Twilight looked through the small hole in the wall, staring at the ponies as they entered the chamber. Her heart started beating rapidly when she recognized the blue alicorn that followed two of the soldiers.

“Where is she? Who did this?” Trixie yelled, looking around angrily. “Find whoever took the statue and have them brought to me! I'll kill them myself!” She stomped her hooves angrily. The alicorn amulet was still hung around her neck and her eyes glowed with a dark, purple light. She paced back and forth before stomping a hoof again. The pillar exploded, coating the room with dust. “NOW!” The guards turned tail and ran.

“Twilight, don't yell,” a voice said near her ear. She barely managed to avoid screaming as she whipped around.

A red coated pegasus, wearing the Water Nation's armor, smiled at her. “I want to help you,” he whispered.

She stared for a few moments before looking back towards the hole in the wall, then him. “What's going on? Who are you?”

He looked very tired, but the smile didn't leave his face. “You've been gone for a long time, Avatar. There's a lot I'll have to explain. My name is Hornclipper and I'm a member of the resistance.”

“Resistance?” she asked softly. They'd won, hadn't they? No. Of course not. Something... weird was going on.

“HAVE DISCORD SUMMONED IMMEDIATELY!” Trixie's voice echoed from the hall, making Twilight gasp.

“It's not safe here, follow me,” Hornclipper said quickly before turning and trotting away. With no other option, she followed after him as they headed around the buildings, quickly leaving the chamber behind. They were in a city, she imagined a slowly being restored Canterlot. Most of the buildings were made of stone and had a very... bendy look to them.

“I need to know what's happening. Where are my friends?”

He took a deep breath. “I only know where a few of them are. Once you were all defeated and turned to stone--”

“Turned to stone?” Twilight asked softly, her eyes widening.

“Yes. All of you were. You were left here while the others were... sent away. I don't know where Princess Rarity was sent, but the element of laughter was sent to the Fire Tribe lands under the watch of Discord. Your other earth pony friend stands in Fillydelphia. The two pegasi were sent to the air nomads, though I can't tell you where. I believe one is in Cloudsdale.”

Twilight nodded, her head spinning slightly. “But... they're alive?”

“As alive as you were. We...” He took a slow, weak breath. “We thought you were gone. There are still ponies opposing him but... well...”

“But what?”

He let out another sigh. “It's, frankly, hopeless. Discord, quite literally, pops up in half our secret meetings. It's... infuriating. He'll just come in, steal our snacks and recline. He even judges our plans! He gave one of mine a yellow plus!”

“Yellow plus?”

“I... think it's better than a singing duck, but worse than a see-em-see table.”

“You're making absolutely no sense,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “Where are you taking me?”

“There are some ponies you'll want to see here.” There was a pause. “I'll admit, my... desire to stay here wasn't only for the proximity to you. Trixie now rules the Water Nation and has... kept the most dangerous threats to her reign under close watch.” He stopped and looked down. “Could you bend the earth, here?” He said, stopping near the walls that surrounded the city. “Going down, not out. The dungeons should be below us.”

“The dungeons? I thought you--”

“Your companion, Spike is housed there. As are Princess Sweetie Belle and her... friends.” Perhaps it was the darkness of the night, but she swore he was blushing. If only-- The sun suddenly rose, making it easier to see. He was definitely blushing.

“Spike is here? Wait, Princess Sweetie? Does that mean Celestia and Luna are, as well?”

“No. They haven't been seen since your defeat. It... is believed that Trixie executed them, or Discord has them. Either way, the ruler would not allow them to remain as threats.”

Twilight nodded. She then tapped the ground and they began to sink down into the dirt as the world closed up overhead. They kept sinking and she reached out with her bending, feeling as they went. There were definitely ponies down below, far below. “I need more information,” she said softly.

“We have no time. You need to take them and flee. There are ponies who... hate Trixie. But there are many who would still fight you. You're our last hope. When Trixie realizes you've escaped, she'll come here. If you're caught now, we're all doomed.”

Twilight gave a slow nod. The ground opened under them and she gently glided down to the ground. Hornclipper yelped and fell. “Ow... a little warning would have been nice.”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She looked around the dungeon, her eyes widening. There were three young mares asleep in one of the many cells, but they didn't interest her. What interested her was the cell furthest from the entrance, a tiny little thing with just a small bed. And a tiny, little baby dragon laying on top of it. She ran to the bars and let out a little squeal of delight. “Spike! SPIKE! Wake up!”

The dragon grumbled and rolled over, his back to her. She rolled her eyes before gripping him in her magic and yanking him out of his bed. He let out a startled yelp. “HEY! Put me down! What do you think-- Twilight?”

She pulled him to the bars and wrapped a hoof around him through the metal rods. Tears began to flow down her face as she held the dragon as close as she could. “O-oh, Spike. You wonderful, wonderful l-little dragon. I thought... I thought I'd never see you again.”

“S-same here,” he said softly.

Twilight just held the dragon, her entire body shaking. The last time she had seen him he had been a corpse on the ground, his scales shattered and broken. Now though, he was whole. He was alive. She took a deep breath. “Okay, let's get you out of here, okay? This is a jail break.”

“Avatar?” a voice said, making her turn around. The three mares were up now, staring at her. One was a small white unicorn with a light pink mane, Sweetie Belle. Princess of the Water Nation and younger sister to Rarity. The next was an earth pony with a yellow coat and a bright red mane, Applebloom. Long lost little sister to Applejack and an earth bender. The last was an orange pegasus with a light purple mane, Scootaloo. The three stared at her with a mix of awe and horror. She couldn't help but notice they were all covered in bruises and scrapes.

“She's real,” Hornclipper said softly. “Come on, it's time to get out of here.”

“Y-you came back,” Scootaloo said softly.

The stallion nodded. “Of... of course. What you said was true. I had no...” He shook his head. “There's no time. You need to go. Avatar, try to get them out. I'll delay the guards and try to send the search off in the wrong direction. Head north.”

“Hornclipper, wait!” Scootaloo called after him. “What I said before, I didn't mean--” The door closed behind the stallion, drowning out her words.

Twilight turned to the bars. Spike was first, she lightly pushed him away and walked to the lock on his door. Fire formed on the tip of her horn and she pushed it forward gently. The flame seared out, slowly melting the lock as the dragon watch.

“Wish my flame was that strong,” he mumbled softly.

Twilight smiled, though she kept focusing. The lock was still very durable and was melting very slowly, but sure enough it soon gave into the heat. She pushed the door open with a smile and the dragon leaped into her arms.

“I can't believe you came! Where have you been? I saw the statue but--”

“There's no time for that,” she whispered before looking towards the door. “We need to go, come on.”

“What about them?” he asked, pointing to the three mares.

Twilight looked back to them. On the one hoof, they had spent the last year trying to kill her. Well, her last year. But that was under Discord's influence. Hornclipper had helped her here, too. Without him, she wouldn't have Spike. She moved to the bars and slowly began searing through the lock.

The lock fell far faster and she smiled at the mares. “Come on. We're going.” She held out her hoof towards the wall and tried to bend it open. It didn't move.

“It's not actual stone,” Applebloom said with a sigh. “She knew better than tah surround me with rock. Only actual rock is the roof.” She glanced to Scootaloo. “Ah... think she found it funny tah have our only method of escape unreachable.”

Twilight blinked and looked up at the roof. She let out a slow groan, before flying up and bending it. “Fine, I'll carry you each up, one by one. But we need to do this fast.”

------

When they finally got up to the roof and back outside, this time outside the wall, the ringing of large bells filled the air. She froze and looked around, but there was no sign of them having been noticed.

“Is it Hornclipper?” Twilight asked softly.

“He did say he'd distract them for us,” Spike said softly.

“That foal,” Scootaloo said softly. “He's an idiot, he's going to end up getting himself killed.”

Sweetie gently reached out and patted her friend's back. “It's okay. He's lasted this long here, he'll be fine. He knows what he's doing.”

“Yeah,” Applebloom said with a nod of her head. “We need ta get outta here. The longer we loligag about, the longer he'll need tah lead 'em in circles.”

Twilight nodded. “Come on. Let's go.” She looked around before pushing her hooves down and the ground swallowed them up. She pushed out her hoof and a tunnel formed. “Everypony stay close.” Her horn glowed with a small flame, giving them a little light. “We'll go back out once we're under the cover of trees.”

They slowly walked forwards. Spike coughed after a few minutes. “So, uhhhh, did anypony else see... well, I mean. The trees. Did anypony notice anything... a little odd about them?”

“Like the fact they were gingerbread trees?” Twilight asked softly.

The other mares let out sighs of relief. “I was afraid I'd gone insane!” Scootaloo said quickly.

“Ah was startin' tah think all that prison food had finally gotten tah me.”

“It's Discord,” Twilight said softly. “He's... there's no telling what he's done to this world. I'm going to have to stop it, though.” She looked back. “I need information though, now. What do you all know about what's going on here?”

“Not much,” Sweetie said softly. “Hornclipper told us things, but it's all just... different now. Everything is so weird. Some days it's as if gravity turns off, other days the clouds replace the ground, or the world is turned upside down or... there's no telling what happens. We only got a small bit of it, being locked away, but Hornclipper told us all he could.”

The alicorn nodded. “I saw the bruises and... marks across you. Did Trixie do that?”

There was a moment as the three mares froze in place, before letting out a collective groan. “Actually, we did that to each other,” Applebloom said softly, her voice filled with shame.

“We've been... fighting a lot,” Sweetie said softly, coughing a little. “Some things were said...”

“A lot of things were said,” Scootaloo mumbled gently.

“I had to listen to all of it,” Spike muttered. “It was like listening to three angry fillies. You'd think they hated each other half the time.”

“I thought you three were great friends, though?” Twilight asked, glancing back. “Discord doesn't have any more influence over you, does he?” Their eyes weren't glowing at least.

“We were! We are! He doesn't!” Sweetie said, shaking her head. “With your defeat and all our losses and... I guess it just got to us. We... just felt so mad at each other. We... didn't actually-- oof!” She ran into Twilight, who had come to a stop.

The alicorn turned and sat down. “Apologize to each other.”

“W-what?” Applebloom asked, staring at the mare as if she'd lost her mind. “We needta go. There's a--”

“The world has lasted this long without me. It will last a while longer. Apologize to each other. You... never know when you won't get another chance.”

The three mares looked nervously between each other, shuffling their hooves and squirming in place. Finally, Scootaloo shook her head. “I'm sorry. I didn't... Sweetie, I didn't mean what I said about your mother or aunt. I think your water bending is great and none of this is your fault. I know what Discord did to you, how he changed you. I'm sorry I blamed it on you. Applebloom, what I said about your sister and your family, I'm so, so sorry. None of it was true. And... Hornclipper...” She looked back towards the way they came. “I'm sorry I called you useless. You were... I'm so sorry.”

The other two took their queue and within a few moments apologies were flying through the air as the ponies leaped into each other's hooves and hugged out the pain and torment from their harsh words. Finally, once it was over, Sweetie turned to Spike. “Spike. I... am so sorry for everything I did to you and to your kind. I was... I was desperate to have my sister all to myself. But what I did to you was just cruel and unfair. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I hope you'll find it in your heart to one day forgive me.”

Spike blinked and gave a little shrug. “Yeah, whatever. We need to keep going,” he mumbled as he turned away. “Come on.”

Twilight sighed softly. It would take time for all the pain to go away, but at least he wasn't yelling at her.. “That was very good, girls. Now, we need to know where to go next. Hornclipper mentioned Fluttershy and Rainbow are both being held in the Air Nomad lands. Do either of you know where?”

“I do know that one of them is in Cloudsdale, under watch of the Wonderbolts. I don't know where--”

“Wait, the wonderbolts?” Twilight asked, hope filling her. “Then they're still around? The other countries are still fighting? They haven't lost yet?”

There was a momentary pause before the young princess let out another sigh. “Oh, they've lost. They've all lost. It's... not as good as it sounds.”

Twilight sighed. “Explain, please.”

“The nations have fallen apart. All of them answer to Trixie now. But... I think she answers to Discord. He's... I don't know what he's doing. He's in the Fire Tribe lands, doing something... big. According to the rumors. No pony knows what.”

Twilight nodded before looking up. She opened the ground and peered out. It was night time again. The trees were surrounding them. They were covered in icing and decorated with a few candy rocks. “Come on, we'll travel this way,” she whispered before helping them out and then closing the hole.

“Won't it be better for us tah hide underground?” Applebloom asked.

“That'll be slow, tiring and we'll have to keep coming up for air anyway,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “We'll travel on hoof. If we notice anypony coming, we'll hide underground.” She started trotting, glancing towards the city. She paused as some chocolate bunnies hopped by. They barely had time to get under cover as the sun came up. “The other kingdoms then, are they enslaved? Does Trixie have her forces there?”

“As far as we know, she doesn't,” Sweetie said softly. “It's... Discord. Ponies tried fighting him but there's no point. Bending doesn't work on him, nothing seems to hurt him. He just... laughs it off. He can alter a kingdom with a snap of his fingers. Now it's just all about survival.”

Twilight nodded again. “Is he... killing ponies?”

“Not that we know of. But he's... changing them. Altering them. We don't know the full effects. But I imagine we'll see it before long,” Sweetie said softly. “You've returned though, I'm sure you'll be able to beat him, and Trixie.”

The alicorn looked out over the world ahead of them, where the grass had turned purple and very wet. “I can, maybe. But I'll need my friends help. Cloudsdale and somewhere else. Did... you by any chance here any information about where the other is?”

Scootaloo coughed and raised a wing. “Well, Hornclipper did mention it was somewhere up in the mountains. Some small village, though they didn't know which one.”

Twilight froze for a moment, before a grin formed on her lips. “Ponyville. Of course. Right where all this began.” She gave a light chuckle. “Discord, if you're going to make it so easy, well...” She trailed off. Something told her it wasn't going to be as easy as all that. That monster wouldn't let it.

------

Hornclipper struggled to keep his head low as he surged with the other soldiers, on a wild goose chase south. He prayed his distraction would be enough as he glanced towards Trixie, the alicorn leading the charge from the sky.

He struggled to keep calm, even as he swore he heard an evil, cruel laughter echoing from the distance.