“What happened to them? Was it your device?” Twilight asks the other two frantically, pacing around the room.
“I don’t think so,” John says, puzzled, “It shouldn’t have done anything like that.”
“Applejack said him, so they must have encountered somepony unfriendly,” Emily suggests.
“It must have been Tirek! Nopony else would have been able to shake the ground that much,” Twilight says angrily, “And if he’s there, then the others can’t be too far away. We have to get to them before they do something horrible to my friends again!”
“Now, hold on, Twilight. We don’t even know where the gates to Tartarus are, let alone finding somepony to tell us how to get through it,” John says.
“I don’t think we need to worry about that,” Emily puts in, “They looked like they had already gone through the gates, so they’re already in Equestria.”
“Yes, but, that doesn’t tell us where Tirek and his gang have taken them,” Twilight says, not calming down a bit, “We need somepony to help us.” Just then, Discord materializes in Twilight’s living room, right next to the group.
“Well, maybe I can help with that,” he says vainly.
“Discord! How did you know we needed help?” Twilight asks.
“Oh, I have my ways,” he says cheekily.
“Well, how exactly can you help us?” John asks urgently.
“Well, as you may know, I can track dark magic wherever it goes if it is powerful enough,” Discord explains, “Tirek gives off so many, oh, how would Treehugger put it – “bad vibes” – that he shouldn’t be too hard to find. And where we find him, we find Fluttershy and the rest!”
“That would be great!” Emily begins to say, but Discord suddenly declines.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I should have to help you, not after how Twilight treated me yesterday.”
“What are you –” then Twilight remembers what happened in the shop, “Well, I was upset and you weren’t giving me straight answers. Plus, I already apologized to you!” But Discord won’t hear any of it; he continues to sulk. Finally, Twilight says in despair, “Please, Discord? I . . . I don’t want to lose my friends again,” Discord turns around and sees the look of hopelessness on her face.
“Oh, alright, I’ll help. Apology accepted,” he says, then grabs hold of everypony and teleports them out of the castle.
When Twilight, Discord, John, and Emily appear again, they are on the outside of a distant forest near the base of a tall mountain. Twilight looks around and spots Starlight Glimmer and Tirek gathering their friends into a tight circle, unable to fight back. Twilight unfurls her wings and zips towards the group while shouting “STOP!” Tirek turns around in time to see Twilight streaking towards him when her front hooves make contact with his face and he topples over.
“Well, well, well,” Tirek laughs evilly, “I was expecting you’d show up at any time. Now, you and I have some unfinished business.”
“Then let’s finish it!” Twilight shouts as her horn powers up.
“Now, hold on, Twilight,” Tirek says, “Instead of me taking your magic and finishing you off once and for all, I’m willing to offer you a trade. Either you give me your magic, and I let you and your friends go, or I take your magic by force and I banish you all to Tartarus!” John and Emily gasp, but Twilight stands firm.
“You can keep your trade, Tirek! I’m getting my friends out of here, whether you stand in my way or not!”
“Have it your way, Princess,” Tirek growls and lunges at Twilight and the rest of the group while Starlight stands guard over the Mane 5 and Jacob and Jenna. John, Emily, and Discord try to get to their friends, but Starlight casts an impenetrable protective barrier around them and takes on all three of them at once. Little does everypony know, King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis have broken away from the group and make their way towards Canterlot.
The three royal princesses of Equestria – Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, who joined them shortly after she heard about Twilight – wait in the castle at Canterlot, anticipating another attack from Chrysalis.
“I wish I could see Twilight for myself,” Cadence says thoughtfully, “From what you told me about what happened, she couldn’t have been in good shape when you left her.”
“As I’ve mentioned before,” Celestia begins, “If Chrysalis tries to invade again, we need to be better prepared for whatever comes.” Almost as if on cue, one of the castle guards runs into the throne room and exclaims, “Your Highnesses! Chrysalis has been spotted in the skies over the palace. And there’s somepony else with her.”
“We must go!” shouts Luna to the others, who follow her suit and fly out into the courtyard, where Chrysalis and another face they have not seen in a long time enter shortly after. Princess Celestia and Luna gasp, shocked at what lies before their eyes; “King Sombra!” Luna exclaims, “What are you doing here?”
“My, my, my princesses,” Sombra says coolly, “It certainly has been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“You were supposed to have been destroyed when Spike returned the Crystal Heart,” Celestia says, her brow furrowed.
“No, no, far from being destroyed, just bidding my time in Tartarus until my chance came.”
“Enough catching up!” Queen Chrysalis says impatiently, “Are we going to do this or what?”
“My pleasure,” says Cadence coldly, and gallops towards Chrysalis when she is taken down by three Changelings.
“I didn’t say we’d be fighting alone,” Chrysalis sneers, and together she, Sombra, and her minions charge the Princesses.
Back on the edge of Equestria, Tirek and Twilight continue to battle each other while Discord, John, and Emily try to penetrate Starlight’s barrier around the Mane 5, which seems to be draining them of their strength. They gather together and try to come up with another plan of attack when an idea flies into John’s mind.
“Wait a minute, I forgot I had a special upgrade in my wing-pack that might just help to break the barrier, but I’ll need a distraction.”
“We can take care of that, just go!” Emily says urgently, so John shoots up into the air; Starlight begins to blast away at him, but Emily counter-fires, sending blasts of magic towards Starlight. She manages to dodge them, but her shield begins to falter, which is exactly the space John is looking for. He reaches back to his wing-pack and presses a button, which opens up not only his wings but also a jetpack.
“Look out, everypony!” John shouts from above and streaks back to the ground, diving at a faster speed than even Rainbow Dash could manage. When he almost reaches the barrier, knocks together the metal bracelets on his front legs, which extends his custom-made claws, and makes contact with the force field, which dissolves upon impact and sends a mini shockwave outwards. Twilight, momentarily distracted by the sudden force, looks over at her friends, but Tirek takes no notice and slams his fist into her side and sends her flying backward. Twilight groans as she tries to get back into the air, but realizes her wing is broken. She can only watch as Tirek strides over to her, a menacing smile creeping across his face.
“What’s the matter Twilight? Have nowhere to go?” Tirek says mockingly. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to spend one day in a place like Tartarus? Well, thanks to you, I had to spend an entire five years in that god-awful place. But, don’t worry – when I’m finished with you, you’ll finally know what that will feel like!” Suddenly, Twilight screams out on pain as Tirek begins to take her magic; John, Emily, and the rest of their friends can only watch in horror as the event unfolds. When the transfer is complete, Twilight struggles to her hooves.
“There, you’ve got my magic. Now let us go,” she mutters.
“Oh, I will,” Tirek says malevolently, “But first, I’m going to have a little fun!” All of a sudden, Tirek begins using his newfound power to slam Twilight around, into trees, the ground, and even the mountain. Quickly possessing a new sense of urgency, the Mane 5, John, Jacob, Emily, and Jenna try to stop Tirek from harming Twilight, but he simply flings them aside like rag dolls. Finally, Tirek throws Twilight into the air and shoots a powerful beam of magic at her, which encompasses her in an orb of magic similar to how her friends were the other day. This ball of magic, however, does not explode, but grows bigger and bigger until Tirek stops shooting at it and hits it with a mighty blow from his fist, sending it screaming across Equestria. In Canterlot, the three Princesses, who fought valiantly but were overtaken by Chrysalis’ changelings and Sombra’s power, were now gathered on the balcony of the throne room, told to watch the “spectacle”.
“What spectacle?” Cadence asks, but before she can get an answer, they see the orb of light streaking across the sky. Celestia gasps because, even though the others cannot tell, she senses Twilight within it.
“TWILIGHT! NO!” she shouts, but just as she screams, the ball of light crashes somewhere in the Everfree forest and explodes, leaving a trail of purple smoke rising into the night air. Princess Luna and Cadence shout in horror as they try to escape from their bonds, but Celestia can only watch as she begins to sob over her lost friend.