Author's Note: Alright, I am happy I managed to finish this chapter as I promised to the few I told this to. This is my first story ever. Seriously, the only other times I've ever written were for school. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed at how little I could write over the past month, but I'm gonna make that change soon. Long chapter= happy me! Once again, this is my first story so be nice, but be suggestive! I need all the help I can get! If anyone is willing to help me proofread and help me review the upcoming chapters for me, please PM me. I also enjoy writing these chapters to songs, as the tempo matches the emotions I felt at the different parts of the stories. As such, I'll post the links to the songs in the Author's note of each chapter. So here's the first! ----> Prologue: The Battle of Discord
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and her dA page here! Silverene!
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Azrael slid into his armor, tightening the leather straps, ensuring it wouldn’t fall off during battle. He checked over all of his things once, twice, three times more. He had to make sure that he was ready. The oncoming fight with an ancient deity was not something that you would want to do unprepared. In fact, nopony would even consider fighting Discord even if they were prepared. He checked himself in the mirror for any cracks in his armor. His mane flowed gently above his head, lightning cracking harmlessly in its light blue and black splendor. Grey fur was shaved short to reduce wind turbulence, with it making it easier to see his “blade and wings” Cutie Mark. His horn glimmered with the new sharp edge it had been gifted with earlier that day. He levitated two necklaces onto his neck. Celestia believed that with these necklaces, they could defeat Discord, or at the very least, stop him from ever gracing the lands of Equestria ever again. The ones he possessed were called the Elements of Laughter and Loyalty. He smirked as he saw Luna trying to sneak up on him from behind after catching her reflection in the mirror.

He spun in a quick half circle and pounced on her and started tickling the mare’s belly with his muzzle, inciting shouts of laughter from the “would be” attacker. She tried to escape, but he blocked her from moving with his hoof. “AHAAHAHAHA! St-Stop that! “She shouted. Azrael smiled and slowly rose off of Luna. She got back on all fours, tears still surfacing from the tickling, and turned to Azrael. “Are you ready yet, or will we have to wait longer for you to get your mane right?” she said with mock sarcasm.

When he finally got a good look at Luna, he was amazed. She adorned a light blue cuirass and a tiara embedded with a sapphire that was big enough to buy an entire town. He knew that it wasn’t a fashion sense; gemstones had a natural affinity for magic. Her mane was not as long as Celestia’s but it was still gorgeous, as it swayed outward with stars littering her mane like the midnight sky. She was also wearing the Elements of Generosity and Honesty. In short, she was beautiful.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Is Tia outside?” he replied, trying to keep his composure after the brief roughhousing they had together.

Luna nodded, “Everything’s set. All the Elements are fully charged with magic as well.” Her smile started to drop into a worried frown. She started biting her lower lip and pawed the dirt in front of her with her hoof into a small crescent shape. She was obviously bothered by the whole prospect of going against a god like Discord.

Discord was unbelievable. His reign brought ponydom to its knees. Everything was chaotic, which fit Discord’s title to a T. He had summoned chocolate rain all over Equestria, ruining crops and plants all over Equestria with its over-sweetened nectar. His tyranny brought fear over the lands and his chaotic antics destroyed homes and lives of ponies everywhere. Discord had to be stopped, or ponies would fall extinct. That was not going to happen. Not when there were ponies willing to fight for their lives.

“Luna, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Discord will be gone. How about this? After we beat Discord like the freak show he is, we go get some donuts at Pony Joe’s. Whaddya say?” He tried to cheer Luna up but it only made her smile a little compared to her usual self.

“I know I shouldn’t, but I’m just worried. After all of this, what will happen? If we beat Discord, we’ll change the fate of Equestria, but if we don’t…” She shuddered. “Equestria would fall… But, you’re right, we can’t lose. Not with you, me, and Tia standing in his way.”

Azrael’s face lit up once again, “That’s the spirit! Discord won’t know what hit him!”
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They stepped out of the tent together, scanning the skies for any of Discord’s Chaos Unit. Discord’s Chaos Unit consisted of ponies that either willingly joined him or were captured and mind controlled into servitude. Celestia was speaking to a soldier about the regiment formation until she spotted the two other alicorns exiting their hastily set up tent. She motioned the two over while dismissing the commander.

“I’m glad that you’re ready so early. I was expecting to wait another two days until you were finished.” Tia smirked. She was trying to lighten the mood of everyone around her with her jokes, but not many had been affected as much as she had hoped for.

Azrael turned to port and closed the tent’s flap shut. He turned back to Tia and sized her up just like he did for Luna. She was wearing golden armor with a sun adorning the front of her chest plate. Her mane billowed in different shades of colors, and her ivory complected fur bristled in the foreground of the setting sun. She wore a pink gemstone necklace and a tiara that held a lavender gemstone. Presumably the Elements of Kindness and Magic.

“Where are we fighting Discord at? If he’s in one of his cities, then we’d be at a major disadvantage.” Azrael borrowed a map from a nearby soldier and named off key cities they would want to avoid. “We should avoid Damarescus, Gallopolli, and Stalliongrad, since they have the biggest barracks in those cities.”

Celestia scanned the map herself, and tapped a location on it twice. “Discord tends to enjoy meditating on this mountain every full moon. The “Crown of Equestria” is what it’s called. ” She turned to Azrael and silenced him before he could enquire how she knew that. “Don’t ask. It’s a long story, and we don’t have the time to elaborate on that.”

Luna chimed in with her own suggestion, “Tonight would be the soonest, and the greatest time to strike. Tonight’s the Pegalithe Solstice; Discord would be at his weakest tonight since the sun and the moon are both hidden from view from the mountain.”

Azrael smirked and turned back to the map. “All going according to plan.” He placed his hoof over the “Crown of Equestria”, burning a hole through the aged parchment.
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Discord sighed and traced a loose circle into the soil. It transformed into a pink balloon with a sadistic smile staining its surface as it cackled and floated away into the night sky. He was tired of being hated. His subjects despised him and he knew it. He wanted his subjects to love him, not loathe him for who he was. He was the God of Chaos and nothing could change that. He would never be the ruler that he always wanted to be when he was little; he would always be the bad guy in the fairy tale, the one that would always lose in the end. He traced a crown into the already disrupted soil, which formed not into a crown of gold, but into a crown of thorns. He heard hoofsteps trying to be as silent as possible, but they had failed that particular part of the plan.

He didn’t turn towards them. “Celestia, you pick just the most wonderful nights to come visit me, you know? I see you brought your friends as well. What do you three want?” He tapped his front paw on the thorned crown and it disintegrated into water vapor. “By the way you all are dressed, this won’t be a formal invitation to one of those Galas you host every year, correct?”

Celestia eyes squinted into angry slits, “Enough! You’re reign of terror is over, Discord! Equestria will be free of your chaos once and for all!”

Luna and Azrael took their positions on opposite sides of Celestia. Luna prepared her magic and formed the energies into a tight funnel around her horn. Azrael stomped his front hooves into the dirt, causing lighting to crack and form off of his fur. He growled and kicked up the soil, ready to strike at any sign of hostility.

Discord slowly brought himself to his feet and turned to the menacing trio. “What makes you three think you will be all you need to beat me? Especially after all the things my Chaos Unit has been able to pull off? You cannot defeat me.” He protruded his chest forward, claw and paw held close to his sides ready for battle. He wanted to be a good ruler for Equestria. He wouldn’t be able to improve if he lost it now.

Azrael tapped his back hoof and shifted forward, light rings appearing as he flashed to Discord. They caught each other hoof in claw, and grappled at a stalemate as Luna proceeded to place a binding circle on the mountain to ensure the Elements of Harmony would not fail. Celestia proceeded to fire bolts of magic at Discord as he batted them away with quick flaps of his wings.

“HAH! You three are hopeless!” Discord leapt away from Azrael as he proceeded to fire shadows at the two sisters. Azrael stepped in between the two and ignited his magic, catching them, erupting them into flames as he bucked them back to Discord, which only infuriated him as each was evaded.

Celestia turned to port and spotted a small waterfall running off the side of the mountain. She glided in its general direction and levitated large globes of water onto the battlefield. “Azzie! Catch!”, she shouted as she shot them at Azrael.

He caught the two globes and tapped both with his hooves, charging them with electricity and glided at Discord with them, each being held in one hoof. He thrusted forward and caught Discord in the gut with one as the other was harmlessly deflected by a heavy paw.

Discord cringed from his injury and batted his assailant away as he flew towards the side of the mountain. He punched a hole in the wall and poured his magic into it, giant stone soldiers molded into shape. They stepped out of the side of the mountain and clambered their way over to the two sisters who were preparing the circle to activate the Elements of Harmony.

Azrael flashed in front of a small group of the soldiers and sliced through them with his bladed wings and destroyed the rest with a shout that blew them to bits and pieces.

Luna had finished the binding circle and called for the other two Element holders. “The circle is finished! Quick, activate the Elements!” She crouched down and summoned all the magic she could muster and focused them into a ball of energy around her as she started levitating into the sky. She saw that both Azrael and Celestia had already started focusing the magic as well.

The stone soldiers gave Discord time to summon one final attack against the three as his magic was not as strong as it usually was. He surrounded himself in a bright blur of black and purple energy. He breathed in deeply, absorbing the mystic energy and let out a mighty roar, aiming the blast at Luna.

“NOOOO! LUNA!” Azrael flashed in between Luna and the shot. He wasn’t fast enough to bat it away; the energy exploded into a black hole, unleashing all its power in sync with the Elements’ attack, leaving the mountain top pitch black.
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Celestia groaned as she levitated rubble off of herself as she got back on all fours. She surveyed the results of the battle. The entire battlefield was littered with rocks and shattered stones. She edged towards a peculiar rock formation and sighed in relief. The statue was of Discord in shock, frozen within the confines of the worst prison possible. She left Discord in his misery and scanned the ruins for Luna. She soon spotted Luna and started to call for her until she fully recognized the scene.

Luna broke down into tears as she held on tight to the prone figure. The body held no response as Luna tried to shake it awake, but to no avail. “You sa-said that nothing would go wrong. That we wo-would win a-against Discord. Please… Please don’t die.”

Celestia rested a hoof on Luna’s shoulder as she looked at her best friend since they were children lay in peace beneath her. He laid still with a smile on his face, like he had accomplished his lifelong goal. His left wing was tattered and feathers were torn along the edge. His armor was dented and ruptured, showing the burns along his grey fur. She had let a few of her own tears slip as well as her memories of them together scrolled through her mind.

Azrael began to glow, his existence starting to fade into the ethereal. Luna tried to hang on as hard as she could, but she failed to hold him as his magic escaped her arms and drifted towards the edge of the mountain.

“Wait! Don’t go!” Luna cried, chasing after him with Celestia close behind.

They reached the edge of the mountain and stopped and watched as he floated higher and higher into the sky until the unimaginable happened. He glowed even brighter than he was and rose into the air, the sun following the Azrael’s every move.

The girls sat and watched in awe as he raised the sun and lowered the moon. Soon, he was finished and disappeared, leaving the two sitting side by side.

As they watched him disappear, their flanks flashed, leaving the sun and the moon forever painted on them.

Celestia turned to her younger sister. “Azrael may be gone, but he left us something special. He left us his memory, his courage, his joyfulness, and the Equestria. He trusted us to take care of Equestria and lead it through these dark times. He trusts us to protect its ponies, and all of its inhabitants. Azrael may be gone, but he didn’t leave in vain, because he’s got us to fulfill his dreams.”

Luna blinked away the last remaining tears, smiled, and leaned against her older sister, watching the sun rise over the awakening plains, and the new age, of Equestria.

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