Quest of Disharmony

Part 1: Prologue: Summer Sun’s Explosion! The Awakening of Disharmony!

“Did we practice the stunt more than once?”

“Yep.”

“Did I get my crown polished before lunch?”

“Yep.”

“Did we go over the list three times?”

“Twilight, relax. We’ve done just about everything on this list.”

Today was the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, and Princess Twilight Sparkle and her assistant dragon Spike, were busy going over the check list of things Twilight had to do for the celebration.

The other day, Princess Celestia had given Twilight the honour of performing a special flight routine to mark the occasion, to which she had confidence her faithful student could accomplish.

Twilight’s reaction, however, was one of shock, surprise, and worry. She immediately returned to her room in Canterlot and began writing a list of things she thought she would need to do before the event. The next morning, both she and Spike began going through the list; which involved getting her crown polished, going through the routine until she got it perfectly right, checking up on her friends and the other ponies to see if they were doing their job well and on time, and a few other things.

As far as the celebration was concerned, everyone was doing their job well; Applejack and her family were busy preparing the snacks and beverages for the celebration, Fluttershy was rehearsing with the birds for the music, Pinkie Pie was going berserk trying to get everything together for the after celebration party, Rarity was helping the other ponies with getting the halls to the castle and the outside looking ready for the celebration, and Rainbow Dash was making sure the skies were clear for the celebration with the other pegesi, as well as helping Twilight with her routine, although she became quite annoyed every time Twilight missed something important or crashed into the ground.

After checking on the preparations and making sure the other things were done, Twilight then left for her room with Spike to double check they didn’t miss anything on the list, as well as doing some last minute tidying up before the celebration.

Right now, the Princess of Magic and her dragon assistant had finished going through the list, and were now getting ready for the celebration; Twilight was looking in the mirror to make sure she looked nice for her part, while Spike was resting his aching claw from holding the quill and paper for so long.

Twilight brushed back a bit of mane which she missed, and checked the mirror to see how she looked. She sighed when she saw there wasn’t a flaw on her. Then a bit of her mane stood up, which caused her to squeal in shock and quickly licked her hoof and tried to brush it back down, quite frantically like she had a serious itch.

Spike took note of this and rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance. Once again, Twilight was over worried than she should be which would get in trouble or hurt, again. So he decided it would be best to reassure her, so she could stop being so frantic.

“Twilight, no one’s going to be focused on your appearance. They’re only going to be more focused on your performance.”

“I can’t take chance, Spike.” Twilight said, without looking away from the mirror as she continued to brush down her mane. “Celestia gave me this very important task, on this very important day. If ended up failing or embarrassing myself…”

“Like tha’ll happen.”

Twilight and Spike turned towards the voice, which belonged to their friend Applejack, who walked in with Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was more than happy to see her friends, as she left her post at the mirror and walked up to meet her friends, with Spike not that far behind.

“Girls! I’m glad you to see.” Twilight said, as she joined her friends. However, she was quite confused by their sudden appearance, shouldn’t they be tending to the celebration. Having this thought in mind, she decided to ask. “But shouldn’t all of you be helping with the celebration?”

“Well… we’re doing pretty well, and, um, thought we take a break to come see you.” Fluttershy said, do it was a little quiet so it was a little difficult to hear fully.

“Yeah, you looked so nervous during your little ‘inspection’, we figured you be fussing over the whole thing. Heck, by the way you flying and crashing during training, I’d say you were begging me to take your place in the celebration.” Rainbow Dash boasted, mostly out of good nature than mocking.

“We were quite worried about you, dear. So we thought it would be a good idea to wish you luck and give you a little confidence before your big performance.” Rarity said reassuringly.

“Yeah, after this, we’re back to the castle in Ponyville for a ‘Happy After Summer Sun Celebration’, with cakes, candy, balloons, ribbons, and the whole enchilada!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while jumping around Twilight excitedly.

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes at the typical Pinkie party attitude.

“Seriously though, yer goin’ b’ fine, sugacube.” Applejack said, resting a hoof over her friend’s shoulder, “Yer did good last year, an’ ah reckon yer goin’ t’ ‘wow’ em th’s year also.”

Twilight blushed in embarrassment at the praise. She had been praised before because of her talents with magic, but she still found it strange and embarrassing.

“Yeah, relax Twilight.” Rainbow Dash reassured, nudging her friend’s side with her front hoof. “Like AJ said, you’re going to ‘wow’ again this year like last time.”

“And will be there to support you, so you won’t have to worry if something goes wrong.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, but it’s very unlikely that you will because you’re so well organised, you hardly forget anything, and you practice, practice, practice more times than any pony in Ponyville, and it’s painfully obvious when you are stressed out about something because-” Before Pinkie could continue on with her rambling, Applejack stuck an apple she had been carrying in her mouth to keep her quiet.

“We get the idea, Pinkie.” Applejack simply said.

After giving Pinkie weird glances, Fluttershy looked back and Twilight. “Like Rarity said, Twilight, we’ll be there to cheer you up if you get stressed on anything, ok?”

Twilight smiled and nodded at her friends’ loyalty and trust. “Thanks girls, I needed this talk.”

The mares smiled and were happy that their friend was now reassured. Rarity turned to the clock on the wall and gasped as she noticed that it was almost time for the celebration to start.

“We better a move on, ladies. The celebration is going to start in short while.” Rarity said to the others.

They turned to the clock on the wall and also took notice of the time, realising that she was right.

“Well, we better get on down there, before they start the celebration wit’out us.” Applejack said. The other ponies nodded as they turned to leave; Rainbow flying out, while the others trotted out.

“Ghod lerk Twiflght.” Said Pinkie Pie, while munching on the apple still stuffed in her mouth before disappearing through the door.

Twilight was quite sad that her friends were gone, but she felt happy and reassured knowing that they would be watching and helping her from the crowd, and she wasn’t going to disappoint them.

Sensing Twilight’s confidence, Spike smiled and asked “Want to go over the routine one last time?”

Twilight turned to her assistant with a determined smile. “Let’s.”

The silence of the night was filled with whispers a mumbling as garden outside the palace was packed, as ponies from Canerlot, Ponyville, and all the other areas surrounding it were crammed into the open garden facing towards the platform ahead; on the left was a pole holding the symbol of the sun, and on the right was one holding the symbol of the moon, where Princess Luna would lower the moon and Princess Celestia would raise the sun. Everypony was looking forward to the spectacle that was said to be presented this year by Princess Twilight.

In the centre of the crowd, five mares and a baby dragon, who was sitting on the back of a yellow pegasus, were anxiously waiting for the event to start, the pink and marshmallow haired one jumping slightly in anticipation, much to the annoyance of the ponies behind her, who couldn’t see the stand because of the pink pony’s jumping form.

The white, purple mane and tailed unicorn saw this and tried to get her friend to relax. “Pinkie Pie, dear, we know you’re just as excited about the event as we are, but perhaps you should calm down a little.”

Pinkie continued to jump rapidly. “I can’t help it, Rarity. I know we’ve seen the celebration more than once, and the part with Luna lowering the moon, oh, and the time last year when Twilight did that super ‘VROOM’ and ‘FLASH’ thing, but the Princess said this year was going to be even more SPECTACULAR than the other years. I still don’t what ‘spectacular’ means, but I can tell it’s going to be even more super-duper cool this year too!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the typical hyper pony’s energetic mood and explanation, while Applejack giggled at her friend’s enthusiasm.

“We understand yer mood, sugarcube. But ah think it be best if ya simma down tad so the rest of the folks behind ya can see.” Applejack explained.

“Oh, ok.” Pinkie said, as she stopped her jumping, her eyes turning back to platform out in front.

Behind the stage, Twilight sneaked a quick peak at the crowd and sweated upon seeing the large number of eyes that were directed in the stages’ direction. All the nervousness and doubt she had a while ago had come back to her in the form of a lump in her throat, which she tried to swallow.

She ducked back down behind the stage, and quickly said to herself “Keepittogether, keepittogether, keepittogether,” over and over again, like a chant that would somehow help her out.

“Quite a crowd, isn’t it?”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she immediately stopped chanting as she turned to the voice that belonged to her former mentor, who was making her way to the stages with her sister, the Princess of the night, Luna beside her.

“Princess Celestia! And Luna!” Twilight quickly stood up and bowed slightly to the approaching Princesses.

“Come now, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said with a friendly amused smile on her face, “There is no need to act so formal around fellow Princesses.”

“Sorry.” Twilight quickly said as she got up and sat on her hunches, blushing slightly at how she forgot she was also a princess.

Celestia chuckled at her former student’s embarrassment. “It is always good to see you, Twilight Sparkle. I hope you are ready for your part in the celebration.”

Twilight was instantly reminded about the large crowd in front of the stages and the nervousness she previously had. She turned her head back to the crowd, and then her eyes to the ground.

“Well, I…I…” she just couldn’t bring herself to say it.

The Princesses could tell she was nervous and scared. Celestia then rested a hoof on her shoulder, bringing the young Princess’ gaze to the older one’s eyes.

“We can tell you are trouble, my young friend, and I know that the rumours that have been spread have not been of any help. But rest assured that I know you’ll do just fine.” Celestia said, imparting her reassuring words to her young friend.

Twilight was silent at first, taking in what the princess just said, before she was finally able to find her voice again. “You… you mean it?”

Celestia smiled at the young Princess. “Of course. You’ve done more than this before, and I know you can do it.”

Luna then walked up to the pair and gave her own words of encouragement. “You’ve certainly proven your skills as a princess on many occasions. I too, have no doubt in your abilities.”

Twilight looked at both princesses and could see that what both of them said were true. The nervousness and the lump in her throat seemed to shrink slightly at the words of encouragement.

Steeling herself and getting up off the floor, she took a deep breath and then exhaled. “Ok, I’m ready.”

The princesses nodded and smiled in compliance.

“That’s good to hear.” Celestia said, before she began to work to her place on the stage. “Now come, let us commence.”

Luna soon followed but stopped and turned back to Twilight. The young princess looked up at the older one in confusion. Luna then lowered her head to Twilight’s ear and whispered “Try to remember all the good times and dig deep, that might help.”

After giving the Princess of Friendship some friendly advice, she then made her way to her side of the stage.

Everyone became silent as the Princesses stood on the stage, in front of all their subjects. Turning their heads to face each other, they gave a nod as a sign that they were ready. Luna was the first as she gracefully floated up to the moon symbol, her hoofs raised and slowly lowering themselves; the moon in the high sky following her command as it began to slowly sink from its position in the night sky.

Back behind the stage, Twilight stretched out her wings and prepared herself for her part of the ceremony. She then closed her eyes and began to concentrate, as well as taking Luna’s advice.

‘Remember the good times and dig deep.’ She thought to herself, as she remembered meeting her friends, stopping Nightmare Moon, and all the other misadventures she’s had since then. Magic began to build up in her horn, which began to glow with a light purple aura.

Back on the stage, Celestia then floated to her sun symbol with her hoofs lowered and then began to slowly bring them up; just on the horizon, everypony could see the blazing brilliance of sun rising from the ground at the sun Princess’ command, filling the black, star covered sky with a yellow and orange glow.

‘Remember the good times and dig deep.’ Twilight repeated in her head, while gritting her teeth as she tried hard to recall all her good times; such as defeating Discord with her friends, reuniting with Candace, the Canterlot wedding, saving the Crystal Empire, and becoming a princess. She also strained herself in gathering more magic, as the aura around her horn began to expand and glow twice as fierce.

The sun and moon continued to rise and fall respectively, getting close to the midpoint of when they would cross each other’s paths. The ponies in the audience watched in awe at the raising of the sun and the falling of the moon, however, there were some who were quite disappointed by the display.

“Isn’t this the same thing that happens every year?” A lime green pony whispered in the crowd.

“Yeah, it is. Didn’t the rumours say that Princess Twilight was going to pull off something spectacular this year?” A light blue pegasus stallion replied quietly.

“Well, it’s not over yet. Let’s just wait and see what happens.” A dark brown unicorn stallion whispered.

The Mane 5 and Spike overheard the discussion and were beginning to worry if Twilight had gotten cold feet and fled.

Unknowing to everyone, on one of the castles towers, laid a familiar draconequus, who was watching the celebration with interest. Since there wasn’t much to do, and that he was bored, Discord decided to see what the Summer Sun Celebration was like, so he teleported over to Canterlot to see for himself. He decided not to cause anyone trouble or unease, so he seated himself on one of the castle towers to get a bird’s eye view of the event, but was quickly becoming bored by the lack of excitement.

‘Re…member…the…good…times…’ Twilight was beginning to struggle as the strain from remembering and the drawing of magic was beginning to feel like her brain was splitting in two.  Nether the less, she continue to remember all the good times; saving the princesses from the plunder seeds, the Equestria Games, befriending Discord, defeating Tirek, and getting her own castle and becoming the Princess of Magic.

‘And… dig… DEEP!’

Upon digging deeper into herself, Twilight suddenly felt a massive and mysterious power overtake her mind. Her eyes opened to reveal a blank but glowing stare that held imaginable power.

Twilight then stretched her wings and sawed into the sky with such power and strength that a crater was left on where she once stood, and leaving a blurred glowing purple trail behind her.

The crowd’s eyes were stunned by the sudden appearance of a blazing trail of purple that appeared from behind the stage, but remained glued to the strange glowing figure as it flew towards the sun and moon, which were inches from crossing each other. The Mane 5 and Spike were equally surprised by the sudden appearance of the strange purple object, although they had a feeling it was Twilight, but what surprised them was the amount of power she had at the moment. Discord’s boredom quickly vanished as he felt the sudden disabling of magic in the area and witnessed the rising of the mysterious glowing object, which took him completely by surprise, and persuaded him to stay and see what happens next.  Even Celestia and Luna were surprised by the sudden burst in magic, which seemed to easily surpass their own, causing the pair to take a glance up at the glowing projectile.

Twilight’s glowing form was inching closer to the sun and moon’s intersection, which was getting closer and closer. Once she reached the desired point, she stopped flying and with her eyes closed, she spread her wings to keep her afloat in the air as the sun and moon soon met with her form in the sky.

Then, once the sun and moon finally crossed, Twilight opened her eyes which then released a large flash of magic from her horn.

What came next was a complete surprise to everyone; as soon as the flash appeared, a powerful burst of rainbow coloured magic soon followed, which turned into a shockwave that blew everything in its path away; scattering the clouds and birds in the sky, knocking over stands, tress and statues, and knocking unexpecting ponies off their hoofs and sending them flying; even the princesses and the spirit of chaos weren’t expecting the massive burst of magic, as their eyes widened and their mouths agape, before being blown away by the wave of magic, Discord trying to hang on for dear life, but quickly lost his grip and was thrown straight from the palace grounds.

The Mane 5, as well as a few other ponies, weren’t expecting the large burst of magic either, but were trying in vain to stay on the ground as they dug their hooves into the ground, while Spike dug his sharp claws into Fluttershy’s back for support, causing a yelp of surprise and pain from the yellow pegasus. However, the power was becoming too much for them as one by one, they began to fly off into the air with a yelp and cry of surprise; first it was Fluttershy and Spike, next it was Rarity and Pinkie Pie, finally Applejack, whose hat was blown off from the sudden burst of wind, and Rainbow Dash, who had held up the longest and struggled to stay on the ground, were then thrown into the air with the others.

From where the burst had originated, the sun and the moon, despite their masters no longer controlling them, continued to rise and fall respectively, and from there intersection, held a large glowing purple, six pointed star shone in the sky, with five tiny sparkling starts surrounding it, and a purple glowing alicorn princess in the centre of the star, whose eyes were still blank and glowing and unaware of the events that took place around her.

The colourful burst of magic soon spread from its origin and began to travel and cover the whole sky of Equestria in its marvellous glow of multi-coloured magic. Ponies and creatures all over Equestria heard the ‘boom’ of the burst and looked to the sky, only to be dazzled and captivated by the majestic colours that began to fill the sky, as the sight began to reflect in their eyes.

As the sun rose higher into the sky and moon sank deeper behind the horizon, the glowing star began to slowly drift towards the ground with its occupant inside. As it reached the stage, it then vanished into the air, lowering the alicorn princess onto the ground, whose body began glow a pure white and emit white sparks of magic, which jumped from one part of her body to another, eyes still glowing and blank.

After a while, the glow and sparks soon died, followed shortly be the white glow in Twilight’s eyes, which regained its natural violet pupils, and the magic that had overcome Twilight began to fade as well, returning the mare’s mind to it senses. Upon regaining her state of mind, Twilight’s eyelids fell slight from the sudden lack of strength she now possessed, and felt an itchiness and strain in her eyes, making her rub them to help clear it away. Upon opening her right, with a hoof still trying to calm the aching left eye, both eyes immediately widened in shock and confusion and her mouth nearly dropped to the floor at the sight before her.

Right before her, trees where knocked over with their roots sticking out, statues had been knocked over and smashed, there were many scraps and large passes of grass missing from the ground, and many ponies, either startled by the by sudden burst of magic or knocked unconscious during the landing, where either laid out flat on their backs, stuck in hedges or trees that somehow managed to survive the ordeal, and others were lying on their sides.

Twilight’s main sights, however, where on the forms of Princess Celestia and Luna, who were knocked on their fronts and lying on the ground, their long manes covering their heads, and the forms of her friends; Rainbow Dash was stuck head first inside a tree with her flank and tail sticking out and hanging, Applejack was knocked into a hole in the same tree, her flank and tail also sticking out, but was upside down, Rarity was on her back, her eyes spinning from the whole ordeal, and her mane and tail were sticking out wildly and messy, Pinkie Pie was stuck with her back in a bush on the far side of the garden, her mane and tail even more fluffy and wild than usual, Fluttershy was stuck in a cherry bush with her head sticking out and her body hanging, and Spike was holding onto to the ground with his claws, with a wide eye and clenched teeth look on his face, showing that he was scared out of his mind.

Twilight continue to process on what she was seeing and how she could of caused all this, when the ponies and dragon began to regain their bearings and senses as they removed themselves from the blown positions; Twilight instantly began sweating up a storm.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so, so sorry. I was… I mean I was just…” twilight tried to find the right words to use, but she kept on drawing a blank as she didn’t know how to feel or react to this situation. When Princess Celestia and Luna finally got up, brushed back their manes and turned to Twilight with frowns on their faces, the young alicorn princess immediately got down on her legs and lowered her head to the ground.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She continued to repeat over and over again.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia finally said in a calm yet serious voice. Twilight immediately braced herself for the disapproving and shamed words she was about to receive. “That display just now… was…”

“AWESOME!!”

Before Twilight could even react, she was hit by a blue blur of speed and tackled to the ground. She looked up to see the beaming face of Rainbow Dash, whose mane was messy from the burst, with bits of leaves and twigs from the tree, and covering parts of her face, but her big grinning smile could be seen from behind the hairs that were covering it. Twilight was completely confused by this sudden reaction.

“Man oh Man. And I thought the Sonic Rainboom was awesome, but that just now. That was total WICKED!” Rainbow said, the smile never leaving her face and the sparkle in her eyes never fading.

“It… it was?!” Twilight asked, slightly confused at what her friend was talking about.

“Whooo nelly! Ah knew you were good with magic, Twilight. But that right there… that was a whopper of show!” Came the voice of Applejack, who was walking up to Twilight, her own mane and tail messy and wild from the burst of wind, but was smiling all the same. “Ah didn’t even know that you could pull somethin’ like that. Whoa boy, is the family goin’ to believe this back home.”

“I must agree with Rainbow Dash and Applejack on this one, Twilight.” Twilight looked to see Rarity walking to her with a friendly smile on her face, despite her mane and her tail being messy. “I knew that your cutie mark meant you were good at magic, but never before have I seen magic of that spectacle before. Even… though it made a horrible mess of the royal garden and my mane.” She said after having a good look at the garden and her mane.

“WOW! That was sooooo COOL, Twilight! I mean they you all like ‘VROOM’ and the crowd was all like ‘GASP’ and then you were all like ‘SHOOM’, and then you went ‘BOOM’ with that magic glowing wind thingy, and the everything went ‘FROOO’!  Rainbow Dash was right, that was AWESOME and FUN, FUN, FUN! Can you do it again? Canyoucanyoucanyoucanyou?” Pinkie Pie repeated excitedly as she began jumping around wildly, whose mane and tail were more puffy than usual, as well as having some twigs and leaves in them. Everyone was surprised to see her down from the hedge so quickly, but no asked how she got down, it was just Pinkie.

“W…wow, Twilight. The others are right, that was… amazing.” Came the timid yet happy voice of Fluttershy, who was walking up to the others, her mane and tail also wild and messy, with a few twigs, leave and berries in them. She then looked at the clear skies and at the devastation of the garden with a small frown. “But… oh, I hope the birds and the animals weren’t too startled by the noise and the wind.”

Twilight finally picked herself up and smiled at her friend’s kindness and thoughtfulness. “Not to worry, Fluttershy. I’m sure there fine.” She said, trying to reassure her friend’s worries, which seemed to bring a sigh of relief and a smile to her face.

“Wow, Twilight.” Twilight turned to see Spike walking up to her, a little shaky, but overall ok. “I’ve always known you were good at magic, and I’ve seen you pull off strong and advanced spells before, but that right now… that was amazing. I knew being a princess meant your magic would get stronger, but I didn’t know it get that strong.”

Twilight began to blush at all the praise she was getting. In truth, the whole thing was an accident, and she didn’t know how she did; in fact she had a feeling that she wasn’t the one who did it, but that’s a mystery she would deal with later.

“I must agree.” Everypony turned to Princess Luna, who had a smile on her face. “In all my years, never have I come across something that… spectacular.” The princess then walked up to the young princess and bowed slightly. “It appears my sister was right, young Twilight, your skills in magic are that which has never been witnessed before.”

“Ahem.” A Clearing of the throat brought everyone’s attention back to the princess of the sun, who still had a frown on her face and was quite annoyed of being interrupted. Everypony, but Twilight, stepped away to give the princess some room to speak. Twilight then lowered her head as she awaited the princess’ words disappointment; said princess had walked up to the young princess.

“As I was saying, Twilight Sparkle, that display just now was…”

“Astounding.”

Twilight’s and everypony’s eyes widen in shock and confusion, and turned to the see a smile on the princess’ face.

“A…astounding?” Twilight asked, slightly confused. Wasn’t Celestia mad at her?

“Yes. I knew I had faith that you would succeed in your task, but as always you have succeeded in passing my expectations.” Celestia explained, making Twilight smile. Celestia then turned back to the damage done and continued. “I admit I was not expecting the sudden burst of magic, and I’m quite shocked that such a power could do this much damage.” Twilight slumped back down in embarrassment. “But it is nothing a little magic can’t fix, and I say you did a good job at astounding not just me.”

Twilight looked back at Celestia, who motion her to look at the other ponies that were picking themselves up and dusting themselves off, with smiles on their muzzles.

“Did you see that just now?!” A pink pegasus mare asked.

“Oh yeah. That was a blast, literally!” A grey stallion said.

“I thought Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom was amazing, but that just now… that doesn’t even come close!” A pale brown unicorn mare said.

“Man, I sure hope Princess Twilight does that again next year! I want to see that again!” A young yellow unicorn colt said.

Everywhere Twilight looked, she heard the astounded and happy comments of the ponies, and the exciting cheers, as well as happy looks on their face.

“I’m proud of you, Twilight Sparkle. You can win the hearts of everypony even when you don’t mean too.” Celestia said with a proud smile, looking down on her former student with pride.

Twilight smiled up at her mentor and then turned back to the ponies and their families and friends. She didn’t know why, but Twilight felt a warm feeling in her chest, maybe of pride or happiness, she didn’t know, but she knew that she was happy it was there.

“Yeah, Twilight. That big ‘BOOM’ thing might not have been what you were looking for, but everypony seems to be happy about it.” Pinkie said, getting close to her friend’s face.

“Speaking of that, how exactly did you do that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, how exactly did you pull that thing off?” Rainbow asked, hovering in the air with her front hoofs crossed, before leaning down to look in Twilight’s eye. “You haven’t been spying on me and copying my Rainboom stunt have ya?”

Twilight’s mind went right back to what happened earlier, but even she didn’t know what happened.

“In all honesty, I don’t know what happened.” Twilight said, deciding to tell everypony what happened. “All I remember is taking Princess Luna’s advice in remembering the good times and digging deep for my magic, and then something… something… something I’ve never felt before just seemed to takeover. I didn’t even know where that magic came from.”

“I was just as surprised as you are now, my dear.”

Everypony turned to the voice, which belonged to the spirit of chaos, Discord, who was walking through a make-shift door in the hedge and brushing off some dust and pebbles on his coat. He had a few bruises and scrapes, but overall, he looked fine.

“Discord?” Fluttershy said, surprised by the sudden appearance and the injuries he possessed.

“What in tarnation happened to ya?” Applejack asked, also confused by the chaotic creatures appearance.

“Well, I was bored earlier on, so I decided to come and watch the Summer Sun Celebration and see what this so called ‘rumour of Princess Twilight’s performance’ was.” Discord explained, still dusting some of the dirt and rocks off, this time with a feather duster he brought out of thin air.

“Oh really.” Rainbow Dash said with her hoofs crossed. Even though Discord had been reformed she was still weary around him. “Well, if you were here, how come we didn’t see you with the crowd?”

“Well, considering that I was only ‘just’ reformed, I figured some ponies wouldn’t be very comfortable with me around… well, that and the fact I don’t well in crowds.” He explained as he used a small vacuum to clear up some of the rocks and stones that stuck to him. “So I decided to watch the spectacle from on top of one of the castle towers, that way I got a bird’s eye view of the whole show and I didn’t have to worry anypony about my presence. Then, just as Celestia and Luna were doing their part, boringly slow might I add,” Luna rolled her eyes at the spirit’s comment, “I sensed a very powerful magical disturbance from the stage below, then I noticed that it came from where young Twilight was, but before I could investigate any further, well… you can probably guess what happened next.”

“But that doesn’t explain what happened to you, Discord.” Celestia said who was more concerned about the spirit’s injuries.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Celestia. That magical burst just took me by surprise same as you, only difference was, since I was on a higher standing point, I ended being flung from the palace grounds and into the mountain side.” Discord then rubbed his back with his lion claw. “And might I add that rocks are not the softest pillows to break a fall.”

The ponies and dragon listened to the spirit’s explanation, but Twilight was more interested in what she just did, and if Discord could sense magical disturbances…

“Discord,” the lavender alicorn said, getting the spirit’s attention, as well as everyone else’s, “What I did just now, what was it? I mean… how did I do that?”

Discord placed his eagle claw underneath his chin a scratched in with a thinking look on his face. “I have no idea. I mean, after you used that magic to defeat Tirek, I thought it would take a couple of hundred years before you could use it again.”

This caused all eyes, widen from shock and confusion at the revelation, to turn to the spirit of chaos, who stopped scratching his chin once all eyes were on him.

“EXPLAIN THY SELF, DISCORD!” Princess Luna demanded with her royal Canterlot voice, scarring the Mane 6, Spike, her sister and the spirit of chaos, as well as startling any nearby ponies in the area, annoyed and angered by the fact that Discord did not reveal this piece of information with them earlier.

Discord held up his hands in defence from the booming voice and in case Luna attacked him, but then began to explain once he was sure that she wouldn’t try anything else. “Well, during the whole Tirek incident, I was able to get a good feel of the power that Twilight and the others used to defeat him, and once the castle was made, I thought the power faded away.” He then appeared beside Twilight and wrapped his eagle arm around her waist, with a smile on his face. “But of course, since Twilight here is the Princess of Magic, her body was able to keep a hold of some of that power and keep it locked away in her body until she was ready and able to use it herself properly, until now that is.”

The ponies just stared at Discord for a few moments, taking in what he just said. Fluttershy placed a hoof on her chin as she remembered that when the burst hit her, she did feel something familiar about it, but couldn’t place her hoof on it.

“That would explain why that magic felt strange.” She said out loud to herself.

“Now that Fluttershy mentions it, that magic did seem familiar, but I was so focused on trying not to get blown away that I didn’t actual try to remember where I felt it before.” Rarity said, thinking back to the time they used that magic to defeat Tirek and the warmth that came with it.

“Well Twilight is really good with magic.” Applejack said. “Ah ain’t too surprised by that, but ah never would’ve thought that she still have a bit of that stuff in her.”

“Oh, oh, oh, those that mean we still have some of that magic stuff in us too?” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

“I don’t think so, Pinkie Pie.” Celestia said, drawing a frown on the pink mare’s face, before continuing her explanation. “While all of you may have been able to defeat Tirek using that same magic, Twilight’s special talent is magic, meaning that she has more capabilities with magic than the rest of us.”

“Well pooh.” Pinkie pouted, before her eyes lit up and she gasped in realization, before bouncing around in excitement and happiness. “But you know what this means?!”

The others gave the party happy mare a confused/strange look.

“This means that were going to have to throw a ‘Well-done-on-the-Summer-Sun-Celebration’ PARTY!” She yelled the last part, before dashing off to who knows where, leaving a dust cloud after image and trail.

“Oh for the love of… Pinkie! Not now!” Rainbow Dash yelled before chasing after her in incredible speed.

The others watched the two mares disappear, getting a chuckle from Celestia who found the scene quite cute, before she turned back to the others.

“Well, I don’t know if a party should be involved, but I do believe you deserve some praise after that little performance.” Celestia said, mostly to Twilight, who blushed in embarrassment, before turning back to the damage done to the garden. “But I think we should get the garden back into shape before doing so.”

“Were on it, your highness!” Applejack said, before turning back to her friends. “C’mon y’all, let’s get this trash pack cleaned up!” She then ran off to get started.

“Absolutely!” Rarity said, chasing after her country friend. “I’ll help with the statues and the trimming!”

“Oh… uh… I should probably help with the animals and their homes.” Fluttershy said, before she chased after her friends.

“I suppose we’ll be assisting with the repairs as well, sister.” Luna said to Celestia with a smile on her face.

“Indeed we shall.” Celestia said to her little sister, a gentle and sure smile on her face.

A sudden poof caught their attention and saw Discord in a maids outfit with the feather duster he had before. “I suppose I should help also, seeing is that I have nothing better to do.” He then walked off in the direction towards the mess, with Luna and Celestia following close behind.

“I suppose we should help too, huh Spike?” Twilight said to her young assistant.

Spike was about to reply, until he noticed the exhausted and worn out look on her face. Feeling worried that Twilight was about to collapse, he decided to ask if she should. “Uh Twilight, are you sure you want to help? You look exhausted.”

“I’m… fine, Spike. I can… handle it….” Twilight struggled to say, as she was beginning to breath heavily as she felt her strength fade from her, as she began to walk towards the mess in the garden.

Celestia, Luna and Discord looked back at the young princess and noticed the state she was in. The three gave each other a look before came to a silent agreement.

They then turned to Twilight and Celestia spoke. “Actually Twilight, we believe you have done enough today, you should rest for now in your room to gather your strength.”

Twilight weakly looked up to her former mentor with half closed eye lids and spoke with a weak and breathless voice. “But… princess…”

“Sorry Twilight, but that little stunt used up all your magic, and you just had enough to last this long, but it would be better if rest for now.” Discord explained.

“But…” Twilight tried to protest, but was cut off by Princess Luna.

“No Twilight, we’ve made our decision: thou are to go to her room and rest while we clean up.” She explained.

Twilight was about to protest further, but she didn’t have the strength to do so. She then turned to her assistant’s face and saw Spike’s concerned and scared eyes. She then turned to the two princesses and the spirit of chaos and saw the same concern in their eyes. She then sighed in defeat as she realized that they weren’t going to let her help, and she had to face facts; with the way she is now, she doubt she could be much help anyway.

“Fine…” She just got out, as she weakly turned to the door that led inside the castle to her room.

She struggled a little and nearly fell over, but Spike quickly caught her and decided to help her on her long and struggling journey to her room.

After Twilight and Spike had vanished from sight, Celestia, Luna and Discord resumed with their task to help with cleaning up the garden, feeling reassured that the young princess was now going to get some rest.

Although, what they didn’t know was that the magical wave that Twilight released was still going, spreading far and wide from the city of Canterlot; spreading to the ends of the Everfree forest, to the open plains of Appleloosa, to the high skies of Cloudsdale, to the vast body of water of the ocean.

And beneath the waves, deep down in the dark waters of the trenches were even the sun can’t reach, stood a dark and tall mountain of coral and stone, that stretched far into the high waters, trying desperately to reach the light of the sun.

At the base of the of mountain, embedded on the stone and coral wall, stood a giant circle of moss covered stone, with ancient Equastrian hieroglyphs carved into it, with six empty holes of different shapes circling the centre, with a large keyhole decorating the centre of the structure, standing there for all the dark waters to behold.

However, this silent tomb would remain silent no longer, as the wave of magic soon broke through the darkness of the trenches, spreading past the dark and spiked rocks and coral, past the long and snake like kelp, and finally past the mysterious stone object.

A few moments after the wave past, the six empty holes in the stone structure began to glow different colours; red, blue, dark indigo, orange, yellow and light lavender, then the strange light began to travel across the hieroglyphs, which began to glow a rainbow colour, before finally disappearing into the keyhole, before the last ounce of light vanished with the darkness of the strange hole.

Silence once again haunted the dark waters, until a rumbling of the ground occurred, shaking the mountain and trench, even scaring the fish that swam far above the darkness of the waters. The shaking continued, as the large stone structure seemed to unhinge itself and began to slowly push forward and open up to the left like a large door. The rumbling and the movement of the door continued, until the large stone door stopped as the pitch black hole it covered was bare to the open world, the rumbling stopping shortly after.

Everything remain silent once again, but the darkness of the deep trenches began to turn darker as a dark black substance began to ooze its way out of the open cave, as a dark shadow and shrivelled shadow moved within the darkness of the cave, coming closer and closer to the opening, pushing the dark substance further out into the waters.

The shadow soon stood at the edge of the cave, surrounded by the dark black mist, with only its dark orange glowing eyes shining through the darkness of the black blanket.

The figure stood at the opening of the cave for a few silent seconds, taking in on what it was seeing and if it was truly real, until its cold, sinister and rippled voice broke the silence.

“At…lasssst… I… returrrrrn… And…now…I shall… take back…what should have been…miiiine…”

Soon after an equally weak yet dark and sinister chuckle echoed throughout the dark waters of the trench.

Next time: Chapter 1: Twilight’s Precognition of Despair! The Monster known as Undern!

“Princess Celestia? Princess Luna? Discord? Anypony?”

Twilight frantically tried to search and call out to the darkness for a reply, but all she heard was silence and saw only black.

Celestia turned pale as she took in what she was just told.

“No… It can’t be…” Her frightened and equally paled voice seemed to scare everypony more than Twilight’s nightmare.

“He… He can’t be free!” Luna yelled in fear and shock.

“DISCORD!” Everyone yelled in shock, surprise and fear, though his still form remained still and continued to bleed.

“I have returned… and now you, and all of Equastria shall know me power.”

“His name was and still is Undern Slate.”