some awful manner that involved fire and organizational charts.
Princess Luna saw the Empress just before she reached her, and the two exchanged a brief nuzzle. Rarity leaned in close and whispered in her ear, hoping it would be loud enough for Luna to hear it. She took a step back and waited for a response from Luna.
The Moon Goddess nodded.
Rarity focused almost all of her magical might into a single spell. Two half domes of pure crystal, white as could be, burst out the ground around Rarity and the Princesses. It slammed shut, sealing them within and cutting them off from influences of the outside world.
Rarity returned to her natural form and found that the voices outside were so muffled that they were almost silent. Gasping for breath from the spell that drained her so, her horn lit up again and she took control of the crystal coils that formed the two Alicorn cages.
Rarity was a long practiced seamstress, who also happened to be a unicorn. A unicorn partially fused with the living will of the Crystal Empire. This made her one of the foremost authorities on the magical properties of crystals in the first place.
It was such a trifling matter for her to free the two Princess that she did it as an afterthought while she walked over to Princess Twilight’s rigid body.
Princess Luna fell to the ground and began rubbing a swollen hoof, whimpering softly.
“Rarity!” cheered Celestia, running over. Thrilled to be free again in so many ways, she wrapped her old friend in a big hug. Spike fell off of her back, but nopony noticed. Not even Spike, who was snoring away happily on the ground.
“Hello Celestia. Or are you still going by Powder Puff?” The sly old mare asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Sun Goddess laughed, “I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I find out.”
Rarity released her friend and motioned towards the still immobile Twilight. “Does she know?”
“That I was Powder Puff? No.”
“I see. So… What happened to Twilight?”
“She went into the tides of magic, but she hasn’t come back up.”
Rarity blinked at Celestia, not understanding the words she said. “I-I’m sorry, I must not have heard you properly. She went into the what, exactly?”
Before anypony could say anything the ground shook and the crystal dome lit up with red, angry light. A loud WHUM accompanied the light show. Soon a small crack formed in the wall next where a wide-eyed Luna was testing her weight on a tender leg.
“Tia, we’re going to have company!”
Celestia nodded to her sister and looked back at Rarity. “You’ve heard of the ley lines, yes?”
Rarity nodded.
“Well the ley lines in our world originate from the tides. They act as a reservoir for magic. Where the barrier between the two realms is thin, magic flows from one to the other in the form of ley lines.”
“And Twilight’s just sort of…” Rarity trailed off rolling a hoof in front of her face, “Stuck inside?”
“More or less.”
A second bang hit the dome and the crack began to spiderweb. Luna limped over to her sister and growled at her. “Tia? As much as I love the idea of turning this into a teachable moment, do you think that maybe we could get out of here before I find myself praying for death AGAIN?”
Celestia walked over to her sister and nuzzled her. “Sorry Lulu. You’re right. Rarity, can you grab Twilight and we’ll teleport out of here?”
Rarity nodded and walked over to the purple Alicorn. “Twilight?” she asked in a sing-song voice, waving a hoof in front of her friend’s face, “Darling, can you hear me?”
There was no response.
“Come on now, come out of there,” she prodded Twilight in the chest, “We don’t have time for… For…”
Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs and trotted in place on three legs. Her face contorted in absolute terror. Celestia turned back to see what was the matter, and gasped.
Rarity’s hoof was stuck inside Twilight’s chest. The fur around where her hoof penetrated it rippled unnaturally. With each panicked motion her hoof sank deeper still.
She sniveled and stared at Celestia with big watery eyes. “Help meee,” she whined.
Celestia got behind Rarity and grabbed her by the flank and started to pull.
“Ah!” squeaked Rarity.
“What is it,” asked the Sun Goddess, “are you okay?”
“Yes, but your hooves are positively frigid.”
“Are you joking? You’re joking.”
“I am not,” Rarity said with a shiver.
“Aren’t you some kind of ice monster now?!”
“Yes but I’m also an Empress. I don’t let just anypony off the street grab my flank.”
“Anypony off the street? I’m the Sun Goddess!”
“Well then for goodness sakes, warm your hooves.”
Celestia rolled her eyes and pushed a sliver of heat into her forehooves before she started yanking again. She was thankful that she and Rarity were alone at the moment. If anypony saw them right now she’d probably die of embarrassme—
“Snnkk!” came a snicker from behind. She looked over her shoulder and glared at her sister. Bless her black soul, her face was all scrunched up in a desperate effort to stop herself from laughing.
“I think I’m almost out. Give me a good yank,” said Rarity absentmindedly.
Luna exploded into laughter. The Moon Goddess crumpled to the ground and beat her hooves against the cobblestones.
Rarity turned her head as best she could and looked over Celestia’s shoulder. “Is she quite alright?”
Celestia looked back at Rarity and shook her head. “She’s damaged, but don’t worry, she’s always been that way.”
Rarity shrugged and moved back into position. “Okay I think I’ve figured this out. On the count of three I want you grab me and really tug me like there’s no tomorrow.”
Luna’s laughter rose to new heights and tears streamed down her face. “Stop it, stop it, I’m dying.” She asked gripping her diaphragm. “I can’t… I can’t breathe.”
Rarity rolled her eyes and tried to focus. “Okay. Here we go. One. Two. ThreeeeESOMETHING TOUCHED ME!”
The Sun Goddess pulled Rarity back from Twilight as hard as she possibly could. With detached fascination, she watched as the Crystal Empress flew through the air and continued on until she hit the dome behind her. It wasn’t until the third pony hit the same spot in rapid succession that she realized something was amiss.
Where did she know that Stetson from?
“Well ain’t this a fine how-do-you-do, gettin’ flung out into the world and landing on something cold and flabby.”
“Flabby?”
“Oh, uh… Hay Rarity, when’d you get here?” asked Applejack, hat in hoof.
“FLABBY?!”
“Where is here?” asked Fluttershy as she helped an irate Empress into a sitting position.
“Oh my gosh, Princess Luna, you’re laughing!” giggled Pinkie Pie, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh so hard in…. Ever before! What’s so funny?”
“Rarity,” she gasped between pained breaths, “Rarity asked my sister to, ha, to ‘tug her like there was no tomorrow!’ Aha ha ha ha!”
“Oh… oh my,” said a beet red Fluttershy.
Twilight turned to look at Celestia accusingly “You did what now?”
“Wow, Rares,” said Rainbow Dash with a nudge and a wink, “You and Celestia, huh? I didn’t know yo—“
The dome shattered into a fine mist of crystal and everypony’s head was filled with voices once more.
“Girls! Formation!” shouted Twilight over the din.
The five girls stumbled over and stood next to the Goddess of Magic, and she wrapped them in a powerful mental barrier.
“Last chance Beacon, let everypony go and we’ll go easy on you.”
“KILL THEM!” the Beacon shouted back.
Twilight smiled a warrior’s smile. “I was hoping you’d say that.” She closed her eyes and that old familiar warmth began to grow and blossom in her chest. It spread from the tip of her horn to the edges of her feathers to the end of her tail.
She felt a harmony within herself that she missed. The harmony of six best friends working together for the common good. As they stood there, chests out and staring down the Beacon of Order, she knew that this was the end.
Thud the red dragon awoke with a pain in his head that he could not place. Last thing he knew he was in the pony city on the mountain, when he saw a very big rainbow. But now, as he looked up, he realized that he was sitting in front of the entrance to Valorhold. This was very hard on Thud’s already aching brain.
He sat up and heard a groan. Oh, it was his. Apparently more than just his head hurt. He looked at himself and frowned at all the bruises. Thud remembered how that one pony rode him and kicked him in the rump until he crashed into his fellow knights. Thud did not like that pony.
Then he heard another groan. This one was not his. He looked around and gasped. There were a lot of dragons laying on the ground and not moving! They were all from The Magicborn’s flight! One of them he didn’t recognize. It looked more like a well roasted chicken, only a very big well roasted chicken.
“What happened?” asked a craggy voice.
Thud looked up again and saw a beautiful female dragon staring down at him and his flight from the entrance. She was a lovely shade of yellow and she was very fat. Both of these were very desirable traits in a female dragon.
She crawled down from the entrance and curled up next to him, rubbing his bruised arm.
“Thud, you’re hurt!” she said.
Thud looked at her with wide eyes. “Pretty dragon knows Thud’s name?”
“Well duh, we’ve been friends since we were hatchlings. Are you feeling okay? Your head looks a little lumpier than usual.”
The chitinous nubbins on his lower jaw wiggled in thought.
“Thud like pretty dragon.”
“Shelly, Thud. My name is Shelly, remember?”
“Thud like Shelly, too.” He said, grinning.
Shelly rolled her eyes and helped her hormone addled friend to his feet “Come on Thud, let’s get you inside.”
Thud leaned hard on the larger Shelly as they scrambled their way back up into the entrance of Valorhold’s mountainous caverns. He looked hard at Shelly and blinked a few times.
“Shelly be Thud’s mate? Thud is covered in bruises.”
She looked at the thick necked dragon and rolled her eyes. ”Oh wow, how could I say no to an invitation like that?”
The demons of Tartarus stood about listlessly. Sure, they got to ransack Canterlot, but most of them didn’t get to kill or hurt a single thing. Or get a single Discord.
There was a lot of unhappy sighing going on in this mass of one hundred thousand red demons, that suddenly found themselves back in Tartarus. It wasn’t that they didn’t like Tartarus. It’s just that the ponies are so much fun to chase. Especially when they scream. Also their King wasn’t here to annoy, so there was even less to do than usual.
“Kill everything?” one demon asked another.
The other demon nodded excitedly at first, but then looked around and saw only other demons.
“No kill everything.”
Farther away another demon spoke up “Hurt everything but ponies?”
Several demons nodded at that, but again their joy was short-lived when they saw only other demons around them.
Somewhere in the middle was a rather peculiar demon. He was wearing a paper chef’s hat. Unlike the others he was sitting. He was sitting down because it was much easier to think when you could also count on your toes. He knew there was something they could do. But what was it?
The demon stood up, still scratching the back of his head. “Have…” he trailed off.
He sat back down. Then, inspiration hit him! In his excitement he shot up and shouted “Have!” but he forgot the last part, so he sat down again.
This time, focusing with all his mental power, he thought as hard as he could. What was it that they could do here with nothing to kill and nothing to hurt?
“Have… fun?” he asked himself. Then his eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet “HAVE FUN!”
It did not take long for a chorus of “HAVE FUN!” to break out among the ranks of the easily excitable demons of Tartarus.
Walter was a good dog. He sat in his dog house underneath the old tree in his backyard. Life was pretty good for Walter. He had an adventure in the forest and got a new toy out of the deal. Plus he got to make sure his pony was safe. It was pretty much the best day ever.
He didn’t know what happened to all the other ponies, though. Usually there were lots of them, walking around and working hard on the farm, but today he was alone. Walter didn’t mind being alone, it gave him time to take a nap after his long night out.
Walter looked down at his new toy and his tail thumped happily against the sides of his dog house. It was trying to wiggle out from under his paws again, so he bent his head down to chew on his new toy.
Squeak!
This was clearly the best toy ever.
Squeak!
Walter heard a funny noise and looked up. He saw a beautiful rainbow race across the sky. As it flew by, a sparkling beam of light came out of it and hit Walter’s toy. The toy let out a tiny scream and shook up and down all by itself. Then stopped moving.
Walter cocked his head to the side and stared how limp it was. He poked it with his nose. Nothing happened. Walter gave the toy a long sniff. It still smelled the same. He bit it.
Squeak!
The old dog’s tail wagged. This was clearly the best toy ever.
Discord woke up face down in a puddle of his own drool. Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his mismatched feet. When he got all the way up he gripped his head.
“Oh, my aching… Nothing? Hay I feel pretty good!”
The surprised draconequus gave himself a once over. There was no burning pillar jammed in his chest. Content with this unexpected change of events, he put his hands on his hips and nodded. That’s when he felt something bumping into his leg. He looked down.
It was the Beacon of Order. Or what was left of it. Half of its crystal head was missing, revealing a ruined cortex that sparked fitfully. It was walking into Discord repeatedly, bumping its cracked muzzle against the God of Chaos.
“Discord? Acquired. Target. Revenge sleep. Order?”
He squatted down on his knees and patted the Beacon in the head. “Rookie mistake, kid. Never let them hit you with the rainbow.”
“Hate. Forgiveness? Beacon. Discord.” It said plaintively, still poking Discord as best it could.
The draconequus frowned at the tenacious little bugger. “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”
“Saveorder. Suncreator. Moonwitch? Stopchaos.”
Discord stood up and took a step back. “Alright, let’s finish this.”
The Beacon stumbled over to Discord and poked him again with his muzzle. Discord grabbed his chest with a pained expression on his face. “Oh no! You got me!”
The God of Chaos, still gripping his chest, stumbled all around the Beacon, who hobbled in place to watch. Suddenly Discord lurched back and fell over with his eyes closed. With one final spasm, Discord reached a paw up towards the eclipse.
“Blarg!” he gurgled, “Lo, I am dead; defeated and destroyed by the Beacon of Order!” His arm fell down to the ground and his tongue lolled out of his mouth.
The Beacon stood there, victorious. It laughed a stuttered, taxing laugh. When its laughter stopped, it saw four white hooves. It lifted its ruined head and smiled a crooked smile.
“Beacon win?”
Celestia looked down upon her failed creation and nodded with a sad smile. Then she leaned in and whispered something in its single ear. It giggled because her breath tickled. Then the Beacon’s last eye went wide.
Of course! It made so much sense. The Beacon turned to face the Moon standing next to the God of Chaos. The God of Chaos it defeated.
“I am the Moon, eternally dreaming!” she shouted without emotion, “You will sleep!”
The Beacon looked back at its beloved creator and nodded, “I dream.”
The hoofs of the Beacon gave out and the construct tumbled. What hit the ground was not a pony, but a crystal. A crystal identical to the one that the three girls found this morning, except for the sizable chunk missing from it.
Celestia walked over to Luna and sat next to her. The two sisters were lost in thought. Thinking back to the dark times that made them create the Beacon of Order in the first place. A weight plopped down between them from behind and two mismatched arms hugged them around the shoulders.
“So, what’s next?” asked Discord. “I’m thinking we get the girls together and take the show on the road you know? See the sights, get a couple of groupies… What do you think, Sunshine?”
Celestia said nothing.
“Alright, how about you Moondust?”
Luna said nothing.
“Well aren’t you two just a ton of laughs?” scoffed Discord as pushed off the two Alicorns and walked over to Twilight and Rarity.
“You know, I feel great!” he said to Twilight, “I’ve never been on the good guy side of your little friendship cannon before. I can see why you like it so… Okay, what’s up with you two?”
Twilight stood there and rubbed Rarity’s back with a hoof. The Crystal Empress looked like she was about to cry. Three Elements of Harmony sat in a pile on the ground in front of them. One more was embeded in a half eatten chocolate cake. The other two were on their owners, respectively.
“Flabby,” whispered Rarity.
Twilight looked up at Discord and smiled weakly. “We’re going to need a moment here.”
He nodded and sulked off. As he walked, he felt the heat and light of the afternoon sun wash over him. Discord looked around at the thousands of mortal ponies standing about.
They were all ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing,’ over the heavenly powers of the two previously unknown Alicorns. Some ran up and asked them questions about who they were and where they came from. Others bowed instinctively. Discord just rolled his eyes as he kept on walking.
“Yeah? Well it doesn’t make it any less stupid!” came a familiar voice from the left. He stopped to watch his latest set of lackies bicker amongst themselves.
“Oh so I’m stupid for trying to save your life,” said Spellbound.
“No, you’re stupid for thinking that you could just sneak into the plaza without the Beacon knowing you were there.”
“If you’re so smart,” said Spellbound in a huff, “what would you have done?”
“What, you mean like if it was you who was corrupted?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at the pretty mare incredulously.
Ruby Star didn’t answer at first. But then she sighed and said, “Probably the same thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she said turning and batting him in the face with the very tip of her tail. “But I wouldn’t have gotten caught.” Then she pranced off into the crowd.
Spellbound stood there with an half-formed grin on his face. Then he realized he was all alone. “Hay! Ruby, wait up!” The blue stallion gambled off after her.
It wasn’t long before Discord reached Smarty Pants, Sandy, and Honeycrisp. The red unicorn was tapping herself on the side of the head and blinking repeatedly. Smarty Pants was helping Sandy to her hooves.
“Ugh, I wish my horn would stop ringing,” complained Honeycrisp.
“What happened?” asked Sandy as she fluttered herself into a standing position.
“I think we won.”
“Oh you think so, Pants? What tipped you off? Was it the whole ‘we’re alive’ thing?”
“Hay, there’s no reason to be a jerk about it, Honeycrisp.”
“I... I know. Sorry.”
“Yeah, we’ll you’re… wait did you just apologize to me?” asked Smarty Pants staring back in bewilderment.
Honeycrisp nodded.
“Why?”
“I dunno. I guess I’m just tired of always fighting with one of my best friends.”
Smarty Pants beamed at her cousin. “You’re one of my best friends too.” She said shakily.
After a moment of silent indecision, the two fillies ran over to each other and hugged. They hugged and they cried, happy all this was over. But more importantly they were happy to have each other.
Smarty Pants heard a sigh from behind her and she turned her head to see Sandy look at them with a small smile. The light-brown earthpony filly side stepped. “Get in here, you.”
“Me?” Sandy asked in wonder.
“Of course,” said Honeycrisp nodding enthusiastically.
The green pegasus buzzed her little wings as she barreled into her two best friends and hugged them for all she was worth. They hugged her back in kind.
“Oh for goodness sake, why are you three crying?” asked Discord.
They didn’t answer.
“Typical. Just when I think I’ve got these ponies all figured out, they—“
He felt his lizard foot make contact with something and he looked down. It was Spike, still in his baby dragon form, still sound asleep. He smiled at the little fellow.
“Good idea, Spike,” he said to the thoroughly unconscious dragon.
Then he turned to face the castle and spotted the open balcony to Princess Twilight’s royal bed chamber. “I think a nap is just the thing I need.”