Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel

by SSJRandomMaster

Chapter 41: The Return of Harmony

Chapter 41: The Return of Harmony
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"Azure, Azure, Azure..." Discord said, rising calmly from the throne he'd erected in the center of Ponyville. Azure was already disgusted, but he knew why he was declaring victory so soon. "You certainly know how to disappoint everypony you ever meet..."

"If it means disappointing you, I'm all for it," Azure countered, already seeing he had Discord's full attention.

"Hold on a moment," Discord continued, picking out a hunk of what could have been just about anything; it wouldn't have surprised Azure anymore, "I seem to have had a piece of caramel in my ear. Did I hear that right? Is that to say you don't care about anypony anymore?"

"If I wanted my words twisted, I'd have asked for it!" Azure interjected, "If I didn't care, I wouldn't even be here...I'd probably still be in that mental trap you laid out for me."

"Oh?" Discord questioned, still a bit disinterested.

"Actually, if anything, I should thank you..." Azure continued. Discord leaned forward in interest.

"What's this now?"

"About a year ago, I was told there can't be harmony without courage...it made sense. A wise pony once said 'the only thing needed for evil to succeed is for good ponies to do nothing'..." Discord now went from interested to looking like he was about to fall asleep on his hand, but Azure kept talking, "But I now realize it works both ways...how can you even have courage, if you're scared to be yourself?"

"So what you're saying is I somehow made you realize that?" Discord questioned, stretching out on his throne. "Whatever, it really doesn't matter whether you've realized that little saying works both ways."

Discord leaned again, and his griffin's paw snapped its talons. The next moment, stone walls began to rise around them in a circle. Azure looked around as the ground quaked under his hooves. Discord's throne, meanwhile, began to rise with those walls, safely encased within them. In fact, when the walls finally finishing rising, he was in a position to look down on Azure.

"I have still won, Azure Courage," Discord said, a green crown of sorts descending onto his antler.

"Already declaring yourself Emperor?" Azure questioned.

"I see no reason not to," the dragonequus continued, "I've halted the Elements of Harmony from working with their Bearers, and nopony else can even hope to stop me, not even you. I have taken back what was mine, and I have two ponies to thank..."

Another snap of the talons later, two statues warped in front of Azure Courage. One of them was a pegasus he didn't recognize, but he did recognize the batpony.

"That's..."

"You know, for ponies, they clearly didn't know what kind of box they'd opened..." Discord said, "If I didn't know better, I would even say they were insane for wanting me free, but the fact is, I am..."

Azure stared at the statues, "So what, you expect thanks for bringing in two criminals versus the many innocents you've tormented just today?"

"Not really," Discord continued, snapping his talons again and causing the statues to warp away, "And who said I was bringing them in? I just wanted to know how it felt to turn ponies to stone after being turned myself...I have to say, not as satisfying as shattering everything they ever were..."

"And then you wonder why you were turned to stone..." Azure spoke, deadpan.

"You know, I'd let you continue to spout out stuff, but the fact is, I've grown bored with you..." Discord responded, all calmness, "I know not how you got free of the mind games I put you through, but there is no room in my empire for traitors..."

Azure would have retorted that in order to be a traitor, that would mean he was on his side from the start, but he didn't get the chance to. Lightning struck the ground in front of him, and the energy began to take form.

"I am the emperor now," Discord continued, "So please, put on a show for me before you die..."

"Still wondering why you think you didn't deserve being stoned..." Azure responded, "Murder isn't something ponies get to walk away from..."

"I've only ever killed one pony in my life..." Discord said, "He was in my way to creating something of..." He stood up, spreading out his arms, indicating the layer of chaos he'd gratuitously spread over the land. "greatness!"

The energy finally formed into something in front of Azure. Azure recognized the overall body shape: snake tail, lion head, goat head, massive size. However, when the light surrounding the chimera cleared, Azure realized Discord made his own modifications to it. When the snake tail hissed, a manticore's scorpion tail lashed out instead of a tongue. The goat's head, much like Discord's own, had an antler where a horn would be. The lion's head had a mane of pure red flames. The body itself seemed to be surrounded by a black aura.

"While you may not be in my way," Discord went on as his limbs dropped to his sides, "There's just no room here for harmony-loving ponies like you..."

"The funny thing is, Discord," Azure said, getting into a ready position, "Nightmare Moon tried all these things on me and they didn't work!"

"I am ten times the evil emperor she was!" Discord snapped, "I'm not bound by sentiments or anything else! Everything is merely my toy now! Could Nightmare Moon have said that?! Certainly not! All she was was a bitter pony who needed a friend! I don't need a friend, nor do I desire one!"

"I think I hit a nerve there," Azure observed casually, "Did it sting? Tell me it did."

Discord huffed as he sat back down on his throne, clearly unamused with the echo, "I'm not the one that has to fight," His lion's paw gestured, and the chimera's two heads roared, "You are. Brace yourself...your end will be slow...and amusing...well, for me, anyway!"
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Knowing Azure was likely in danger given what he was doing, Twilight was determined to not let his stalling go to waste. With Discord's attention supposedly occupied by Azure's recklessness, there was no way the spirit of chaos could know what she was going to do. She needed to repair that what Discord had tried so hard to destroy.

"There's no time to lose..." Twilight said to herself, heading for Sweet Apple Acres first. While all her friends certainly lived closer to her than Applejack, after what Applejack had said to her and what Discord had brought up, she felt she needed to confront Applejack alone. While it would have certainly made more sense to bring Azure along for at least that much, she had to agree that somepony had to try to draw Discord's attention.

As she made her way towards the barn, she noticed that Discord's influence had even begun to corrode the other ponies she knew; Big Mac was acting like a mole and dog put together or something, she didn't know. Granny Smith was also acting differently. Their colors had faded. But Twilight knew that if Discord could just be resolved, the rest of the problems he was causing would fade. And in order to do that, she had to break the influence Discord had over her friends.

It didn't take long for Twilight to find Applejack. The southern mare was leaning against an outer wall of the barn, eating an apple...in reverse. The apple was clearly already cored, but with each bite she took of what looked like empty air, more of the apple appeared, until the apple became perfectly whole.

"Applejack!" Twilight called out. Applejack immediately dropped the apple and turned to her. As soon as Applejack realized who had called her name, she shot the purple unicorn a nasty glare. Twilight flinched, but kept going. She knew now Applejack wasn't herself, and was determined to correct it. Applejack stood up as Twilight got close.

"And just what the hay do you think you're doin' here?" Applejack snapped at Twilight. Now that she was a few steps from her, Twilight could see; somehow, Applejack seemed even worse than at the library. At first glance, it seemed like she hadn't changed, but this couldn't be Applejack that was giving her a death glare at every opportunity...

"Applejack, please," Twilight was going to talk sense into Applejack; it had been how Azure had reached her, "You have to listen to me, Discord--"

"I ain't got to do anythin'!" Applejack spat, stomping her hoof on the ground, "You think just 'cause you're some big shot from Canterlot that you get to tell everypony else what to do?" Applejack stepped forward. Twilight took a step back; she'd never thought she'd see such a cynical Applejack, "Well, think again, Miss 'Faithful Student'..."

Twilight winced. It was a term of endearment that Princess Celestia always used in her letters; she usually returned it out of respect. But now, hearing the corrupted Applejack say it, for some reason, it made her feel...ashamed.

Am...I really that conceited?

Twilight shook her head. Azure had taken this risk for all of them so she could help them and then him; she couldn't let herself fall into self-doubt again. It'd be a ledge she couldn't climb up from this time. The unicorn stopped stepping back. Applejack stopped glaring a bit once she saw her intimidation wasn't working.

"Applejack, please, let me help you!" Twilight forced herself to focus. She knew something that work probably work better than work, "I want to break the spell Discord has over you!" Twilight's horn lit up.

Applejack leapt back out of range, "What spell?! He only showed me the truth! You ain't gonna get somethin' else just 'cause you want it, not this time!" Applejack's body language showed only one thing, and Twilight's spell faded entirely.

"I'm not going to fight you, Applejack," Twilight said sternly, keeping edges of aggression out of her voice. This wasn't a problem that could be solved with violence. Knocking around her friends only served to drive the wedge between them further. Applejack merely huffed.

"'Course not," Applejack once again turned away from Twilight. After a bit, Applejack turned her head around so she kept a grayed out eye on Twilight, "You've had it easy your whole life! Now that you gotta work for somethin', you back down..." Applejack began to walk away from Twilight.

"Applejack, that's not true!"

Applejack stopped dead in her hooves, "Yes, it is! Born in Canterlot, being raised in high class, getting into a school for the gifted, then gettin' to be Princess Celestia's student," Applejack continued to spew venom as she stepped closer to Twilight. "You've had everything given to you, while I've had to work my flank off so that I earn what I have..."

Now Twilight backed off as Applejack stepped closer.

"I...but..." Twilight wanted to argue, but she couldn't find the words. For some reason, the words did sound right.

"Prove me wrong, name one time you didn't have something hooved over to you," Applejack stated. Twilight's eyes widened as she continued to fumble for answers, her mouth opening, only to close as she realized that wasn't the case. Nothing felt like it was coming up. Twilight began to wonder if...

She's right...
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Azure didn't need to be told Discord was enjoying his struggle against the superchimera the spirit of chaos had created, especially after Azure made it a point to blast Discord verbally before the battle. He didn't dare look to where he knew he was; even if he got the chance, one look at the monster's smug mug and he might lose focus. This chimera was not out to frighten; it was out for blood.

The unicorn leapt out of the way as the scorpion tail lashed forth from the snake tail's mouth, not wanting to get poisoned by the thing. An attack from the left, Azure dodged away, only to be met with another lash from the right, which he managed to dodge. The scorpion's tail flicked dangerously, and Azure tensely put up his hooves. However, he found himself without traction so suddenly.

"What--" Azure said as his hoof slipped. He saw it: soap where there was dirt, just under his foot.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to interfere!" Discord's voice rang out. The scorpion's tail lashed downward, and Azure caught it in time, manifesting a partial barrier to parry the thrust. Azure quickly leapt up, winding up on the creature's back. The snake tail hissed at him, but Azure dodged the scorpion tail thrust, causing the creature to hit itself. Quickly, Azure charged up a laser, when he heard the roar of a lion. One eye trailed back towards the source of the sound, and Azure quickly realized the lion's head was going to bite him if he didn't move it.

Azure grunted as he leapt to the right, away from the attempted chomp, and performed a gravity spell assisted backflip away from the chimera, trying to figure out what to do about the toxic problem that was that snake tail. However, as he tried to rush forward, he found his hooves were stuck in something pink and sticky.

"Another one of these clouds?!" Azure blurted out.

"Who said chaos had to be fair?" Discord rhetorically questioned, "Well, it is fair--"

"Yeah, for you!" Azure grumbled, finding his hooves were stuck in the candy surface. "And for no sane pony, that's for sure!"

"Maybe, but that's the point..." the chaos spirit continued, "Get him!"

The chimera charged Azure, lion's head roaring while the goat's head prepared to bunt him backwards. The attack landed, and Azure, cloud and all, were sent floating backward. Azure felt dizziness set in, and he didn't need to know what that obnoxious sound was echoing around the colosseum: it was Discord's laughter.

Azure refocused, seeing the lion's head once again trying to bite him. He closed his eyes in focus, the cyan glow of his horn momentarily coating both him and the cotton candy cloud he was stuck in. The cyan colt cast a gravity spell--

Leaving the lion's head to get its teeth stuck in the stone wall behind him. Discord stood up from his throne. Despite the fact he had escaped certain demise, the chaos spirit still seemed oddly complacent.

"Well played..."

"I'm not done yet..." Azure stated.

"Good," Discord sat back down, "More of this spectacle for me to enjoy..."

Azure grit his teeth, refocusing on the task at hand. It was a bit of trouble to focus on keeping himself and the cloud aloft using the gravity spell, so he knew what he had to do. Azure aimed the cloud down at the still-stunned superchimera, and began to let himself fall down towards it. The lion's head had just extracted its teeth from the stone when Azure came down hoof first onto its lower back.

The snake's tail hissed at him; Azure knew he was facing away from it. The unicorn closed his eyes, focusing his magic. The cloud at his hooves began to sear and burn like candy, charring from pink to black incredibly quick. Azure began to once again prepare a gravity spell, and closed his eyes. The unicorn's ear twitched in response to a subtle crack; the scorpion's tail striking at him. He backflipped, his feet freed from the pink cotton candy prison they were in. The scorpion's tail once again lashed into its own body, but Azure wasn't done. As soon as he was back on his hooves he let off a series of cyan beams from his horn, aiming at the snake tail. The beast roared as the snake tail began to seemingly get burned from the attacks before they even landed; the black aura seemed to peel away as the offensive spell got close enough. Azure saw it, but Discord apparently didn't.

The snake tail, now punched full of holes, fell limp, darkened from the repeated laser burns, obviously down for the count; the dark aura having receded totally from that part of the body. The chimera bleated and roared out of its two remaining heads in anguish, turning to Azure. For some reason, the beast now looked slightly sluggish, but it shook it off quickly enough.

"So you took out its venom..." Discord said flippantly, "Oh well. You still have two heads to beat, Azure Courage!"

The lion's head seemed to get up with renewed vigor, its flaming mane flaring up aggressively. It then aimed its maw directly at Azure, and Azure gasped and scrambled to get out of the way as blue flames seared forth from its mouth, sweeping along the ground towards him. As Azure watched the flame attack go up the wall and die out, he realized the flames were hot; hot enough to actually burn stone and have it catch fire. The unicorn grit his teeth and stared back at the chimera, which scraped its foot along the ground and rushed Azure, goat head leading the charge. Azure focused hard, standing his ground and erecting a large frontal shield to catch the attack.

The deer antler hit the shield first, and Azure blinked; the aura on the antler and goat head seemed to erode as it collided with the shield. A moment later, the chimera once again gave its howl of agony, seemingly...burnt?

"What is this, now?" Discord still didn't sound annoyed, but he did seem slightly interested in the development, despite the fact Azure was winning. Azure didn't concern himself with that; he had to take care of this thing.

Azure's horn flared, igniting in flames. Azure noticed, but didn't immediately worry about, the fact there was a twinge of white flickers in the flame he summoned, throwing a lot of flame attacks at Discord's chimera. The goat head gave a shriek of pain, closely followed by another, and another, as the fireballs hit their mark. Like with the snake tail, it seemed more burned than it should have been as it fell limp. The dark aura receded from the knocked-out chimera head as well. The main body and lion's head still had the aura, but the lion's head seemed to struggle with the dead weight of the goat head.

Discord said nothing, no doubt enjoying the sight of Azure fighting. Azure resisted the urge to scoff; if Discord had thought he'd won, he was sorely mistaken. As the lion's head roared and Azure dove out of the way of another flame attack, the cyan unicorn took a brief moment to rest and wonder one thing:

Twilight...I hope you're doing alright out there... Azure thought, I may be able to hold my own against his beasts...But I don't know how long I can keep this up!
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"So Noct and Torpal didn't make it back...?"

A figure, shrouded in darkness, made its observation.

"You don't suppose my idiot brother decided to hang around, do you?" a feminine voice answered with its own question, "You warned him, right?"

"Of course. From what I've heard, it wouldn't surprise me if he did get to them first to 'thank them'..." the figure continued, "Still, we have the item at our disposal...and it certainly seems to be working,"

All eyes of the ponies in the room trailed over to a table of sorts. There were several slots carved into its stony surface. One of them was the stolen item that Tagane had earlier nabbed from the Royal Guards. It was glowing, feeding on the freed spirit of chaos and what he was creating.

"But, Boss, you are aware that he will be put back in his stone prison before the day is out?" The feminine voice asked.

"Tourna," the one called "Boss" answered, "My plan counts on that. If he's not imprisoned again, I might have to adjust my plans accordingly."

"If that's the case," Shade cut in, at another edge of the room, "Why'd you send us after the Element Bearers if you wanted Discord freed, only to send him back into his statue?"

The boss remained silent for a moment, "I suppose I just wanted to test how far they'd go to keep themselves together..."

"Tagane got captured, and I was nearly caught too!" Shade interjected.

"You both just got careless," Boss hissed, "Perhaps I should have sent Torpal with you if you needed a quick escape, but I thought I could count on the two of you to handle the colt that seems to bug you so..."

Shade fell silent, while Tourna began to speak again.

"Be that as it may, Boss," Tourna continued, "That colt is still a problem that must be dealt with..."

"Soon, Tourna, soon..." Boss answered, "If all goes according to plan, I will move on to my next phase..."
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The lion's head roared again, as it rushed Azure, trying to bite him. However, Azure quickly leapt left, out of the way of the attempted attack. The beast did not get its teeth stuck in the wall this time, however, and quickly slid to a halt, breathing more fire at Azure. Azure put up a shield, being pushed back by the blaze. However, when Azure's vision cleared of the blue flames, he realized Discord's summon was nowhere in sight.

Stay calm, Azure, the pony thought to himself, It's gotta be around somewhere...

A roar came from above, followed by the laughter of Discord. Azure looked up, the chimera had sprouted wings of blue flame while he was defending from the attack, and was now falling straight on him, teeth bared. The pony quickly altered his own gravity once more via the gravity spell, sliding along the ground under the chimera's body as the teeth came down just centimeters from his ears. Once again, the beast had gotten itself stuck.

The colt quickly rolled back to his hooves, igniting his horn brighter as magic surged into it, aiming to settle things in one burst. He knew the beast was merely a summon; not the real deal, that much was obvious given how it had appeared after Discord snapped his talons, so he didn't see the need to hold back. He charged a laser, a ball of pure magic energy forming on his horn tip. Subconsciously, the unicorn wondered why Discord hadn't tried anything else yet, but decided to not press his luck.

The chimera had just pulled its teeth free from the ground. It gave a savage roar, turning to Azure, its flaming mane flaring up in anger. It began to rush the unicorn again. The ball on Azure's horntip flared, and he held the blast, waiting for the right moment as he crouched down, preparing to unleash it. His eyes closed, filtering out the screeches of the monster he was fighting.

"Now!"

The beam took the form of a cyan-white wave, sustained by his horn. The attack made contact with the chimera, but Azure couldn't see the full effect for long; Azure's beam continued, engulfing both of the chimera's heads, and continuing past the monster, hitting a wall of Discord's arena and leaving a nice big hole in the side as the beam continued out into the skies.

Azure stopped sustaining the beam; his horn and eyes still glowing. He was slightly winded from the effort, though. He backed off from the chimera of Discord's creation. It was weakly mewling out of its remaining head, the dark aura completely stripped from his body, its entire upper body covered in scorch marks. The chimera hit the ground, unmoving, before beginning to fade in a cloud of dark blue smoke.

Only now that the battle was over, Azure dared to look over to Discord. He was dryly clapping, looking neither amused nor disappointed. If anything, he looked oddly complacent.

What's he got in mind next...?
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"Bravo, Azure, bravo," he condescendingly complimented, standing up. "A shame no pegasi were airborne in the path of your little laser there...that would have made the end of this just a little more rewarding..."

"And I'm still wondering how you think you didn't deserve to be imprisoned..." Azure responded, "Was this how it was centuries ago, too?"

"Not quite," Discord said, "But you know, watching you fight, has made me realize..."

The dragonequus coiled, vanishing in a puff of black smoke. He reappeared in front of an unflinching Azure, griffin's talon positioned behind him, with one claw extended.

"I could use a pony like you to keep dissidents in line!" He held the pose, as though waiting.

"Like Tartarus I will!" Azure responded.

"I didn't say you had a choice..." Discord thrust his claw forward, aiming for the spot directly between Azure's eyes. Azure tried to move, but his front legs were stuck in more of the cotton candy. He couldn't move quick enough. Discord's claw rested on his forehead, lightly pressing in. "I'm going to make sure this one sticks!"

Discord grunted a bit as he pressed on Azure's forehead with the claw. Azure expected to once more lose himself, perhaps in a way that this time would make him entirely subservient to Discord.

Is...this...how I--

"Wha--?" Discord grunted, sounding surprised, "Owww!! What is this, now!?"

Azure opened his eyes; he definitely still felt in control of things. He looked up, seeing Discord's griffin's claw sparking with cyan magic. The talons, surprisingly, looked scorched, just as the chimera had whenever Azure landed a magic attack on it. Azure was just as confused; what had happened in him?

"This magic...?" Discord continued, for the first time sounding genuinely caught off-guard that day. He looked to Azure, and blinked, "I see...so the princesses are starting to become afraid of their subjects, huh?"

"You won't instill doubt in anypony anymore, Discord," Azure countered, pushing aside the spirit's statement as no more than another lie.

"Maybe not you..." Discord said, his words all of a sudden, icy, "But that's because you won't be around anymore!"

Discord drew back his lion's paw, and a crooked sword materialized in it, "See you, never again!"

Azure's eyes widened, and he tried to move. Only, this time, Azure realized now his back legs and forelegs were stuck in the ground. This time, they looked like they had been swallowed in pinkish quicksand; no doubt clouds Discord had summoned directly underground. Azure kept his eyes open, not wanting to give Discord any more laughs if he could help it. Suddenly, a monotone, feminine voice rang out.

"Discord..."

Discord halted the killing swing, hearing the voice. Both of them looked over. Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow were all there. They were all wearing their elements, but surprisingly, they still appeared to be grayed out. Pinkie still looked like a grump, Fluttershy still looked like she didn't want to be anywhere near them, and Rarity was still hauling around a large rock. In fact, one of her gray eyes were locked directly to it.

"Oh...?" Discord questioned, "What are you six doing back together...?" He blinked, "Unless..."

He paused. All of a sudden, maniacal laughter emanated from his mouth.

"Must have missed a joke," Azure stated, deadpan.

"You truly don't know anything!" Discord stated, snapping his griffin's talons again. Azure realized he could take another step, but before he could reach his friends, he found himself picked up in Discord's lion's paw. "Now look here, Azure Courage: the Elements of Harmony are now mine! Or, should I say, the Elements of Disharmony!?"

"What?" Azure questioned, flatly.

"I have not only corrupted the Bearers of each of the elements, but now their corruption had managed to take hold of their precious elements too! Equestria...no...the world is no more than my playground now!" The spirit of chaos continued to ramble on, sounding so convinced of victory Azure wanted to puke. All the while, the Bearers in question stood there, looking quite emotionless as they watched the spirit of chaos posture.

"So what will it be, Azure Courage?" Discord finally questioned, "Will you join the new world order? Or shall you die at the hooves of your former friends? Because quite frankly, I can think of no better death for a harmony-loving pony such as yourself!" He burst out laughing, all but cementing the impression he'd completely won out.

Azure met eyes with each of his grayed-out friends. First was Fluttershy, who seemed to lose some of her cruel edge. Second was Rarity, who cast a brief, disgusted glance to the rock. This escaped Discord's notice. Third, Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be waiting for something, but what, nopony knew. Fourth was Pinkie, whose anger seemed to recede a bit, but Discord still believed he'd won. Applejack was second-to-last. Her dissonant look seemed to change to one of...regret?

"So, what are you waiting for?" Discord finally snapped back, "Choose!"

Azure finally met eyes with Twilight. She looked emotionless, like she didn't care. However, as soon as they blinked, Azure strangely looked...happy?

"I think you'd better have me killed by their hooves, Discord..." Azure said, "Fire away..."

"I was hoping you'd say that..." Discord produced the target he'd used earlier to mock Twilight, placing it straight over Azure's chest. "Okay, fire when ready, ladies!"

"With pleasure, Discord..." Twilight's voice morphed from monotone to regular. Discord blinked.

"Pardon?"

The elements quickly activated, glowing as a line between each of them and the Element of Magic formed. This time, the startup went as planned, each of the Bearers floating into the aura, eventually surrounded by a white glow. Suddenly, each of the Bearers began to gain their colors back, a fact which quickly dawned on Discord.

"Wait...if their colors came back...that means...!" Discord started, dropping Azure in surprise, "No!"

"Does it sting, Discord?" Azure asked from the ground, slowly getting back to his feet. "Does it sting to have your 'friends' desert you?"

"You...you tricked me..." Discord looked down to Azure, his eyes full of fury. He rematerialized the sword, his face twisted into a glare that would have caused anypony to stand down, "I'm going to take you with me!!"

The sound of a large blast rang out; the Elements of Harmony had fired, a rainbow blast coming straight down on Discord. He looked up, frozen in a hunched over position, having failed to run the sword through Azure. His expression changed again, to one of utter fear.

"No...no!"

Azure was blinded as the rainbow cannon made contact with Discord. The wielders of the Elements couldn't see with the torrents of magic surrounding them. If they could see what they were doing, they would have noticed two things.

One, that the constructs and chaos Discord had caused were receding as a shockwave of pure power emanated outward.

Two, a group of five objects floating up from where Discord had been hit, splitting up, going to the corners of Equestria...
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He had been awake this whole time. He had seen the world slowly go mad around him. In a flash, he was hovering before that colt that had fought Noct and given Shade so much trouble facing off against what he assumed was Discord. Then he was returned to where he and Noct had been turned to stone. However, as Torpal watched the world return to normal, he realized he could blink his eyes and move his body freely. Moreover, when he found Noct also out of stone, he saw the gem was back where it belonged.

"Well, did you see what you wanted to see?" Torpal asked bitterly, "Was staying here worth it?"

"Whatever," Noct responded flatly, "Our operation obviously succeeded, and if all goes well, he'll have gotten what he deserved..."

"For what he did to us?"

"Of course..." Noct turned to him. "Now, weren't you gonna warp us back home before he showed up?"

"Much obliged," Torpal replied, using his gem's magic to create a portal. A moment later, he and Noct leapt through it, heading back home...
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The light finally cleared. There was a lot of smoke where Discord was, but as far as Azure knew, there was a statue on the other side of that smoke. Internally, he hoped that Discord's face was frozen into that "hilarious" look of fear he seemed to love making other ponies make, just so he could point and laugh at the statue for a few seconds.

Azure looked around, finding that the world had completely reverted to normal. The arena that had been there just a few seconds ago had also vanished without a trace. The sky was blue, no sign of pink clouds, the sun was out and it was about the time it would have been had Discord not decided to mess with the sun and moon cycle. His friends floated down to the ground, the elements returning to their dormant state.

"It's over..." Azure stated with a sigh, and only then did the glow around his horn and in his eyes finally recede; once more, his eyes were brown, and his horn was without a glow. He turned to Twilight directly, and they met eyes.

"It all worked out in the end..." Twilight observed, triggering the memory in Azure's head. It was the first time he'd ever planned anything in advance, and even then he wasn't sure if it even counted as a plan given he didn't know how bad off the others were.
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"Don't worry, Twilight...We're going to fight to protect the bonds we've formed here...But...listen...I have an idea..."

"What're you going to do, Azure? Go fight Discord, again, while I have the others remember who they are?"

"Well, Twilight..." Azure stated, already feeling the thoughts surge through him, "We need the Elements, that much is for sure, but he might figure out you are all better before you can do anything..."

"That's true..." Twilight said, "Now that you mentioned it, all of them had gone gray..."

"So had you," Azure continued, "So, listen, after you cure the others, have them act like they're still under his spell. And, another thing...You remember that color change spell, don't you?"

"Yes, but--" Twilight cut herself off, and she smiled, "That's...I get it! You want us to...And then..."

"Yep. So just leave drawing Discord's attention to me..." Azure said, turning around, "It's high time somepony gave him a taste of his own medicine!"
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"He really didn't like the taste, I guess..." Azure said, closing his eyes. However, his silent moment of celebration was cut off by Twilight pulling him straight into a hug.

"He tried to order us to...if we hadn't--" Twilight's mind was now all over the place now that the crisis had settled, "I-I tried to not worry about you..."

Azure felt more awkward than the other times Twilight had said that to him, "I-it was..."

"I know, I know...'all under control'..." she practically sobbed, "But he...he was...a monster...I started to wonder..."

"Hey, Twilight," Rainbow came in to break up the mushiness, which, for the first time in Azure's entire life, was an act he was grateful for, "You saw that huge beam going out of the arena...He had something under control..."

Twilight finally released Azure, but it was clear that hadn't completely convinced her. Azure looked over and saw Applejack awkwardly looking away. He knew he'd have to deal with that problem soon enough after Discord dug it up, but right now, he wanted to celebrate his defeat.

"Well, Discord had already been convinced he'd won..." Azure recalled, "Before he even saw you all, he was already complacent. Even when I showed up to confront him again, he just conjured that huge arena and a chimera, and told me he wanted to make a spectacle out of my death...for his own amusement, no less..."

Azure turned back towards the smoke, as the others remained silent.

"But, we showed him that we're willing to fight hard for what we love..." Azure summed it up.

"You said it!" Rainbow cut in, "Wish I could've seen the look on his face when we blasted him with the Elements!"

"We might yet get to see it," Rarity, of all ponies, said, "After all, the last time he was hit, he was sealed up in stone..."

"And there's no reason it should be any different," Twilight finished for the group.

The group looked towards the smoke. It began to recede. Suddenly, Azure's brow furrowed.

"What's wrong, Az?" Rainbow asked, immediately taking note of his concern.

"The smoke's clearing...but no sign of a statue..." Azure observed.

"Look!" Applejack called out, as the smoke began to fully blow away. When it finally cleared, all of where Discord was, was a crater. The group gasped.

"D-did we...?" Fluttershy questioned, sounding far too scared to admit it. Azure grit his teeth, looking around, hoping to Celestia there wasn't a pink cloud anywhere that Discord was hiding behind. The group remained silent, some convinced they'd overdone the move that finished off Discord, others convinced he was somehow still around.

Suddenly, in the overall center of the seven ponies, a light gold flash burst out. A split-second later, a very much healthy-looking Princess Celestia appeared, looking just as concerned as she had when all this started.

"Princess Celestia?!" the group shouted. Azure noted the look on the sun princess's face, and immediately felt fury settle in.

"Darn it all...don't tell me he's still out!" Azure growled, immediately galloping for the crater, forgoing the show of respect for the moment.

"Az, wait!" Applejack shouted, sounding panicked.

"What're you doing?!" Twilight was just as if not more panicked.

Azure reached the edge of the crater, everypony else following on hoof (or in Rainbow's case, by air). He continued running down into the slight imprint the impact caused, spotting something at the center of the crater.

"What...?" Azure said quietly, confused at what he saw. As he drew closer, he began to see it very clearly. It was a corroded silver crown, which looked...slightly like the crown Discord had materialized for his own use. In the center of the crown, there was a dark green hexagonal gem.

He stopped upon reaching the center, mere feet from the crown. The others stopped, apparently seeing the item. Azure panted a bit, the day's events finally completely catching up with him. He looked to each of the others.

"This crown...?" Azure thought aloud as he turned. Eventually, all eyes except those of Princess Celestia's turned to Twilight's own tiara. The Elements definitely still looked shiny and usable; there was no denying that they had done their job.

"It looks like..." Twilight shifted uncomfortably as she looked to the harmonic artifact on her head, "The Element of Magic..."

Princess Celestia remained transfixed on the tarnished crown where Discord had been. She still seemed worried, but she also seemed...distant, for some reason. The others finally seemed to notice her looking at the crater, and Twilight broke the silence.

"Princess Celestia...what is it?" she asked.

The solar princess finally looked to her subjects, stern, "Please come to Canterlot as soon as possible, all of you...and bring that crown along. I will explain everything..." With a sigh, she added, "Just know, Discord is no longer a threat...and will no longer be a threat in the future..."

The silence that followed her command was thick, and Azure looked to the crown again.

If he can't be a threat to anypony anymore...why is this crown he left behind worrying us so much...?
---------------------------------------------------
The jewel that was drawing Discord's essence had finally stopped fluctuating with its glow and now remained with a dim, solid gray-ish glow.

"It's stopped..." Tourna observed, "So they managed to pull through Discord's reign..."

"Indeed, they have," Boss responded nonchalantly.

At this point, a portal seared through the floor, and Torpal and Noct leapt into the room.

"And there they are," Shade observed, "So what happened?"

"Noct got carried away..." Torpal shook his head, "And I got caught up in it..."

"Noct, didn't I tell you?" Boss questioned, "He isn't the type to be grateful for help; in fact, all we really did was speed up his unsealing so we could use his powers..."

"Speaking of which..." Shade cut in, "How'd that turn out?"

Boss leaned forward a bit, so his snout was in view. His mouth opened with a smile; a fang visible on his set of teeth.

"I'd say we can move on to phase two now..."

Boss leaned back in the shadows.

"Get the others. Have them in here within the next two hours. I will explain that part then."

Author's Note:

Finally, I never have to look at Discord again in this fic. Now I can move on to arcs I actually want to write. Other than flashbacks, I'll never have to write another chapter of this fic featuring Discord. Everything in this chapter will be eventually explained; stuff in next chapter and stuff a bit down the line...

So yeah, there it is.