With the dark magic essence contained and Sombra’s influence removed, the black crystals infesting the Crystal Empire turned to dust and blew away in the gentle afternoon breeze. The explosion near the edge of town had caused quite a commotion amongst the locals. A few store windows had been shattered and a few guards had sustained injuries in the blast. Luckily no one had been hurt more severely than Trixie – and she would heal just fine with proper rest and treatment.
The Ponyville gang with their accompanying royal entourage made their way back to the castle. They loaded Trixie on a litter with four hefty crystal ponies to carry her. Cadance offered to put Trixie up in the castle until a proper new home could be built and her leg had mended. The outpouring of generosity on her behalf overwhelmed Trixie to the point of happy tears. The love she felt outweighed her physical pain – it was a good feeling to have.
Before the battle began, Twilight had sent Spike off to find Discord. She felt it was a bit weird that they had come all this way on his behalf only to have him go missing at the last moment. With six elements now locked away within the element gems, they just needed to find him and put things back to the way they should be.
When the group got to the base of the castle, Spike ran out to meet them.
“I found him!” he yelled out to Twilight. “He’s sleeping in the throne room.”
That’s just the kind of random Twilight had come to expect from the Lord of Chaos, even if he was supposed to be reformed.
After making sure Trixie had been taken care of and the rest of the injured guards had been treated, Twilight and her crew headed up to the throne room to confront the sleeping trickster. She was ready for this whole ordeal to be over. Hopefully they could get this over with quickly and she could be sleeping in her own bed again that very night.
The six bearers of the Elements of Disharmony entered the Crystal Castle throne room flanked by Luna, Celestia, Shining Armor, Cadance, and last – but not least – Spike. The clip clop of hooves across the crystal floor didn’t seem to bother Discord as he continued his midday siesta. As he snored, a mild burst of flame erupted from his nostrils and alternated with his ears as well.
Twilight walked over to the throne and stomped her hoof as she yelled, “Discord!”
He suddenly sprung to life as he nearly toppled over the edge of the chair he was splayed across. He quickly pulled himself together and replied, “good morning to you too, Twilight.”
“It’s afternoon, but that’s not the point.” Twilight was a bit short with him considering he was nowhere to be found while she and her friends had been risking their lives trying to track down his property.
“By the looks of the glow from your ever shining face, I see you found the last element.” Discord didn’t look too happy as one might expect. “I suppose you woke me since you want to tie up that one last loose end.”
“That’s kind of the whole point to why we’re here.” Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently. “Could you please let us know what we’re supposed to do now that we have all six elements?”
Discord yawned and stretched. “That’s the easy part – I guess if we hurry I can get back to my nap before it’s time for bed.”
“So… how do we do this?” Twilight still had her question hanging out there waiting for an answer.
Discord seemed almost as impatient to get this over with as Twilight. “Oh bother – just have your friends line up and focus their energy on you. The elements will focus on the dark magic in your crystal and feed back into me. Clear as mud pie – ready to do it?”
Twilight looked back over at her friends who all hesitantly nodded. She glanced over at Celestia to make sure there was nothing else she needed to consider before sealing the deal. As far as everypony was concerned, the plan was a go.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all stood facing Twilight as she aligned herself between them and their intended target still slumped over the throne. The royal onlookers signaled to Twilight and she turned to face her line of friends.
Twilight nodded. “Ok girls, let’s do this. Activate your elements.”
Each of the ponies called out in turn using the names of the Elements of Disharmony this time. It felt strange for each of them to be calling on an element that went completely against their nature. They were glad to finally be getting rid of them.
“Lies.”
“Sadness.”
“Greed.”
“Malice.”
“Envy.”
As the five ponies’ essences came to life, a stream of magic shone forth from each of their gemstones. The magic was directed toward the gem sitting atop Twilight’s head. Twilight could feel the energy being collected and refined together within the crystal. She called out as well:
“Dark Magic!”
The energy within her stone came to life. A blackness roiled and churned within the stone. The five ponies’ magic was finally depleted and the beams faded away with the empty gems being all that remained in their necklaces. Twilight turned to face Discord as she could feel the magic nearly ready to escape.
As she turned, the gemstone flashed. Then it flickered. Deep inside the tenebrous cloud within, a spark of light flamed to life. The spark grew as it burned through the smoky haze. Its glow turned a deep red making the gemstone look and then begin to feel incredibly hot.
Discord looked up from his semi relaxed state and said, “Now that’s new.”
Celestia’s magic sprung to life as her voice rang throughout the chamber, “Discord, what have you done?”
Discord looked confused as he replied, “I haven’t done anything. What have you done?”
A feeling of dread came over Twilight as a number of thoughts ran through her head. The gemstone was indeed becoming very hot, but she didn’t dare try and interrupt the magic.
Luna spoke up, “that isn’t Discord – it’s Sombra!”
The entire gemstone caught fire as the protective barrier was shattered. Five rays of dark energy shot out of Twilight’s gem, just not in the direction she was hoping. Her five pony friends behind her each caught a full on blast of the dark power.
“No!” cried Celestia.
“I can’t stop it!” Twilight struggled with her own magic to try and do something to break the link.
“Let it go – don’t interrupt it!” Discord’s voice bellowed out above them all.
“And just why should we listen to you?” shouted Luna.
“Because, if you break the spell now, they will all be lost for another thousand years,” came Discord’s reply. “Sombra must have infused his evil magic together with the element of dark magic. We can’t break the spell now or it will trigger his failsafe.”
The dark energy beams continued to focus on the five ponies who were powerless to avoid them. With the rays projecting behind her, Twilight could not fully see the effect the magic was having on her friends. Without much other option left to her, she decided she had to act. She took a deep breath, whipped around, and stuck her horn directly in front of the beams of energy emanating from her crystal.
In the blink of an eye, all six ponies were sucked together and vanished leaving only Twilight’s tiara and the five elemental necklaces behind, all twirling on the floor. The gemstones were all now completely devoid of any substance.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen, right guys?” Spike was the only one to speak as they all stood in absolute shock at the scene that had just played out in front of them.
“What do we do? How do we get them back?” A frantic Shining Armor charged the throne demanding answers from the now upright Discord.
“I’m afraid there really is nothing we can do now, but wait.” Discord didn’t seem to be as affected by the recent events as were the others. Still, a tear welled up in his eye at the thought of losing his precious Fluttershy.
“If there is something you aren’t telling us, so help me I will make you disappear myself.” Celestia joined Shining Armor at the throne.
“Calm yourself, princess.” Discord tried his best to settle their fears. “Twilight is one tough cookie. I’m sure she can find a way out.”
“Are you saying they are still alive?” Cadance flew over toward the group as she fought back tears of her own. “Where did they go?”
“It looks like they triggered Sombra’s failsafe, but I’m pretty sure that smarty pants, Twilight, was able to put her own spin on things before doing so.” Discord looked absolutely serious for the first time in his life. “I hope I’m right and that they didn’t just blow themselves up.”
“You had better hope that’s true, or it will be me haunting your dreams for the rest of eternity.” Luna added her own personal threat just to top it all off.
“Let’s hope you’re right, Discord.” Celestia had settled down significantly and under the circumstances, could now be deemed quite calm.
“Would you ever doubt your favorite student?” Discord stood and walked over to the crown on the floor before he bent down and picked it up. “She’s our only hope.”