Disclaimer 1: I do not own "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.

Disclaimer 2: I do not own the original idea to this story. It belongs to anyone who has used this idea before.

"The Equestria Healing Process"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

"Realizing His Actions"

"Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship. But there is nothing worth more. I see that now. He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty. But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I am telling the truth."

Those were the words, his own words that continuously rang throughout his head ever since Lord Tirek of Tartarus was returned to the depths of Equestria by Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. But Discord, the former master of chaos, was still feeling like he had let everypony in Equestria down. Because he defied the Princesses and especially Fluttershy by switching over to Tirek's side, many ponies were put in grave danger as Tirek was able to absorb their power, their true purpose in life. Ever since then, there had been rumors going around that Discord was a threat to Equestria and that he should have been to Tartarus along with Tirek. This made Discord feel very sad and depressed and it left him thinking of what his future held for him.

"I don't understand," thought Discord as he sat in his thinking tree. "Tirek is back in Tartarus and I have been accepted by the ponies of this land as a friend. But why am I still depressed and sad over this? Could it be that not all of Equestria has fully accepted my apologies? Maybe my magic mirror can help me with some advice."

He then snapped his fingers and produced a large mirror that came up right next to him. Then, he turned to face the mirror.

"Magic mirror on the wall," said Discord, folding his arms and talking in a clear voice. "Am I still the most hated creature of them all?"

At that moment, a small face of Discord's emerged and looked over at him. The master of chaos gulped as the mirror spoke to him in a voice much like his own.

"How very odd of you to ask me that," replied the mirror. "You only are purposed to cause chaos and make the lives of ponies miserable. Of course, you are the most hated creature in Equestria."

But Discord wasn't buying it. That was before he had been reformed by Fluttershy and he did make a pledge to Celestia after all that he would use his magic for good instead of evil, most of the time in his mind.

"There's been a change of plans," stuttered Discord, trying to come up with words to say to the mirror. "I've been reformed to an extent and I have defied the ponies who reformed me by joining the side of Tirek."

"That is true from what I have heard," remarked the mirror. "You did betray the ones who were closest to you. Now, it seems that you are more than hated. Many ponies believe throughout Equestria that you should have been sent to Tartarus along with your partner in crime, Lord Tirek."

This made Discord's heart sink at what was just said to him. Yes, he did betray the ones closest to him, but there were more ponies after all, more ponies that he and Tirek attacked and left to rot. Nevertheless, even though it was against his judgment, he had to see it for himself.

"There is something that I need you to see," continued the mirror. "It turns out that the ponies you attacked feel that you should cease to exist in Equestria and it's not being imprisoned in Tartarus with the centaur you aligned yourself with."

The mirror changed before him and Discord looked at it to see the ponies that he and Tirek attacked holding what appeared to be meetings in different parts of Equestria. The first meeting of ponies that Discord saw was that off the unicorn ponies he and Tirek attacked in that theater in a nearby town using the idea of a magic show with Discord as the magician.

"To all of our fellow unicorns," said a gray unicorn pony with a toupee and glasses. "We had been duped in attending a sham magic performance by that treacherous master of chaos. Because of him, we were subjected to the horrors of losing our magic to that monstrosity, Lord Tirek. If you find Discord, then use whatever magic that you possess to rid him of Equestria."

"I agree," shouted another unicorn from the crowd. "He must suffer the consequences."

"Yes," shouted yet another unicorn. "My foals have not been able to sleep since that night. They are having nightmares because of him and that creature that escaped from his prison.

As the chanting grew louder and louder for him to be done away with, Discord wanted to tell the mirror that this was enough, but before he could say something, the mirror then changed over to a meeting at the Wonderbolts Academy, where Rainbow Dash had recently attended as part of her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. Discord looked to see a training session going on and saw Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, addressing the cadets in front of her what appeared to be a poster of him with the words "WANTED" on the top.

"Fellow cadets," she called to them, pointing to the poster with a long stick. "Do you see this picture in front of you? This is the one who helped Lord Tirek drain our abilities to fly for his own personal gang. Rainbow Dash and her friends may have sent Tirek back to where he came from, but Discord remains on the loose. The first cadet to find him and punish him for his crimes, will be the first to automatically graduate."

The cadets cheered at this and Discord tried to make the mirror stop showing all of what was happening in front of him, but with each word that Discord attempted to speak, the more the mirror intensified in showing him what he needed to see before him.

"Down with Discord!" roared the Pegasi in the mirror. "Find him! Punish him! Make him pay for stealing our flight!"

"YEAH!" roared Bulk Biceps, raising his hoof out in determination. "Down with Discord!"

The mirror then changed to show the Earth Ponies of Apploosa holding yet another rally with another wanted picture of Discord on the stand in front of him. However, this one was different as the Earth ponies in the mirror were joined by the buffalo, led by Chief Thunderhooves.

"Apploosians," said Sherriff Sliver star, the Sherriff of the town. "If you find this no good varmint in our town, then you are to bring him to me where we will destroy him for attacking us. We'll even have our buffalo friends led by Chief Thunderhooves, even take care of him for us for all the apple pies we can muster. What do you say, friends?"

As he watched the Earth ponies cheer with the words that their Sherriff had said, Discord could not take anymore and with a loud cry, punched out the mirror causing it to disappear in a loud noise. Tears then began to form in the back of his eyes and especially after seeing something like that, Discord wondered if he should even consider ceasing to exist.

"Did I really cause myself to be the most hated creature in Equestria?" Discord asked himself in a voice of hurt and disgust. "If it makes everypony feel better, then perhaps I will no longer exist in Equestria. Perhaps, it would be best if I was never even born at all. I made a mistake and everypony treats me like Tirek. All I ever wanted was friendship and this is what I get, wanted posters with me on the cover. Isn't friends supposed to forgive one another after they make a careless mistake?"

But, before Discord could say another word, he began to think for a moment about what he was planning to do. If he chose to no longer exist in Equestria, then the one pony that would be affected by this greatly would have to be Fluttershy. Discord couldn't face Fluttershy face to face and tell her that he was going to cease to exist. So, he decided to produce a quill and a few pieces of parchment and began to write a pair of letters: one to Fluttershy and the other to the princesses.

Little did Discord know that he was still loved in Equestria, but he would eventually learn the truth in time…

Chapter 2

"Remaining Hard Feelings"

While Discord contemplated on ending his existence, Twilight Sparkle and her friends continued to get adjusted to their roles as the council of friendship. However, Twilight was having a lot on her mind considering the fact that it had been only a few days since she lost everything that she ever owned when Tirek destroyed her library. To this end, she had been acting very strange around her friends and it was now starting to grow on her, much to her friends' dismay.

"Let's go through this one more time," said Twilight, as she and her friends sat upon their new thrones. But, Rainbow Dash was already starting to grow tired over how to simply enter a throne room.

"We've gone over this like a million times, Twilight," replied Rainbow Dash, already sitting on her throne. "We've found all six keys, defeated Tirek and got this sweet castle, end of story."

"Yes," Twilight replied. "But why?"

"I don't know, sugar cube," remarked Applejack, sitting upon her throne. "It's probably just your new house or something."

Twilight chose to ignore the thought as she didn't feel like talking about this right now. Of course, Rarity was very excited about the new surroundings.

"I must say," said Rarity, stepping onto her throne. "There is really not much to all of this. It's all simply divine!"

Everyone gave out a small chuckle upon hearing these words, except for Fluttershy, who was looking forlorn and Twilight began to take notice of this. She couldn't worry about her new home for much longer as Fluttershy's sadness was starting to take notice.

"Hey, Fluttershy," said Twilight, looking over towards her friend. "Is something wrong? You seem kind of quiet."

Fluttershy kept looking down at the floor for a second and then looked back up towards the princess of friendship. As far as Twilight and the other ponies were concerned, they were used to seeing Fluttershy so quiet, but this was something completely different.

"Nothing," she replied quietly. "I'm just thinking about Discord, that's all. He hasn't been himself since we defeated Tirek."

This made all the ponies fall silent upon hearing Discord's name being uttered. Despite the fact that he had been forgiven by them, there were still some hard feelings against him among the ponies because he helped Tirek get what he wanted.

"He has been acting strangely lately," chirped Pinkie Pie, waving her hoof around. "It's almost like he doesn't want to live anymore."

This made Twilight glare at Pinkie upon hearing those words and the pink pony slouched down in her seat. After all, Twilight had been strict with Pinkie about Fluttershy's sensitivity ever since the time Fluttershy had to overcome her stage fright with the Pony Tones.

"What?" retorted Pinkie, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm just telling it like it is."

"It's all right, Pinkie," interjected Rainbow Dash. "Discord should at least apologize for what he did to Equestria. We wouldn't have been in the situation that we were in had it not been for him."

"I completely agree with Rainbow Dash," added Rarity. "I still feel that we should have punished him to an extent."

Twilight and Fluttershy could not believe what was being said and glared up at their friends. Yes, he did betray Equestria, but he was a victim just as much as they all were and both Twilight and Fluttershy knew it.

"I can't believe you all," said Twilight disgustedly, doing a face plant with her hoof. "Don't you all think maybe you should leave Discord alone? He has apologized for what he did and that is that."

"It goes much deeper than that, Twilight," replied Rarity. "Princess Celestia thought we had reformed him and as it turned out, we didn't succeed at that. I'm sorry, but maybe it would be best if we asked her and Princess Luna to have Discord turned back to stone."

"What good would that do?" snapped Twilight, trying to make light off the situation. "Can't you all just accept the fact he is sorry and move on?"

But, her friends couldn't move on with the matter, especially after something like this where they had their purpose in life sucked out of them by Tirek.

"It was because of Discord that we were able to defeat Tirek and return him to Tartarus," continued Twilight, trying to get through to her friends. "I managed to get my key to open the chest from him and this is how you all repay him for helping us defeat one of the greatest threats ever known to Equestria?"

But her friends remained defiant at what they have said about Discord. Twilight could see that they were not going to easily listen to what she had to say to them and then she looked over at Fluttershy, who had chosen to ignore what they had to say. Fluttershy could see that in her mind, Discord was apologetic for what he had done and she knew it.

Feeling that she could no longer ignore what was being said, she stepped off her throne and walked out of the room. Twilight then got off her throne and before she went to follow Fluttershy, she turned back towards her friends with disgust deep in her eyes.

"Now look what you've done," she flounced at her friends. "Fluttershy is upset now because of what you all are saying about Discord. It seems that maybe you all weren't forgiving about him and only apologized because of us. You all have a lot to think about."

And she walked out and slammed the doors of the throne room in their faces as the sounds of the doors slamming had woken up Spike from his nap on his own throne next to Twilight's.

"Is the meeting over?" he asked groggily as he opened up his eyes. "What did I miss?"

But, the four ponies in the room didn't answer as they continued to sit on their thrones thinking about what they had just said about Discord. Perhaps they should fully forgive or maybe that they were just being too hard on him.

Nevertheless, Twilight managed to catch up to Fluttershy just as she was about to walk out of the door to Twilight's castle.

"Hey," she said tenderly to Fluttershy. "I just want you to know that I have forgiven Discord for what did just as much as you. We will get through to the others no matter what it takes."

"I hope so, Twilight," replied Fluttershy, a small smile coming onto her face before turning back into a frown. "It's just that I wish he didn't do what he did, too. But, I don't want him to do what the other ponies are wanting him to do."

"Don't worry," replied Twilight. "Just stand with me and we will get them to understand in time."

With that, Twilight pulled her shy friend into an embrace and they hugged each other, knowing that Discord would be fully forgiven.

Meanwhile, Discord had disguised himself as a bird and began to make his way to Canterlot. For all he was concerned, he needed to do something before completing his intentions to turn himself to permanent stone…

Chapter 3

"Window Repairing"

It was just after dark by the time Discord had reached Canterlot castle. He knew that Princess Luna and the night guard were on duty and that he had to work fast to finish what he had set out to do. Quickly disguising himself as a member of the night guard, Discord began to make his way towards his target, which was the stained glass windows in the castle's throne room that now possessed depictions of himself and Tirek as well as several crude depictions targeting the princesses. But, just as he was about to reach the windows, an alicorn with a long flowing blue mane and tail saw him.

"What are you doing here, guardsman?" asked the alicorn and Discord could see that it was Princess Luna standing in front of him. "You should be at your post."

Knowing that he had to respond, Discord began to talk in a very gruff voice almost like he had a hairball caught in his throat.

"Uh, going to investigate a disturbance, your highness," he replied to the Princess of the Night. "There was an intruder of some sorts. Too dangerous for yourself, of course, you know how it is."

Luna was baffled for a moment at this. For all she was concerned, her guards would never act this way in front of her. Nevertheless, she nodded to the disguised Discord and although she was suspicious, walked away to resume her duties as Princess of the Night. With Luna gone, Discord took in a heavy sigh of relief and made his way into the throne room.

"That was close," he thought as he shed his disguise. "I need to work fast before Celestia raises the sun."

Discord then began to take action and moved towards the first window that was now depicting him and Tirek slicing a cucumber sandwich. Snapping his fingers, Discord removed the window and it changed back into the depiction of Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon.

"Heh," he chuckled to himself as he looked at the depiction in front of him. "Who knew Princess Luna had a dark side? Perhaps maybe we should hang out together or something."

Next, Discord moved to a window depiction of himself giving a thumbs up and snapped his fingers, reversing the window back to the moment where Twilight and her friends defeated him the first time. This was a very sentimental moment for Discord as he felt that going back to his stone prison was a sign of his future reformation.

"This was the day that my life was changed forever," he whispered to himself, as he looked at the depiction of his second defeat. "I was a free creature that day and corrupted Twilight Sparkle and her friends allowing me to do what I wanted do."

He then moved along and got several more windows changed back to their original depictions and with each window returned to normal was another memory of his time with Tirek removed from his mind.

But it wasn't until he returned the depiction of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor defeating Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings at their wedding a while back did the emotions start to settle in. A sound belonging to Shining Armor began to ring out in the back of Discord's mind as he looked up at the window.

"Back off, Traitor!"

And Discord knew that he was indeed a traitor and that was the whole purpose of why he was in Canterlot to begin with. He knew that he would never be loved after all that has happened but he felt like he needed to do something as a way of apologizing for his actions.

"I guess that you won't be bothered anymore after tonight, Shining Armor," Discord said sadly.

Then, the emotions really started to kick in when Discord had finished restoring the depiction of Spike saving the Crystal Empire. For he then moved to a window that made his heart sink: it was the depiction of Twilight's recent princess coronation that was melted by Tirek when he found out who Twilight was. Tears began to form in Discord's eyes when he gazed up at it. Almost immediately, Discord got down on his knees and banged his lion's paw down on the ground.

"I can't believe I did all of this," he thought to himself in despair. "I almost took away everything that these ponies had accomplished throughout their lives. Had I not joined sides then none of this would have happened. Twilight, I just hope you, your friends and fellow princesses can find it in your hearts to fully forgive me for what I have done to you."

He then got up and planted himself against the melted window and began to cry quietly. It was very rare of Discord to show his emotional side, but this was completely different. He knew that this window along with all the others was very important to his friends and especially to Princess Celestia herself. Twilight's coronation was the most important event in her life as well as Twilight's life and it was because of Discord and Tirek did this important moment nearly end up being erased. He may not have been at the ceremony personally, but Discord could always be reminded of it through this window.

After a few moments, he broke off of the window and snapped his fingers, returning the window to its former glory. But, Discord was not done for at the base of the window, he placed a parchment that he had written back at his tree:

"To all my friends and especially to you my dear Fluttershy,

I writing to you for the very last time as my deferring to Tirek have made me feel like I have no purpose

in Equestria. I have had a lot to think about since Tirek was brought back to Tartarus and it seems to me

like maybe it would be best if I chose not to be in your lives from now on. This was the best decision on

my part for if there was ever another escapee from Tartarus, I wouldn't be in the way. I have failed all

of you, and I have failed all of Equestria. But remember, when you look at my soon to be permanent

stone prison, I hope you remember me as a friend rather than the monster that I was to you.

Your friend,

Discord."

So, Discord stuck the parchment against the window and with a snap of his fingers disappeared just as Celestia came into the throne room after raising the sun. She looked up to see all of the windows back to their normal state, much to her pleasure as every single one of the windows were important to her. Celestia then came across the depiction of Twilight's coronation and although she was happy that Discord had returned it to normal, she looked over at the parchment that Discord had placed at the base of the window.

After looking at it for moment and reading what Discord had written, Celestia's heart sank and a look of despair came onto her face. She knew that Discord was going to do what she feared that he would do and that he needed to be stopped. Throwing the parchment on the floor, Celestia began to sprint out of the throne room as fast as her legs would let her.

"LUNA! CADENCE!" Celestia cried as she ran out of the throne room, trying to warn her sister and niece of what Discord was about to do.

It was now a race against time to stop Discord from ridding himself from Equestria permanently.

Chapter 4

"Don't Do It, Discord!"

While Celestia attempted to warn Luna and Cadence about his actions, Discord once again disguised himself as a bird and flew down towards the one object in Equestria that would put him out of his misery: the Tree of Harmony. It was not that far from Celestia and Luna's old castle and Discord wanted to do it as quietly and quickly as possible because it was also not far from Twilight's new castle in Ponyville.

Landing at the top of the stairs, Discord slowly walked down to the Tree of Harmony which had now been lying dormant since Twilight and her friends had opened the chest. Yes, he did give Twilight her final key, but in his mind, it wasn't enough. Taking in a deep breath, Discord looked up towards the tree and prepared to end it all.

"Tree of Harmony," he said, trying to hold back tears in his eyes. "I come to you because I seek to rid myself of the ponies of Equestria. I was tasked to capture a magic draining monster and I failed because he offered me something more valuable than friendship and I believed him. Because of this, I have seen unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies conspire to eliminate me and I'd much rather do it myself right here and right now."

At that moment, Discord produced a target on his chest and looked back up towards the Tree, closing his eyes and preparing himself for the inevitable. He was now thinking of his life before this moment from his time as the master of chaos to his first defeat to his escape and re-imprisonment; his release and newly formed friendship with Fluttershy and all the way up to his betrayal of Equestria.

"Tree of Harmony," cried Discord raising out his paw and claw and bending back a little. "Into your branches, I commit myself to eternal imprisonment!"

The tree of harmony powered itself up and the elements on the branches activated, glowing a powerful light that was about to produce itself as a rainbow. At that moment, a streak came out from the tree and raised itself up in the air about to come down sharply on Discord. The rainbow came down as fast a speeding bullet and Discord took in a deep breath preparing himself for the impact.

But just as the rainbow got closer and closer, a dark purple bubble came over Discord and stopped the rainbow from hitting him.

"ENOUGH!" cried the voice in a loud roar and the rainbow disappeared as Discord opened his eyes and realized that he wasn't turned to eternal stone. Just then, another loud cry came out and Discord looked up to see Princesses Luna, Celestia and Cadence accompanied by their EUP guards staring down at him.

"I know why you are here princesses, but you are too late," said Discord, looking back up at them. "I have chosen to rid myself of Equestria after all I have done to you."

"We can talk about this Discord," called Cadence, worried for the ex-master of chaos just as much as her aunts. "Just come up and we can help you."

She was about to walk down to the tree, when Discord fired a blast of magic at her. This caused Cadence to jump back in surprise.

"Get back!" shouted Discord, refusing to move from the tree. "My mind is made up!"

"I will not allow you to do this, Discord," demanded Celestia, trying to sound firm. "You cannot rid yourself of Equestria! I will not allow it!"

She turned to the EUP guards and nodded to them and at that moment, the EUP guards stepped forward and were just about to walk down to capture Discord, but he shielded himself by producing a large purple bubble that surrounded himself with the tree of harmony.

"Get back!" roared Discord, trying to keep the guards away. "You are not going to make me leave the tree!"

This made the three princesses feel exhausted as they continued to try to talk to Discord throughout the day in an attempt to get him to come out and realized that this was becoming hopeless. They needed to get through to him and knew that there was one pony who could talk to him.

"It's hopeless, sister," sighed Luna, looking over towards Celestia. "We can't get him to move! Shall we call on Princess Twilight?"

Celestia considered the option for a moment and then produced a quill and parchment writing a message to her faithful student and youngest equal.

Meanwhile, as Discord remained holed up with the tree of harmony, Twilight and Fluttershy were sitting outside of Twilight's castle as Fluttershy was still disturbed by her friends' cold demeanor of Discord despite everything that he had done.

"I don't understand, Twilight," sighed Fluttershy. "Discord is sorry for his actions and everypony else just won't let it go. Do you think he will ever get over this?"

"I don't know, Fluttershy," replied Twilight, placing her wing over Fluttershy. "Discord did betray all of Equestria after all, and even if you and I forgave him, not everypony will. We'd just have to convince him that he is still loved."

"But how?" wondered Fluttershy, realizing the truth that her friend had just said. "He won't listen to anypony but me."

"He can listen to me," remarked Twilight, looking over to Fluttershy. "You saw him watch as Tirek took the alicorn magic from me in exchange for your freedom and realized how sorry he truly was."

Fluttershy was glad to hear that somepony else besides her would listen to Discord. But, the two ponies were just about to come up with a plan to get through to Discord when a loud burping noise was heard from inside the castle and Twilight and Fluttershy turned around to see Spike fling the doors wide open.

"Twilight, it's from the princesses and its urgent!" he called, handing the parchment over to Twilight. Twilight could not believe what she was reading and neither was Fluttershy, whose heart sank along with Twilight when they read the letter that Celestia had sent them.

"He wouldn't dare," gasped Twilight, her face filled with fear along with Fluttershy. "He absolutely wouldn't dare!"

"We've got to stop him and fast!" cried Fluttershy who immediately took flight with Twilight not too far behind. "He has so much to live for!"

For as far as the two friends knew, this was the first time that they knew of Discord's intentions to rid himself from Equestria and raced to join the princesses in stopping Discord from doing just that.

But, were they already too late?

Chapter 5

"Fluttershy Pleads With Discord"

Upon reading of Discord's intentions, both Twilight and Fluttershy flew as fast as their wings could carry them to the tree of harmony where the princesses and their guards were struggling to get through to him. By now, Discord was already wanting to end his existence after everything that had happened, but he couldn't. Some of the guards were starting to grow restless as they did whatever they could to try and break the barrier that Discord had created. Even Cadence had alerted Shining Armor to the matter to try and create a counter spell. This didn't sit well with Discord as he now had to deal with the pony who flat out called him a traitor.

"It's no use," sighed the Prince of the Crystal Empire. "I can't seem to break the barrier. He really has a strong grip on it."

"Keep trying, Prince Armor," replied Luna. "There must be a way to get him to come out somehow."

So, Shining Armor and the EUP continued their futile efforts to break the barrier as Twilight and Fluttershy arrived. They ran over to the barricaded Tree of Harmony and Fluttershy looked down in horror to see Discord still standing by the tree, using his magic to keep the barrier up.

"Why is he doing this?" cried Twilight, as she watched along with her fellow princesses. "He shouldn't let something like putting Equestria at risk get to him."

"I'm afraid it has gotten to him," sighed Celestia grimly. "Discord must have been very ashamed for what he did to us and is intending to turn himself to stone. Since the Elements are embedded in the tree, he will remain stone forever if he orders the tree to cast the spell to re-imprison him.

Both Twilight and Fluttershy shared a worried glance with each other, fearing that if Discord could turn himself back to stone, he would never be able to be released.

"He can't do that, Princess Celestia," cried Fluttershy, who was now starting to panic. "Not with everypony like us who loves him."

"Not everypony loves him Fluttershy," remarked Cadence, as she walked over while a group of EUP guards collapsed from exhaustion. "It appears that he is thinking that by turning to stone, he would never be a threat to Equestria again."

"We've tried talking to him in an effort to get him out," sighed Luna, who was starting to grow impatient at the situation. "But our efforts are futile. He is fighting to stay in there and we are starting to lose our patience with him."

At that point, Fluttershy knew that the only way to get through to Discord was to talk to him herself. She was his closest friend and his first true friend for that matter and the only one who would truly listen to him.

"Can I try talking to him?" asked Fluttershy, grabbing the attention of Twilight and her fellow princesses. "He'll listen to me."

"By all means, Fluttershy," replied Twilight. "It's worth a try."

Taking in a gulp, Fluttershy walked towards the barrier where Discord was still using his magic to keep it up. She then took one of her front hooves and banged down on the barrier, causing Discord to stop what he was doing.

"Discord, stop!" cried Fluttershy, her eyes already tearing up. "Why are you doing this to us?"

The master of chaos then stopped what he was doing and looked up at his true friend. He began to see the pain that was forming in her eyes and walked over to her.

"Fluttershy," he said softly, still looking up at her, before talking normally. "This doesn't concern you. You must go at once."

"No, I won't," she retorted, talking through the barrier. "I've learned what you are trying to do and I'm concerned for you."

Discord then started to climb up the stairs and step away from the tree of harmony. He knew that he can still activate the magic and turn himself to stone, but he had Fluttershy in the situation that he was creating.

"Can't you just lower the barrier and talk to us?" pleaded Fluttershy. "I know you are hurting with guilt, but there is a way to get through this by just being open to us. I need you Discord and so does all of Equestria."

"I don't know if I can, Fluttershy," said Discord, nervously. "I put you and all of your friends and family in great danger and this is something that I will never be able to get over. If I turn myself to stone, then I will no longer be a threat to you and your friends. Don't you see that?"

At that moment, Fluttershy closed her eyes and began to cry for her friend. Twilight then came over to place a hoof around her friend's neck for emotional support while Discord watched in sadness.

"Don't you see, Discord?" remarked Twilight, talking in an equally concerned voice while trying to console her friend. "By doing what you are intending to do, you will only cause hurt instead of relief. We can help you get over this, but you need to let us do so. Will you lower the barrier and talk to us about what feelings you have?"

Discord just stood there for a moment and seeing Fluttershy cry in front of him made him realize that he had to face facts and reveal the full truth of the situation. Taking in a deep sigh, he lowered his head and snapped his fingers, destroying the barrier. He then began to slowly walk up the stairs towards Twilight and Fluttershy, without even saying a word. By the time that he got to the top, he was about to console Fluttershy when he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

Then, out of nowhere, he closed his eyes again and fell down to the ground as the EUP guards surrounded Discord and carried him away as Fluttershy gasped in horror along with Twilight. They turned to see that Princess Luna had fired a blast of magic at Discord given the fact her horn was still glowing with her alicorn magic.

"Princess Luna, what did you do that for?" cried Twilight, shocked at what Luna had done. "He came up peacefully."

"I did that as a precaution, Twilight Sparkle," replied Luna. "It was to stop him from doing any more harm to himself."

"Once he awakens," added Celestia, watching the guards carry Discord away. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

So, they all walked back towards Twilight's castle with Discord being carried by the guards. Everypony could see that with Discord subdued, they were now going to get a chance to learn the truth.

But, it was not going to be easy as they all thought.

Chapter 6

"The Whole Truth Comes Out"

After he had been knocked out by Princess Luna, Discord was taken back to Twilight's castle where he was then placed in a cage until it was time for him to be confronted by all four of Equestria's princesses as well as his one true friend. As he was brought into Twilight's throne room, the rest of her friends watched as the royal guards brought Discord inside with looks of horror and shock deep in their faces. They had learned of Discord's intentions through both Twilight and Fluttershy upon their return from the Tree of Harmony.

"I can't believe that Discord would do such a thing," remarked Applejack as the cage containing Discord was carried inside. "Yes, he did betray us, but he learned by his mistakes."

"I agree wholeheartedly," added Rarity as the doors of the throne room shut in front of them. "Choosing to no longer exist in Equestria is…is…."

The fashionista unicorn struggled to come up with the words to describe what to say as the thoughts continued to circle throughout her mind as well as those of the other ponies.

"Well, its not worth it," sighed Rainbow Dash, kicking one of her legs against the wall. "Teaming up with Tirek and betraying all of us is one thing. But choosing to turn yourself back to stone forever is unheard of. Perhaps maybe we were too hard on him. Don't you guys all agree?"

All the ponies nodded in agreement with what the element of loyalty had said. It was very true to the fact that they were all being too hard on Discord. In their minds, they thought he was still the same old master of chaos from when they first encountered him. Now, they were seeing a real creature of Equestria with real feelings coming out before their eyes.

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie sadly, her mane deflating somewhat in sadness. "We were being too hard on him and he's feeling down because of it."

"We have to do something about it, girls," replied Rarity. "Really we should. But, there is one question that still remains."

"What is that, Rarity?" asked Applejack.

"If Discord is willing to change for the sake of Equestria, shouldn't we change the way we feel about him?"

This made everypony fall silent in thought. Rarity was right about what she had said out in the open. If Discord was now willing to be accepted by all the ponies, then they had to stop being antagonistic towards him. They had to see that he was a changed creature after having learned what would happen if he betrayed somepony. They all saw it happen to Discord firsthand when Tirek revealed that he was only using Discord to get more power and not for being a friend as Discord had wanted to begin with.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her fellow princesses were all gathered in the throne room waiting for Discord to awaken from his forced slumber. The cage that he was in was only used to keep him from transporting from their sight. Fluttershy stood next to the caged master of chaos as he opened his eyes and looked to reveal that he was in the throne room of Twilight's new castle with only Fluttershy and Equestria's four princesses for company.

"I see you are awake now, Discord," said Celestia as she walked towards the now awaken draconequs. "Do you realize where you are now?"

Discord was silent for a minute as he was still waking up and after a moment, he finally began to realize where he was.

"You have me in a cage like a common criminal in Tartarus," he remarked, looking around. "If you want to send me there now, all you had to do was use the same portal Tirek used against you."

"You are in my new castle, Discord," said Twilight, joining her mentor at her side. "We are very worried about you and we need to understand why you are acting the way you are."

Discord wanted deep down to leave and return to the tree, but that was not going to be possible now as he now had an audience in front of him.

"We are not intending to send you to Tartarus, Discord," said Luna, looking at him directly. "But, what are you doing has caused us concern for your very existence. You seek to bring harm to yourself for what you have done and we are trying to prevent you from doing that. Why do you intend to do what you are intending to do?"

At that moment, Discord closed his eyes and with Fluttershy holding his paw tightly with her hoof, took in a deep sigh and knew that he had to come clean over his intentions one way or the other.

"Because I fear that I could something like this again," he confessed, nearly to the point of crying. "I realized that Tirek wanted nothing more but to use me in order to gain more power from the ponies that I have befriended. If there was ever another villain who would seek to make me their accomplice, then everything that happened now would happen again. If I ridded myself of Equestria, then maybe you would avoid a repeat of what had happened."

This caused the four princesses to take in what they had heard from Discord. They had to get through to him somehow and make him understand that he was needed not just in Equestria, but in their lives as well.

"Shining Armor was right," he continued from inside the cage. "I am a traitor and always will be a traitor."

It was at this point that Princess Cadence got up and joined Celestia and her sister-in-law in front of the cage.

"You are not a traitor, Discord," said Cadence, having heard about what her husband had told Discord.

"How could you say that, Princess Cadence?" gasped Discord, his eyes wide open. "I did betray Equestria and I must face the consequences somehow."

"You have suffered enough and the only one who is hurting is yourself by acting this way," said Cadence, trying to sound reasonable. "We believe now that you were merely misled by someone who gave you a false promise. If there is anyone to blame for what happened in Equestria, it's Tirek and him only."

"Cadence is right, Discord," added Twilight, placing her hoof on the cage. "Ridding yourself of Equestria will only make things worse instead of better. When I saw you and my friends in those bubbles, I knew that all of you were important to me than ever before and I chose to see you free from Tirek along with my friends rather than keep our alicorn magic hidden."

This made Discord's eyes pop wide open as he was now learning the truth behind what the princesses had done. While he and Tirek were in Canterlot, he felt a strange feeling of imbalance and knew that something was wrong, but kept it hidden from Tirek.

"So that's what you did," gasped Discord, now understanding the truth. "You surrendered the most powerful magic in Equestria to free me and your friends. Why would you do that when you had a chance to beat Tirek?"

"Because I knew that I couldn't beat Tirek with the power that he had absorbed," replied Twilight. "There was one type of magic that could beat him and that was the magic of friendship, a magic far greater than any type of magic that exists in Equestria, whether it would be our combined Alicorn Magic or your own Chaos Magic."

Discord was now beginning to understand why he was being cared about by the ponies he had betrayed the most. He knew that all the negative feelings inside of him were just as misleading as Tirek himself.

"But, if there is one I would have to credit for helping us defeat Tirek, it is you, Discord," continued Twilight as her friends now listened in from outside the throne room. "When you gave me the final key to open the chest. Had it not been for you, Tirek would have conquered Equestria and all would have been lost. You are more than a friend, Discord. You are like a member of our family: you, Fluttershy, me, my friends and my fellow princesses."

Discord was now beginning to have his eyes well up with tears upon hearing those words. He had never had a family before, and only thought in his mind, that he would live alone as a creature of chaos.

"You are important to us, Discord," added Celestia, speaking up for the first time. "Equestria is based on the balance of harmony and chaos. Without the chaos that you produce, Equestria would have been imbalanced. I chose you to initially capture Tirek because of your ability to sense magic. If there is ever a time when we need you for a task and you were not here, who would I turn to for help? But most importantly, now is the time for you to fully learn the magic of friendship and who better to teach you than the ponies who care about you the most?"

This made Discord start to cry silently and he produced a tissue to blow his nose and wipe his eyes. All the princesses started to surround him and admire the realization that Discord was experiencing.

"I can't believe that you said all those things about me," cried Discord as Fluttershy smiled up at him. "You truly care about me as a member of your family."

"That's what you are, Discord," said Twilight, smiling warmly. "And you always will be to us."

"Besides, who would I share my picnics and tea parties with?" added Fluttershy, who flew into the cage and gave him a big hug. "We still have our cucumber sandwiches to share together, don't we?"

"Yes, we do, Fluttershy," cried Discord, hugging her tightly as the cage disappeared around him. "Yes, we do."

It seemed at that moment, that the magic of friendship was now beginning to swirl throughout Discord as he learned that there were ponies who truly care about him and that they couldn't live without his antics or his presence.

But most importantly, as the rest of Twilight's friends entered the throne room and joined in the celebration, Discord had finally found what he had been looking for and that was something that Tirek could never take away from him.

At that moment, throughout his soul searching, Discord had fully learned and embraced the magic of friendship.

Chapter 7

"A Picnic With Fluttershy"

It had been several days since Discord was convinced by Fluttershy and the Princesses to not rid himself of Equestria. They loved him despite everything that had happened and Discord promised that he would continue to be in their lives. However, his betrayal was still fresh in his mind and in the days following Tirek's re-imprisonment, he could not sleep for he still heard the sounds of Tirek in his mind, calling him worthless as his brother, Scorpan. When Discord came over to Fluttershy's the next morning for their weekly picnic, the timid Pegasus began to notice Discord's discomfort.

"I hope you aren't still thinking doing what I think you are doing," said Fluttershy as they drank tea and ate cucumber sandwiches that Discord had brought. "If you are having those thoughts, then you need to tell me before taking matters into your own hooves."

Discord's eyes popped open when Fluttershy said that, for he didn't have front hooves after all. But, he chose to ignore the remark and respond to his best friend's message.

"Yes, yes, Fluttershy," replied Discord, adjusting the blue top hat he had on his head. "I know what you said and after what you and the princesses said to me, I promise to stay here in Equestria with you. But, there is something on my mind that will not go away."

"What is it that will not go away?" asked Fluttershy, taking another sip of tea. "Is it Tirek still?"

"It is unfortunately," sighed Discord, taking a bite out of his cucumber sandwich. "Had I been not manipulated by him into trading in friendship for freedom, then we not have been in the situation we were in."

Fluttershy had to make Discord remember that although he had betrayed them, he did give them the final key that helped them defeat Tirek to begin with. But, at the same time, she could see that Tirek was still fresh in his mind.

"But, Tirek's brother medallion was the final key," remarked Fluttershy, staying upbeat. "We couldn't have found it without you."

Discord stayed silent and then walked away from Fluttershy and over to the edge of the hill overlooking one of the valleys. He put his paw and claw behind his back and stood out overlooking the battlefield where Twilight had her fight with Tirek. In his mind, Discord knew that even though Tirek had been imprisoned again, he felt that it wasn't enough as Discord felt that Tirek needed a much more severe punishment for what he did to him and his friends.

"I'm sure you understand that, Discord," continued Fluttershy flying over to her friend and placing a hoof on his paw. "There's no need to run from your troubles, you know."

"I'm not running from my troubles," replied Discord, looking back towards Fluttershy. "I've just been thinking that Tirek needs to be punished for what he did to us."

This began to make Fluttershy uncomfortable, for she somehow knew that Discord was dead set on this goal of his. But at the same time, she disliked violence and thought at that moment that Discord was intending on crossing a line, a line she strongly disliked.

"Isn't being re imprisoned in Tartarus enough, Discord?" she asked, trying to get his mind off of his intentions. "I hope you aren't thinking what I think you are going to do."

At that moment, Discord became so cross that he crushed the teacup with the tea still inside. He wasn't angry with Fluttershy, he was angry at Tirek for putting him in this situation and because of it, almost everypony in Equestria seemed to have a bounty on his head.

"He needs to pay, Fluttershy," growled Discord, talking in a low voice. This caused Fluttershy to back away nervously. "I would much rather have HIM cease to exist in Equestria instead of me. I want him to pay for all the troubles he caused us."

Fluttershy was starting to become scared at this and wanted her friend to stop this behavior that he was displaying in front of her.

"The only reason I want Tirek brought back to Equestria," continued Discord, walking over towards a tree. "Is so I can finish him off MYSELF!"

And he punched his paw into a tree and continued growling menacingly as Fluttershy just stood there just being scared for herself and for her friend, who was now feeling this way.

"Why are you doing this?" she thought to herself, tears of fear filling her eyes. "This isn't like you Discord. Whatever happened to the friend that I know, the one who would share my picnics with me and my friends? Where is that ex-chaotic friend that I used to know?"

Releasing his paw from the tree, Discord had calmed down slightly and walked back over towards the still scared Fluttershy and knelt down to hug her as an attempt to comfort her for his current behavior. He didn't like releasing his anger in front of Fluttershy, but he needed to do so. After all, he wanted to correct the mistakes that he had made while he was with Tirek.

Just then, Discord looked up to see a pair of Celestia's Royal Guard Pegasus' flying down towards Discord. They landed and approached Fluttershy and Discord as the two friends got back on their feet. Discord bowed to the guards as they relayed the message to why they were here.

"Discord," the brown winged guard said as he and his partner looked over to him. "You are wanted in Canterlot at once and we are to escort you there."

"What could it be for?" wondered Fluttershy, looking nervously up at them. "What do the princesses want Discord for?"

"They need to see him on a personal matter," said the white winged guard. "Princess Celestia is considering bringing Tirek back to Equestria where he will possibly be destroyed for his crimes."

This gave Discord a sense of relief at the matter. He could see that the princesses were finally considering the option of destroying Tirek. After all, he was the biggest threat to Equestria since Discord himself and that it was becoming clear that imprisonment in Tartarus wasn't enough.

"When do we leave?" asked Discord, snapping his fingers and donning hunter's clothes with a rifle in his hands. "Give me the word and I will follow you."

"We leave immediately," said the guards and they flapped their wings and took to the skies once again and Discord turned back to Fluttershy and gave her another hug.

"Don't worry," he whispered to her. "I'll be back soon."

With that, Discord took to the air and followed the guards back to Canterlot for a meeting with the princesses. At the same time, a strange creature had managed to sneak into Canterlot undetected and was also making his way towards the castle as well.

Chapter 8

"Arrival of Scorpan"

By the time that Discord had been ordered to Canterlot, Celestia had already lowered the sun and Luna was assuming her duties as Princess of the Night. She had a lot of visits with her subjects lately since they were still carrying nightmares surrounding Tirek's rampage. But, an example of what their subjects were feeling when Tirek's first victim was doing his nightly routine of carrying out two baskets of fruit on his back. He was walking out into the streets when he saw a cloaked figure walking towards him. Remembering when Tirek drained his magic and left him powerless, the unicorn stepped back in fear, thinking that it was Tirek again.

"Lord Tirek," he whimpered as he stepped back. "Go away! I will not let you take my magic again, you hear me?"

He then got down on all fours and whimpered for the moment when he thought that he would lose his magic again. But, the creature stepped forward and instead of feeling the magic being drained from him, the unicorn felt a soft yet hairy touch on his back. He looked back up and was surprised at this development that he was experiencing.

"Why would I take your magic?" remarked the cloaked figure, chuckling to himself. "I mean you no harm, my friend. I was onyl wondering if you would direct me to Canterlot castle."

"It's that way," whimpered the unicorn and the figure thanked the nervous young colt and made his way towards the castle. But then, he was still unsure of whom he was talking to. "Are you sure that you don't want my magic? Please take it and leave me alone!"

The figure then turned back towards the young unicorn which only made him tremble even more. But, he was very sincere with what he said next.

"I say to you, young colt," he said in as calm a voice as possible. "I am not here to take your magic or anypony's magic. I am here to see justice carried out."

This caused the unicorn to feel better slightly as he knew that his magic was safe. However as the cloaked figure walked through the dark streets of Canterlot, ponies trembled in fear whenever he came across their paths and this made him feel unwelcome to an extent, but more of anger deep in his thoughts.

"This is your entire fault, brother," thought the figure. "When I am done with you, you will wish that you were never born of our parents whom you killed."

He continued to make his way towards the castle when he saw what appeared to be a night guards pony guarding the castle entrance. The figure stopped and raised his arms out at the guard who then scowled at him.

"Who goes there?" snapped the guard, raising his lamp at the figure. "In the name of the royal sisters, I order you to remove your cloak and identify yourself to me, now!"

Heeding the orders, the figure raised his arms and placed his hands on the hood of his cloak and revealed himself to be a large monkey like creature with long brown bat like wings and fur on his head and upper part of his body. This caused the guard to lower his lamp and then to the creature's surprise, the figure began to transform and once the transformation was complete, the guard revealed himself to be nothing more than Discord himself.

"It's only you, Scorpan," sighed Discord, slightly relieved at this. "But, what are you doing here? Canterlot is under heavy guard."

"I was going to ask the same question about you," replied Scorpan, stepping over towards Discord. "You know what you did when you were aligned with my brother. I have great respect for these ponies and if there is one creature who should suffer with my brother, it's you."

Scorpan glared at Discord and this caused him to shrink down in fear. Discord had no idea that Tirek's brother had admired the ponies for who they were and was very protective of them. At this point, Discord came clean with Scorpan.

"I am sorry for what I did, Scorpan," whimpered Discord as he produced a halo and harp. "I hurt so many ponies and I intend to redeem myself for what I have done."

Scorpan was not sure of this, for he knew that Discord would sometimes only put on a façade to truly get what he wanted. Nevertheless, the draconequs and the gargoyle stood there for a moment face to face, one suspicious of the other. After a few moments, the two gave up their staring contest and walked into the castle.

"I know who you are Discord," said Scorpan suspiciously as they walked into the castle. "If this is some trick of yours that you are trying to pull…"

"It's not, Scorpan," snapped Discord, glaring down at Scorpan as they walked. "Everypony close to me knows that I am sorry for what I have done. Why can't you see the same way?"

"If you are truly sorry for what you did," retorted Scorpan as they got nearer and nearer to the throne room. "Then you must prove it to me, here, tonight and in front of my closest friends, whom were sent in my brother's place to Tartarus because you failed to stop him."

Discord gulped nervously as he knew that Scorpan was not going to be easy to convince in regards to his actions. He wanted to prove to Scorpan that he wasn't whom he was when he was with Tirek. Of course, Discord had not just Scorpan to convince that he was truly reformed, but all of Equestria as well and based what he saw in his mirror, that too was not going to be easy as well.

Soon, they approached the throne room doors where they were now repaired after Tirek broke them apart during his rampage. Discord was nervous at this, but he knew that he wanted to set things right with most of Equestria and Tirek's non-violence brother.

"This is it," thought Discord as the doors opened to reveal Princess Celestia sitting on her throne. "My chance to correct my mistake is at hand."

With that, the ex-master of chaos and the brother of Equestria's most dangerous enemy walked towards the elder princess of Equestria.

Chapter 9

"Under Scrutiny"

Still looking tense at each other, Discord and Scorpan both walked towards Princess Celestia who was sitting on her throne, looking down at them. Once they were in front of her, she lowered her head and closed her eyes for a moment almost as if she was trying to think what she wanted to say. After a moment, she sighed deeply and then looked back up at the two creatures standing in front of her.

"I appreciate you both coming in such short notice," said Celestia. "My subjects are demanding that Tirek be severely punished even if it is against my better judgment. It turns out merely returning him to Tartarus was not enough after all that has happened."

Scorpan was not surprised about this at all. He had experienced the horror of what his brother had done when they were younger. Had he not met Starswirl the Bearded and become inspired to befriend the ponies of Equestria, he would have ended up just like his brother: a tyrannical dictator of Equestria. He knew that as long as Tirek was alive, the influence was still there as well as the bad memories of that period of time.

"I can understand, Princess," sighed Scorpan. "My brother needs to be punished for what he did to you and all the ponies of this great land. As long as he is alive, he is a danger to Equestria and I know that you and I will not tolerate another episode like this."

Celestia knew exactly what her old friend was talking about and she stepped off her throne and walked past the two creatures towards the stained glass windows which Discord had repaired. She most looked up to the depiction of her youngest equal's coronation, which had been melted by Tirek and repaired by Discord.

"I'll do anything to help you rid ourselves of this nightmare," continued Scorpan as Celestia looked at Twilight's window. "After what Tirek has done, I don't even consider him a brother anymore."

Discord was amazed by Scorpan's attitude that was being played out in front of him. Somehow Discord knew that had he had the willpower that he needed, then he would have avoided this whole situation in the first place.

"I can see why you are saying that," replied Discord, as he watched Scorpan say those words. "He lied to me about offering something more valuable than friendship. I believed him and look what happened, I helped him hurt so many ponies. All because I wanted to be free to do whatever I want."

To prove to Scorpan what he was trying to say, Discord snapped his fingers and produced a puppet version of himself and the princesses as well as Twilight's friends and dangled them before Scorpan's eyes. After a moment, Celestia then turned back towards them with her face still forlorn with thought over what needed to be done with Tirek.

"This is something that I have never done in a long time," she sighed, walking back towards them. "I have decided that Tirek needs to be brought back to Equestria to face justice for what he has done."

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Scorpan, knowing that something was going to be done. "Tell me and I will do anything to help you do so."

Discord was slightly hurt by this and knew that he had to play a contribution to this as well. For he was the one who was brainwashed into believing Tirek's warped philosophy and felt that this was his chance to finish what he had started. After a moment, Celestia revealed what needed to be done.

"I need one of you to go to Tartarus and bring Tirek here," she said to them. "You will be accompanied by several of my guards for protection from Tirek's magic draining abilities. Even from Tartarus, he can still drain magic to anypony who gets close to him."

Both Scorpan and Discord looked at each other for a moment as they both wanted to go to Tartarus and bring Tirek back. They both had animosity towards Tirek and wanted nothing more than to see him suffer for his crimes both past and present. However, Scorpan could see that Discord was the most determined and silently gave into Discord's intentions.

"I will go to Tartarus," said Discord, breaking the silence and transforming into a police officer, twirling a baton. "Because I have a few choice words for that liar."

Celestia could see that Discord was becoming far too hotheaded, fearing that Discord would take matters into his own hands. But at the same time, she could see that Discord wanted revenge for what Tirek did to him and knew that he had to be restrained from attacking or even destroying Tirek before he faced those he attacked.

"Discord, if you are going to volunteer, then you must realize that I want Tirek alive," ordered Celestia, sensing Discord's anger slightly rising as he shedded his police disguise. "To this end, I will have Canterlot's ex-captain of the royal guard accompany you to Tartarus."

The doors then opened and flanked by two guards, Shining Armor entered the throne room in his royal guard armor much to Discord's irritation and anger.

"What is he doing here?" he retorted, as he was looking at the pony who called him a traitor. "He called me a traitor, Celestia! How could you expect me to be with him?"

But, Celestia stood steadfast with her decision. Her mind was made up and Shining Armor was going with Discord to not only protect him, but keep him in check in terms of his anger and behavior.

"I'm doing this for your own good, Discord," said Celestia firmly as Shining Armor saluted her. "I don't want you taking matters into your own hands. If you go alone, then somepony would have to take Tirek's place and that somepony would be you. Do you want that, Discord?"

Discord had to stop and think about this for a moment and knowing that he had been punished enough for his own crimes, finally gave himself into doing what Celestia had wanted him to do. Although he wasn't happy that Twilight's older brother had to go with him.

"No, Celestia, I don't," sighed Discord, feeling defeated to an extent. "I just want him and I to meet face to face, creature to creature. He needs to pay for what he did to me and all of you."

"I understand that, Discord," replied Celestia walking towards him. "But he needs to be punished according to the laws of Equestria. You must understand that."

Discord reluctantly agreed with Celestia and after a brief glance at Scorpan, he followed Shining Armor and the royal guards out of the throne room beginning their mission to bring Tirek back to Equestria.

Chapter 10

"Approaching Tartarus"

For the majority of the ride to Tartarus, Discord remained silent as he sat next to Twilight's older brother, Shining Armor, who flat out called him a traitor. Now, he was hurt by his savior's brother's words and refused to look at him which was now starting to get on Shining Armor's nerves. He looked at the ex-master of chaos' body language and knew exactly how much his words had hurt somepony.

"Look, Discord," sighed Shining Armor as they neared the gates of Tartarus. "I know how much you are feeling right now and I am sorry for it. But, you cannot let this bother you."

"Why should I?" snapped Discord, jerking his head directly at Shining Armor. "Have you ever learned how much words can hurt somepony's feelings? And you are supposed to be Twilight's big brother."

Shining Armor looked down and began to remember that dark moment in his life when he did the ultimate betrayal of his younger sister on the eve of his wedding to Cadence. He knew very well how much words can hurt those that are closest to him.

"Actually, Discord," sighed Shining Armor, looking over towards him. "I know how it feels when my words hurt somepony. And I said those words to Twilight."

This made Discord drop his expression from that of anger, to that of shock. He may not have had the most time with Shining Armor as he had with Twilight, but he didn't always think that Shining Armor had his flaws.

"So, you know what it feels like?" asked Discord. "Why didn't you control yourself when Tirek and I confronted you?"

"Because I was trying to protect my wife and her aunts," explained Shining Armor. "Because of you, they were put in danger and I had to do whatever it took to protect them. Princess Celestia put her trust in you to stop the threat that was running around Equestria, sucking magic out of us. You betrayed us Discord and that is why I called you a traitor and after my wife was sent to Tartarus with Celestia and Princess Luna, I contemplated whether I should have disposed of you myself despite being regretful of your actions."

Discord was now beginning to get the truth about why Shining Armor hated him and began to really think about of what he was doing. But, just as Shining Armor was about to raise his voice in anger at Discord, his face turned to a look of despair and regret.

"But, I couldn't bring myself to destroy you," continued Shining Armor as the sun began to fade away from them as they got into Tartarus. "Because you gave my little sister the last key to open that chest and the tree gave her a brand new castle to live in."

The journey was now beginning to get more and more darker as they neared the gates. The sounds of evil creatures growling and snarling could be heard from miles away, but Discord and the royal guards stood steadfast for they knew that they had a mission to carry out and nothing was going to stop them.

"However, all I want to say is I am sorry that I hurt your feelings," sighed Shining Armor. "I hurt Twilight's feelings when Chrysalis was disguised as Cadence. She was trying to warn me and her friends about Cadence's behavior and I brushed it off as pure wedding stress. I told her to forget about being Best Mare and not even show up at the wedding at all."

Discord was shocked and horrified by this confession. In his mind, Shining Armor's actions were much worse than his own when he was with Tirek. True, he helped Tirek steal magic, but to hear that Shining Armor said those words to Twilight on the eve of his wedding made Discord shiver in fear.

"What's important is that I atoned for my words by putting her back in the wedding," continued Shining Armor. "We all apologized for what we did to her that day and I think you should do the same thing with all of Equestria. But, the more pain you keep inside, the more worse you will become. How you will do it is up to you."

Discord now realized that he needed to apologize for his actions and if Shining Armor could do it, then so could he. He now could see that he needed to start by finishing what he set out to do and that was to bring Discord back to the princesses where they would decide what to do with him.

Landing at the gates of Tartarus, the royal guards armed themselves for any sign of trouble and Shining Armor led them through the gates with Discord in tow. It was at this point that Discord began to grow very nervous of the surroundings. But, he knew that he needed to be responsible for this mission and give himself a chance of redemption for what he did. Suddenly, they all heard a low growling sound as they neared Tirek's cell.

"Cerberus must know we are here," said a royal guardspony. "Give us the word and we will neutralize him, Prince Armor."

But, Shining Armor raised his hoof and silenced the guard from saying another word. For he knew, giving his training, he had to be instinctive in situations such as this.

"We need to be careful," said Shining Armor, trying to sound quiet. "All we need to do is get Tirek out without getting any unwanted attention."

"Leave it to me," whispered Discord, who had transformed into a disguise of Princess Celestia much to the shock and dismay of Shining Armor and the guards. "I'll deal with him and you cover for me."

Shining Armor, trying not to laugh at the fact that Discord was disguised as Princess Celestia, agreed and allowed the disguised Discord to make his way towards Tirek's cell which was at the top of a center mountain. Cerberus was on duty and thinking that the master of chaos was his mistress, allowed him to pass through as Discord struggled to walk in Celestia's body.

"How does she do this?" he thought as he tried to keep himself from falling over and blowing his cover. The guards looked nervous for a second, but were relieved when Discord managed to recover himself at the last second.

Soon, Shining Armor and the guards watched as he neared Tirek's cage and a confrontation between the ex-partner's was about to commence.

Chapter 11

"Confrontation with Tirek"

Still trying to walk like Celestia, a disguised Discord slowly climbed up the steps towards the cage that held Equestria's most dangerous enemy to date: Lord Tirek. He had been severely weakened by the rainbow power produced by Twilight and her friends, but his mentality was still strong. When he recognized the steps of Celestia's, he merely turned his back on the matter. Discord stepped forward and trying to act like Celestia, stamped one of the hooves down three times to get Tirek's attention.

"Lord Tirek," said Discord in Celestia's voice, still stamping the front hoof. "I order you to face me at once!"

The weakened centaur would not move and using a carbon copy of his superior's magic, Discord forced Tirek to face him and this only made Tirek more annoyed as he was now staring at the supposed pony whom he had imprisoned in his place along with Luna and Cadence.

"Princess Celestia," he said mockingly. "Have you come to gloat in front of me after my defeat? Had it not been for your youngest princess and her friends, I would have conquered Equestria as my own. So, if you are here to mock me, do it now and leave before I decide to take your magic again."

When the disguised Discord refused to move, Tirek snarled and attempted to activate his magic draining powers, but found that he couldn't do it. He tried again, but he failed and growled in frustration.

"What have you done?" he snarled, trying to still activate his draining powers. "What did you do to my powers?"

"It's not what I have done," replied the disguised Discord. "You lost your powers when you were returned here and you will never use your powers ever again."

But Tirek remained defiant, determined to finish what he had started. He wanted to take the powers of the elder princess of Equestria again, but he couldn't and he was denying it. Tirek then began to focus all of his frustration on one particular ex-acquaintance, not realizing he was standing before him.

"You merely think I can never use my powers ever again, mare?" snarled Tirek, still remaining in denial about what had happen to him. "Had Discord remained at my side, then I would never had lost them to begin with."

It was at this point that Discord decided to shed his disguise and extract his personal revenge on Tirek. After closing his eyes for a moment, he unfolded the large alicorn wings and glared at the weakened Centaur, chuckling slightly.

"If you are referring to Discord," chuckled Discord, starting to transform. "Then does he look like this?"

At that moment, Discord shedded his disguise of Celestia and transformed in a slow and sinister way and Tirek watched as the body of Celestia melted and Discord rematerialized into his old self. Once he was fully transformed, he stuck out his lion paw and placed it on his ex-partner's throat. Tirek snarled at this and attempted to break himself loose of Discord's grip.

"I wouldn't waste your time struggling," seethed Discord, his grip growing tighter. "You are going to pay for what you did to my friends."

"Friends?" asked Tirek, a mocking smile coming onto his face. "You mean those pathetic equines who brainwashed you into believing the magic of friendship?"

Discord didn't take this well and used his magic to stretch out his arm rapidly and bang Tirek against the back of his cage very hard, finally releasing his grip on him.

"You are weak minded, Discord," chuckled Tirek, sensing that he could make Discord betray Equestria again. "I used you once and I can use you again."

"I don't associate with you, anymore," retorted Discord, glaring at Tirek and now brandishing a fully loaded AK-47. But, Tirek was not going to let a weapon like that scare him.

"Mind your manners," retorted Tirek, getting back onto his feet. "Set me free and I will once again give you friendship and freedom to create the world of chaos that you set out to desire."

A part of Discord wanted to submit to Tirek's offerings again, but Discord would not let himself betray Equestria again and hurt all the ponies he had made friends with. He was going to finish what he had set out to do. He snapped his fingers and three long chains and shackles came onto three of Tirek's legs and the centaur struggled to move.

"Is this your answer?" cried Tirek, struggling to move because of the chains that now held him. "To have me shackled like the criminal that I am? I gave you friendship and freedom to do whatever you want and this is how I repay you?"

With those words, Discord began to grow angry and feeling that he was being mocked at by this creature, he finally said the words that were heard throughout Tartarus.

"Friendship?" replied Discord, his voice rising. "You didn't give me friendship, you didn't give me magic, YOU…GAVE…ME…NOTHING!"

And at that moment, Discord, with glowing red eyes, raised his eagle claw and rose Tirek into the air, with only the chains around his legs holding him down from going any further up and two more chains appeared, shackling him on both of his arms. Tirek struggled to get himself free, but it wasn't going to be possible.

"Release me at once, Discord!" snarled Tirek, his eyes still locked on Discord. But, Discord was not budging and kept Tirek airborne.

"It's not going to happen, Tirek!" snapped Discord, still holding his grip. "You are going to pay for everything you have done to me and to all of Equestria! I was a fool to believe your lies about friendship and I am now going to finish what I had set out to do! You are going to face the princesses and be tried for your crimes and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Discord then began to raise the cage and began to magically levitate it away from its spot on the hill of Tartarus and Cerberus watched as he growled at Tirek as he was carried out and Shining Armor and the guards watched as Discord brought the caged and shackled Tirek out and onto a large cart. Once he was landed, the royal guards pulled out a large blue tarp and Discord had the last words before the tarp was pulled over.

"See you in Canterlot," said Discord sinisterly and the blue tarp was thrown over Tirek's cage and they set off for Canterlot where Tirek would face the princesses for his crimes.

Little did Discord realize that he would also be facing the ponies of Equestria who hated him with a passion.

Chapter 12

"Meeting the Executioner"

While Tirek was being hauled back to Canterlot to face justice for his crimes, Princess Celestia and the other princesses along with Scorpan were in the Canterlot throne room where they would be meeting one of Equestria's most feared punishers. Celestia knew that Tirek's punishment would have to fit the crimes that he had caused and she and the other princesses needed to find somepony who would be willing to carry out the punishment.

"We came as soon as we heard," said Twilight as she and her friends ran into the throne room where the three princesses were sitting at the throne.

"I am glad that you have come, Princess Twilight," said Celestia as she came down to hug her youngest equal. "It's time to begin administering justice to Tirek for his crimes."

"What are you planning on doing?" asked Rainbow Dash, punching her hooves together. "Are you planning to give him a ton of knuckle sandwiches or something?"

"Knuckle sandwiches?" remarked Pinkie Pie, excitedly. "What do you think should be on them?"

Being her typical self, Pinkie produced a picnic basket with sandwiches. However, all she got was a glare from her friends and she sheepishly put everything away.

"Just forget I said that," said Rainbow Dash embarrassingly. Suddenly, a loud knock was heard on the door and a royal guardspony came into the throne room, bowing to the four princesses. Everypony could see that he had a look of fear on his face.

"Your highnesses," said the guardspony, placing his helmet back on his head. "The executioner that you all wanted has arrived."

The ponies began to all grow nervous based on the guard's demeanor, but Celestia closed her eyes and nodded to the guard, allowing them to have the executioner step forward. Everypony watched as the guard allowed a large hulking figure in a cloak similar to Tirek, step into the throne room. He was a black alicorn pony with large black wings, a long sharp hook that replaced a horn and a gray mane and tail. His cutie mark was a large axe and he spoke in an accent which meant that he was from Trottingham.

"Who is that?" whimpered Fluttershy, who dove behind Applejack in fear of the figure.

"This is the executioner," replied Princess Luna who watched the figure remove his cloak and give it to a guard. "Welcome, Lock Down."

The alicorn pony stepped forward to the group of ponies, his red eyes glowing and spreading fear among all who were present as he approached Celestia and Scorpan, while everypony else watched.

"You've summoned me, my dear Princesses," he said in an oily voice. "I have received your message regarding the fate of Lord Tirek, who had escaped recently. I am honored to be a part of this."

To show that he meant his contribution, he shoved his hook to Celestia's throat and this made the elder princess cringe in fear slightly. Seeing that he was getting too close to her, Lock Down backed away.

"I'm sorry, your highness," he replied, stepping back to allow Celestia to give her space. "It's just been a long time since I executed an enemy of Equestria, especially as someone as big a threat as Lord Tirek."

"Indeed," said Celestia nervously, trying to shake off being approached. She tried to speak again, but was unable to as the executioner used his magic hook to produce a series of weapons used for executions.

"I have brought my tools for execution," he said. "You may choose whatever I can use to clean up the mess that has plagued Equestria."

This made Rarity feel sick to her stomach as hearing all of this turned her face green and she had no choice but to look away from all that was happening. Soon, Fluttershy joined her as did Pinkie Pie, who was also becoming scared. But, being a princess, Twilight joined her mentors and sister-in-law as Lock Down continued to offer his choices of execution methods.

"We want a weapon that will make it quick as possible," said Princess Luna, scanning the choices. "But there may be several choices that we will make depending on the charges against Tirek. He has committed numerous crimes against Equestria and we need to be doubly sure the punishments fit the crimes."

"As you wish, Princess Luna," replied Lock Down, who was now offering a noose for hanging; a sword for impaling and his signature weapon: an axe for beheading.

Twilight was also looking at the weapons and felt that Tirek should suffer greatly for his crimes. Not only did he imprison her fellow princesses and held her friends against their will, but he also destroyed her home along with all the books and possessions that she treasured greatly. In her mind, seeing Tirek suffer would help her recover in a sense from the loss of her old home.

"I think we should choose the weapons that would make him suffer as long as possible," said Twilight, much to the shock of her fellow princesses. "But, what if we choose to make him live? He destroyed my library after all."

Celestia then looked over at Twilight and felt her pain to an extent, but knew that ponies were sensitive to events like this and had to set the record straight.

"I understand your pain, Princess Twilight," she replied. "But we want to make Tirek's fate as quick as possible. We have a duty of keeping our integrity as princesses to fulfill."

Twilight wanted to protest about this, but she learned to never argue with someone as important in her life as Princess Celestia herself. Nevertheless, despite her objections, Twilight and the other princesses selected a noose, a pair of ropes for stretching and the axe for beheading.

"Very well, then," said Lock Down as the guards came out to escort him out of the throne room. "You will all notify me when the time comes."

Everypony watched as the executioner was escorted out of the throne room and the doors shut behind them. This gave a sense of relief to Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who all sighed with relief upon being freed of the executioner's fearful presence.

"Glad he's gone," remarked Rarity, walking back towards the other ponies. "He was giving me the creeps."

"You and me both," added Pinkie Pie. "I nearly lost my appetite looking at him, very scary looking."

Little did they all know that this was merely the beginning of what was to come as Scorpan, who had been silent throughout Lock Down's visit, quietly left the throne room and came out onto the streets of Canterlot where ponies lined the streets to catch a view of Tirek's arrival with Discord at his side.

The trial of Lord Tirek would soon begin…

Chapter 13

"Tirek Arrives in Canterlot"

Discord watched with nervousness deep in his stomach as the royal guard made their final approach towards Canterlot Castle. He could see that a majority of Canterlot's citizens lined the streets eager to show both him and Tirek how they felt about getting their magic and cutie marks stolen. Arriving at the draw bridge, Shining Armor and the guards unloaded Tirek's covered cage and started to make their way into the castle.

"Do whatever you have to do to protect yourselves," ordered Shining Armor, placing his helmet on his head. "We've got subjects who will want to give Tirek a piece of their minds. So be careful!"

The guards saluted the prince of the Crystal Empire upon hearing those words as they started to enter the Equestrian Capitol. Fearing that the ponies could target him along with Tirek, Discord disguised himself as a guardspony in order to protect himself.

"I hope this keeps me safe," he thought as he took off the tarp over Tirek's cage. "Let these earth, unicorn and Pegasus ponies focus their attention on this monster."

Nopony in the royal guard seemed to have noticed that the tarp was off as their mindset was getting Tirek through the crowds. As they approached the lines of angry ponies, some began to boo and jeer and throw food and debris at Tirek's cage. The centaur was pounded with anything that the ponies could produce. Some of the debris managed to get into the cage and despite being pelted with food and debris, Tirek was determined to not be broken.

"Take this, you monster!" shouted Lyra Heartstrings, who threw a pot of flowers at Tirek, striking him in the face.

"Have a bucket of boiling Pegasus rainwater!" shouted a blue Pegasus pony who splashed scalding water at Tirek. "A little something from the Wonderbolts to you!"

"How dare you try to overthrow the princesses!" cried another pony as he threw a cup of scalding hot coffee. "We answer to them, not you!"

Tirek howled in pain as the coffee was splashed in his face, but he still remained steadfast despite all that was happening to him. Soon, they got to the entrance to the throne room doors and Tirek was disgusted to see that Scorpan, his own brother was waiting for him.

"What are you doing here, Scorpan?" snarled Tirek. "Trying to show me that you remain loyal to these Equines, instead of your own brother?"

But Scorpan remained steadfast at the monster that he called a brother. He merely kicked the cage and caused it to vibrate as Discord jumped back in fear, nearly shedding his disguise.

"Shut up, Tirek!" snapped Scorpan, growling slightly. "If you think that I am going to help you get out this, then you are wrong! You are going to face those whom you hurt, you scum! This all ends today, Tirek! You hear me? It all ends today!"

Tirek said nothing to his angry brother as his cage was carried into the castle as the ponies converged at the entrance only to be held back by royal guardsponies. Scorpan then walked inside and shut the doors while Tirek was brought into another room where he would be cleaned before being brought before the princesses. At this point, Discord changed out of his disguise and joined Scorpan outside the room.

"I can't believe that he would do this to me, Scorpan," remarked Discord. "Trying to offer me something more valuable than friendship."

"I know how you feel," sighed Scorpan, looking over to the ex-master of chaos. "He brainwashed me as a young gargoyle and made me believe that power was more valuable than anything. Had it not been for Starswirl, then I would have been in that cage with him."

Scorpan then walked towards the door and listened in to the guards laughing and mocking Tirek as he was been cleaned, calling him such hurtful words as "worthless," "idiot," and several beating sounds were heard as well that made Scorpan cringe.

"I'm glad that you aren't," said Discord. "You would have suffered the same fate and agony as him. Had I not repented for my actions, then I would have also suffered the same fate. He made me do things that I strongly regret now."

Scorpan walked back from the door and followed Discord to the throne room entrance walking past the windows that Discord had repaired not that long ago. As they walked past, Scorpan saw Discord's eyes well up with tears, confirming to him that Discord was hiding something from him.

"But, why do you still feel regret now?" wondered Scorpan, as they stopped at the stained glass window of Twilight's coronation. "Were you planning on something that you have not told the princesses?"

At that moment, Discord sighed and placed his lion paw on the window and lowered his head for a moment, trying to pull himself together.

"I actually have," confessed Discord to Scorpan, looking up at him. "After your brother was re-imprisoned, I looked at a magic mirror and I saw all the ponies of Equestria plotting to hunt me down and destroy me, because I betrayed them all. I wanted to end the suffering by turning myself into permanent stone, so that I don't end doing it again. I went to the tree of harmony and commanded it to use the elements of harmony on me and since neither Princess Celestia or Princess Luna nor Princess Twilight and her friends were no longer connected with them, I would never be freed from my self-imposed stone prison."

Scorpan was shocked at this for he knew that Discord was a creature of chaos and without that chaos, then balance that made Equestria what it was would have been imbalanced.

"Discord," sighed Scorpan, shocked at what he had heard from him. "There is something that you need to understand. I was feeling the same way as you when I helped my brother absorb the magic from these ponies. I had plotted to rid myself of Equestria and I was stopped by three ponies: Starswirl and the royal sisters. They taught me that I could not run away from my troubles and that I had to face them. So, I went up to Tirek and said to him that I could no longer associate with him in his psychotic plans. You need to face your problems, Discord and so will I. But, we need to do this together, understand?"

Discord extended his paw to Scorpan's and the two of them shook hands and at that moment, a new friendship was made. But, their joy was short lived when the doors to the throne room opened as Equestria's four princesses plus Twilight's friends were waiting for them on the other side.

"It's time," said Celestia as Scorpan and Discord walked in and the trial of Lord Tirek was about to begin.

Chapter 14

"Tirek's Trial"

When the moment had come for Tirek to face the four rulers of Equestria, Discord and Scorpan joined their allies as Shining Armor and the royal guard brought the now cleaned, but still caged Tirek into the Canterlot throne room. The centaur growled as the shackles around his ankles were tightened further and the shackles around his wrists continued to stretch out his arms. As they walked him in, Shining Armor had the guard in front of the window depicting Twilight's princess coronation and used his magic to force Tirek to look at it.

"You think you could destroy the window of my little sister's coronation?" he snapped, determined to get back at him for attacking his wife and little sister. "Well, it's back and it is going to stay there, you monster!"

Tirek just shrugged it off as Shining Armor violently released his grip on Tirek's head. At that moment, Equestria's most dangerous enemy to date was brought into the throne room as those in front of him watched with disgust and determination to see justice carried out. Discord had transformed into a judge with a gavel and bench, setting the mood for this trial to be carried out. Lowering the cage down and with two guards on each side of him, Tirek looked up at his accusers and readied himself to continue his fight, trying to get back his ability to steal magic.

"Trying to steal your magic?" remarked Luna, smirking in a sly manner. "It's not going to work, vile villain. Your magic was permanently destroyed when Princess Twilight and the other elements of harmony returned you to Tartarus."

For the first time, Tirek's face began to drop from its determined look and he began to feel slightly afraid as the thought of losing his powers made him feel weak. But, he could still be manipulative and was determined to use it to his advantage.

"That's impossible," he thought, as he struggled against his bonds. "I may have lost my magic, but I can still use my words the same way I used against that traitor, Discord and that pathetic excuse of a brother!"

He looked over towards Scorpan, who merely just stood there folding his arms with a satisfied look on his face. At that moment, Celestia rose from her throne and walked down towards the caged Tirek, looking at him directly in the eyes.

"Do you know why you are here, Tirek?" she asked coldly, glaring at him. But Tirek didn't respond to this question. "You are here charged with crimes committed against Equestria, crimes that could result in you being put to death."

Tirek stayed silent and at that moment, Celestia grew cross and used her magic to force Tirek to look at her as everypony suddenly jumped at this behavior Celestia was displaying.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" she bellowed, using her royal Canterlot voice. "WHEN I ASK YOU QUESTION, I EXPECT YOU TO ANSWER!"

But, Tirek only chuckled at Celestia's rage as a small smirk came onto his face. His plan of using his words was about to take action.

"Oh, dear Celestia," he snickered, looking at her. "Do you think words will get you anywhere? Why you are still the pathetic and weak pony you were when I sent you and your sister and niece to Tartarus. Had I not lost my magic, I would have done it to you again."

This made Celestia even more cross as she released her grip on Tirek and threw him down onto the cage floor violently, the sounds of his shackles loudly rustling. After a moment, Tirek managed to get onto his feet and shake off the abuse that Celestia had imposed on him.

"Why don't you just surrender your magic to me now?" asked Tirek, rising to his feet. "I can see the fear in your eyes; you don't want to destroy me. You merely want to offer me the choice of being reformed like those two over there. Two creatures that I befriended, but managed to betray me like the pathetic creatures that they are and always will be."

He pointed over to Scorpan and Tirek, who both growled at Tirek with glaring eyes. Celestia then pointed her horn at Tirek's throat and snarled at him with her cold, icy angry voice.

"Leave them alone!" she snarled quietly, her horn glowing with raging magic as she walked around the cage. "I told you that you will not prevail, Tirek. And when I say words like that, then I mean it. Even without our magic, we were still going to find a way to defeat you and thanks to Princess Twilight and her friends, that prediction had come true."

"In addition," added Luna, joining her sister in swarming the cage. "You expected us to rot in Tartarus in the same manner as yourself. But Cerberus knew that we didn't belong in Tartarus and protected us from your allies who intended to kill us once and for all. Had it not been for him, we wouldn't have been alive when you were defeated.

This made Twilight get a lump in her throat as the thought of her mentors and sister-in-law being killed made her spine shiver in fear. It was bad enough losing her home and seeing her friends and Spike in danger, but having her fellow princesses killed made her feel afraid. Seeing her sister-in-law feel afraid, Cadence placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder for support. Seeing this as an opportunity, Tirek looked over towards the two youngest princesses.

"Are you trying to hide behind your savior, Princess Cadence?" mocked Tirek, seizing an opportunity to terrorize the leader of the Crystal Empire. "Afraid that I am going to take care of your pathetic husband and your subjects in your empire after I take care of you?"

This struck a chord with Cadence and filled her with rage as she raised her wings and with a death glare, she fired a blast of her magic right at Tirek's chest, causing him to roar in pain.

"Don't you dare mock my husband and my subjects like that!" hissed Cadence, not afraid to use her magic. "Talk to me like that again and I will personally destroy you the same way as King Sombra!"

This made Celestia and Luna feel concerned and Celestia had to step in to calm her niece down.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, stand down," said Celestia firmly and heeding her elder aunt's command, Cadence stepped down and still glaring at Tirek, went back over to Twilight's side. Still, this gave Twilight's friends a shock for they had never seen Cadence so angry. Feeling that he could get away with his words despite the pain that was being inflicted on him, Tirek then turned his attention towards his main adversary.

"Do you fear me, Princess Twilight?" he laughed. "Are you afraid I am going to destroy your castle the same way I destroyed your library?"

This did not sit well with Twilight at all and she leapt in front of Tirek with a look of pure anger on her face, blasting him with a ray of her alicorn magic, much to the shock of her friends. Like the blast fired by her mentor and sister-in-law, Tirek rose to his feet and chuckled slightly.

"Oh, Princess Twilight," he snickered, ignoring her anger. "Trying to stand up for all these pathetic ponies around you? You scare me even less than your fellow princesses."

But, Twilight was not going to continue standing for it as she stormed over towards Tirek, much to the hesitation of her friends and fellow princesses.

"Twilight, stand down," ordered Celestia, fearing that her youngest equal would do something rash.

"No Princess," cried Twilight as Applejack attempted to stop her, only to have her hat shoved into her face. "I need to have my say with you, Tirek!"

Twilight walked over to Tirek and much like Celestia, raised her glowing horn at Tirek's neck, a look of rage pasted on her face. Celestia wanted to stop Twilight from doing something foolish, but Luna raised a wing and allowed Twilight to face down the monster that had affected her the most.

"I speak on behalf of everypony here when I tell you that I hope you suffer for what you have done not just to my friends, but also to me!" she began, glaring at him. "All you ever wanted was power and greed, two things that you stop at nothing to get! Even if it meant destroying my home, putting my mentors and sister-in-law in Tartarus, using my friends as a way to get the alicorn magic and stealing magic that doesn't belong to you!"

At that point, tears began to form at the corners of Twilight's eyes when she decided to bring up the loss of her library.

"I want you to think about something even though that you don't care about how I feel," she continued, trying not to cry in front of her enemy. "I want you to know that when you destroyed my library, you only made yourself weaker instead of stronger. When you used my friends to get the alicorn magic, you made yourself weaker instead of stronger. The magic of friendship will prevail and that is something you will never take away from us! I hope you suffer greatly for what you have done, Tirek."

At that point, Twilight turned away from her enemy and walked back to Cadence and her friends, crying silently and holding her wings over her face, trying to not cry in front of Tirek. Moved by her youngest equal's speech, Celestia along with Luna turned to Tirek and began to pass down her judgment.

"Lord Tirek," she began, her eyes still locked on Tirek. "For your crimes committed against Equestria, we, the four crowned princesses of Equestria, hereby sentence you to be put to death by purification."

Despite having been heard that he was going to be put to death, Tirek showed no emotion as Discord slammed down his gavel and the guards came out to bring Tirek out to the Canterlot castle courtyards to be executed.

"Take him away," ordered Luna to the guards and Tirek was carried out of the throne room as Discord coldly looked down at him along with Scorpan.

"All you ever did was show me what a fraud friend you truly are," thought Discord as the throne room doors shut and everypony had gathered around an emotional Twilight. "Twilight was right; I hope you suffer for what you have done to my friends and to all of Equestria."

Chapter 15

"A Chance at Escaping Death"

On the night he was sentenced to death for his crimes against Equestria, Tirek had been brought to the caves beneath Canterlot with only several guards for company. He was still feeling the pain of the magic blasts that were inflicted upon him by Celestia, Cadence and Twilight. But, his determination to get himself out of this situation he was in remained in his spirit, although it seemed to be hopeless now that he was sentenced to die. Tirek was just about to fall asleep for the last time, when he heard the sounds of hoof beats and foot falls coming down towards him. He looked over to see Princess Luna and the last two creatures he wanted to see: Discord and Scorpan.

"What are you doing here?" grumbled Tirek, trying to stay strong. "Have you come to gloat like those other princesses?"

Luna decided to ignore the remark and reveal the reason to why she was down in the caves. As far as she was concerned, Luna was bringing news to Tirek that could help him save his life.

"We are not here to gloat," replied Scorpan as he looked down at his brother. "We've come to offer a choice to you that could help you save your life."

"Tirek, my sister is offering you a choice to be reformed like Discord and learn the magic of friendship," said Luna. "If you accept it, then you will have a chance to save your life. If not, you will be put to death in front of all the ponies you attacked. What say you then?"

Tirek did not like this at all and gritted his teeth at the princess of the night. A choice of becoming like his brother and Discord made Tirek feel angry and bitter. In his mind, Tirek would rather die than to become friends with the creatures that he hated the most.

"Why do you offer such a poor choice, Luna?" asked Tirek, stretching out one of his leg chains. "You know that I will never surrender to the likes of you and your sister. I would much rather remain in Tartarus than to be among you equines."

As much as it was against his better judgment, Scorpan decided to add his thoughts to the matter. This was his brother after all and he had to reason with him, as his parents would have wanted him to.

"Brother, listen to me," pleaded Scorpan, getting down on his knees. "Princess Luna is trying to save your life and this is your only chance to do so. We can learn the magic of friendship together and put our troubles behind us. Will you accept this offer?"

Discord then produced a piece of parchment and a quill with ink on it and handed it to Tirek for him to sign. Instead of signing it, Tirek snatched the quill and parchment from Discord's paw and ripped up the parchments with his hands, throwing the torn pieces back at the ex-master of chaos.

"That is what I think of your offer, Princess Luna!" retorted Tirek, his eyes blinking in rage of this offer. "If you think that I am just going to give up everything I have done to conquer Equestria, then you are wrong. You can't kill me whole. My spirit will live on and one day I will return to finish what I have started in a much better body than this one!"

"Will you just stop and think about what you are doing?!" snapped Scorpan, grabbing his brother by his beard. "I don't want to see you killed, only to see you suffer for what you have done. But, you are not going to listen to reason, are you? I've learned that power is what makes creatures like you evil, Tirek and I tried to reason with you then and I have tried to reason with you now, but it just doesn't seem to be working."

Scorpan released his grip on his brother and at that point, it seemed that there was nothing that they could do to convince Tirek to accept reformation.

"As much as I hate to say this," said Scorpan, knowing that this was the end of his brother. "I don't even consider you a brother anymore, Tirek. I refuse to be associated with a brother who would hurt ponies for the sake of his own freewill. I was lucky to have befriended these creatures and live among them like Discord is. But, when you die tomorrow in front of the ponies you attacked, I will be free of the influence that you brought upon me with your warped and twisted ways."

Tirek didn't answer to this ramble that his brother had made up and it was at that moment that Luna and Discord began to walk away while Scorpan followed, but not before he had a final word for his brother.

"My hate will die with you," he whispered and left with Luna and Discord. Tirek merely just stood there staring at Scorpan for a moment and it was at that moment, he felt defeated for the first time. Falling to his knees, Tirek looked down and growled to himself, knowing that he had indeed lost when his brother disowned him right then and there. Now, he was going to die for his crimes with all of Equestria watching.

Meanwhile, Princess Luna, Discord and Scorpan came up from the Canterlot caves where Celestia, Twilight and her friends were waiting along with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

"What did he say, dear sister?" asked Celestia, wanting to know how things had gone down in the caves. But, Luna's answer to her sister was brief and blunt.

"Just as I thought he would say," replied Luna firmly, as she began to walk away. "The execution will proceed as planned for tomorrow."

Everyone then looked up at Discord and Scorpan wondering what they thought about Tirek's decision, but they said nothing and followed Luna away from the scene. Celestia then looked over towards the platform where the execution would take place and saw Lock Down putting the finishing touches on the tools that he would use for this moment.

"We are continuing with the execution," said Celestia as Lock Down watched from the platform and nodded slightly, knowing that he was going to continue with this task of ridding Equestria of the monster they called Lord Tirek.

Chapter 16

"Tirek's Execution"

It was already morning by the time that crowds of ponies were already gathering at the execution platform for Tirek's execution. It seemed that everypony wanted a front row seat for this moment, especially after the hell that this monster had put them all through. In her guest chambers, Twilight could hear all that was going on as she got herself prepared to oversee the execution along with her fellow princesses as well as her friends. All of them were going to be wearing the dresses they wore at her coronation not too long ago because according to Equestrian tradition, the princesses must look authoritive when it came to executions. As Twilight finished with her hair and stepped into her regal shoes, she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, Spike," she asked her dragon assistant, who was in his tuxedo. "Can you answer that for me?"

"Sure, Twilight," replied Spike who then walked over to open the door and reveal a pair of royal guardsponies standing in the doorway. They walked over to Twilight and bowed down in front of her, much to her discomfort. She was still going to have to get used to this eventually, despite the fact that she was just plain old ordinary Twilight Sparkle

"We are awaiting your orders on the prisoner," said one of the guardsponies. "Princess Celestia has asked you to tell us when it is time for the execution to begin."

Twilight could see that the time was drawing nearer for the execution and after thinking for a moment, she gave her answer to the guardsponies. A look of determination came onto her face when she was asked this because she was mere moments away from giving the order to kill the creature that destroyed her library and harmed her friends.

"Is everypony else ready?" she asked, adjusting her crown slightly.

"The crowds are getting restless," said the second guardspony, looking up at Twilight. "They want an answer from you."

"Then you may bring him up," replied Twilight firmly. The guards then saluted Twilight and left her alone to retrieve Tirek from the Canterlot caves.

Later, Twilight and Spike walked over to the balcony overlooking the castle courtyard where her fellow princesses and her friends were waiting for her. They could all see the crowds were indeed becoming restless just like the guards had said to Twilight.

"I've never seen the crowds like this before," remarked Applejack, looking down on the crowds below. "This is even crazier than the Apple family reunion from a few years back."

"I completely agree," added Rarity, who had her opera glasses out. "It's bad enough to witness somepony killed, but to see ponies excited for it, ooh!"

"Why shouldn't they be excited?" remarked Pinkie Pie, who was munching on a bag of popcorn. "This is more entertaining than any party that I've ever thrown."

Still, while Twilight was happy for this moment, she could see that killing Equestria's most wanted criminal was only the beginning of the healing process for her and her friends. Tirek had done much more than steal magic and Twilight knew it.

Just then, a pony cried out that Tirek was coming and the crowds turned to see Tirek being wheeled out and tied to a pole, his arms and legs freed from the shackles that bounded him. A pony then spat on him and that was the signal for the crowds to pelt food, trash and anything else that they could throw at Tirek. The monster growled at this and gave a hateful look to the crowds that were booing and jeering at him.

"He's mine now," thought Lock Down sinisterly as Tirek was being wheeled in to the courtyard.

After a few moments, Tirek was brought to the platform and the guards then dragged Tirek up to the platform where Lock Down and his assistants were waiting for him. Once Tirek was pushed onto the platform and presented before the crowds, Lock Down raised his right front hoof to silence the crowd.

"Now behold the true evil of Equestria!" he called out to the crowds who responded with a loud roar, then he turned his attention back to the beaten and bruised Tirek.

"You will fall to your knees now," he ordered, using his magic to pull a tarp over a series of tools that he was going to use against Tirek. "Declare yourself the princesses' loyal subject and beg their mercy."

Finally he pulled off the tarp to reveal a large axe that Lock Down used for beheadings and Tirek knew that Lock Down was going to kill him. Even with his life most likely in the balance, Tirek was not going to go down like the sniveling coward that several enemies of Equestria came before him. He then looked up towards Twilight and her friends and gave them a cold stare, then turned his attention back to Lock Down, who could see that Tirek was not going to talk.

"Rope!" he called and the crowds cheered as the assistants pulled Tirek over to a large noose of rope and placed it around his neck. Lock Down gave the order to them and the assistants pulled the rope up as it began to choke Tirek, causing the centaur to struggle for air.

"That's it!" said Lock Down, watching Tirek go up and seeing his legs move wildly. "Stretch him! That's it!"

For a few good minutes, Tirek was dangling from the air by his neck and after a few moments, Lock Down motioned the assistants to release the rope and Tirek fell back onto the platform hard as the crowds let out a wild cheer.

"Pleasant, yes?" remarked Lock Down as Tirek continued to lay down on the platform for a moment. "You will rise to your feet now, kiss the royal symbol of Equestria on my cloak, and you will feel no more."

He put the symbol of the princesses in Tirek's face and this caused the centaur to merely scowl as he tried to raise himself back onto his feet. Seeing him rise to his feet shocked everypony, including the princesses from up in the balcony.

"Impossible!" gasped Luna, placing a hoof to her mouth. "How could he not be weakened by that, sister?"

"He is strong willed," replied Celestia, looking down at him and not her sister. "It's going to take more than that to break his spirit."

Lock Down then looked back at Tirek and decided to move on to the next phase of the execution which was the rack.

"Rack him!" ordered Lock Down as he walked away while the crowds cheered. The assistants then pulled Tirek to a pair of large poles and tied his wrists to one set of ropes and tied his four legs to another set. Lock Down then gave the signal and the assistants pulled on the rope, flipping Tirek onto his back and into the air as the force of the pulled ropes weighed down on him.

With each time that he was stretched tighter and tighter, the louder the crowds became. Tirek could feel his bones starting to break and began to buckle under the pressure of being pulled in this manner. Lock Down then looked up to him and smiled mockingly at him.

"Enough?" he asked and looked up to see how tight the rope had become. Seeing that it had reached it's potential, Lock Down ordered his assistants to lowered Tirek back onto the ground hard and at that moment, they dragged him back to the center of the platform where two more assistants had set up a large curtain with the front of a large table sticking out.

"Celestia, what's going on here?" wondered Twilight, turning over towards her mentor. "Why are they setting up that curtain?"

"It's another part of Tirek's punishment," she replied to her youngest equal. "The hanging was for his crime of stealing unicorn magic and the racking was for his crime of stealing Pegasus magic."

"The next part of the punishment is for stealing the earth pony magic," added Luna. "He will be disemboweled, but because of how repulsive it is, we have to keep the actual process out of the view of our subjects."

This made Twilight's stomach turn over hearing something like this, but knew that this was all part of the process that would avenge everything that Tirek had done to her and her friends. At that moment, two assistant rolled Tirek onto his back and the shadow of a large knife was placed into the hands of one of the assistants and Tirek gasped loudly as the knife was placed into his stomach and the third part of Tirek's punishment began. Lock Down looked down at Tirek as he continued to stay resilient despite what was happening to him at that moment.

"Tirek," he said coldly to him as Tirek continued to gasp loudly. "You are like all evil creatures of Equestria; like little foals, always fighting and making a mess out of Equestria, and then I've got to clean it up. There is one way you survive, surrender yourself of your evil ways and pledge your allegiance to the princesses."

Feeling his stomach being pulled out, Tirek raised his eyes up at Lock Down and with one final ounce of his strength, said his final words to him.

"Never," he said weakly and Lock Down prepared to issue the final part of Tirek's punishment as he ordered an assistant to bring out the large axe which would behead him. Gripping the axe tightly, Lock Down positioned the axe in the right spot of Tirek's neck and with one heavy swing he chopped off Tirek's head and it rolled onto the platform to the delight of the crowds, knowing the most evil creature in Equestria was now dead.

"Let this serve as a warning to all who desires to destroy this great land!" shouted Lock Down, raising Tirek's head for the entire crowd to see. "You attack these ponies and steal the alicorn magic of our rulers and you shall suffer the same fate as this creature!"

The crowd roared loud again and Twilight looked down at the deceased creature's head from up in the balcony and let out a large heavy sigh.

"My library and my friends have been avenged," she whispered quietly, a tear of relief streaming down her face, knowing that her greatest enemy was dead.

Chapter 17

"Aftermath"

It was over. Tirek, the demonic monster who had absorbed almost all of the magic of Equestria was put to death in front of the ponies he had attacked. Everypony cheered as Lock Down displayed Tirek's head before the crowd and then sent out a warning to all evil creatures who would want to attack Equestria for their own gain that they would suffer the same fate as Tirek if they did. Feeling satisfied of his death, Twilight and the others left the balcony and went back into the throne room as Lock Down came inside with Tirek's head in his hands followed by his assistants carrying Tirek's body.

"Your highnesses," he said bowing to them. "I bring you the head of Lord Tirek."

He took a bag containing Tirek's head and threw it down at Celestia' feet. She then picked up the bag and examined it, wondering what needed to be done with it.

"Whatever you decide to do with it is entirely yours," continued Lock Down. "My assistants will do whatever you say with the rest of the body."

Celestia then put the bag down and refocused her attention on Lock Down and his assistants, who then suddenly transformed back into Discord and Scorpan, who had believed to have disappeared for the execution.

"We finally extracted justice," remarked Discord, feeling a sense of satisfaction. "Now, Tirek has learned his lesson to an extent."

Fluttershy was shocked by Discord's actions and her mouth dropped open in horror. She could not believe that her closest friend would take part in something of this nature.

"I can't believe you took part in this," she gasped. "How could you?"

"We had to do it, Fluttershy," replied Discord, walking over towards her. "Think of how much pain and suffering Tirek had caused and how manipulative he was of me. This was my chance at revenge, surely you could see that?"

"I didn't, I really didn't," cried Fluttershy. Discord was feeling slightly bad for taking part in this, but he had to do it. It was the only way to fully get back at Tirek for manipulating him into joining his side and any other way was not as satisfying as the other.

"Sister, what do you think we should do with the head?" asked Luna, wondering what to do with Tirek's head. "We need to send it to a place where it can never be found."

Celestia thought about it for a second and had considered sending it to the moon like what she did with Luna one thousand years earlier. She thought that they should consider a last torturous punishment for Tirek, so that he would not rest in peace. Then there was the matter of the rest of the body, as she thought of possibly cremating it and dumping the ashes in the Everfree Forest. Then a thought came through her mind as she thought of when Tirek sent her, Luna and Cadence to Tartarus. Tirek was never charged with the stunt he pulled on them and began to think of a possible punishment for him, despite the fact he was already dead.

"Discord, Scorpan," she said to them. "Step forward."

Heeding the princess' order, they stepped forward as Lock Down looked on while at the same time, stared down at the casket bearing Tirek's headless remains and smiled down at it.

"What is it you want us to do your highness?" asked Scorpan, bowing to her along with Discord. "Give us the order and we will do it."

"I want you to take Tirek's body and bring it to Tartarus," replied Celestia. "I want you to give it to Cerberus as a thank you for looking after us while we were imprisoned."

Scorpan was very satisfied by this as even in death, his brother would not get any mercy from him or from the ponies he had attacked. Wherever his spirit was, Scorpan knew that his brother would be suffering from eternal torture for the rest of his days.

"We will take him to Tartarus at once," replied Scorpan and he and Discord got up and took the casket out of the throne room as Lock Down followed them out the doors. "My brother needs to have a date with Cerberus, headless or not."

"What can we do, Aunt Celestia?" wondered Cadence. "All we have is Tirek's head and we need to send it somewhere where no one can find it."

Celestia knew that her niece was right, if any evil creature could get their hands on Tirek's hands, they could use dark magic to bring him back to life, so leaving it in Equestria was not an option.

"There is a way," replied Celestia, putting the head on her throne. "I believe that we should give the final punishment against Tirek for his crimes by sending his head to the sun."

The throne room fell silent at this thought, for a banishment to the sun was not done in a long time. Those who were banished to the sun were done so alive and upon arrival, they would be burned up by the sun's heat. What's more, whoever is banished was not banished there alive, but rather after they were put to death.

"When do we do it, Celestia?" asked Twilight, eager to do this after all that had happened.

"We do it after the sun is lowered," replied Celestia who then left the throne room to lower the sun while Luna followed to raise the moon. After they left, Twilight and her friends looked back towards the bag containing Tirek's head sitting on the throne.

"Should we open it?" asked Applejack, considering the possibility of opening the bag and revealing the horror inside.

"Heavens, no," gasped Rarity, nearly fainting. "Why would we ever do such a garish thing, Applejack? Besides, I don't want any of that creature's blood getting on my dress."

"I'd love to open it," remarked Rainbow Dash bitterly. "And use it as a kickball for the fillies at school."

"You guys, nopony is going to open it or use it as a kickball," said Twilight firmly. "We are sending it to the sun and that's that. The more we wait, the more we suffer from the effects of Tirek's rampage."

Although they were feeling that they should extract their own brand of justice on the head, Twilight's friends backed away from the head and awaited Celestia and Luna's return where Tirek's final punishment would soon be carried out while Discord and Scorpan returned to Tartarus bringing the thank you present to Cerberus for looking after the princesses when they were imprisoned.

Chapter 18

"Burying Tirek Forever"

With his head about to banished to the sun, Scorpan and Discord traveled to Tartarus to bring Tirek's headless body to Cerberus, the three headed dog who had protected the princesses when they were imprisoned there not too long ago. They had to realize along with the princesses that all that had happened would never erase the pain that Tirek inflicted upon them all. Looking down at Cerberus, who was looking back up at them, Scorpan closed his eyes and together with Discord, who had transformed into a mailman, they opened the casket and still wrapped in the large plastic bag, dumped Tirek's headless body down to Cerberus who happily began to make the body his own chew toy.

"Enjoy your new toy, Cerberus," said Discord, excitedly. "Complements of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as a way of them thanking you for protecting them and Princess Cadence."

As Cerberus enjoyed his new chew toy, they quickly made their way back to Equestria where Scorpan was looking sad and Discord couldn't help but noticing. After all, Tirek was Scorpan's brother after all and had to show some sort of sadness.

"Come on, Scorpan," said Discord, happily. "You've got to get into the spirit of things, the creature who terrorized Equestria is gone for good. Surely you can see that?"

But Scorpan took no notice as he looked up at the blue skies that were outside the entry to Tartarus. In his mind, he felt that he could have saved his brother, if he could and help him understand that Equestria was more than either one of them had made it out to be.

"I can see that, Discord," replied Scorpan, looking over towards him, a slight smile appearing on his face. "But, I cannot help but wonder whether we were too hard on my brother. Even if he did what he did."

A forlorn came onto Discord's face when Scorpan had said that. He knew that by putting Tirek through all of the torture over what he had done made him realize that perhaps maybe that all of Equestria had gotten too puffed up in their minds over this individual.

"You have a point," sighed Discord, realizing that he too was to blame. "And all of Equestria will be after me next, even if I did face my troubles, I would certainly be no better off than Tirek was."

"I don't want you to suffer, Discord," replied Scorpan. "But, I wish now that I could have saved my brother and help him at least defend himself when we confronted him. But, that wasn't the case and it was by his stern belief that Equestrian magic was only meant to exist for him did we put Tirek through the torture. If he would have just listened to sense could I have saved him."

Discord was now beginning to understand the severity of what Scorpan was talking about. Tirek was put to death because he was a heartless creature who showed no remorse for his actions and was now beginning to fear that unless if he truly apologized for his actions, he would end up like Tirek and that was something that neither he, nor Scorpan, nor any of his friends would wish to see.

"Then there is something that needs to be done," said Discord as they approached Canterlot castle. "I need to make everypony in Equestria realize that I am truly sorry for what I have done with your brother."

They then both looked down to see that the crowds had already dispersed from the execution site, but something else was beginning to make them take notice. They began to see several ponies feeling sad and some were feeling sick to their stomachs. Even they began to feel a sense of remorse over this event that had just taken place.

"I think everypony now is beginning to see that they cannot go through another execution," remarked Scorpan, looking down on the Canterlot streets. "If there was ever a time to express your apologies for what you have done to these ponies, it is soon."

He looked over at Discord and knew that as soon as the excitement was downed, he would have to face the crowds of ponies and attempt to obtain their forgiveness and mercy. Nopony would go through another execution although some would be begging for Discord to be executed.

Meanwhile, the four princesses of Equestria were standing in the throne room around the bag containing Tirek's head and were now preparing to send it to the sun as Twilight's friends watched from a safe distance. Much like Discord, they were all wondering if they, themselves, were too hyped over all that had happened.

"Goodbye, Tirek, forever," said Celestia coldly as she, Luna, Cadence and Twilight aimed their horns at the bag and using all the magic that they possessed, fired four blasts of Alicorn magic at the bag and it levitated into the air and with one final flash of light, the bag was shot through the window and into the skies towards the sun where it soon disappeared from view.

"You know, I cannot help but ask," said Rainbow Dash, as the light of the Alicorn magic disappeared. "Did we really go too far in making Tirek pay for what he did to us?"

"The princesses had no other choice," replied Applejack, looking back to Rainbow Dash. "Tirek was perhaps the biggest threat to us in a long time and always will be unless they did something. You can see how everypony was filled with rage over this guy. If they didn't do it, then everypony would have taken matters into their own hands."

"I agree wholeheartedly," chipped in Rarity. "But, don't you think it was way too out of character for us to do such a thing to a living creature? Why I would never treat anypony any differently than they are."

"Unless if they were somepony that I would not invite to my parties," added Pinkie Pie, trying to lighten the mood. "Which we need to have to celebrate Tirek's true defeat."

The four other mares gave Pinkie a glare when she spoke that, because a party to celebrate such an event was completely out of the question.

"What?" asked Pinkie Pie, shrugged her shoulders. "I was just trying to get everypony's mind off the scary stuff."

But, Fluttershy could see that there was something else that was being aired and that was concerning Discord and his possible fate. She was now beginning to fear of possibly losing her closest friend to an angry mob of ponies and that unless she and her friends stood by his side, then there would be a repeat of what happened with Tirek.

"Fluttershy, is everything all right?" asked Rarity, as Twilight joined them. "You seem kind of quiet."

This caused the shy pony to break out of her train of thought and focus on her friends once again, her flower wreath that was on her head nearly covering her eyes.

"Nothing," she replied, looking away for a moment. "It's just that with Tirek gone, I'm worried that Discord would be next. Even if we did accept his apology after he betrayed us."

"You have a point there, Fluttershy," said Twilight, trying to comfort her friend. "Discord is truly sorry for what he did and while we did accept his apology, all of Equestria has not and he needs to get through to them. I'm pretty sure that we don't want to see our friend be put through the same manner as Tirek."

"Indeed," agreed Rarity. "It would be the only way to save himself from a date with Lock Down, even if he seems like a nice pony."

The ponies nodded in agreement as Celestia, Luna and Cadence watched from a distance while they had their magic recharged. They too understood that Discord needed to apologize for what he did and then they could avoid a repeat of Tirek's execution.

Discord was about to make his apologies known to all of Equestria and the Equestria Healing Process would be taken to another level.

Chapter 19

"Apologizing to Equestria"

In the days following Tirek's public execution in Canterlot, Discord had been thinking of a way to let Equestria know that he was truly sorry for betraying them and joining Tirek's side. Despite the fact that Scorpan's medallion was the final key that enabled Twilight and her friends to defeat Tirek, Discord was still a wanted criminal and feared that he could end up like Tirek, savagely executed for his crimes against the equines that he swore to protect. Finally having thought of a way, Discord arrived at Twilight's castle one night and sat in her throne room with what appeared to be a series of reporters for local newspapers from all over Equestria.

"They need to know, Princess Twilight," said Discord, who was now wearing the tuxedo he wore for Fluttershy's dinner party a while back. "It's the only way."

Twilight, who was very surprised to be hosting a series of mares and colts by the hundreds, decided to agree with Discord on the matter.

"I know it is, Discord," she replied, adjusting her crown and wings. "If you don't want to end up like Tirek, then you have to apologize."

Just then, a Discord lookalike beckoned to him and Discord knew that the time had come for him to make his apologies known. As Discord was about to sit on Twilight's throne, Fluttershy came in and stood next to Twilight.

"How do you think he will do, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy, looking over to her. "He looks nervous to be speaking about what he had done."

"I just don't know how everypony is going to react to this," replied Twilight. "All I can say is not everypony is going to forgive him for what he did with Tirek. But, there are some ponies who will listen and that would mean more to Discord than anything in Equestria."

"Well, we certainly listened," remarked Fluttershy as the reporters began to circle around Discord. "And I bet they will listen."

At that moment, a lookalike called for silence and another lookalike rolled out a large camera and pointed it directly at Discord as he sat there, looking posh and professional like a member of Equestrian society. Discord then cleared his throat and put on a pair of glasses as he began to speak.

"To all of Equestria," he began, as the reporters began to take down what he had to say. "I speak to you tonight to say that from the bottom of my chaotic heart, I want to say that I am greatly sorry for what I have done to all of you. I knew better than to betray you over to Tirek who, with my help, was able to absorb the magic of Earth, Unicorns and Pegasus ponies alike. You must also understand that Tirek had also managed to absorb my own magic as well and it was that moment that I had realized of the grave mistake I had made."

Several reporters had gasped at this, not knowing that Tirek had absorbed Discord's own magic and took that down along with the rest of what he had to say.

"I understand also that some of you want to destroy me as a result of my betrayal," continued Discord, as the reporters fell silent again. "But, there is something that you need to know: I was so depressed over my actions against you and had planned to turn myself to permanent stone with the magic from the tree of harmony. I had looked into a magic mirror of mine and saw groups of ponies planning to hunt me down and destroy me the same way as Lord Tirek was destroyed in Canterlot. I was about to finish myself off, but several dear friends of mine, who are also my family, stopped me and told me that they could never live without me."

Both Fluttershy and Twilight had tears forming in their eyes as Discord recalled that moment when they were at the tree of harmony.

"And I say this to you," continued Discord. "Violence like what had been done on Tirek is never the answer to any problems that come up in Equestria. By observing the recent events with Tirek, I learned that the only way to talk things out. If you ended up destroying me like Tirek, then the pains of Tirek's time in Equestria would only get worse instead of better. Some of you may still want to kill me, but I want you to remember something: I want you to look at yourselves in the mirror and say to your reflection 'Do you think that I am doing the right thing?' Then you will see that you are making the wrong mistake, as I had done. I thought that being friends with Tirek was the right thing, but I was wrong and from now on, I will be friends with the first friends I had ever made."

Fluttershy began to sob quietly as Twilight pulled her closer with one of her wings in an effort to hug her. Twilight was also close to crying as well as the tears began to fill her eyes.

"In conclusion," finished Discord. "Tirek is just one evil creature of Equestria that will not stop and nothing to gain the magic that you possess. If I am tasked with hunt down an escapee of Tartarus or any other prison, I will not defer and I will stay true to the lessons that all of you have taught me since my reformation. As of right now, I will no longer use my magic for evil and I will use my magic strictly for good for the preservation of this great land that is now my home. I thank you for giving me a chance of being one of you and may Celestia and Luna have mercy on us all."

Discord let out a long heavy sigh as the reporters began to leave the throne room and Discord erased all his magic that he had used to make his apology known. Once they were all gone, only him, Twilight and Fluttershy remained as Fluttershy ran over to hug her friend tightly.

"I'm proud of you for saying you're sorry," she said happily. "You did the right thing."

"Yes I did, Fluttershy," replied Discord, hugging her tightly. "Yes I did."

Chapter 20

"Moving Ahead"

In the days following Discord's apology to Equestria, many of its citizens were debating whether or not they should forgive Discord for what he did to them. Some were willing to forgive him while others were not that willing. Many of the ponies who he saw wanted to destroy him like Tirek were the ones who were willing to forgive him, particularly in Applelosa where they remembered their time that they had a land dispute with the buffalo tribes.

Discord had spent most of his time hiding in either his thinking tree or Fluttershy's cottage, in case if there were any ponies who wanted to bring him to Canterlot in chains, but he was sitting on the hilltop where he had been summoned to Canterlot by the princesses and bring Tirek back to Canterlot to face the ponies he had attacked for their magic. He was now waiting for anything to happen, whether it was good or bad news. As soon as he saw the sun about to go down, he saw a group of ponies and Scorpan coming towards him.

"All right," said Discord, placing a bull's eye on his chest. "It's time to face the music for what I have done to these ponies."

After a few moments, he could see that it was Twilight and her friends that were the group of ponies coming towards him. Seeing that he wasn't in immediate danger, Discord removed the bull's eye and began to feel comfortable.

"We have some good news, Discord," cried Pinkie Pie, dragging her party cannon behind her. "So good, that I brought my party cannon!"

"It sure seems that way," replied Discord. "Now what's this all about? What news did you get that was good?"

"Everypony has been responding to what you said," said Rainbow Dash, excitedly. "Most of them accepted your apology. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

Discord sighed happily at this and Fluttershy flew over to hug him as the others looked on. It seemed at that moment, he knew that he had been forgiven. However, he was still worried about the others.

"But, what about the ones who won't forgive me?" asked Discord, looking over at Twilight. "Aren't I still at risk?"

"You will still have a chance to redeem yourself, Discord," replied Twilight wisely. "We are more than willing to have you spread the magic of friendship with us all across Equestria and then you could be fully accepted for who you are."

This made Discord feel even more reassured knowing that he was going to be given a chance to give friendship to others just as Twilight and her friends had been tasked to do when the Friendship castle had come to be. However, Scorpan knew that his time was ending and that he needed to return to his homeland. He walked over towards Discord and gave him a very warming look.

"Discord, I hope you remember what I have said to you," he said. "You cannot let anypony get you into a state of wanting to rid yourself of Equestria. My brother is dead and gone so you can no longer be influenced by him. Before I go, I want you to promise me that you will never use your magic for evil ever again and only use it to spread the magic of friendship."

Discord then produced a halo and harp, strumming it sending harmonious lyrics through the air. Scorpan could see that he knew that his final message to Discord had not fallen on deaf ears.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly," replied Discord as Scorpan chuckled slightly. The two new friends then got together and embraced each other tightly as Twilight and her friends looked on. After a few moments, they broke apart and Scorpan made his way to the edge of the cliff.

"I wish you well in your future adventures, Princess Twilight," he said, bowing to her one final time. "And if any you need me at any time, send me a letter and I will come to you. But remember; just because my brother is dead, it doesn't mean that the memories of what he had done will ever go away. All you can think about is the future, you cannot look back on the past and only focus on the future."

Scorpan then turned to face the sky and spreaded out his wings as Discord and his pony friends looked on.

"Scorpan," said Twilight, looking up to him one last time. "Remember that you are always welcome back here any time you want and give my regards to Starswirl."

"I will, Princess Twilight," replied Scorpan as he took to the air. "And until we meet again, farewell to you all."

And they all watched as Scorpan took to the sky and headed back towards his homeland. They all waited until he was out of sight and then began to make their way back towards Fluttershy's cottage.

"You know, Scorpan's a really good guy," remarked Applejack. "I can't wait to see him again when he comes back."

"That is if he comes back," replied Rainbow Dash. "You never know what could happen next."

"But, whatever we do we face it together," stated Twilight. "Whether as friends or as a family, right, everypony?"

They all cheered and later that night, Discord returned to his thinking tree and stared back at the mirror who had showed him the ponies that wanted to destroy him. But, this time, things were much different.

"It seems to me that you are not the monster everypony thought you were," said the mirror. "Many ponies are willing to forgive you, although some may not and you will have to earn their respect back."

"Indeed," replied Discord, as he read a copy of the friendship journal. "Perhaps now you will show me all good things that happen in Equestria as opposed to the horror you showed me previously."

All the mirror could do was chuckle at that as it disappeared and Discord was left alone. He began to think of how far he had come since that dark day when he joined Tirek's side and how much he had changed since then.

Whatever challenges that Discord would face from here on in, he and the friends and family he made would face them…together.