Maria stood frozen in her true form. The Mane Six were silent, jaws agape. The force field was lifted, but they stood there, frozen.
"Y..you lied to us?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight I-" she stuttered, then she looked down, ashamed. "Yes,"
"How could you?!" she shouted suddenly, her eyes glossing over with fresh tears. "We...we were your friends! We thought you left!"
"I had to, Twilight! If I didn't Princess Celestia would've locked me up," she explained, her voice wavering. "I helped Discord, and she knew it. If I hadn't have done what I did, I would be in the dungeons right now,"
"But he put a spell on you! It wasn't your fault," she said.
Maria hesitated, then spoke the truth. "No, he didn't. We tricked you into believing he did. I helped him on my own accord,"
A collective gasp between the group echoed. Maria felt her eyes beginning to tear up. A slow clapping made her look up. "Bravo, my dear! You are a splendid actress, if I do say so myself," He placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, teleporting a few feet away.
"Don't touch me!" she spat. "I still haven't forgotten that you lied to me,"
He sighed. "I truly didn't want to do this, but you've forced my hand, Maria," he snapped, showing a large mirage, showing several ponies.
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence; their wings and horns gone, and their hoofs chained to the ground.
"What did you do to them?" Twilight demanded.
"Oh the usual. I trapped them and am now holding them for ransom," he said casually.
"How dare you?!" Maria growled. The other ponies shouted their dislike of the situation.
"Now, now," he said, "I mean no pony any harm. As I've said, I'm holding the princesses for ransom. I'm here to negotiate,"
"Why would we listen to yer demands?" Apple Jack asked.
"Because I have the princesses, hello?" he said.
"We should listen to him, Twilight," Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight sighed. "Fine, what do you want?"
"The way I see it, you want three things from me. So, I want three things in return," he started. "One, I want the Elements of Harmony given to me."
"What?! Why?" the purple pony shrieked.
"So you won't be able to use them against me, of course," he said. "Two, I want my own little place to spread my chaos,"
She muttered, "And the third?"
A grin crawled onto Discord's features as he glanced at Maria. Her eyes widened in realization. "My final demand," Discord started, "Is that Maria comes to live with me,"
"Absolutely not!" Apple Jack said.
Maria gasped in shock. They...were defending her? Why?
Discord was astonished as well, but quickly recovered."Very well then," he said. "That just means you'll get two of the three princesses. I think I'll keep Princess Celestia, and let Luna and that other princess go,"
"But, then who will raise the sun?" Rarity asked.
"Exactly. If I don't get what I want, you won't get the sun princess," he chuckled. "I sure hope the stars and moon will last long enough,"
"Enough!" Twilight boomed. "Get out of here, Discord!"
"Fine, yesh! I know when I'm not wanted," he said.
"Obviously not," Maria mumbled under her breath.
Discord ignored her comment. "If you change your mind, you can find me at the cave in the mountains," he said. "I'll be seeing you later, Maria!"
"Just leave already!" she burst.
"Fine, I'm going," Discord said. With a flash of light, he left. Twilight sighed.
"Why did you do that?" Maria asked quietly. The six ponies looked her way. Maria was sitting against the wall, hugging her knees. "I don't deserve your kindness,"
"Maria, we're your friends," Apple Jack said, approaching her. She used her hoof to tilt the draconequus's head up. "We're a bit sore at ya fer lyin' to us, but that doesn't mean we stopped being your friends,"
"That's right," Rainbow Dash said. "Friends stick together no matter what,"
"And friends don't sacrifice each other either," Twilight said. "You don't deserve to live with that villain,"
"But what about-"
"We'll find a way to get Celestia back," Twilight assured her. "If we agree to his first two demands, we'll get two of them back. Maybe we can ask Princess Luna and Cadence if they can help us,"
"I...I'm so sorry, you guys!" Maria cried. "I shouldn't have helped Discord!"
The ponies embraced their old friend, comforting her. "It's all right, Maria," Rarity cooed.
"We forgive you," they all said, making her tears of sorrow turn into tears of relief and joy. Even after all she's done, they were willing to forgive her. She wrapped her arms around her friends, grateful for their compassion.
She was beginning to understand that there was true magic in friendship.
***
Discord watched Maria in her tearful embrace with her friends. He growled, almost throwing the mirror in his moment of anger. "Those blasted ponies!" he said. "I would've thought they'd reject her now that they know the truth, but I must've underestimated their friendship,"
"Obviously, you dunce," his image said. "They're entire system runs on friendship. What'd you expect?"
He ignored his mirror image. No matter if their friendship bond was strong. He knew Maria well enough to know that she'd do anything she could to help the princesses.
***
The next morning...
The ponies, baby dragon, and female draconnequus traveled up the mountain to find the Lord of Chaos. When they reached the mouth of a cave, Twilight turned to her friends.
"Remember girls,"she said in a hushed voice, "We give the Elements to Discord, tell him about his new property, then persuade him to change his final wish,"
"Got it," they murmered together. They entered the mouth of the cave, Twilight uttered Discord's name.
"You called?" he asked, appearing before them.
"Yes. We've decided to comply with your demands," the princess pony spoke quickly.
One of his eyebrows rose as he grinned. "Oh really?"
"Here are the Elements as you've requested," she continued, pushing the jeweled chest towards him. He grabbed it, making it disappear someplace else. "The ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters, along with the Everfree forest, will be the only areas you are allowed to use your magic in,"
"Fair enough," he said. His grin widened as he eyed Maria. "And...my last request?"
"Denied," Maria said rudely.
"We came to see if you'd change your last wish," Twilight said, getting down to business. "If there, perhaps, anything else you'd like?"
Discord pretended to think about it. "Hmm....no," he said. "I've already made up my mind. If Maria doesn't agree to live with me, then you can kiss your precious sun princess good bye!"
"But-"
"I will not accept anything else," he stressed. "However, as I've said, you can have Luna and Cadence back. But if you ponies try anything, Celestia gets it,"
The silence was overwhelming, until Discord spoke again. "Since you obviously need some time to think about it, I'll give you till tomorrow to decide, Maria," he said. "I'll be going now. I've got some repairs to make,"
With that, he disappeared, leaving two dazed alicorns in his place.
"That foul villain," Luna spat as she stood to her hooves and dusted herself off. "He shall pay for what he's done!"
"Twilight?" Cadence asked. "What happened?"
Twilight quickly explained all the details to the two princesses, including about Maria's part in it. When she finished her tale, Luna sighed. "Celestia is strong, but without her magic, she is no match for Discord,"
"What are we gonna do?" Twilight asked. "He won't change his mind, and he threatened to hurt Princess Celestia if Maria doesn't agree to live with him!"
"Maybe I should go..." Maria muttered, drawing every pony's attention to her.
"No," Apple Jack said. "We won't force you into this,"
"But what other choice do we have? The stars and moon won't last forever, and even if they do, nothing can grow without sunlight. I couldn't live with myself if any pony got hurt or worse, died, because I was being selfish," she said quietly.
"But we can't lose you again, Maria!" Twilight cried. "We can find a way to get Celestia back! We just...we just...."
"Twilight, maybe Maria's right," Cadence said. "If Discord's not willing to change his mind, what other choice do we have?"
"But Maria...she won't be happy there," Fluttershy said. "That wouldn't be fair to her,"
"What's the problem?" Pinkie bounced. "If she lives with Discord, she can have chocolate milk whenever she wants!"
Maria snapped, making a small cotton candy cloud appear. Pinkie ooh'd as she stood under it, slurping the chocolate rain from her face.
"You're not helping, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash muttered.
"Girls, I'll be fine, really," Maria said.
"But darling, you have so much to live for!" Rarity said dramtically. "How could you stand to live with him?"
"I'll manage," she said.
"Maria wait," Twilight said. "Let's just return to the castle and see if we can come up with a plan to get Princess Celestia back. Maybe you don't have to do this,"
Maria knew it was useless, but forced a smile and reluctantly agreed. The group left the cave, quickly traveling down the mountain.
When they reached the castle, the sun would have been setting. The trip itself was exhausting, and every pony-including the princesses, were tired. Every pony was assigned a bedroom to sleep in at the castle until things blew over.
***
Maria tossed and turned in her own bed. She knew she had no choice but to comply with Discord's final request, but Twilight was convinced that there was another way. She felt like crying when she imagined Twilight's shocked face when her true identity was revealed. They must have really missed her.
Her thoughts churned inside her bed, keeping her from sleeping. She sat on the edge of her bed and looked around her old room. A soft rumble came from her stomach, and she decided to go downstairs and see if there was anything iin the kitchen for her to snack on. If there wasn't, she'd just summon something up.
She carefully exited her room, passing the other ponies rooms and entering the dining room, which had a door leading to the kitchen. There was a lone pony sitting at the table, her head lowered over a sitting cup of tea between her hooves.
"Twilight?" Maria said softly. "Are you alright?"
The purple pony's head shot up. "Huh? Oh yes...I'm fine,"
"Is this about my decision?" Maria asked, sitting in the chair beside her.
"Are you really gonna do this?" she asked softly.
"What other choice do we have?"
Twilight took a small sip from her cup, thinking over her answer. "I don't know," she admitted. "I guess I just don't want you to suffer that fate,"
"Or rather, you can't bear the thought of never seeing me again?" Maria finished for her. Twilight broke into tears.
"I don't want you to go," she sobbed like a little child. Maria hugged the pony close as she cried.
"I've never had to lose a friend before," she sighed when she was all cried out. "After you left, I felt like I had failed you as a friend, like I could've done something to avoid it. Now, it feels like you're being taken away again,"
Maria didn't have the heart to tell Twilight that she would have lost Starlight Treasure if it had not been for last night. The portal would open in another week, and she would have been preparing to leave this life behind.
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Twi. But this doesn't mean we won't see each other again," Maria said. "I won't let him keep any of us apart,"
"Pinkie Promise?" she smiled.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,"
They giggled. "Are you sure you want this?" Twilight asked.
"Well, not exactly," she admitted. "But I owe the world to you girls. Forgiving me after all the things I've done? I'm still trying to get over that fact,"
"Well, that's what friends do," she said.
"I'm starting to understand that..."