Chaos Unending

THREE YEARS AGO, THE ANCIENT CASTLE OF THE ROYAL PONY SISTERS

Sweat dripped from Twilight Sparkle's brow as she concentrated on Nightmare Moon. She saw the five orbs that held the Elements of Harmony surrounding the black mare's hooves. The mare was laughing at her. Laughing. Twilight felt rage building up as lightning crashed around Nightmare Moon. She lowered her single horned head low to the ground and began to paw, preparing for a charge.

"You're kidding," Nightmare Moon scoffed, "You're kidding, right?"

Twilight lowered her head even further and let the magic flow through her body to the point of her horn. And then she charged.

'You're insane, Twilight!' she whispered as she neared Nightmare Moon, 'This will never work!'

She let all of her magic focus to the tip of her horn as Nightmare Moon released a battle cry, preparing for the impact and fall of the smaller pony. But the impact didn't come. Nightmare opened her eyes and saw that Twilight had teleported herself onto the small pedestal holding the five orbs. Twilight moaned in exhaustion as she pulled herself back to her feet, forcing herself to bring her magic back to the surface.

"Just one spark," Twilight whispered, the orbs beginning to glow, "Come on, come on!"

Nightmare Moon scowled as a whirlwind of dark magic surrounded her, carrying her toward the pedestal. Twilight's eyes jolted open as a swirl of dark magic buffeted against her. Feeling a sudden surge of energy, Twilight was sent flying backward. She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. She sat up panting as Nightmare Moon stood triumphantly over the five Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, bright magical energy began to course through the orbs, pulsing into Nightmare Moon herself.

"No!" the black mare cried, "It can't be!"

Twilight felt a smug grin crossing her face. Nightmare Moon felt herself shrinking away from the pure magic around her. Then the electric white energy stopped.

"Where's the sixth element?" Twilight gasped, feeling truly helpless.

Nightmare Moon cackled maniacally as she reared up onto her hind legs, smashing her front hooves down upon the five elements, leaving nothing but shards and fragments of rock. Twilight Sparkle suddenly felt as helpless as she did the day she went in to take her entrance exam to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The Elements of Harmony had been completely destroyed.

"You little FOAL!" the evil mare sneered, "Thinking you could defeat me! Now you will never see your princess OR your sun!"

Dark energy began to swirl around the entire room, making Twilight Sparkle feel more and more insignificant. She was helpless against the wicked mare's powers.

"The night will last FOREVER!" Nightmare cackled wickedly as the dark energy encompassed the two ponies.

Twilight looked on in fear as the black mare gathered more power to her. Suddenly a noise broke through the horrible oppressive blackness. At first it was just a jumble of noises but as the sound got closer, Twilight recognized it as the voices of her new found friends. As she felt them coming closer, a spark awoke deep within her heart. Her eyes flashed and she felt a small smile creep across her face.

"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony," Twilight whispered to Nightmare Moon, "Just like that?"

Nightmare Moon felt puzzled. Surely she had destroyed them outright! Hadn't she?

"Well, you're wrong!" Twilight cried out, her friends coming to her side, "Because the Spirits of the Elements of Harmony are RIGHT HERE!"

Nightmare Moon cried out in fear and amazement as the shards of the Elements of Harmony began to glow with every color of the rainbow. Her eyes grew wide as they began to fly over to the five ponies now surrounding Twilight Sparkle.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt," Twilight cried out, "Represents the spirit of Honesty!"

Applejack started as a ring of orange glowing shards began to rotate around her.

"Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness!"

Fluttershy shied away from a ring of pink shards spiraling around her.

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by laughing in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter!"

Pinkie danced giddily as a batch of blue shards encircled her.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity!"

Rarity blushed as she was surrounded by shards of indigo.

"And Rainbow Dash! Who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty!"

Rainbow Dash watched calmly as she became the center of the red shards' circle of gravity.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight bellowed triumphantly.

"You still don't have the sixth element!" Nightmare Moon smirked, "The spark didn't work!"

Twilight raised her head with pride.

"But it did!" she spoke calmly and firmly, "A different kind of spark!"

Twilight turned to her five friends and smiled.

"I felt it the very moment i realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you," she teared up as she spoke, "The spark ignited in me when I realized that you all are my friends!"

A glow of white light erupted from above the ponies' heads. There above them, meshed into the stone ceiling, was the sixth Element. Nightmare Moon shielded her eyes from the blinding light.

"You see Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the...the Spark that resides in the heart of us all," Twilight smiled, "It creates the sixth element. The element of MAGIC!"

The six ponies felt themselves being raised into the air as the rotating rocks began to swirl faster than ever, transforming into glimmering gold necklaces with a gleaming gem, each pony with a gem reflecting their own Cutie Mark. For Fluttershy, a pink butterfly. Rainbow Dash's face beamed with the reflection off her red lightning bolt. Pinkie Pie adorned a blue balloon. Applejack received a bright orange apple. Rarity's neck was decorated with a deep indigo diamond. Twilight clenched her eyes shut as a golden crown placed itself on her head, encrusted with a bright violet star. A rainbow of colors erupted from the six Spirits of Harmony, targeting Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon screamed in genuine terror as the whirlwind of colors wrapped around her.

The entity of Nightmare Moon watched as the limp body of Princess Luna was pulled off of her like an old cloak. Nightmare felt so vulnerable as the rainbow of colors stripped away the body that had been under her control for a millennium. She tried desperately to pull away from the horribly bright light, to escape back into the body that meant freedom for her.

"How?" she cried out in anger, "How could this happen to me?"

She struggled as the spectrum of light carried her out the window, through the night sky and back to the moon. She felt a wave of terror as she neared the surface of that rock that meant damnation to anypony unlucky enough to call it home. As the rainbow and herself made connection to the surface of the moon, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her mind, like a small sting. She cried out in anguish and rage, but the sound fell silent in the vacuum of space. Then she realized. Luna was gone, it was just Nightmare Moon.

"I am alone," she felt a single tear well up in the corner of her eye, "I am completely alone."

Again she felt a twing at the back of her mind.

DOWNTOWN PONYVILLE, TWO YEAR AGO

Discord sat smugly on his throne, balancing his glass of chocolate rain on one finger.

"Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing." He laughed to himself.

He pressed the glass to his lips and began to sip when the sight of six ponies galloping toward his throne broke his focus.

'Oh how positively dull.’ He thought to himself

"Not as wonderful as friendship!" Twilight Sparkle cried out.

"Oh dear, this again?" Discord sneered, sipping the glass away from the chocolate and tossing the chocolate away. He let out a small laugh as the glass shaped chocolate exploded nearby.

"That's right!" Applejack bellowed, "You couldn't break apart our friendship for long!"

Discord sneered, raising a single finger on his furred paw, causing Applejack to slowly float toward him.

"Oh Applejack," he scoffed, "Don't lie to me! I'm the one who made you a liar!"

Discord's face twisted into a maniacal grimace as he unleashed another bout of energy, dragging Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before him as well. Twilight, feeling anger fill her heart, began to charge her magical energy.

"Will you ever learn?" Discord whispered to his five captives.

Discord's eyes grew wide as a magical bubble formed around the ponies before his eyes. Twilight had teleported herself to protect her friends from the monster on the throne. Slowly, Twilight levitated the pink sphere back down to the ground, leaving a circle of grass where moments before was another section of Discords warped reality. Discord brought his finger to his mouth in a mocking gesture.

"I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord," Twilight murmured, "We've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!"

Discord rose from his throne and made an expression as though he was about to be sick.

"Oh gag! Fine," Discord sneered, "Go ahead and try to use your elements. Friend me! Just make it quick, I'm missing some excellent chaos here!"

Discord slouched back into his throne and stretched, lazily scratching his scaly stomach. Twilight Sparkle and her friends prepared themselves for the attack, each one raising her head high.

"Alright ladies," Twilight called to her friends, "Let's show him what friendship can do!"

Five glows emitted from the group.

"Wait wait wait!" came Pinkie Pie from under a chocolate rain cloud.

Pinkie Pie sat drinking her fill of the chocolate before sighing with relief. She sprang back to her friends and emitted a low growl as she prepared to attack Discord. The Elements of Harmony began to glow with every color of the rainbow before coming to a bright white. Discord yawned in boredom, until he noticed waves of energy shooting past his head.

"What's this?" he whispered, "No! No!"

As Discord cried out in fear, a rainbow erupted from the six ponies, sending itself into an arc before raining down upon Discord himself. Discord struggled as his body was slowly turned into stone. He writhed in horror as he felt his legs harden. His gut wrenched as it slowly solidified. He opened his mouth and screamed in vain as his entirety was turned to stone.

Discord screamed in pain as he felt his spirit being torn away from his stone imprisonment. His body felt as though it was on fire. His limbs were numb with pain. He felt tears streaming down his face as he passed from the realm of the living to the domain of the damned. Fire licked at his flesh, causing his skin to boil. He cried out for help, but the demons around him simply laughed. Discord felt a sudden surge of fear. This wasn't what had happened before. Yes, it was true he had been imprisoned by Princesses Luna and Celestia, but he was trapped body and soul in that accursed statue. This was something different. He was no longer Discord, God of Chaos. He was now Discord, the wandering spirit. And he was trapped in Tartarus.