Luna sat alone in the throne room of the Crystal Palace. A few guard ponies patrolled the hallways outside. The moon shone brightly through the doorway and windows and the light reflected off the many crystal surfaces that surrounded her. It had been a week since Twilight and the rest of the element bearers had vanished. The entire kingdom was still in mourning.
Word had spread quickly of the loss of the princess. Many ponies left their regular work and homes and traveled to the Crystal Empire to pay their respects. Those that couldn’t afford the trip held vigil at the castle in Ponyville. Many tears were shed and a thousand stories were shared telling of the amazing friends that were lost.
Celestia kept mainly to herself through it all. She only made a small appearance twice a day to raise and lower the sun – the rest of the time, she was locked away in her room pouring over every book she could find on the histories of the Crystal Empire and the brief reign of King Sombra. There was little hope she would find an answer in one of those books, but she tried nonetheless. Most everypony thought it was a waste of time and effort to seek an answer – they believed, in time, the problem would sort itself out. Celestia would not accept that and continued to press for a solution.
Discord had been relegated back to the status of ‘dracona non grata.’ Celestia’s parting words to him had not been very kind. The basic line was that he had better come back with a way to help the princess, or he wasn’t welcome to come back at all. Luna tried to temper her anger by reminding her that Sombra had been the one behind the tragedy and that Discord had been but a pawn in his game. It didn’t seem to faze the princess as she had the sorrowful Lord of Chaos escorted from the castle.
Of all the ponies that felt most sad and heartbroken, Discord trumped them all. He clung to the hope that, perhaps, Twilight would find a way to escape the curse of the evil king. His only friends in the world now lost to him, he felt more alone now than ever before.
Back in the throne room, the princess of the night reflected on the time of her own banishment as bitter feelings of loss and betrayal sunk in once again. She examined the six featureless pony busts lined up on the far wall. Each of the first five had the familiar element gemstones hanging around the neck – the final statue was adorned with the crown of the fallen princess. The artisans of the empire had been quick to offer their services to craft a fitting memorial.
They had only just convinced Spike that his bed belonged in one of the guest rooms instead of at the foot of Twilight’s statue. He had spent the entire week by its side as night after night he cried himself to sleep. The young dragon had lost his best friend – and by all rights – a mother as well.
The reflection of the moon’s glow shone from the crystal in Twilight’s crown as it sent a rainbow prism of light across the floor and over towards Luna. She thought her eyes were playing tricks with her as a dark ring of shadows formed near the open door. As it grew, her interest in it grew as well. It was definitely not a trick of the shadows and moonlight she was seeing.
Suddenly, a pony came crashing into the room spilling right out through the dark gateway. Then came another, followed by two more. The last pony that darted through the portal swung up into the air as she tried to avoid flying straight into the throne where Luna sat.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she doubled back on the portal.
She didn’t get very far before the princess herself came barreling into the room and crashed directly into her. The portal snapped closed as soon as she made it though. Rainbow Dash took the brunt of Twilight’s assault as the pair flew back into the throne landing in Luna’s lap.
It took Luna a few seconds to realize what had happened, but as she stared up at the ponies that had knocked her back off her seat, she roared in her loudest royal Canterlot voice:
“You’re back!”
The guards had heard the commotion and came running at Luna’s call. As they each realized the scene that lay before them they worked quickly to help the princess and her unexpected guests as well as having another of their ranks run to wake the others.
Celestia didn’t need a wakeup call – Luna’s announcement had been enough. She burst through the doors of the throne room as the sun shot up into the sky behind her. Beams of light flooded the castle halls and poured down over the whole of the Crystal Empire. Her prayers had been answered as she locked eyes on the purple unicorn still trying to pick herself up off the pile of hooves and multi-colored manes that decorated the crystal throne.
In the middle of the night, the castle sprang to life as everypony was hurriedly informed of the amazing news. The townsponies and others who were visiting found it strange that Celestia would be calling up the sun so early, but were thrilled to hear the reason as word quickly spread of the return of Princess Twilight and her friends.
The throne room became more and more crowded as pony after pony came wanting to see the sight for themselves.
Pinkie Pie struggled to ask Twilight over the noise of the crowd, “Can I open my Ultimate-Pinky-Party-in-a-Box now?”
Twilight shook her head. “Not just yet – we’ve still got one more thing we need to take care of.”
Twilight walked over the row of statues and levitated the necklaces from off their mounts as she distributed the gems to each of her friends. Lastly, she placed her own crown atop her head.
She continued, “Now all we need is Discord.”
The crowd went silent. A horned and antlered head poked out from behind the doorway opening. “Is it safe to enter?” Discord stuck his neck around the corner as he slithered his way into the room. He kept his gaze to the floor as he slunk over towards Twilight.
“Of course it is,” replied Twilight, dismissing his fears of princess reprisal. “We can’t have a party without the guest of honor!”
“Me?” Discord looked completely out of his element. “I didn’t think I was welcome anymore given recent events.”
“That’s my fault, Discord.” Princess Celestia took the floor. “I lashed out and that wasn’t fair to you. None of this was your fault, and I want to apologize.
Discord stammered, “A-Apology accepted? – I guess?”
“Good!” Twilight shoved Discord out into the middle of the room as her friends lined up in front of their unadorned statues. “Then let’s get this over with so we can get on with the party!”
Twilight positioned herself in line between her row of friends and the still confused Discord. A dark magical glow surrounded each of the five ponies as they focused the residual power of the Elements of Disharmony towards Twilight. The gemstone in her crown absorbed the essence as it flowed out from each pony and collected in the crystal.
Twilight worked a bit of magic of her own as she combined the elements and turned to deliver them back to their rightful bearer. The energy poured over Discord as he felt his powers returning to their normal chaotic peak. As the transfer ended, every pony breathed a sigh of relief as the burden of carrying the counter elements lifted away.
“Something doesn’t feel quite right.” Discord stroked his beard. “But that’s exactly what chaos is supposed to feel like!”
He grinned a huge grin and came over to give Twilight the biggest hug he could manage. The rest of the gang joined in as Pinkie’s party box exploded over the group. The room was instantly bathed in an array of party favors, streamers, and of course – glitter raining down from everywhere around them.
“It feels good to have a balance – wouldn’t you agree?” Twilight nodded towards Princess Celestia as she motioned to have her join the group hug still in progress.
Celestia replied as she walked over to join the group, “I most certainly do.”