Morning arrived fairly quick for the small group of ponies in the throne room. They had stayed up for most of the night to discuss the best way to end this conflict as quickly as possible without having it end in the destruction of the universe. Unfortunately for the group however, the only ones to remain awake during that morning was Luna and Discord. The rest had fallen asleep while in the midst of the discussion.

Upon time for the sun to rise, Luna took it upon herself to do the honors since her sister had stayed up to help plan for the oncoming fight. Discord on the other hand didn't really need sleep since he was held captive by his stone prison for so long. The two made their way quickly into the dungeons once the sun had risen, making their way to Midnight's holding cell. They stopped however on the outside of the door for a moment as the enchantments around the room were lifted before they entered to see the Alicorn still within his shackles and chains, strapped to the floor.

"My goodness, that seems a little cruel even from my perspective." Discord spoke up but stopped as a soft gasp was heard from Midnight.

"DISCORD?! Is that you?" Midnight spoke up causing the room to fall quiet for a moment.

"Yes, it's good to see you aga......" He was cut off as a loud groan was heard from the chains being pulled and tugged at, a loud snap as one of them shattered under Midnight's strength.

"I'm................going to............*SNAP* kill you..........." He snarled as another set of chains groaned before snapping.

"What is this power?! You should not be able to have so much strength while under such enchanted restraints." Luna spoke up causing the dark Alicorn to pause for a moment.

"Luna? W-what are you doing with Discord?! Don't tell me he captured you?" Midnight panicked for a moment before doubling his efforts at escape, His horn starting to glow underneath the horn restraints as he growled out, forcing every ounce of magic he could into his horn to break free. A soft crackle could be heard as the rings began to glow, starting to melt from the sheer force of magic behind them.

"Midnight, calm yourself. Discord is here to help us." Luna stated causing Midnight to pause for a moment before continuing his escape.

"Let me see for myself." He snapped back with a snort of fire as the horn restraints finally melted away, his magic coming to life as the rest of the restraints exploded off of him. He stood up quickly looking to the door, his iris' a bright glowing red while the white had turned green, a purple mist coming from the corners of his eyes as his rage boiled. He snarled to the draconequus baring his pony teeth, they no longer holding the sharpness of the fangs from his were form. After a moment of looking from Luna to Discord, he gave an audible snort before calming himself enough to where his eyes returned to their normal colors.

Luna stepped forward looking a little uneasy as to what she had just witnessed.

"Midnight, come with us to the throne room so that we can fill you in on the details of Discords return." she stated as she turned to the door and began to head out only to stop as a soft thud fell from behind her. She turned back to see the dark Alicorn completely out cold and on the floor of the cell.

"He must have been up all night in his were form trying to break free from his shackles." Discord stated as he picked the Alicorn up and shrunk him down to the size of a young colt, walking behind Luna as he carried him.

The three arrived into the throne room to the smell of fresh coffee and breakfast. Most of the others had awoken while Luna and Discord had gone to get Midnight.

"I see that you have returned with Midnight.......... as a foal?" Celestia spoke up seeing Midnight being carried by Discord.

"Isn't he just precious like this?" Discord picked as he pressed a talon to the foals belly as he attempted to tickle him. Midnight eyes shooting open upon contact. He stared at the draconequus for a moment before his eyes narrowed and his horn lit up into a blinding white light. Midnight stood in his normal form beside Discord who was now inside of an orb shield floating a few feet from the ground, the dark Alicorn glaring at him.

"Alright Discord, explain yourself." Midnight spoke up as the rest of the room just gawked at him for a moment. Discord sat down inside the shield, crossing his legs and arms as he gave a disgruntled look toward Midnight and then to Celestia.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell him to release me?" Discord grumbled.

"Midnight, would you......." Celestia was quickly cut off by Midnight as her turned his head to the side slightly to glare at her.

"SILENCE! I have experienced nothing but hell and torment for the past few days, I have watched those I love and cherish killed before my eyes in the form of a spell cast by YOUR daughter Discord. I will not under any circumstance sit idly by and let something like that happen again, even if it means taking the initiative and capturing you ahead of time before anything can be done by your chaotic magic. So help me, if I EVER learn that you have harmed even a single hair on anyponies head, not even an entire platoon of God's can keep me from tearing you apart."

The room fell to a dead silence before Celestia's horn began to glow, surrounding Discord's shielded body as she began to float him over to him but stopped as a loud snap was heard, Midnight's magic tripling in an instant and breaking her hold on him.

"Tia, I am not sure if you are aware or not, but it's rude to take things without asking, especially if that thing is currently being restrained without reason to be let go." Midnight spoke out with ice in his voice.

"Oh this is pointless." Discord stated as he snapped his fingers, disappearing before reappearing in the same exact spot. "What?!" He shouted as he did it several more times before groaning out in annoyance.

"Like my God proof shield Discord? Nothing gets in or out of it. So somepony needs to start talking, and quick. I'm loosing my patience."

"Midnight, Discord was released the other day and came to us to tell us about what is happening with Screwball. Apparently she has gone insane with power and wants to destroy harmony. He is here to help us put her down." Celestia spoke up as she trotted forward but stopped as she saw Midnight's glare.

"Please, understand that he means no harm. He cannot use his powers while his daughter still exists. She has thrown the balance between harmony and chaos off balance. It will need restored before he can do anything at all." She stated as she made her way over to the Dark Alicorn, giving him a worried smile as the others just continued to watch.

Midnight looked into Celestia's eyes for a moment before turning to Discord as his horn lit up making the draconequus glow for a moment inside the shield before he dropped it, releasing Discord.

"Let it be known that you are now under a very unique spell that I have just created. If at any time you hurt anypony, you will experience a pain unlike any you have ever felt." Midnight spoke up only to see Discord smirk at him.

"Really now? Are you not aware that a God cannot be placed under any type of curse." He chuckled for a moment before seeing Midnight continue with his smirk.

"Then why don't you see if it works or not? Come on, try to hurt me." Midnight chuckled.

Discord stood there for a moment as he looked Midnight up and down once before reaching his his taloned hand out and flicking Midnight's nose. Upon contact however, Discord seized up as a bolt of lightning shot through his body. He left out a puff of smoke from his mouth before falling over onto the floor with a thud, little sparks of electricity still jumping over his body.

Midnight stepped forward as he glared at the draconequus for a moment before speaking. "I'm back to my old self once again, which means that any spell that I want to create. is mine to command. And just to make sure that nothing like this happens again." Midnight stated before his horn lit up with several different colors as he began to cast multiple spells onto himself.

"Midnight?" Twilight spoke up while looking at him oddly.

"Just countermeasures for anything that gets flung at me doll." He stated before his horn went back to its normal color while his body began to shrink for a moment, glowing softly before his human form was seen.

"That spell took every last bit of magic I could muster. Good thing it stays in effect even while I'm human." Charles smirked.
"Hey! Discord! Wake up." Charles stated as he jabbed the draconequus gently in his ribs making him roll over with a giggle.

"Stop that, I'm ticklish." He laughed for a moment before opening his eyes as looking up to a human who was staring at him with an annoyed expression.

"Oh...........no you didn't............" Discord spoke as he slowly got to his feet and stood. His vision meeting and then lowering as he towered over Charles who just kept his annoyed expression toward Discord. "You do realize that you have no magic and no way to defend yourself don't you?" Discord chuckled before seeing Charles smile at him causing him to flinch slightly.

"Try me." Charles smirked.

"ENOUGH!" Luna shouted out in the royal whee, causing both of the males to turn their attention to her in surprise. "We don't have the time nor the privilege to fight amongst one another. We have a war to fight and win, and you two are acting like foals in a school yard ready to fight." She puffed angrily. "So if you would be so kind as to shut your traps and stop trying to kill one another, we can get to business."

Charles and Discord gawked at her for a moment, Charles giving a slight blush upon seeing Luna being so commanding. Discord leaned slight onto Charles from behind, placing his paws onto his shoulders as he spoke into his ear.

"Bossy isn't she? But I can tell you like that about her." Discord began to chuckle but stopped as Charles curled his hand into a fist and quickly swung it up and to the side of his own face, punching the draconequus right in the nose, making him fall back onto the floor holding it as he spoke out in a muffled tone.

"GEEEZE! Cahn't ah Gawd mahke a doke wiffout giting hewt?!" He groaned in pain as he stared up to Charles who just glared at him from over his own shoulder.

"Charles........" Celestia began causing him to point to Discord.

"He started it!" He grumped before crossing his arms.

"Awwwww did I hewt da babies feewings?" Discord chuckled.

"THAT'S IT!" Charles erupt as he turned and lunged at him, Discord screaming out like a little girl before stopping as Charles floated in Celestia's magical grasp just a few few from him.

"Charles, that will be quite enough. You two can beat each other to death later on, but for the time being we need to keep our heads together and formulate a backup plan to our current one. As well as filling you in on what we have already gotten down so far." Celestia stated as she floated the human over and sitting him down between the elements. His three ladies coming over and hugging him to try and ease his tension. Which surprisingly seemed to melt away as the snuggled into him lovingly.

"Fine, but let it be known, I don't trust him in the least right now. Not after what he pulled the last time." Charles spoke out toward him causing him to sigh.

"I'll get your friendship back, even if it kills me to do so." Discord spoke as he gave a disheartened smile toward Charles.

"Let us hope that it does not evolve into that Discord." Luna stated as she stepped up to the table. "Now then, let us go over the plans and get Midnight, er.... Charles, up to speed."

Over the next hour, the group spent a lot of time going over the basic plan that they would use in order to capture or in the needed event, kill Screwball. The entire time while going over the plan, Charles kept rubbing his chin, deep in thought before finally speaking up.

"Girls," He began only to cause Discord to clear his throat and raising a brow. "As I said, girls." He stopped to see Discord throw his hands up in the air in defeat. Charles smiling at his frustration. "This plan isn't going to work."

"What do you mean it isn't going to work?" Twilight asked, looking confused. "Both of the princess' and even my brother came up with this plan." She grumbled, looking quite annoyed toward her fiance.

"I'm not here to degrade what you guys are saying about this plan. I just know that it will fail when the time arrives." He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Explain." Rarity spoke up from beside him.

"Alright, did any of you take into account that Screwball has gone insane and will use all of her power to kill anything in her path that stands in her way of taking over this world?" Charles asked as he looked around seeing sheepish expressions.

"Right then, let me prove something to everyone." He stated as he stepped over to the side of the throne and pulled out a dagger from a hidden opening and tossing it onto the floor amongst the group.

"Shining Armor." He spoke out garnering the white unicorns attention. "Pick up the knife."

Shining Armor stepped forward as his magic grabbed the knife from the floor and pulled it up to in front of him. Charles took in a deep breathe before starting again.

"I need everyone to remain calm and to not interfere." He stated before looking directly to the white unicorn. "Now stab me."

Everything stopped at this as the group gawked at Charles in disbelief.

"Are you insane?! I'm not going to stab my friend." He spoke up, tossing the knife back onto the ground.

"Then your going to die." Charles stated as he pulled a dagger from the same spot he had pulled the other from and began to run toward Shining armor. Every horn in the room lit up as they all sent spells flying toward Charles but they all bounced off of a shield that was surrounding him. He began to close the gap quickly before lunging at Shining Armor.

In a flash the knife was pulled from the ground by Shining Armors magic and then plunged into Charles chest as he was held in the air by the knife buried to the hilt into his chest. Everyone stared in shock, Rarity falling over unconscious upon seeing her loved one being stabbed before her eyes. Charles hung there for a moment before dropping the knife in his grasp to the floor, letting it clang noisily against the stone floor.

After a few seconds Shining Armor lowered the body to the floor before it jumped backwards off of the knife, surprising everypony in the room.

Charles stood up as he brushed himself off giving Shining an approving glance. "I'm glad you took the initiative and did what you had to do."

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Shouted Twilight as she rushed over to Charles, staring at the spot where the knife had impaled him only to see nothing there, just a red spot from the hilt having held him in the air for a short time.

"I want you all to pay attention to what I am about to say." He started but stopped as a hoof met him across the face. He turned his head slowly back to see Twilight glaring at him through watering eyes.

"I'm sorry for scarring you all, but there is something you must understand. An enemy can always use magic to confuse you into believing that they are your friend. If the moment arrives when you know that they are not who you think they are, you need to take the first strike before they have a chance to retaliate. Screwball will stop at nothing to hurt any and every living thing in existence just to achieve her goal. You cannot second guess yourself if you have the opportunity to take her life. I know it is a hard decision to make. But if you hesitate, you, as well as many others could perish at her hoof. Is that understood?"

There was a few moments of silence before Discord appeared at Charles side, picking up the knife and quickly jabbing it into his side once before pulling it out and looking at it funny. There was a small gasp from the crowd as he began to stab Charles all over, Charles giving him an annoyed glance before Discord stabbed a little to hard causing Charles to grunt in pain for a moment and send another lightning bolt through Discord who quickly fell over smoking again. The knife flipping out of his hand and sticking the edge into the floor.

Twilight went over to the knife and pulled it from the ground in her magical grasp and stared at it before scraping the blade along the floor sending sparks out from it.

"This is a real knife?!" She squeaked out in horror as she dropped it, making it clang against the floor.

"I enchanted it Twi, It won't hurt anypony unless it is in my knowing grasp. Even then it will only hurt those I want it to." He stated as he picked the knife up and ran it across his arm, shaving off a few pieces of hair, then quickly lifting it up and slicing straight through his arm, the blade disappearing as it went through his arm not leaving a scratch.

"Now do you understand the concept of why your plan will not work. It delves onto the fact that you didn't include that Screwball is willing to kill for what she wants. I am sorry to say this, but our actions must be nothing less than lethal at this point for the oncoming war. Fight to win, or die trying."

A silence filled the room as the words sunk in. Everypony knew what they had to do, but could they do it when the time came?