This is it! This is the part you were reading for! Well, it’s not like my dire warnings will stop you at this point, are they?! Go ahead, spread the word and sing the praises of those who deserve it.
The gray eyelids had closed up, and the alicorn’s breathing had slowed down. The fight was coming to an end.
Sitting in his giant open fridge, Discord leaned forward with an unhealthy gleam to his gaze. There was no playfulness in such a gaze, no mere mockery, but a desire to see the last of his enemies fall to the ground and never stand back up.
And all that was left was for Twilight Sparkle to bring down her hoof.
It was raised, to eye level. Its shadow obscured the Princess of Love’s face.
It was shaking.
One could almost make out the draconequus near the unicorn whispering, reminding her of the things her enemy had done. She deserved it. She deserved worse. It was time to make her pay.
Yet the final hit was awfully slow to come. Lavender lingered over the gray, but did not come down.
“Cadence…” Discord heard Twilight Sparkle whisper and knew he had lost that one.
Of course, the Master of Disharmony did not lose. Never.
“You ponies always have to do everything to ruin my fun, don’t you?!” he bellowed, raising his claw to strike at the insolent, cheating, goody-four-horseshoe student of Celestia!
“Oh no, yeh don’t!”
A lasso closed up over his wrist and pulled his claws away harmlessly. Without even looking, the draconequus batted away the rope, or tried to. His eyes widening, he looked at the piece of rope still holding one of his arms, still pulling at it, which he couldn’t turn into streamers and porcelain plates with just a thought.
Then, there was a stronger yank, and he was made to look left.
“You?” Discord blinked. “But you were supposed to be stuck in that fake dream dimension forever!”
“Ah guess Ah just wanted to pay you back that much,” Applejack replied with a mocking drawl. With as much confidence as she had ever displayed, she made her way to her gaping unicorn friend. “Ain’t everyday Ah got the occasion to beat a snake that big with my own two hooves, ya know?”
Twilight could only mouth her name in disbelief.
“Oh, of course, Applejack,” the draconequus scoffed in disgust, waving her threat away. “But you alone will not make even a little bit of a difference!”
He heard a ‘swoosh’, and felt a gust of wind hit his back, all too quickly, and the realization sank in. Something tickled at his skin, something hot and burning. Willing a pack of debating alligators to appear over this newcomer, he realized his powers were not working as he wished them to.
“You were saying, jerkface?” somepony asked, all the while slowly coming into view.
The most recognizable flyer on the continent was staring him down with a cocky grin. He could tell she had insults on the tip of her tongue as colorful as the mane on her head.
“Oh, tell me this is not actually happening. Am I really going to be-?”
“Well, it looks like it from my point of view, Dissy.” They all blinked, Discord being the first of them all, at the pink mare with the glowing necklace that had appeared next to the draconequus. “See, we have had the right amount of climatic struggles and epic comebacks, thus you are stuck at the point where the heroine who was most alone is now getting progressively reunited with her friends.”
Twilight broke into a grin, finally feeling the relief hit her.
“Pinkie!”
Discord mouth twisted in a scowl. Really, it just had to happen next. Knowing how things actually worked at least made the next part predictable.
Truthfully, it wasn’t a mare making a grand entrance that disturbed them next. It was in fact an incredibly noisy clank of metal against the ground that did so. However, as they all stared at the enormous drawbridge that had fallen out of nowhere, their jaws dropped at the one single yellow mare standing shyly amidst a horde of hyenas.
“I… huh, I hope this isn’t the wrong time, b-but…” She squeaked, flinching when one of the surrounding animals cackled. “I made a few friends around the dungeons.”
“Fluttershy!” Her pony friends galloped to meet her.
“Oh, that is quite alright!” The spirit of Chaos suddenly threw his arms in the air and made them hit the ceiling. “Since that is how it’s going to be, I bet you one Element of Harmony that Rarity will be the next one to cut me o-”
--
When I stumbled through the hidden passageway and fell face first into the open area, I honestly hadn’t expected Discord to gave a disgruntled snort, nor for all the other girls to giggles or give themselves hoofbump. In particular, Twilight looked supremely smug.
‘I guess my pain is always funny,’ I thought while extracting myself from the ground. ‘At least the hyenas are nice.’
I waved at them, but they disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.
There wasn’t time for me to fall into depression over their ill-prepared fate though.
“Oh dear, girls, I’m quite sorry at being ‘fasionably late’. I am aware it is not the best of time for that,” Rarity said from behind me, though unlike me, she didn’t faceplant.
No, she landed graciously on the grass of the gigantic playing field, a few strides away from the rest. Then, she galloped quickly to her friends, still wearing the very shiny Element of Generosity on her neck.
Together, they faced Twilight Sparkle and Discord, presenting the former with a winning smile and the latter with a scowl of pure disgust.
Twilight seemed to be finally unable to digest all the events unfolding before her, though unshed tears of relief pearled at the corner of her eyes. “Girls,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I should have helped you out sooner… You had to save me…”
The five mares exchanged knowing looks.
“Oh darling.” Rarity rolled her eyes with a bemused pout. “Why must it always be you that comes to our rescue?”
“Y’know, Ah always felt we got off easy the last time.” Applejack started,
“We had help,” Pinkie nodded.
“Friends come to each other’s help,” Rainbow added, pulling them together with her wings.
From under the embrace, Fluttershy pushed a strand of her mane away, then locked gaze with Twilight, a smile on her lips. “But sometimes you must face things on your own to grow.”
“You helped…” Rainbow started again, grabbing Twilight’s hoof.
“Now, we’re here to repay the favor,” they said at once.
In front of them was Discord, staring at them like he was trying to put his finger on something but couldn’t quite do that… yet.
One orange hoof stomped the ground, and an apple-shaped light spread outward. “I looked at a lie in the face, and told it to get lost!”
“Ah!” Rainbow grinned. “You two, AJ? I told the little guy that you guys wouldn’t ever let us down. I was right, of course, ‘cause I trusted the real yous better than just a fake Discord had made.”
Red light fell from the skies into thunderbolts, with a cracking sound of thunder that made me jolt. There was barely the time for me to stroke back the fur on my legs standing on ends, for a bubbly voice took over the dramatics.
“I partied the other Twilight so hard that she so sort of exploded,” Pinkie proudly declared, grinding the heroics to a halt, momentarily. She did not seem quite conscious of the wide and incredulous gazes she was receiving, for the most part. “But that’s okay because it was only an illusion and I got over her meanie-pants words. It was really scary when I thought my friends would leave, but I got over it, because my friends needed me more than I needed them, so it was my turn to face that fear.”
“That’s so super courageous!” I could not help but interject, looking at her with starry eyes.
“Thanks, Hony!” Pinkie replied, smiling and blushing, surrounded by blue balloons. Then, she winked.
Fire spread across my face, the figurative one.
In her corner, Rarity placed a hoof over her lips, whispering ‘could it be?’ and letting out an elegant giggle. Then, realizing the others had started to stare, she stepped forward without letting her embarrassment slow her down. “I placed my life down to save that of another. I did not allow another innocent to suffer in my stead for selfish goals.”
Gems started to glitter into the now nightly sky overhead. They spread suddenly like fireworks, remaking new constellations.
And Discord’s body kept twisting with every new eruption of Harmonic light over him.
One more mare stepped forward, despite being the one least likely to do so in order circumstances.
“I felt the loss of a friend… a-a dear… precious friend…” Fluttershy looked down, swallowing a lump in her throat. “I felt the loss, but still allowed its killer to leave…”
The others’ hooves were all helping her stand, and pink butterflies surrounded them as a shield. They were truly united as one, in this growing parade of light.
Briefly, looking into Twilight’s eyes, I saw a spark.
She looked at my, ahem, father with a proud smile.
“The Elements of Harmony have evolved, Discord,” she declared over the noises. “As the trials pushed us to our limits, we went beyond the simple virtues we represented. And with our growth, the Elements reach new levels of power.”
Their necklaces and crown were shining so brightly that to gaze upon them was like looking at miniature suns. But still I kept at it, because the blood rushed through my veins, with every maddened beat of my heart, and I wanted to know, needed to know the rest.
This was it. I knew it.
“Applejack, who saw through the lies, who refused what she desired most at its hardest, represents the Element of Truth.”
Said farmer looked Discord in the eyes, before letting the power engulf her.
Orange Light.
“Fluttershy, who forgave the one that had taken a most precious friends for her, even when she could choose otherwise, represents the Element of Mercy.”
The caretaker looked at Discord with a certain sadness, and perhaps pity, before it was lost in the growing maelstrom.
Pink Light.
“Pinkie Pie, who would not give in to her fears of loneliness for the sake of her friends, represents the Element of Courage.”
Out of nowhere, the party-goer appeared in between her two already named friends and gave them another solid hug. Only a bright outline remained.
Blue Light.
“Rarity, who was ready to give her life for somepony else, represents the Element of Sacrifice.”
Not unlike Fluttershy, the fashionista shook her head at the spirit of Chaos, but whatever words she might have wanted to say were lost in the eruption of light.
Purple Light.
“Rainbow Dash, who went against all signs of betrayal because she knew the truth was another, represents the Element of Faith.”
Finally, the daredevil flew with the rest, glancing at Twilight one last time before letting her Element take over.
Red Light.
“And I, who used to represent the Element of Magic am now the Element of…”
‘Dramatic pause.’
A giant drum rolled past us, creating a thematically appropriate soundtrack at just the right moment. On her side of things, Twilight’s pause had extended, just to wait until the giant instrument was no longer in sight, then…
“Friendship!” She shouted proudly, puffing her chest out.
My excitement went down the drain faster than you could possibly imagine.
Seriously, my body slumped down, with a disappointed sigh. That was not to say that Twilight’s purple light show of doom was not cool, not at all! It was very nicely thought-out. I personally loved the part where she shone like a thousand spotlights.
But I already knew the big reveal! Talk about spoilers… Damn you, catchy opening sequence!
“That’s... nice…” I said, looking away and not at all scratching the ground with my claws like I wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
“Huh?” Twilight blinked, mortified.
And the light show dimmed a little, just to allow us a clear view of her. Distantly, I thought I would hear a record needle scratch.
“W-what? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, glancing between her group of friends and the insane duo that was me and Discord, shrinking back on herself. “Why do the two of you look so unimpressed? I just revealed what is the evolution of the last concept of Harmony!”
Oh dear… how could I break the news to her?
Horribly uneasy with this turn of even, I glanced at Discord, who looked rather bored.
“C-can you just tell her?” I asked, grimacing. “I-I mean… I don’t wanna hurt her feelings and hum… you’re a better orator than me.”
The draconequus looked actually pleased from the compliment, lifting a mirror and reaching into it to style his reflection. “You certainly are not wrong about that.”
Ouch, that was some seriously powerful bile of pure hatred going up my throat at the idea that I had honestly complimented him. If nothing was done, I’d start puking my organs and/or a mushy bloody thing, whatever stuff I had inside me as a… mutated thing. Better start with a simple one. “Buck off, D. Just break the news gently so we can move on to the resolution of this already.”
“Tch.” The draconequus waved to dismiss me. “Well, it goes like that: we already knew.”
Two things happened. First, Twilight gasped her lungs out. Second, my jaw dropped to the floor in complete indignation.
My eyes twitched. “HOW is that breaking the news gently?!”
Discord dismissed me with a wave of his paw. “It wasn’t, sonny, but really. Who could have not noticed that by now? Especially after hearing it every week…”
“Well…” I grimaced, horribly guilty of inflicting that on the poor unicorn. “I know it’s gotten repetitive over time… Friendship is Magic. That one is certainly not new…”
Blown away, Twilight sat down, an incredible disappointment showing on her face.
“But that’s impossible…” The purple unicorn’s lips quivered, her eyes filling with tears. “How could you have possibly known something that was just discovered?”
We both started whistling innocently, as if we were angels.
“Come on, Twilight! It doesn’t matter if they knew or not! We can still kick Discord’s butt with them!”
Nodding, the mare of course agreed, but then came a sound we weren’t expecting. Something grating, sinister and all the same creepy.
It had our collective bloods freeze.
Discord was laughing.
“What’s so funny?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, glaring heatedly, her Element of Faith resting on her neck.
More than him, I feared that little piece of jewelry. To look at it for too long was making my stomach somersault with abject terror. Cowering, I made myself as small as possible.
Nopony paid me any mind, luckily.
“Oh, my precious little ponies. I am only laughing at how happy you are that you have made the Elements evolve with you!”
That comment got tempers to flare up.
“If you think they are going to be any less effective than they were previously, Discord, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous, Twilight Sparkle.” He wiped a bright orange tear from his cheek. “Those are going to be very effective against me.”
Now, I wasn’t the only one staring with not a clue what was happening. Finally, the others were on my level.
Discord pointed at the mares in triumph. “That’s just it! None of you gets it! You’ve just made the Elements of Harmony that much harder to activate! By evolving your concepts, you’ve elevated the virtues required to use them up another level! It will be exponentially difficult to find new bearers! What do you think will happen to Equestria once you’re all DEAD?!”
His words made my heart stop.
Them? Die? B-but-but they were timeless heroines that would live on forever in the memories of mankind! They could not just go on and age and DIE!
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” – No, seriously, the chicken or the egg? There’s got to be an answer somewhere. Maybe if one thought long and hard on the question. Hmmmmmmm. – “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Then, sorta, maybe, the intensity of my shouting fluctuated wildly because I accidentally the fire. You know. But there was no burn on anypony so that was still very good.
“Hum, boy?”
A claw poked my shoulder, making me look up in Discord’s direction. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?”
“Well, for a few seconds, I was like ‘nooooo, I like them and I don’t want them to die!’, but then I remember the part where everypony dies of old age, except maybe the Princesses, but I’m not really sure, and then there’s you who said something about eons, which really makes you an old fart, but then I was going back to my previous idea about the Mane Six and there was this random craving for vanilla ice cream that came over me-”
“Oh! I know that feeling!” Pinkie told me with genuine compassion.
“Right?!” I cried, leaning on her for all it was worth. “I think we need to eat some as quickly as ponily possible, and if not that, then at the speed of off-screen teleportation! Yumminess depends on it.”
“Yup.” She nodded quickly, before narrowing her eyes. “Which, of course, wouldn’t even be needed if a certain somedraconequus had taken the time to make ice cream rain from the sky!”
Oh, she was right. She was doubly triply right.
“YOU EVIL THING!” we shouted at him in unison.
Amazingly, Discord had the good grace to look guilty.
“Alright, you two, I will admit to feeling bad about the lack of ice cream around.”
He snapped his fingers, then, after a blinding flash of light, we heard a low rumble in the distance. Surely, that was the mark of our most precious treasure, and together we would gallop through fields of sunlight and storms to get it.
In fact, I was halfway into position, with my wings opened and my legs fully stretched out.
But our new quest was cut short by an uncooperative member of the party.
“Girls, can we do this quickly?” I heard Rainbow groaned. “I feel like my brain is leaking out from my ears just hearing them talk like this…”
“No wait, he hasn’t made the ice cream fall yet!” I pleaded, bringing out the pouty lips.
“Honest Havoc!” Discord growled in a fatherly tone. “You cannot have ice cream before dinner, it will cut off your appetite. You should try Styrofoam. It works wonder on the digestion.”
“Hmmmm, I guess I could thin-” ‘Wait… if I’m made of chaotic magic and this is a rainbow beam of pure concentrated HARMONY, would that TURN ME INTO STONE?!’
“Daddy D!” I whined and grabbed his arm in a vice grip. “I don’t wanna be a statue! It’s hell!”
“Will you just let go, Honest?!” My ultimate nemesis growled, shaking his arm off wildly, then spinning it when the former proved inefficient.
There was a brief second when the centrifuge pull got my heart to leap up my throat, before I was hit by weightlessness and was send flying. Pain spread across my shoulders as I landed wrong onto some weird sandbox. I coughed and hacked, with dust clouds surrounding me.
I didn’t have time to stand up, for I was suddenly thrown further off my lying position by a tidal wave of pure holy light. It only tingled a little. For some reason, a gentle Star above had smiled upon me and allowed me not to be hurt by magical good.
Then, my face slammed into the wall so hard I got stuck.
Ouch. I hadn’t noticed that wall before.
But since it wasn’t rock-hard stone anymore, it only hurt a little bit.
Wood is known to be a soft substance. Or so I knew.
So, with one mighty push, I unstuck my face from the wall, unwittingly creating some pretty damn freaky carved artwork into the Ponyville library. At least one pony was sure to get a heart attack soon, seeing my face in negative.
Thus, I fell over my back and stood, rubbing the sore spots on my body, briefly realizing that I was not made of stone or any other material that could pass off as that. Oh, I so loved being made of flesh and blood. Or whichever body fluid I had, freaky organism obliged.
Not to let my condition as a freak of nature deter me, I turned a bit in the circular and now very wooden library in hopes of seeing the girls not aiming the Elements at me next.
And there, I saw the most marvelous thing in this world and the next. Discord. Discord with a look of despair on his face. Discord, completely silent, at the mercy of the world and, you know, the most important detail…
Grey!
Gray!
Grey!
Gray! Grey!
Discord was as gray as my mane and thrice as immobile as my second stomach!
A spring in each of my legs, the pure joy of victory filling my soul, I gave my best impression of a young Twilight Sparkle.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
I did not really notice when I had stopped saying it out loud and when it was just a mantra in my head, but at some point, I had become less excitable and stopped bouncing around.
The girls were still staring at me. With something like astonishment or just plain incomprehension. Or understanding, actually. That was a smile right there... and that was a chuckle, plus a teasing nudge at Twilight.
Oh, but I would not let their cruel judging eyes stop me. Discord was as good as gone! There could be no word to express even half the things I were feeling, and my brain was only good enough to think the quarter of that.
“You did it, girls! You did it!” Oh no, the joy couldn’t be contained. I jumped and bounced in place like an excitable foal, all the while smiling at them with all my heart. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best, it’s so cool, you’re amazing, I feel like someone gave me a piece of apple pie, Equestria is saved, Celestia will be fine, Luna’s not a cardboard, I can taste the freedom, it’s like rainbow, can I have a dozen autographs for my friends? I can’t wait to finally not think of Discord. You deserve a medal, I will hug each and every one of you forever if I can, you’re the best, my saviors…”
I continued like that for another minute. Maybe two. Rainbow Dash ate it all up with a smug grin. And Rarity wasn’t too far behind, with her modest blush and the flick of her mane that just looked so classy.
“Alright, alright!” Applejack yelled to put an end to the flow of praise and nonsenses I was heaping at their hooves. “We get it… Honest Havoc.”
She lowered her Stetson a little over her mane, blushing for some reason. But she did not look very happy with herself.
That would not do! That would not do at freaking all!
“You beat Discord, girls… You know what this calls for?!” I posed, staring grandly at the ceiling of the tree house.
A long squee of pure glee came from one Element of Courage. At that one precise nanosecond, I knew she knew exactly what to do.
“Hit it, Vinyl!” I pointed in a random direction, and was rewarded by a triumphant music filling the air. One quick glance allowed me to see a pink flash by the record player, and I grinned even wider. Then another flash and the actual Vinyl Scratch stood behind her sound console, blinking through her opaque glasses.
After a second, she shrugged, put her earphones and acted as the DJ she was.
With a rarely equaled grace, I stood on my hind legs and showed the Elements of Super Harmony why I had gotten the title of “Cha-cha King”.
Not getting into the details, I could say that some stuff exploded, but that was barely my fault. Angel Bunny might have done it himself. After trying to flee from an incoherent Fluttershy. Who was also pursued by Rarity who wanted to make her feel better and make sure her mane wasn’t too out of place.
Also, Pinkie Pie is the most amazing dancer and Rainbow Dash has a mean competitive streak. She almost threatened my title. Scootaloo too, after she joined in with the rest of her cutesie little filly friends.
Yeah, they were there. They had come here as soon as the Elements had restored Super Harmony over the lands. They hadn’t been the only ones. Many a pony had come into the library, some of them galloping like mad to give others hugs, other had been attracted to the sound of music. Pinkie, in-between two dances with me or Rainbow, had apparently started handing out flyers.
Thus, the flow was uninterrupted, and more and more poor chaps came to forget and rejoice. I caught so little glimpses of this, merely little details like two unicorns, one big and strong and white, hugging the other that was smart, wearing a magical crown and lavender. That little stuff. Like Granny carried around by Big Macintosh so she could say in pony how proud she was of Applejack. You know, that sort of thing.
Something painful squeezed my chest, as a few figures I did not really remember floated in my mind. I felt like I should, but I didn’t. With a shake of my head, I forgot that and focused on the still growing flow of ponies.
Of course, that meant the library soon wasn’t enough and we were partying in the streets before long.
My heart was soaring. I was almost on the verge of tear and laughing at the same time. One of these, I did not do for fear of terrifying nearby ponies.
“Do the Twilight!” somepony shouted – Mayor Mare, I think.
At once, as a single dozens strong being, we imitated the inimitable wild dancing that only Twilight Sparkle could do.
If Reality had been sane, Discord would have been freed again on the spot, for such incredibly amount of Chaos could not be contained within a single multiverse without imploding. Luckily, the rules of physics had been beaten into a pulp today and did not feel like speaking up.
Long story short, I had an absolutely blast. Most ponies did. After crying from being reunited with their loved ones, it was only normal. Then… then came the time for wild abandon and celebrating the fact that we were all alive and somehow sane despite the ordeals a monster like Discord could summon.
And dance we did. Sing too, even. Well, not me, I was holding back that desire with all my heart while choreographies upon choreographies were spontaneously erupting all around me. A couple of these even happened simultaneously, led by different ponies and even clashing in an epic duel that ended with more cake being shared.
I could truly believe all was well and might continue to be, before I bumped into a mare much taller and larger than most.
“What manner of pony…?”
She was also blue and wore a crown.
I stared. She stared. Our gazes were locked, as I realized that this was a mare I maybe shouldn’t have crossed path with, not with the previous events being as they were.
Luna, for her part, did not look like she recognized me. Or knew who I was at all. Good. Good. I sort of needed all the anonymousness as I could get, since that whole mess had been my fault.
Thus, it was good that she only… glared… threateningly, with her muzzle scrunching up and… oh no…
Her mane flared up, flickering with comets, a supernova and three or four planets breaking apart. Though the spectacle was magnificent and grandiose, all in all, the little sanity I had left made me flinch in fear.
Luna’s eyes were full of hostility and looked at me the same way Applejack would look a vermin about to ruin her apple harvest.
Something cold grabbed my left ear, and half lifted me off the ground while her horn was glowing. “You shall come with me, creature of Chaos. I believe we have many things to discuss.”
“Oh buggeration…”