There was a time, long ago, when the sight of the object in her hooves brought her nothing but good feelings. But those days had long since gone, and now, all she was left with was a foreboding feeling every time her eyes drifted towards it. Twilight Sparkle sat in the middle of a green and grassy field, just near the borders of the Everfree Forest, and, more importantly, a good distance from Ponyville. While the sun was shining and the air filled with birdsong, this did little to make her happy. For there, within her hooves, was her crown; the Element of magic. She'd had this ancient artefact for almost a year now, and yet, had always been unsure about it. In her heart she knew why it was like that, with its dark and tainted star jewel. It had been the anger in her heart and the resentment in her soul that had caused it, and today, she would know for certain the true effects of what it had unleashed. Putting it down for the moment, she turned to her left, where an ornate chest lay beside her. Within it were the other Elements, that of her friends, and knowing this, she placed a hoof upon it, letting out a sigh. She felt a deep worry in the pit of her stomach, and felt doubt as to whether or not her plan would work, or if it would just be made worse. Regardless, she had little time to think on it, as she was soon distracted by a voice calling over from a distance.

"Twilight!"

Turning, a small smile crept onto Twilight's face as she saw that her five friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, were all trotting up the hill to greet her. And behind them, doing his best to keep up, was Spike, whom she was particularly glad to see today. As for her friends, it was Rainbow that Twilight chose to embrace when she finally caught up with them. After all, it had been some weeks since she'd last seen her, owing largely to her intense training back at the Wonderbotls Academy. But now, at least for the time being, she was home, and looking pretty pleased to see her. She looked to each of her friends, giving them a smile and a nod, before turning back to the chest. The other mares saw this, and gained looks of confusion. This was a sentiment that deepened further when Twilight lit up her horn and caused the chest to open revealing the Elements within. As loyalty, honesty, generosity, kindness and laughter shone in the light of the high-noon sun, their respective bearers looked to each other, and then looked to Twilight, with their expressions making it clear that they wanted her to explain what was going on. Letting out a sigh, she began to speak up.

"Girls...I have a favour to ask of you. And I'll warn you right now...you won't like it."

The way in which she'd spoken those words made it clear that she'd meant every word of it, leading to a number of concerned looks amongst her friends. After some degree of silence, it was Rainbow who stepped up and finally spoke.

"Twilight...we're your friends. Whatever it is you need of us...we'll be there."

The young unicorn smiled at that, even more so when she looked around and saw the nods of agreement that followed from the other mares. However, her smile faded when she looked back to the Elements.

"I appreciate that, Rainbow. But...you may not be so willing when you find out what I have planned."

Hearing that, the cyan pegasus rolled her eyes.

"Please! What could you possibly ask of us that we'd be uncomfortable with?"

Twilight looked to her, with her mouth open and ready to give a response to that, but stopped immediately when she looked past her friend and to the sky behind her. Her eyes widened, and soon afterwards, her shoulders slumped somewhat, as she finally looked back to Rainbow.

"It involves...him."

Displaying clear confusion at her word, the mares and Spike all turned in unison to try and see what she was looking at. And when they did, their eyes widened with utter shock. For there, flying through the skies, was a procession of golden chariots, pulled by the pegasi members of the royal guard. Even more shocking was who was occupying one of the chariots in question, for it was none other than Princess Celestia herself, looking as composed and as regal as ever. But, while both of these things were a great surprise, it was what followed afterwards that really caught the attention of Twilight's friends. For in the chariot beside that of Celestia, there was an enormous statue, shaped like a strange and exotic creature, forged of many mismatched body parts. Discord, the spirit of chaos, and a foe that Twilight and her friends had dealt with some time ago. But, much like that former encounter, the statue was exactly as it was when Twilight last saw it, posed with a look of sheer agony upon the spirit's face, causing her to look away with some measure of shame. However, she looked back as the chariot of her mentor finally made its landing. Putting on a small smile for her benefit, Twilight took a few steps forward, giving an instinctive bow as she did so. Celestia, seeing this, returned the bow, before speaking in her typical motherly tone.

"Twilight...it is good to see you."

The young unicorn rose from her bow and smiled at her old teacher, before turning and looking upon her friends, who had also given bows of their own. Once everypony had risen, Twilight's expression became a more serious one, as indeed did Celestia's. The white alicorn turned to the accompanying chariot, where several of the guards had started to carefully remove the statue, much to the confused interest of the other mares. Only when the statue was planted on the grass did any of them think to ask about this, with Rarity being the one to break the silence.

"Um...darling? Not to pry, but...what's going on here?"

Twilight let out a deep sigh before turning and looking at her friends in earnest. The concern they bore was clear, as indeed it was on Spike. Looking over, her shoulder, she saw, to her dismay, that even Celestia seemed nervous about all this, which did not help matters for her in the slightest. Even so, she steeled herself, and took a deep breath before giving her friends their answer.

"Girls...we're going to try and help Discord."

Immediately, and as Twilight expected, they shared a look of shock at those words, with Rainbow stepping forward and voicing that sentiment.

"Help him?! After everything he did? He tried to conquer Equestria with his freaky chaos magic! How can we just...just...forget that?!"

Twilight nodded.

"I know...he's done terrible things. But...I believe he has it in him to do better."

Applejack cleared her throat, gaining Twilight's attention, after which she spoke up.

"Pardon me fer sayin this, sugarcube...but...y'all haven't been able to help other nasty critters."

Twilight sighed at that, a look of sadness in her eyes, before nodding at her friend's words.

"You mean the changelings? I know...I've had difficulty with this before. But we have the Elements. If things go wrong, we can just put him back in stone again."

There was silence amongst them, with all of Twilight's friends, even Spike, looking either incredulous, fearful, or just plan unsure about this all. It took some time, but one by one, her friends all gave her a solemn nod. Twilight knew that this wasn't a full commitment to the idea, but that they were at least willing to trust her on this. She gave them an appreciative smile, silently thanking them for this, before turning to Celestia once more. Her old mentor had begun to busy herself with commanding her guards, several of whom were lining up around the imprisoned spirit, perhaps ready to strike if something went wrong, though what those guards could do against him, Twilight had little faith. Nevertheless, as she let out a sigh, she turned to her friends and gave a nod, after which they turned to the chest and started getting out their respective Elements. Only once all of them had received their unique artefacts did they begin to move, with Twilight taking her place near to Discord, and then Rainbow Dash standing close by, and on and on it went until they were all, at last, in a circle around him. Taking a deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes and began to concentrate on the power of her Element. And that, in all honesty, was not something she was looking forward to.

For she had experienced first-hoof the kind of pain it caused her when she used it, and was not eager to try it again. But, she knew she had to try, and within moments, the jewel atop her crown began to glow, followed shortly by the jewels on all the necklaces of her friends. It was here that Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, for while her crown caused her pain by itself, when used in conjunction with the other five Elements, that pain seemed to have been pushed back, held at bay, which was a great comfort to her. Even so, she knew she had to concentrate, and as the power of the Elements grew, so too did their glow. Within moments, their power all shot forth, combining into that now-famous rainbow magic, which soared into the sky and shot down towards the unmoving statue. As that cold stone was now bathed in the intense magical energy, the mares opened their eyes and watched as tiny fragments of it began to break away. Soon afterwards, the stone surface shattered entirely, and Discord himself was now seen, in the flesh, and free. But, as the power of the Elements began to die down, something happened which very much took Twilight by surprise. Instead of floating in place or making some kind of snarky comment, Discord instead fell right down into the ground, collapsing with no movement on his part.

All there, even Celestia, took a step back after seeing this, bearing looks of great confusion as the once-mighty and feared Discord lay on the grass, unmoving and, to Twilight's utter shock, didn't even appear to be breathing. Against the warning looks her friends were giving her, she took a few nervous steps forward, still seeing no movement from her old foe. Only when she came within a few inches did something happen, as Discord's eyes snapped open and he began to take in a deep and sharp breath. As expected, Twilight jolted backwards, with several of the guards nearby spreading their wings in a threatening gesture. But Celestia stopped them, raising a hoof and silently commanding them to wait until something else happened. As for Twilight, she watched as Discord seemed to truly struggle with getting himself off the ground, his body shaking and his breathing rapid and sharp, as if he hadn't known air for years. The look on his face was the same one he'd been wearing while he was a statue, that of pain, and only gradually did it change to become anything else. But, rather than become a look of mockery or perhaps a jovial expression, Discord’s face, after his eyes had locked onto Twilight, became one of anger. Gradually, he got himself to his feet, with his knees shaking tremendously as he did so, and only now did he speak, his words filled with venom.

"You!"

Twilight watched as Discord laboured greatly to take step after step towards her, with a claw outstretched.

"You!" he repeated.

Yet again, the guards flared their wings in readiness for attack, and yet again, Celestia stopped them. Twilight kept her eyes on the ancient spirit, seeing the fury in his eyes as he looked to her, and began to speak softly to him.

"Discord...I'm sorry for what..."

But she was unable to finish that, as the draconequs instead narrowed his eyes, raising a hand and preparing his fingers to snap, which all there knew meant he was about to unleash some chaos magic on all of them. Twilight and the others braced themselves for what might be about to happen, and watched as he finally snapped his fingers. Moment after moment passed, and as far as they all knew, nothing was going wrong anywhere near them. Discord, like the rest of them, gained a look of confusion at this, but, as time went on, that confusion gave way to horror, as he looked to his hand and snapped again. Yet again, nothing happened, leading to him snapping them a third time, and then a fourth, fifth, sixth, and many other times, with none of them yielding any result. He snapped his head back in Twilight's direction, stepping closer. But, as he opened his mouth to speak, a look of pain struck his face, and he immediately clutched his chest, with his knees finally buckling. The young unicorn watched with great concern as Discord fell to his knees, still struggling to breathe. The other mares approached, albeit very slowly, as did Celestia. But Twilight, more confident than they were, moved closer than any of them dared, and finally spoke up again.

"Discord...are you alright?"

Lifting his head, the old spirit glared angrily at her.

"Alright? ALRIGHT?! You have no idea what you've done to me, do you?!"

Twilight took a step backwards, prompting Discord to get himself up again, only after which did he speak.

"Your Elements...hurt me...in a way they never did before. Do you know what I felt when I was trapped in that stone for the past few months, Twilight Sparkle? Pain, that's what! It was agony, every moment of every day. And now, on top of everything else..."

Once again, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing, as before, absolutely nothing happening around him, much to his anger.

"...even my magic is gone! The power of harmony purged it from me...forever! I am bound to the laws of mortality, like all the rest of you...wretched ponies!"

Twilight stepped backwards, shaking her head slightly.

"No...no! I didn't mean to....I mean...I didn't know!"

Hearing that, Discord narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well...now you do!"

Silence hung in the air as neither Discord, Twilight, nor any of her friends seemed to know what to say or do at this point. Even Celestia had been taken aback by all this, looking to her student and watching her carefully. In time, Discord finally moved again, and he began to limp in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Seeing this, Twilight frowned slightly.

"Where...where are you going?"

Stopping, Discord turned and glared at her yet again.

"I'm done with you ponies. I'm going as far away from you as possible! You wanted this old forest as my prison...well...now you get your wish!"

With no further word, the old spirit continued his efforts to walk, exhausted and still in some measure of pain, towards the borders of the forest. Twilight's friends all looked to her, waiting to see what she would do, but she just stayed where she was. As the young unicorn kept her eyes on her old enemy, she felt a deep guilt over everything she'd just learned here today. However, all of a sudden, she began to feel something new. Something different. It was like an instinct, buried deep within her mind, as she looked at Discord and suddenly felt the need to go further. He was weak and frail, or so the instinct told her. He might never again be this vulnerable. If she so chose, she could take action, and rid Equestria of his influence forever, and given everything she knew he’d done in the past, she found herself very much tempted to do just that. However, her eyes widened with shock at the very idea of that, shaking her head in an attempt to bury that instinct. She knew, in her heart, that it had not been the first time such an impulse had been felt, and as Spike had seen in the Everfree not so long ago, it was one she'd had a hard time resisting in the past. But this time, she did resist, and instead watched as Discord moved further and further into the Everfree, until, at long last, the gloom of that land obscured him from her sight. With the spirit now gone, Twilight's friends all looked to each other, and until finally, Rainbow Dash stepped forward and spoke.

"You're...just letting him go?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Twilight nodded.

"Yes...I am."

Her friends said nothing, and neither did Celestia, and instead, they watched as Twilight slowly started to walk away, her voice low and hushed as she did so.

"Besides...I've done enough to him."