The girls just stared in absolute horror, Rainbow being the first to finally break the silence among them. “What...Just...Happened?!” she asked.

“The Tree of Harmony can’t really be gone, can it?!” Fluttershy added. Twilight and Storm had looks on their faces that seemed as if their worst fears came true.

“It can’t be!” Twilight said.

“But it is! You thought you defeated me, but you led me right to the source of your power. Now that it’s destroyed, nothing can stop me!” King Sombra replied.

Twilight picked up two pieces of the Element of Honesty and tried to put it back together, but it did nothing.

“He’s right... With the Elements gone, I don’t know how we can defeat him!” Twilight said.

“Then we’ll just have to beat him the old-fashioned way!” Rainbow shouted as she and the other four charged at the evil unicorn.

Twilight stayed in place and kept trying to fix the Elements, with Storm beside her.

Sombra conjured up spikes from the cave floor, trapping them. This got Storm and Twilight’s attention as the spikes reached all the way to the ceiling, trapping them inside and barely leaving enough room between them to stick one’s hoof through. Twilight and Storm attempted to blast their way through, but their magic had no effect.

“Ha! You’re no match for me! I will finally rule the Crystal Empire! Wait... With you out of the way, I will rule all of Equestria!” King Sombra said.

“No!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, yes. And I think I know exactly where I’ll start,” Sombra replied.

“Don’t you dare say it!” Applejack shouted.

“Your sweet, little hometown,” Sombra said.

“You leave Ponyville alone!” Rarity retorted, stomping her hoof.

“Or what? Without your Elements, it would be so easy to control you,” Sombra replied, as he lit up his horn and eyes. He conjured up some magic shadow claws, causing the Mane 7 to yelp, “But there’s no point. My conquering Ponyville is already your greatest fear!”

Sombra then disappeared in a black shadow as he headed towards Ponyville.

“No!” the Mane 7 cried out.

“What do we do?!” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know! The Tree of Harmony grew the Elements! It kept the Everfree Forest under control! And now it’s gone. Sombra will take over Equestria, and it’s all our fault! I knew Storm and I weren’t ready to take the princesses’ place, but I never thought we’d mess up this badly!” Twilight replied.

“We mustn’t lose hope, Twily. I’m sure we’ll defeat Sombra somehow,” Storm said reassuringly.

It was then that everyone looked at Pinkie.

“What are you looking at me for?” Pinkie asked.

“This is usually when you say something funny to lift our spirits,” Rainbow said.

“Sorry. Nothing about this is funny to me,” Pinkie replied.

“I’m sorry. I’m trying to be strong, but I just can’t bear to think about poor Sweetie Belle under the spell of that monster!” Rarity said, tearing up.

“Or those sweet little Cake twins...” Pinkie added.

“Or Spike, or Starlight, Jasper, Smokey, or even my beloved Forest Thunder...” Rainbow continued.

“Or Angel... or anypony forced to do that monster’s bidding!” Fluttershy finished.

“I just hope Eric and Midnight don’t fall under his spell,” Storm replied, “Knowing him, he’s probably gonna find a way to escape.”

Back in Ponyville, Eric looked out the window and saw King Sombra’s looming shadow form over the town. He held Midnight in his arms as Jasper, Smokey, Starlight, and Spike also looked on in horror. Just then, Forest Thunder entered the castle with Eric’s friends in tow.

“Eric, King Sombra is attacking Ponyville. I got your friends here as fast as I could,” Forest said.

“Thanks, Forest,” Eric said.

“Oh no! We’re in trouble,” Spike replied, looking out the window.

Midnight grew fussy and began to cry in fear.

“Shh. Shh. I’m here, little bro. I won’t let that evil king near you,” Eric said, trying to calm down his brother, “Starlight, let’s go somewhere safe.”

“Good thinking,” Starlight replied.

She, Jasper, and Smokey teleported themselves along with Forest, Eric, and his friends to the outskirts of Canterlot and took shelter in the caves.

Meanwhile, the Mane 7 managed to dig their way out of the crystal spikes and enter Ponyville. They gasped in shock as they saw everypony in town was already enslaved by King Sombra, including the Cake family, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Pipsqueak, and Rumble. Pinkie cried at the sight of the Cake family in their mind controlled state as they were pulling a cart carrying a black cake with green frosting.

“He made them bake a black licorice fruitcake that says ‘Congratulations to Our Favorite Supreme Emperor King Sombra’ in green frosting! It’s the ugliest cake I’ve ever seen!” Pinkie said, crying.

“Twilight, Storm, this is bad! Like, really bad!” Rainbow remarked as the married couple paced back and forth.

“I’ve never been so sad in my whole life!” Fluttershy said.

“We don’t know what to do! Storm and I don’t know how to free them, but we don’t know how to stop Sombra!” Twilight replied, lowering her head shamefully, “Everypony was so sure we’d do such a great job! Well, this is exactly what we were afraid of! Could anything else possibly go wrong?!”

“Well...with the Tree of Harmony gone, the Everfree Forest could grow out of control and threaten the town!” Pinkie pointed out.

“Darling, that’s oddly specific.” Rarity said.

Pinkie grabbed Rarity and turned her in the direction of the forest, with the others doing the same. They noticed all the trees beginning to grow out of control, as the plants quickly ensnared the closest house. This made them gasp in fear.

The vines were growing fast, appearing like snakes ready to constrict anything in their path. As this happened, Twilight stepped up with a frown on her face.

“Even if we figure out how to defeat Sombra and bring everypony back to Ponyville, if we don’t stop the forest, there won’t be a Ponyville to come back to!” she said.

“Wait, I can’t see Starlight, Jasper, Smokey, Forest, or Eric and his friends anywhere,” Storm replied.

“My best guess is that they’re somewhere safe,” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash flew off, returning with a various gardening tools she got from the flower shop. “Ahem.” She dropped the tools as they each grabbed one.

“For our friends!” Fluttershy said.

“For our families!” Rarity and Applejack added.

“For our home!” Pinkie and Rainbow cheered as they all stood in line.

Storm and Twilight did the same, “For Equestria!” they finished.

With that, they all charged forward and screamed in unison, “EQUESTRIA!”

Meanwhile, waves of enslaved ponies were advancing onto Canterlot as Sombra appeared at the front, ready to attack. The guards tried to sound the horns, but Sombra blasted them away.

“You! Break it down!” King Sombra told a mind controlled Big Mac.

Without hesitating, Big Mac ran into the door three times before breaking through. It wasn’t long before Sombra entered the castle and into the throne room, noticing it was empty.

“They’ve fled! Celestia, Luna, and Emerald are too cowardly to even stand against me! Equestria is mine!” Sombra said, laughing evilly.

In the caves, Eric couldn’t help but think about Nightshade, his grandparents, and the others in Canterlot.

“We need to go find Nightshade before Sombra does,” Eric said.

“Good thinking, Eric,” Apple Bloom replied.

“I advise caution, Eric. If Sombra finds you, he’ll either take you captive or put you under his mind control,” Starlight said.

“We’ll try to stay out of his sight,” Eric replied, then turned to the others, “Follow me.”

Eric and his friends crept into the city, hiding behind buildings and looking in every direction. They snuck around until they reached Fancy Pants’ mansion.

“Alohomora,” Eric said, taking out his wand.

It was then that they entered the mansion and began looking for Nightshade.

“Hello? Nightshade, ya home?” Apple Bloom asked.

Eric and his friends wandered the mansion until they found Nightshade playing with his little brother and sister, Inferno and Marigold.

“Nightshade, over here,” Eric said.

“Hello, Eric,” Nightshade greeted, “What brings you and the others here?”

“King Sombra is back and we came to find you before he could,” Apple Bloom replied.

“But he was destroyed by the Crystal Heart,” Nightshade said.

“Glacio must’ve brought him back to life somehow, now let’s go. You should take Inferno and Marigold with you as well,” Eric replied.

Nightshade placed his siblings onto his back, then left with Eric and the others. They soon noticed King Sombra coming their way as he began to enslave the citizens of Canterlot and quickly escaped the city. Luckily, they managed to sneak out unseen and get back into the caves.

Meanwhile, outside the city, the Mane 7 gasped in shock as they noticed everypony in Canterlot was under King Sombra’s influence. Some were standing between them and the gate, while others were on the walls and balconies of the towers. They all stared down at the Mane 7, looking completely emotionless as their eyes were glowing green.

“Awww...everypony’s all evilly!” Pinkie remarked as the ponies looked ready to fight.

“Sombra’s gonna force us to fight our way through our friends?!” Fluttershy asked.

“Not if I can help it!” Rainbow said.

She zoomed over the ponies and across the river in front of the gate. Trying to fly over it, Rainbow found herself facing off with Spitfire, Soarin, and the other Wonderbolts as they appeared from behind it. She gasped as the pegasi cut her off. It was then that she was almost hit by a magical blast, coming from a unicorn on the ground, only for a barrage of magic beams to come out next. She was forced to take evasive action and fly back to her friends, then hid behind Twilight’s wing.

“Okay...guess we need a different plan. Twilight? Storm?” Rainbow said.

“I don’t know!” Twilight replied, “Storm and I are not prepared to fight against the citizens of Equestria! I guess that’s one more thing we’re not ready to do...”

“Well, we’d better figure out somethin’ quick!” Applejack said, pointing to the now lowering drawbridge, “Because none of them seem to have a problem with it!”

The drawbridge was lowered and allowed more ponies to walk out. The citizens of both Canterlot and Ponyville were now staring them down and came rushing towards them.

“I say we just teleport into the castle,” Storm said.

“Good idea, that way we only have Sombra to deal with,” Twilight replied.

Twilight and Storm teleported themselves and the others into the castle just as the brainwashed ponies came closer.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t help our friends, but Storm and I didn’t know what else to do,” Twilight said.

“At least we’re inside,” Applejack replied.

“Yeah! All we have to do now is defeat King Sombra!” Pinkie added nervously.

“I...We...” Twilight tried to say.

Before she could think of anything, a green drop landed on her nose. Everypony looked up and saw Discord, who was currently floating above them as he ate a pickle on a fork. “Oh my. No Elements? No princesses? Seems like you’re in a bit of a pickle!” he remarked, holding out the pickle before pulling back, “Or are you in...” He snapped his fingers and a jar of something appeared, “...more of a jam?” He dipped the pickle in the jam before eating it, “Mmm!”

“Discord! What are you doing here?!“ Twilight asked.

“Well, I was going to hang these up all over the castle to celebrate your coronation, but apparently it’s a bit premature,” Discord replied, rolling the scroll up and pushed it into his ear.

“We’re so glad to see you! We could really use some all-powerful Lord of Chaos help right now!” Twilight said.

“Moi? Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Discord replied as several mind-controlled guards saw them and ran out.

“Oh, poodles!” Pinkie exclaimed as the guards charged at them.

“Discord, please!” Twilight said. The Lord of Chaos was now reading a book, but sighed and threw it away.

“Oh, fine.” Discord replied, snapping away his reading glasses, “Just to be clear, I was really rooting for you to do this on your own and parlay that confidence boost into being the best protectors of Equestria you can be.”

“A little less talking and a little more helping?!” Rainbow asked as she flew up to him.

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, causing a giant spider web to appear and capture the pegasus guards. A hole then appeared that the unicorns fell into while the earth pony guard found himself getting buried under several giant scoops of ice scream.

“Thank you, Discord!” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.

“I don’t know what we’d do without you!” Twilight added as she and Storm led the others to the door.

Discord smiled, then frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as they headed to the throne room. It wasn’t long before King Sombra was remodeling the throne room with crystal spikes. Just then, the Mane 7 and Discord entered the room as he looked behind him.

“Okay, ‘King’ Sombra! Time to give up the crown!” Rainbow said.

“Here to fight the good fight with nothing but your wits? Admirable, but foolish!” Sombra retorted, with an evil laugh.

He then tried blasting them, only for Discord to snap his fingers turn the magic blast into what looked like pudding, which then dissipated. Sombra fired again, only for Discord to snap his fingers and transform it into pink smoke.

“Well, I guess it’s on me to be the MVP today. I was betting on you, and I do hate being wrong,”Discord said as he snapped his fingers, which turned the magic blasts into balloons, butterflies, confetti, and glitter, “Although if you think about it, I am your friend, so maybe you win because friendship wins? Although Fluttershy should get most of the credit for that. She’s my favorite.”

Just then, Sombra grinned evilly before shifting his target. Instantly, his magic beam shot for Fluttershy, only for Discord to leap in front and shield her at the last moment. Time seemed to slow down as the seven ponies watched the blast hit Discord in chest. He was sent flying past them, slamming into the doorway as the others turned to him in shock.

“DISCORD!” Fluttershy screamed as they ran over to him. The seven ponies gasped as they saw his unconscious body.

“Not even the Lord of Chaos can stand against me! I am truly the most powerful creature in Equestria!” Sombra said as he encased the thrones inside a large crystal.

The others were barely listening to them as they gathered around Discord and Rainbow lifted his head. “Discord!” she cried out.

“We need you!” Twilight said.

“Oh. Please wake up, please wake up...” Fluttershy added, tearing up and holding his neck. Discord’s face started moving at this, “Discord!” she cried as he opened his eyes, hugging him while the others smiled.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Twilight said, “We can’t beat him without you!”

“You couldn’t beat me with him, either!” Sombra boasted, with an evil laugh.

They all stared at Discord, only to see him cough before speaking in a weak voice, “It would appear that you’re on your own,” He took a ragged breath before snapping his fingers, but a spark escaped barely them, “I have nothing left to give.”

“That’s it, then? We’re doomed?” Applejack asked.

“Of course you are. I can’t believe it’s taken you this long to realize it,” Sombra replied, “Now, how shall I eliminate all this clutter in my throne room?” The Mane 7 just growled at the evil king.

“I’ll keep him busy,” Storm said.

“You’re all unwise to lower your defenses!” Sombra shouted, as he tried to blast the Mane 7.

Storm managed to shield himself and the others from the blast and blasted the evil king, only for him to block it. The two unicorns tried to blast each other only to block each other’s attacks. Storm quickly noticed a crystal spike right above Sombra and blasted it, then they kept exchanging attacks as it fell on top of the evil king and knocked him down. It wasn’t too long before Sombra got back up and noticed the crystal that fell on him.

“Impressive…Most impressive,” Sombra remarked.

“Listen to me. You don’t need me. You don’t need the princesses, and you certainly don’t need the Elements,” Discord said with a cough, “Fluttershy, you will always be kind. Applejack, you will always be honest. Rarity, you’ll always be generous. *ragged breath* And Rainbow Dash will be loyal as can be. Pinkie will always bring laughter wherever she goes. And Twilight... *coughs* you are and always will be the embodiment of magic. You lost sight of what’s in front of you. You’re here, together, willing to give everything you’ve got for Equestria. Nothing and nopony can ever take that away from you, because that’s who you are.”

“It’s going to take more than a sentimental speech to save you,” Sombra retorted, laughing evilly as he and Storm kept dueling.

“Discord’s right. We’ve proven time and time again that the real magic is the six of us working together!” Twilight said as they turned to face Sombra, “With these girls and my husband by my side, I’m not afraid of you! I’m not afraid of what you can do or how much power you have!”

It was then that Storm and Sombra stopped dueling as the former rejoined his wife and their friends.

“You should be,” Sombra replied as he blasted Twilight and Storm.

Twilight and Storm managed to block the attack, then staggered back at the blow against the barrier, but they pushed themselves back up a second later.

“You may knock us down,” Twilight said as they began walking forward, “But we’re gonna get back up again!” King Sombra fired another blast, Twilight and Storm blocking it with a slightly less stagger, “And again!” Sombra fired and this time, Twilight and Storm’s horns glowed to form a blade of magic that cut the attack in half. “And again! As long as we’re together, we will never stop trying to defeat you!”

“We’re full of surprises!” Storm added.

King Sombra fired his magic at full force, but Twilight and Storm fired their own magic blasts. The three beams struck, pushing against each other as it quickly knocked Twilight and Storm back.

“For our friends!” Fluttershy said as she grabbed Twilight’s hoof.

“For our families!” Rarity and Applejack added, grabbing their hooves.

“For our home!” Pinkie and Rainbow continued, placing their hooves on their backs.

Twilight smiled as Storm placed his hoof on her back and nodded at her.

“For Equestria!” They exclaimed together as the magic emitting from Twilight began to spread around them all. Sombra’s magic was completely cancelled out and he staggered back against his throne.

“No! This can’t be possible! Your magic can’t defeat mine! I destroyed the source of your power!” Sombra shouted.

“You’re wrong! While the Elements helped channel our power, they were never the source of it!” Storm replied.

“You can’t destroy our friendship, Sombra!” Twilight said.

“And we keep telling bad guys,” Rainbow added.

“But y’all just don’t seem to remember,” Applejack continued.

“Friendship is magic!” they finished in unison as the energy exploded off of them. Sombra fired another attack, but his magic simply bounced off the magical barrier. This caused him to step back away until he backed into the crystal block.

“Noooooooooo!” Sombra yelled as he was destroyed by the Mane 7’s power.

The magic then spread out, destroying the crystals in the throne room before extending out into the rest of the castle. As it hit everypony, they were freed from mind control. It then spread throughout the rest of Canterlot, freeing the ponies, then to Ponyville where the crystals infesting it completely vanished.

Soon enough, Eric and his friends, along with Starlight, Spike, Forest, Jasper, and Smokey entered the throne room with Celestia, Luna, and Emerald behind them. Eric and Nightshade were holding their younger siblings. They were glad to see the Mane 7 tending to Discord. He was currently laying on a bed of pillows, the girls doing their best to keep him comfortable.

“Aw...Do you want more juice?” Fluttershy asked.

“Only if it’s not too much trouble,” Discord told her weakly. “And it’s red. And it has one of those little umbrellas. And two cherries. No, no, actually, make it three. And maybe, uh...some donuts?”

“I see you’ve made yourselves at home,” Celestia said.

“Celestia! Luna! Emerald! We know what you’re going to say. Storm and I should have called on you as soon as we knew how dangerous it was,” Twilight replied, “A good leader knows when to ask for help, and we didn’t. And because of us, the Tree of Harmony was destroyed. Equestria deserves somepony much better than the two of us as its leaders.”

“You’re right,” Celestia said as Twilight and Storm sighed, lowering their heads, “About one thing. A good leader knows when to ask for help, but a great leader has the courage to admit when they’ve made a mistake and the strength to make it right. Today, you’ve both proven to me beyond any doubt that you two will be great leaders.”

“Will be?” Twilight asked.

“Luna, Emerald, and I have decided it may have been a bit unfair to thrust this upon you both without giving you the time you need to prepare,” Celestia replied.

“Thank goodness! I really wasn’t ready!” Twilight said with sigh of relief.

“Not ready?!” They all spun around to see Discord jump to his feet, the draconequus marching up to them. “So, Twilight’s not taking over?! This was all for nothing?! I pretended to be very hurt and gave one of the most convincing speeches of my-”

“PRETENDED?!” Storm, Twilight, and Fluttershy screeched.

“Of course! You don’t think some ‘would-be king’ could actually hurt the Lord of Chaos, do you? Anyway, as I was saying, I pretended to be very hurt to convince you that you didn’t need anything but yourselves to be the incredible leaders I know you both can be.” He turned to Celestia, “And now it’s not happening?!”

“It will. But when she’s ready,” Celestia replied.

Discord slithered back, “How can she not be ready?!” he asked, walking up to one of the windows. “What a waste of a perfectly wonderful speech!” He slid the stain glass window up...somehow, and stepped through it. “Ugh! Honestly, I don’t know why I even bother.” He slid the window back down as the others looked one another over.

“Ugh! So, he could have ended the whole Sombra thing whenever he wanted?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy giggled at this and replied, “But he didn’t, because he cares.”

“That’s Discord for ya,” Rainbow added.

“He sure has a weird way of bein’ supportive,” Applejack remarked.

“Super odd dude,” Pinkie said giggled before Discord appeared in one of the window images.

“I heard that!” he yelled before disappearing, everypony turning to one another before laughing.

“Also, Truth be told, Celestia and I had fun today fighting side-by-side with Starswirl for our home,” Luna said, “It’s been years since we’ve gotten to do what you girls do. You all make it look so easy.”

“Well, we are kind of an awesome team,” Rainbow replied.

“Every adventure is heart-pounding, but so rewarding,” Fluttershy added.

“I’m up for anything, as long as it’s with all of you!” Pinkie continued.

Rarity giggled at this and said, “Life certainly hasn’t been dull since we met.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” Applejack chuckled.

Twilight also nodded and remarked, “We are pretty incredible together, and we would do anything for Equestria. I guess I know that when the time comes, as long as we’re together, we probably-” Their friends all cleared their throats, “We definitely got this.” The others pulled Twilight and Storm into a hug, as everypony else smiled at the heroes who once again saved Equestria.

Eric tapped his mom on her shoulder, “Mom, since you and Dad are gonna be the new rulers soon, does this mean that I’m your heir to the throne?” he asked.

“I’m not sure about that, sweetheart. We might set your little brother, Midnight on that path,” Twilight replied.

“You may never have to carry the burden of the throne, but you and your friends’ destinies as the future protectors of Equestria are also important,” Storm added.

Meanwhile, at the ice fortress, Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis were in a circle holding hooves and hands.

“Now I'll say something nice about centaurs. Tirek, you say something nice about changelings. And Chrysalis, you say something nice about ponies!” Cozy Glow said. The other two were annoyed at this.

“Never!” Chrysalis shouted, pulling her hoof out of Tirek's hand.

She would have pulled herself away from Cozy Glow, but the filly had quite the grip despite her size. It was then that Glacio and his seven officers entered the room.

“Let us hope the three of you will be enough for our plans,” Glacio said.

“And what of King Sombra?” Chrysalis replied, freeing herself from Cozy Glow.

“Did he succeed?” Tirek asked, only for Glacio to growl.

He went up to his crystal ball, which activated and showed the scene where Sombra was obliterated by the Mane 7.

“I'd say he gambled and lost! But at least he can serve as a warning to those who doubt continuing with my plans. Unless any of you have doubts,” Glacio said.

“Uh, not I,” Tirek replied.

“Nope!” Chrysalis added.

“I’m good!” Cozy Glow finished.

“Then we shall join forces and work together to bring Equestria to its knees!” Glacio said, laughing evilly. Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow laughed with him nervously.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Magic Research Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 12 Minutes