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…

Next Chapter: The Enlightenment Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes