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S1 E5: Griffon the Brush Off (What If?)7,966 words
S2 E1: The Return of Harmony, Part 1 (What If?)8,972 words
S2 E2: The Return of Harmony, Part 2 (What If?)8,867 words
S3 E3: Too Many Pinkie Pies (What If?)9,008 words
S4 E25: Twilight's Kingdom, Part 1 (What If?)7,945 words
S4 E26: Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2 (What If?)10,623 words
S7 E17: Daring Done? (What If?)9,035 words
S8 E13: Ail-icorn (The Mean Six) (What If?)6,964 words
S9 E1: The Beginning of the End, Part 1 (What If?)10,009 words
S9 E2: The Beginning of the End, Part 2 (What If?)8,175 words

S2 E2: The Return of Harmony, Part 2 (What If?)

Author's Note:

First and foremost, I must yet again apologize for the "recap" segment at the beginning as I'm still not sure how best to write a "Previously On" segment in literary form (it probably works best as a visual or script based thing). I'm still open to any suggestions on how to potentially improve it.

Now as for the episode itself, or rather the second half of the two parter, there are some other problems to address. The biggest is that Rainbow Dash sucks away too much screen time with a drawn out chase scene. It wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that we completely gloss over the healings of Fluttershy and Rarity, and just have Pinkie's occur entirely off-screen. I get that Rainbow Dash was vital to the mane six getting their cutie marks but she didn't need to have so much screen time that others got nothing.

The second is that the pacing is not the best and things don't get a lot of build up, especially Discord's anti-climatic defeat when he sits there and does nothing. It does feel like they were pressed for time, but they could've tried to do more and again could've likely trimmed down the Rainbow Dash chase to give other scenes more time.

There is also a bit of a problem with how Discord's personality devolves into just a playground bully by the end, and then they do a fake out where it looks like he's sorry he's broken Twilight but in fact he's glad he did so. Yes, a villain that regrets their victory can be hard to pull off. But if they weren't going to do that they shouldn't have had the fake out in the first place.

Hopefully, none of these changes are a game breaker for any of you.

~~Griffon the Brush Off~~
~~The Return of Harmony Parts 1 and 2~~
Too Many Pinkie Pies
Twilight's Kingdom Parts 1 and 2
Daring Done?
Ail-icorn (The Mean Six)
The Beginning of the End Parts 1 and 2

The fate of Equestria was looking pretty bleak right now, especially as far as Twilight was concerned. Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony had escaped from his stone statue prison and had set out to bring about eternal chaos.

Twilight didn't know that Discord's statue had been cracking for some time, to the point where a visible crack had formed during a field trip to Canterlot that Cheerilee had led. "Is that crack supposed to be there?" Sweetie Belle had asked only to be reassured that it was likely natural.

However, the crack had widened and Sweetie Belle and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders had started to fight. "We swear, we don't know what came over us." Sweetie Belle had innocently insisted and that was the last anypony thought of it.

Yet the crack continued to grow and Discord broke free, soon unleashing chaos on Ponyville that Twilight and her friends had to put down. Then they got a message that told them to come to Canterlot right away. "Is this about the weather? And the animals? And why my magic didn't seem to have any effect on them?" Twilight had asked Princess Celestia upon arriving in Canterlot.

Princess Celestia had confirmed Twilight's concerns while also displaying a rather unusual state of anger and concern. And she had explained who Discord was. "An old enemy, one I'd long assumed defeated for good, has escaped. His name... is Discord! Before Luna and I ascended to the throne, he ruled the entire land of Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I discovered the Elements of Harmony. And together we wielded them, turning Discord to stone."

However, Discord wasn't about to let the Elements of Harmony be used on him again. "I just 'borrowed' them for a little while," He'd explained while taunting and toying with the alicorn who'd once imprisoned him. "I know a lot more than just your names," He revealed to the six mares, indicating that he already was aware of their elements and who wielded what. Upon being pressed for information he gave a riddle. "In order to retrieve your missing elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then you may find the elements back where you began."

Twilight initially assumed she had the answer to the riddle. "We found the elements in the Everfree Forest."

But an attempt to take a train back to Ponyville to reach the Everfree Forest went nowhere, so Twilight decided she had misinterpreted the riddle. "There's one place where there are twists and turns everywhere and you can end up back where you started." And she led her friends to the hedge maze within the castle gardens.

Upon reaching said maze, the mares were greeted by Discord who took away their wings, horns and magical abilities in order to play a little "game" with them. "No flying and no magic. Everypony has to play, or the game's over and I win." Then, as soon as the mares entered the maze, Discord separated them and set to work on corrupting them one by one.

"This was a terrible idea!" Twilight had lamented upon seeing her friends in their new states. But alas, she was powerless to prevent what came next.

Discord caught up with Rainbow Dash and offered her a choice (after corrupting her of course). "That box contains your wings. You can take your wings and leave the game." And that was just what Rainbow Dash did, causing the game to come to an end.

"Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos!" The spirit had declared before laughing at his apparent triumph in the empty crater where the hedge maze once stood.

Twilight had no idea how she could possibly hope to prevail against such a threat. But somehow she would have to, even if it was all by herself.

Discord continued to laugh, intent on rubbing in his "victory" as much as possible (or maybe he was just that amused).

Suddenly, however, Pinkie Pie called out from the blue. "And just what the heck are you laughing about?!"

Discord paused in his laughing fit, wiping a lone tear from his eyes. "Oh, it's nothing personal. It's just, you ponies are the most fun I've had in eons! Even Princess Celestia wasn't as entertaining."

"Yeah? Well quit it, this is no laughing matter!" Pinkie growled at Discord, pressing her nose up against his. "You'd better think before you dare laugh at the pink... ie Pie!"

Fluttershy, sensing an opportunity to get under her former friend's fur, smirked while declaring. "Is that so? Well ha ha. You always were a joke, Pinkie."

Pinkie didn't take kindly to Fluttershy's remark. She spun around rather quickly and snapped. "Quit it! Don't you dare laugh at me!"

"No," Fluttershy simply protested while laughing some more. "Ha ha."

"I said quit it!" Pinkie roared as she put her hooves to her ears in a vain attempt to block out the taunting.

Fluttershy refused to let up. "No. Ha ha ha ha ha. I'll laugh at you as much as I want, and you can't stop me."

Meanwhile, Applejack crept up behind Rarity with her eyes locked onto the "diamond" that was actually a rock. "Hey, Rarity," The farm mare called to her former friend. "About this here diamond of yours... well, Twilight said we should split it five ways and all. You know, since we found it together. Hope you don't mind me takin' my cut now."

Rarity responded by delivering a swift karate kick to Applejack, knocking her back! "Try it, punk!" She snapped. "This diamond is mine and mine alone! Nopony's gonna take it from me, especially not an uncultured mud pony like you!"

Twilight watched the scenes unfold, helpless to do much of anything except plead. "Girls, stop it! This isn't you!"

But Discord only laughed while lounging in a chair and eating popcorn. "Sorry, Twilight, but your 'friends' aren't interested in listening. Besides, I could use the entertainment."

At that the studious unicorn lost her patience. She growled at the witty spirit and complained. "Stop it, Discord. You're not playing fair."

Discord didn't bother to deny the allegation. "I'm not playing fair? I'm sorry, we have not met? The name is Discord: Spirit of chaos and disharmony. I mean 'Hello'!"

Twilight brushed off the attempted taunt despite how much it annoyed her. "That's not my point. My point is, how are we meant to find the Elements of Harmony if you prevent us from going back to Ponyville by train, and then take away the hedge maze before we've found the elements?"

At that the draconequus paused in his popcorn and briefly blinked in surprise. "Oh, wait, did you actually..." Then he started to laugh hysterically. "How funny! I thought you of all ponies would've figured it out by now. Maybe I gave you too much credit."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight demanded. "Can't you ever give a straight answer for once? On second thought, don't answer that."

Discord just grinned while he stood up and appeared before Twilight. "Why bother telling you when I can show you?" And with a snap of his talons he brought himself and Twilight back to when he had given his "riddle". His words from them echoed throughout the memory.

"In order to retrieve your missing elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then you may find the elements back where you began." Past Discord explained before disappearing.

The memory ended as Present Discord couldn't resist pointing out to Twilight. "I never actually said the Elements of Harmony were in the hedge maze, you just assumed. It's not like it really matters, I would've held a game no matter where you went. But the maze made it so much easier to do my work. Who would've guessed your friends could be so easily led astray?"

"No," The unicorn mare with a light purple coat briefly lamented to herself. "How could I..."

"Oh, don't beat yourself up so much, Twilight," Discord remarked with exaggerated sympathy. "You did the best you could under the circumstances, really. If anything, Princess Celestia should've prepared you better. But then again, if even she couldn't defeat me and she is an all powerful alicorn, what chance did a measly unicorn like you possibly have? You may think you're the best, and maybe you are. But you're still a unicorn, you're definitely no Princess Celestia. Even Princess Luna as she is now would be more of a challenge if I'm being honest."

Twilight growled and snorted. "You're just saying that to make me doubt myself, aren't you?"

Discord vaguely replied. "Maybe I am and maybe I'm not, that's up to you to decide," However, after thinking over things for about a second or two he seemed to come to a sudden decision. "You know what, Twilight? Against my better judgement, I'm gonna give you a sporting chance. Not because I have to, but because I want to. It wouldn't be much fun if it ended like this, wouldn't you agree?"

Twilight was taken aback by the statement. "Wait, you're going to help me?"

"Not really 'help' so much as 'let you try again'," The spirit explained. "And here's a hint: Maybe the magic of friendship can help you."

The studious unicorn blinked, waiting to see if there would be anything further or even possibly another riddle. There was not. "What's that supposed to mean?" She questioned the draconequus.

Discord simply wagged a talon in protest. "Ah ah ah, you'll get no more freebies out of me. You'll have to figure out the rest for yourself. But I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough. Until then, I'll leave you with a little parting gift." He then snapped his talons and disappeared, cotton candy clouds of chocolate milk flavored rain appeared soon afterward and began their downpour.

"Chocolate milk? Man, I hate chocolate milk." Pinkie complained.

"Nopony touch my diamond, you understand?!" Rarity roared.

Fluttershy then smirked. "I'm touching your diamond, Rarity. Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Rarity growled as she tried to swat at the pegasus. "Hold still and find out."

Fluttershy only grinned in protest while flying around. "Sorry, not gonna happen."

And Applejack just remarked. "Don't see why we were ever friends."

Twilight groaned in annoyance as she continued to watch the displays of bullying her corrupted friends were carrying out against each other. "Ugh, I can't take much more of this. I just wanna go home," She complained under her breath. Then suddenly it hit her. "Wait 'home'! That's it!" And she gave a whistle. "Come on, everypony. Let's get back to Ponyville. You can all do whatever you want when we get there."

"Whatever, as long as I don't have to keep putting up with these losers." Pinkie Pie complained anew, and the other mares nodded very reluctantly.

The trains to and from Ponyville were still out of service, so Twilight was forced to lead her very reluctant and hesitant friends back to Ponyville by hoof.

"You sure know how to pick a shortcut, Twilight," Fluttershy sarcastically teased. "I can't wait to get back to Ponyville."

"There's nothin' to see in Ponyville," Applejack lied. "I don't see why we even have to go back. Things were just fine in Canterlot."

Twilight paid little attention to what her friends were saying. "If I can just find the Elements of Harmony in Ponyville, I know I'll be able to find a way to turn you all back to normal," She said to herself before adding. "I think." A hint of uncertainty crept in that last line.

Eventually, Twilight thought she saw the familiar outline of Ponyville coming into view over the horizon! She rushed ahead, hoping things wouldn't be too bad. But before she could even see what lay in store for her, she was unexpectedly trampled by the overly large feet of several bunny rabbits. It was several minutes before she could pull herself up and get her bearings again.

"Good boy, Angel!" Fluttershy appeared to cheer on the display. "Mama's so proud. Somebunny's gonna get extra lettuce tonight." Then, just after she had spoken the sun suddenly set and the darkness of night befell all.

Worse was to come when the dirt roads suddenly and unexpectedly turned into soap. "Wow," Applejack remarked in an obviously sarcastic tone of voice. "This'll be so much better." But when she took one step forward she slipped and fell, knocking into all of the other mares and bringing them to their hooves.

Just then the sun rose again almost as quickly as it had set. And who should come skating along on the slippery roads but Discord himself? "Ah, you finally made it!" He declared, seeming to focus almost exclusively on Twilight. "I knew you would," And then he immediately commented. "So this is the lovely little town where Celestia's star student got her start, is it? Nice digs. So much to see, so much to mess around with."

Twilight gulped. "I don't like the sound of that."

Discord only laughed as he appeared behind Twilight and scooped her up. "Oh come now, you're going to love what I've done with the place," He held her up, letting her take in Ponyville in its all chaotic and unholy glory. Buildings had been turned upside down, the ground had been replaced by black and white tiles almost like a checkerboard, chocolate rain poured down from cotton candy clouds and made puddles. Almost everywhere you looked Ponyville no longer resembled the quaint and peaceful little town it had once been. "And these are the only first of many, many changes." He cackled.

The studious unicorn fought back a gulp but said nothing.

Discord seemed to take that as a sign that he'd intimidated the only threat left to him into silence. "I know what you're thinking: Why go after Ponyville when Canterlot is the capital of Equestria? Well that was then and this is now. Ponyville will be the jewel in the crown for my new empire! An empire of chaos and disharmony! I'm making Ponyville the chaos capital of Equestria! No, the entire world! Just picture it."

Twilight looked out at the town just as the sun rapidly set once again. She decided to take advantage of the opportunity. "Sorry, I can't see anything," She lied to Discord. "It's too dark."

If Discord was bothered by Twilight's refusal to play along he didn't let it show. He just dropped her on the ground and waved a paw in an unconcerned fashion. "Oh, don't worry. Just wait around for a bit and you'll see it in the clear light of day. Or not, doesn't matter to me. See you soon!" And then he disappeared once again just as quickly as he had appeared.

"I hate Ponyville!" Pinkie Pie protested. "And somehow Discord's made it even uglier!"

"Whatever," Rarity huffed. "All I want is to be left alone with my diamond. I could care less what happens to Equestria."

Twilight, however, spoke up in protest. "Well too bad. You're all sticking with me whether you like it or not. I just know I can get you all back to normal."

It took a great deal of effort and will power for Twilight to convince her four corrupted friends to accompany her all the way back to the Golden Oak Library. A trek all the way out to the Everfree Forest wasn't worth attempting, and the studious unicorn was now convinced that the forest had never been the answer to the riddle in the first place. The library held the answers. "We... made it..." She panted, wiping the sweat from her brows. "Now will you all please just go inside? I'll make it all worth your while."

"I absolutely refuse!" Applejack insisted as her entire body became completely gray. But she still trotted into the library anyway.

"With pleasure. But first, there's something I need to do," Fluttershy declared as her body also turned completely gray. She flew over to a nearby flower bed and trampled it. "Much better."

Pinkie Pie was the next to "reluctantly" enter, though not without complaining. "I hate libraries!" And Twilight could only look on in horror as Pinkie too turned completely gray.

However, Rarity had already turned completely gray before she even entered the library. She didn't want to step even one hoof further forwards. "I'm not going, Twilight!" She protested and folded her hooves across her chest. "You're just planning to lure me inside, and then you'll send out your dragon to come and snatch up Tom."

"His name is Spike," Twilight snorted. "And he's not interested in your rock... I mean diamond."

"I don't believe you!" Rarity angrily remarked and narrowed her eyes. "Either Tom goes with me or I'm not going anywhere."

Reluctantly, Twilight obeyed while groaning. "The things I do for my friends." She was starting to lose her patience despite knowing that what her friends were doing wasn't necessarily of their own free will. "Discord sure wants to make this as hard as possible on me," She thought to herself. "If he's trying to get under my fur, he's doing a very good job of it."

And while Twilight was helping Rarity move "Tom" into the library, an unaware Spike was napping on the floor of the library. He'd grown tired waiting around for news about Twilight, especially since he'd been rather worried not to receive any kind of reply or see her come back to Ponyville. But there wasn't much he could do since he was a baby dragon.

All of a sudden, however, Spike was rudely woken from his nap by a splash of cold water. "Gah!" He shouted and nearly leapt into the air in surprise! He soon discovered that the cold water had come from a bucket courtesy of Fluttershy (who was making no efforts to hide her involvement). "What did you do that for, Fluttershy?!" He asked in confusion and frustration.

"I don't know, I just felt like it, really," Fluttershy insisted while holding the bucket. "You just looked so peaceful, I had to do something about it. So I did."

The little dragon was taken aback by such a statement. "W-what?! I didn't do anything to you!" Then he blinked in brief contemplation. "Did I?"

Fluttershy giggled. "Maybe you did and maybe you didn't, doesn't matter either way to me."

Spike was only left further confused by Fluttershy's remarks, especially since it was hard not to notice that her colors were completely gone. But his thoughts quickly turned to a sense of relief when he saw Twilight appear. "Twilight!" He happily exclaimed as he hugged her! "Oh, I'm so glad you're still okay!"

Twilight flashed a warm smile at Spike as she let him hug her. "Sorry to make you worry so much, Spike. But... well, you can see for yourself what I've had to put up with." She explained as she gestured a hoof to her friends.

Spike's confusion quickly returned. "Why's everypony gray except for you? And where's Rainbow Dash? What's going on?!"

"All you need to know is that this is Discord's doing," Twilight informed Spike. "And Discord is a creature who just loves to leave you guessing. He has the most twisted sense of humor I've ever seen in a creature, he makes Pinkie Pie look downright boring by comparison," She then began to trot over to the nearby shelves. "Now come on. You gotta help me find The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide before somepony here does something she'll regret later." The unicorn mare not so subtly glared at the others as she delivered that last line.

But before a search could begin, Fluttershy interrupted. "Hey, Twilight? What's soaking wet and totally clueless?"

Twilight groaned in annoyance. "Fluttershy, I'm in no mood for more games. And I've had just about enough of-" But her speech was cut off as she had a bucket of water poured over her head.

"Your face!" Fluttershy declared before slamming the bucket down on Twilight's head!

Fortunately, while Twilight was receiving a cold shower, Spike had managed to climb up a ladder and retrieve the book Twilight had asked for. "Found it!" He shouted as he held the book in his claws. But then the book was knocked out of his claws when Fluttershy threw an empty scroll at him.

Twilight stomped a hoof while glaring up at the pegasus mare. "Fluttershy, I'm only gonna say this once. You'd better give me that book if you know what's good for you."

Rather than obey, Fluttershy tossed the book to Applejack while shouting! "Keep away!" And then she taunted to Twilight. "Hope you move faster than you think, Faillight Sparkle!"

The book loving unicorn immediately trotted over to Applejack. "Give me the book, Applejack, and nopony gets hurt!" She demanded in a frustrated tone of voice.

"Book? What book? I don't see a book." Applejack lied before tossing the book that had been balanced on her nose towards Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie, in turn, tossed it to Rarity who was all too happy to hoard it for herself! "This book is mine!" She shouted and clutched it tightly!

"Give me back that book!" Twilight shouted and then tried to chase after Rarity, only for Fluttershy to swoop down and pull Rarity up just before Twilight crashed into the wooden horse head carving in the center of the library. Upon regaining her senses, she turned to find that there wasn't a trace of Rarity anywhere. Instead, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were just there, looking at her with suspicion. "Where's Rarity?!" She demanded of her corrupted friends.

"Beats me. I ain't seen her anywhere." Applejack lied once again.

And at that, Twilight lost her patience! "Liar!" She roared and lunged at her friends, kicking off a scuffle that stirred up a huge cloud of dust! The scuffle did have the unintentional side effect of drawing Rarity and Fluttershy in though, and eventually Twilight managed to emerge with The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide clutched firmly between her hooves.

All of the corrupted mares began crawling out of the cloud of dust and towards Twilight, determined to snatch the book away from her. Luckily for Twilight, Spike was ready and waiting to protect her, wielding a scroll like a makeshift sword.

"All of you stay back, I'm warning you!" Twilight shouted while continuing to hold the book for dear life. "This is my book and I'm gonna read it!"

"You heard her!" Spike threatened! "Mess with her and you mess with me! I have flame breath and I'm not afraid to use it!" He spewed out a small puff of flames to demonstrate he was serious.

That seemed to settle things. Twilight, now convinced that her corrupted friends wouldn't trouble her again (at least for the time being), used her magic to unfold the book and flip through the pages. To her surprise and great joy (not to mention relief) she discovered the Elements of Harmony resting right inside in all their glory! The five necklaces and the tiara all perfectly balanced and preserved.

The studious unicorn felt a bright smile form on her face. "Yes, this is it!" She declared to herself! "I'm not beaten yet, Discord!" But then she looked to her friends, all of whom were not the slightest bit interested or intrigued by what she had to say. "You don't even care anymore, do you?" She asked them.

"Why should we care? You're the only one who wanted that book," Pinkie Pie pointed out. "You're the one who's been forcing us to do everything. If it wasn't for you none of us would even be here in the first place."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Fluttershy coldly declared while Applejack and Rarity nodded their heads in approval.

At that, Twilight felt her heart sink anew. "I can't believe this has happened," She lamented in a somber tone of voice. "Discord has turned you all into complete jerks. You're not even really my friends now, I don't recognize the ponies you've become."

Applejack lied while smirking. "You're the only one who's changed, sugarcube. If you just gave up tryin' to fight Discord we'd finally have peace."

Upon hearing such a suggestion (even from a now obvious liar), Twilight's sorrow disappeared and was replaced by a sense of anger and frustration. "Never! I'm not giving up no matter how much Discord wants me to!" She proceeded to throw four of the five necklaces towards each of her friends, making some quick changes in light of their new "personalities". She gave the element of honesty to Pinkie Pie, the element of kindness to Applejack, the element of laughter to Rarity and the element of generosity to Fluttershy. "Necklace! Necklace! Necklace! Necklace! And big crown thingy!"

Spike blinked in confusion. "Wait, aren't you forgetting someone?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nope: We've got the liar, the hoarder, the grump and the brute. That just about settles it. The liar's being kind by not saying how she really feels. The hoarder makes us all laugh with her overly greedy ways. The grump is honest about what she doesn't like. And the brute is generous enough to spare no one in her bullying."

Then Spike pointed out. "But what about Rainbow Dash? What about loyalty?"

Twilight groaned. "There's no time to hunt down Rainbow Dash. So congratulations, Spike, you're the new Rainbow Dash!" And she promptly floated the element of loyalty over to him. "You've always been there for me when I need you most, so you'll have to do for loyalty."

The little dragon gulped as his green eyes went wide with shock! "Me?! The new Rainbow Dash?! What if the old Rainbow Dash finds out I'm been impersonating her?! Oh, that won't end well!"

"Too bad, you're the new Rainbow Dash!" Twilight protested to him. "You only have to do your part until Discord's defeated. Then we can all put this behind us forever! Now come on!" And she led her corrupted friends out of the library.

Rarity, however, wouldn't leave unless her "diamond" came with her. "Look out, everypony! Here comes Tom!" She shouted a warning just before tossing the huge boulder out the front door of the library!

As luck would have it, Discord was right outside as if he'd been waiting for Twilight and the others. "Oh no!" He exclaimed with noticeably exaggerated worry! "You found the Elements of Harmony! And here I was hoping you wouldn't!"

Twilight couldn't resist smirking, convinced she'd found a way around Discord's attempted sabotage. "You made a huge mistake letting me gain access to them, Discord," She taunted while sticking out her tongue. "Mock me all you want, but your little 'game' ends now."

The spirit just continued to put on his display of exaggerated worry and concern. "Oh indeed, how sloppy of me. I was a fool not to see this coming. You've shown me the error of my ways and now it's time for me to meet my fate," He put on a pair of sunglasses and made a huge archery target appear over his lower body. "I'm prepared to be defeated now, ladies, and dragon. Fire when ready."

Twilight nodded. "Oh we will, and you'll be sorry! Your reign of terror will be very short lived!" Then, one by one each Element of Harmony began to glow brightly. The bearers began to float into the air.

Discord briefly removed his sunglasses and stared at the display with growing concern. Was it possible he'd miscalculated? Had Twilight managed to outfox him despite his best efforts?

The moment of hope faded all too soon though, as the glow faded and the six bearers tumbled to the ground in defeat. Nothing had happened.

A look of horror and disbelief flashed in Twilight's eyes as the realization slowly settled in. "No, it can't be!" She whimpered in fright.

Discord, for his part, was overjoyed at the display! "Ha ha! YES!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "You thought you had me, Twilight. A valiant effort on your part, but in the end it was all for naught," And he boasted. "Thanks to you, harmony in Equestria is now officially dead."

"I... I don't understand," Twilight glumly remarked as she looked around and scratched her head. "I rearranged the elements to work around your tricks. I matched them to my friends' 'new' personalities."

The witty spirit only smirked as he pointed a claw at Twilight. "Yes, and it was quite a clever move. However, it seems you overlooked one not so small detail. How did you expect the Elements of Harmony to work when the very spark that powers them no longer exists?"

The studious unicorn gulped and began to sweat. "It... it can't be! I didn't..."

Discord's grin just grew wider. "You didn't think so, but every time you lashed out at your friends you were playing right into my paws. I didn't think it would work quite as well as it did. I had no way to know you'd try to rearrange the elements or find a replacement for Rainbow Dash. But it seems I had nothing to worry about anyway. As long as you no longer felt a connection to your friends, it wouldn't have mattered what you did," And he threw back his head and laughed. "Now there's nothing left to stand in my way. Equestria is finally mine!"

A tear seemed to start to form in Twilight's eye despite her best efforts to keep herself from crying. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by the draconequus as he taunted his opponent, picking her up off the ground. "Oh, don't beat yourself up too much, Twilight. I'll be sure to tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that you did your best." And then he set her back down on the ground, disappearing once again.

"Uh, I think I'm just gonna... go clean up the library." Spike nervously insisted as he ran back to the library as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Fluttershy couldn't resist tripping the little dragon and then not so subtly taunting him. "Oops! Sorry, Rainbow Dash!" With a sadistic snicker she then added. "You're a copy just as weak as the original."

Applejack, meanwhile, took off her own Element of Harmony necklace. "I knew it wasn't gonna work out. But nopony ever listens to me." She declared and threw it away.

"Humph, useless piece of garbage." Fluttershy declared while tossing aside her own Element of Harmony necklace.

"I hate the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie Pie remarked as she followed suit.

Rarity was all too happy to retrieve the discarded necklaces as they were thrown onto the ground. "Mine! All mine!" She giddily declared even though the elements were soon picked up by Twilight with her magic.

Twilight could only watch as her former friends now went their separate ways, leaving her alone. "Fine, go ahead!" She sadly declared as the tears started to emerge. "See if I care. After all, with friends like you, who needs..." The last line left her lips very slowly. "Enemies." And just like that, her entire coat and mane and tail turned completely gray. The lone tear that fell from her eyes took the form of a broken heart.

It was over, Discord had won.

A depressed and broken hearted Twilight Sparkle strolled through Ponyville, unwilling to look at what it had become under Discord. The entire place was completely unrecognizable now, every building had been turned upside down or otherwise twisted in some way, shape or form. The cotton candy clouds rained down chocolate milk flavored rain without end as the sun and the moon rose and set with no real rhyme or reason. Pies floated upwards and buffalo wearing tutus danced about on the tiled ground and soap covered roads.

Twilight didn't even notice that her own personal cloud was hanging around her, pouring chocolate rain down like there was no tomorrow.

"Hey, why the long face?" Discord asked as he suddenly appeared out of the blue. "Oh that's right, I broke you. I guess maybe I had a little too much fun."

"What do you want now, Discord?" The depressed unicorn inquired without looking up. "Come to rub it in some more? You must think I'm a joke."

The spirit only replied by shaking his head, scooping up the cotton candy cloud and placing it on a stick. "Hey, just because your world is turned upside down doesn't mean you have to wear a frown all day and night. It's not good for you," He insisted. "Come on, lighten up a little. Just take a look at how I'm improving Ponyville's housing situation. Of course, I can't add more buildings without bringing down some old ones."

Twilight briefly looked up to see Discord had turned several houses into cardboard cutouts of themselves, and was now making a huge pepper shaker sprinkle its contents all over a pale, light grayish purple coated earth pony mare. Said mare's purple eyes were slammed shut as the pepper spilled onto her bushy purplish-pink mane and tail. Try as she might she couldn't hold back the sneeze that came. And when she sneezed the cardboard cutout houses crumpled and fell to the ground.

"Gesundheit!" The spirit snickered. "Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever seen?"

Twilight only looked down at the ground again and hung her head in shame. "Maybe for you. But then, you seem to think everything's funny. Everything's just a joke to," She trotted off while saying. "I hope you're happy. You got everything you wanted, Discord."

The draconequus paused, watching as the pony he'd spent so much time taunting and mocking trotted away in defeat. He was not used to this. None of his victims had ever responded in such a fashion. "I can't help her anymore," He thought to himself. "I already gave her a freebie. I didn't think she'd take it nearly this hard." Then he disappeared, thinking about what to do next. His victory suddenly didn't feel very satisfying.

As for Twilight, the sun had already set yet again by the time she reached the familiar grounds of the Golden Oak Library. Trotting inside, she made her way up to her bedroom and somberly declared to Spike. "Come on, Spike. Pack your things. We're leaving. And don't ask me where we're going, because I don't have a clue anymore." She took off her tiara, briefly gazing at it before tossing into a nearby trash can. It would be of no use to her now.

It didn't take long for Twilight to finish packing a suitcase, but to he surprise Spike wasn't around and didn't seem to be responding. "Spike?" She called as she trotted downstairs. "I'm your mother, and what I say goes. So when I say we're moving, we're moving. Now pack up your things and let's go!"

But Spike wasn't moving. In fact, he couldn't move at all. He was incredibly sick to his stomach as a huge pile of scrolls lay beside him. "Oh, it's been like this for the past several minutes! Ever since I got back to the library!" He weakly complained. "Please, someone make it stop!"

Against her better judgement, Twilight picked up the first scroll, unfolded it and began to read it aloud. "'Dear Princess Celestia,'" She then gasped as she realized what it was she was reading! "My old friendship reports!" Something quickly began to take hold deep inside her, almost like a spark you might say. And she began reading over the reports one by one. Every single report she had ever sent to Princess Celestia since moving to Ponyville (and even some she had seen personally delivered such as at the Best Young Flyers Competition or in the aftermath of the Grand Galloping Gala) was there.

Reading over the words, Twilight suddenly became filled with a new sense of hope and determination. Her colors returned, her light purple coat sparkling as if it had just been cleaned. "Spike?" She said to the baby dragon once she had finished reading the last scroll. "Do you remember what I said when I first came to Ponyville almost a year ago? 'The fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends.'?" Without waiting for a reply she declared. "Well I was wrong! The fate of Equestria does rest on me making friends. And now it's clear that I need to fight for my friends! For them and for all of Equestria!"

"H-how are you gonna do that?" Spike weakly whimpered, still unwell from having belched up all the scrolls in such a short amount of time.

A sudden spark flashed across Twilight's moderate violet eyes. "With a memory spell of course! I was reading up on them just the other day just for fun. But now all that reading is gonna pay off!" She rushed upstairs and retrieved the Tiara of Friendship from the trash can she'd tossed into. Then she ran back downstairs and retrieved the Elements of Harmony from their resting place inside the reference guide, tossing them each into the suitcase she'd packed and tossing out everything else. "Wish me luck, Spike!" And with that she trotted away with a new goal in mind.

Twilight's first stop was Sweet Apple Acres where even Granny Smith and Big Macintosh had not been spared from Discord's chaotic ways and personality warping. He had turned Big Mac into a dog, as the big, red stallion was digging massive holes and even licked Twilight's face. And Granny Smith was tap dancing up a storm even though she hadn't danced or even moved well at all in recent years.

And sure enough, there was Applejack who was just laying underneath a tree and munching on an apple. "So of course I tried to defeat Discord," She lied while tossing the half eaten apple aside. "But none of my friends would even lift a hoof to help me. I had no choice but to surrender."

Twilight trotted forward. "Sorry, Applejack, but you left out important information," Then she smiled. "It's okay though, I'm here to fight for you."

Applejack stood up and scoffed. "Oh, now you wanna fight?! Well where were you when I was fightin' Discord all by myself?!"

Twilight was in no mood to hear Applejack continue to lie. She immediately tackled her farm friend and brought her to the ground. "This isn't you, Applejack. You're not a liar. Not like this!" And she lit up her horn, pressing it up against Applejack's forehead.

Just like that, memories began flashing through Applejack's green eyes. She could remember all the good times she'd shared with her friends and the many lessons she had learned from hanging out with them. And as the memories returned so did her coat and mane and tail colors. Heck, she even managed to get the color back on her stetson. "Twilight!" She exclaimed upon realizing what had happened. "I... I remember now. There was this orchard, and these apples told me I could ask them anythin'. They showed me a vision of the future, of our friendship fallin' apart. I didn't want to believe it and then... it was like I just had to lie no matter what."

The studious unicorn just smiled and reassuringly put a hoof around the farm mare. "It's okay, Applejack. Discord tricked you like he tricked all of us. But he underestimated the strength of our bond."

Applejack leapt to her hooves immediately! "Darn tootin' he did! So how are we gonna put a stop to his madness?"

"First we'll need to round up the rest of our friends," Twilight explained. "Think you can help me do that?"

The farm mare nodded as she retrieved a lasso. "Of course I can, sugarcube. I'm ready when you are."

"Good," Twilight smiled. "We'll start with Fluttershy. She shouldn't be too much trouble."

And indeed Fluttershy wasn't. Cornered and alone in her cottage, she wasn't able to put up much of a fight against two ponies. "You're not gonna get away with this! You're not gonna change me back!" She protested and kicked about, even as she was swiftly tied up and held down.

"She's all yours, Twilight." Applejack instructed.

Twilight nodded and pressed her sparking horn up against Fluttershy's forehead. Just like with Applejack, memories from before came rushing back and flashed through the pegasus mare's eyes. And when they did her coat and mane and tail colors returned to normal. She slowly sat up and removed the rope that had held her captive. "Oh my," She blushed bright red in embarrassment and shame. "It was like I was having an out of body experience."

"Join the club, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled.

Fluttershy then snarled. "That Discord is nothing but a big, dumb, meanie!" The last part of that sentence sounded not unlike a roar! "Where is he?! I'm gonna make him pay for what he's done to our friends!"

"First we need to get the rest of our friends back on our side," Twilight declared to Fluttershy. "Sugarcube Corner isn't far from here. Let's get Pinkie Pie back to her old, cheerful self."

The three mares made their way over to the bakery and expected to have a real fight on their hooves. But to the surprise of them all they found that Pinkie had already been subdued by the Cakes.

"Even in her grumpy state, Pinkie still has a sweet tooth." Mrs. Cake declared with a wink, even giggling a little.

Mr. Cake was quick to add. "Why does she always have to hog all the fun? I kind of like being like this. I haven't felt this good in ages."

Twilight simply ignored the playful nature of the old bakers and trotted up to the subdued and distracted Pinkie Pie. "Trust me, Pinkie. You're gonna feel a lot better after this."

The formerly pink party pony grumbled. "Do your worst. I still hate you!"

But it wasn't long before Pinkie was recalling all the happy memories she'd had with her friends. And soon she was right back to her old Pinkie self as her coat and mane and tail returned to their normal, pink state of appearance. "Wow! I turned gray!" She giggled in amusement. "It'd be funny if Discord didn't turn me into the biggest party pooper ever. It's really too bad he's such a poor sport," And she added while looking out a window. "Never thought I'd grow tired of seeing chocolate rain. If only there was whipped cream to go with it."

"All the more reason why we need to get the rest of our friends' memories restored," Twilight explained. "We'll deal with Rarity first and then we'll track down Rainbow Dash."

Rarity was naturally quite resistant to her friends' advances. "No! None of you can have Tom!" She protested in vain as she tried to defend her "diamond". "You freeloaders have ten seconds to get out of my boutique before I get angry!"

"Don't worry, ten seconds is all we need." Pinkie Pie pointed out, before Twilight was able to sneak up behind the fashionista and do what she'd done for all her other friends.

Rarity too had all the memories of the time she'd willingly spent with her friends flash back in her mind. And as soon as her colors had returned she saw for herself what a nasty trick Discord had played on her. "I'll bet that rock's not even a geode," She snorted and pushed it out of Carousel Boutique, then she looked across to her friends. "Let us never speak of this again."

Tracking down Rainbow Dash was surprisingly easier than the five mares had expected it to be. They found their still gray colored friend resting on a patch of unaltered clouds right in the middle of nowhere.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy happily exclaimed! "Oh, thank goodness! We've missed you so much!"

Rainbow Dash only replied with her back turned. "Yeah, yeah, that's cool. But I'm sticking here in Cloudsdale where everything is awesome. You losers can deal with Discord here in Ponyville. All I care about is if he threatens Cloudsdale."

Rarity scoffed in dismay. "How in Equestria can she possibly think that small patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?"

Applejack smirked. "Probably the same way Discord got you to think that boulder was a beautiful diamond?"

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that." The fashionista replied with a glare.

Twilight quickly moved to change the subject. "Rainbow's definitely not going to make things easy on us. So we're gonna have to change up our approach a little bit," She pulled her friends close and began to whisper. "Here's what we're gonna do."

Sometime later, an unsuspecting and unaware Rainbow Dash felt herself being aroused from her sleep by a hoof. She yawned, stretched and turned around to find Fluttershy staring at her.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy apologized as she held a rope in her hooves. "But I'm gonna have to tie you down and hold you against your will for a little bit," She quickly threw the rope around the brash speedster, preventing her from escaping as several other ropes were tied around the mare in various spots. "It's nothing personal. It's for your own good."

Yet even as she was brought to the ground with the ropes holding her in place, Rainbow stubbornly snorted and kicked all around like a wild animal that did not want to be caged! "You... you traitors! All of you!" She hissed at the top of her lungs! "You've doomed Cloudsdale and all of Equestria!"

Twilight wasn't bothered for even a second as she lit up her horn once again. "In a moment, Rainbow, you won't think so. The truth will set you free."

Soon, just as with all of her friends, Rainbow could see all the memories she'd shared with these mares flashing back to her. And slowly, as her will to resist drained away her coat and mane and tail colors returned to normal. Rainbow Dash was back and was now with the friends she realized she'd been tricked into abandoning! "Girls!" She happily exclaimed! "Oh, you girls are the best friends a mare could ask for!"

"We're just glad to have you back, Dashie!" Pinkie happily exclaimed! "It's so good to be colorful again, wouldn't you agree?"

The brash speedster nodded her head. "Yeah, it is. And oh boy is that Discord gonna pay!"

Twilight firmly nodded. "And he will pay. The time has come for us to put an end to his little 'games'."

Discord was perched atop a throne he had constructed all by himself out of literal thin air. He sat upon it and watched all the glorious chaos he'd brought to life run rampant. It was all so amusing to the draconequus as he produced a glass from out of nowhere and filled it up with chocolate milk from one of the cotton candy clouds. "Ah," He fondly sighed to himself. "Chaos is such a wonderful, wonderful thing."

"Not as wonderful as friendship and harmony!" A familiar voice called out. And suddenly, six very recognizable ponies stood before the spirit.

"Oh, this again?" Discord sighed in annoyance. "Excuse me, I need a drink." He proceeded to drink the glass and then throw away the chocolate milk as if it were solid. A scream could be heard in the distance.

Applejack quickly replied. "It's all over for you, Discord. You're done makin' a fool of us!"

The spirit was anything but concerned by the statement. He simply pulled Applejack close using one of the talons on his right paw. "Oh Applejack, please don't lie to me. You forget, I'm the only one who can make you a liar. In fact, I can make you all into anything I want! You can't tell me what to do!" And he proceeded to pull the mares close with the greatest of ease. "Ooh, I see you've got your colors back," He noticed. "Interesting. But it won't save you. I've broken your bonds."

Twilight just responded by using her horn to conjure up a protective bubble for herself and her friends. She quickly brought it down to the ground, and when it made contact with the ground it turned some of the tiles back into grass.

Discord saw what had just happened and he was anything but amused. He growled as he appeared before the six mares as they wore their Element of Harmony necklaces (and tiara in Twilight's case) with pride. "We're doing this now, are we? I'll have you know that I don't take kindly to those who think they're better than me!"

"We don't think, we know," Twilight insisted and then taunted. "Don't tell me the big, bad Discord is afraid of a couple of ponies."

At that, Discord growled in annoyance and snapped. "You know what, fine! Let's get this nonsense over with. Try to befriend me ponies, if you can. Just make it quick, I'm missing out on some excellent chaos here." He then teleported back to his throne and sat there, waiting.

The studious unicorn just smirked in reply. "You're going to regret that, Discord. Ready girls?"

"Just a sec!" Pinkie called out, scarfing down some of the chocolate milk flavored rain before licking her lips. "Okay, ready!" And she jumped into formation while growling like a dog.

One by one, each pony activated their Element of Harmony, starting with Applejack, then Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie, then Rarity, then Rainbow Dash and finally Twilight. Each necklace glowed as it powered up, lifting its bearer into the air.

Discord yawned, not the least bit concerned about the lights show he was witnessing. "Okay, this has all been very entertaining. But it's time to end this," He spoke up as he snapped one of his talons, intending to take away the Elements of Harmony like he'd done so before. Yet when he tried to do so, he found that nothing had happened. Unconcerned, he tried again and again. But each time it had the same result! All the while, the lights were growing brighter. Now realizing what was happening, he tried to move. But to the horror of the spirit he found that he couldn't something was holding him in place. "Uh oh!" He commented and his brilliant crimson pupils grew wide with horror as he realized too late was happening!

Twilight's tiara glowed as she was lifted into the air, and all of her friends hovered next to her in unison! A powerful beam of rainbow colored light shot up from the six ponies, rose into the air and then descended upon Discord!

"Noooooooooo!" Discord yelled at the top of his lungs as he tried in vain to escape. His entire body rapidly turning to stone. "This can't be... I... won't.... lose... again!" And those were the last words he spoke before the stoning was completed. The spirit of chaos and disharmony had been sealed away once again.

The rainbow colored light didn't stop there, however. It spread all the way across Equestria, undoing every trace of Discord's chaos as if it had never happened in the first place. Only once that had happened did the light fade and the elements deactivated.

"We did it!" Twilight declared with a smile on her face! "We've saved Equestria again!"

Sometime later, the six mares were invited to Canterlot once again. And this time it was for an awards ceremony that took place in the throne room of the royal palace.

Princess Celestia presided over the ceremony. "It is with great pleasure that I present to you all our heroes! The ponies who have defeated Discord and restored harmony and balance to Equestria," She declared. "Three cheers for Twilight Sparkle and her friends: The new bearers of the Elements of Harmony!"

The throne room doors opened and the six mares trotted in, Spike standing next to Princess Celestia as the crowd burst into thunderous applause! Medals were on hoof waiting to be given to the ponies while a new stained glass window display commemorating their triumph was brought out and unveiled for all to see.

Twilight and her friends basked in the praise and applause of the crowd while standing at attention, waiting as they received their medals one by one. Twice now in the span of less than a year they had banded together when all hope had seemed lost, and defeated a great evil that had threatened Equestria.

However, Twilight couldn't help but wonder during the ceremony. "What other long forgotten threats could be lurking out there?" She thought to herself. But she wasn't worried enough to feel like asking. She was convinced that so long as she had her friends by her side, nothing would ever truly be able to pose a threat to Equestria any time soon.

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