When Twilight arrived at Canterlot she used the spell Celestia had taught her to get through the barrier. Heading towards the ground she landed, taking in oxygen. The royal guards saluted her as one of them said, “Good day, ma’am. They’re expecting you.”
Twilight bowed her head as she walked through the castle until she reached the double doors of the throne room. When she opened them she gasped in surprise, before a determined look came to her face. If she had had any doubts before about the seriousness of the situation they were now all gone.
In the throne room was, of course, Princess Celestia. However, Princess Luna was also there, along with Princess Cadence, her brother Shining Armor, and, incredibly, Discord.
Seeing a group of the most powerful and influential ponies in Equestria was, in some way, comforting, but it only added to her stress overall of thinking of the reason there would be a need for this much power to be concentrated in one place.
Princess Celestia walked up to her, giving her a quick bow. “Hello, Twilight. I’m glad you’re here.”
“What’s going on?”
“Something bad, Twili,” answered Shining Armor.
“Very bad,” added in Cadence.
“Ever since the Summer Sun Celebration I’ve been having a bad feeling," said Celestia. "I know we restored the Tree of Harmony to full strength, but it seems it was too little, too late.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“Come with me for a second.” She took Twilight over to one of the windows that overlooked Ponyville. “I want you to look at the Everfree Forest, and tell me if you feel anything.”
Twilight looked curiously out towards the forest, but felt nothing. “What am I supposed to be feeling?”
“Try not to look for something in particular. Just let your thoughts go still.”
Twilight continued just looking at the forest, trying to figure out what the big deal was. She had been to the forest many times. Sure, there had been some troubles at times, but it had lost its mystery and the air of fear it used to hold as they had explored it more.
Suddenly, without any warning, her heart started racing. She began panting as she felt terror eclipse every part of her being, filling her with a fear greater than anything she had ever known. Emanating out of the forest was a feeling of utter darkness and despair. How had she not noticed it before?
She felt like her air was being choked off in the sensation. Suddenly Celestia was in front of her, pulling her head up. The sensation passed out of her, but she could still feel herself sweating. “Princess, what IS that?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“I don’t know for sure. The Everfree Forest is a bit of an unknown element, even to me and my sister. The forest was always a little 'off', even in the time we lived in the castle. The Tree of Harmony, as well as the Elements of Harmony, were part of a legend passed down from long ago. It has been around much longer than us.
"I believe the forest may be being influenced by a dark force. The Tree of Harmony may have been intended to keep that force sealed away. Thus, when the tree nearly died from us taking away the elements that powered it, as well as Discords plunder seeds sucking away what magic was left, it may have led to that force escaping. I don’t know whether the tree is still intact, but we need to head to the Everfree Forest and make sure that its power is still functional. Since we do not have the Elements of Harmony to aid us I decided that there is more power in numbers. If we can get our hooves on the elements then we’d be in a better position to fight whatever is in there.”
“I have to tell you something as well. I just came off a situation that I believe is related to this.”
Everyone listened curiously as Twilight told them about the self-proclaimed Pony of Misfortune.
At the end Discord started laughing. “Aw, Twilight. Why did you have to do a thing like that? She sounds like she was a sweet old lady.”
“It’s not funny, Discord. She terrified all my friends.”
“Oh, lighten up. She sounds like my kind of friend.”
Celestia sighed. “Just ignore him, Twilight. Part of the reason I wanted you to reform Discord was precisely for a situation like this, where his power would come in handy. But of course you know that he wasn’t going to just offer his power for free, especially since we no longer have the elements to keep him under control.”
“That’s right,” he said joyously. “I enjoy chaos, but if you goodie-goodies got overrun then I wouldn’t get to have as much fun watching you squirm. After all, only I should rule over you if it comes down to it. So I offered my services on the condition that I get to do whatever entertains me for the duration of our trip. Annnnnnddd, I suppose, since you’re going to be bringing her along as the element of kindness, that it’s a little bit for Fluttershy’s safety as well.”
Twilight looked toward Discord with bemusement. She was surprised that he would actually admit that. She could have sworn, though he still had a comical grin on his face, that she had heard just a touch of protectiveness in his voice.
Shining Armor walked over to her. “Twili, this will be the first time we’ve worked together side by side to protect Equestria. Let’s do our best.”
“Same to you, BBBFF.” Looking past her brother she added, “And you, my sister-in-law/best foalsitter ever.”
“Ugh!” cried out Discord. “Can we cut the sappy stuff? Or I might just change my mind.” A brain appeared in his hands, then poofed into a different size with a mouth sticking out its tongue and spitting in disgust.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Alright, Discord. Let’s just take care of this matter so that you can go back to your alone time. But you won’t make many friends with that attitude.”
“Meeee?” he asked innocently, a halo appearing over his head. “Why is it my fault? I just like different things than you. You want me to compromise for you and be all 'orderly,' but you won’t compromise for me and let out your inner chaos. I hardly think THAT’S fair if one friend always has to have it their way. Wouldn’t you agree, Twilight?” With long girly eyelashes he winked at her a few times.
“Well, maybe we can see if we can find a proper outlet for your need to be chaotic. In fact, if we’re going to be fighting such a powerful enemy I think I’d be willing to concede to you that you should be as chaotic as you like and show off how powerful you are. How does that sound?”
Turning into a toaster there was a ding followed by him as a piece of toast with Discords facial features, saying, “Done and done! You heard her folks. I’m going to have a blast.” Discord exploded into a bunch of body parts before reassembling himself. “Well, gather around everyone. I’ll teleport us all to Ponyville.”
Each of them snuggled close around Discord, and with a poof they all vanished.
With startled exclamations they all fell to the ground. “Oops,” said Discord with a laugh. “I seem to have landed just a few feet too high.”
Twilight just gave him a deadpan look as she got back up. She knew he had done it on purpose. Letting out a breath she let it go. “We need to head to Sweet Apple Acres. All my friends should be there.”
A few minutes later they arrived at the barn. When Twilight opened the door she was glad to see all of them there.
“Twilight!” called out Rainbow Dash. “That was fast. Did you…” She suddenly stopped as the rest of them came in.
“Oh, my,” said Fluttershy.
All of them began bowing. “No time for that!” Twilight said. “We have a battle to fight.”
“What’s goin’ on?” asked Applejack.
“The source of the darkness that spawned that evil fortuneteller is coming from the Everfree Forest. We believe that following the tree’s near destruction a dark force that was sealed inside managed to escape. What exactly it is capable of I don’t know, but when I looked at the forest and felt the waves of darkness emanating from it I completely froze up. Something is in there, and it’s going to take every one of us to stop it.”
“You got it!” said Pinkie Pie. “We’ll beat that monster.”
Discord began laughing again. “Ah, this should be good. The frilly ponies versus an unknown monster. This should be hilarious. Hoo hoo hoo.”
Rarity looked suspiciously at him. “How do we know you’re not behind this again?”
Discord stopped laughing for a moment, an eyebrow raised, but then just got lost in laugher again. “Me? That’s a good one.”
“Oh, like you weren’t lying to us the last time about not knowing what was causing the trouble.”
“Hey, this time I actually am here to help. It’s not like I’m here just to laugh when you have to beg me for my help because you weak little ponies can’t do anything without your magic necklaces. Really, Celestia, even after being sealed away for one thousand years you still couldn’t beat me? I guess someone got a little too comfortable on her throne.”
A miniature Celestia appeared on a throne. With a cutely distorted voice it said, “I am so lazy I’ll send my student to fight the creature even I couldn’t defeat alone. What a great move. Hee hee!”
Celestia ignored him. She wasn’t going to let his words get to her. Twilight found it hard to follow suit, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to indulge him either.
The mini-Celestia spoke up again. “Come on, Luna. Give me a hoof here. What a tough crowd.”
Discord gasped as Fluttershy came forward, reared up, and smashed the toy under her hooves. “That’s enough!” she said angrily. “This is not a joke! There are many ponies in danger! I thought I was going to kill Angel Bunny unless I sold him away. I trusted you. I believed in you when nobody else would, and you betrayed me again! That’s it. I’ve had it! Our friendship is OVER!” She said the last word with contempt, furious tears coming down her closed eyes.
Discord looked horrified and genuinely hurt. He couldn’t even muster up a response right away with one of his usual smart-aleck answers. He just stood there and blinked, swallowing roughly. “H-hey,” he responded, sounding contrite. He was sounding serious for the first time. “C-come on. You don’t really mean that. You’re the element of kindness. You would never just cut me off from you.”
“You broke my heart and went behind my back, acting like my friend. Even after what I said you still are continuing in your plans to overthrow Equestria? By releasing this ancient monster and destroying the Tree of Harmony?”
“WHAT?” asked Discord. “I have nothing to do with that. I promise.”
“And you act like we can trust your word. Even I have my limits.”
Discord poofed next to her. “I really mean it this time.” When she turned away he poofed to the other side. “I’m really, truly being serious.” She turned away from him again. “Come on, Fluttershy. I know I lied about the seeds but I knew you guys would be able to win. That was my last trick for getting rid of the old leadership.”
Fluttershy turned just her head to him and asked, “Why should I believe you this time?”
“What if… what if I prove it?”
Fluttershy gave him an exasperated look before turning her body to match her head. “Oh, this should be good,” she said sarcastically.
“Think about it. The Elements of Harmony have been shown to be far more powerful than me, right? Despite all my power they were able to easily seal me away into stone. Their power was so strong it took one thousand years before the power of the Tree of Harmony faded enough for the seeds to begin attacking the tree. After you six returned the elements the tree returned to full power. So how could it be possible for me to have anything to do with this latest threat? How could I overpower the tree when I couldn’t overpower the elements?”
With a hopeful look he said, “So that’s enough, isn’t it? That proves me innocent, doesn’t it?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Even if you couldn’t stop the tree in its current state that doesn’t mean you weren’t buying time for this monster to escape from the forest.”
Discord’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Again, he seemed to be out of things to say.
Though Twilight absolutely hated to admit it, she couldn’t help but feel bad for Discord. He actually looked like he was going to cry. If he wasn’t pulling pranks and looking that distraught she found it hard to believe that he was messing around anymore. With a sigh she said “As much as I can’t believe I’m saying this, I actually believe Discord.”
Fluttershy gave Twilight the evil eye, like she had just been betrayed. “So now you want to believe this liar?”
“Discord values his friendship with you. We know that much. If he was really that interested in destroying Equestria or ruling over it all he would have to do was exactly what he had been doing when he was first released from the stone. Without the Elements of Harmony we can’t possibly beat him. That being the case, why go to the trouble of releasing some being when they might not have the same agenda of playing pranks that he does?
“Besides that, Discord seems genuinely apologetic. He agreed to help us out on this quest. If he’s really against us here that would mean he would have to throw away his friendship to you, something he isn’t willing to do.”
“See? See?” Discord popped up in front of her. “Even Twilight, the smartest princess ever, agrees with me. So we’re friends again, right?”
Fluttershy just glared at him for a while. “Ooookayyyyy. I’ll see how you act on this mission. If you prove yourself of use in defeating this creature and protecting the citizens of Equestria then I’ll accept that you’re telling the truth, and I’ll renew our friendship.”
“Oh, thank you, Fluttershy. I promise you won’t regret it. I’m on the job.” A helmet appeared on his head. "Nothing is going to hurt you on my watch. I promise that.”
With a little less anger she said, “I hope so. I’m giving you one last chance, Discord. Don’t ruin it.”
With the matter settled the eleven of them started to leave. A voice suddenly rang out. “Hey! What about us?”asked Apple Bloom.
“Y’all are ta stay here!” Applejack said sternly. “We don’t need no more trouble.”
“But what if you don’t come back?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah," said Scootaloo. "We want to come along, just in case.”
“Absolutely not!” Rarity said strongly. “This is not an amusement park visit. This is a big battle.”
“She’s right, kid,” said Rainbow Dash. “You’re not there yet.”
All three of them gave puppy dog eyes, but their sisters weren’t moved.
Princess Luna surveyed them, then said, “You may come along with us.” This was met with outcry from their older sisters. Luna settled them down before saying, “We can see it. No matter what you say to them they will come along anyway. They’ll just do it in secret. Far better for them to be in the middle of the group where we can protect the children, than for them to hang behind and get attacked by something we shall not be able to protect them from. We do not need any unnecessary injuries. I’m sure you agree that you don’t want to see your sisters hurt?”
All three of them looked annoyed, but they knew that Luna was right. The three of them wouldn’t be able to help themselves. They would follow along without a thought to their own safety and likely get themselves into trouble. So, with great reluctance, they agreed to bring the girls along.
“Now, y’all better stick right by us and don’t leave our sides no matter what," said Applejack. "Ya got that?”
“Yes, Applejack,” they responded in unison.
Now a group of fourteen they walked towards the Everfree Forest. Along the way Discord was still doing all he could to get back in Fluttershy’s good books. He kept poofing fans and waving them to keep her cool, or trying to shine her hoof. She just ignored him.
When they entered the forest Twilight looked around. Though she had been afraid before when she was far away she didn’t feel nearly as afraid now that she had all her friends with her. And with Discord on his best behavior so as not to lose Fluttershy’s friendship she felt a real hope for victory, even if they didn’t have the elements yet.
They had only been walking for a minute when they heard the sinister cry of a crow. Its proportions were out of whack, and it was wearing a crystal upon a necklace. Twilight thought it looked just like the one the fortuneteller had. Was it another creation of this dark force? Taking aim she fired at the crystal, but the bird quickly flew out the way with a caw, and began racing off in the direction they were heading.
The bird landed by a dark being cloaked in shadow, and let out a cry. “I see,” the being said in a deep voice. “They are on their way. I knew they would come. Maybe the future of this world is going to come much faster than I expected. Let’s just see what happens."