Before too long, the pillar of white dissipated back down from the sky to the ground, growing weaker in power and intensity as one by one Twilight’s friends uncovered their faces to see what had come of that unexpected phenomenon. The five ponies and Spike all walked closer to the diminishing glow. The light receded until what looked to be the shape of a body could be seen, everyone noticing how much smaller it appeared compared to Bedlam’s body beforehoof. From this form the light faded away completely, and now everypony could finally see all that had remained.

“T—Twilight?” said Spike, as what lie before him was the body of Twilight Sparkle herself: no other parts from Bedlam remaining. The young unicorn had finally regained herself.

A sound emanated from Twilight as her body began to stir. One by one, Twilight placed her hooves on the ground as she began to stand up, though she staggered a bit in doing so. Fluttershy and Applejack grabbed Twilight as she stumbled, helping their friend to keep from falling down, showing their worry for her as they did so. After finally getting herself upright properly, Twilight placed a hoof to her forehead as she groaned lowly.

“Twilight, darling? Are you all right?”

“Ehh…Rarity? Is that you?”

“Yes, dearie! I’m here!” Rarity responded jovially. “And so is everypony else!”

Twilight’s eyes were not very open, and she appeared to be in a daze of sorts. She peered around at the smiling faces of Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike. Then, albeit slowly, a smile of her own appeared upon her own face as she lifted her head more upright. “You guys…you’re all right,” She looked at her hoof, then at the rest of her body. “And I’m all right, too! I’m me again!”

“Yes, you’re definitely you! The only version of you we’d ever want!” Pinkie said joyfully with a jump.

“And we’re all glad tuh see it, sugarcube.” Applejack added as she patted Twilight on the back.

“Yeah! Whatever you did to Bedlam must have really worked! It sure as hay sounded like it!” Rainbow responded, punching her hooves through the air.

“Yeah! Good thing Fluttershy suggested using the Elements of Harmony on you!” Spike added.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Fluttershy said in response as she blushed. “We’re all just glad to see you okay again, Twilight.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re all okay, too. I don’t really remember much of what happened inside my head, but I knew I couldn’t have beat her without any of…any of…of…of…” Twilight continued repeating, her eyes twitching as well. Everypony else gained nonplussed reactions to Twilight’s actions as parts of the unicorn’s body began to twitch too. The ponies and Spike backed away from Twilight as her body began to convulse, her head shaking back and forth and undistinguishable noises emerging from her mouth. Twilight’s hooves then stopped shaking as they reached up and seized her own head, which became the only part still jerking around, though only from side to side.

“Oh no, not again!”

“I thought it was finally over!” a distressed Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Twilight fell down on her behind, unable to cease the uncontrollable vibrations of her own head—until, suddenly, it all stopped on its own.

“Huh?” collectively went Twilight’s friends, clearly as dumbfounded about this abrupt occurrence as Twilight herself was.

Twilight looked at both her hooves, pondering over what had just happened, when through her horn shot a piercing pain! Twilight yelped as she instinctively clasped her horn in her hooves, trying in vain to quell the torment.

“Twilight! What’s ‘appenin’??”

“It’s…my horn! It…hurts!”

“Oh, will these atrocities never cease?”

“What do we do??”

“I don’t know!”

With everypony in a panic and unknowing of how to alleviate Twilight’s suffering, nopony was prepared for what came next.

Inside her horn, Twilight could feel more than just pain: she felt…something moving; like some sort of living entity moving itself through her horn. She also soon realized that whatever was in there was increasing in size, as she could so acutely feel the pressure building up within her horn to the point that she feared her horn would soon become shattered! Just the thought of such a misfortune befalling her was far too much for the unicorn to think about, but nothing could be done but to sit and wait until that pressure reached its breaking point.

And it did just that.

For a brief moment(though nopony noticed), the tip of Twilight’s horn glowed a pure black before an absolute eruption of smoky black magic burst from the end of the young unicorn’s horn. The discharge came out so powerfully that it blew back all of Twilight’s friends, with the unicorn herself having her body forced down into the ground. The cloudy substance shot out higher and higher into the air in a spiraling motion, growing larger on the end the farther it went out, looking like some manner of smoky tornado. After it reached a certain height, the dark cloud stopped where it was, though still it was still swirling around. While Twilight was currently clasping the sides of her head with her eyes shut as the pain of this substance being released was shooting throughout her head, all her friends could only gaze on in shock and horror at the sight before them, nopony even uttering a word this time.

But then, it began to change.

The smoke’s spiraling had started to slow down. It was contorting and shifting its mass, its shape altering itself to…whatever it was becoming. The width of its form shrunk inwards as it also was extending outwards at the top and both sides. The more they all grew, the more they looked like—body parts?

On one side grew an arm, though it looked very much like the leg of a lion. On the other side came another arm, appearing to be the talons of a hawk or eagle. Then, protruding from the top came the shape of a head, itself changing in shape as well. It formed eyes, ears, a mouth, beard, and two types of horns: one deer, and some kind of warped goat horn. It was during all this shape-changing of the dark smoke than everypony watching soon came to realize what it was they were looking at—or, more accurately: who.

Still attached to Twilight’s horn by the barest of threads was that body of Discord himself! At least, the top half. Only gasps of disbelief emanated from the mouths of the ponies and Spike at this most unexpected of happenings. The insanity never seemed to stop! Would it ever? And what else could possibly happen next?

Twilight’s onlooking friends didn’t have much time to look upon this draconequus display, as this seeming essence of Discord suddenly began to flail about his body, looking to be in pain, which was made more apparent by its sudden descent into shouting out in agony as it continued to shake its body all about. As this clamor began, the essence started to inflate simultaneously, never ceasing in its shrieking all the while. More and more its body expanded like a balloon, filling to edges of its own form, where it could not grow any larger! Everypony did nothing but stare upon this essence of Discord swell and scream and grow, until, finally, with a sound and force most potent, the essence exploded in a massive blast of dark clouds and magic! Everypony could only attempt to cling to the ground beneath them as the force of the blast blew against them all! Spike himself had to be held onto by Fluttershy, who herself was held onto by Rainbow Dash to try to keep them all from being blown away! Fortunately for this group of friends, the power of the explosion did not last for long, soon dissipating into smaller blackened wisps that would turn to nothing as well.

“OW!!” went the real Discord, clutching his chest as he fell to his knees on the grass beneath him.

“Discord??” went the nearby startled Celestia.

“Are you all right?” Luna asked as she approached him.

“Yeah…” Discord replied as he attempted to stand back up, still clutching his chest. “But that was…quite odd.”

“Indeed…I wonder what—”

“But,” Discord interrupted, turning his head towards Ponyville. “I believe I know why.”

One by one, the ponies and Spike got back on their respective hooves and feet. The dark smoke had dispelled. All was clear; all was quiet. For the first time in what felt like so long for Twilight and her friends: they finally had some peace.

“Twilight!” Spike spoke up, running over to the dazed unicorn who held one hoof to her head as she stood back upright herself.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as she and the other ponies crowded around their thankfully not fallen comrade.

“Anything hurt, sugarcube?”

“Or any bruises or anything like that?”

“Like anything unsightly, dear?”

“Err…” went Twilight as she finally opened her eyes and took away her hoof. “…does a headache count?” The sore unicorn shook her head, attempting to alleviate the meager throbbing in her skull, thought the aching felt to her that it was fading. “It’s starting to feel better, though.”

“Oh, that’s good, darling,” Rarity responded with relief.

“So yer not feelin’ any more a that Bedlam inside of ya anymore?”

“It…doesn’t feel like I do,” Twilight placed a hoof on her chest. “…yes—I think she’s finally gone, guys,” Twilight replied with the first smile she had shown in a while. “Gone for good.”

Pure relief could be felt in the air amongst this group of friends. An evil had come spread its malevolence across the land, and now had gone. They had all been through so much within just the past two days, which all felt like so much closer to a lifetime. The hardships they faced, the relationships that almost strained, and the mighty despair felt by all—each were obstacles to faced by this group of friends, and faced them they all did. Triumph was achieved by no simple ease over any of these difficulties, but in the end, friendship, determination, and self-belief guaranteed victory over an entity most foul and destructive. Chaos was wrought, chaos was overcome, and that malevolent being would be around never again to wreak such havoc upon this world, its inhabitants, or this particular group of friends.

The Age of Bedlam had ended.

With a sudden flash of light, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord found themselves now next to the ponies and Spike, who turned their collective attention towards the newly materialized trio.

“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Twilight shouted with delight as she dashed over to the two royal sisters.

“What? No greeting for me, Twilight Sparkle? That’s manners for you!” said Discord, sounding annoyed with Twilight, though not sincerely.

“Oh…sorry, Discord,” Twilight sheepishly replied.

“We’re all happy to see you, too, Discord.” Discord looked to see it was Fluttershy who had spoken, having just flown up to Discord as the rest of her friends arrived next to Twilight.

“Well, thank you, Fluttershy! Glad to know somepony around here still has manners,” Discord said in Fluttershy’s direction as he took her hoof and patted it, though it was obvious who his words were really meant to be spoken towards, Twilight amusedly rolling her eyes as her own response.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna interjected, “Tell us: have you truly done away with the foul creature, Bedlam?”

“Yes, Princess. I can honestly say that she is finally gone. Thanks to me, and my friends,” she replied as she gestured to her friends. Princess Luna looked relieved by this confirmation.

“I knew that if anypony could do it, it would be you all,” Celestia added.

“Was there every any doubt? Sure! Lots of it! But hey—whatever works, right?” Said Discord, as wryly as ever.

“Uhh…thanks, Discord,” Rainbow said flatly, not as amused with Discord’s antics as ever.

“At any rate, we are all pleased to know that this entire matter has been dealt with.”

“Indeed. Having to keep Bedlam’s magic from going everywhere all willy-nilly was such a chore—even for me!” Discord stated before summoning an electric fan and waving it at his face to cool himself.

A thought then came to Applejack. “Say, if y’all saw that ever’thing was normal again, why’d ye take so long gitten back ‘ere?”

“Oh, that,” said Luna. “We wanted to make certain that all was well outside of Ponyville before we returned. Then when Discord informed us of what he had felt, we made sure to return here at once.”

“What Discord felt?”

“Indeed, my dearest Fluttershy. Me and the princesses were in the midst of our chaos inspection,” Discord poofs up a large magnifying glass. “When all of a sudden I feel this just horrible pain in my chest!” He says as he clutches his chest as small red lightning bolts appear around it. “I could feel right then and there that the part of me that was in Twilight was no longer using its room and board inside our dear friend! Which was all well and good, since I’m sure its rent was overdue,” Discord finished as he poofed up a piece of paper that said “RENT” in large letters at the top, making Fluttershy and even Pinkie Pie giggle a bit.

“That was when we knew there was nothing more left to examine, and Discord transported all three of us to this location soon after,” said Luna.

“So then there is definitely no lingering magic of Bedlam left,” Twilight responded contentedly, though her expression soon changed to one of realization. “Oh; Discord, I’m sorry what happened to Bedlam hurt you the way it did. I had no idea anything like that would happen,” she finished, looking legitimate sorrowful.

“Oh, pshaw and psh,” went Discord as he waved off her words. “No need to get your mane in a tizzy,” Discord said as he twirled his finger above Twilight’s mane, making it all twist up together. “I’ve felt worse, believe it or not. Don’t even get me started on that time with those giant anti-magic spiders…”

“What?”

“Nothing! Anyways, it doesn’t matter now. Our little Twilight has proven herself so strong in all this!” He stretches his head over to Celestia. “Maybe you should make her a princess too; eh, Celestia?”

Celestia giggled a bit at Discord’s jesting suggestion, though afterward looked to be considering the idea, though nopony seemed to notice this expression.

“Discord is right, Twilight Sparkle. You should be proud of what you and your friends have accomplished here today. I believe we never could have overcome Bedlam without any of you, my little ponies.”

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike exchanged appreciative looks with one another before al seven come together and share in a warm group embrace.

“Celestia’s right: I never could have beaten Bedlam without you guys.”

“An’ we couldn’t a done it without you, Twi.”

“It was a great team effort for everyone,” Fluttershy stated in her gentle voice.

“The great, moistest bestest team ever!!”

“Yeah, a team of ponies who kicked some serious bad guy butt!”

“Yes, I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, Rainbow, dear.”

“Accurate or not, you guys all did great!” Spike added cheerfully. “Equestria’s lucky to have you all!”

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight replied before the group hug separated itself. “We’re all very lucky that we managed to overcome Bedlam and her power by working together.” Twilight’s face and smile then dipped a bit, which was noticeable enough to her friends.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“…although, for a time, we all almost lost to her…and that felt really scary for me,” Twilight hung her head down lower. “I gave up on myself for a while; I was really lost. I really believed it was the end of Equestria,” Twilight looked at her friends. “And, truly: if it wasn’t for all of you guys, it really would have been…”

Everypony was feeling commiseration for the poor unicorn after her little speech. Even after her amazing victory over that dastardly draconicorn, Twilight couldn’t seem to help but feel partly like a failure. It was disheartening for anyone to see: especially her closest friends. After all, how much more would it take for Twilight to stop feeling like the letdown everypony knew she was not?

For a short time, nopony responded to Twilight’s words. But then, Applejack stepped forward, ready to say something—before Celestia stepped ahead of her, moving over to Twilight first, causing the earth pony to stop in her tracks.

Twilight opened her eyes as she felt something drape over her backside. She looked up to see Princess Celestia standing over her, her wing covering Twilight’s back. She looked into her mentor’s smiling face as the alicorn began to speak:

“Twilight, my faithful student: there can be so many times in our lives when we go through some manner of turmoil. It can be difficult to be strong when it feels the whole world is weighing down on you. But of all of that is precisely why you mustn’t ever give up on yourself.” Twilight lifted her head up more, no longer looking so sad as she kept her eyes on Celestia. “Sometimes doing just that may feel the easiest at the time, but will prove to lead more hardships down the line. I know you felt like giving up when it appeared there was no way out for you, but in the end, thanks to the help of your friends, you were able to overcome those very hardships you came against. It was from your friends that you learned a most important lesson: that it isn’t just important to believe in your friends, but yourself as well; for friends will not always be there to personally fight back against powerful enemies, and you must know how to be able to help yourself, because one’s inner strength has the potential to be the strongest kind of power they can have, as everypony who saw that from you knows fully well,” Celestia motions her other wing over to Twilight’s friends, all of whom were smiling at Twilight, whom was returning that beaming smile right back at them.

“My sister is correct, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna spoke up as she approached the young unicorn. “We all have our times of weakness, and our times of strength. I myself know all too well the feeling of giving in to one’s own weaknesses—to one’s own anger…but you, Twilight Sparkle: you have proven this day what you are made of—what you are truly capable of; and we are all here more than proud of you for it,” Luna finished with a prideful smile for the young unicorn, who looked nothing but touched by the princess’ words.

“Indeed, we are,” Celestia added. “And the you and your friends succeeded with your use of the Elements of Harmony—I believe there are none who have proven themselves as worthy of being their bearers than you six,” Celestia turned to Twilight’s friends. “You should all be proud of yourselves as well.”

“Aww, shucks, Princess. We couldn’t ‘av’ done it without Twilight.”

“And I couldn’t have done it without all of you. You all reminded me that I need to know how to be strong on my own, and I was able to do so. Thank you all so much for that,” Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes as she finished speaking.

“Tweren’t nothin’, Twilight!”

“Actually, I think it was something, but still a good something!”

“Right, Pinkie,” Rainbow added. “But she’s right! We’re all the best! And always are together!”

“Hear, hear!”

“You guys rock!” Spike appended.

“Yay for us,” Fluttershy also added, though not as noticeably loudly.

With smiles beaming and joyousness felt throughout the air itself, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike all came together in the most heartfelt of group hugs. Tears were shed, and warmness permeated throughout the bodies of the seven close friends. With all the chaos, the horrors, the hardships, and heartbreaks, these ponies had come out on top once more, and their bond felt stronger than it had ever been before.

The two princesses and the lord of chaos watched the wholehearted display before them, all three smiling the entirety of the time. Luna turned her head partly towards Discord, having noticed that he had not spoken for some time. “Anything you’d care to add, Discord?”

“Moi?” Discord replied as he turned his head towards her. “Because, honestly, I don’t see any extra amount of sappy words that have yet to be used,” he said as he poofed up a jar of tree sap with words floating around inside the sap.

“Is that so?” Luna slyly responded.

“Quite so, Princess,” spoke Discord as he stretched a lengthy and wordy piece of sap out from the jar. “I could say how oh so very pleasing it is to see our young Twilight Sparkle once again overcome impossible odds with the help of her friends, all of whom helping to save Equestria from eternal doom and growing together in their close, loving, and ceaseless bond which showcases the very heart and soul of all in the world that can be called magical and friendship?” Discord paused shortly after his dialogue, the blank expressions of the princesses staring back at him. “…but of course, I would never say something like that. A bit too out of character, wouldn’t you say?”

Celestia chuckled. “I suppose so, Discord. Good thing you didn’t say that, then.”

“Indeed,” Princess Luna added.

“In-deed,” spoke Discord, with the three of them looking on as the six ponies and Spike embraced and laughed together, with naught but joy and frivolity to be seen. After all the turmoil and bedlam, peacefulness encompassed the land of Equestria as it had before, and would hopefully do so for a long time to come.

All thanks to this group of friends;

The power of self-assurance;

And the magic of friendship.

THE END

Author's Note

And there we have it, folks: After 12 years, 7 months, and 11 days, The Curse of Discord is at last complete! Hard to believe it's been so long, or that I've ever actually finish this! Still, I'm glad to not leave what is technically my most popular story incomplete. I stopped writing it at first because I grew disinterested in it, and later the show itself, not feeling as impactful on me as it did before. That's something that will always make me feel sad. But, this show will always have a special place inside me, and I'm grateful that it ever made me feel the way I did about it, and that I had a show like it that I had cared about so much and meant so much to me at the time. I thank you for that, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
And thank you to everyone who cared about this story and cared to see it finally concluded. Not certain what the future is for me with this franchise, but I'm still glad it exists.
So for now: goodbye, and thanks for reading~!