The mood was tense as the six mares continued on their journey through the dense forested land around them. Each of Twilight’s friends looked at her, as if they were now travelling with a completely different pony. But, in spite of this, the young alicorn never let her eyes stray from where she was heading, partly out of determination to see this task completed, but mostly because she feared having to look her friends in the eye again after this. So, they headed forward, as always, and just as Twilight had said not long ago, they soon reached a familiar clearing. There, right ahead of them, was a deep gorge that separated one stretch of land from another, with only a tiny rope bridge connecting the two. And there, right across the bridge from them, was the castle of the two sisters. This once-beautiful structure, that in ancient times served as the very heart of Equestria, now lay in ruins, crumbling from a thousand years of neglect. It was sad to see such an important piece of their history this way, but even so, the mares knew they had a task to do. So, they watched as Twilight began to walk, not in the direction of the bridge, but rather, off to the side. Although confused by this, the mares noted, to their surprise, that there seemed to be a stone staircase there, leading right down into the gorge. They didn't remember seeing this the first time, though that was most likely because the place was darkened by night at that moment.

Ever so slowly, the mares each began to make their way down the ancient stairs, taking great care not to move too fast, lest one of them crack beneath their hooves. And to their credit, that did indeed happen on one or two occasions, with Rarity in particular being taken aback when a whole stair actually collapsed beneath her, with its fragments falling into the great chasm below. Although shocked from this, Rarity and all of the rest of the mares quickly recovered, and resumed their journey. It took some time, a good ten minutes or so, but eventually, they reached the bottom of the canyon. The place was, if possible, even more foreboding than the Everfree. It was dark, littered with cobwebs and the signs of other vile creatures, not to mention all the pieces of broken land and castle that seemed to have fallen down here over the years. There was no doubt in anypony's mind that none of their kind had set hoof here in a very long time. But, they kept on moving, and soon enough, they began to see a dim light up ahead of them, almost consumed by the gloom around it. Gaining a look of great determination, Twilight upped the pace, as did her friends, and soon enough, they arrived at their destination; the chamber of the Tree of Harmony. And when they did, they looked on with shock and awe in equal measure.

The tree was, by all account, a magnificent sight. A massive, almost crystalline figure, that shone in the dark of this place, even after a thousand years without its great power. Upon it were the symbols of their Elements, the star, the butterflies, the lightning bolt, the apples, the diamonds, the balloons, and even the sun and moon of Princess Celestia and Luna. One looked at this thing and they knew that it was both ancient and important, with what little power it still had almost being felt just from looking at it. But, it was also clear that its glory days were long behind it, as massive leaves from its branches would occasionally fall to the ground as they stared. But that was only the start, for Twilight looked on in horror to see that there were very clear signs of somepony, or something, having seriously damaged it. There were claw marks all along its base, with massive chunks having been chipped away. In some cases even a whole branch had been snapped off, and there, much like in the aforementioned marks, sap was oozing out, almost as if it was bleeding. Though Twilight was at a loss as to who could have done such a thing, she was soon given her answer. For there, right at the base of the tree, was a creature that caused her to go as white as a sheet. A mixture of many different beasts, who looked to the tree with utter fury.

"Dis...Discord?"

The ancient spit, who once terrorized Equestria with his great power, now stood without it. Mortal and frail, he had not noticed the mares enter, and the latter group soon found themselves approaching him. They saw, to their shock, that it was he who now attacked the tree, striking it with the claws on his mis-matched hands as best he could, though in his weakened state he could only do small damage at a time. Though, as Twilight and the others approached him, they saw that he was far from healthy himself. Aside from struggling to breathe, as he had been when they last saw him, he also bore many clear marks at having had bad encounters with the beasts of the forest. Scratches from claws, semi-bleeding spots where perhaps he'd been bitten by a snake, and even patches of ripped-out fur along his body. He was in a bad state, that much was certain, and, more to the point, he was angry. There was no question in Twilight that he was doing this out of revenge. Revenge against her for having taken his power and leaving him like this. And now, he sought to kill the Tree of Harmony itself. Maybe he thought getting rid of the source of balance in the world would restore the power of chaos to him, or maybe he was just doing it to hurt the ponies. They didn't know. All they knew was that they had to stop him.

"DISCORD!!!"

Twilight's shout reverberated around the tree's chamber, and at last caught the attention of the once-powerful spirit, who turned to face them. But, while shocked as seeing them here, his expression soon turned to pure rage as his eyes narrowed on Twilight. It was obvious, even to one without sight, that he now despised her above all others. He made no effort to run, or even defend himself with actions or words. But instead, he raised a hand, glared menacingly at the tree before him, and was prepared to strike it. However, Twilight was too fast for him, and lowered her horn before immediately blasting forth magic at the spirit. It didn't hurt him, or knock him to the ground, but instead sent him back, pinning his arms and legs to the wall of the cave with magical bindings. He struggled greatly against those restraints, grunting angrily all the way. As for Twilight, she had little time to focus on Discord right now, for she was now at the base of the tree herself, and looked upon it with utter despondency. Slowly, she raised a hoof, gently placing it upon the surface of that age-old source of balance, and immediately, she could feel it. Pain. Discord had truly damaged this thing, and her Element, as well as the others, now flickered ferociously at being so near to their source. There was no time to lose, and so Twilight turned to her friends.

"It's time. We have to give them back."

The mares all looked to one another, uncertainty all over their faces, until Fluttershy spoke up next.

"Will...will the tree be alright?"

Her concern for the tree was clear, and Twilight shared the sentiment, as she now turned to the thing with a softened expression.

"I hope so, Fluttershy. I truly do."

So, taking a few steps backwards, Twilight stood side-by-side with her friends before finally getting to work. She closed her eyes, lighting up her horn, and her friends stood utterly still, knowing full well that she needed her concentration at a moment like this. Her horn glowed ever brighter, and soon, a magical aura began to bathe the respective gems of all the mares' Elements. Before anypony could say anything, they watched as Twilight's magic began to remove those gems from the golden necklaces, as well as her crown, causing them instead to float towards the clear symbols on the tree. And in that moment, it was as if the tree itself now sensed the return of its once-lost treasures, and began to glow a little brighter than before. Ever so carefully, Twilight placed each of the gems in their proper places, first Fluttershy's, then Applejack's, then Rarity's, then Pinkie Pie's, then Rainbow Dash's, before finally placing her own star gem right in the centre. The tree took them gladly, and at last, Twilight opened her eyes, allowing her spell to stop. She watched as moment after moment passed with nothing happening, and in this time and place, she felt a deep fear. A horrific thought that, just maybe, she and her friends were already too late. With that thought now firmly in her mind, she shut her eyes tightly, praying to whoever could hear her that things would turn out okay.

However, mere moments after her prayer, it seemed as if the universe itself had heard her, for she could now hear a low humming of some sort. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and saw, to her surprise, that the glow of the tree was becoming brighter and brighter with every passing moment. Both she and her friends broke out into massive smiles as, in a display of great power, all of the injuries and damage the tree had suffered at the hands of Discord now seemed to be coming undone. The scratches were healing, sap was reversing back into the tree, and even the fallen branches began to rise from the ground before miraculously re-attaching to it. It took a few moments, but soon enough, the Tree of Harmony was whole once more, glowing brightly and lighting up the cave, looking as magnificent as it was always meant to. There was a cheer of success and victory amongst five of the mares, as they all hugged each other to celebrate a job well done. But, as they did this, they failed to notice Twilight slowly approaching the tree. She said nothing, but her mind conjured forth memories of the first time this tree was restored. Specifically, she remembered the gift it had given to them, that was only later used to help Equestria. She waited with baited breath, looking at the tree to see if such a thing would happen THIS time. But, after much waiting, she saw that nothing happened, leading to a deep sigh.

"...I didn't think so."

She was understandably down at this, seeing that things had changed so much. The box would not be offered, and that meant a great many other things would also not happen for her. But, she took a deep breath and silently accepted this turn of events. If the tree had decided she would not be blessed in such a way, then she would simply have to accept that. Instead, she turned her attention to Discord, whose bindings had at last faded, causing him to collapse to the ground, winding him somewhat. As he got himself to his feet, he failed to notice Twilight slowly approaching him. As she did this, the mare, while at first pitying the pathetic creature before her, could not help but dwell on what he’d almost done here. Her home, her friends, her neighbours, her family, even her son had all been made to suffer because of what he'd almost done here. He would have seen Equestria torn apart, just to make her suffer. And had it just been her, she might have been willing to forgive his actions. But no, he had to make others hurt too. And as she drew closer, the memory of her son, Spike, so tired and without energy, never left her. Slowly, her expression changed from one of neutrality, to one of anger, and at long last, the former spirit of chaos began to notice her, only to become quite worried when he saw the look on her face.

"Now...now Twilight, I...I can explain!"

But Twilight's expression became more and more furious.

"You...you nearly killed him! You nearly killed all of us!"

Her words of fury caught the attention of her friends behind her, who turned with looks of concern as she approached the powerless spirit. Fluttershy especially seemed worried about what was to happen, and so, before the other mares could stop her, began to trot at a good pace to Twilight. As for the latter, her anger at Discord and his actions here had reached a point where she had begun to light up her horn again.

"You...you wanted to hurt all of them! Just to get to me?!"

Discord, having backed into the stone wall of the cave, looked on fearfully.

"I...I was angry at you! You'd taken everything away from me! My power, my...my reason for being!"

But Twilight was not swayed, and her horn grew all the brighter.

"Everypony you wronged...everypony you hurt...they didn't deserve what you almost did to them!"

Her eyes narrowed.

"But you? You...deserve this!"

Discord turned, shutting his eyes tightly, ready for the magical blast that was inevitably about to come from his far more powerful foe. But, right on the cusp of Twilight unleashing that power, she was distracted, by the unmistakeable feel of a hoof upon her shoulder. Turning, her expression changed to shock as she saw, there beside her, was Fluttershy. The timid pegasi mare looked to her friend, tears welling in her eyes, silently begging for her not to do this. It was a sentiment shared by her words.

"Twilight...please don't! I know he did bad things, but...we can't do that to him!"

Twilight turned, looking upon the cowering spirit once more, before looking to Fluttershy again.

"Fluttershy...all those ponies he hurt...if he'd succeeded...they'd have died. My son would have died!"

The young alicorn's pleas were clear to the mare beside her, who nodded back before speaking softly.

"I know! I'm angry too, but...we can't just...decide his fate!"

Slowly, Twilight's eyes widened as her friend's words began to sink in. Words that were about to continue on as those tears finally flowed down Fluttershy's cheek.

"Please, Twilight! Don't be the kind of pony who decides who lives and who dies! Remember what that did to you! Remember how it made you hate yourself! Please...don't be that mare again!"

Immediately, Twilight's expression became one of horror, as she turned to Discord, at the way he looked to her with utter terror on her face. In this moment, the true weight of what she'd almost allowed herself to do became as clear as day, as she shook her head and started backing away from Discord fearfully. In her mind, her memories brought forth the image of that mare she hated so much. That mare she would have become, who so easily stood in judgement over others, looking down on them as if they were nothing. In this moment, Twilight realised just how close a step she would have taken to being more like her, and so she began to well up herself, her knees wobbling somewhat before finally collapsing to the ground. Fluttershy and the other mares watched as their lavender friend began to sob uncontrollably, and through it all, Twilight said the same words over and over again, keeping her voice hushed so her friends could not hear her.

"I'm not like her! I'm nothing like her! I will never be like her!"

The other mares didn't know what to do, and looked to each other with concern and confusion plastered all over their faces. As for Fluttershy, her eyes never left Twilight. Seeing her like this, on her knees and crying because of what she'd almost done, the yellow mare could feel the pain in her. Twilight's heart was breaking, and not just because of what she'd almost done, but also, perhaps, everything she'd done before this. Everything she'd regretted up to this point. It was all coming out, and not even the victory of having saved the Tree of Harmony was helping matters. In this silence, Discord, ever so slowly, began to try and sneak away, only to be stopped when Rainbow darted in front of him, frowning at him greatly. But as for Fluttershy, she never took her eyes off Twilight, and as she stared at her, seeing the pain and remorse, she decided to do what everypony knew she did best; comfort those in pain. Slowly, she got to her knees, her head leaning forward and gently nuzzling the side of Twilight's. The young alicorn didn’t stop weeping, but even so, her heart began to ache less as she felt her kindest friend nearby. In this moment between the two mares, the now-former bearer of the Element of Kindness spoke calmly to the alicorn beside her

"Oh, Twilight...this is what happens when you're by yourself for too long."

Hearing that, Twilight continued to sob, all while her other friends drew closer, looking to her with great concern. And through it all, she heard her soft and considerate words, those words that were so much at the heart of who Fluttershy was.

"Shhh...it's alright. I'm here for you. We're all here for you. And we're not going anywhere."