The Twilight Without a Dawn

by TPurnell18

Chapters

• The Message
• The Discovery
• The Cause
• The Aftermath
• The Resurgence
• The Battle (I)
• The Diversion
• The Surprise
• The Return
• The Battle (II)
• The Enlightenment
• (Author's Note)

The Message

                                The Twilight Without a Dawn

                          By: TPurnell18

                                        Part 1: The Message

There has been many a problem to arise throughout the land of Equestria, and there has been an adventure of some sort to be had in order to solve it. Time and time again, the ponies known as the “Mane 6” were able to solve each of these problems, and even discover a new aspect about the magic known as friendship by solving each problem as it came. However, the event to transpire on this day would serve to test the very limits of the bond between the mares.

On what seemed like a regular afternoon, Rainbow Dash was finishing up her weather patrol duties and was planning to devote the rest of the day to practicing some new tricks to show off to the Wonderbolts. As she rounded up the last cloud in the sky, a green flash of fire had suddenly formed in front of her, which materialized as a letter.

“What the hay? Why is this letter coming to me?” Rainbow queried. Nonetheless, she proceeded to open and read it.

“Gather up the others and come to the library as soon as possible. This is urgent. –Spike”

Rainbow could only scratch her head in confusion as she pondered for a moment.

“Why would Spike send me a letter? And what is so important that he would need me to… Ah, better to find out than to sit here wondering about it,” Rainbow thought.

Surely enough, Rainbow Dash had carried out the letter’s order and had gathered up Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack and lead the way to Twilight’s library.

“Whatcha reckon Spike sentcha that letter for, Rainbow?” Applejack asked.

“No clue, but he did say it was urgent,” Rainbow answered uneasily, still wondering what the matter was.

“That does bring me to wonder, though…” Rarity began. “We haven’t seen or talked to either Spike or Twilight in almost a week. Is it possible that they were experimenting on something and made a breakthrough, and that they want to show us?”

“Possible, but the letter didn’t say anything other than ‘This is urgent’ and to gather you all up and meet Spike at the library,” stated Rainbow.

“Maybe, um… Twilight learned a new magic trick and… and used it on Spike, then told him to send you a letter to… catch us by surprise?” Fluttershy coyly hypothesized.

“I dunno… Twilight isn’t really one for pranks, and even if she was trying to pull one over on us, I think she’d put a little more detail into the letter I got,” replied Rainbow.

“Oh! Oh! Maybe Twilight and Spike are throwing a huge party and that we’re invited!” Pinkie Pie energetically stated.

“An interesting guess, Pinkie, but what reason would there be for a surprise party? And why would it be urgent?” Rainbow asked the excited pink mare.

“Hmm… Maybe it’s for a new friend that we haven’t met yet and this new friend was too shy to meet anypony by their self and Twilight and Spike are throwing the party as a way to get them to make friends with us?” Pinkie responded in her usual peppy tone.

“Y’know, come to think of it... That actually sounds possible… But that’s only a wild guess, like the rest,” Rainbow answered thoughtfully. “Anyway, that’s enough guessing, girls. It’s best to find out for ourselves instead of working ourselves up for something we have no clue about.”

“Right,” replied the other four mares in unison as Twilight Sparkle’s library had slowly come into view...

The Discovery

Part 2: The Discovery

Rainbow Dash and the others arrived at the library and, to their shock, found Spike sitting outside, looking as if he had been crying his eyes out. They each rushed to the purple dragon, fearing something had gone horribly wrong.

“Spikey-Wikey! What’s wrong!?” Rarity asked immediately.

“An’ where’s Twilight?” added Applejack.

Spike, still sobbing and sniffling, hardly managed to choke out, “Inside… Twilight’s inside…”

“Why are you out here crying, then?”  Rainbow asked, concerned about Spike’s current disposition. “And what’s so urgent that you sent me that letter?”

“I… Twilight… Please, just… go inside and I’ll explain,” Spike replied, all the while choking back tears. “Twilight is… *sniff* in her room, by the way.”

The group, very worried, enters the home of the lavender unicorn and makes their way to her room. What they laid their eyes upon was a most devastating sight.

“Oh hi, girls…” Twilight had weakly rasped.

Twilight was laying in her bed, looking completely disheveled. Her mane was very unkempt, her coat was a pale shade of its normal color, she was sweating profusely, and her eyes looking as if she hadn’t slept in days, but had been trying.

“T-Twilight?? What happened to you?!” shouted the cyan Pegasus, horrified by the look of her friend.

“Oh, my gosh! Are you okay? A-Are you sick? Is there anything we can do to make you feel better?” Fluttershy quickly added, noticeably upset.

“I… I’m sick…” Twilight croaked, breathing heavily as if she had run around Ponyville ten times.

“I-Is it the flu? Or a cold of some sort?” asked a saddened Rarity.

“It’s… something… new… something… unheard of… here…” answered Twilight, straining each word between her heavy breaths.

“Well is there some kinda cure or remedy or somethin’ one uh yer many books mentions?” Applejack asked somewhat hastily, wanting only to help her friend recover.

“I’m… afraid… not…” Twilight grimly and breathlessly replied, bringing her fore-hooves to her chest and wincing in extreme pain.

“Oh, no! Twilight! Are you going to… to…” Pinkie Pie was unable to finish asking her question as tears had begun to well up in her eyes.

No one had needed Pinkie to finish her question to know what she was about to ask.

“I’m afraid… it… looks… that way…” The ailing purple unicorn had hardly managed to whisper as she once again clutched her chest in agony.

“Please, no! No, no, no! Not now!” cried Fluttershy, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m… sorry girls… I… love… you… all… and you… too… Spike…” Twilight had quietly whispered as she drew her final breath, and with a steady exhale, had passed away. A single tear rolled down the unicorn’s cheek as her body relaxed itself on the bed...

The Cause

Part 3: The Cause

“Twilight?… Twilight, no! Why!? Why, why, why, Celestia, why!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, completely unable to control her sadness at the passing of one of her closest friends. The others fared no better. Fluttershy had curled up into a ball and sobbed quietly. Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail had gone completely straight as she sat back on her haunches and allowed a stream of tears to run down her cheeks, frowning. Applejack tilted her hat over her eyes and bit her lip as she had attempted to choke back her tears.

“Say it ain’t so…” Applejack whispered to herself.

Rarity could only stare at the now-lifeless Twilight Sparkle in total disbelief, unable to avert her gaze from the lifeless body that used to belong to her dear friend. She then lowered her head and began to cry quietly.

“S-Spike… How *sniff* did she get sick?” Rarity asked, her voice quaking with sorrow as she attempted to take control of herself.

Spike, finally, but barely able to hold back his tears, lifted his head and looked into the air, took a deep breath, and sighed before replying with, “You all might want to sit down. This is a long story.”

“It’s quite alright, dear Spike… We have all the time we need,” Rarity shakily said to the dragon.

“Alright… Here goes…” Spike hesitantly started. “Twilight and I were going to Zecora’s place for a visit, seeing as no one really sees her on a consistent basis, save for maybe Apple Bloom. We were on our way there, when we… *sniff* came across this plant in the Everfree Forest that neither of us had seen before. It… looked kinda like that flower Apple Bloom had to eat to cure herself of the Cutie Pox… I can’t remember the name of it, though…”

“As far’s I recall, it didn’t really have a name,” Applejack chimed in. “But please, continue.”

“Right,” Spike agreed. “So anyway, it looked like that truth-telling plant, but there was something weird about it… The petals were colored black in the center, and purple on the outer ones. That, and there was this creepy look to it… Like it was wilting, but the head pointed upwards towards us... Anyway, we saw it, and decided to get a closer look… But when we did, it sprayed this nasty green powder stuff at us.”

Everypony’s eyes widened at that detail.

“So that must be what got her sick in the first place…” said Rainbow Dash.

“Most likely… but if that’s the case, then why haven’t I been affected by it?” Spike asked, now wondering about the strange coincidence.

“P-Please go on… I-If you don’t mind, that is…” Fluttershy whispered quakily.

“Oh, right. Where was I… Oh yeah; we got sprayed by the plant and started coughing a lot. I managed to catch my breath in a couple of seconds, but Twilight was still coughing for a good minute.When she stopped, she seemed totally out of breath. I asked if she was okay, but she just said, ‘Yes, I’m fine... I think. Let’s get to Zecora’s now.’ We made it there, but Twilight was still breathing like she’d just run a marathon. That and she was starting to sweat a lot. I asked her again if she was okay, but she insisted that she was going to be fine, but wanted to check with Zecora to make sure. When Zecora let us in, she noticed right away that Twilight seemed to be in bad shape. She said, ‘Spike, my boy, what is wrong with her? Have you any idea of what is the matter?’ I told her about how we had run into the weird plant earlier and that it sprayed us with this green powder stuff, and that Twilight had been unusually tired ever since.”

“Zecora should have known how to get rid of it, right? I mean… She should know the Everfree Forest like the back of her hoof… Shouldn’t she?” Pinkie asked in an uncharacteristically melancholy tone.

“That’s the thing, though, Pinkie…” Spike began to reply, fighting back a new wave of tears. “She had no idea what kind of flower it was, even when we brought her out to see it. All she could say was, ‘I am sorry, but now, I have no cure. For now, Twilight will have to endure. I will take this plant and then make sure, that Twilight Sparkle is saved from this spore.’

“Spike! Are you inside? And what happened? Has Twilight Sparkle died?” a voice from outside the tree-home asked rather loudly, but the concern in the speaker was evident.

“Speak of the devil…” Spike muttered, getting up and walking downstairs to invite the voice’s owner in.

“It saddens me that I am much too late… This is such a cruel act of fate…” Zecora glumly said.

“It’s… Okay. There’s no need to make yourself feel worse than everyone else is feeling right now…” Spike replied, rubbing Zecora’s back with one claw.

“Just today, I had found a cure, one that would have made Twilight’s body pure...” Zecora began to weep.

“That reminds me… Why haven’t I been affected by that flower’s poison? I breathed in just as much as she did, yet nothing happened to me.”

“You are a dragon, so to breathe fire, you are able. This is what kept your body stable.”

“Wait… so, because I can breathe fire, the poison wasn’t able to take hold inside of me due to not being able to find a place to settle?”

“That is correct, reptilian spawn. The poison in you was instantly gone.”

The room fell silent for a bit as Spike began to stare at the ground, thinking about many different possibilities of the situation. Rainbow Dash and the others came down to see Spike deep in thought as Zecora had hung her head low.

“So… what do we do now? With Twilight, I mean…” Flutttershy spoke uneasily, breaking the eerie silence.

“Well, first thing’s first: We have to take her body to the hospital so they can take care of it. Then, we have to find a way to let the Princess know…” Rarity answered, choking back more tears as she spoke.

“You guys tend to Twilight… I’ll write Celestia a letter delivering the bad news…” Spike somberly stated....

The Aftermath

Part 4: The Aftermath

The funeral for Twilight Sparkle had been an emotional one, held during a particularly clear late afternoon. The way the sun had set turned the clear, cloudless sky a most vivid shade of orange, as if even the sky was mourning with the many citizens of both Canterlot and Ponyville. Princess Celestia was now without her prized pupil, the citizens of Ponyville were without one of their key consultants for organization around the town, Spike was without the pony who was a mother to him, and Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were each without one of their sworn sisters, not to mention Shining Armor and his newly-wed wife, Princess Cadence, were without their little sister. After the service and burial in Canterlot, the remaining five of the six protectors of Equestria, Spike, the Princesses, and the leader of the Royal Guard had met in the Princess’s throne room to discuss what would happen without their fallen comrade.

“I can’t believe it… Twiley… How… HOW could this have happened???” Shining Armor asked himself in sorrow, tears streaming down each side of his face as he hung his head low and struck a hoof against the floor. “It isn’t fair… it isn’t fair!”

“It’s going to be okay… I hope…” Cadence had tried to console her husband, only to fall into a fit of crying as well.

“Grieving, unfortunately, will have to take a back seat to the issue at hand.” The Princess tearfully announced. “The issue being… the Elements of Harmony.”

Everypony’s attention became instantly fixated on the royal white Alicorn.

“What?! What about ‘em? What’s gonna happen to the Elements?” Applejack asked frantically, realizing the possibly extremely grim consequences following the demise of the lavender unicorn, but not wanting to believe her racing thoughts unless they were confirmed by Celestia herself.

“I’m afraid that, with the loss of the Element of Magic, they may not function as well… Considering they haven’t become all but useless now given that one of them has been disabled…” Princess Celestia stated worriedly.

“Oh… not to sound rude or anything, but… isn’t there somepony else strong enough to take Twilight’s place?” Fluttershy had timidly stated, fearing the reaction of everyone around her. As expected, she received a few upset, yet puzzled glances from some of her friends. However, she had brought up a good point.

“As much as I’d hate to say it… Fluttershy’s right,” chimed Rainbow Dash in defense of her fellow Pegasus. “Isn’t there somepony with as much magical talent as Twilight? Like say, you, or Cadence, or even Luna?”

“I understand your questions, my dear Pegasi, but I’m afraid they are for naught,” Celestia replied, sadly dispelling any thoughts the two Pegasi had about their theory. “Twilight Sparkle was the only unicorn powerful enough to wield the Element. She had demonstrated her raw magic ability the day she earned her Cutie Mark while taking the entrance exam for my School for Gifted Unicorns… It was one of the reasons I directly accepted her as my protégé. As for my sister, niece and I, Luna and I had lost our connection with the Elements long ago, and Cadence has no experience with them whatsoever. Not to mention that she had only met the rest of you during the wedding, which would mean your bond to her isn’t nearly as strong as it was to Twilight.”

“Oh… I see…” Rainbow Dash said dejectedly, feeling a new wave of sadness beginning to overtake her.

“But, what about Shining Armor?” Fluttershy had asked after realizing they had overlooked him.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy but…” Celestia retorted frankly. “The same case applies to Shining Armor in terms of your bond with him… and even though his magic ability has proven strong, his main strong point when it comes to magic is his ability to use protection spells, while Twilight was adept at every aspect of magic…”

Fluttershy’s heart sank at the Princess’s statement, as she could only squeak out an “Oh, okay…”

“Well… if she can’t be replaced by someone new…” Pinkie Pie began. “Then… what if one of us was to cover her Element for her?”

“Pinkie… What are you getting at?” Spike asked, curious to hear the pink mare’s suggestion.

“Okay, so Rarity is a gifted unicorn, too, right? She also shares the same bond with us that Twilight had. What I’m getting at is that she could maybe take over Twilight’s element while still keeping her own!”

“I see your point, darling,” Rarity interjected. “However, my gift is in fashion and design. My raw magic ability pales in comparison to dear Twilight Sparkle. I am afraid that no amount of magic training would catch my abilities up to hers. Besides, wielding two Elements at once sounds no less than extremely dangerous.”

“She is right,” added the Princess. “Luna and I were only able to wield all six Elements at once because we were born into our positions of power. The both of us together had more than enough power within us to control their power, and wield it to defeat a mighty foe. But of course, when my sister had become Nightmare Moon, she had inadvertently cut her ties to the Elements. I had to sacrifice my own ties to them when I was forced to banish her to the moon for a millennium. They disappeared after that fateful day, never to be seen or heard of again until the six of you had united and defeated Nightmare Moon with the power of your friendship.”

“If ya don’t mind me askin’, Yer Highness...” Applejack interjected. “What’s all that hafta do with our current situation?”

“It means two things,” the Princess replied. “One: I’m afraid that no one in this room, let alone Equestria, is powerful enough to be able to handle more than one Element at a time without placing themselves in extreme danger, or even qualified to handle Twilight’s Element. And Two: The Elements are likely to either be rendered useless and disappear once again, or be weakened unless a replacement for Twilight surfaces… And that would take centuries at the least.”

“Consarn it…” Applejack murmured under her breath.

The room fell silent as everypony had thought about how to mend the situation for the better.

"If I may make a suggestion..." Spike finally spoke. "Can you, by any chance... revive Twilight?"

The room fell silent once more, but this time, it was because everyone except for Princess Celestia had collectively gasped at Spike's seemingly bizarre idea.

"I'm sorry, Spike..." Celestia began. "...But that would not work either. At this point, Twilight's been gone for three days. Even if I was to consider such a thing, she would not come back as the unicorn we know and love, for biological reasons I'd rather not get into. Other than that, I stand firm ground against the resurrection of the dead, as it is unnatural and incredibly immoral, not to mention inconsiderate to rip someone away from the afterlife for our own selfish reasons," Celestia answered sternly, yet passionately.

"Well, yeah, but--" Spike began, but realizing the validity of the Princess's points against his suggestion, had stopped himself and bowed his head in shame and apologetic sadness.

"Do not feel bad, my dear young dragon. You were only making a suggestion like the rest of us."

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Highness..." Spike replied sadly, still feeling a bit guilty for his idea.

The room had fallen silent once again, but only for a quick moment before Fluttershy, having a frightening epiphany, asked, “Hey… If the Elements don’t work anymore, or not as well… Then what happens with…?”

Everypony snapped at attention when Fluttershy asked her question.

“What happens with whom, dear?” Rarity asked with a wide-eyed expression, as if she’d had a faint idea of whom the yellow Pegasus was referring to.

“D- D-Discord…?” Pinkie stuttered with a sudden twinge of fear.

“Y-yes…” Fluttershy responded meekly.

Celestia gasped in shock at the realization that the seal that petrified the wicked Draconequus in stone had possibly been broken once again.

“I don’t understand… Who is this ‘Discord?’” Cadence asked.

“And is he dangerous?” added Shining Armor.

“Long story short, Discord is a really evil guy who has a freaky-looking body but is really tricky,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“He’s the spirit of disharmony, so he has a knack for breaking the laws of physics and causing chaos at will. Worse, he does it for his own amusement, no matter who he hurts while doing it,” added Rarity.

“Sounds pretty bad, but not all that tough,” Shining Armor stated boldly.

“Now don’t you go bein’ all naïve, Armor,” Applejack objected. “It took yer sister and all of us to take ‘im down with the Elements of Harmony. And if it weren’t for Twilight… he woulda beaten us, and Ponyville would be all topsy-turvy!”

As Applejack finished her sentence, a sinister laugh had boomed from an unknown location in the room in which the group stood. The laugh echoed throughout the room, and although no one knew where it was coming from, the voice sounded all too familiar…

The Resurgence

Part 5: The Resurgence

“No… It can’t be!” Princess Celestia stated in disbelief.

The sinister laughter drew ever louder and seemingly closer to the group as they searched the room with their eyes.

“I am in NO mood for games!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We know you’re here now! Stop horsing around and get out here!”

“Ohh, but who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh every once in a while?” the voice responded in a falsely curious tone. “Besides… It would seem everypony here could use something to brighten up their day, considering what happened…” The voice chuckled some more.

“Dagnabbit, if you know what’s goin’ on’, then why are you here playin’ this childish trick!?” Applejack shouted in anger. “I fail to see what’s so funny about ANYthin’ right now!”

“Trick? I’m shocked that you would accuse me of such a thing,” The voice calmly responded. “I haven’t pulled any tricks on you guys… yet,” the voice added with a more sinister tone.

Just after this statement, a puddle of ice had formed behind Fluttershy, who was quivering in fear. A sudden, strong gust of wind began to blow against her, but she was able to hold her hooves to the ground. The wind stopped as suddenly as it began, but in the same moment, the face of a familiar Draconequus had instantly appeared just inches away from the face of the yellow Pegasus, and shouted, “Boo!” Fluttershy jumped back in surprise, unaware of the ice puddle she was about to land in. She squeaked out a small “Eep!” as she landed on the puddle and began kicking furiously to keep her balance. As her legs finally gave way to the puddle, she began to flap her wings, taking flight in order to keep from falling.

“Hahahaha! Now wasn’t that funny?” Discord asked while cracking up at the cruel prank he had played on Fluttershy.

“Notice how no one’s laughing, you jerk! Now get… out here… NOW!!!” Rainbow Dash shouted while stomping a hoof on the ground, now furious.

“Oh, fine! You ponies and your dragon wouldn’t know a good joke if it hit you upside the head.” Discord disappointedly stated as he suddenly materialized his long, thin form in the center of the room.

“This isn’t exactly the time or place for any kind of joke right now,” Pinkie Pie stated somberly, to the shock of the Draconequus.

“Pinkie Pie, I’m surprised at you!” Discord began. “You’re the Element of Laughter! I’d expect you of all ponies to know a good laugh when you see one. I’m liking the new hairstyle by the way, it really brings out your eyes.”

“Stop wasting everyone’s time, Discord!” Celestia demanded. “How did you escape your imprisonment?”

“Oh, I’d be delighted to inform you all on my most miraculous return!” Discord exclaimed with excitement.

“Miraculous…? More like malevolent…” Rarity muttered under her breath.

“I heard that,” Discord flatly stated, cutting his eyes at the white mare. “Anyway, so there I was, cruelly imprisoned in that statue you ponies had inconsiderately locked me away in. I honestly never thought I’d get out of there, but then a most… bitter-sweet thing happened. The sudden death of your precious Twilight Sparkle had weakened the strength of the seal you had used the Elements of Harmony to lock me away with.”

“But how did you break free?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“And how did you know about Twilight?” Fluttershy added.

“I’m getting to that,” Discord responded impatiently. “So anyway, the loss of your beloved purple unicorn had weakened the seal greatly. Add that to the amount of sadness and grieving everyone in Ponyville and Canterlot started going through because of that, and BAM! There was an abundant amount of disharmony in the air for me to break the seal. Even I didn’t know how I’d been able to break free… That is, until I decided, in lieu of causing chaos right away, to spend some time spying on you during that most wonderful funeral and the conversation you just had a few moments ago in order to learn the reason and its effects. And as it would appear, everything worked out! For me, anyway; not so much you ponies. Nonetheless, I see this as a most wondrous occasion!”

“So it’s true…” Celestia glumly said, hanging her head in sorrow. “The Elements really have been weakened by the loss of Twilight…”

“Oh, now don’t get so down on yourself, Your Highness,” Discord told the Princess, feigning a sense of concern. “I’ll be able to cheer everypony up…” He then took a most menacing tone. “…with a never-ending reign of chaos and pandemonium, but this time, on a scale much wider than just Ponyville. Oh, and I won’t be underestimating you ponies again like last time… Then again, you don’t have your precious savior, Twilight Sparkle, this time... It’s a pity that I won’t be able exact my vengeance on her for foiling my plans last time. However, the fact that she ISN’T here anymore is going to make this a WHOLE lot easier…” An evil grin crept onto Discord’s face as he thought about all the ways he could ravage the laws of physics and turn Equestria into a land filled with nothing but chaos…

The Battle (I)

Part 6: The Battle (I)

“You… MONSTER!”  Rainbow Dash shouted as she reared up as if to attack the Draconequus.

“Dashie, wait! Calm down!” Pinkie Pie shouted in order to calm her friend. However, her warning had fallen on deaf ears as Rainbow Dash took off at an almost blinding speed and, with a mighty swing of her right fore-hoof, struck Discord across the face, sending him flying through the castle wall and down to the field below.

“Whoa…” The rest of the group collectively murmured in complete surprise. Rainbow Dash was far from done, however. She was trembling with a mixture of sorrow, anger, and adrenaline, clouding any rational thought in her mind. She then immediately charged after her foe in blind rage, leaving the rest of the group in shock.

“Did… that really just happen?” Rarity asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes… Yes it did.” Pinkie Pie responded with an equal amount of surprise.

“We need to get down there and help her. There’s no way she can beat him alone.” Fluttershy stated with concern for her filly-hood friend. This served to shock the rest of the group even more.

“Are you kidding?” Shining Armor asked with disbelief. “She knocked that Discord guy a new one! How could she not be at least a challenge for him?”

“Trust me; he’s much craftier than he looks…” Fluttershy responded with great worry. “Now let’s get out there and help her! We don’t have much time!” the yellow Pegasus exclaimed in her less-than-usual authoritative tone.

“Right,” responded Celestia, as she magically formed an orb around everyone and levitated the group, including herself, out of the castle and into the battlefield.

“What’s wrong, little Dashie?” Discord taunted as he slithered through every kick the cyan Pegasus tried to land on him. “You’re getting sloppy. Would it be better if I stood still like I did in the castle?” The Draconequus was purposefully goading Rainbow Dash into going all out.

“You have… hah… SOME nerve…! Hah… talking so big… hah… when you haven’t even thrown a single punch this entire time!” Rainbow Dash retorted defiantly after pausing her assault, though clearly fatigued by her wrathful overexertion. “Besides… hah… That black eye and those bruises… hah… tell me a whole different story…” Rainbow smirked.

“These injuries are nothing. You actually think you’re winning this fight? Hah, that’s a laugh! I’m not even breaking a sweat, while you seem just as tired as…” Then it dawned on him. “…as Twilight Sparkle was before she died…” Discord smugly grinned at his statement.

“How… DARE YOU!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she blindly charged the Draconequus in pure rage. Discord’s battle plan was working to perfection. He was provoking the rainbow-maned Pegasus to attack without a hint of rational thought in order to tire her out and gain the upper hand. Expectantly, Rainbow’s attacks had begun to slow down in their frequency and decrease in strength, fatigue firmly setting in as she continued her ill-fated barrage of kicks and hoof-punches until she was almost entirely depleted of energy.

“Done already? How sad…” Discord taunted some more. “Now, it’s my turn…” At that, Discord had begun assaulting the tired Pegasus with a flurry of punches, kicks, and tail whips. Rainbow Dash was unable to defend herself as the assault went on, grunting and screaming in pain with each hit the conniving Daconequus landed on her.

“Oh, no! Rainbow!” Applejack screamed in horror as she caught sight of her friend’s losing effort from Celestia’s magic orb. “We’re a-comin’ sugar-cube!”

Celestia dispelled the orb as soon as they touched the ground. Immediately, everyone, save for Spike, Celestia, and Cadence, rushed to the scene of the battle. Discord had wrapped his tail gently around the neck of the semi-conscious, battered Rainbow Dash and lifted her up high as he cackled in triumph.

“Get your wretched, filthy tail off of her! NOW!” Rarity shouted in frustration at the sight of her defeated friend as the group arrived.

"How rude! My tail is perfectly clean…” Discord responded, offended by the white mare’s demand.

“You heard ‘er! Let ‘er go!” Applejack demanded, as she got up close to Discord, turned around, and gave him a powerful double hind-leg kick to the stomach. “OOF!” Discord winced and doubled over, but his tail’s grip around Rainbow Dash’s neck still holding strong.

“Rgh!..” Discord growled as he clutched his belly in pain. “Okay… you want her…? Then…” as he twisted his upper body full circle. “TAKE HER!” He shouted as he jumped high into the air and, with a swift spin of his lower body, launched Rainbow Dash towards the mountain on which Canterlot was settled.

“Rainbow Dash!!” Fluttershy cried as she immediately took flight as swiftly as she could to save her friend from certain doom. Fluttershy, with an extensive, straining effort, managed to catch up to her hurtling friend and take hold of her, and tried to hinder the momentum of their beam towards the mountain. She then cradled around Rainbow Dash so that she would absorb more of the impact of the collision with the earthly structure. She had only managed to slow them down enough that the impact would not do any severe lasting damage, but the two Pegasi had slammed into the mountain very hard, leaving an indent in the craggy structure. Fluttershy had let out a loud, agonized scream as the impact had broken her right wing. Both Pegasi had landed onto the ground with a thud, semiconscious and injured.

“Fluttershy… Thank you…” Rainbow Dash managed to whisper to her friend as she slipped into unconsciousness. Fluttershy could only muster a weak smile as tears began to pour from her eyes as a result of the intense pain of her damaged wing.

“Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!” Spike shouted in horror as he witnessed the grueling impact.

“I’ll get them somewhere safe… You stay and watch the others, dear Aunt,” Cadence quickly said as she rushed over to the two injured Pegasi and telekinetically lifted them onto her back to carry them off of the warzone and back into the castle. Celestia nodded warmly towards her caring niece, then turned back to the direction of the battle, clenching her teeth in outrage at Discord’s ruthlessly manipulative tactics.

“I see that a little something called ‘honor’ isn’t a very familiar concept with you…! Is it?” proclaimed Shining Armor, clearly irritated by the degree of Discord’s underhanded tactic.

“Given that I do not recognize you, I’ll assume we haven’t met,” Discord calmly replied, recovering from Applejack’s kick and gently grounding himself after the throw.

“No, we haven’t,” the white stallion said sternly. “But I’ve heard enough about you, and FROM you to know that, for the sake of Equestria, you can’t be allowed to live!”

Discord laughed at Shining Armor’s proclamation. “You saw what I did to the little blue one and her yellow friend, didn’t you?” he bragged.

“Yeah, I saw…” Shining Armor replied with agitation at Discord’s cockiness. “But what I saw was you playing dirty trick after dirty trick, you coward! I’d say fight like a stallion, but seeing as you’re apparently the ‘Spirit of Chaos,’ I see that the chances of you fighting fair are highly unlikely.”

“The Spirit of Disharmony,” Discord corrected. “And you’re ri—“

“NOW!” Applejack suddenly shouted from behind the unicorn stallion. At that moment, Rarity shot a beam of magic squarely at Discord’s blackened left eye. “OW!” The Draconequus shouted as he threw his head back while moving his lion’s paw of a right arm to cover it.

“Nice shootin’, Rarity!” Applejack praised her classy friend.

“Naturally,” boasted Rarity, giving Applejack a look of regal confidence. “‘Precision’ is my middle name.”

Applejack smirked. “Remind me ta ask ya what’cher last name is when we’re done here,” the orange Earth pony quipped.

Meanwhile, quickly following suit after Rarity’s attack, Pinkie Pie rushed behind Discord and tightly clenched her teeth around the area a few inches away from the tip of his tail. Discord shouted in pain again. He then began to violently swing his tail in an attempt to shake the pink party mare off.

“Good job, Pinkie!” Applejack cheered. “Now keep holdin’ on! We’re a-comin’!”

Applejack then turned to Shining Armor, who was stunned at the unfolding of the Earth pony’s plan. “Heya, partner. We’re gonna need one uh those protection orbs for this next part,” Applejack said with a wink. Shining Armor regained his composure and nodded in agreement.

“Everypony in position!” Shining Armor announced. Rarity and Applejack lined up on either side of him, and all three took a readied stance. Shining Armor then created a large magic force-field around the three of them.

“Ready!” announced Applejack.

“Set!” announced Rarity.

“GO!” shouted Shining Armor as the trio began to run in unison, quickly picking up momentum as they ran full speed towards Discord.

“Pinkie! Let go!” Rarity announced as the trio had approached their target. Pinkie Pie immediately let go and ran out of the way of the attack.

“Bleagh! Your tail tastes terrible! Not like licorice at all!” the pink mare complained as she fled to safety. Discord, unaware of the incoming attack, grabbed his tail and blew on it. He then noticed a large pink orb containing three ponies barreling towards him. He tried to move, but he was too late as the orb steamrolled him into the ground. The orb dispersed shortly after, with the three ponies inside reveling in their successful maneuver.

“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Shining Armor stated in blissful surprise. “I gotta give to ya, Applejack. I’m impressed with your ingenuity!”

“Aww shucks,” the Earth pony sheepishly responded. “T’weren’t nothin’. Besides, I wouldn’t-a pulled that off without everypony here!”

“I wouldn’t celebrate so soon if I were you…” Discord menacingly interjected while getting up and nonchalantly brushing himself off. Everypony was dumbfounded that he seemed unharmed by the attack.

“B-but how are you still STANDING after that!?” Rarity queried in shock.

“While I will admit that you DID shake me up a bit,” Discord began. “You’re forgetting that I can break the laws of physics at will. I simply transformed into a puddle of chocolate milk as you were rolling over me with that oversized gumball.”

Shining Armor shot Discord a confused look. “…Chocolate milk?”

“Yes.” Discord replied bluntly. “But now the time for fun is over. I admire your craftiness, though. It almost rivals mine. Almost. Any who, I believe it’s my turn again…” Discord stated, grinning evilly as he took flight and spawned twelve glasses of chocolate milk that hovered over him.

“Really…?” Shining Armor asked with skepticism.

“Prepare to be surprised…” Discord replied, still grinning.

“Bring it on! I bet I could drink ALL those glasses of milk, and STILL want more!” Pinkie Pie shouted at Discord, daring him to use them.

“As you wish…” Discord calmly replied, falling into a fit of laughter as he threw a glass towards the pink Earth pony. The glass landed upright in front of her. She leaned forward to take a sip, but as she got close, the glass tilted towards her, and chocolate milk shot up at her like a volcano, sending her flying high into the air and landing hard on her back a few feet away.

“Another cheap trick, I see…”  Shining Armor muttered, sneering at the Draconequus. Discord, not hearing Shining Armor’s comment, snickered at his prank on the pink Earth pony. Pinkie Pie slowly picked herself up, bowing her head as she rose to her hooves, her body drenched in chocolate milk.

“You’re going to pay for that…!” Pinkie growled through clenched teeth.

“Aww, can’t take a simple joke, Pinkie Pie?” Discord teased.

“Not the joke… This milk…. It tastes like rainbows…!”

Discord abruptly stopped laughing and gave Pinkie a puzzled look. “Rainbows?” he asked curiously. “That doesn’t exactly sound like a bad thing...”

“Rainbows are spicy… I HATE SPICY!!!” the party mare roared as she finally picked her head up to reveal a most threatening wide-eyed glare at the Draconequus, a vein visibly protruding from her forehead. He, shocked by the uncharacteristically angry glare he was shot by the pink mare, dropped the other eleven glasses of milk, spilling them on himself. She then charged at him in blind fury, not realizing she was making the same mistake that Rainbow Dash had made when she attacked him earlier.

“Pinkie, no!” yelled Applejack, seeing her friend about to put herself in extreme danger.

“Calm down, sweetie, please!” begged Rarity. However, Pinkie Pie was more wild and unpredictable in her current straight-haired state than her usual puffy-haired one. As the orange Earth pony and white unicorn mare had expected, their pleas fell on deaf ears as Pinkie Pie began swinging haphazardly at Discord. Consequently, given that she was putting herself in the same situation as the cyan Pegasus had earlier, Discord was able to avoid every predictable attack the enraged Pinkie had launched.

“As much as I’d love to toy with you, I’m running low on patience. I’m far behind schedule on chaos production.” Discord stated flatly. With a quick whip of his red dragon tail, he batted Pinkie Pie to the ground. Immediately afterwards, he wrapped it around her waist and lifted her up. “Oh, and before you get any ideas about biting me again…” he said as he stretched his tail as high as he could before slamming Pinkie Pie to the ground, knocking her out cold.

“Alright, THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Shining Armor shouted, fed up with Discord and his shady tricks.

“That tears it!” Applejack added in an equal amount of frustration. Rarity merely narrowed her eyes at Discord, bowing her head slightly and brushing her fore-hoof against the ground as if to charge at him herself. The others saw Rarity’s motion and lined up next to her, replicating the movements. The three then quickly charged at Discord, who, when they got close enough, raised his tail, still holding the unconscious Pinkie Pie, in front of him forcing Applejack, Rarity, and Shining Armor to stop in their tracks.

“You wouldn’t want to hurt your little friend here, would you?” Discord mockingly asked. “Yes, please, oh please don’t hurt me! I’m your friend,” He continued in a high-pitched tone while moving his tail to make an intentionally false image of the pink mare agreeing with him.

“You’re despicable…!” Rarity rasped in anger.

“Oh, I know,” Discord replied matter-of-factly. “And you know what else?” Discord asked. However, before anypony could give a reply to his question, he swung his tail, using the pink party pony as a weapon to knock the two unicorns and orange Earth pony away and onto the ground. He then began to cackle loudly in triumph as he stood over the checkmated trio…

The Diversion

Part 7: The Diversion

“I can’t stand for this anymore!” Celestia said, showing a clear amount of frustration through her intensely glowing horn and erect wings. “Our friends need us! We need to get them out of there! Spike, come with me.”

“O-o-out th-there??” Spike asked in shock and fear.

“Don’t worry,” Celestia replied. “I won’t have you do any fighting. I need you to come and collect our friends, then lead them back into the castle with the others. It’s already night time, and I expect Luna to join us any minute now. I’ll distract Discord while you gather up our wounded friends. Cadence should be able to heal them, and when she does, I want all of you to rejoin the fight alongside Luna and me. This is our one chance to take him down together.”

“R-right! You can count on me!” Spike replied with a new-found sense of courage. Spike climbed onto Celestia’s back, and they took off to the battlefield. Celestia landed hard in between Discord and the defeated trio of ponies, her brow furrowed, and her horn still glowing brightly.

“Discord! I cannot, and will not let you win here!” the Princess declared.  “This fight is now between you and me. Drop the pink pony… now!” Discord was initially surprised by Celestia’s interference, but then he chuckled at her demand.

“YOU intend to fight me now, Your Highness?” Discord mockingly asked, still laughing. Celestia’s intense look of focus was unaffected by Discord’s disrespect. “Have it your way,” Discord continued, shrugging his shoulders. He then tossed Pinkie Pie to the ground in front of Celestia.

“Spike?” Celestia said.

“On it!” Spike obediently replied, climbing off of the alicorn to pick up the pink Earth pony. He carried her over to Applejack, Rarity, and Shining Armor as they recovered from the blow dealt to them earlier.

“The Princess is going to take it from here. She wants us to get somewhere safe.” Spike informed the two unicorns and Earth pony.

“What?? But Pri--!” Shining Armor began. Celestia turned her head and glared.

“No objections! Go back into the castle!” Celestia hastily demanded. “I’ve got you covered from here,” she continued, turning her gaze back to Discord.

“…right,” the stallion unicorn reluctantly agreed. He formed an orb around himself, the three other ponies, and Spike, and began levitating them all back towards the castle.

“My, my, what a gutsy call,” Discord said, intrigued by the Princess’s determination. “Even after you saw everything that went down, you still intend on going into this alone. I’m not sure whether to call you loyal or just plain foolish…” Discord finished as he began to chortle.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Celestia retorted. “I won’t be alone for long. My sister approaches as we speak. However, instead of boring you with the wait or any small talk, I suggest we start things now!” Celestia then shot a beam of magic at the Draconequus’s feet. A large cloud of dust and smoke quickly rose out of the ground. He jumped to avoid the blast.

“HA! You missed.” Discord gloated. His small celebration was short-lived, however. As the smoke dissipated, there was no sign of Celestia anywhere.

“What!?” Discord asked himself in surprise. “Where di—!” he was interrupted as he felt a sudden force push him from behind and into the ground. He recovered quickly and looked up to see his attacker. He was shocked to see that instead of a large white alicorn, he laid his eyes upon a slightly smaller dark blue one with an equally blue, yet translucent, starry mane and tail.

“The fun has been DOUBLED!” announced the blue alicorn, smiling at her successful sneak attack.

“It can't be… Princess Luna??” Discord asked in amusement and a little surprise, as he had not recognized Luna’s new look. “My, how you’ve grown since last time!”

“No time for talk!” Luna declared in her royal Canterlot voice. “The time for idle chatter is over! You, Discord, must be dealt with post-haste! Are you ready, sister?”

“Yes I am, dear sister,” Celestia replied as she flew to Luna’s side. The two Princesses readied themselves for attack. Discord sighed in exasperation.

“I keep telling you that you stand no chance of defeating me without those Elements,” he began.  “If Equestria’s so-called ‘protectors’ couldn’t defeat me without their Twilight Sparkle, then what makes you think you two can?” Discord did not receive an answer to his question as the Princess Sisters launched their attack.

"So be it, then," Discord plainly said, and readied himself for the next round...

The Surprise

Part 8: The Surprise

Shining Armor and the group were on their way back into the throne room of the castle. As they reached the hole in the wall made at the beginning of the battle, they saw Cadence finishing a healing spell on Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

“What happened…?” Rainbow asked wearily as she awoke.

“Do you not remember your battle?” Cadence asked the Pegasus in concern.

“Yeah, I do. I remember trying as hard as I could against Discord and tiring myself out… then it’s all a blur from there. But then the next thing I know, I’m on the ground next to Fluttershy, who looked like she was in a lot of pain… Then I blacked out.”

“I was…” Fluttershy spoke softly as she rose to her hooves, flexing her now-repaired wing. “Discord threw you at the mountain after he beat you up because he got angry when Applejack kicked him… But I got to you just in time and covered you while you were heading towards it. We hit the mountain really hard, and the hit broke my wing…”

Rainbow was appalled by the information. “That jerk!” She said in frustration as she took flight, preparing to go back outside. “I oughta—!”

“No! Don’t go back down there!” Cadence warned. “Not alone, at least. You know what happened last time…” Rainbow Dash stared at Cadence for a second in disbelief. She then reluctantly descended to the ground, pouting and folding her fore-hooves in disappointment, knowing the pink alicorn was right. Just then, Shining Armor’s magic orb came into view and entered the room, to the shock of the two Pegasi and the pink alicorn.

“What happened out there, dear??” Cadence asked in surprise. “You all look like that horrible Discord was giving you quite the rough time.”

“He was…” Shining Armor glumly replied.

“We had ‘im though...! Or so we thought…” Applejack added.

“He tricked us again and again, even when we tried to trick him.” Rarity continued, irritated by the results of the brawl with the Draconequus. “And then that… that BRUTE got a hold of poor Pinkie Pie here and used her as a shield so we wouldn’t attack him. And could you BELIEVE he had the nerve to use her as a weapon to hit us with!?”

“Oh, my…” Fluttershy worriedly said. “She looks like she’s had it the worst,” she continued as she took a look at the unconscious pink mare.

“All of you, come here,” Cadence ordered. “I’ll heal you.”

“Hey, where’s Princess Celestia?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“She took our place fighting Discord so we could come back here,” Shining Armor answered.

“Alone?!” Rainbow asked in worry.

“No,” Applejack calmly said. “I think Luna’s out there with ‘er right now.”

“Oh, alright,” Rainbow simply said. “I suppose that would buy us some time to make up some kind of plan…” she added as she began to think.

“But, where ever shall we begin?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“Hey, Applejack. Any more bright ideas like that one you came up with earlier?” Shining Armor asked. He was eager to witness more of the earth Pony’s resourcefulness.

“Sorry, partner… ‘fraid not.” Applejack sadly replied. “That snake-in-the-grass Discord is mighty cunnin’.  I ain’t too sure how we can outsmart ‘im now…”

“Bummer…” Shining Armor responded in disappointment.

“If only Twilight were here…” Spike mumbled, meaning to speak to himself, but accidentally letting his thought be heard by the rest of the group.

The room suddenly fell silent at the cold reminder of the purple unicorn’s absence.

“Yeah… She’d know how to lead us through this…” Rainbow quietly said as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“I can’t believe we couldn’t do this without ‘er…” Applejack stated, looking at the ground in sadness.

“And who would have thought that in her absence, we would need her more than ever…?” Rarity said.

“This isn’t very fair at all…” Pinkie Pie, awakened and rejuvenated by Cadence’s healing spell, added in gloom.

Fluttershy sighed in grief. “I wish she would come back…” Everypony else nodded in agreement as the room fell silent once more.

“Twiley…” Shining Armor whispered as he hung his head low, squeezing his eyes shut to keep from crying. Cadence, feeling a wave of tears coming about her, kissed her husband on the cheek, wrapped her hooves gently around his neck and laid her head on him.

“No! We can’t get swept up in grief! Not now!” yelled Pinkie Pie, breaking the somber silence. “We have to go out there and help the Princesses! Twilight would--!” The pink Earth pony was interrupted as a sudden large beam of white light struck down from above in the center of the throne room with a thunderous roar, startling everypony.

“What’s… going on!?” Spike tried to ask over the noise, but everyone else was focused on the sudden beam of light illuminating and rumbling the room to hear him. The light beam shined intensely for what seemed like a minute. When the light cleared and the room quieted, the entire group was awestruck; mouths and eyes wide open at the product of the blast…

The Return

Part 9: The Return

“Are you all seeing… what I’m seeing?” Spike finally managed to speak in total disbelief.

Everypony responded with a unanimous “Uh-huh…” as they stared at the figure that emerged from the beam of light.

“Umm… Nice to see you guys, too…?” The figure said while smiling sheepishly, feeling a bit awkward about the stares being directed at it. The figure emerged as a familiar, yet transparent purple unicorn mare with a halo over her head.

“T-t-t—!” Applejack could only stutter in complete shock.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Pinkie Pie ecstatically shouted as she sprung to life, her mane and tail returning to their usually-puffy form. Twilight Sparkle had managed to miraculously return to the world of the living, albeit as an apparition rather than in a full corporeal form. Nonetheless, the group excitedly circled the ghostly lavender unicorn with a slew of questions to ask.

“HOW??” Rarity asked.

“I’d love to explain, but judging by what I’ve seen happening today from the world above, I’d say it’ll have to wait,” Twilight responded matter-of-factly. “Right now, we have to stop Discord!”

“Hold on… You already know about the whole situation??” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise.

“From the first punch Rainbow Dash threw…?” Fluttershy added.

“…to the current fight going on outside?” Shining Armor finished.

“Every single detail,” Twilight answered. “And I must say you all did pretty well without me!” Twilight warmly smiled at everyone.

“Humph! Define ‘well…’” Spike sarcastically replied.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled while glaring at the purple dragon. He cringed and froze in place while smiling shyly at her as if to realize his mistake. Her glare soon turned into a comforting smile as she realized that he was joking for the first time since her death. “Anyway,” Twilight said, regaining her focus. “We don’t have much time. I don’t know how long Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are going to last before Discord overpowers them, so let’s devise a plan, and quickly…”

“Quick question before we begin,” Pinkie Pie began. “Since you’re here again, but as a ghost, will the Elements of Harmony work like they used to?”

“That’s a good question, Pinkie…” Twilight replied. “Let’s see if we can summon them.” The protectors of Equestria, now reunited with their de facto leader, lined up next to one another and began to focus their thoughts. Within moments, each pony’s necklace appeared around her neck. Following soon afterwards, Twilight Sparkle’s tiara appeared, fitting her ghostly head as if she were fully tangible. The Elements’ glow was much brighter than they had been when they were used before.

“The Elements… seem… stronger…!” Twilight said in delight. “I’m not sure why or how as of yet, but this is perfect! This should work into our plan nicely… But, I suggest we hide the Elements when we go out there.”

“What for, Twi?” Applejack asked, confused by Twilight’s request.

“For another ‘Element’… called ‘Surprise…’” Twilight answered with a wink, grinning in excitement. Everyone's eyes widended in in realization that Twilight seemed to have already been one step ahead of the situation.

“You’re a genius, Twiley!” Shining Armor praised his younger sister, rubbing her head. He then realized his gesture and got confused. “Wait… Did I just…?”

“All part of the explanation I owe everypony once we’re done,” Twilight sternly stated. “Now, let’s get planning!”

“Right,” everyone else responded in unison. The group of ponies and Spike then huddled together and began to discuss their new method of attack…

The Battle (II)

Part 10: The Battle (II)

After a few minutes of devising a strategy, everypony in the throne room had come to an agreement.

“So, are we all clear?” Twilight asked.

“Roger!” replied an excited and determined Rainbow Dash, hardly able to contain her excitement.

“This plan’s going to be a doozy!” Pinkie Pie energetically stated.

“’Doozy’ is an understatement!” Rarity countered enthusiastically.

“Y’know, you never cease to amaze me, sugar cube.” Applejack said, smiling.

“You’re the best, Twilight!” Fluttershy ecstatically said.

“Boy am I glad to be your B.B.B.F.F.!” Shining Armor said excitedly. “I’d hate to be on the receiving end of this plan, and I’m sure that nasty Discord will, too.”

“And I’m glad to have had such a brilliant little sister!” said Cadence, proud of the lavender unicorn.

“Had?” Twilight asked in wonder. “You guys haven’t lost me. Even after death, I will always be with you! Besides, I wouldn’t be the same pony I am without you all. And I most certainly would not have been able to come back like this without our bond… I’m sorry that I didn’t get to tell you all that before I…” Emotional tears began to form in the corners of her twinkling royal violet eyes.

“It’s quite alright, darling…” Rarity replied with a warm smile, her voice cracking as her eyes were tearing up. “The fact that you were able to come back to us this one time delivered that message clearly.”

“The part about you never leaving us is especially great to hear, Twilight!” Spike added in excitement. He got a few curious looks from the others. “Because… I sure hated being in the library alone…” he continued shyly, looking at the ground and rubbing a claw on the back of his head. Twilight was all but compelled to hug him tightly, barely able to hold back her tears at his innocent statement. Spike was shocked by the sudden embrace, but soon returned the tearful hug, beginning to cry tears of joy himself. Everypony else smiled warmly at the poignant scene, tears forming in their large, brightly glimmering eyes.

“Aww, Spikey-wikey!” Rarity said with great concern for the purple dragon. “You could have asked to stay at the Carousel Boutique with me!”

“Or with any of us!” Applejack added, wiping her tears off. “You’re welcome to stay with anypony here if you’re feelin’ alone or afraid, sugar cube. We’re here for ya…” the orange Earth pony finished as she continued to weep, smiling sweetly.

“Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy again!” Rainbow Dash loudly admitted in a quivering tone, tears vehemently streaming down her cheeks. She was trying to hide her heartfelt weeping with her fore-hoof, to no avail. Fluttershy rubbed her back, giving her a tearful, empathetic smile. “Let’s just *sniff* get this fight over with. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need us!”  She added while finally uncovering her rose-colored eyes. A look of tearful, motivated determination appeared on the cyan Pegasus’s face.

“Right! Let’s go!” Twilight announced, realizing that the group’s emotional moment would have to wait along with her explanation of her return.

“Alright!” Everyone else said in unison as Shining Armor formed another magic barrier around himself and everypony else and began to levitate the orb out of the castle and on to the battlefield.

Outside, Celestia and Luna were still holding their own against Discord. The alicorns, juxtaposed with one another, and the Draconequus were at a stand-off, all of them breathing heavily. Clear signs of an intense battle showed in the many scratches and bruises on each of their bodies, and the smoldering craters surrounding them caused by the constant use of magic blasts.

“My, you two have… hah… gotten much stronger since… hah… the last time we battled!” Discord said, showing genuine admiration for the Princesses’ strength.

“What, did you expect us to… hah… spend the entirety of my time sitting around… hah… eating cake, sipping tea, and idly watching over our beloved subjects with… hah… no plans on honing our skills… hah… in fighting to protect them… hah… for this last millennium?” Celestia asked with contempt for Discord’s underestimation of them.

“Well… Yes, actually,” he replied. Celestia could only let out a small, sharp exhale and shoot him a look of annoyance and disbelief.

“HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE GREAT PRINCESSES OF EQUESTRIA IN SUCH A… hah… CALLOUS MANNER!!” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice, panting after finishing due to the amount of energy it requires for her to use it. Discord began to laugh hysterically after the blue alicorn finished her sentence. “HEY! I fail to see… hah… the humor… hah... in my previous statement.” She tried to yell, but her voice had shrunk back to the somewhat-quiet tone she had learned during Nightmare Night almost one year ago. Discord laughed harder.

“That’s enough!” Celestia bellowed, sick of the Draconequus’s disrespectful behavior, but then she came to an epiphany. She turned to Luna. “Let’s attack him while he’s vulnerable,” she whispered to her sister.

“A glorious idea!” Luna responded, eager to get her revenge on Discord for laughing at her. However, as the two tried to move, they quickly realized that their hooves were stuck in place, as if they were planted in concrete.

“Hahahahaha! Did you two REALLY expect me to leave myself open like that?” Discord said, still laughing.

“What trickery hast thou cast upon us, foul creature!?” Luna asked in frustration at her immobilized state.

“Oh, while we were having that lovely little chat, I decided to mold the dirt around your hooves into super glue, thereby eliminating any ‘surprise attacks’ you two little tricksters may have come up with.” Discord’s laughter descended into slight chuckles. Then his tone became serious. “Not to mention that you two will be the first two to witness and feel the true punishment that comes with defying the Spirit of Disharmony. How fitting. Too long, it’s been since I’d been dethroned as ruler of Equestria by you two little ponies. To add insult to injury, a single day after the first time I broke free of that wretched statue, I was placed right back into another one… By six seemingly-random run-of-the-mill fillies, whose bond of friendship I drastically underestimated. But now, no one can stop my ultimate return and restart of my reign of chaos. And to think it was all because of the permanent departure of one of those six random fillies…” As Discord finished his vengeful tirade, he began to fly, slowly drifting himself toward the two immobilized alicorn Princesses. His pace began to quicken, a twisted look of pleasure creeping onto his face. He raised both his lion’s paw right arm and eagle’s talon left arm as he approached.

“Quick, Luna! Use your magic to free your hooves from the ground!” Celestia announced, a clear amount of stress entering her tone. The two tried to revert the super glue to its original form as dirt, to no avail as they had exhausted the majority of their magic trying to take down the evil Draconequus that was menacingly approaching them.

“Are you feeling trapped? Like there’s no way out? Like everything you know and love is about to come to an end?” Discord questioned, beginning to chuckle shortly after. “Now you know how I felt for the entirety of the time I was trapped in that horrid statue…” he cackled in triumph as Celestia and Luna were unable to free themselves. Discord closed the distance, stood in front of the two alicorns, arms raised, an evil toothy grin on his face, as he prepared to begin his onslaught.

“We have failed…” Celestia mournfully said as tears began to form in her eyes, now squeezed shut, bowing her head in shame and fear.

“We tried our best, dear sister… It appears our time has… come.” Luna said, barely louder than a whisper, as she mimicked her sister’s dejected gesture.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” A familiar voice from above shouted. Celestia and Luna quickly raised their heads in surprise. They gave each other a wide-eyed, clueless look.

“That voice… No… But how…!?” Discord rasped to himself in frustration as he disengaged himself from his attack. The three looked up to see a large pink magic orb containing eight ponies and a baby dragon. The orb quickly descended in front of the still-immobilized alicorns, forcing Discord to jump back. The orb dispersed and the entire group formed a line side-by-side, while each of them took a readied fighting stance, with Twilight Sparkle in the center.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia and Luna yelled in united surprise, their hooves still stuck in Discord’s super glue.

“Twilight Sparkle!?? This is IMPOSSIBLE! Even by MY standards!” Discord shouted. “There’s no way you should have come back!” He then took a calmer, yet still angry tone. “I also see that you had yourselves a secret healer of sorts… I’m willing to bet it’s either you or that pink alicorn I’ve never seen before now.”

“That’s right!” Twilight began. “I’ve come back from the dead in order to help my friends stop you!”

“What!?” Discord yelled, skeptical of Twilight’s claim. “That’s impossible! But then, I suppose that would explain why you’re see-through with a halo hovering over your head. Whatever the case, I will not let you stop me from spreading disharmony throughout Equestria! And I most definitely will not stand idly by as you charge up those Elements to lock me away again!”

“Not on our watch! Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight announced. Immediately after the lavender called upon the names of the two Pegasi, they jumped to the front of the line, determined to fight. “Go!” Twilight shouted, causing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to fly at a quick pace, side by side, towards Discord in what seemed to be an attempt to take him on in a 2-on-1 fight.

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy attacking me on their own? Ha! Bring it on!” Discord said in firm confidence. Suddenly, as the two Pegasi reached their target, they suddenly stopped, and Rainbow Dash blew him a raspberry before both she and Fluttershy flew straight upwards, leaving the Draconequus in wonder as he stared up at them. As he was about to give chase to them, a sudden “NOW!” was yelled from below him. As he turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, a sudden burst of magic formed around him, encasing him in a large orb. Discord banged on the inner walls of the orb, trying desperately to free himself. At a moment’s whim, the orb shrunk around him, condensing itself, as well as the Draconequus inside, to a size slightly larger than a basketball.

“Nice work, Shining Armor!” Twilight commended her older brother. “Fluttershy, Rainbow! Get into position!” The Pegasi descended a little, staying very high in the air, and moved to opposite sides of each other a few feet away. Shining Armor moved the Dragon Ball up towards Fluttershy, who grabbed it with her fore hooves.

“Okay… umm… What do I do now?” Fluttershy timidly asked herself.

“Just throw the ball at me as hard as you can!” Rainbow Dash yelled to her.

“Oh, but I don’t want to hurt you, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy responded, considerate of her friend’s safety.

“I’ll be fine! Just throw it!” A thought came to Rainbow Dash’s mind. “If you don’t… Discord will break free and beat us up again like he did last time!”

Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide, and then slowly arched in what seemed to be anger. She looked at the magic Discord-filled orb, clutching it tightly in between her fore hooves. “You big… dumb… MEANIE!!” Fluttershy shouted loudly as she tossed the ball above her head, and with an unusually strong swing of her fore hoof, spiked it hard at Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus smirked as she dodged the ball, letting it soar past her. “Rainbow Dash! What are you doing??” Fluttershy asked in confusion.

“Wait for it… wait for it… and… NOW!” Rainbow hollered as she turned around and began to fly quickly to catch up to the ball. Within seconds, she passed it and turned around to fly backwards as the ball was now heading towards her. “I’m gonna enjoy this…” she thought to herself as she began snickering, a mischievous look appearing on her face. Using one of her hind hooves, she kicked the ball upwards, flew upwards past the orb, placed her fore hooves together, and raised them above her head. “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rainbow Dash roared and, with a mighty swing of her hooves, smashed the ball down towards the ground.

The ball crashed ferociously into the ground nearby the other ponies, shattering Shining Armor’s orb and leaving a large crater where it landed. When the smoke cleared, Discord, finally freed from the confines of the sphere, woozily got up and shook his head to come back to his senses. When he did, he was instantly surrounded and immobilized in a blue glow. Rarity quickly ran towards the disoriented Discord, holding him firmly in her magic grip. When she got close enough to him, she began to levitate him.

“Now it’s MY turn!” Rarity said. “It… is…  ON…!” Following her statement, she began to violently wave the Draconequus around like she was using a maraca for a few seconds in order to keep him dizzy. After she finished shaking him, she loosened her magic grip on him, allowing him to fall. However, before he hit the ground, she focused a new wave of magic on the end of his tail. “Oh, it’s not over just yet…” Rarity said as she began to grin. She spun Discord in circles by his tail until she had built up enough momentum. “Applejack!” Rarity called to the orange Earth pony.

“Ready when you are, sugar cube!” Applejack responded, ready for her part in the assault. Rarity let go of Discord, sending him flying towards the cow-pony. Applejack leaped high and tackled the Draconequus midflight into the ground. “You better be ready for a ride!” Applejack taunted as she grabbed his tail with her teeth and began to run top-speed in large circles. When she gained enough momentum, she stopped, jerked her head up, and tossed Discord into the air. She then prepped herself for an apple bucking kick like no other. When Discord came down, she landed her hooves squarely on his back, sending him flying towards the group, with Pinkie Pie eagerly waiting while she was lying on her back. When Discord flew into her, she gave him a kick  in the stomach with her hind hooves, pushing him back into the air for a long enough time for her to prep herself for her attack.

“Ooh, I can’t wait to try this! It’s something I imagined I could do with something long and thin! Like a rope. Or a wire. Or a snake. OOH! Speaking of snakes, this one time, I was baking some cupcakes for Pumpkin and Pound Cake, and this snake- at least, it LOOKED like a snake, was sitting there waiting and…” Pinkie Pie was excitedly talking a mile a minute about wildly unrelated things as she usually did when she was stimulated. Meanwhile, she was kicking her hooves while on her back as if she were running, rolling the Draconequus like a wheel. She kept it up for a good minute. “And then I--!”

“Pinkie! Stay focused!” Twilight shouted.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie Pie said, remembering her objective. “Well, it was nice talking to ya, Discord! Too bad we have to beat you up and seal you up again for being such a meanie-pants! You actually seem like a nice guy when you’re not doing the whole ‘chaos’ thing! I gotta admit, though; I loved the chocolate rain! Bye-bye now!” Pinkie kicked the still-rolling Discord into the air and when he came back down, she kicked him higher into the air, rolled onto her hooves and quickly moved out of the way. As he was coming down, he was surrounded once again by a magic aura, this time a lighter blue than the last.

“Wow… I’m… ngh…! Impressed,” Discord weakly and painfully began. “Never, would I have thought ponies to be so… dah…! cunning… and powerful… But don’t think you’ve beaten me yet…” he finished, letting out a slight chuckle afterwards.

“Oh, don’t think we’re going to fall for your tricks anymore, Discord!” Twilight responded contemptuously. She then formed three magenta-colored magic rings, swiftly levitated them around the Draconequus, who was still enveloped in Cadence’s magic, and closed the rings around his ankles, wrists, and mouth, disabling him from speaking or making any movement to escape the attack. Discord was infuriated. He began to jerk and squirm violently in order to break the magic binds.

“Shining Armor! Use your magic to help Cadence hold Discord in place! Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie! Come here!” Twilight sternly directed.

“Not a problem, Twiley!” Shining Armor responded compliantly as he shrouded Discord in his own magic, combining it with his beloved wife’s, changing the color of the force field to a light purple. “How you holding up, honey?”

“Just fine, dear! Even better now that you're helping!” Cadence replied with a smile, while focusing on holding Discord in place.

The others gathered up around Twilight and took their positions.

“Looks like this is the end for you again, Discord,” Twilight started. “It’s a shame that you didn’t learn your lesson the last two times you were defeated. It’s even more shameful that you would use my death as a way to escape and try again, and in such an abhorrent fashion. You hurt my friends in more ways than one, which is something I didn’t think even you could stoop yourself to doing. You also used more devious, conniving tactics than I thought you were capable of in order to hurt them, and you planned on taking control of our entire country yet again, throwing it into yet another era of horrific pandemonium. I’m not sure whether it was your ambition for causing chaos where-ever you go that drove you to this, or the apparent fact that you wanted revenge against me and my friends so badly that you actually came here to attack my friends before creating any unusual occurrences. Whatever the reason, know that this is the last time- the LAST TIME that you will ever threaten anypony with your tyranny. Farewell, Spirit of Disharmony!”

As Twilight Sparkle finished her speech to the constricted Draconequus, the Elements of Harmony appeared on their respective owners. Discord’s eyes widened in fear at the sight of them. “Oh, and one more thing: the Elements are stronger this time!” Twilight added. The Elements of Harmony began to glow almost as brightly as the sun as each of their bearers began to levitate, eyes closed in focus. Soon, the light enveloped all six Protectors of Equestria. Discord could only stare in frustration and fear as he was still being held in place by Shining Armor and Cadence. He tried his hardest to break free of the forces holding him, but only managed to slip his mouth out of the magic ring that was holding it shut.

“Please, ponies!” Discord said, frantic and afraid. “Maybe we can… talk this out? O-or uhh… cut some kind of deal?”

“I’m sorry, Discord, but it’s far too late to beg your way out of this. Ultimately, you brought this on yourself.” Celestia responded straightforwardly. “Girls! Take him out!”

“With gusto!” Twilight answered enthusiastically. The glow around the six bearers of the Elements grew bright enough to light up the night sky a little, making it seem almost as if the dawn had come. Twilight Sparkle then opened her eyes to reveal a luminous white glow coming from them that made her irises and pupils seem to disappear. At that moment, a tremendous beam of rainbow-colored light spewed upwards from the light generated by the Elements. As the rainbow beam rose up high, it suddenly arched and came roaring down towards its target.

“Whelp… Here we go again…” Discord said glumly, sighing.

When the beam hit him, however, it did not begin to turn him into stone; it instead began to slowly vaporize the Draconequus.

“WHAT’S…? HAPPPENING… TO ME!!!???” Discord shouted in shock as parts of his body were vanishing, as if the magic was eating away at him. Steadily, his arms, legs, wings, and tail were erased from view, followed by his body. As the magic began to eat away at his head, the only part of him left, he managed to utter a short message in an unusually clear, gentle, echoing tone: “You ponies have done well in serving and protecting this kingdom… Keep Equestria strong and proud… Farewell…” he said as the last vestiges of his existence were wiped out, causing a colorful explosion similar to Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, but considerably larger.

Elsewhere, three fillies were in a clubhouse when they heard an explosion, then peered out of a window to observe the commotion.

“Whoa, what’s that over there!?” a small white unicorn asked with wonder.

“Looks like one of Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainbooms!” an orange Pegasus responded with excitement.

“I dunno, Scootaloo…” a yellow Earth pony began, thinking. “That looks a little too big ta be one uh Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Boom thingies. I remember Applejack tellin’ me about some kinda thing with the uh… Elements of Armory or somethin’ of that sort, though… Maybe it’s that?”

“Well, whatever it is…” Scootaloo began to reply.

“It looks amazing!” the white unicorn interrupted with a slight squeal in her voice.

“Well let’s keep watchin’, Sweetie Belle!” The yellow Earth pony said to the unicorn, smiling.

“Yeah! Maybe this will give us a clue on how to get our Cutie Marks, Applebloom!” Scootaloo said with glee as the three fillies gathered up to the window and watched the light show in awe…

The Enlightenment

Part 11: The Enlightenment

After the explosion ended, and Discord was finished for good, everypony showed clear signs of fatigue. The field the group was standing in had finally become quiet, albeit ravaged and torn by the battle.

“That… was… AWESOME!” Spike cheered.

“That was more than awesome! That was EPIC!” Rainbow Dash added.

“Hoo, doggie! I ain’t ever been this worked up for somethin’ before in mah life!” Applejack yelled.

“As much as I’d prefer not to get my hooves dirty… I did find that quite exhilarating!” Rarity said.

“That was intense!” Shining Armor excitedly stated. “In all my years as captain of the Royal Guard, I’ve never fought in such a crazy battle! Except maybe the whole thing with Chrysalis during our wedding, but I didn’t even get to fight due to being hypnotized.”

“Still, that day made our love much stronger than either of us expected it to be,” Cadence replied with a warm smile.

“D’aww, you’re right, sweetie. In fact, I think the same thing happened with this battle…” Shining Armor leaned in to nuzzle his nose with Cadence’s, which she gleefully reciprocated.

“This battle was quite the experience, though,” Cadence began. “That Discord seemed to be much more powerful than Chrysalis. On top of that, instead of feeding off of the emotions of ponies, he had the raw power to beat us all from the get-go. Why did he insist on torturing us the way he did?”

“Because he was the Spirit of Disharmony,” Celestia replied, now free from Discord’s super glue trap.

“Yes, and given that, he had a penchant for toying with his opponents instead of dealing with them outright,” Luna added, also free from Discord’s trap. “I have reason to believe that that was his biggest weakness, and also what saved us… Of course, other than Twilight Sparkle here.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Pinkie Pie realized. “How exactly DID you come back, Twilight?”

“Oh, right!” The ghostly lavender unicorn said, realizing her promise to explain her return. “This is gonna be a long one, so I suggest we go back into the castle to get comfortable while I tell you the story.” With that, Shining Armor had begun to form an orb around everypony, but was stopped. “Don’t worry, big brother. I’ve got this one. You’ve done enough transporting for one night,” Twilight said, smiling warmly at her brother. He returned the smile, rubbing her head. Twilight proceeded to focus energy into her horn, and with a sudden flash, she had teleported everyone back into the throne room.

“Okay, so get comfortable, everypony, because, as I said, this is going to be a lengthy one.”

“We have as much time as we need,” Fluttershy responded courteously. “Please, do go on.”

“Alright, here goes,” Twilight began before taking a deep breath. “So, after I passed away, I saw myself rise out of my own body. I tried to fly back into it, but I was only going in one direction; up. I saw you guys all crying, which devastated me as I rose towards the ceiling of my home... Next, everything flashed white for a few seconds, and the next thing I know, I find myself surrounded by the most beautiful field of flowers I’d ever seen. Dandelions, Roses, Azaleas, every magnificent flower you could think of, in full bloom. There were streams of rivers that sparkled beautifully in the comfortably warm sunlight, and tons of other ponies there.”

“Sounds like quite the serene place,” Shining Armor interjected.

“It is,” Twilight delightedly replied. “So, when I got there, I found myself face to face with this pony who wore a long black robe with a hood. I couldn’t get a good look under his robe or hood at all. He seemed so… mysterious.”

“Sounds like you’ve met with death incarnate, Soul Soother,” Princess Celestia interjected.

“You know him?” Twilight asked.

“That I do, my most Faithful Student. He’s a good friend of mine and Luna’s. In our time as rulers of Equestria, Luna and I have received a plethora of visits from him regarding the deceased. He sometimes acts as a messenger of sorts. But that’s a story for another time. Please, continue with yours.”

“Right. So, I met ‘Soul Soother,’ who immediately showed that he had already known a lot about me, but didn’t take the time to introduce himself. His deep, booming voice scared me, but he turned out to be really nice. He said:

‘Twilight Sparkle, I am afraid your time has come. Quite a bit too soon, I might add. Do not be alarmed, though. I am well aware of your status as the Element of Magic, as well as the most trusted right-hand mare to Princess Celestia. I also know that you were a unicorn of unprecedented talent. Because of your status in life, I will personally reward you with a meeting with a most renowned resident of this plane of existence, who goes by the name… of Star Swirl the Bearded.’

I was overjoyed to hear him say I’d be meeting Star Swirl the Bearded! Of course, I was also wondering why he knew about me and was treating me so well even though we’d just met. I asked him how he knew all of this, and he simply said that he’d heard a lot about me. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, seeing as nopony in the next world should have known so much about me, nor should he have been able to spend enough time in this world to ask anypony about me… I suppose with the exception of you, Princess Celestia. Nevertheless, my enthusiasm to meet a unicorn with abilities worlds beyond my own in the afterlife overpowered my curiosity, especially since it was THE Star Swirl the Bearded. I agreed to meet Star Swirl right away.”

“How is Star Swirl, dear Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked with curiosity.

“Oh, he’s fine! Not much of a conversational kind of stallion, though…” Twilight kindly replied. “Now, where was I…? Oh: Soul Soother took me to this seemingly-secluded area in the large garden that was surrounded by a forest. When we got to Star Swirl, he seemed to have already been waiting for me. He took no time to introduce himself, as he figured I already knew who he was. Within the first day there, he’d already taken me on as… an apprentice, of sorts. I tried to get to know him a little better, but he wouldn’t answer any questions that didn’t have to do with magic or spells. I assume that was because he’d already known, or at least had a feeling about the problem with Discord before I did because the first thing he said to me was:

'I will be perfectly clear with you, young unicorn; now is not the time for idle chatter. You must be prepared to ward off any dangers that may lurk about. Almost immediately following your falling ill, I had arranged this meeting in the case of your departure from the living world. I did so in order inform you that, should you make your trip here, you would immediately become a student of mine. I have watched you and heard many great things about you, Twilight Sparkle. From what information I have been given about you from our friend, I am aware that you are quite the gifted mare with unrivaled potential. However, your untimely visit to this world could possibly have drastic effects on the world of the living. Now let us begin with your lessons.'

Other than his mention of dangers lurking about and what effects my death COULD have on this world, I had no clue why he was being so hasty. No matter how much I questioned him on it, he wouldn’t answer with anything other than, ‘in due time.’ But, when I asked him what I was going to be learning from him so suddenly, he told me that it was an extremely important spell, and that I needed to demonstrate the strength of my teleportation spells before he taught it to me, so I did.  As it turned out, he taught me how to teleport myself to anypony in that world, no matter how far, with surprisingly little effort, using a pony’s emotional energy as a sort of mental destination point.”

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That sounds amazing!”

“It is,” Twilight replied.

“So… what kinds of emotions did you have to um… lock onto to use the spell?” Fluttershy quietly asked.

“At first, I was only able to lock on with happiness, which was easy considering that almost everypony there was so cheerful. Almost as cheerful as Pinkie Pie, if I do say so myself,” Twilight answered. Pinkie Pie giggled in delight at the thought that there were ponies who shared her energetic disposition. “Anyway, I learned the spell very quickly. By day two, I was already able to lock on with ponies with… less-than-cheerful outlooks on their afterlives.”

“There are ACTUALLY ponies there that are NOT happy with paradise?” Rarity asked in surprise.

“Shockingly, yes,” Twilight responded with as much surprise as the white unicorn mare. “Some ponies generally didn’t seem to want to be there. I suppose it shouldn’t be as shocking as it was, because a lot of the ponies there with resentful, indifferent, or melancholy feelings were—“

“Rese-wuh? And the other two words?” Spike asked in confusion.

“Angry, uncaring, or sad, Spike,” Twilight answered. “Anyway, a startling amount of the ponies feeling those ways… were young fillies and colts, some of which didn’t even have Cutie Marks...” Everypony took a collective gasp.

“Oh my, how awful!” Rarity said, appalled.

“I know… It hurt so much to find out such a thing, especially by practicing the teleportation spell using their feelings… I almost couldn’t stomach having to use these ponies as tools for my training, especially after finding out some of the reasons they wound up there…” Twilight began to tear up, looking down in grief.

“How did you find the courage to keep going?” Cadence asked with worry.

“I… I almost didn’t. Star Swirl is a strict teacher, and when I’d try to engage in conversation with the ponies I’d teleported myself to, he’d appear right behind me and teleport me back to our training area to continue. Towards the end of today, the third day I was there, I was getting fed up with sending myself to all those sad ponies without being able to talk to them for longer than a few seconds. I was ready to tell him I wasn’t going to torture myself or anypony else like that further if I didn’t have a reason for doing it. But then, Soul Soother came to us, saying that something horrible was going on in the living world and that Equestria was in danger.”

“So the feller musta known about Discord…” Applejack realized.

“That’s how it appeared. Before I even got to ask, he conjured a portal that showed us what he was talking about. I saw Discord breaking free from the statue we imprisoned him in and then going directly to Canterlot to snoop around during my funeral. I was horrified that he’d escaped again, but surprised that he didn’t start causing trouble right away. So many thoughts were racing through my head about what he had planned, and how you were going to handle him without me…”

“We were tryin’ ta figure out the same thing,” Applejack replied.

“Yeah, we spent a good hour or so trying to figure out how we were supposed to protect Equestria and continue our lives without you…” Pinkie Pie began. “But none of us could come up with a way that played out for the better. But then we realized that since you were gone, Discord might have broken free again…”

“And unfortunately, that turned out to be true…” Rainbow Dash stated with annoyance at the thought of Discord.

“I see…” Twilight began. “Soul Soother only showed me what Discord was doing, so I didn’t hear any of the conversation you had. I did see Discord finally show up here after he spent some time spying on you. From there, I saw the fight you got into with him up until the point where he’d knocked out Pinkie Pie and used her to attack Rarity, Applejack, and Shining Armor. At that point, I’d seen enough and was thinking the worst… but then it dawned on me as to why I needed to learn the teleportation spell; I needed to lock onto the feelings of sadness, frustration, and anger you guys were showing mixed with Discord’s indifference towards how he was treating you.”

“But how did that allow you to transcend the barrier between this world and the next?” Celestia asked.

“That’s something I’m not entirely clear on myself… According to Star Swirl, the spell was powerful enough to pass through the existential barrier, but not without help from ponies in the living world. I needed some sort of spiritual and emotional anchor to keep me here. Soul Soother added that the spell was likely only able to cross the barrier under two conditions. One: if the pony you’re teleporting yourself to is close to you and is in dire need of you, and/or Two: if your bond with the pony- or ponies, in this case- in the living world is exceptionally strong. He also said that the spell only worked temporarily in cases such as this, and that, if my bond with you all was strong enough, I’d have a maximum of 24 hours before I was transported back.”

“In all my years, I’d only heard of such a spell…” Celestia murmured in deep thought. “But I’d never thought it to be possible…”

“That is most wonderful!” Luna cheered. “Is it possible for you to perform this spell more than once?”

“That, I’m afraid I don’t know…” Twilight answered worriedly. “I wasn’t able to get a full explanation about the capabilities of this spell due to having to get here as soon as I could, but anything is possible, right?” The lavender unicorn smiled, optimistic.

“Well, while we don’t know if you’ll be able to do this again, how much time do you think you’ve been here?” Spike asked.

“Hmm… I’m not sure…” Twilight wondered.

“You have been here for approximately one hour and fifty-six minutes.” Luna stated matter-of-factly.

“How did y—!” Spike was about to ask.

“I am the Princess of the Night, dear Spike,” Luna began. “I have been raising and lowering the moon long enough to know the exact time and position in which it will be,” she said with a wink and a smile.

“I’m sorry, but… Twilight, were you finished with your story?” Fluttershy asked considerately.

“Hmm… yeah, I think I covered everything I needed to.” Twilight responded.

“Well in that case, how about a PARTYYYY!?” Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing with glee.

“Maybe later… I’m *yawn* beat,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Yeah, getting some shut-eye definitely seems best after a fight like that.” Shining Armor agreed. “Oh, that gives me a question: Twiley, seeing as you’re a ghost and all, do you need sleep or feel fatigue?”

“In the other world, yes, but, from my experience there, I’d say not nearly as often,” Twilight answered. “I was able to stay up for two days straight, and felt like new after only maybe two hours-worth of sleep. But seeing as I’m here, and I haven’t slept in a while, I do feel pretty tired.”

“Well then, that settles it,” Applejack began. “We’ll get us some rest, then wake up as early’s we can so we can spend as much time with Twilight as possible.”

“Aww, you don’t have to do that,” Twilight said, touched by Applejack’s suggestion.

“Oh, but we must!” Rarity insisted. “We only get to spend this one day’s worth of time with you until…”

“9:27 PM, by my calculations,” Luna interjected.

“…and we will make absolutely sure we spend every second of it together,” Fluttershy finished with a heart-warming smile.

“I’ll even clear my schedule for tomorrow to hang out with you,” Princess Celestia added, also warmly smiling.

“As will I,” Luna added.

“Us, too,” Shining Armor and Princess Cadence said in unison. Twilight was almost unable to speak as she was already weeping with joy at her friends’ magnanimous offers of their time.

“That means… *sniff* so much to me… I… I can’t thank you enough for thinking about me…” Twilight said in a quivering voice through her tears.

“N-not to make this any s-sappier for you, Twilight, but…” Spike began with his claws folded behind his back, digging one of his feet into the floor as if he were squashing something, with a bashful look on his face. “…I was wondering if you’d… let me sleep in your bed with you…?” Twilight all but lost it at Spike’s innocent question, hugging him tightly while sobbing loudly, bringing everypony else in the room to tears as they moved in for a group hug.

“You guys know I hate… *sniff* being sappy…” Rainbow Dash tearfully began. “Why do you all keep doing this to me? It’s gonna ruin my rep… *sniff*” Everypony managed to laugh a little at Rainbow Dash’s semi-joke. The group hug-and-cry lasted a few minutes. When it subsided, everypony said their goodbyes and went back to their respective homes in order to rest up for what they would make the best day ever…

(Author's Note)

(Author’s Note)

Hello and good… whatever time of day it is for you, readers! TPurnell18 here and I’m here to thank you for reading my very first My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic FanFiction! Also, I-

*WHISH*

*BOOM*

…What in the world??

“Hey, what’s this place? I haven’t been here before!”

What the--? How’d you--?

“Oh, hello! I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to Equestria?”

Equestria? This ain’t--!

“Excuse me, but what exactly are you? You’re nothing like any animal I’ve seen before…”

…Right. Well, while you’re here, why don’t you introduce yourself?

“To who, exactly?”

Well, me, for one. Two, everyone else here.

“Ooookay…? Hello, invisible ponies and/or other life forms! My name is Twilight Sparkle. And I’m apparently in a very strange world, meeting a very strange creature.”

This ‘Strange Creature’ is just as intelligent as you are, you know.

“Oh, really? Well how intelligent can you be if you’re talking to yourself and pretending there’s an audience somewhere?”

…Anyway, thank you all for reading "The Twilight Without a Dawn," and I’ll gladly either add to this story, or write another story if you’d like! Just let me know in the comments section! Needless to say, I'd also like to hear your opinions on this story!

“What story? Is this some kind of book I’ve never read? I’d love to read it! But judging by the title, it sound like it has something to do with me…”

Well… yes, but… Ah, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I'll show it to you in a bit. By the way, would you mind being a… co-commentator of sorts while you’re here?

“Umm… Okay, I guess. I’m still not sure who we’d be talking to, but I’ll do it. After I explore this place a little, that is.”

I’m not… uhh… You sure you wanna… *sigh* fine… Bye, everyone!

“Yes, good-bye, figments of this unusual creature’s imagination!”

…we’re going to get along SO well…