Solaris, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Trill watched from above the dunes, hidden from sight as Shadow Knights patrolled every corner of the ancient ruins. There was no other way into the temple without getting caught, and knocking out each soldier in their path would cause suspicion and more security would branch out, making their entrance more hazardous.

"Oh great..." Solaris sunk into the sand, growing worried as he tried to figure out a plan to get inside undetected. "My next trial is inside those ruins, and I can't think of any way to bust in without risking myself!"

"Then let's just charge in and beat some skulls in!" Rainbow said, fired up and rearing for a fight.

As the pegasus was about to fly down, Applejack grabbed her tail and pulled down hard to the sand. "Rainbow, there's gotta be a hundred of them down there! What if Lucifer's with them!? Or are ya mad at that one stallion who came to Ponyville after droppin' Rarity's body at her doorstep and flipped ya on your back?"

"...W-Well, that's part of the reason..." Rainbow admitted. "But we need to get in there for Solaris! He needs to pass these tests to finally stop that bastard and save Equestria!"

"We all know that, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack argued. "But we don't want Solaris to be found again and risk him gettin' killed before he faces Lucifer too soon!"

"He managed to punch him in the face and leave a nasty bruise! I think Solaris can handle him fine so far!" Rainbow said.

"He ain't experienced enough yet!" Applejack said, trying to bring some sense to Rainbow's idea of logic.

While the two friends bickered, Trill was busy rummaging through her saddlebags, her grin growing wider with the items she had found.

"I have an idea!" Applejack and Rainbow stopped their arguing, everyone paying attention to Trill. "It's a foolproof plan, and I think you might like what I got when I took your money without permission!"

"Too soon, sugarcube." Applejack glared at the disguised changeling, Trill's grin shrinking in nervousness.

"Heh. Uhh, w-well, what I got looked really neat, and perfect for a distraction." Trill pulled out her ideal plan, levitating a few outfits native to Saddle Arabia. "Ta-da!"

The mares stared in shock at the silky garments Trill held out before them. They each matched a color similar to their coats, along with see through veils for their faces. They were considered costumes for dancers of the city's customs, although they were for a completely different style of entertainment than traditional dances. Rainbow was the first to snap out of her shock, holding back her laughter and snickering at the alluring outfits.

"...Uhh, Evergreen?" Solaris said, having a feeling what the clothes are actually supposed to be. "Do you even know what those are meant for in Saddle Arabian culture?"

"...No. I thought they looked really cute, and the pants are pretty loose too! Perfect for hot weather in the desert!" Trill said, completely oblivious.

"...Those are dancer's outfits..." Solaris's face began to glow red, looking away from the enticing clothing, unable to get the image of Trill wearing it in his mind. "...for courtesans..."

"What's a 'courtesan'?" Trill asked, completely clueless of what the term meant.

Solaris rubbed the back of his neck as his blush deepened, almost as if his face was burnt by the hot sun starting to rise into the sky. "...A-A...prostitute..."

Rainbow Dash began to laugh uproariously and fell on her back, clutching her sides, with Pinkie joining her in the hilarity for no reason. Fluttershy hid behind her mane, her cheeks heavily flushed, while Applejack groaned, hiding her face under her hat. Trill now realized why it was embarrassing, or hilarious for the former two mares' guffawing, though wasn't entirely shocked.

"Ohhhhh. That explains everything..." Trill said. "Oh well. This will still work out. Because us girls are gonna dress up in these, and distract those stallions down there."

Pinkie and Rainbow ceased their laughter, everyone staring at Trill with wide eyes.

"What!?" Rainbow shouted. "You can't be serious, right!?"

"Yes. I am being serious," Trill said.

"Uhh, are we in the right age group to even dress like this?" Pinkie asked, grabbing her garments, staring at them quizically. "And we're also married and have kids. Wouldn't that make it difficult to get their attention? I mean, having that baby bump and slimming down is a hassle, and don't get me started on my weird food cravings when I was pregnant with Cherry Pie! I'll never look at whipped cream the same again..."

Ignoring Pinkie's tangent, Solaris looked away from the clothes as he approached Trill, grabbing her head and shaking her to try and get her brain to work straight. "This has to be the worst idea you have ever thought of! There is no way this is going to work!"

"I can't believe it's working..." Solaris stared dumbly as Trill's plan went into action.

As he stood at the top of the dunes, he watched his aunts and friend dress in the courtesan clothing, approach the guards blocking the entrance, and walked right in without any conflict. He could hear Saddle Arabian music playing down below, courtesy of Pinkie pulling out a phonograph with the vinyl record out of nowhere, and many of the younger soldiers instantly flocked to the alluring entertainment given by the mares. There were still some guards patrolling the entrance to the temple, being the older veterans who once served Celestia and Luna's guard, obeying their ruler's orders against their will and staying true with their commands.

The alicorn facehooved, still unable to believe Trill's plan was actually working. Eventually, he had gotten the signal to head on in, seeing Trill's horn flashing brightly to tell him it was safe to sneak in. He had to give her a little bit of credit at least; being a changeling, a species who are masters of espionage and stealth, must be a really tough life. Solaris crept through the campsite, watching out for the veterans who were keeping a close watch on the ruins for any intruders.

After sneaking around the guards blocking the entrance, Solaris made sure he was far enough away before he began to examine the corridors. Along the walls were carvings of Saddle Arabians of the ancient city, telling stories of the civilization and its many triumphs, repeating as he walked further inside. While entranced by the designs and wondering what the stories told, he accidentally stepped on a pressure plate, his pupils shrinking, knowing what happens when one sets off a trap.

"Ahh!" Solaris quickly ducked, hearing puffs of air shoot out from the walls, but there were no darts or arrows that came sailing over him. He stood up, stepping on the plate again, greeted by a puff of air. "Phew...I guess they must have disarmed or set off most of the traps. I wonder if the ancient civilization was really worried about thieves or grave robbers taking their priceless treasures."

Continuing down the long and winding halls of the still stable temple and admiring the architecture, statues, and carvings, one of them seemed to stand out randomly amongst the equines. Solaris saw a strange creature that was a combination of every single animal, in a pose of triumph, laughing hysterically. What was odd about the image was that the mismatched chimera was placed in a calm environment, making no sense to its existence in the story it told. He ignored it and continued moving forward, not noticing its moving, its eyes watching him as he rounded the corner.

Solaris felt lost after wandering around for the past ten minutes. Every moment he wasted meant his aunts and Trill would have a difficult time keeping the soldiers distracted enough for him to complete his trial and get out. As he groaned in frustration, he jumped as he heard a wall slowly opening up right next to him, revealing a secret passage. He didn't feel any pressure plates or see any hidden switched along the walls, wondering if this way was really the way to go.

Looking inside, he saw a large, spacious room that must have been in the center of the entire temple. The only problem was that there was nothing but space inside, a room that should have been used for storing treasures or artifacts, keeping them hidden from thieves. The only thing that was there was a podium with a stone tablet resting on top of it. Solaris walked inside, hearing the wall close in on him, the markings all around the wall repeating in a wild pattern, unable to be discerned as something related to Saddle Arabian art.

His hoofsteps echoed in the room as he approached the podium, looking at the tablet as he read the words inscribed on it to himself. "'Your journey begins and the end is unknown, times will be hard upon you. A hint to win, think outside the box, we begin trial number two.' Wait, what?"

A laugh echoed throughout the room, startling Solaris as he stood up on his hind legs, setting his hooves aflame as he tried to find where the mysterious laughter was coming from. "Well, well, well, you finally arrived, o savior of Equestria. I have been waiting for fifteen years to finally get this started."

"Who's there!?" Solaris found no sign of where the mysterious voice was coming from, hearing it cackle again. "Wherever you are, show yourself!"

His ears perked up when he heard the tablet begin to crack, floating up in the air as the podium flew up with it. Solaris backed away, not knowing what he would encounter, the tablet exploding in a flash of light, blinding the alicorn for a moment. As soon as his vision cleared, he heard the same laughter again, but instead of it coming from a pony, it came from a living being of the strange creature he saw on the walls earlier.

"You finally decided to find this place, Solaris." The strange being said, twisting his neck and cracking it, echoing loudly in the large room. "Do you know how hard it is to stand still as a picture for a while? I've been in stone for a thousand years, and I needed a really good chiropractor to get those kinks out of my back!"

Solaris stared, dumbfounded, watching this odd thing contorting his body like a sponge, cringing as he heard cracking sounds coming from his bones. He expected the creature to have died from snapping its body like that, but he was still alive, freaking him out more.

"W-What in Equestria are you!?" Solaris asked, fearing what this thing was.

"Oh, I see nopony decided to tell you about me." The creature snapped its talons, a business card appearing in front of Solaris. On it was a picture of the mismatched being giving a thumbs up, the words reading "Discord: God of Chaos. Defying logic is may game, making no sense like my name!" "You may call me Discord. And what I am is a draconequus."

"A-A what?" Solaris asked in confusion, finding the defiance of his magical capabilities more overwhelming than Pinkie's randomness.

"Yes, I know. It's a bit too much to take in, but that's what I was born as!" The card turned into a picture, showing Solaris as a foal with his aunts, Spike, his mother holding him, and behind them was Discord, giving the peace symbol with his taloned arm while random things happened in the background. "And speaking of born, you were a cute little thing. Who knew you would grow up to look like this?"

"I-I don't know anything about this picture, or you being in it..." Solaris said, his head already starting to hurt in confusion.

"Well, you could say I was your secret uncle," Discord said. Snapping his fingers again, he wore a strange space helmet and a dark cloak, breathing heavily as his voice sounded distorted underneath the mask. "Or...I could be something more...Solaris...I am your father."

"W-What...?" Solaris said, completely speechless.

The moment was ruined when Discord began snickering, unable to hold back his laughter. "No! Bwah ha ha ha ha! Y-You should have seen the look on your face!" Discord continued laughing, his strange outfit disappearing. His laughter finally died down, wiping away a tear, getting an irritated look from the young alicorn. "Oh, come on. Lighten up! It was a little prank. I mean, honestly, you would look a lot different if you were my kid."

"I've already had enough pranks pulled on me by a certain pony! I don't need anymore from you!" Solaris said, his hooves set on fire as he was ready to beat the draconequus up.

"Just as serious as your mother. The only difference would be your color palette, and your hairstyle." Discord didn't get any other reaction from the alicorn, sighing as he decided to get down to the chase. "Alright, then. We'll talk later. Your second test will begin now, and remember that little hint. You'll need it since this is going to test how smart you are against me." He snapped his fingers, a metal cage appearing above Solaris and flew down on top of him, trapping him inside. "But first, you're going to have to think a way outside of this box! Have fun!"

"Hey!" Discord summoned a recliner, sitting comfortably as he munched on a bowl of uncooked popcorn and sipped from a glass of chocolate milk. Solaris tried to punch his way through the bars, only to be electrocuted, falling on his back as the electricity stopped flowing into his body. He heard Discord laugh, apparently enjoying the show as his limbs twitched from the aftershock. "Why am I getting shocked when these things start?"

Outside of the ruins, the many young Shadow Knights cheered and ogled the dancing mares they watched, keeping them entertained while Solaris completed his test. They've been doing this for nearly half an hour, unsure if they could keep up the charade. Thankfully, the music was loud enough to keep any conversations they had to themselves, along with the veils concealing their lip movements a little bit.

"What's taking him?" Rainbow asked, feeling impatient and getting sick of dancing for these perverted young adults.

"We have to keep stalling," Trill said. "Just keep up the act. I kinda like the music Pinkie brought too...Wait, I was wondering how she-"

"Don't ask." Rainbow groaned. "We've known Pinkie for years, and we still can't figure her out. What's worse is that her foals have her randomness inherited as well. Cherry was bouncing off the walls while she was in diapers."

As they kept their distraction going, walking along the desert toward the ruins were Lucifer and Zero.

"Your Highness, can you please remind me why you had some of your soldiers guarding the ruins out here in Saddle Arabia?" Zero asked. "I assume all of the treasures have been excavated, so it isn't valuable artifacts you're after."

"I wanted to make sure the alicorn wasn't anywhere I could have missed, even in something as ancient as a pyramid or temple from beyond the age I was born in," Lucifer explained. "Now it's impossible to know where he ended up, and I am not taking any chances. He will be found, and I will destroy him."

"I see. After his disappearing act from the aid of Twilight Sparkle's dragon, he really could have wound up anywhere." As they got closer, they could hear music being played, as well as a lack of guards at some of their posts. "Do you hear music, sire?"

"Yes...And these idiots are having a party when they should be on guard, no matter what is happening!?" Lucifer shouted.

They both headed toward the sound of the music and whooping soldiers were, spotting the majority of the unicorn king's soldiers surrounding a group of mares, watching them dance. Lucifer's eye twitched as his horn glowed, teleporting inside the circle and making the soldiers gasp in surprise and fear, instantly shutting up and standing at attention. Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow saw him standing there, growing more worried at his sudden appearance. Trill didn't pay much attention, still dancing, but she bumped into Lucifer, causing the record to scratch, ending the music.

"Hey! What happened to the music!? We're just getting started!" She heard growling come from behind her, turning around to lash out at the impatient guard, only to freeze at the sight of the furious king. "Uh oh..."

Lucifer was about to scold and possibly kill his inept guards, his attention was turned to the other four mares. It was clearly obvious that they were the Elements of Harmony in courtesan clothing, anyone without a brain could easily tell who they were just from their hair. It was humiliating for him to know that his soldiers were incompetent enough to not notice Rainbow Dash, clearly unique with her mane color and being one of those Elements.

"...He is here, isn't he?" Lucifer questioned.

"W-What are you talking about?" Trill asked, trying to keep up her act, but failing miserably.

With a flick of his magic, he shredded the clothing off of the mares, making them flinch as they were unharmed for the moment. "He has to be here. You work with that annoying child, and he is close. Where is he?"

Solaris was stuck, unable to find any way out of the cage he was trapped in. No matter how many times he tried to attack the bars, resorting to using his fire, it wouldn't give. Discord began to get bored, sitting on his seat upside down, a clock ticking above him, timing how long the alicorn had been in there.

"You know, your mother actually tried to solve a riddle I gave her when I was free faster than this!" Discord said. "You're lucky I've been reformed, or else I would have tried to drown you in chocolate milk while you were stuck in there!"

"How am I supposed to get out of here when this thing keeps shocking me!?" Solaris exclaimed. He sat down, fuming as he tried to figure out what Discord's hint meant. "'Think outside the box.' 'Think your way outside of this box.' He doesn't make any sense! What am I supposed to do? Just lift the stupid cage up!?" Solaris actually tried doing just that, thinking he was actually wrong and his prison was heavier than he could lift through physical or magical strength. Ironically, the instant he pushed the ceiling of the cage up, it flew up and hit the ceiling, making a squeaking sound instead of a metallic clang. He looked at the falling cage, slowly floating down like a feather, confused, bewildered, angry, and humiliated. "...You have got to be kidding me...That actually worked!?"

"Finally!" Discord got up from his seat, stretching out his limbs. "I thought you would never get out of there. I was starting to get bored."

"Ok, that's it!" Solaris slammed his hooves together, sending out sparks of green embers showering around him, his forehooves set aflame. "I'm starting to get sick of your sarcasm!" He flew at the draconequus, rearing his hoof back, but as attempted to punch Discord, his hoof somehow steered away from his face by some unknown force, missing him by a few inches. "W-What the-"

Discord grabbed Solaris's tail as the alicorn sailed past him, swinging him around like a flail, throwing him far across the room. Solaris slammed head first into the ground, seeing stars, while Discord yawned. "Was that it? I thought you were supposed to hit me."

Shaking his head and snapping out of his senses, the stars circling him still remained, which Solaris quickly punched away. He tried again, soaring into Discord and repeatedly began punching, but each swing ended up missing. Discord wasn't even trying to evade him; his hooves just kept moving on their own, always missing him or barely brushing any part of his zoo-like body. Just to add insult to injury, Discord used only one talon, pushing Solaris away from him while he struggled to push against it, unable to even land a single hit on his arm.

"GRRRAAAAGH!" Solaris shouted, flailing his hooves. "Why can't I hit you!?"

"I don't know why you're asking me. Maybe you aren't aiming where you're hitting," Discord taunted, replacing his finger with his tail as he made a book appear, reading at a page he bookmarked. "It's like you're not even trying!"

Discord flicked Solaris with his tail, sending him flying across the room, slamming his back hard into the wall. The alicorn pulled himself out, growing more frustrated as the chaotic deity kept mocking him. Deciding to take a ranged approach, Solaris shot out fireballs out his hooves, sending them sailing toward the distracted draconequus. Instead of getting struck by the fire, they ended up swerving out of Discord's way, hitting the walls and floor behind him in an explosion of flames. Solaris's jaw dropped, an eye twitching in disbelief.

"H-How...? I was...at him...and they..." Solaris stammered, his brain completely shattered.

"Hmm?" Discord looked up from his book. "Did somepony open a window? It's a bit drafty and humid in here. Weird weather here in Saddle Arabia." Growling, Solaris put his hooves together, creating a massive fireball large enough to consume Discord. He threw the giant ball of fire at him, but it ended up turning up at a ninety degree angle, slamming into the ceiling and raining green embers down on them. Discord fanned himself, ignorant of the fireball that nearly hit him. "Whew! What a heat wave! I prefer colder climates like the frozen north."

Solaris had completely run out of ideas, sitting on his plot as he looked at where his last fireball exploded. "That. Is. Impossible...I can't even hit him..." He tried to think of some way to strike Discord and try to knock him out, but nothing seemed to work. Even if he tried using magic, which wasn't his strong suit, it probably would have been redirected out of Discord's way. "This doesn't make any sense. I hit him dead on, but my hooves just kept swerving around him, against my will. He's worse than Aunt Pinkie Pie by at least tenfold! How can I hit someone when my aim is always being controlled to hit away from my target!"

Solaris's ears perked up, his mind working over what he said. He thought of how odd it was for his attacks to miss, his hooves at close range, and perfectly aimed fireballs from afar. Discord didn't even do anything, as if he knew something that the alicorn didn't and didn't even try to avoid him. He remembered that Discord was supposed to be a god of chaos, a magical power that was able to manipulate anything the user commands, far more powerful than unicorn magic. And if Discord could summon anything with a snap of his fingers, he was able to bend the rules of reality as well.

Wanting to test his theory, he created another fireball in his hoof, but instead of firing it at Discord, Solaris threw it away from the draconequus. He watched it sail down the room, only for it to swerve around and fly past the teen, hitting Discord's book he was reading, incinerating it to ashes.

"Hey! I was at the good part!" Discord whined. Solaris finally understood what Discord's hint was supposed to mean. He had to think differently than how he actually was supposed to expect to solve this strange puzzle. Now it began to make sense, especially in the role of combat; expect the unexpected and figure out how your opponent fights instead of blindly charging in like he had in his previous test. Discord saw the smirk growing on the alicorn's face, realizing he had just figured it out. "...Oh. This isn't going to end well for me."

Solaris began shooting a volley of fireballs in random directions, all of them swerving away from their trajectory and homing in on the draconequus. Discord tried to flee, but was unable to escape, being surrounded by several flaming balls of death hurtling toward him. After they blew up on him, he was sent flying back into the wall, greeted by Solaris as he flew toward him, slamming his hoof hard into the draconequus's abdomen, actually hitting him instead of the wall.

Discord tried to teleport away via snapping his talons, but Solaris quickly slammed his hoof down hard on his arm, hearing the disturbing crunch of his bones. "Not this time!" He unleashed a swift barrage of punches, making Discord wheeze as he felt the air being forced out of his lungs. With a flaming hoof, Solaris gave Discord a hard uppercut to the jaw, sending the draconequus up into the air. "See if you can actually avoid me now!"

Solaris leapt up, flying quickly at the stunned draconequus. His forehoof was reared back, green flames blazing his leg. He rammed into Discord, slamming his hoof into his chest, sending him crashing into the ceiling, leaving a draconequus sized crater. He slowly slipped out, falling to the ground, crashing hard and rendered unconscious. Solaris gently hovered back down to the ground, being cautious around the logic breaking deity.

"Well, that was quite entertaining!" Solaris jumped in surprise, hearing Discord's voice echo around him, but he was unconscious. "Congratulations, Solaris! You've passed your second test!"

Appearing before the alicorn was Discord, an uninjured, completely conscious one. "W-What!? B-But how did you-"

"Oh please. Do you really expect me to fight all my battles all the time?" Discord picked up his unconscious self, but it had turned into a live stuffed doll of him, an eye popping out of its socket as stuffing fell out from the beating it took. "I knew you would have some strength to take me on, but those flame-fu techniques of yours aren't what I expected." Solaris was still confused, feeling a migraine coming on. Discord tossed the life-like plush of himself away. "You finally figured out my little trick, even after you tried to go the berserk route and hit me when you kept missing."

"...Who are you!?" Solaris asked, trying to figure out what had just happened in the past hour.

"I thought I introduced myself earlier. I'm Discord," the draconequus said. "And you might consider me an uncle, but there were a lot of birthday parties I'll need to make up for.

"But we'll have time to talk later. For now, I'll give you your little reward for besting me. Well, sort of." Discord snapped his talons, summoning a gold pendant shaped like his cutie mark, only there was a picture of Discord inside of the sun. "You were able to figure out your opponent's strategy, even if mine is completely impossible for anypony else to try and replicate. What's important is to examine your enemy and always be two steps ahead of them, let them make the first move, and think first before you end up losing your temper. As long as you keep that in mind, you can triumph over anypony who gets in your way."

"Ok..." Solaris felt the pendant tie around his neck, feeling some strange magic surge through his body, nothing like his own. "Uhh, what exactly does this do for me?"

"Ooh! That's the best part!" Discord said excitedly. "That little gift from me not only gives you some more power for you, and it gives you access to some of my own chaotic magic!...Well, not all of it. Just some easy stuff only: cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk, make them shoot out lightning bolts that fire in erratic spots, see the fourth wall-"

"Wait, what was that last one?" Solaris questioned.

"Oh, right." Discord wrapped an arm around Solaris, pointing out to the fourth wall before them. "You see, out there are these weird creatures called 'humans', and we're in the middle of a story, where you are the main character, and the writer controls your life and the flow of the story! See, he's even typing what I'm saying right as we speak!"

Solaris was freaked out as he watched the writer typing out his actions, quickly backing away while trying to look away from the fourth wall.

"This is freaking me out!" Solaris yelled. "Get rid of it!"

"I figured that would have made you go insane." Discord snapped his talons, getting rid of the illogical fourth wall feature for Solaris's newest piece of armor. The teen was thankful he didn't see what was going on in that strange window anymore, already suffering from enough confusion just from Pinkie and Discord. "Guess it was a bad idea for you to see that. You'll forget in a moment anyway."

"Forget what?" asked Solaris.

"Exactly!" Discord made a couple cotton candy clouds appear before them, munching on the sugary clouds. Curious, Solaris took a bite, actually tasting strawberry cotton candy, along with the chocolate milk filling inside. "You're getting closer to finally fulfilling your destiny. But, as I mentioned in that little riddle, you will still have to face the tragedy you will experience."

"But I don't understand," Solaris said, licking his lips of the cottony sweet staining his muzzle. "You can do all this random stuff, and you're incredibly powerful with that chaos magic you can use. Why can't you stop Lucifer yourself?"

Discord paused, his energetic demeanor quickly melting as he pondered how to answer Solaris's question. "...It is impossible."

"WHAT!? But, what about all of-" Solaris's lips were suddenly sealed by a zipper, the spell cast by the draconequus himself.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm an all powerful deity, able to defy the laws of physics, logic, and reality with a snap..." Discord's head drooped, shoving his cotton candy cloud aside. "...Lucifer's dark magic is far more powerful than my own chaos. If he can kill Celestia, Luna, and your mother, three alicorns with more magical power than a hundred unicorns, then he can clearly kill me if I tried."

"...What...?" Solaris said in disbelief.

Discord sighed as he paced about the expansive room. "My magic was able to deter the princesses over a thousand years ago. I was so powerful, Celestia and Luna couldn't take me down with their own magic alone. They sought out the Elements of Harmony, the only artifacts that could contain and overwhelm me. They are the only magical forces that could stop evil and disharmonious beings from destroying Equestria, the princesses cannot compare to their power, only being stronger than the ponies they ruled over.

"Dark and chaotic magic had been able to win against them, even when that darkness turned Luna into Nightmare Moon." Discord finally sat in front of Solaris, looking the alicorn in the eye as he continued. "You've heard of the stories about Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and myself, yes?" Solaris nodded. "Then you'll know just how powerless they both were at the time. With me trying to take over Equestria, I got careless when they used the Elements of Harmony on me, turned to stone and set in the kingdom's garden.

"Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon was tragic enough for Celestia to bear, always hearing her muttering to herself while I was a living lawn ornament during that time. Luna was jealous as their subjects favored her older sister and the sun, praising her like the mindless cult they were. The worst part of it was that Celestia had actually gotten an over-inflated ego from their worship, ignorant of Luna's pain and neglect. She finally realized her mistake far too late as soon as Luna turned into Nightmare Moon. Having no choice, Celestia had to use the Elements to banish her own sister, unable to save her or even think of using them to free her from her torment.

"But Sombra..." Discord laughed lightly. "The first unicorn in Equestria to utilize the power of dark magic. He used this power to enslave the Crystal Empire and the crystal ponies that lived within its boundaries, and ended up losing his mind. Celestia and Luna were at war with him, many months before I came around, and they managed to stop him without the Elements' aid. The only reason they won was because that old unicorn lost himself to the arcane magic he used, his power making him cocky and easy to defeat with the teamwork they had."

Solaris took all of this in, remembering the stories he was told about the princesses and their previous battles with evil. The only time they had ever beaten anypony was against Sombra, but only while he was lost in the power he wielded. Lucifer, on the other hoof, was in full control, though his rage would blind him if he grew angry enough. Without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria would forever be doomed, and being born from his mother, Twilight Sparkle, he was considered an Element of Harmony. No one else was able to strike the tyrant except for him, being Equestria's only hope.

"...And when Lucifer killed them...his dark magic rivals yours if he could easily kill an alicorn..." Solaris said, putting the pieces together.

"Yes..." Discord sadly said. "As much as I would love to help, his magic is outright terrifying. It's even worse than chaos, and his version of it is more life threatening than my lighthearted pranking! I may have been evil, but I wasn't a masochistic lunatic like that twisted being!"

"Oh am I?" Solaris and Discord jumped in surprise, looking in the direction of the secret door's entrance to find Lucifer, his soldiers, Solaris's aunts, and Trill standing there. Their disguises were torn up and their plan had backfired, never expecting Lucifer to even arrive at the ruins. "You should have stayed where that dragon sent you, foal."