A World Worth Dying For

by ClanCrusher


Part 3: Steadfast

Shields had always been Shining Armor's specialty. He'd used one to hold back an army of changelings once, and that had been while he was dazed, mildly brainwashed, and unable to reach his full power. As an experiment, Twilight had once tested her brother's shields, and it had taken nearly five minutes of concentrated effort to break through his best work.

And that had been after she’d gotten her wings.

“Heya...BBBFF,” murmured Twilight softly. “Those wings look good on you.”

“Thanks, sis,” he replied, his voice equally soft as he walked towards the table, standing between it and his sister. “Although I should thank you, too.”

Twilight shook her head. “I never actually managed that in my world. I'd always assumed Cadance had a plan to help you ascend.”

Shining chuckled. “Maybe she did, but as it turns out, fighting your way through Tartarus and demanding answers of the guards there works just fine.” His focus shifted from his sister to the dragon on her back. “It's good to see you too, Spike. The Crystal Kingdom has really missed your visits.”

Spike sighed, his claws tightly clutching Twilight's mane. “You're not letting us leave, are you?” he accused.

Shining avoided his gaze, looking off to the side. “You know...when Tirek and Discord invaded Canterlot, I tried putting up a fight. Mobilized the guard force and the Wonderbolts. Ever since Chrysalis invaded, Celestia made sure to keep a robust standing guard force on call for emergencies. I thought it would be enough.”

“Shining, it wasn't your fault,” said Twilight gently.

Her brother continued as though he hadn't even heard her. “But then Tirek and Discord arrived. Tore through our guards like tissue paper. Left us all drained of our magic. A few hours later, I learned that my sister was dead.”

Twilight swallowed. She could feel Spike's claws digging more deeply into her mane.

“And somehow...she's back. Even when that idiot guarding Tartarus said your spirit wasn't salvageable, here you are...about to throw yourself into another unwinnable fight.”

“Guess we know who tipped him off,” grumbled Spike.

“Shining, you didn't fail me,” insisted Twilight. “No one could have predicted that disaster. It was just a lot of things that all went wrong at-”

“No, sis, I did,” insisted Shining, cutting her off and turning back towards the table, his horn starting to glow. “But I'm not going to let it happen again. Not when I have the power to change things.”

The violet shield glowed brightly for a few moments and then slowly started to shrink, pressing against the crystal map from all sides. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, and then magical sparks began to fly, an earsplitting grinding sound filling the clearing as the crystals began to compress against one another.

“Stop it!”

Even knowing it was hopeless, Twilight threw her magic at the shield, scouring it for any sort of weakness, slowing the compression a little bit, but not enough.

“Are you going to force your friends and family to lose you all over again?” demanded the white alicorn. “Velvet and Night Light heard you were here, do you really think so little of this world that you'd abandon them, too?”

The magic intensity increased as Shining redoubled his efforts. Twilight felt sweat dripping down her brow, but she pushed back, feeding her own magic into the shield and disrupting his ability to control its size. “I'm not your Twilight!” she snapped, trying not to choke on the words. “And it's an insult to your Twilight's memory to try and replace her with me!”

“Then why did you call me your BBBFF?” he demanded.

Twilight's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Her magical hold slipped and for one moment she could see a hairline fracture appear on the table as Shining took full control of the shield.

CRACK! BOOM!

The crash of thunder in the clearing was deafening. Streaking so close to her mane that Twilight could feel the heat, several bolts of yellow lightning struck the shield, making spiderweb cracks along it until one finally shattered it. The following detonation of magic bathed the clearing in a bright violet light.

“You can't keep her here, Shiny.”

There was a sizzling sound followed by a pop, the sudden influx of air and magic nearly making Twilight stumble as Discord appeared next to her. The draconequus had a grim look on his face, and in the mild darkness, the scar that ran along his muzzle and down his neck glowed eerily.

The look on her brother's face shifted slowly from one of resignation to rage. Twilight had never seen her brother so angry before. “So...once wasn't enough for you, Discord? You want to take away my sister again?”

“She was never your sister to begin with, and right now she has her own brother who is missing her,” he replied. “Twilight, it's time for you to leave.”

The alicorn hesitated. She didn't want to do this, not with Shining angry enough to fight her hoof and horseshoe to stay, but she couldn't see any way to talk him down. Resisting the urge to yell out an apology, Twilight ran, barely paying attention as a wall of pink clouds blocked Shining's attempt at another shield.

“Grab it, Spike!” she shouted, levitating the scroll from her bag and giving it to the dragon while leaping up onto the table and preparing her spell. The magic built up and the portal began to distort the sky, and then suddenly Twilight felt another magical presence. With a snarl and a flash of green fire, Chrysalis appeared on the table in front of her, the flames lashing out at the vulnerable piece of parchment.

In her panic, Twilight did the first thing that came to mind, focusing her magic on Spike and the scroll and teleporting them away. Cursing herself for missing the changeling's presence, Twilight faced her new opponent. “Thirty worlds, and the one time you actually seem to be a decent ruler I still end up fighting you.”

“Then don't fight me,” said Chrysalis, her voice lacking its usual dulcet tone. “But if you're determined to erase this world, I'm not going to stand idly by and watch it hap-.”

Twilight's magic lashed out before the changeling princess had even finished talking, striking her point-blank with Starlight's crystal encasement spell. The violet prison formed swiftly around her, but moments later green cracks began to appear, shattering it almost immediately.

“Still trying to play the pacifist?” mocked Chrysalis with clear derision in her voice. “If I'm going to cease existing once you leave, you should have no trouble killing me!”

Her horn glowed and her eyes flashed. Even though she'd been expecting it, the mental attack hammered at her defenses, a cry leaving her mouth as what felt like hundreds of needles pricked at her brain, searching for a way in.

“You...always...use this!” gasped Twilight, sweating slightly as she focused her magic internally, compressing her thoughts and placing her own mental barrier around them. Taking a breath, Twilight pushed outwards, purging the foreign influence and sending Chrysalis staggering back as she forcibly broke the link. Her follow-up blast was very non-pacifistic and sent the changeling princess flying. “If I didn't know how to defend myself mentally, you'd be dealing with Nightmare Moon right now.”

Her horn glowed, the pattern for a stasis spell starting to form, only for her magic to slam against Shining's shield as her brother teleported in between her and Chrysalis. Scrambling to her hooves, Chrysalis turned and retaliated, pushing right back with a blast of her own. Twilight braced herself, only for the blast to go wide as Discord appeared and casually slapped it aside with his tail, detonating it against one of the surrounding trees.

“Never thought I'd see the two of you working together,” said Twilight, taking a moment to catch her breath as Chrysalis did the same.

“And you're working with your own killer,” snapped Shining. “Today is full of surprises.”

Twilight flinched at that, opening her mouth to protest, but Discord cut her off. “Save your breath, princess. You know what you have to do.”

Raising his clawed hand into the air, Discord snapped his talons. The sound seemed to reverberate around the clearing, making Twilight's very bones shake, and the effects came soon after.

Beneath her, the grass turned a bright shade of blue. The white rays of moonlight shifted color, bathing the ground in a prism of light. Scents of flora, fauna, and more spices than she could name drifted past her nose. The very air around her felt like it was being twisted, and the magic inside her body seemed to protest simply standing in proximity to the Avatar of Chaos. Across from her, Shining and Chrysalis were feeling the strain as well, the violet glow around her brother's horn flickering before fading entirely along with his shield.

“Do try your best against Chrysalis,” said Discord, his voice coming out distorted and deeper than she'd ever heard before. “I'd hate to die for no reason.”

“Wait, what are you-”

Like a viper, Discord moved, sliding along the ground, the light bending and twisting around him as he moved through the miniature realm of chaos he'd created. In the next moment, he tackled Shining, and with a multi-colored flash of light, the two of them were gone.

As if a rubber band had just been flicked, the surroundings suddenly snapped back into order, the colors, scents, and sights all reverting to normal. The lingering chaos magic in the air vanished completely, leaving Twilight with the changeling queen between her and the crystal table.

Panicked questions flooded into Twilight's mind. What had Discord just done? Was her brother okay? What did he mean by dying? She had no time to spend thinking about any of that, though. Chrysalis had recovered and she looked just as determined as before.

Focusing her magic, Twilight blinked from existence and reappeared on the table, forming her own shield around it and herself, blocking Chrysalis out. “Spike! Where are you?” she called out. She hadn't teleported him far, just to the edge of the clearing. Her eyes darted around as Chrysalis furiously attacked her shield, but the treeline remained free of dragons.

Cursing internally, Twilight turned her attention back to the changeling princess. Had the other members of her hive found him? Was this fight being watched by them right now? There was no time to think. Regardless of what was going on, she wasn't going to get the time to look while Chrysalis was in the way.

Not even bothering to drop the shield, Twilight fired a blast straight through it, scorching the ground as the changeling princess jumped away, retaliating with a blast of her own. Spreading her wings, Twilight took to the air, dodging the energy and scanning the surroundings, hoping to see a flash of purple somewhere. No such luck.

“If you really cared for your home, you wouldn't let me stand in your way,” shouted Chrysalis after her, suddenly vanishing in a flash of green light and appearing above her, gathering power for a massive magical attack. Unwilling to risk the crystal table below her, Twilight landed back on the table and shielded, wincing as she felt the desperation in the magic. She was starting to put her own life force into her attacks now.

“Please...stop,” said Twilight, landing back on the table and weathering the assault behind a shield. Cracks were forming, but just as quickly fading as Twilight pushed more of her magic into it. “I just want to go home.”

“You have a home here!” snarled the changeling, pushing even harder, the entire clearing filling with a brilliant green light. “And ponies that care about you! And right now, you're taking them all for granted!”

Twilight flinched, her hooves sliding along the crystal as she was pushed back harder and harder, the magical assault getting more intense by the moment. Taking a deep breath, the alicorn watched as more and more cracks appeared...and then suddenly she pulled the magic out of the shield. Chrysalis' blast destroyed it almost instantly, striking hard against the crystal map, but Twilight was gone, teleporting in the distraction and appearing right by the changeling's side.

Chrysalis tried to turn, but Twilight's spell was already out, hitting her center of mass. The crystal prison formed around her, far stronger and sturdier this time, entrapping her once more. This time she didn't break free. “I'm sorry,” said Twilight softly, fighting back tears. “I never wanted to take away anyone's home.”

Five minutes was the best she could hope for. She needed to find Spike and she desperately needed to leave. All of the magic being thrown around had doubtless attracted some sort of attention by now. Closing her eyes, Twilight expanded her magical senses and searched for her assistant, looking for his unique signature.

“Come on, Spike, where are you?” she said to herself, voice shaking slightly as seconds ticked by and her search grew longer.

Finally, on the edge of her senses, she could feel him. The aura of chaos that Discord had manifested must have been wider than she thought, and it was probably a good thing his magic hadn't come into contact with the scroll. Just as she was about to teleport, however, the atmosphere around her suddenly became distorted.

She turned her head upwards just in time to see the air ripple and a tear open up in the sky.  Moments later, Discord’s body was flung from the tear, plummeting towards the ground and hitting hard. Right behind him was her brother, wings outstretched and glowing with a white aura that was almost painful to look at as he gently floated downwards and landed on the table.

“Order magic...such a hassle...” complained the draconequus with a hacking cough. “Those paladin types were never any fun.”

“Celestia may have let you remain free after what you did, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Turns out it was time well spent,” said Shining, his voice echoing slightly.

Discord chuckled, twisting on the ground as he tried to get back on his feet. His body was covered in burns, and the scar along his muzzle was glowing an angry red color. “Better take your chance to kill me now...once your sister leaves, it won't matter.”

The white alicorn didn't need a second invitation. Without any warning, a dazzling white light flew from his horn towards his downed opponent. Discord didn't even try to move.

“Stop it!”

Twilight teleported, but she didn't have time to throw up a shield. Her wing came out, shielding her face as the white light traveled towards her...only to splash harmlessly against her body, leaving behind a gentle warmth.

“Not even a singe?” came Discord's weak voice as Twilight checked herself over for injury. “Not one bit of chaos in you...a shame, really...”

Twilight swallowed, turning and facing her brother, the bright aura fading from view as his natural color replaced it. “I'm going back,” she said firmly. “This isn't my world. My brother isn't a killer.”

Shining recoiled as if he'd been physically struck. “Twilight, he-”

“I don't care! You're not my brother, and I'm not your sister!” The magical blast that followed shattered her brother's shield like it was glass, the heavy emotional blow doing just as much damage as her magic. His wings spread and he took to the air, but Twilight followed, pummeling him with wave after wave of magic, driving him back from the table and towards the forest, her continued attacks stripping trees of their branches and leaves. He tried to summon more shields, but none of them lasted longer than a few seconds under her assault, and a particularly potent blast finally broke through his guard completely, sending him flying backwards into one of the trees.

Panting, Twilight landed on the ground, watching her brother shakily get back on his hooves. She didn't give him a chance, though, her horn charging an increasingly familiar spell.

Pop!

The sound of a teleport registered in her ears just before a weight landed on her back. For an instant she could feel the chitinous body of Chrysalis pressing against her before a pair of fangs sank into her neck, delivering a bite and a payload of venom that quickly coursed through her system. She opened her mouth in a cry of pain, but even as she felt her body going numb, her magic reacted, grabbing the changeling princess in a telekinetic hold and slamming her into one of the nearby trees.

The queen’s body crumpled into a heap. She didn't get up again.

Internally, her magic was fighting against the venom, but it was going to take time, and Shining wasn't going to give her that time. “Sis...even if you hate me for the rest of your life...I can't lose you again. I won't lose you again.”

Twilight didn't respond. She couldn't trust her own voice. She tried to focus her magic, but the process was sluggish. She could see her brother's magic building, she knew what spell he was going to cast, and she knew she had no time to defend.

POP!

The magical report of a teleport filled the clearing and white light burned her eyes. For a moment, Twilight thought she had looked directly at the sun, and when the spots cleared from her vision, she found that wasn't entirely inaccurate.

Standing regally between her and Shining was Celestia, her horn glowing, holding Shining's magical blast encased in her own golden aura. With a slight turn of her head, she sent it skyward, the magic quickly fizzling out.

Silence dominated the clearing as the Sun Princess settled her wings, seeming almost casual as she looked from one alicorn to the other. “My apologies for stepping into the middle of your sibling dispute, but take it from my experience, these alicorn fights never end well for Equestria.”

Twilight wasn't sure if Celestia was joking or not. Instead she simply opted to sit down and catch her breath. From the princess' back, her number one assistant finally revealed himself, quickly running to her side, a worried look on his face. “Twilight, are you alright?”

The purple alicorn chuckled weakly. “Heya, Spike...guess I have you to thank for this?” she asked, motioning towards Celestia with a hoof.

“I remember the Want-It-Need-It spell even if you don't want to,” grumbled the young dragon. “I told you we should have just messaged her first.”

Twilight couldn't help but agree. Before she could respond, though, another bright flash of magic filled the clearing, and a slightly disheveled Cadance appeared beside Celestia. “Oh good, Equestria still seems to be in one piece,” she muttered, quickly sparing Twilight a smile before rounding on her husband. “And so are you, miraculously. Although once I'm through with you-”

“But Cadance, she-”

“-is trying to go home, Shining. To the ponies she loves and the ponies who love her.”

The rest of the conversation became too quiet for Twilight to hear as Celestia filled her vision. “How are you feeling?”

“A little bit paralyzed, depleted, and emotionally unstable...but otherwise fine.”

Celestia smiled. “Well, perhaps I can fix one of those problems for you.” Her horn glowed and the last few traces of Chrysalis' venom faded from her body.

Twilight shakily got to her feet. That had certainly helped, but it was going to take some time for her magic to properly regenerate. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you before I left, I just...”

“You were in a very difficult situation, making a choice nopony should ever be forced to make,” said Celestia calmly. “At the very least, you should be proud of yourself for not hesitating to the point of inaction.”

“I don't feel proud...I feel miserable,” confessed the smaller alicorn.

“Many such decisions you'll make as a princess will leave you feeling like that,” counseled Celestia. “Such is the price you pay for the title. Still, I am glad I managed to catch you before you left.”

Twilight wobbled, leaning against Spike for support. “I'm probably not going to be leaving just yet. I still have another fight ahead of me and I can't go back with my energy drained.”

“Good. I'll need a few hours to go over this with you,” came a new voice from the treeline. Twilight's head whipped around just in time to see Sombra emerge, a cardboard box balanced on his back.

“I shall go check on Discord,” said Celestia, her face carefully neutral.

“And what exactly is  that?” asked Twilight as Sombra lowered himself to the ground and slid the box off his back.

“Every single note I could find that Twilight made in her pursuit to pull my essence back together,” said Sombra.

Twilight gasped. “You mean-”

“Yes. I don't fully know what misery you suffered in your world from my other self, and I've no real right to ask you for anything...”

Twilight didn't even let him finish before the lid was off the box and the papers were spread out in front of her, eyes rapidly scanning across the immaculate hoof-writing. Many of the diagrams and spells she'd never even heard of, but her other self had cross-referenced everything and had a fully formed index of all the books she'd used.

Sombra coughed into a hoof, realizing that the alicorn was completely absorbed. “Right then...I suppose I'll just go check on Chrysalis.”

It became apparent almost immediately that she wasn't going to be able take everything with her, but it was feasible to pick out the most important bits and pieces and take them with her in Rarity's bag. The work was soothing, helping her relax and take her mind off the coming trip, her magic gradually recovering as she read. Slowly, papers and scrolls filled her saddlebags as she catalogued and organized her other self’s research. This was still going to be a job and a half, and there was a small possibility that the rituals and magic might work a bit differently in her world, but hopefully she wouldn't have to spend two years on the task like her counterpart had.

It wasn't until the sun suddenly rose in the sky that Twilight realized how much time had passed. She looked up just in time to see the glow from Celestia's horn fade as the sun finished its ascent into the sky. Shining and Cadance had retreated to the other side, laying down beneath one of the trees in the soft grass, the pink mare keeping a wing tightly wrapped around her husband as he looked at his forehooves. Sombra and Chrysalis also seemed to be in a deep discussion of some kind, and Discord had vanished completely.

Feeling strong enough to stand, Twilight slowly made her way over to Sombra and Chrysalis, avoiding the gaze of the latter. “I think I have everything I need,” she said softly. “I can't promise you a hundred percent that it will work, but I will try.”

“That is the best I can hope for,” acknowledged Sombra with a nod of his head. He paused, drawing out a moment of silence before gently nudging the changeling princess with a hoof.

Scowling, the princess spoke up. “When I was young, my mother, Queen Chrysalide, took me to Canterlot in disguise. We took a guided tour of the castle, but I wandered off and got lost in the hedge maze. I was stuck in there for nearly an hour, but a royal guard named Stalwart found me and helped me find my way out.”

Twilight hesitated, not certain of how to respond.

“It's a memory I've never shared with anyone,” she snapped, clearly irritated. “And since it happened before you were born, I'm certain your Chrysalis has the same memory, so...if you managed to find me in your world...then maybe...”

“I'll try,” said Twilight firmly. “Do you, um...have any idea where you might be?”

“No,” said Chrysalis flatly. “But you have a dragon who has my fire-mail address. You'll get an answer, just...be patient with my other self. She's a bit of an ass, but she'll come around...if she knows what's good for her.”

Despite herself, Twilight couldn't help but giggle as a small tinge of red appeared on the changeling princess' muzzle.

“I do have one last gift for you,” said Sombra, interrupting the retort on Chrysalis' lips. “I never really named this spell, and I would not recommend it except in the most dire of circumstances, but I believe this is one of those few appropriate times.” Producing a scroll, he gave it to Twilight who quickly read over its contents.

“This...this is the spell you used on my brother,” she exclaimed, her eyes going wide. “The one that made crystals grow out of his horn!”

“A nasty piece of work I engineered back when I was king and consumed with dark magic. Unless this Starlight Glimmer knows dark magic of her own, she won't be able to overpower it,” said Sombra grimly. “It's also quite painful.”

Twilight nodded, committing the spell to memory before rolling up the scroll and levitating it back, a new plan already forming in her mind. “I understand, but I think I passed the 'last resort' phase of this battle ten worlds ago.”

“Understandable,” agreed Sombra. “Just-”

“I'm well aware of the perils of dark magic,” she insisted. “I'll be just as happy as you if this is the only time I ever need to use it.”

Slowly, her legs took her in the direction of Cadance and Shining. The latter was laid out on the ground, looking far more depressed than she'd ever seen her brother before. Even Cadance's comforting wing around him didn't seem to be cheering him up.

“So...did my other self do the sunshine dance with you every time we met after a long absence?” asked Twilight, trying to find something to break the tension.

Cadance looked pleasantly surprised. “Oh? You still do that in your world?”

“What? Of course I do! ‘Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake...'”

Standing up gracefully, Cadance extended her hoof just in time to receive the clap and finish the dance with her. “...clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Giggling like a filly, Cadance reached forward and drew the violet princess into a hug. “I'll be honest, I was a bit sad when we stopped doing it. Our Twilight thought it was too embarrassing.”

Twilight scoffed. “Hmph. As if I'd let a little embarrassment stop me from performing our sacred bonding ritual. Not to mention that it helped me tell you apart from Chrysalis.”

“Changelings have standards!” called out Chrysalis from behind her.

Flicking a wing in her direction, Twilight sighed and turned to her brother. “So...I'm pretty sure you could make a case for being the ‘Celestia’ of us, especially considering the white coat and the 'defender of the realm' motif, but I'm not sure I'd make a very convincing Nightmare Moon. ‘Eternal Twilight’ doesn't quite have the same ring to it.”

Shining's head jerked up, the stallion taking a moment to get the joke. “That's not funny.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“No.”

Cadance sighed, lighting her horn with a familiar spell. Shining opened his mouth to protest but the princess of love silenced him with a hoof as a bright pink heart slowly emerged from her horn, briefly shining bright enough to make the sun seem dim by comparison, before it popped like a bubble.

The effects were gradual, but potent. Twilight saw her brother's eyes water, and then a choked sob escaped. “Dammit, Cadance, I...” His head upwards, his eyes finally meeting her own. “I missed you so much, sis...a-and when you were about to leave without a word, I...I screwed up...”

Twilight knelt down, her forehooves wrapping tightly around his neck as she rested her head against his. “I'm sorry...I felt that if I had to disappoint anypony else, I wouldn't have the strength to leave.”

Shining's only response was to hug her in turn, letting a few tears dampen her mane while his wife soothingly rubbed a hoof along his back. Twilight remained there, holding her brother close, until Cadance's spell had run its course and her brother was once again able to suppress his emotions.

“You know I hate it when you do that,” grumbled Shining, slowly withdrawing from the hug.

“You would have hated yourself even more if you let her leave thinking that you resented her,” countered Cadance bluntly.

Shining nodded, taking a breath before standing up, settling his wings at his sides as he looked down at his sister. “Twilight...I still don't want you to go...but if your Shining Armor is anything like me, then he deserves to have his little sister in his life. I wish I had something more to offer you than words, but...you have my support.”

Twilight gave him a brilliant smile, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her back. The moment was quickly followed by a giggle, though. “Wow...you actually sounded like a prince there for a moment.”

Cadance let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Oh good, I've been working with him on that for ages.”

“Hey, c'mon, I'm trying to be serious here!”

“Oh...hehe...I know, it's just...I'm placing it alongside years of memories of you being a dork.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, don't fool yourself, Twilight...your brother is still a complete dork.”

Shining opened his mouth to respond but closed it suddenly. “Princess,” he said, his tone far more somber.

Celestia sighed, though there was a smile on her face. “Celestia, Shining. Call me Celestia.”

“I'll work on it, princess.”

Shaking her head with amusement, the Sun Princess turned towards her displaced student. “Twilight, if you wish to leave now, no one here will stop you, but I believe the rest of your friends and family would like to bid you farewell first. If you don't think you can handle it...”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I'll stay.”

“Oh good, and here I thought I was going to have to beg for a couple hours’ extension.” The sound of a balloon popping followed the familiar voice as the draconequus suddenly appeared in the clearing. There were several burns on his body from his battle with Shining and the sunscar was still glowing slightly, but he seemed to have almost completely regained his energy.

Twilight gave him a puzzled look. “What do you need a couple hours for?”

“Oh, don't you worry your pretty little tail over that,” replied Discord, giving her a pat on the head. “I'm just feeling...inspired right now, and this might be the last chance I get to cause some real chaos for this world.”

“Discord...” Celestia's voice held a hint of warning.

“Nothing irreversible, I promise. And far, far away from Canterlot, too.”

The Sun Princess sighed. “Well...it's not as though you need my permission, but fine. You may indulge yourself this once with my blessing. It's the very least I could do after you helped my former student.”

“Fantastic!” His claws snapped and suddenly he was next to Twilight, crouched low to the ground, his pawed hand shielding his muzzle as he whispered into her ear. “Princess, when you get back to your world and fix everything, find my other self and give him the secret passphrase.” His voice died down to a point where only Twilight could hear him.

Twilight's eyes narrowed and then widened before her head jerked away. “I'm a stupid what?! No! I'm not saying that!”

Discord let out a chuckle. “Ah well, worth a try. Toodles!”

With another snap of his claw, the draconequus vanished, leaving the flustered princess behind.

“Where do you think he's going?” asked Shining a moment later.

Twilight shook her head. “To cause somepony else trouble for once. So who's showing up?”

Chrysalis tilted her head slightly, as if turning her head towards an invisible voice. “Pinkie has already spread the word, so you should probably expect half of Ponyville at this point.”

“That's not going to be too overwhelming, is it?” asked Cadance gently.

“No...this is a world worth remembering, and if everything does fade away once I leave and put things right, I'll make sure it stays in my thoughts.”

Just past the treeline, she could see the bright coats of her friends, with several more ponies following behind them. The scent of food and sweets began to fill the air, and from the corner of her eye, she could see Celestia's magic at work, turning the temperature from cool to pleasantly warm as the sun's rays seemed to get slightly brighter.

“So, uh...we do have a plan for beating Starlight Glimmer this time, right?” said Spike cautiously, taking a place by her side. “I'd really rather not go through all this again.”

“Oh, don't worry, Spike, this is definitely going to be the last world she sends us to.”

---

An Undetermined Number of Miles Away...

Starlight Glimmer smiled as she turned and checked herself in the mirror, making sure her makeup was in place. 'Our Town' had started out a bit rocky at first, but over the past few months, things had descended into a peaceful tranquility. While the occasional critic still showed up every now and again, nopony yet had been able to resist the allure of equality.

Just as she was about to get her morning meal, though, a hurried knock sounded on her door. Frowning slightly at the break in routine, Starlight answered the increasingly frantic pounding. “Sugar Belle, how wonderful to see you,” said the unicorn with a warm smile. “Is something wrong?”

“No! I mean...no. It's just...a new pony came into town this morning and he's...strange. A-and you said you wanted to be informed of all new arrivals, too!”

Starlight smiled, her forehoof extending to give the other unicorn's slightly gray mane a rub. “Thank you, Sugar Belle, you've done well.”

The new arrival in question was already drawing a crowd by the time she arrived. He was...odd, to say the least. His coat was brown, but near each of the legs were distinctly different colored patches of fur that extended towards his hooves. A pair of wings adorned his back, one bright blue and the other a murky gray color, and his tail was twisted into a braid of two alternating shades of red. Even his mane was slightly off-putting, striped black and white almost like a zebra, and on his flank was a bold black cutie mark consisting of a circle with what looked like an eye in the center and eight arrows pointing outwards from it.

“...never have enough space on my coat to put all the colors I want there, so I like to change it constantly,” he told the crowd of gathered ponies. Before her eyes, the brown coat seemed to shift slightly, turning a dull shade of green instead. “Now tell me, where is this leader of yours you speak so highly of?”

Pushing her way through the crowd, Starlight finally came face-to-face with the oddly colored pegasus. “Welcome to our humble town,” she said in greeting. “My name is Starlight Glimmer. Have you come here to learn about true friendship?”

Beneath his pony disguise, Discord grinned. “Oh boy! You bet I have!” His hoof rose a few inches off the ground before coming down against the dirt, filling the air with the distinct sound of a pair of claws being snapped.