Discord stumbled back, panting heavily as he regarded Palderias with disgust. Unlike the ponies, his magic actually seemed to affect the other Being, yet nothing really had a long lasting effect. He could cook, crush, twist, warp, and smash Palderias, but the latter’s regeneration made any harm irrelevant. He had the same ability, so it quickly came down to a battle of endurance and he could safely assume that as the one with the greater magical potential, he had the advantage.

He was surprised and dismayed to realize that assumption was turning out to be wrong.

You have become weak, Discord, Palderias stated. You have embraced sentiment and lost your lethal instinct. Your raw magic potential has stagnated while mine has grown over time through discipline and the winnowing away of extraneous emotional ties. I now surpass you on all accounts, and at long last you will die.

“Hmph,” Discord grunted. “So confident all the time, so bucking sure of yourself!”

I have no reason to conceal my observations. Stand still as I remove the flesh from your bones, and I will make it as painless as possible--

A bolt of pink energy landed between the two Beings, and promptly created a large explosion. Palderias casually raised a pincer to protect his eyes. Prince Shining Armor, if you think this diversion will preserve the life of Discord, you are greatly mistaken.

“Buck you too!” several voices shouted back from behind the smoke and flying rock.

Cocking his head, Palderias began to move forward towards the life energies he could sense behind the smoke. As he did, he sensed a fainter one moving towards him from a slightly different direction. He swung his pincer, a gust of air revealing the new source.

A dusky red pony in armor hobbled over towards him, a rent in his side from one of the heavy drones. He pointed a broken lance at the Being, breathing heavily. Palderias watched him dispassionately; the fool had turned away from the freedom he had offered like the others, and that had sealed his fate.

The pony finally reached his enemy and promptly collapsed at his feet. After a moment he opened one purple eye, which roved about, seemingly unaware that he lay at the feet of Palderias. He coughed once, sending out a spray of blood that touched the Inventor's foot, then spoke.

"I just... wanted to see her... so she would know..." With a gurgle he fell silent, his eye falling half closed, and a moment later he moved no more.

Palderias stared at the body, still as an unpowered machine. The roar of battle around him receded as a memory rose, unbidden….

Clearly I must renew my meditation efforts.

He kicked the body away and turned his attention to the present. In one of his eyes there was a brief flash, but it was ruthlessly extinguished as he remotely ordered another phalanx of heavy drones into the fray.

Nothing would stand in the way of establishing order, least of all the dying words of one nameless pony and a stray memory fragment.

From a hill many kilometers away, Flim and Flam watched on as the battle continued to unfold.

“He seems to be losing his cool,” Flim remarked.

“Ah yes, though it is hard to perceive,” Flam agreed. “So much effort just to avoid doing what comes naturally to everypony. I wonder if he realizes how counterproductive it all is.”

Flim shrugged. “No matter. Brother, what does the probability device say?”

“Let’s see…” Flam pulled out a pocket watch and opened it. His eyes widened and he passed it to Flim, who had the same reaction. And looking to each other, they began to chuckle before bursting into a fit of uproarious laughter.

“So… retreat?” Applejack suggested, earning surprised remarks from the ponies and draconequus around him. “Oh, don’t give me that. Y’all are as freaked out as Ah am about that oversized rodent and his… oversized metal rodents!”

“I’m not sure that is entirely out of the question,” Cadence replied as she cast a spell of replenishment on Discord, reducing his exhaustion considerably.

Shining shook his head. “Same as before: If we go back to Canterlot with our tails tucked between our legs, ponies are going to hear about that. Panic would be guaranteed, and then the riots kick in--”

“But what are we supposed to do?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “We’ve thrown everything at him!”

Discord held up one claw, his eyes suddenly glinting. “Not quite everything, Rainbow Dash. Princess Cadence, you might want to save some of your magic.”

The pink alicorn frowned. “What exactly for… oh, I see.” She grinned slyly. “That’s more than a bit clever, Discord.”

Rainbow huffed. “Care to bring us into the loop?”

Pinkie Pie breathed in loudly and rambled, “They’re gonna combine their magic to defeat Paldy’s ‘cause Discord’s magic is both random enough and similar to Paldy’s to get through his adaptive defense but doesn’t have the damaging effect that Cady’s does because of her love magic so if you put them together you get something that he can’t defend against but to make it work the rest of us need to run interference so he doesn’t catch on and just kill us like he keeps saying he will really really ominously, RIGHT?!”

Everypony blinked rapidly save Discord, who shrugged happily. “Those are the hoofnotes, yes.”

Shining also smiled. “Well, sounds like have a plan!” he remarked. “Pinkie, cannons?”

The party pony rubbed her hooves together mischievously. “All the cannons. ALL. THE. CANNONS.”

“Good. Rainbow?”

“I think I can squeeze out one more Rainboom,” the pegasus answered, popping her neck. “If this wasn’t an emergency I’d take issue with using my signature move so casually.”

“Right. Applejack?”

The Earth Pony said nothing and just slammed her front right hoof into the ground, cracking the rock beneath severely.

“Perfect. Honey, are you going to be okay?”

“I was going to ask you the same question,” Cadence answered, drawing close and lightly nuzzling her husband. “But I think the worst thing that can come from Discord and I joining together is a certain somepony getting a little jealous.” She winked to emphasize her jest.

Shining blushed and chuckled lightly. “I’ll be okay. Alright everypony and everybeing,” Discord smirked, “let’s ambush Palderias.”

I know you are in this area, Palderias stated, looking around the corpse-littered debris as he continued to walk about. All six of you. No doubt an aura silencing spell was cast. I commend whichever royal performed it: Hiding a draconequus, an alicorn, and four ponies is no small feat. However, you will--

“Could you just shut up for a minute?!”

Shining Armor stepped out from behind a large rock. “Seriously, you were really ominous at first, but now it’s getting old!” he complained, charging a spell as he did.

If you think my speech is an intentional morale deterrent, you are greatly mistaken. But very well, I shall keep my observations to myself. He pointed his pincer at the unicorn and began charging his own energy beam. Die.

Not a second later than Palderias had spoken, a great many holes appeared in the hillside behind the Prince. Cannons poked through each one, along with a single pink pony with a remote control in her hand. Inside the inexplicably quickly carved-out bunker, the cannons fuses were rigged to a wire network. With a rather insane smile on her face, Pinkie Pie pressed the big red button and set off all the artillery simultaneously. About a hundred cannon balls hurtled at the Being.

At the same time, Applejack jumped into view from behind a clump of fallen drones. She slammed her front hooves into the ground and sent a great deal of debris flying. The rocks flew at Palderias from his right side, while the cannon fire came from the front.

More stalling tactics, the Being said, stopping his spell and holding up his pincers to shield himself. The incoming fire reached him, and though he would never admit it, it did sting. As soon as it was over, he lowered the pincers, only to reflexively bring them back up as a bright multichromatic flash flooded his senses. As he recovered, he turned around to see Rainbow Dash speeding past him: The pegasus had triggered a Sonic Rainboom in extra low altitude.

“Now!” He spun back to see Discord and Cadence right behind Shining Armor, her front hoof on his left arm. They were already channeling and releasing their magic around them, slowly beginning to meld auras and combine their energies--

Enough. A flash of green energy emanated from his black spheric eyes, instantly stunning everypony save Discord. The linked auras immediately destabilized, knocking the trio back to the hooves. My patience has expired, and so have your tricks.

A blue light flooded the battlefield. “Not quite, Palderias!” a familiar female voice retorted confidently.

Everypony looked up to see a vortex in the sky, and three shapes dropping down through it. As they drew closer, the three shapes turned out to be four ponies: Twilight, Luna, and Fluttershy, with Rarity holding tight around the latter.

“Twily!” Shining shouted in joy, waving his hooves at this sister.

“Twilight!” Pinkie and Cadence cried in happiness from their respective positions on the battlefield.

“Fluttershy!” rejoiced Discord.

“Thank Celestia!” Applejack sighed in relief, tipping her hat to the heavens.

Rainbow Dash shot by and joined the other flyers, trying hard to suppress her glee in favor of her normal bravado. “Long time no see!” she laughed. The mares all smiled gleefully at her.

The flyers immediately landed where their friends were assembling, facing Palderias resolutely. The Being glanced at each of the newcomers in turn before finally settling on Twilight. It appears either you received assistance or my analysis of your mental fortitude and discipline was inaccurate.

“A little of both,” Twilight jeered. “And now, you have to fight all of us.”

Irrelevant.

“I beg your pardon?”

I said, ‘irrelevant,’ Palderias repeated. As in, any combination of numbers, magical energies and spells, and/or tactics are irrelevant. He made a sweeping gesture to everypony facing him. You all have continuously misunderstood my advantage over you. It is not my powers as a Being, nor my ability to adapt to any magical phenomena, nor my talent with invention. My advantage is my intellect, uncorrupted by sentiment. I will remake this world and all those in it solely through the principle of that intellect.

“And what about your heart?” Twilight asked.

What of it? You know very well I discarded that defect a long time ago.

The alicorn sighed. “You know, when we first ‘fought’ and for awhile after, I thought that you were a lot different from the other villains I’ve faced. The whole bunch were pretty much ruled by their emotions, while you forsook emotion altogether. But I realized something that you do share with them, Palderias. All of you villains neglect your heart in some way. The most precious thing we have is not our capacity for thought, but our capacity to share our deepest thoughts with others. Villains like yourself, Nightmare Moon, and the old Discord-- no offense,” she said to the draconequus.

“None taken.”

“--fail to value your own heart,” Twilight concluded. “No, what really sets you apart from the others is that you deliberately destroyed that most precious thing you had. It doesn’t matter how many great inventions or discoveries we make if we can’t share the joy that comes from that with the ponies we care about. Trust me, I know from experience.”

She gestured at the Being behind her. “Discord here was like you once,” she added, smiling at him proudly. The draconequus smiled back in gratitude. “But he’s changed. I don’t need to ask, I can tell just by looking at him that he’s been here, opposing you despite whatever deep reservations he had before. Discord has come to value his own heart, Palderias, and it’s not too late for you. I know that somewhere, deep down in there, there has to be something salvageable--”

Dark green flames blasted up around Palderias, and the ground began to shake all beneath his feet. I will no longer tolerate these endless, illogical platitudes, he stated forcefully, though still lacking in any real emotive quality. A large green energy sphere appeared above his head and began drawing in the flames around him. Die, all of you, instantly.

The sphere hurtled at the group at startling speed, leaving the spell casters next to no time to throw up a shielding spell. Fortunately, Twilight’s many hours of sleep had not dulled her reaction times and she was able to create a protective bubble around her allies. Moments later, Cadence, Shining, and Luna added layers to the shield, while Rarity (inexperienced with such magic) transferred her own energies to the others.

“Discord, don’t do anything yet!” Twilight shouted over the sound of Palderias’ magic grinding against her own, seeing the draconequus about to snap his claws in the corner of her eye. He immediately stopped. “Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, I need whoever among you who can to create a diversion! Cadence, Shining, Rarity, and Discord, we need to combine our magic!”

“We tried that earlier!” Cadence replied, struggling under the oppressive force of the sphere. “He didn’t give us time to meld our auras together!”

Twilight grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll speed up the process. Give me just one second and we’ll be ready!”

You will stop resisting, Palderias demanded, charging up another sphere. A bit of irritation, or perhaps desperation, had begun to creep into his voice. You are only wasting my time and nothing more.

“Discord, when I count to three, make his spell go away!” Twilight instructed, blatantly ignoring the enemy Being. “Everypony else, do your thing! One!”

I have already made myself clear.

“Two!”

This is pointless.

“THREE!” With a snap of Discord’s claws, the attacking sphere vanished. The shields dropped. Applejack stomped the ground and sent another blast of rubble flying at Palderias. In its wake, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew straight him. Pinkie Pie pulled out a howitzer and pointed it straight at the Being. Reflexively, Palderias disengaged his spell and swatted aside the rock, only to find the two pegasii clinging to his pincers and holding them closed with what strength they had. Before he could react to this, Pinkie fired the artillery, and he was forced to take the impact in the gut, though this only knocked the wind out of him.

When did you coordinate such a… of course, Princess Luna, he thought out loud, remember her propensity for telepathy. Right before he recovered and was about to knock them away, Fluttershy and Rainbow both let go and flew back from him. Palderias shook his head and looked ahead of him. Ah, I see.

A multichroma aura of pink, dark blue, and light blue, interlaced with erratic gold energies, surrounded Discord and the five ponies, the former resting his hands on Twilight and Cadence’s shoulders. “Palderias, we find you guilty of numerous severe crimes against Equestria!” Twilight proclaimed. “Foremost of your wicked deeds is the harm you have done to your own person! You have destroyed your heart and therefore any ability to understand the harm you have done to others! Therefore, we sentence you to experience that which you have robbed yourself of!”

...you cannot possibly be serious…

“We give you back your heart!” The aura swirled towards the center of the group and released as a beam, rocketing at Palderias and engulfing him with its light. The Being immediately clutched at his chest.

This… you… you monsters! YOU MONSTERS! he roared, suddenly filled with fury. YOU HYPOCRITICAL WASTES OF MATTER! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!

Palderias burst into green flame again, dispelling the energy beam and causing its casters to stumble a bit. Twilight immediately was worried that he could easily defend against their spell, but then she saw that this was something else entirely: Palderias himself was actually on fire this time.

“What the buck?!” Shining exclaimed, everypony else’ facial expression the same as his, a mix of confusion and horror as they watched a living person burn right before their eyes.

Did you honestly think I would let myself revert to an inferior state after so many centuries of effort?! Palderias snarled, his voice trembling with anger and pain. I placed this spell on myself eons ago, for this very scenario! I’d rather die this agonizing death than live a life of sentiment, and I will certainly not be reformed! You have won the battle, but I will win the war!

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his claws. When nothing happened, he snapped them again, and again and again, but nothing changed. “Come on, come on!” he snarled at the offending digits with increasing desperation.

I keep telling you that it is futile, but you never listen, the other Being spat, straining not to writhe from the pain as his exoskeleton melted beneath the flames.

“And you always thought I’m the loopy one!” Discord snapped back, pointing furiously. “Look who is burning alive just to make a point that nopony agrees with! Is it so bad to actually feel something?”

Palderias nodded through the pain. Oh, but it is. To know weakness, to be subject to the torture of others, to desire another that will never return your affections….

Everypony stiffened at those words. “Palderias… you loved somepony?” Cadence asked in a small voice.

One of my kind and his, he gestured at Discord, a female by the name of Insomnia.

“INSOMNIA?!” Discord yelped. The others were surprised to see him outright horrified. “Palderias… she was the worst of us, the cruelest Being who ever lived! She was your worst enemy! How could you fall for her?!”

Palderias shook his head. Sentiment does not make sense. Just a bunch of damn biochemical reactions. There is no reason why I should fall for the foremost of my torturers, and yet I did. But you will still resent my choice, because how can you not, you slaves of sentiment….

And then everypony jumped as they heard… laughter. First, it was only a little, and then a lot. “Palderias... why are you laughing?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask.

The Being held up has rapidly disintegrating pincers in defeat. I do not know! he managed in between uncontrollable giggles. I just feel like it and can’t help myself! Heh heh heh… I’ve never understood laughter and yet even now I still don’t! How ironic, that I would end this way…

The last of the exoskeleton burned away, allowing the organs within to be easily consumed by the flames until the final ashes fell to the ground. With this, the flames died away, and ashes were all that remained of the Heretical Inventor.

“But that wasn’t even funny!” Pinkie complained.

For the next half hour, Shining Armor and Cadence were bombarded with reports from across the battlefield saying exactly the same thing: The drones had lost their sense of organization and acted on some sort of autopilot telling them to attack the closest non-drone. Without any organization, the Equestrian soldiers were having a much easier time, even with the heavy drones. General Broadsword and Captain Spitfire were handling the remainder of the fighting.

Another half hour later, the majority of the fighting had concluded. Two familiar bodies were brought before the Princesses and their friends by a squad of soldiers.

“Ah don’t have any love for these two, Ah really don’t,” Applejack said, “but that looks pretty bad, huh?”

She pointed at the corpses of the Flim-Flam brothers, each of which had their throats cut all the way around.

“I was hoping at least somepony would face justice,” Shining Armor huffed, “but I suppose I should be satisfied they won’t cause any more trouble. Take them away.”

The soldiers nodded and moved to remove the bodies, only for Princess Luna to step in front of them. The alicorn eyed the two bodies with suspicion. “Belay that order,” she stated simply.

Everypony glanced at each other. Shining raised his eyebrow and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Wordlessly, Luna cast her magic upon the corpses, two thin beams striking their chests. Moments later, the corpses shuddered, increasingly violently until they began to shift wildy, morphing into squirming masses of black liquid with the distorted faces. No, they were not even faces, just lines in the ever-changing substance that suggested facial expression. Finally, the forms collapsed, the dirt beneath stained black.

It took awhile for everypony to close their jaws at what they had just seen.

“Those…” Applejack began slowly.

“Were not the Flim-Flam brothers,” Luna finished for her, the only composed pony of the bunch, those everypony could tell this was unsettling to some extent. “The real Flim-Flam brothers are likely to be up to their usual activities somewhere else, and when news reaches them that two imposters have been using their resources for the purpose of treason, I imagine they will be quite upset that their image has been tarnished more than it already is. Perhaps more than grateful as well when an official statement is released clearing them of all charges.”

“And, those aren’t... some obscure kind of Changelings?” Shining asked, receiving a nod.

Twilight examined the liquid more closely. “Then what are they? I have read of nothing like this.”

“Believe me, you really don’t want to know,” Discord stated gravely, sharing a knowing glance with Luna.

“After just learning about Palderias only a short while ago at the last minute and having to fight him, I really do,” Twilight retorted, albeit not unkindly.

Luna sighed. “Imagine a person that has damned itself so many times over that being held in Tartarus would be merciful, and the very virtue, or lack of thereof, of its existence has sentenced itself to exile from all creation. You would have a Voidling, which is what those two are. Why they are involved in all this, impersonating the Flim-Flam brothers and freeing one of Equestria’s greatest ancient threats? That, I haven’t the faintest idea.”

The air hung heavy, the silence ending only when Twilight muttered, “Ah.”

“So what now?” Cadence asked, slumping onto one of the cushions Rarity had conjured.

“Now we clean up the mess,” Luna answered, “and wait for my sister to arrive.”

“The former will do.”

Everypony turned to see Princess Celestia landing only a few yards away. “Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, barely able to suppress her true delight. She galloped over and embraced her secret love, who responded in kind.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asked, concealing the extent of her own worry as best as she could. “I was told Palderias--”

“No permanent harm,” Twilight interrupted. “If anything I am glad. I got to fulfill a childhood dream, though not exactly how I expected.”

“Childhood dream?” the white alicorn repeated.

Luna joined them, wearing a strange expression of guilt. “I was forced to bring her to the Nagas.”

Celestia’s eyes widened immensely. “Is that right?” she laughed, clearly a nervous laugh. “Well, Twilight, I am glad you were in good… fangs.” She looked to Discord, but addressed the others. “And what has become of Palderias? I intercepted the messenger you just sent to Tartarus, but all he could say is that the battle was won.”

Before anypony could speak, Discord cleared his throat. “Palderias is dead, your highness. We all worked together to stop him and restore his ability to feel, but he opted to commit suicide instead. Apparently, so did his allies, which turned out to be a pair of Voidlings.” Celestia’s eyes widened in particular at this last statement.

“It’s all true, Tia,” Luna said.

Taking in the information, Celestia nodded and sighed deeply. “Well, not the ending to this affair that I was hoping for, but fortunate nonetheless. Shining Armor, how’s the battle?”

“The drones are no longer organized,” he reported, “so the soldiers are cleaning them up as we speak. The battle is good as over, so long as Cadence and I remain behind to ensure nothing unexpected happens.”

Celestia smiled slightly. “I leave that to the two of you,” she said. She then turned back to Discord. “Clearly you set aside your pride for the others. Thank you.”

Discord grinned coyly. “What can I say? It was for my friends--” The moment the words left his mouth, Fluttershy had enveloped his leg in a hug. He looked down in shock and gratitude, just as teary eyed as the buttercream pegasus who looked up at him. Right behind her, Rarity watched with her own warm smile, and the others couldn’t help but join her.

“As for the rest of you,” Celestia addressed the former Element Bearers, “I thank you for your courage and dedication. Equestria owes another great debt to you, and so do I. Please, return to Ponyville and rest. You deserve that much at the very least.” This was more than enough to remind the mares of their exhaustion and the ordeal of which they had taken part. “And as for you, Twilight,” she added, turning to her side, “when you rested, would you please join me in Canterlot?”

Do you even need to suggest it?! “Of course!” Twilight exclaimed cheerfully, trying to sound as innocent and transparent as everypony else thought she was.

“Good!” Celestia spun towards north. “Luna, I think it is best we go to Canterlot now and make sure everything is under control there. Do you agree?”

“Yes, sister.” The two alicorns walked past Twilight, and for just a moment the Princess of the Night flashed her a wink before they took off into the sky.

“So what now?” Rarity asked as Twilight’s friends converged together.

The purple mare shrugged and yawned. “I think Celestia has the right idea. Go back to Ponyville and get some sleep.”

“Aw, but I wanted to throw a big victory party!” Pinkie Pie protested. “The parade would have been the best ever!”

“I’m usually not one to ignore a celebration of my awesomeness,” Rainbow remarked, also yawning, “but I could also use some shut eye.”

Applejack scoffed. “Some shut eye? How about some cider first? On the house, alcoholic.”

“All the alcoholic?”

“All the alcoholic.”

After bidding adieu to her brother and sister-in-law, Twilight smiled to herself as they walked towards the main camp, where they hoped to find a chariot home. She couldn’t ask for much more: Applejack and Rainbow betting who could hold their liquor the longest; Pinkie Pie merrily bouncing up and down the entire time; Rarity and Fluttershy walking side-by-side with their tails intertwined; and Discord only a few feet behind, more content than Twilight had ever seen him.

The last few days had been a nightmare, but all was now right in the world again.

Author's Note

~~Epilogue coming a little later. Hope you have enjoyed this dark road.~~

I have decided to conclude this story here, folks. Hope y'all have enjoyed!