Author's notes

I'm just going to shut up so you can get to the action! This will be merged with the previous chapter later.

---

Discord hurled the two spheres at her and instantly teleported behind her, raising his paws as sharp claws poked out that dripped with a strange black liquid. Just catching his movement, she zipped away as he brought his appendage down, slinging the liquid in front of him as it floated away from him. As she stopped to track her target, she saw the two spheres that were hurled earlier redirecting itself and began to hone on her. Before she could buff the attack, sonic teleported in front of her and absorbed the attack; shooting out his hand and redirecting the attack onto a nearby asteroid. The mass of rock was knocked away by the powerful force, violently splitting into two with a loud crack. The split rock drifted into nothingness of space.

Discord reappeared from a great distance away from them, facing them while already preparing for his next assault. His gas like body began to deform itself from its snake like body to a different shape. Long and eerie wings shot out of the mass, along with four hooves and a very long tail. It's body took shape of a very masculine stallion, it's shape perfectly curved like a model. It's head, however; was deformed. One side of its face bulged outward like a tumor, making its artificial eye pop out of its own skull, barely kept in by its eyelids. It opened its muzzle to reveal a row of shark like teeth with a strange black goo that dripped from its tips.

The horrific figure charged towards Rainbow with his wings spread outward, poise to strike as it draws near. Battle ready and completely aware of his attack, she also charged. A trail of colorful fire blazed behind her as she drew her pure white wing back, ready to slash its target as the two come within meters of each other.

Sonic watched as they closed the gap and began jousting, flying in a condense pack and passing each other while trading licks. Loud clangs and tear sounds rippled through the empty space as the two fought. They looked like nothing but flashes of light with the speed they were going, trying desperately to get an edge over the other one. Very thin lines of black liquid and blood spat from the fight, flying out into space as the two continued to violently swing their appendages at each other.

The hedgehog immediately hovered away from them and tried to catch a glimpse of the enemy. He wasn't going to let Dash put her life on the line like this, just one fatal slash from Discord's claw would be the end of her. He could only imagine what that black liquid was meant for. Several moments passed, and he has yet to target the enemy. More blood and chaotic liquid continued to gush from the fight; their passes and battle space becoming smaller and smaller as they tried to outdo each other.

Finally, with just a split second, Sonic caught a glimpse of Discord banking to strike Rainbow again. He charged, shooting forward like lightning as he struck him on his side. The two were shooting across the emptiness of space, with Discord being helplessly rammed as Sonic continued to push. They suddenly struck against something very white… And hot.

The hedgehog zipped far away from him and found that he tackled the monster against a bright star. Discord felt the scorching burns by the surface of the sun, but it didn't mattered to him. Any damage done will mean nothing to him with the power he has.

Sonic glanced behind him and found Rainbow hovering towards him with several black marks and scares on her body, with her flames flailing behind her flickering with weakness. She was huffing, no doubt hurt.

"You alright?" He asked.

He saw the scars seal itself as the black liquid sprinkled over her built body melt away. The colorful flames behind her flared to life, with her shining red eyes glowing just a tab brighter.

"Nothing I can't handle," She answered, taking in slower breaths, "We're too evenly matched to overpower the other in a head on fight, we need something more non-direct."

The two suddenly heard a loud roar beneath them. They looked and saw a massive stream of white hot liquid flying right for them.

"MOVE!"

They split just in time to see a massive fountaining mass of lava towering over them with a scorching heat wave slamming against their bodies . The liquid continued to soar until it disappeared into the nothingness of space. They looked down to the star below and just caught a glimpse of Discord teleporting.

Sonic felt his energy gathering behind him and immediately charged. He missed as Discord teleported again, reappearing behind Rainbow with a large white sharp spear in his claw. She glanced behind and blindly zipped away, just missing the lunge of his weapon. An asteroid suddenly hovered itself right into Rainbow's path and as she looked forward, slammed head first onto the carriage size rock.

Discord saw the dazed pegasus as she tried to regain her senses, dazed from the impact; even with the protection of the elements. With the weapon still in hand, he charged and raised it high above him. As he was about to strike, however; he felt a massive chaotic force hitting his side. It threw off his strike by a wide margin and struck the side of the rock. The force of the blow spun the rock wildly, flinging the dazed pegasus off with a massive force.

She free fell, still trying to regain her senses from the impact moments ago. Sonic and Discord saw her quickly disappearing.

"Rainbow!"

Sonic quickly flew after her, but was suddenly pulled back by a claw; and felt himself being flung. He quickly recovered, just seeing a mass of smoke bolting towards the pegasus.

The hedgehog charged and after a sudden flash, rammed against him again; slowing Discord down significantly and giving him a chance to save the falling mare. The Spirit of Disharmony gave chase, forming a gooey black mass in his paw as he pursued the speeding hedgehog. Just as he was about to reach for her, Discord hurled the mass at him.

Sonic instantly loss his speed, the mass stuck to his feet growing heavier and heavier as he tried to shake it off. Before he could comprehend what was happening, The Spirit summoned a massive black cloud and smothered him with it. Discord did a complete one-eighty and chased after the free falling mare; gathering Chaos Energy to his claw and making a break to deliver the fatal blow. He shouted towards her, not with malice, but with a mix of joy and hatred as he envisioned his talons impaling through her exposed stomach.

"Rainbow! You will die knowing that you failed equestria!"

Just as he was raising his talons, he suddenly saw Rainbow's wings shooting open and flashing him with a brilliant white light. Before he could react, he felt a dozen sharp needle pricks impaling his form. Rainbow smirked as she heard a demonic roar of pain ringing in her ears, her idea of faking unconsciousness worked perfectly.

"It will not come to pass that easily!"

Sonic just fought out of Discord's trap as he bolted out of the dark clouds, the last of the black goo dripping from his feet as he made his presence known to the Spirit. He saw the needles pricking his snake like body, digging themselves deeper as the burning sensation intensified. Discord teleported, leaving the little needles to float aimlessly as he reappeared in front of the two. His face was twisted in pain and anger, his hollow eyes staring dead towards his enemies. His gas like body was covered in tiny holes that were slowly sealing themselves.

"Let me remind you two who you two are dealing with!" He shouted as loud as he could, "I was here when the world first existed! It was because of my creation that equestria lives! I am the keeper of Chaos! I AM A GOD!"

He shot above them and began flying in a tight circle. The two suddenly saw a flash of purple light generating from the center, quickly spreading outward with a loud and aggressive roar.

"BOW TO ME!"

A powerful and consuming beam as the size of a tank shot forth with a thunderous boom. The two were quick to evade by quickly splitting, letting the beam harmlessly pass them. They suddenly heard a loud crash behind them, followed by a sudden blinding flash.

Red completely covered their surroundings as the sound of something cracking deafen them. When the two cast their gaze towards the direction of the beam, they saw a planet violently splitting clean in half; then suddenly exploding outward in a great ball of fire. They shielded their eyes as a shockwave slammed against them, almost knocking them back.

When they looked towards the destruction, they no longer saw a planet… What they saw in its place was small clumps of debris and dust that gently floated outwards from the center.

"…Whoa."

"Just be thankful that wasn't ours." Sonic mumbled.

They sensed the spirit of disharmony charging for them with a talon reached out. Sonic immediately flew in front of Rainbow, letting his talon grab him in her place.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY, YOU RODENT!"

Discord aimlessly hurled the hedgehog behind him with amazing strength, with such force that he disappeared out of line of sight. The hedgehog's body soared helplessly through space, until he crashed on a small planet made of ice, very far away from Discord and his target.

"Sonic!"

Rainbow suddenly saw herself being charged by the spirit, with his talon reaching out for her with his teeth grinding in hatred. His eyes were set for murder.

She zipped out of the way just in time to save herself, and attempted to counter by slashing her wing at him. He teleported, missing her attack with much time to spare. Rainbow zipped away before he could reappear.

As he saw him forming a distance away from him, he suddenly teleported again. Before she could react the spirit teleported right behind him and blindly slashed his talon. The attack clawed her flank, causing a deep wound to appear with much blood being drawn. Before she could scream in sudden pain, he quickly struck her again; slashing her across the stomach and gripping her with his talons. She struggled, and the spirit almost lost his grip until he pumped his Chaos Energy on her. His eyes glowed as he discharged, the pegasus's murderous scream of unbelievable pain only exciting the malevolent spirit.

She could feel her own energy plummeting by each helpless second passed. The amount of power she tried to explode outward was harmlessly concealed by his grip. Her mane of fire was slowing going out, with her eyes becoming heavier and heavier as her conscience slowly began to slip away from her.

Suddenly, she heard a very loud thud ring in her ears.

She was suddenly released to let her body float aimlessly in space. The pegasus cast her blurring eyes upwards and saw Sonic with a boulder floating beside him. He pointed it forward and shot it forward with a pulse; the rock shot forward like a bullet and struck something solid. She felt her own body swiftly healing herself with most of her strength returning as she finally hovered her wings.

Before she could get a bearing of the situation, however; she saw Discord charging for her again. Sonic threw himself in front of her.

"Rainbow!" Sonic shouted, "Fly away from here!"

She did exactly that when she felt Sonic's energy escalating. Sonic gathered as much Chaos Energy as he could, from his own as well as the spirit's, and unleashed it as he pushed his free hands outward. A golden sphere suddenly surrounded him, and just as quickly exploded outward with arks or electricity arching around him.

The attack did not hurt the spirit, but it surely did buff him from the sudden surge of Chaos Energy. Before he could process what was happening, he was blinded by a flash of white light. Rainbow flew right in front of him, slashing the spirit mercilessly with her wings with extreme precision. While her opponent was in a mist of pain and confusion, she zipped back a distance away from him.

The pegasus threw the tip of her wings in front of her and charged, spinning like a top and rammed into him. He was rocketed backwards, leaving behind a trail of colorless smoke from the burning wounds the empowered pegasus left behind. With the advantage, she charged again; closing the distance between her and the target quickly as she began to spin. He pulled just enough energy to teleport before she could deal the crushing blow.

He reappeared a great distance between the two heroes. His celestial body was deforming from the slashes, going from his snake like body to a clump of mass periodically. The wounds were healing steadily, but the damages were massive.

"What happened to that 'non-direct' strategy you mentioned earlier?" Sonic shouted.

"I'm working on it!" Dash shouted back.

Discord formed a makeshift hand from his body and lunged it towards the pegasus. She and the hedgehog dodged easily, splitting and letting the growing appendage pass them. So sluggish was his lunge that Rainbow had time to quickly slash it with her wing before he could retrieve it. The spirit shouted in sudden pain, but recovered from the attack instantly. His body began regain its form, quickly materializing to his signature snake like body as he locked his hollow eyes on the two.

"Hit him with something before he UUHG!"

The hedgehog was suddenly grabbed by the spirit, a firm and tightening talon holding the hedgehog tight as they soured through the emptiness of space. As Rainbow flew after them with a loud boom emitting from behind, Discord glanced back and gave her a sickening grin as she approached.

He hurled the hedgehog at her.

She gasped and immediately began to pull up, but the spirit's throw was mighty. Before she could zip away from his path, they collided with a loud thud.

They felt their bodies burned as the fires of hell when they made contact. A violent and sudden explosion erupted between two and sent them flying towards different directions uncontrollably. Sonic's emeralds were reacting as if they were gasping from a punch to the gut, the sudden impact of harmonic magic disrupting their connection for just a brief millisecond. He was still Super Sonic, but just for that quick brief moment he felt his power disappear.

Discord felt this disruption from where he was. His smile only grew bigger as a light bulb flashed above his head. He knew rainbow must have the same problem, but his eyes were solely on Sonic for the moment… He didn't want anything trying to intercept him.

He charged for him, making sure to have a good grip on the hedgehog as he blasted through space at the speed of light. Stars woodshed by them, appearing to be nothing but lines as Discord pressed on with his charge. Stray asteroids gently float themselves onto their path. The spirit kept his grip on the hedgehog tight as he smashed him on every rock that came across their path.

A massive red planet suddenly appeared before them, and they found themselves being engulfed into a fireball. Sand and dunes smothered the planet below with powerful winds whishing from every direction, kicking off the sand below and creating a windy and violent sandstorm. The two hit the planet with the hedgehog first, creating a massive wave of sand that towered and pushed away from them. The impact was nothing to the hedgehog, since the sand cushioned the impact and his chaotic powers absorbed the damage easily.

Before he could counter and break from the spirit's gasp, he suddenly felt his own energy being depleted. Discord gripped tight to his stomach, harvesting the hedgehog's powers. Arks of golden electricity shot from his body to Discord's talons, traveling and spitting around his body feverously. Completely draining him was impossible, he figured that much as soon as he began harvesting; those emeralds emitted more than enough power to keep the hedgehog at his current state… But that wasn't he was after.

He threw his other appendage in the air and waited, channeling Sonic's and his own energy into his paw.

"Let's see her try to survive this," He chuckled through his strained teeth, trying to keep the energy restrained.

---

Rainbow was flying at the speed of light as she followed their trail of destruction, dodging and weaving through shattered rocks and asteroids with ease. She felt faint Chaos Magic, but it was quickly growing stronger by each second.

"Don't worry, Sonic," She mumbled to herself, her glowing red eyes taking aim at a massive red planet straight ahead, "I'm coming!"

She slowed down somewhat as she approached the planet, letting her magic recover enough to protect her as she penetrated the atmosphere. Flames began to engulf her, but her element washed the flames clean off of her like water.

When she passed the atmosphere, she was suddenly buffed by a wide and violent sand storm. The planet below was completely smothered with dust and grains of sand, making visibility almost impossible. The pegasus had her vision enhanced by her magic, even then she could barely see ten feet in front of her.

She felt their energy signature below her, somewhere deep within the storm was where Sonic lay; probably fighting that beast in a stalemated battle. She has to fly down there, she has to rescue Sonic and maybe finally put an end to Discord once and for all.

Rainbow took a complete nosedive into the storm below her, closing her eyes tight to shield them from the violent sands. She felt the dusty winds whooshing pass her, deafening her as she heard nothing but wind and grains of sand hitting against her frame. With sand passing her, her flaming tail and mane left behind trails of tiny falling particles of glass that glistered with the colors of the rainbow.

She couldn't pinpoint their exact location, but she felt them getting closer and closer with each exiting second that passed her. As soon as she sees them, she's going to simply zip in and tackle the spirit head on with everything she had.

Suddenly, as she felt their presence at the tip of her tongue… A violent spur of chaotic energy shot below. She instantly felt that unmistakable burning sensation overtaking her, and she instantly pulled away; still blinded by the storm.

Another spur shot from below, more powerful than the first one. She felt another burning sensation scorching her body, and she pulled up even further to get away from it. She noticed that the storm around her let up, no longer gushing and whishing when she arrived. The winds has calmed their rage to so much that Dash could open her eyes to see.

The pegasus swung her flying body around to see what was below her… She suddenly saw a massive dome beneath her, a black and red crackling dome that covered almost a mile from the center. It was slam packed with Chaos Energy, spurring and cracking with lightening as if trying to contain itself

As she peered inside this dome, taking care to keep a safe distance away from it; she could make out a dark mass clump in the center with several tiny floating objects around them. There was no mistaken, that silhouette had to be them. She could make out a snake like body within, pinning something to the ground with a paw stretched and aiming towards her.

She suddenly heard, and felt; a deep powerful boom.

By instinct, she zipped away; and not a second later she heard a high pitch screech of a beam firing towards the heavens. The beam was so massive that as soon as she turned around to witness it, her entire vision was covered by a wall of pitch red… She even felt the planet move beneath her.

Even as she was several miles away from the blast thanks to her lightning speed, she still felt an intense burning pain when she's near chaos energy. She felt as if her insides were on fire, even at this great distance.

"… So much power." She whispered to herself, fighting through the pain, "… How?"

She quickly zipped back to the source, flying straight towards the dome itself and getting as close as her body would allow. With her enhanced vision, she peered inside and saw Discord taking aim at her; reading another blast to incinerate her into oblivion. The pegasus saw how exactly he was able to pull this off.

She saw Sonic pinned down by the spirit, with talons wrapping around him. As he began to draw energy, she saw the hedgehog screaming out in agony, with the sensation of his insides being pulled from the inside out while being harvested. Stray tears tickled down his cheeks from the unimaginable torture.

"Sonic!"

She was forced to zip away as the spirit fired again, but almost too soon. Chaos Energy rippled through her flanks and back legs as she flew away from the blast. Her screams were drowned by the boom behind her; and that sensation stayed even after she has reached a safe distance. She turned her head and faced the dome, seeing it expanding as spurs of lightning shot forth. The pegasus memorized exactly where they were at, and as she looked closer she could still see the spirit pinning the hedgehog down; harvesting the hedgehog's energy in a very painful matter… She could just hear his very faint screams as Discord took aim again.

That pain she felt turned into sheer rage as she envisioned what was happening.

She glared towards north and flew as she heard another shot rang out behind her. The shot was easily dodged, she even managed to zip far enough to not feel the effects of chaos energy. The pegasus pulled up and flew towards the dusty skies, passing the atmosphere and onto the very edge of the planet.

Sonic screamed again in agonizing pain as Discord readied another shot. Even with her flying towards space, he could still sense her general location by her harmonic aurora. He could feel her going farther and farther away into space, until he could barely feel her presence at all.

She was not going to escape, not this time.

With a newfound will, Discord clutched his talon around Sonic even tighter as he began drawing all of the energy as he could. Every fiber of his body was screaming at him to release, his paw began to glow a sickly black color as a mass began to levitate in front of it. His gas like body was fading and reappearing with the power surge, trying its best to bottle all of that extra energy.

Sonic felt his throat drying from his screaming. If he was in his normal state he would have long ago passed out from the pain of being ripped from the inside out… How much did he wish he was unconscious. His emeralds supplied him and Discord, keeping him completely conscience. He felt tears in his eyes and he didn't care; he just wanted this to stop.

"This… "Discord strained through his teeth," Should be wide enough… To do it."

The spirit saw that her being near that blast was enough to knock her powers out. He didn't need to directly hit her, but just nick her with the blast. While her power is down, he could zip in and deal the finishing blow before the hedgehog could recover.

And this blast will be enough to cover the entire front of the planet, just the knockback will be enough to tear it in half.

Seconds past of building and the spirit couldn't no longer hold it. His gas like body was splurging, like it was ready to explode outward like a bomb and devastate everything around it.

Sonic watched with dry eyes as the spirit closed his eyes to painstakingly must the last bit of energy he could muster from the emeralds… And fired.

Time itself seemed to have paused as he released. The sand around them froze in mid-air, particles of dust floated in front of Sonic's face as a sudden flash exploded from the spirit's paw. The pain stopped, his body froze, and the world around them; maybe even beyond, held its breath of this one moment.

As time itself began to slowly move forward, so has a mass of red spread across them from around the planet, covering everything the eye could see. His emeralds began to recuperate after being absorbed, but it was way too late for even his god like powers to intervene. When the blast shot forward, the surface beneath them began to tremble.

The dusty skies were covered in a pitch red with nothing but the sound of a screaming beam being heard. By the next second, the ground beneath them cracked; a violent earthquake erupted as the ground itself began to crack like an egg.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way, a crack expanded to such a degree that the hedgehog fell in. The freefall into darkness meant nothing compared to what he was seeing.

Suddenly, as he began to levitate, he felt a power pulse of magic rush through him.

Sonic saw Discord's face as the spirit began to open his hollow eyes and see the complete annihilation in front of him. Instead of a face of satisfaction, he instead saw a face of stupefied disbelieve. The spirit was tackled by this object that flashed as soon as it passed Sonic's eyes. That horrific beam the spirit shot suddenly disappeared along with the flash, and the next thing Sonic heard was a deafening explosion on the surface of the planet.

It was Rainbow's magical signature, he felt it burn inside his stomach as he felt this magic passing beside him beneath the surface of the sand, along with chaos energy was belonged to Discord… The next thing he knew he was in the midst of a planet splitting itself in half.

---

The hedgehog found himself in a mist of floating rocks and debris as he gripped his sudden new surroundings. He was in the midst of an exploding planet, protected by his emeralds, the suddenly found himself floating in space. The hedgehog was confused and confound. One second he was witnessing Discord unleashing his and his own energy on a lone pegasus that flew herself to space, the next he was floating in space with a planet completely missing.

"... What… Just happened?"

He glanced around, looking for any signs for Rainbow or Discord in the mist of space. As he set himself to fly a little distance forwards, he felt a very weak trace of Chaos Energy brushing beneath him. Thinking it was far, he was about to boom towards the direction until he stopped himself… The source of that magic was in plain sight.

He found Discord's celestial body floating lifelessly, fizzing and fading in and out. His head was limp, almost touching his tail with his back completely arched. The hedgehog heard him heaving, silently coughing as if sick.

Sonic suddenly felt harmonic magic approaching from his side, and one glance later he saw Rainbow Dash hovering beside him; heavily bruised from neck to chest, but with her head held up high and proud. He could only stare at her in complete disarray as she slowly smiled… Growing into a cocky grin.

"What did you do?"

She said nothing to him at first, only turning her head away from him to behold her devastation on the spirit. A moment later, she extended her wing and poised to strike.

"… Can you go faster than the speed of light?"

He only stared at her in disarray and confusion, "I-I don't know. Physics say its impossible, but in this universe, I inclined to believe anything."

"… I think I have."

Discord took one glance up to be met by a floating pegasus with her stare whispering murder.

"Let's finally end this."

The pegasus flew head on while turning her body to one side, stretching her wing to strike the serpent through its stomach. The spirit made no attempt to move, only staring Dash as she sliced right through his stomach.

He screamed… The spirit screamed louder than anything mortally possible. His agony could be felt by the pegasus as she flew back in front of him with her wing covered with a dissolving black substance. Discord's lower half began to drift away from him, slowly fading with a strange gas disappearing into the emptiness of space. Sonic could barely feel his Chaos Energy; before long neither he or the pegasus felt anything at all from him.

After his lower half disappeared, Sonic and Rainbow saw his upper half dissolving, from his bottom half to the very edges of his neck. His upper body continued to drift aimlessly as it continued to fade away. For the pegasus, this was a sight she would remember for the rest of her days. Equestria's enemy, the being that has brought on so much heart ache and pain to so many ponies, is finally disappearing right before her eyes.

As the two looked on, they saw that the dissolving stopped just above his neck, only remaining a lifeless head that floated in front of them.

"…Km."

The two jumped as they heard a faint sound in their ears.

"What was that?" Sonic asked lowly.

Rainbow ignored him and toned in to what she thought she heard… It sounded like… Giggling?

"Kmhmhm."

They suddenly felt a small spark of Chaos Energy from the head in front of them… It couldn't be, it just simply couldn't be.

A manic but soft laughter whispered from the floating head. His hollow eyes were glowing with life, his neck began to reform itself as a dark mass began to very slowly gather around it.

"NO!"

Rainbow immediately slashed the head with her wing, sending it soaring through space like a baseball before colliding with a small stray rock. The head screamed in agony, an agony that she and Sonic felt before, but alone with that pain was laughter.

She pinned the head against the asteroid with her hoof and began striking him feverishly with her powered wings, slicing him mercilessly with a face hardened with rage. Even though scars were made, even though his form couldn't still take shape because of the new damage inflicted upon him, he still laughed in agony.

After a solid minute of striking him she finally stopped, still pinning him tight against the rock as her face became close to his. The head began to speak, but whispered every word weakly.

"Enjoying… Your tantrum Rainbow?"

Sonic flew in behind her, making sure to keep a respected distance away from her to prevent harm. The hedgehog saw the spirit's neck beginning to appear as the pegasus paused.

She began slicing him again; more screams of pain shrilled from him, but alone with that came more laughter.

"How!?" She shouted, stopping her attacks, "How is this possible!? You can't be alive, there's no way you can be alive!"

The spirit took in a deep breath, gathering just enough strength to whisper to her.

"I can't… Die."

She stared at him in confusion for one second before striking his head in anger. More screams of pain escaped through his lips, but giggling shortly followed.

"You're not invincible!" She shouted, "Everyone is destined to die! You are no exception!"

Again, the spirit gathered whatever strength was lost and began to speak. His neck began to take shape again as he spoke, his chaos energy began to be noticeable to the pegasus.

"Because killing me," The spirit weakly laughed, "Would create a paradox."

Rainbow raised a confused eyebrow at him. Sonic silently gasped as he floated around to see Discord's face. Why didn't he see this before fighting him?

"That's why you time traveled here. If you were to die, we would never time travel here to begin with-"

"So our heroic hedgehog has finally grew a brain," Discord chuckled, coughing, "… That and to claim back what was rightfully mine before Harmony existed. I had every reason to be back here, I knew I couldn't be defeated because of that very simple logic every eternal being should know."

Rainbow resumed her death stare, raising her wing to strike him again when she noticed that his body was beginning to take place, "It's not like you're going anywhere, Discord. We've won this fight."

Discord laughed hysterically, flailing left and right in a complete fit of giggles while his chest began to form, "You two aren't going anywhere either."

The pegasus sliced him with her wing, hitting him square on the head while a thick black mass spilled from his dismembered neck. His forming body quickly dissipated while his screams of excruciating pain echoed through the emptiness of space. Along with those screams, however; was laughter. A kind of laughter that only a satanic pony could make.

For a brief second, the two recoiled; completely taken aback from his display… But they kept their stare stern, not willing to become unnerved.

"If I followed you through that portal," Sonic growled at him, "I can create one leading back."

"And I can too!" Discord laughed as loud as he could in his weaken voice, "As soon as you two scurry off I'll be right behind! I have millions upon millions of years to recover my power! When I do, I'll time travel back before you were thrown here- NO! Before you and Dash were even born! I'll be able to take back my land without a fight! Chaos will once again rule!"

The spirit howled in another fit of laughter.

Sonic sighed with much disappointment and shame. Time traveling has always been a shady business, no matter what circumstances or intensions behind it. Rainbow give the spirit a good swipe with her wing, ignoring his screams while floating to a relatively safe distance towards the hedgehog.

"What are we going to do now, Sonic? We can't just go back; he'll follow us and we'll have to do this all over again."

Sonic thought for a minute, staring at the floating head in front of them as he slowly levitated from the rock. Very slowly, his neck began to form back; trinkets of dark particles formed around where the repair was needed… Rainbow kept an eye on him, waiting to strike him again with her wing if needed.

"I honestly don't have a clue," He answered, "I don't think there's anything within my power that can prevent him from crossing. His energy is almost the same as my own."

"Can we just take him with us to the present time and finish him off there?" Rainbow suggested.

"Too late for that," Sonic quickly answered, "Just taking him back won't change the fact that it was him that brought us here. He would be invincible there as he is here… Wait."

"What?" She asked, her head perking up.

"You're friends turned him into stone once, right?"

"…We sure did,"

Sonic put a finger on his chin, planning the idea out, "Turning him back into stone seems like a good idea, but I'm not really for sure how time works here, though. I would hate to bring him back and found out that we bumped into a paradox trying to imprison him… As far as I know, we haven't met a second Discord… Which doesn't make any sense. his other would have joined the fight by now."

The hedgehog grunted, "God, this is confusing!"

"Twilight has traveled back in time before," Rainbow brought up, "She met her past self when she traveled back."

"Then there should be a second Discord, though," Sonic mumbled, "Why haven't we seen him?"

"Discord is the spirit of Chaos, Sonic," Rainbow answered, giving him the only reason she could think of, "The laws of physics doesn't technically apply to him."

The pegasus turned her eye on the spirit and again saw his body trying to materialize again. She zipped over and, again; strike him with her wing. Discord screamed as she flew back to Sonic.

"(sigh), your right," Sonic huffed, "bringing him back and turning him into stone is the best option we have. I don't see any faults as of yet, but maybe we can ask the others about it. Who knows, this could be it… We may have finally defeated Discord."

Dash smiled as Sonic flew away from her. He raised his hands and pointed to a wide and vast empty area, and began to focus. It's easy to go wrong when time traveling, since time travel requires to rip a small hole in the fabric of space itself, just big enough to fit a living creature, and breaking and molding physics itself to your will. It's a practice even the gods of Sonic's world refuses to exercise… And for many good reasons.

As he felt an unnatural shift of particles immediately in front of him, he took two fingers and gently jabbed them forward. When he felt his fingers penetrate against something that felt like rough paper, he dragged his fingers downward. He immediately withdrew his hand as he saw a pitch black narrow void form in front of him. Colors began to shot forth from the opening; a sign saying that the void was ready.

"Ready to return?" Sonic asked out loud.

He heard a loud scream of pain from the spirit as the sound of a wing whooshing pressed against his ear. He felt Rainbow behind him, with the spirit's head tucked tightly underneath her wing.

"What happened to lady's first?" She mused.

Sonic rolled his eyes and zipped to the side with a toothy grin as she pushed herself through the torn fabric. When he was sure the pegasus' body was completely gone, he zipped forward and flew right through it; closing the rift behind him with a flick of his hand.

---

It was rather a strange sight when Sonic and Rainbow stepped out of the rift. Ponyville was laid out before them, along with five mares, an alicorn, and four other creatures staring at him. Twilight had a dumfounded, but cute clueless expression on her face.

"…You're back?" She asked.

Sonic and Rainbow smiled victoriously, "You doubted us?"

"You entered the portal like… Seconds ago," Amy said, "Like you just entered through that portal and ya'll popped up as soon as you left."

The two just stared at them, "... Really?"

"That's normal, though," Tails explained, "You fought in the pass and brought yourselves here back to this exact time." The fox gave them a nervous but hopeful glance, "How was the fight. Did you two finish him off?"

The pegasus sighed disappointingly and dropped the head of Discord right before them, with it rolling off lifelessly onto one side. Everyone gasped and nearly shouted when they saw a decapitated head splat on the ground.

"My word!" Rarity cried, feeling her heart strike against her chest, "A little warning would have been appreciated!"

"That… Was unpleasant."

Everyone jumped back while Rarity fainted. As much as Luna wanted to retain her straight and authority like poster, she could not conceal her shock.

Shadow was infuriated, he stomped his way towards the pegasus with his fist clutched tightly; ready to smack her… Empowered or not.

"You let him live!?" Shadow shouted, "Do you know how much trouble I went through to free him from that machine!?"

"It's not like we didn't want to kill him," Rainbow shouted back, "We couldn't."

"When we followed him to the pass," Sonic began to explain, holding up his hand to signal Shadow to back off, "We've unintentionally created a time paradox… If he were to die, we would have never traveled back to begin with."

Shadow cast a glare at Sonic, wisely backing away from Rainbow while taking in a deep breath. As much he wanted to, he couldn't put the blame on that blasted pegasus.

"Well… Then if we can't kill him," Amy asked out loud, "Then what are we going to do with him?"

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight began stepping towards the dismembered head. The spirit found himself surrounded by the mares that have imprisoned him, towering over him with angry stares.

"It's simple," Twilight answered in a monotone, "We're going to turn him back into stone."

Rainbow followed them from behind and stepped beside the pink mare… She didn't cast an aggressive glare like the others, but instead found herself disappointingly sighing.

"... What's the… Matter Rainbow?" The spirit coughed, "Disappointed of the outcome?"

Rainbow snorted, shaking her head to regain her poster.

"You're awfully calm for someone who's going to be turned into stone forever." She cast a quick glance at everyone, noticing that their elements are beginning to shine, "Any last words?"

The spirit just blankly stared at her with his hollow eyes. Amazingly, he grinned; staring right through her intimidating stare.

"…I'm patient…" He weakly whispered, feeling his energy being depleted from the elements around him, "There's no such thing… As an eternity, Dash… As long as… I remain… There will be no true rest to equestria… There will always be the fear of me escaping again."

"We highly doubt that," Rainbow chuckled, readying her own element.

"Think… About it… You princess can lock me away in the deepest castle, concealed in the most enchanted chest, and post her most trusted guards to ensure that I don't get away… I can wait, Dash… I can wait for your kind to screw up again, that will be all it would take… Think about it, my immortality is all thanks to you and Sonic, and it's all thanks to him and his friends that I've been freed to begin with."

The six mares froze with their elements on the trigger; staring at him with blank faces.

"You will not be freed again, spirit," Luna cut in, huffing as she approached the circle, "Take my word for it… I'll lock you up in a chest so locked up, so air tight, so enchanted by magic that not even the gods of this world or any other can open. I'll dig you into a hole deeper than Tartus could even dream; not even the craziest ponies would dare draw near.."

The spirit rolled his eyes, "Oh, I guess that's better than being a display case in the Canterlot gardens… Although I will miss the sunrises I was forced to watch," He chuckled when he saw her face buckle, "What… Too soon?"

The princess shook her head, pushing aside any kind of emotions the thoughts of her dead sister has brought and held her gaze. She wasn't going to show weakness, not in front of him.

"What you have done will not falter us," She spoke, "We will live on without the sun, as our ancestors have before us. Chaos will cease to be in our world, and harmony will be restored." She trotted as close as she could to the head, leaning down and facing it, "You have failed.

She stepped back as the six elements that dangled around their necks and head began to levitate their bearers. The head didn't flinch an inch as his lower section became impossible to move, turning into a dull silver color.

"…For now…"

Without saying another word, he simply closed his eyes and let the cold, paralyzing power of harmony over take him. His skin began to turn brittle and hard as movement became impossible… With a sudden and weak flash, the six mares began to levitate back to the ground. Twilight cast her eyes down, and saw a marble stone of Discord's head laying lifelessly on the grass. His eyes were closed, as if embracing the magic, but giving his signature grin.

Sonic, now powering down and letting the seven emeralds appear and gently fall to the grown, watched on as the six mares began to slowly back up. Although the spirit of disharmony has finally been defeated, he didn't see any of them smiling… In fact no one was smiling. There were no cheers or any form of congratulations, just a period of long silence.

"…It's done." Applejack finally spoke, "It's finally over."

"Yea," Rarity quietly chimed in, "It is."

Luna trot over to the head and levitated it, tucking it underneath her wing. She faced the crowd, bowing her head just slightly. Her words didn't thin the atmosphere by an inch, "Well done, elements of harmony. Equestria can now rest knowing that Discord has finally been defeated once and for all. I'm going to craft a vessel capable of holding the elements of harmony, and seal him in it to ensure that this victory stays with us. You six will be called within days to perform this ritual," She turned to Sonic and his friends, her sadden frown clearly shown, "You five will be forever marked as heroes. Equestria will be forever in your debt for laying down your lives to protect it's citizens." She slowly turned her gaze to Shadow, catching his attention as his sharp eyes darted to her, "Including you, Shadow; I've never seen anyone who fought more courageously."

The ultimate life form watched her as she lit her horn, slowly with each step and faded away as a ghost. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy looked to Shadow and watch him slowly looking away; hanging his head and crossing his arms as her words slowly sank into him.

Sonic shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking in a deep breath. Knuckles was just beside him, just an earshot away.

"You would think that we'll be a little happy with this, but-"

"I know…" Knuckles quietly spoke, "This is nothing compared to Princess Celestia's passing. I may not have known her personally, but I know it has to be devastating to them."

They glanced back and saw the mares still standing around awkwardly, not saying anything to each other. Twilight was somewhat hiding her face from the rest of the group, and looked like she was on the verge of crying. The two, as well as Amy, couldn't help but notice Tails keeping an eye on her; as if ready to give her comfort when she breaks down.

"You can't help but feel terrible after this ordeal," Sonic whispered, "I mean, what do we say?"

"Everypony! We have won a great feat and this is how we react!?"

The two jumped as they suddenly heard Amy shout at the ponies immediately in front of her. They looked and saw her standing before them, with her arms crossed and eyes staring at each one of them.

"We have just saved Ponyvil-no, equestria from a certain doom. Should we be proud instead of just standing around here sulking?"

Twilight shot her head up and gave her a look so full of anger and hurt that it made Amy jump, "How could you say that!? This was my teacher, MY teacher, and she's now-"

"Would she have been happy to see Discord finally been put into his place?" She interrupted, "Think of the countless of lives we saved; Ponyville would have been reduced to nothing if it hasn't been for us."

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails look on in fascination of her blunt and very cold statement. They could only imagine what the mares were thinking.

Didn't know she could be so cold. Sonic thought.

"We made history today," She continued, not to dare waver from her stand, "This battle was never about revenge, this was about saving the ponies that inhabits it… Look towards the city, everyone."

Sonic and his gang cast their eyes towards the town, and suddenly saw a few stray ponies staring at them from the edge of the town, some in front of fallen buildings and houses from the fight. They cautiously approached, followed by a growing number of citizens behind them.

"This was never about us, Twilight," She said to her, "This was about them, her citizens… Her children… She never experienced a simple life as we can because of the burden put forth by her ponies, but instead experienced the hardships of running an entire kingdom."

Amy walked towards Twilight, standing just a foot from her, "I may have not known her personally as you have, but I cannot fabricate the sacrifices she had to make for their sake… To see them living happily had to be the most joyful experience she had."

She took in a deep breath, regaining her poster, "As heroes, should we be just as joyful as she was?"

The scattered ragtag group ponies from the small town were now just a stone throw away from them. They were some bold enough to take their first steps away from the safety of their homes, trotting to the empty streets. The town went from deserted to filled with curious eyes observing the group.

Twilight closed her eyes and hung her head. Although her heart was still set to the very bottom of her stomach, she has lost her will to cry. When she cast her eyes towards the looming ponies behind her, she felt her heart set at ease.

"…You're right…" She whispered.

The unicorn lift her head and found her friends circling her and the pink hedgehog with somewhat of a shock.

"She's right." Twilight repeated.

The mares stood quite for a long time, not knowing how to conclude this revelation taking place before them… They have always loved the princess, like a faithful servant to a kind and gentle king, but Amy's words brought the princess to a new light. She was more than a ruler, she was also a hero of her own ponies by serving them; and making that sacrifice to make sure they saw another sunrise.

"So we juss move on with our lives?" Applejack asked, "As tha princess woulduv wanted?"

Twilight turned her body and faced the crowd. They approached her, and she began to approach them.

"That would be exactly what she would have wanted," She answered.

Not a moment too soon she found herself greeted by a quiet, but growing applause. As the elements tagged on behind her, they suddenly found themselves facing a roaring cheer of gathering town ponies, greeting them by stepping aside and letting them trot towards the mist of them. Before they knew it, they were being lift up and carried away towards the center of the town.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy began to follow them from afar off. The echidna shook his head as he watched his mare friend being carried off by a cheering crowd.

"Amy," He spoke, "Ever since I met you, you have never failed to surprise me."

She could only cast him a bemuse smirk, "Not just a crazy hot-headed girl, now am I?"

"Now I wouldn't say that," he immediately corrected, chuckling.

She sidestepped a bit and flashed off her concealed hammer. The echidna playfully threw up his arms.

"Common, even you agreed that you overreact; right Sonic?"

"You leave me out of this, Knuckles." Sonic hissed.

The girl just gave him a quick 'hmp!' and resumed walking. The group began to approach town after just a couple of minutes of walking… They were in no hurry to join the rest of the group.

"I've read that Celestia's funeral was going to be held in Canterlot tomorrow morning." Tails said.

"After all this?" Sonic asked, "We just came out of a battle."

"No sun, remember?" Knuckles chimed in, "I'm pretty sure they want to have this done before the planet's condition takes a turn for the worst… Any plans on how to move the sun?"

"I guess I can always turn into Super Sonic and put it on course," Sonic answered, "But…"

He suddenly paused.

"But what?" Amy asked.

"We won't always be around."

The group became quite for several long seconds after that thought. It wasn't a pleasant thought to contemplate, not after everything they have been through on this world.

"Can't Rainbow move the sun with her super form?" Amy asked.

"No one knows for sure if it's permanent," Sonic answered, "Even if it is, We're not even for sure if she can move the sun… From my experience in battle with Discord, she's not immortal."

"Not what we saw when we were fighting those dark creatures of Tartus," Knuckles said, "I mean crap, she looked like a god!"

"Her powers are limited, Knuckles," Sonic informed him, "When I was Super Sonic, I felt her energy. She's nowhere near as powerful as the seven emeralds."

"You have to at least get her to try," Knuckles pressed, "Celestia could do it with just her magic, why can't she?"

Sonic gave that idea a thought… The truth was that he didn't doubt her powers; he's pretty sure that her form gives her some form of invulnerability like his.

But there's always that hint of doubt. What if her form wasn't permanent? What if she were to change back as she were pushing about the scorching hot sun with her body? He refused to let himself imagine Dash being incinerated alive.

"I'll talk to her and see what we'll do," He finally answered, looking back to face him, "But understand, they are no grantees." He unintentionally looked over his shoulder and noticed something, "Where's Shadow?"

The three looked back and found the said hedgehog to be missing; as if to have vanished.

"He teleported as soon as we began to approach town," Tails informed him, "He said he wanted to keep a low profile and asked that we don't mention him."

Well, that's a lie. Sonic immediately thought.

"Well, that's rude of him!" Amy huffed, "I bet the town wants to congratulate him for keeping Ponyville in one peace."

Sonic shook his head. This was not the first time he covered for him, "He has killed many soldiers when he arrived, most of those ponies have families. I bet he doesn't want to make a scene."

"I don't think the others want to see him either." Knuckles added, "Especially after everything he said."

They suddenly heard roars of cheering ponies galloping their way. The group looked ahead and put on their best forced smiles, welcoming the crowd with open arms.

Sonic's smile was the most forced of all.

I'm going to have a serious talk with that hedgehog the next time I see him.

---

Author's notes

Whelp, there you go… The Spirit of Chaos has finally been defeated, and Sonic and Rainbow has once again triumphed over evil. This thing is finally approaching the home stretch.

But there are still a couple of loose ends, though. We still have a loose Eggman, and the relationships in here are yet to be resolved. We've not quite at the end, but be ready for it… Well, I've been ready for it for a while. I'm ready to move on and work on some original fiction. I have that other author just begging for me to assist with The Forgotten Child… We're really putting our hearts into it.

I'm not for sure if I want to continue the equestria Girls bonus or not… I probably won't, I have another bonus idea that will be better. Sorry if you were looking forward to it.

Sorry if this post was late, but my parents discovered this game they couldn't put down on here and I've had to make arranges. I had to hide my files and keep them hidden while they play (which thankfully their game is on their account. The fanfiction is on mine). My parents are clueless about the hidden files option, so getting busted is still zilch if I'm carful, but they'll sometimes drain the battery out before I get the chance to write.

… Freakin Angry Birds!

Deadline: three weeks… Well, maybe longer. Depends on how well I can map out the future chapters. I'm going to try my best to get back to my usual schedule.

One more thing, please let me know how this turned out. Where you pleased, dissapointed? I gotta know these things.

See everyone then. :)

Harry