***

Excuse me...? Would you be Discord?"

Discord awoke in a black limbo, warm, safe, and free from his pain in his body. Stifling a yawn, he glanced around.

"Am I dead?" Discord asked himself.

"No, you are sleeping, Discord..." a soft voice said.

Discord saw a bright light and the shape of an earth pony. When the light faded, he saw it was a crystal pony. The crystal pony was a velvet cake red with a darker shaded curly mane, her deep brown eyes spoke for her and told Discord she was worn out. The crystal pony's cutie mark was two ruby red crystal shards crossing to make an X.

Discord narrowed his eyes, "You look..."

"Like someone you know?" the pony asked.

"Exactly!"

The pony giggled, "Most ponies know me as the one behind the Fall of the Crystal Empire..."

Discord smiled, "Velvet Crystal..."

"You know...I didn't mean to cause it...I didn't mean to lie to Sombra..." Velvet said with a frown, "I-It's just...he's the only pony to really love me...he said he wasn't into poor ponies! So I lied and said I was rich! One lie led to a-another and..."

Discord put a claw on his shoulder, "I hate to stop your story, but I really need to wake up and get out of here!"

There was laughter in the darkness, "What will you do if you can get out?"

Discord jumped up and glanced around, "Who said that?"

"Oh? Do you not remember me? The first pony to challenge you and your reign? The one you called the Destroyer of Chaos?"

Then he remembered...before Celestia and Luna sealed him away, a third princess stepped into the ring for a challenge.

"Princess Kaze...you still live?"

A dark grey alicorn and a blazing blue mane and glowing amber eyes stepped forth, her tornado cutie mark standing out of the darkness. "Oh I live...me and my subjects live protected and safe..."

Discord chuckled, "As always Kaze...you've proven you're the top pony around here..."

"Let us skip the formalities Discord," Kaze said, "Now...you've been captured by Lord Tirek, your back is broken, and your powers have been sealed away..."

Discord looked puzzled, "What? What do you mean seal away? I mean, I know he took away my magic, he absorbed it!"

Kaze laughed, "He didn't absorb it! Not like last time!"

"What?"

"Let me explain..." Velvet Crystal stepped forward, "Well, due to absorbing all of the Crystal Heart's raw untamed magic, if Tirek were to absorb anymore magic he would..."

"Die..." Kaze finished.

Discord's eyes widened, "Oh my...do you mind telling me what he did with MY magic?"

Kaze sat down and yawned, "The same place where he's keeping all his excess magic, his room..."

"Tirek is keeping the magic close to the crystal statue slaves in case his magic runs out..." Velvet told Discord, "Those Crystal Slaves will only snap out of their state when they hear the three words from their loved ones...I love you..."

"Is that all I need to do?"

"It's not that simple..."

"It never is..."

Kaze smirked, "First and foremost, you need to take all the crystal statues to the Crystal Empire, their home, to their loved ones where they can hear the words I love you, then the curse should be broken from them."

"Secondly, in order to do that you must get your magic and free the other magic from their prison so they can return to their owners," Velvet Crystal said.

"Thirdly, you need to defeat Tirek...keep him fighting until he gets weak and small enough to hit him with the Rainbow Power...hitting him with Rainbow Power at his full stature with the full power of the Crystal Heart would cause an explosion big enough to wipe out half the population of Equestria..." Kaze explained.

Discord nodded, "Well that's simple for me!" he frowned, "Or it WOULD be if I wasn't trapped..."

Velvet Crystal smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder, "You'll find a way...Fluttershy may be gone...but you have to protect the world she held so dear...for her...for your friends...I know you, you won't let a cage stop you...can we count on you?"

Discord smiled, "You can count on me!"

***

Author's Note

Stay tuned for the FINAL chapter!! THE LAST ONE! XD