How Friendship is Magic Should Have Ended

by Nebbie

Everycreature's Love

A while later, Spike began burping out letter after letter.

Trixie eagerly looked at each. "Oh please have one from Starlight... Let's see: Hippogriff army on the way, Changeling strike force already there, the Griffons are rallied, but would really prefer the letters come out Gabby's front..." Trixie seemed to trail off as she crumpled up that particular letter and threw it away as her face slowly contorted with rage.

"It doesn't do beaks," said Spike with a shrug.

Minuette pulled him away slowly.

"WELL SOME OF US HAVE ACTUALLY IMPORTANT THINGS TO FIND OUT!" Trixie shouted as she obliterated a nearby table that did nothing wrong. She took a moment to breathe before returning to the remaining letters. A few moments later, she gasped. "STARLIGHT! She's in the Crystal Empire with Yona! "I knew she was tougher than that stupid bug! Um...don't tell our changeling allies I said that."

"My lips are sealed. Now if we've got all our far away allies, all that's left is the ponies here, they'd be a huge help with how close Canterlot is. We've gotta see the mayor!" he said with newfound determination.

"Allow me!" Trixie said as she grabbed the two, teleporting them immediately as their eyes went wide like they were about to be thrown into a volcano.

Thankfully, they reappeared only missing a few pieces of mane near town square, at the edge of a crowd.

"That was dangerous, Trixie!" Spike said angrily.

"Not a big fan of it myself, but focus, we need to get these ponies ready to storm Canterlot by sundown!" replied Minuette.

"Right...who do we go to first?" asked Spike.

"Hmmm... Aha! Lyra!" Minuette said as she trotted away, with Spike and Trixie not far behind.

Lyra was hugging Bon Bon tight at the edge of a crowd around town square. "Minuette! Hey!"

"You here for the mayor's 'we don't know horse apples' speech?" Bon Bon asked with a giggle.

"So far, it's more like the 'everypony for themselves, curl up into a ball, put your snout under your tail, and kiss your rear end goodbye' speech!" snarked Lyra to a few chuckles from all but Trixie.

"Ew, you kiss me with that mouth!" said Bon Bon with a bit of a chuckle and a disgusted expression, which Spike mimicked.

"Hey, you were my butt in the big town-wide dream once!" Lyra said with a little chuckle.

There was an awkward silence before Spike coughed. "So...um, you two might not know Twilight very well but...she needs our help. It's bad," Spike said with a solemn look.

The two lovebirds gave each other some serious glances.

"Oh..." said Lyra. "Well a lot of us here know her and her friends and I guess...what about Rara?"

"Rarity?" asked Minuette.

"No, Countess Coloratura, Applejack's close friend she met at camp! I saw her here just a bit ago and she looked...well a bit like the mare's first announcement killed her dog, stole her place in line, touched her foal the wrong way, and talked in the theater," remarked Lyra.

Minuette gasped. "The theater? Now is not a time to joke about such evils!"

"Focus!" Trixie shouted as she put Spike on her back and trotted towards Countess Coloratura.

"Tell Twilight we'll be there!" shouted Lyra.

"I don't know if we'll ever see her ag-" Spike began.

"No, we will be there, Spike! Right, Bon Bon?" Lyra said while gripping Bon Bon's hoof.

"Right!" Bon Bon shouted as the two embraced.

Trixie picked up the pace as she spotted Coloratura. "Countess?"

"Hm? Oh, I'd prefer 'Rara', especially at a time like this. Hey Spike, nice to see you again. I take it not everything's okay like the mayor claims?" Rara asked with a glare of disdain towards the mayor standing on stage.

"Grogar's got the princesses, Discord, the pillars, and Twilight and her friends! We don't have much time to help them, and it'll take all of Ponyville at least to do anything..." he said before slumping forwards onto Minuette's neck.

"And frankly, Trixie finds it boring to just cower like a chicken and wait to become chicken dinner," added Trixie.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle before I let my friend Applejack become some villain's apple pie!" exclaimed Rara. "You want a crowd of cowards to become an angry mob? I've stirred up crowds before. Just get in position to lead them pronto!"

"Thanks, I just hope we won't be too late..." Spike said worriedly.

"Worrying won't do any good now, just get to it! A little distraction should get them off of focusing on the mayor. I think one of you can muster it," Rara said confidently before rushing to find her instruments.

"Definitely," said Trixie with a smirk that made Minutte gulp.

Within moments, the Mayor's vague platitudes were interrupted by a screeching firework that went off, blowing up to show Trixie's head winking at the crowd.

"Where were you hiding that one? We didn't teleport with any luggage," whispered Minutte.

"You don't wanna know," replied Trixie. "Wink."

Minutte and Spike shuddered in unison. The crowd meanwhile was murmuring when suddenly an electric guitar could be heard.

"Equestria...the land I love..." started Rara from a bit away from the Mayor.

"Hey, this performance is not approved!" shouted the Mayor in response.

"A land of harmony. Our flag does wave from high above, for ponykind to see," she continued.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that Equestria is not simply a bunch of individual towns with their faces buried in the sand, or their own rears! Spike, you're on," Trixie said with a nod to the dragon.

"Listen up everypony! My friends need our help for once! If you aren't there to do it, you might as well defect and join the villains! Come on!" he shouted with a flare of firebreath upwards.

Ponies began to murmur in unison and slowly crowd towards the trio, away from the stage.

"Ugh...very well, as mayor, I will support this, but don't bring any foals out of hiding, for this could be very dangerous!" the Mayor reluctantly said.

---

Back under Canterlot, Chrysalis looked to the captives hungrily, seeming to be ready to drain them, but Tirek gave a soft glare that made her back up.

"So, do you think your father will be happy to hear you've gone and conquered like this, Lord Tirek?" Discord asked.

"I...I don't need his approval," replied the centaur with arms crossed.

"Oh really now? Then why go to all this trouble? You could've been a king, but instead you spend centuries failing again and again," Discord replied with a little cackle.

"I...don't know..." Tirek sighed before turning away.

"Trying to mess with him so you can escape? Oh, we can't be having that now..." Chrysalis said with a smirk before shooting a very powerful death beam at Discord's head.

Discord at first looked scared, but then he tossed a nearby anti-magic piece of Chrysalis' old throne in the way, tumbling as the beam collided, and sending smaller beams scattered about, hitting some of the cell bars and the two villains.

Discord quickly got Starswirl and the princesses free.

A moment later, Starswirl had the mane 6 free as well.

Chrysalis was out cold, but Tirek started to stir.

"What is going on in there?" Grogar shouted from nearby.

"Twilight, Starswirl, we don't have long, me, Luna, and Discord can hold them off while you all escape!" commanded Celestia.

"But what if they..." started Twilight.

"GO!" shouted Luna as she shot a rather weak beam towards Tirek, who took it with nothing but a soft grunt before stepping towards her, glaring.

The 2 groups of 6 made a run for it. Once outside, a loud boom could be heard as the princesses were flung outward, bruised. The smoking hole created soon cleared to show Grogar carrying an unconscious Discord, with Chrysalis soon behind, and Tirek further still.

"You really think you can run? We will simply keep draining more and more magic from you, until you collapse, with none left!" Grogar said with a grin.

Twilight grabbed Celestia and made sure she was alright, the sun princess groaning a bit.

"Everypony, I hate to say this, but we'll just have to fight here. I don't know if Spike is even coming back, but we have to delay until then..." Twilight said solemnly.

"Well then, let's go!" shouted Applejack as she swung her lasso.

"Right behind ya!" said Rainbow.

Starswirl shot off a magic beam towards Grogar, interrupting the pep talking. "More fighting less yapping, he was about to shoot us!"

Grogar expertly dodged and chuckled. "An astute observation, but not one that'll save you! Plan B, round them up you two!"

Chrysalis casted a spell in one direction, and Tirek the other. The two formed large strands of magic that came together behind the heroes and built up a net around them.

"Scatter!" Twilight ordered, but it was a bit too late as even the faster ponies just hit the magic and got a shock for their troubles, slowly forcing them into a smaller area.

Pinkie however was able to weave between the strands, and came up to Tirek, sitting on his nose suddenly and putting her hooves together. "So, come here often, handsome?"

"Ugh, you're worse than Cozy was!" he said as he tried to push her off with a hand twice, which she dodged both times.

"Look, can we talk about...what happens if you lose? I mean, there's only one chapter left, and the track record of villains in a setting about friendship isn't exactly great..." she said before sipping some tea.

"If you'll go with the others, fine, just tell me your ideas!" he said with a snort.

Pinkie whispered into his ear a moment, then shouted "GO GO GADGET BUTTCOPTER!" and spun her tail, flying away to then lightly drift down onto a slumped forward Twilight's head amidst her scared friends.

Grogar stepped forward as the magical net closed around the ponies. "Well now, I must inform you that this Plan B isn't one where we continue to risk letting you all live... We noticed how the pathetic dragon whelp escaped."

Twilight and Starswirl shot beams together, but the three villains simply shot back...and quickly began to overpower it. A bright light glared as the magic creeped towards Twilight, with her friends behind her looking worried. Rarity tried to join in, but it hardly slowed it down.

"Is it...going to hurt...?" asked Fluttershy as she hugged Rainbow Dash tightly.

"Don't talk like..." started Twilight, but the beam was getting ever closer, and her head was heating up. "I'm sorry everypony... it shouldn't hurt for very long, to answer your question."

Pinkie gulped as her tail twitched. "Something's coming."

"We know, sugarcube!" replied Applejack.

The light got brighter, and the magic beams vanished suddenly.

"Um...wasn't it supposed to hurt? Not that I'm complaining..." said Fluttershy.

"We're still alive, darling!" replied Rarity.

The light cleared, and a shield was visible around them. Pinkie pointed to behind, and visible were dozens of unicorns from Ponyville, led by Spike atop Minuette.

"Somepony call for a rescue?" the dragon proudly asked before smacking Minuette's rump, sending her galloping to the mane 6.

"Spike! You brought help!" Twilight said with a sigh and a wipe of sweat off her forehead as she rushed to meet him.

"But this will hardly do anything, they'll just get their powers drained," said Fluttershy.

Pinkie's tail twitched again.

"No look! There's more coming!" Rainbow said from above, pointing to a stampede of yaks led by Starlight and Yona, with crystal ponies led by Cadance not far behind.

"And over there!" Rarity said, pointing to an army of hippogriffs led by Silverstream, joined by ponies from Somnambula.

Soon after, the dragons flew in, led by Ember and Smolder. Below them were the griffons, led by Gallus, Gabby, and Gilda, along with ponies from Equestria's eastern shores, and a group of Kirin led by Autumn Blaze.

Finally, the changelings, led by Thorax and Ocellus, came alongside ponies from Equestria's west, including Sandbar.

"Oh isn't this exciting? You brought all your friends from around the world just to get their powers stolen!" shouted Grogar. "We'll simply put all their magic into the bell one by one."

"Wrong!" shouted Starswirl. "You're facing nearly every creature in Equestria, and some from without! Their real magic...of friendship can't be put in your bell! You've lost!"

"Grogar, we should discuss our surrender..." started Tirek.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and began shooting beams at the reformed changelings. A few were stopped by shields, but one hit Pharynx straight in the chest, leaving Thorax to cradle his unconscious broodmate.

"Hah, as if they can even get close!" shouted Grogar with a grin as he followed suit.

Tirek sighed before reluctantly joining in.

"Everycreature, attack!" commanded Spike as they stampeded towards the three villains. A few unicorns and changelings fired magic beams, but quickly had their magic stolen with Grogar's well-timed bell use. Soon, however, pegasi and griffons were tackling at the three, and grounded creatures weren't far behind, protected under a shield Starlight was casting.

"We need to use the elements and pillars...whatever's left of their power within us!" said Twilight.

"You think we can help with that?" asked Sandbar from nearby, flanked by his own group of friends.

"I do. The combination of all three could turn Grogar to stone for sure," Twilight started. "...but we have to hit while he's too distracted to use the bell or it'll just drain us even more. Pinkie?"

"On it, just listen for two clucks!" she said as she zipped over to the fight across camera transitions by the screen edge.

The three groups tapped their hooves impatiently as they waited.

"So...know any good battle music?" asked Rockhoof.

"I'm partial to a bit of Slaughter Mares, they were inspired by stories of your feats in the Griffish Isles," replied Rarity.

"Quite the charmer I see," he giggled back at her.

"I prefer the Metal Werewolves," said Fluttershy. "They have a good one about biting into big meanies."

"Right, so how long do you think it'll ta-" Rainbow said, but was interrupted by Pinkie in a chicken costume clucking twice.

"Okay, everycreature, let's hold hooves and claws!" said Twilight.

Within moments of them forming a long chain, their eyes glowed and rainbow aurora patterns formed, coalescing into a wave of energy blasting from them towards Grogar as he was batting away some weak earth ponies. It overtook him and the other two, nullifying their powers and knocking them out along with all nearby allies.

"Phew...it's finally over," remarked Twilight as she looked towards the mess of the three and everycreature around them groaning up ahead.

"You...fools..." Grogar said as he barely managed to get up. "Now that we're out of power, we can use the bell to put everything stored into us, and handle it! We'll simply keep coming at you, over and over. Now..."

Grogar raised the hoof holding the bell...only to find it held a rubber chicken, shocking him.

Tirek cleared his throat from nearby, holding the bell, and tossed it over to Pinkie.

"Hey Goat Grubber, you know how much power I can handle?" she asked with a smirk before turning the bell on her face and swallowing its output like it was chocolate syrup.

Within moments, Pinkie was gigantic and sparking with magical power. A cupcake soon appeared over Grogar and Chrysalis' heads, landing with a splat on them.

"I am unstoppable! I am the GREAT COSMIC PIE! I can frost the entire universe! Mwahahaha-" Pinkie started, before looking over to her friends coughing loudly at her. "Oh, uh... couldn't resist," Pinkie shrugged back to them before vomiting a stream of magic back into the bell and tossing it to Discord.

"Thanks, Pinkie, you really are a lord of chaos in your own way," Discord said with a wink to her as she giggled and had hearts bubble out of her eyes.

Chrysalis glared at Tirek. "You traitor! Before you know it, they'll have me all colorful and ugly just like Thorax! I was meant to look dark and edgy, not like a rave threw up!"

Tirek sighed. "I realized we were outmatched, and...I have had doubts for a while now. The pink one simply provided me a way out."

Many of the assorted creatures fighting retreated back, giving grins towards the clearly-defeated villains. Ocellus stuck behind for a bit to rub it in on Chrysalis, turning into a skunk and spraying her.

"Well anyways, I'm afraid it's time to put this bit of fun to an end..." Discord said as he rang the bell, sending magic out every which way to return to its rightful owners.

"Fun? We nearly died! And Cozy did!" Twilight retorted with a growl.

"Oh, hush, she was just in time out," he said as his powers came back with a flash.

He then put his whole arm up inside the bell, fishing around a bit before yanking a very dizzy-looking Cozy out by the tail and flank, then gave her cheek a smooch and patted her before tossing her under the cupcake with the other two.

"So, any big villain speech from the big stinky cheese herself?" Discord asked.

"Ugh, as if I'd have one prepared...just know that your weak friendship is a temporary effect, a passing fad!" Chrysalis retorted.

Cadance came close and rolled her eyes. "Starlight, you're up."

Starlight promptly came over and slapped Chrysalis in the face. "That's for leaving me to freeze to death. You know, it was a friend who saved me." She then gave Yona a hoof five and a rump bump.

"Well...befriending a Yak is like dragging around a big smelly old carpet!"

Yona snorted. "Some meanie will BECOME carpet!" She reared up, but Starlight held her back.

Discord wrote some notes into a clipboard. "Definitely not her best speech. So, Twilight, shall we make them into statues? Or perhaps shred them into confetti for a party like you did to Sombra?" he asked while confetti rained down around him.

"What? Uh, I uh..." Twilight stammered as Celestia came up to her whispering.

"We will do our worst to them..." she started with a grin, making Cozy gulp.

"...we will teach them the magic of friendship!" Twilight said triumphantly as her friends and crowds of nearby ponies cheered.

"Good, I was just testing you, mostly," said Discord as he stamped an "A+" on Twilight's flank.

Chrysalis and Cozy groaned almost in unison, while Tirek merely rolled his eyes.

"Can't you just chop my head off? Cozy, tell them where the guillotines are!" insisted Chrysalis.

"Uh...golly, Miss Twilight, how do you know I won't just pretend and turn evil again? Surely I'd be better off in a deep dark hole with things that eat vulnerable little fillies..." suggested Cozy, earning her a strong stare from Rockhoof hitting one hoof with his repurposed royal guard shovel threateningly.

"Because I'll help them..." said Grogar, to multiple gasps. "You were right, son, I shouldn't be doing this anymore. Evil is just...a lot of work, and at the end of the day, there's nobody to appreciate you, not even the most loyal of servants."

"Wait, he's your dad?" Rainbow asked, flying up to Discord.

"Well he is the father of monsters, and I am monsters," Discord pointed out, gesturing to his body, which sprouted a bunch of twisting math questions involving fractals. "You should see my mother..."

"Eww, no! No no no! I don't want to know, I've seen too much from Fluttershy's Neighponese comics already!" replied Rainbow, making Fluttershy blush and Discord giggle.

"Well, Luna, Celestia, do get everything in order to make sure our dear students of friendship are ready," said Discord with a sly grin. "I know I will be..."

Cozy Glow tried to make a break for it, only to be caught by Luna's magic. "Say, got any ideas to help reform this one, Discord?"

"Oh, I think her mother would love to be there to see it..." replied Discord with a grin.

Cozy gulped. "There's uh, no need to do tha-"

"I think you're right. In fact, they could learn friendship together..." Luna said as she teleported a screaming Cozy away.

Celestia chuckled. "I'm sure Twilight will be up to the task."

"I think so too... I suppose now I've truly earned my place as the princess of friendship. ...were you two really serious about retiring?" asked Twilight.

"We are, but maybe there will be a long...transition period. We'll always be there raising the Sun and Moon and to provide assistance when you need it, but you'll be Queen Twilight," Celestia replied as her and Luna hugged with their wings and bumped butts together.

"Plus, you'll still have me in the Crystal Empire," added Cadance as she flew over. "You know, that crystal castle of yours really sets up a crystal royalty theme!"

Twilight giggled a little and smiled. "That it does. So, what about my friends?"

Celestia came up and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Why, Twilight, that'll be up to you...but if it were me, I think one thing I've learned from how long I tried to rule alone is that it really is best to have ponies around you can confide in. Your friends all do have thrones of their own around a map that practically tells you when ponies run out of toilet paper, so...perhaps they could be your ruling council?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Twilight beamed back. "Um...one last thing...about Moondancer..."

Celestia put a hoof to her shoulder, and teleported Moondancer's petrified head into her other hoof. "It's okay, we'll put her back together. TIREK!" she shrieked like an angry mother.

"Um...hi?" replied the centaur.

"If you don't get at least half of Moondancer's body swept up into a container in the next hour, you're going to your father's place, understand?"

"Yes, mo-Celestia. I understand," Tirek replied, arms limp.

"Wonderful. I think Moondancer will be fine if you keep her close and read to her, until him and the guards find enough pieces of her and a mending spell works its magic. It may take...many months, or years, but it'll work," Celestia said to Twilight with a smile.

Twilight hugged her mentor tight as her friends and allies cheered in celebration.

Comments

[Just_Me123]

Lol, definitely a more unusual ending, as opposed to the tired thing Hasbro gave us. Hmm, so, is this the end of the story, or do you have more planned?

[nautica]

i would love to see a story about cozy and mother reform in friendship and see what cozy mother thinks about her daughter

[Nebbie]

11797892
Unfortunately, I don't think there's much story to be had there. I've had an idea for a Cozy Glow fic about her being raised, but not as a sequel to this (it would rely on an...alternate solution to Cozy Glow). The main problem is simply that there's nowhere to go unless she goes back to evil, which would just serve to make it look like the universe wants to invalidate Twilight's entire point.