Chapters Night fell upon Canterlot. Everything was quite. The moon bathed the stone stature of Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow in its light. Suddendly, three cloaked figures approached. Two of them were quadrupedal while one walked on his hind legs. The latter one took three amulets out of his cloak. He put one each around Chrysalis‘, Tireks and Cozys necks. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddendly, the amulets started glowing white. Slowly, the stone surrounding the three villains gave way to their skin until at last, they were free. And immediatly lost their balance falling on the ground. As they looked up to the one standing on his hind legs, they looked into the face of:
“The Storm King?! You are back?! Why did you free us?!“, Chrysalis asked.
But the Storm King did not respond.
“He didn’t.“, another voice said.
The three villains turned around and saw:
“Sombra?! You have returned?! Again?!“, Tirek asked.
But Sombra did not answer either. Finally, the third figure stepped forwards. Unlike the other two, he was cloak to the point that you couldn’t even make out what species he was. He said:
“Yes. Thanks to me, both of these wannabe-conquerors have been summond back from the eternal darkness of the other side. Just as you were freed from your prison by those amulets I crafted. In return, I demand that you join me in my plan to rid the world of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Once and for all.“
The three villains exchanged looks.
“Cut the crap, Discord!“, Chrysalis yelled annoyed.
“How stupid do you think we are? Do you really think we wouldn’t notice you are doing basically the exact same thing again?“, Tirek asked.
“It’s super obvious! You’re even using some of the same lines you used while pretending to be Grogar!“, Cozy Glow added.
“DON’T YOU EVER DARE TO COMPARE ME WITH THAT SORRY EXCUSE OF A CHAOS-SPIRIT EVER AGAIN!“, the figure yelled back at them before continuing:
“I admit, this part of my plan seems similar to his. But I assure you: I came up with my plan first. But the humiliating defeat of Chrysalis at the hands of a powerless pony and a renegade minion forced me to delay and rework my plans until your inevitable capture.“
“Alright, let’s play along: Who are you and what do you want? And why do you keep hiding your appearance?“, Tirek asked.
“My name is of no importance to you. You wouldn’t recognize it or, if I’d uncloak, me anyways as we’ve never met. However, I on my part have been watching you for a long time waiting patiently for the perfect time to strike. I want you to join me and help me bring my plan to a successful end. If you do so, I will grant you permenant freedom. But unlike that arrogant clown, I do not promise you anything more, like a piece of Equestria for you to rule over. For the time you work under me, I will also not let you run wild and free and give you the opportunity to plot against me. Not only will my plan only take two days to be completed, I will also keep you on a leash the whole time: These amulets. I gave you your freedom with them. But if they are removed from the neck of at least one of you, if I want it to happen, if I fall unconcious or if I lose my free will, you will be dragged back together and turned back into stone. Afterwards, an invisble force will force you to resume the position you had before you were freed. But if you help me reach my goal, the complete and utter destruction of Equestria and everyone in it, I will reward you with your freedom by fusing these amulets with your bodies. Though, of course, I will still be able to deactivate them turning you back to stone. Just to make sure you don’t waste your time with thoughts about turning against me.“
“A tempting offer. But since you obviously need us, I think we may need to talk about our trust issues first.“, Chrysalis said.
The stranger laughed out loud.
“Don’t let your greed and pride overestimate your position. Me asking you was a mere courtesy. If I want to or if I die, the amulets will explode, killing you instantaneously. Then, I can simply resurrect you as my slaves without any free will or any of your personality. Like these two puppets.“, he said pointing to Sombra and the Storm King.
The three villains turned pale.
“Of course, if you prefer that, I can do it right now.“
The amulets started blinking red.
“Wait, no! We serve! We serve!“, Cozy yelled and the other two agreed.
“Good.“, the figure said.
The blinking stopped. The three breathed a sigh of relief.
“Now that we got that out of the way: Here is the part of my plan you need to know about: We require a great deal of magical power. Four alicorns worth, to be exact. Luckily, Twilight Sparkle is now the ruler of Equestria while Celestia and Luna are in Silver Shoals, completely unguarded. You three and Sombra will ponynap Twilight Sparkle while the Storm King and I are going to take care of Celestia and Luna. We will bring them to a place I will reveal to you through Sombra while you are on your way to Canterlot Castle. Then, tomorrow night, we will ponynap Cadance. She is more suited to what I have in mind than her daughter. Then and only then will you hear the rest of my plan. To make sure you can ponynap them, I managed to get some of the flowers growing near the Changeling Kingdom and turned them into the sleeping powder Chrysalis frequently used for her ponynappings. Sombra carries your portion. Tirek, you can steal the magic of any guard you come across. But don’t touch any alicorns. Oh, and one last thing: I can see and hear everything my puppets see and hear. So don’t think you’ll ever be out of my sight just because I’m not around physically. Understood?“
The three villains nodded.
“Very good. Then let’s get to work.“
Spike slept in his bed next to Twilights bed. Suddendly, he heard a noise. He opened one eye. The door to their room was open. A royal guard laid on the floor in the hallway. There were four shadowy figures slowly moving through the darkness towards Twilight. Spike jumped up and yelled:
„Twilight! Watch out!“
Twilight slowly opened her eyes – and startled. The clouds had given way to the moonlight, revealing Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow and Sombra around her. Before she could do anything, Sombra blew the sleeping powder into her face. As she fell back asleep, the villains turned around to Spike. But he was already gone.
„Quick! We need to catch him before he tells anyone!“, Cozy yelled.
„Don’t worry. Let him be.“, the voice of their new boss said through Sombra.
„But…he’s going to tell her friends everything! And then…“
„And then they will figure out that Cadance is propably our next target. But don’t worry: Without their leader, these five ponies don’t stand a chance against you three and my two puppets. And if need be, I will even enter the stage myself. Now quit wasting time and get to the meeting place already. WE already have the two sisters.“
The villains begrudgingly followed his orders not knowing Spike had hidden behind the door and heard everything.
As Fluttershy arrived in the map room of Twilights former castle, the rest of the Mane Six and Starlight had already gathered.
„Did you read the news, too?“, she asked.
„Yes. Twilight, Celestia AND Luna were ponynapped! All in the same night! That’s a catastrophe!“, Rarity said.
„But why? And who did it? After we beat Chrysalis, Cozy and Tirek, I thought we had defeated all our enemies!“, Applejack said.
Suddendly, the door opened. Spike entered. He was exhausted. The rest of the group immediatly rushed to his side.
„Flying all the way down from Canterlot is really not as easy as I thought.“, he said.
„Do you know what happened?“, Rainbow Dash asked.
„Yeah. Last night, Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow and Sombra broke into the castle and ponynapped Twilight!“
„What?!“, the rest of the group yelled out shocked.
„Yeah! And what’s more: I’ve heard Sombra saying that they ponynapped Celestia and Luna as well!“
„But how did they return?! Tirek, Cozy and Chrysalis should be forever trapped in stone while Sombra should we dead!“, Applejack asked.
„Could it be another one of Discords ‚tests‘?“, Rainbow asked.
But Fluttershy said:
„Discord and I were watching a rare cosmic event last night. I can vouch for his innocence.“
„Should we ask him for help?“, Pinkie asked.
„And risk Tirek tricking him and stealing his magic again? I think we should keep him as far away from the three as possible.“, Rainbow said and the rest agreed.
„If only we knew their next move…“; Applejack thought out loud.
„Ehm, we do. I heard them saying that they want to ponynap Cadance tonight as well.“
The group looked at each other for a moment.
„Then how about we’ll give ‘em a proper welcome party?“, Applejack asked.
Night had fallen over the Crystal Empire as the five villains snuck into the castle. They walked through the hallways. Though strangely, they didn’t see any guards.
„As I thought, they made preperations. It is very likely they set a trap. Be on your guard.“, the boss whispered through both the Storm King and Sombra.
„You don’t need to tell me twice.“, Tirek grumbled.
„Literally.“, Cozy added.
„You know, I could have done this on my own. I have experience ponynapping that princess.“, Chrysalis whispered.
„Which is why it would have been foolish to sent you in alone. Besides, for my plan to work EXACTLY as I want it to, I need all the pieces to be in one place. Now shut up and walk into their trap already!“, the boss ordered them, once more through both the Storm King and Sombra.
The other three rolled their eyes but didn’t say anything. Soon they reached the entrance to the royal bedroom. They opened the door. There was someone laying in Cadances bed though it was hard to make out whether it was really Cadance serving as bait or someone else. They sneaked up to the bed. But as Tirek grabbed the pouch with the powder in it, suddendly, the lights turned on.
„Suprise!“, Pinkie yelled jumping out of the bed and throwing a pie in Tireks face.
„Good. Now, run away.“, the boss whispered through Sombra.
„But it’s just one pony!“, Chrysalis complained quietly.
„No arguing! Do as I say!“
Chrysalis let out an annoyed sigh and yelled in a bored tone of voice:
„Oh no! We have failed! Let’s get out of here!“
The three turned around and ran out of the room. But as they reached the first two-way crossway, they saw Applejack jumping in front of them.
„Turn left!“, the boss ordered them.
The group turned left followed by Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
„Good. There is a four-way crossway just ahead of you. Keep running straight or you will be surrounded.“, the boss ordered.
After they passed the crossway, Cozy took a look behind her to see a dozen guards following Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
„If you keep going straight, you’ll reach the entrance to the library. The doors are open. But it is another trap. Rarity and Shining Armor are inside with some guards ready to block the doors and trap you once you are in the middle of the room. So go right until the next crossway. Then go right again. That hallway will lead you to the other side of the library. But they will cut you off before that.“, the boss predicted.
And he was on point. As the group turned right and then right again, they soon saw that the hallway did not lead to another crossing but kept on going until there was a curve to the right. But as soon as they turned the corner, they saw the group which was supposed to be within the library in front of them while the earth ponies and their group of guards caught up behind them.
„End of the line! Give up and tell us everything!“, Shining Armor demanded.
But Sombras horn glew dark. Suddendly, the floor gave way. The villains fell down a floor landing in the entrance hall.
„Good. Now run out into the streets and keep going straight. You’ll be surrounded soon. That’s when I will arrive and take care of everything.“, the boss said.
„Wait…are we only bait?“, Cozy asked.
„Of course you are. I want to have some fun as well, you know.“, the boss answered amused.
„I don’t know whether I should be insulted or whether I simply shouldn’t care…“, Tirek thought out loud and Chrysalis only shrugged in equal confusion.
„Less talking, more moving!“, the boss ordered them.
The group ran outside. As the boss predicted, once they were out in the streets, guard ponys swarmed them from all sides. On the ground, the pursuers caught up to them while Starlight and Guarding Filly let the forces coming from the other directions. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, Cadance and Flash Sentry descended from the sky with the rest of the pegasi guards.
„It’s over! You have nowhere to run! Surrunder! Now!“, Cadance yelled.
„I don’t think so.“, the boss said.
His voice came from above the pegasi. Suddendly, there was a strong gust of wind coming from above hitting the pegasi, Cadance and Spike throwing them onto the ground. As they looked up, they saw the boss descending from the sky. Fully uncloaked. In a chorus, the heroes yelled out shocked:
„DISCORN?!“
With a much darker tone of voice than when they first met, he laughed and said:
„Hahaha! I’m glad you remember me. I was afarid you may have forgotten who I was and therefore wouldn’t be shocked to see me. We hadn’t had much interactions, after all.“
„We ain‘t forgetting our enemies. Especially not somepony like you. How and why are ya here anyways? Didn‘t our beam depower you leaving ya stranded in the Alicorn Empire? And didn’t Shadowcorn destroy the dimensional portal?“, Applejack asked.
„So many questions. And don’t worry: I’m going to tell you everything in due time. But not now. Now, I’m going to show you the power of my ancestors, the Ancients!“
„Watch out everyone! He’s about to do something!“, Cadance yelled.
A small electrical sphere formed at the tip of Discorns horn. Charges of electricity ran from the bottom of his horn to said sphere. With each charge, the sphere grew bigger. Once it reached the size of the Storm Kings palm, the sphere flew into the air. Then, lightning came out of it shocking everyone around the group of villains. Only Starlight, Spike and the rest of the Mane Six were spared for some reason.
„Step aside, minions. I’ve waited too long for this moment.“, Discorn said as he landed between the other villains and the heroes.
„Sure. Go for it. Don’t mind us.“, Cozy said while Tirek and Chrysalis merely shrugged.
They went to the side of the road and took a seat.
„What should we do?“, Pinkie asked.
„I don’t know. Twilight is the one who comes up with the battle plans. Do you have any idea, Starlight?“, Rainbow asked.
„For now, let’s focus on not getting defeated. Dodge!“, she yelled as Discorn shot a fireball at them.
The group dodged, some with ease, others with some help. Discorn flew back up into the air. He charged up his horn with electricity again. But this time, he stopped after only a few charges and unleashed the lightning directly from his horn. Everyone managed to dodge however. Starlight fired a few shots at him while Rainbow Dash flew directly at him. But he simply put up a shield which absorbed the shots. Then, he absorbed the shield and rapid-fired beams at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash took a curve upwards and dodged every shot – until she realized that he wasn’t even shooting at her anymore.
„What’s wrong? Given up already?“, she asked mockingly.
But Discorn only smiled. He quickly dodged Applejacks attempt to catch him with her lasso and effortlessly deflected a combined fire breath-magic beam-attack from Spike and Starlight before firing another beam at Rainbow. She prepared to dodge it. But the beam stopped before reaching her and became a floating orb. She looked around herself confused and realized: Each and every shot Discorn shot at her became an orb. And now, she was surrounded by these orbs. She tried to escape, but the orbs quickly connected with each other forming a cage. Then, each of them blasted a powerful beam at Rainbow Dash which she couldn‘t dodge due to the lack of space. She cried out in pain as she was hit from all sides and fell down unconcious.
„NO!“, her friends yelled out.
Discorn used their moment of distraction and froze both Pinkie and Fluttershy solid. In the background, the three villains were laughing so hard, they couldn’t even sit upright.
„Pinkie! Fluttershy! No! You’ll pay for that!“, Applejack yelled angrily charging right at Discorn.
„Applejack, don’t!“, Starlight yelled.
But it was too late. Using earth magic, Discorn ripped out the ground beneath her hooves throwing her off-balance. She fell into the freshly made hole below. Before she even had the chance to try to get up, Discorn crashed the ground onto her.
„Applejack!“, the other three called out.
„Oh don’t worry. She’s still alive. I want you to see my plan come into fruition. Which is why non of you are going to die now. THAT will come soon enough.“, Discorn said with a wide grin on his face.
In the background, Tirek and Cozy made a disappointed sound.
„We are not going to let that happen.“, Spike said determined.
„Urgs, really? Such a cliché line! Come now, that’s no fun!“, Discorn complained.
„Fun?! Is this all just a game to you?!“, Starlight yelled.
„Nah. Only this part.“, Discorn responded charging up another magical beam.
Starlight and Rarity both quickly fired a magical beam at him while Spike fired his most powerful fire breath. They nearly hit him before Discorn unleashed his magical beam, easily pushing back their combined attack overpowering all three of them. They all let out a cry of pain as they were hit by his beam. All of them fell down unconcious. With that, the battle was over.
„Bravo! What a show!“, Tirek shouted amused as the three villains and Discorns two puppets walked over to him.
„Indeed. This was very entertaining!“, Chrysalis agreed.
„I’m so glad we joined you! I mean, we didn’t have much of a choice, but still.“, Cozy added.
„Why thank you. I had quite the fun myself. Though I’m a bit disappointed it all went by so quick. I didn’t even really get started.“, Discorn said.
„Should we be worried?“, Cozy whispered to the other two villains.
„Only if you plan on betraying me.“, Discorn said through Sombra who suddendly stood right next to them making all three jump.
„But enough goofing around. Gather up those so-called ‘heroes‘ and the princess and let’s get back to base.“, Discorn ordered.
Chapter 3: Countdown to Terror
Applejacks senses started coming back. The darkness which had surrounded her since her defeat finally disappeared as she opened her eyes. Her vision was a still a bit blurry. She blinked with her eyelids a few times until it came back fully. Then she started getting up. The first thing she noticed was that her hooves were chained together by blue magical chains. The next thing she noticed was that she was in a cage. It was by no means a small one but it wasn’t too big either. She looked around. She was in a cave. Her friends were all right next to her, each one in a cage on their own and each one slowly coming to themself as well. Spike had a muzzle in front of his mouth while Raritys and Starlights horns were ‘infested‘ by Sombras crystals similar to Shining Armors horn after his fight with Sombra way back when Sombra first returned after a thousand years. Further, there were extra chains binding Fluttershys and Rainbow Dashs wings to their bodies. She continued to look around. Their cages were placed in a crescent-moon-formation. In front of them, there was a large circle on the ground. In its middle, there was a small circle. Further, there were four pyramid-esque crystal structures each in a smaller circle at the outer rim of the large circle. They were positioned in an ‘x‘-formation. Behind them in the distance, Applejack could see something glowing. It looked like the trunk of the Treehouse of Harmony.
„Finally awakend, I see?“, Discorns voice asked from behind them.
Applejack turned around.
„Yeah. Though I would’ve loved to sleep a bit longer if it meant not seeing ya face.“, she said.
Her friends giggled. But Discorn didn‘t seem to be bothered even slightly by her insult. Instead, he simply continued:
„Alright then. Then let me continue with my monolgue. A bit cliché, I know, but it can’t be helped. We are currently beneath the Castle of the Two Sisters. I used a ritual to shield all of us from that annoying tree further ahead and that arrogant lord-of-chaos-wannabe. After I handed your flanks to you, I brought you here so you could witness the beginning of the end for Equestria. But, spoilers: You are not going to live long enough to see the ending of said end. Now let me tell you my story: After you stole my Chaos Magic, I was left in a precarious position. Luckily, I wasn’t defensless as I was smart enough to study the magic Shadowcorn brought with him long ago when he entered the Void. But I’m sure you’ve figured out that part on your own by now. After I escaped Mount Olympus, I first got used to not having Chaos Magic before I got started on planning my revenge. But this time, I had two world I wanted to take my revenge on. So I thought to myself: What is the best way to do so. Then it came to me: By having both of you do the hard part for me by going to war. So I used a disguise-ritual and went into the capital. Claiming to have important information, I managed to get an audience with the son of the throne-thief. I told him I saw Shadowcorn on the other side knowing he would immediately rush out with his army to capture him.“
The captives were shocked.
„So…it was you. You are the reason Prostatis and Motus came to us. You are the reason Fortis almost invaded! You are the reason Shadowcorn sacrificed himself denying him the peaceful, happy life he deserved!“, Starlight yelled angrily.
„Haha! Exactly. I knew this would get your blood boiling! Prizeless! But all fun aside, that wasn‘t at all to my original plan. I wanted Fortis and his army to invade Equestria and start a war. Meanwhile, I would have destroyed the portal trapping him with you and taking back my kingdom. But unfortunatly, Shadowcorns siblings convinced Fortis to not do that and let them try to bring him back peacefully instead. I won’t go into that part since you were there. I will only say that I stuck around the portal hoping my plan would still work. This allowed me to witness your arrival in my world and later shoot you down when you were running away hoping this would allow the army of the Alicorn Empire to catch up to you so that at least some part of my plan would succeed. Unfortunatly, as you know, that was not the case.“
„Do you know what happened to Shadowcorn then?“, Fluttershy asked.
„Yes and no. I did not stay until the very end. But the parts I did see made me almost glad my plan didn’t work. Not having to look out for you or his boys really helped him. He led lose like never before. He used his earth magic to block the hail of magical blasts raining down on him and then proceeded to show his full power utterly decimating the army of the Alicorn Empire until only he, Fortis and his siblings were left standing. Then he fought, and defeated, both of his siblings. Though I think they actually held back knowing that if he would be captured, he would be executed. That left only Fortis and Shadowcorn. And it. Was. Epic. Words could never do it justice. Fortis proofed to be worthy of his position at least in terms of skill and power proving to be a match for Shadowcorn. Neither of them managed to gain an adventage over the other. At least not for as long as I was watching. At first I thought about staying and finishing everyone off once the winner was decided knowing neither would be strong enough to put up much of a fight afterwards. But when a stray shot almost literally blew my cover, I decided it was time for me to put as much distance between them as possible. After that I unfortunatly didn’t meet anyone who could tell me the outcome. So, unfortunatly, my guess about what exactly happened to Shadowcorn is as good as yours. Though there was this one time where I thought I saw him in a group with three weird-looking alicorns and two weird-looking medium-sized dragons. But after further investigation, it turned out that it wasn’t him. In fact, I don’t even think this group was from our world in the first place… Anyways, after my plan failed, I decided to look into a way to go back to this world since it has much more ancient artifacts and creatures I could use for my revenge. After much searching, I found one last portal in a secret cave. It seemed to have been a secret hideout of the original Shadowcorn. Unfortunatly, I had to piece back together his portal first which took a while. I also made sure to close off the entrance to the cave. Just in case Shadowcorn escaped and was looking for one as well. I successfully entered this world and began some research on what to use for my next plan of revenge. During said research, I stumbled upon something by accident which, after further research, I concluded was exactly what I was looking for. Then I made the first version of my plan. For my plan to succeed, I need four alicorns. At first, I wanted to use Shadowcorns boys. But I couldn’t find them anywhere. So here’s my question to you: What happened to them?“
„Why would we ever tell you?“, Rainbow Dash asked.
„Don’t overestimate your position. Me asking you is a mere courtesy. I could simply rip the information out of your minds, leaving it shattered for a long time.“, Discorn threatened.
„Alright, alright. After Shadowcorn sacrificed himself, they went to look for a way back into the Alicorn Empire in hopes of savin‘ him. We haven’t heard from ‘em since.“, Applejack said.
„To be honest, I already expected something like that. Anyways, unfortunatly, soon after deciding on your four alicorns, I had to rework my plan after I learned about Chrysalis humiliating defeat. You see, originally, I wanted to unite all your enemies and the dragons into a giant army with Chrysalis‘ changelings as its backbone. Then I wanted to wage war against you and ponynap all four alicorns on the battlefield. But since that wasn’t a possibility anymore, I decided to wait for Chrysalis inevitable capture. Then, I resurrected Sombra and the Storm King using a new kind of dark magic I learned during my studies in this world called ‘Necromancy‘, freed your other three enemies and forced them to work for me and now, here we are. Ready to enact the final phase of my plan.“
Discorn turned around. Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, the Storm King and Sombra came out of the shadows. The Storm King carried a little box sealed by four seals in his hands while the other four had a crown with a big crystal on their heads. He put the box in the middle of the small circle in the middle of the large circle. Then, Sombra made the four structures disappear revealing the princesses. They were still asleep. Almost their entire bodies were encased in a dark crystal each making them unable to move. The Storm King positioned himself behind the cages. Meanwhile, Chrysalis took position behind Cadance, Tirek behind Celestia, Cozy behind Twilight and Sombra behind Luna. Finally, Discorn landed on the side of the big circle opposite to the cages.
„Waky, waky.“, he said letting emitting four spheres of light from his horn.
Each of the spheres entered the head of one of the alicorns. Afterwards, they started opening their eyes again.
„Oh…What happened…Where am…Discorn?!“, Twilight called out in shock.
„Sorry. I already told the story of the how and the why and I don’t feel like telling it again.“
Celestia and Luna were shocked as well. But they didn’t look at Discorn. They looked at the box.
„No…Impossible…Where did you get that?“, Celestia asked frightend.
„It wasn’t easy. But luckily, I had time. But enough talking. Time to end this.“, Discorn said.
He shot four beams simultaneously at the four crystals on the heads of the villains.
„NO! DON’T DO IT, YOU FOOLS! IF THAT THING OPENS, WE ARE ALL GOING TO-“, Luna shouted.
But then, as the crystals reflected the beams onto their heads, she, alongside the other three alicorns, started screaming in terrible pain. Black veins crawled down their bodies and up their horns.
„Yes! It’s working! Now: Force them to use the spell I taught you!“, Discorn ordered his minions.
„With pleasure.“, Chrysalis said with a wicked smile.
Each of the four closed their eyes. Suddendly, the horns of the princesses started glowing. Each of them started to emit a continuous beam at the box. Slowly, one by one, the seals began to unlock.
„Yes! YES!“, Discorn shouted.
His eyes were opened wide and he had a crazy look on his face.
„N-no. Pl-please. S-stop…“, Celestia begged with much effort.
But Discorn only laughed.
„Haha! Why should we stop this close to victory? Soon, Terror will be released, and then-“
Suddendly, there was a flash of light. The ritual had been interrupted. One seal remained closed. Everyone looked at Tirek and Chrysalis, the ones who interrupted it. Both of them looked at Discorn. They were both absolutely furious.
„ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! No matter what happens, no matter how vengful you are, no matter what your situation is, you should NEVER, EVER even CONSIDER releasing Terror!“, Tirek shouted at Discorn.
„What do you mean? Who is Terror?“, Cozy asked.
„Of course YOU wouldn’t know who that is.“, Chrysalis said scoffingly.
„We actually don’t know who that is, either…“, Starlight said and the Mane Six, Spike and Cadance agreed.
Tirek sighed. Then he explained:
„Terror is a being so ancient, he is at least as old as Discord, if not even older. His power is beyond compare. He is so powerful, he simply can’t be beaten in battle. In fact, I highly doubt that even the ‘magic of friendship‘ would do anything against him. He is considered the single most powerful being in all of existence. He is more destructive than all natural disaster combined. In fact, he is so destructive, those who know him consider him the enemy of life itself. If he ever gets freed, we, meaning everyone here and everything in existence, are all going to not just die but be completely erased.“
„Wow. Is he really that powerful?“, Cozy asked.
„Indeed. I witnessed it first-hoove.“, Chrysalis said.
„You see, when I was a child, there were hundreds of Changeling-hives on the land my former hive stands on, each with millions of changelings in it. But one day, Terror entered our realm. And when he left at the end of that same day, only I and a pile a brood were all that remained of our species. Honestly, to this day, I can’t believe I managed to hide from him successfully. Due to this event, we changelings consider Terror our number 1 enemy. And I refuse to partake in anything that is going to aid him.“
„Same here.“, Tirek said firmly.
Everyone looked at Discorn.
„Bah! You two worry too much. If he gets out of hand, we’ll simply banish him again.“
„You are making a grave misjudgment, Discorn. Unless he trusts you, Terror won’t give you the chance to betray him. The moment you let him free is the moment you die. So I beg of you: Do with us whatever you like. Just don’t release him.“, Celestia begged.
„ENOUGH!“, Discorn yelled.
„YOU are prisoners. You don’t have a say in the matter. And YOU“, he turned to Tirek and Chrysalis, „are going to follow my orders. Or do you want to return to stone?“
Tirek and Chrysalis exchanged looks. Then they looked at Discorn defiantly and, to the shock of everyone present, ripped off their amulets and threw them onto the ground in front of his hooves. The force Discorn warned them about immediatly took effect. Chrysalis and Tirek, who continued to look at Discorn defiantly, as well as Cozy Glow, who was begging Discorn to spare her saying she’d follow his plan, were dragged back together and slowly turned back to stone. It wasn’t until they were fully turned that an invisible force moved their bodies, arms, legs and faces back to the positions they had before they were freed. Discorn, still in shock and disbelieve, looked at them first. Then he looked at the amulets in front of his hooves. Then he shook his head and led out an angry scream.
„COWARDS! I guess, if you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself! Sombra and I should be enough for the last seal.“
Both he and Sombra used the spell to break the seal. But shortly before the beams hit the box, a shield appeared around the box. The two breams bounced off. One hit Sombra, the other the Storm King. Both looked at Discorn for a moment before shattering like glass and disappearing.
„What?! NO! WHO DID THAT?!“, Discorn yelled angrily.
A glowing sphere formed above the chest. There was a flash of light. Suddendly, Discord stood above it.
„That would be me, copycat. I’m sorry, but I simply can’t allow that box to be opened.“, Discord said.
„What?! No! You can’t be here! Not this soon! I haven’t even mastered it yet!“, Discorn yelled out.
„Well, tough luck, I’d say.“, Discord said with a shrug.
He snapped his fingers freeing the prisoners.
„Discord! How did you find us?“, Fluttershy asked.
„I visit the place Celestia, Luna and I hid that box once in a while. My last visit was only a few minutes ago. But since it wasn’t there, I created a shield around it in case anyone tried to open it before teleporting here. I must say, this cheap knock-off of me is slightly above average. Whatever spell he used to shield himself from me, it worked.“
„Thanks, Discord. Now, what should we do with him?“, Twilight asked.
Everyone turned to Discorn. But he was already gone.
„Huh. Someone actually doing something while everyone else is distracted by exposition. Well that’s new.“, Discord commented.
„Can’t you track him?“, Applejack asked.
„He’s still shielded from me. I can’t detect him. Besides, he has no more allies, no more minions and no more options. Let’s track him down another time. It’s late and I’ve already made enough sense for today.“, Discord said.
Everyone more or less agreed with him and he teleported everyone away.
The sun was rising. The box still stood in the cave. Suddendly, it rumbled. Once. Twice. Then suddendly, the last seal broke. The box snapped open. A red, clawed hand rose out of it, followed by a very dark laugh.
The Mane Six and Discord were gathered in Canterlot discussing what to do about Discorn. Suddendly, they heard loud music coming from outside. They ran out. A crowd had already gathered looking and pointing at the sky. Discord created binoculars for everyone. There, in the sky, they saw a weird creature. It stood in the air on two long legs. It was completely red. It had two big feet with three claws at the front and one at the back. It also had two arms and two hands each with four red claws as finger similar to Tirek. It also had two enormous bat-shaped wings, a long tail and a normal-sized head with two curved horns on top. There were two fang-like teeths lurking out of the top half of his mouth. It wore sunglasses, a black leather-jacket and black trousers. Also, it played on a red guitare.
„What is that?“, Fluttershy asked.
„I don’t know. What about you, Discord?“, Twilight asked.
But Discord didn’t answer. He was stiff as a plank and pale like marble.
„No. It can’t be…“, he mumbled.
The creature played two more notes before shouting:
„Good morning, Equestria! Guess what?! You’re favorite red-faced reign of doom and destruction, Terror, is back! Did ya miss me?!“
„Did-did he just say TERROR?!“, Rainbow Dash asked shocked.
The others nodded.
„We have to get out of here.“, Discord suddendly said, still shaking with fear.
„What?“, the others asked.
„We have to get out of this reality! Now! Before-“
Suddendly, Terror stood right next to Discord. He put his arm around Discords shoulder and said with a wide smile which revealed his rows of sharp teeth:
„Discord! Good to see you again! How many millennia has it been? Ah, doesn’t matter! By the way, LOVE the goatee. REALLY suits you.“
„Do you know each other?“, Fluttershy asked carefully.
Discord cleared his throat.
„Everyone: Meet Terror, Spirit of Doom and Destruction. And also: My brother.“
Everyone was shocked.
„Your BROTHER?! YOU have a brother?!“, Applejack asked still shocked.
„Indeed I am. And who are you, if I may ask?“, Terror asked in a polite tone of voice.
„These are…“, Discord took a deep breath, „my friends.“
„Your…friends?“
Terror started laughing.
„Wow! YOU made friends? Really? Oh man, that was so unexpected! I’m so proud of you!“, Terror said still laughing.
„Wait…You’re PROUD of me?! I though you’d be livid!“, Discord said confused.
Terror stopped laughing abruptly.
„Livid? Why would I be livid?“, Terror asked confused.
„Because of your imprisonment?“, Discord asked.
„Oh. That.“, Terror said.
But suddendly, he laughed out loud again.
„Hahaha! Don’t worry about that, bro. Sure, you betrayed me and helped seal me into that box. But hey: You are the Spirit of Chaos and DISHARMONY! Betrayl and doing stuff counterproductive to positive relationships is literally part of your very being! Heck, I still have the box you sealed me in!“
He took it out of his leather jacket. It didn’t even have a scratch.
„Why would you carry around your prison in your pocket?!“, Rainbow asked confused.
„Because, while it was my prison, it was also my home for the Creator knows how many millennia. I’ve kinda grown attached to it. And if anyone ever succeeds in sealing me away again, I might as well be sealed into a prison I already know. Also, Discord put so much effort into crafting it. Destroying it would be a real shame.“
He put it back into his jacket.
„Point is: You were simply being you. And how can I be mad at you for being who you are?! I simply can’t. I’m your brother. I will always love and support you.“
Discord was speachless.
„Is he in denial?“, Spike whispered to Twilight.
„Nah. I just understand that with my little bro, not making sense makes the most sense. Though of course that also means that sometimes, making sense actually is making the least amount of sense meaning it makes the most sense.“
Everyone, even Discord, looked at him confused. Terror cleared his throat.
„But enough of that.“
He took a closer look at Twilight.
„Wait a minute…Are you an alicorn? Huh. I thought there were only two left…“
„Terror, could you please not?“, Discord asked annoyed.
„Don’t worry. You have nothing to fear from me, my little ponys. Any friend of Discord is good in my book.“
He turned around to Discord.
“Speaking of friends: Where are CL and Lulu?“
„CL and Lulu?“, Rainbow Dash asked.
Suddendly, a beam hit the ground between the ponys and Terror.
„STEP AWAY FROM THEM!“, someone yelled.
Everyone looked up and saw Celestia and Luna descending from the sky, horns glowing and with a furious expression on their faces.
„CL! Lulu! How long has it-“, Terror started but was cut short as another combined beam hit the ground in front of him.
„Cut the crap, Terror! How did you escape?!“, Luna yelled.
„Beats me. I woke up one morning and while yawning, the box suddendly snapped open. I though you were the ones who let me out.“
„We would NEVER let you out! Not after what you did!“, Celestia yelled.
„Wait, what did he do?“, Rarity asked.
„He is the reason Luna and I were the only alicorns in Equestria for a very long time! Because he killed every other alicorn! Our parents, our uncles, our cousins, our whole family, he erased them and every other alicorn!“, Celestia yelled.
The Mane Six were shocked while Discord looked to the side ashamed.
„Wait…HE erased every other alicorn?! But…He’s such a nice guy!“, Fluttershy said.
„That’s all just an act he puts on! He is a vile villain, a heartless monster, a-“
„Alright, alright, you made your point clear. But I told you before and I will say it again: I’m sorry it had to come this far. But I had no other choice!“, Terror defended himself.
„Lies!“, Celestia yelled.
„Alright. Let’s calm down! There clearly seems to be a friendship problem between you three. So how about we get inside and talk about this, before this gets out of hand?“, Twilight suggested.
„Sound good to me.“, Terror said.
But the royal sisters were less open.
„There is nothing to talk about! Both we and Discord saw him do it!“
„Yes, but to be fair, we’ve never bothered to find out the full story.“, Discord said earning him furious looks from Celestia and Luna.
„Please, Princess Celestia. What do you have to lose?“, Twilight asked.
The two sisters stuck their heads together for a moment.
„Alright, fine.“, Celestia finally said.
Discord teleported the group inside into a small room. Celestia and Luna sat down on one side, Terror on the other and the rest in the middle.
„Now: How about we start from the very beginning? How did you meet?“, Twilight asked.
Celestia began recounting:
„It all began when we were still fillies. Back then we lived in a big castle with the other alicorns as well as Master Star Swirl. Though we were the only children there. One day, as we played outside, Terror and Discord came out of the bushes. Back then, they were still small as well. Both of them could talk and knew their names. But that was about it. They didn’t know how they came to be nor what their purpose was. So we took them to the council of elders who ruled over all alicorns. They ran through a series of tests with them and determined that they were the personifications of the natural forces that are destruction and chaos. They also found out that the two are very powerful. But since they couldn’t really control their powers, the elders gave them special rings which supressed their powers to a minimum so that the two could learn to control it. From then on, for the next few decades, we lived and learned together. In fact, we even became friends. Or rather in Discords case: As close to a friend as you can be with the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.“
„Wait. Didn’t you say you never had a friend before me?“, Fluttershy asked Discord.
„Well, you see, I still felt guilty about betraying my brother. So I actively supressed any memory of my time before I went on a chaotic rampage.“, Discord explained.
„You did what?“, Terror asked shocked.
„Eh-hem.“, Luna interrupted them before continuing.
„Over the decades, it became clear that Terror was way better at magic than any of us. He mastered his magic way quicker than Discord. So one day, the elders sent him away on secret mission. But when he returned, something was different about him. That was around the time the Pillers first formed so Master Star Swirl was away. That night, Terror asked us and Discord whether we wanted to go on a picnic with him the next morning to which we agreed. But the next morning, when we were ready to go, he hold us to go ahead saying the elders wanted something from him. Thinking nothing of it, we complyed. But after some time, Discord said he’d forgotten something so we teleported back. And that’s when we saw Terror unleashing a beam of pure destruction on the castle erasing it and everyone inside from existence! After that, we decided that he had to be punished. So we crafted the box. Then, Discord distracted him allowing us to seal him inside the box making it so only four alicorns could break him free. However, this experience changed us. Our relationship with Discord all but broke down and he soon left without saying anything. The Pillers helped us build the castle we lived in until you-know-what happened. And then, soon after the Pillers banished themself to Limbo, Discord returned, a changed draconequus. And you know the rest.“
„Thank you. Now, Terror: Why did you do it?“, Twilight asked.
Terror sighed.
„Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. So instead, let me show you. Discord: Please take us back in time to the Great Hall. The night I returned.“
„What? Oh! Right. I can do that.“, Discord said.
He snapped with his fingers. Suddendly, they were in a great hall filled with alicorns. But the alicorns didn’t notice them as the group was invisible, transparent and floated in the air.
„This has to be every alicorn in the castle!“, Celestia said.
An elderly alicorn flew into the air and began talking:
„Brothers and sisters! As you all know, we sent Terror to utterly destroy our enemies: The warmongering yaks, the greedy dragons and our biggest enemies, the changelings! We ordered him to kill every single one of them! Today, he returned claiming his mission to be completed. But when he told us, he killed every last yak, dragon and Changeling, we could hear in his voice that he lied to us! He most certainly left survivors! In other words: He betrayed us! We can no longer trust him to do as we say! Sooner or later, he will turn against us!“
The room exploaded in hooves trampling and shouts of agreement.
„But luckily, we made preperations. You see, the rings we crafted which supress the powers of the two brothers can also drain them, no matter where they are! But it takes a ritual to activate that feature. So we will prepare it tomorrow and do it tomorrow night when they are asleep. Once we have the power, we will throw Discord and Terror out and give the survivors Terror left a hint where to find the two depowered creatures. I’m sure, they will handle the rest. With their power in our hooves, we will then destroy the survivors and all other enemies. Now, everyone, close your eyes!“
The alicorns closed their eyes.
„All who are in opposition to this plan may rise now.“
But no one rose up.
„Very good. You can open your eyes again, everyone! The plan has passed!“
The hall erupted in cheers. Discord snapped his fingers again and the group was back in the present in the small room. But they were all in shock. Terror sighed and continued:
„I listend in on them so I learned about their plan. But at first, even though I already had doubts due to the mission they sent me on, I still didn’t want to believe it. I considered them my family for decades after all. I thought all night about another way. But I simply didn’t manage to come up with anything other than to destroy them. Please don’t get me wrong: I didn’t care much whether or not we kept our power. In fact, I expected myself that one day, they would come to the conclusion I’d become too powerful and turn on me. But I didn’t want my brother to go down with me. So I suggested the picnic to get you out of there. Then, I used a beam of pure destruction to destroy the castle and everyone inside. It was the quickest and most painless way possible. It was the best I could do in that situation.“
For a moment, there was silence. Then Celestia took a deep breath and began speaking:
„After all that, I think I can understand you now, Terror. If I was in your situation, I would have propably acted similarly.“
Luna agreed and added:
„But just because we can understand you now, doesn’t mean we can forgive you. You still killed our family. You could have at least told us about all of this before you did it. We don’t hate you with a burning fury anymore. But we would still prefer to never see you again.“
Terror sighed and said:
„I think at this point, that is the best I could hope for. Thank you for your understanding. And again. I’m sorry. May you be able to live the rest of your days in peace. Goodbye.“
With these words, he teleported away.
Terror had made himself a camping place for the night in the Everfree Forest. Suddendly, he heard movement from the bushes behind him.
„Hello?! Anyone back there?! Come out, you don’t need to worry!“
A cloaked figure came out of the bushes.
„Good evening. May I help you?“, Terror asked politely.
„No. But I believe I can help you.“
„What do you mean?“
„I have some information you might be very interested in.“
Twilight walked up and down in front of her throne nervously. At last, her friends arrived.
„We came as fast as we could! What’s the emergency?!“, Rainbow asked.
„It’s Terror. Last night, he destroyed Yakyakistan.“, Twilight answered in a serious tone of voice.
„WHAT?!“, the others yelled shocked.
„Discord told me. He went to see him yesterday and saw him do it. Terror told him that his new ‘assitant‘ told him the other nations would be our enemies. Terror thinks he’s doing us a favor by destroying them. Thanks to Discord, I also know his next target: The Dragonlands.“
„And what about Prince Rutherford and the yaks?“, Pinkie asked worried.
„Apparently, they were warned before Terror arrived. But whoever warned them also told them, and every other leader for that matter, that we Equestrians are supposed to be the ones who freed Terror. They are all coming soon. And they are not happy.“
„But who would-“, Fluttershy started.
But then she stopped. Annoyed, the entire group said at the same time:
„Discorn.“
„That damn snake! We completely forgot about him because of Terrors return!“, Applejack cursed.
Suddendly, the door opened. Prince Rutherford, Thorax, Ember, Queen Novo and Grandpa Gruff, the official representative of the still leaderless Griffonstone, came in. And each one of them was furious.
„Yaks are angry! Yaks thought Ponys were friends! But then Yaks get warned Ponys released Terror! And then Terror comes and destroys Yakyakistan! Again! Yaks want answers or Yaks will smash Ponys!“, Rutherford angrily yelled.
„Same here! Terror destroyed so many of us in the past! The mere mention of his name strikes fear into the hearts of dragons everywhere! And now he’s back to finish what he almost succeeded in long ago!“, Ember yelled.
„And we may not follow Chrysalis anymore, but we still despise Terror!“, Thorax added.
„Luckily, we and the griffons were spared by him in the past. But if he really wants to destroy every non-pony nation, then that will not be the case this time. We want to stop him. But first, we want to know whether it was really you who released him?!“, Queen Novo demanded.
„Every creature, please! Calm down! I can assure you, Equestria has nothing to do with Terrors return. In fact, only a few days ago, we stopped a mad villain named Discorn who wanted to free Terror. But it seemed, Discorn was able to weaken the seals holding him captive enough for Terror to break free on his own. Further, I have it from a trustworthy source that Terror has been tricked into doing this, most likely by Discorn.“
The rulers and Grandpa Gruff thought about it for a moment. Then Prince Rutherford said:
„Hm. Yaks and Ponys have fought side by side in the past. So Yaks will give Ponys benefit of doubt.“
The other rulers and Grandpa Gruff agreed.
„Thank you. My source is currently stalling Terror from reaching his next target, the Dragonlands. I think, if we can catch up to him, we could talk-“
„No! This no time for talk! Terror must be destroyed! Yaks will gather army and Yaks will go to war!“, Rutherford yelled.
Unfortunately for Twilight, the other creatures agreed. They all looked back at Twilight. She sighed knowing what they wanted to hear.
„Alright. Then I will gather up Equestrias army as well. We’ll gather up our forces and prepare to defend the Dragonlands. Though, for the record, considering that Terror is literally the Spirit of Distruction, I don’t think this is a good idea.“
The massive army comprised out of ponys, griffons, dragons, yaks, hippogryphs and changelings stood on the plateau on the border to the Dragonlands.
„And you are sure, Terror is going to enter from this side?“, Ember asked Twilight.
„If my source is right, he should arrive here any-“
„There he is!“, Thorax yelled.
In the distance, they saw a red fireball flying at them. As it passed the border into the Dragonlands, it slowed down until it came to a hold. With a snap, Terror turned off the flames before landing in front of the army. Twilight noticed how most dragons, yaks and changeling turned pale and began shaking in fear. For the first time, Terror took off his sunglasses revealing his threatening red eyes. He looked around.
„What is this? Do you…want to stop me?“, he asked.
„Terror, listen to me! You are being tricked! The other nations aren’t our enemies! They are out friends!“, Twilight pleaded with him.
But Terror said:
„No. It is you who is being tricked, your majesty. When these creatures say they are your friends, they speak with a split tongue. They know they can’t beat you in battle. So they are trying to infiltrate you and weaken you over centuries, until they can take over!“
„The only one who speaks with a split tongue is you, monster!“, Thorax yelled.
„Enough talk! Yaks smash!“, Rutherford yelled.
„No! Wait!“, Twilight yelled but it was too late. The yaks, dragons and griffons charged at Terror. After a moment of hesitation, the other armies joined in as well.
„Bring it.“, Terror said with a wide grin.
The first to arrive were the griffons. But Terror took a deep breath and blew at them with such a force, they were thrown back onto the ground. Next up, the yaks threw rocks at him. But Terror simply put up his fists and punched each and everyone one of them into thousands of pieces. Then, the changelings came from both land and air. Terror created a tornado in each of his palms and threw them at the Changeling blowing them and any other flyer away. Then, he landed and clapped his hand together, sending out a powerful shockwave which threw back the changelings. Next up, the yaks jumped up and down, making the earth tremour trying to throw Terror off-balance. But Terror, completely uneffected, simply laughed and said:
„Ha! You call that a tremour? Let me show you a real one.“
He hit the ground with his tail creating a tremour so strong, it threw everyone off-balance. Afterwards, he looked up where all dragons except Torch were about to unleash dragon fire upon him. Once again, he took a deep breath. But this time, he unleashed his own fire, easily pushing back the combined dragon fire of all dragons hitting them and knocking them out of the sky.
„Come now, is that really all you got?“, he asked.
„Don’t get cocky! Dad, now!“, Ember yelled.
Torch rose up behind Terror, grabbed him and said:
„Remember me, Terror? It’s payback time!“
„I do. You certainly got old. And fat. But more importantly: How did I not see you while I was flying in here?“, Terror asked before easily freeing himself.
He flew up to him and poked Torches horn with his pinky finger. Suddendly, Torch went flying. After only a few seconds, he was already out of sight. Then, Terror turned around and caught a combined fire-magic beam from the unicorns and the dragons in his palm forming it into a sphere.
„Alright. Time to end this. I’m getting bored.“, he said crushing the sphere releasing an omnidirectional wave which defeated everyone at once.
„I gotta ask: Did really NON of you knew about my nickname ‘The one who can’t be beaten in battle‘? Eh, a question for later. Right now, I have to detroy the Dragonlands.“
He shouted into the air:
„Assistant! Come here and take them all captive! I’ll decide what to do with them later!“
Then he flew away. As he did, someone teleported in front of the beaten army. It was Discorn.
„Right away, master!“, he yelled in the direction Terror had flown.
Then he turned to the freshly defeated. He moved over to Twilight and her friends who, due to not attacking Terror directly, were still able to move the most.
„Well, well, well. What a pretty picture. Suprised to see me?“, he asked with a sadistic smile on his face.
„N-nope. Huh. It – huh – was obvious you were the one behind all of this.“, Rainbow managed to get out.
„I m-mean – huh – who else c-could it have been?“, Twilight added.
Discorns sadistic smile turned into a disappointed frown.
„Urgs. Well that’s no fun! Fine. Then I’ll just pretend like you are suprised and give my monologue because I enjoy doing so.“
„D-do ya – huh – have to?“, Applejack asked annoyed.
Discorn responded equally annoyed:
„Yes. And you can’t do anything about it. Now, you see: After Terror made his return known, I immediately made myself invisible and teleported to Canterlot in hopes of witnessing your distruction. Unfortunatly, as you know, it turned out my three former minions really were just cowards. So I made up a new plan: After Discord teleported you all away, I created some false evidence ‘proving‘ the other nations are only pretending to be your friends. Then I warned them all about Terror, showed the ‘evidence‘ to Terror and you know the rest. Honestly, I was suprised how easy to manipulate he was. He must have been in that box a very long time. Originally, I wanted to incite a war between you all. But now that you are laying here before me completely defenceless, I might as well finish you right now!“
„I’d rather have you not.“, a voice said.
Discord appeared behind him.
„Ah. Discord. We meet again. But this time, I am prepared.“, Discorn said.
He took something out. It was Gorgars bell. Before Discord could react, Discorn activated it and stole his magic.
„You know, I actually wanted to wait with this. But no matter. Now, all I need to do is to get Terror to go into my world, kill my enemes there, then steal his magic to appear as the savior and then I’ll –“
Discorn stopped. He turned pale. He slowly looked up. Terror floated above him. And he was furious.
„M-master. H-how long have you been there?“, Discorn asked frightend.
„Oh, I just arrived here. I don’t know what you were talking about. But what I do know is that you DARED to steal my brothers magic. And that was a big mistake. A REALLY! BIG! MISTAKE!“
„Well, uhm, you see, I – uhm – ah, screw it!“, Discorn yelled out.
He pointed the bell at Terror. But before he could activate it, Terror grabbed and crushed it. The chaos magic stored in the bell went back to Discord. Then, Terror turned towards Discorn.
„Could we talk about this?“, Discorn asked.
„You denied yourself that option the moment you stole my brothers magic.“, Terror said coldly.
He snapped with his fingers. Suddendly, flames started crawling up Discorns hooves. But instead of burning him, they erased him!
„No. No! NOOOOO! PLEASE! DON’T!“, tears began forming and dropping down his eyes, „NOT YET! NOT LIKE THIS! NOOOOO!“
He looked up to the sky. The flames had already erased most of him.
„MOTHER! FATHER! FORGIVE ME! I FAILED YOU!“, he cried out before being completely and utterly erased.
The ponys were speachless. Terror threw a last look at the place where Discorn was just a moment ago before heading off. Twilight swollowed and looked up to Discord.
„Plan B“, she said.
Discord sighed. He snapped his fingers healing everyone before teleporting them away. They arrived on another plateau. The Pillers and the Young Six awaited them.
„How did it go?“, Smolder asked.
But Twilight only said:
„Plan B.“
The others nodded. Then, Twilight nodded at Discord. He snapped with his fingers. Soon, Terror appeared.
„Hm? Master Star Swirl and the Pillers? What is going on here?“, he asked.
Twilight took a deep breath. Then she stepped forwards.
„Terror! You might be the Spirit of Doom and Destruction, but you are not a bad creature! As long as you aren’t tricked or angered, you are actually quite nice! If things were different, I even believe we could be friends! But…seeing you erase Discorn made me realize something: One bad day is all that it takes for all of us to share his fate! Therefore, and I’m really sorry to say that, you need to get sealed away again! You are simply too powerful and too dangerous!“
Terror sighed.
„So be it then. You know, I could easily erase you before you could even comprehend it. But I will not. I could also just run away and pick you off one by one. But I will not. Instead, I will do this.“
He landed on the ground below, reached inside of his jacket, took out the box he was imprisoned in, placed it beneath him and opened it. Then he flew back up into the air and positioned himself right above the box.
„I’ve heard you are capable of using the magic of friendship, one of the few powers I do not have. This kind of magic has always intrigued me. I presume, you’ll use that power against me. I’m looking forward to see it in action. But I will not make it easy for you. I WILL resist. Please excuse my selfishness but I waited for my freedom for such a long time, I simply can’t just give it up now. So I will hold against your friendship-laser with a beam of pure destruction. Then we’ll see what is more powerful. If friendship is more powerful, I will be sealed away. But if destruction is more powerful…Well, let’s just say: It was nice knowing you for the short time we spent.“
He took a deep breath and said:
“One last thing before we begin: If you do win, I propably won’t be able to say it. So I say it now: From the bottom of my heard, I wish you good fortune for the future. May the rest of your days be spent in peace. After this, you deserve it.“
Terror gathered pure destructive power between his hands. It manifested in a dark red sphere.
„Ready when you are.“, Terror said.
Twilight nodded.
„For our friends.“, the Mane Six said.
„For our homes.“, the Young Six said.
„For life.“, the Pillers said.
They all started glowing. They flew up into the air in a triangular formation. A rainbow beam went out from each of them into the center gathering into a glowing sphere before shooting out in a bright, rainbow-colored beam in Terrors direction. Terror pushed his hand forwards. The sphere shot out a dark red beam. Both beams collided – and they remained in the same place, neither of them able to push the other away.
„Interesting! It seems we’ve reached an impasse!“, Terror yelled over the beam-struggle.
„Yeah! That’s new!“, Rainbow yelled.
„But how?!“, Rarity asked.
„Destruction is a natural process! It’s part of existence, of life! Not even friendship can beat it!“, Star Swirl yelled.
„And I guess since friendship in its truest and purest form will last forever, even beyond death, not even pure destruction can end it! That’s why my beam can‘t overpower yours either! Huh! Who knew?!“, Terror added.
„So…What now?!“, Pinkie asked.
„What we need is a third pure magical force as a tie-breaker!“, Star Swirl yelled.
Everyone looked at Discord. He turned pale. His eyes showed inner-conflict. Seeing that, Terror took a deep breath. Then, with a wide smile, he suddendly yelled:
„Don’t worry, Discord! I won’t make you choose!“
Suddendly, to the shock of all, Terror simply stopped. He opened his arms embracing the rainbow beam. It hit him only a moment later.
„Terror…why?“, Discord asked.
Terror was slowly disintegrating into particles, each of them falling down into the opened box. With a caring smile, Terror said:
„Because making you chose would have only hurt you. My freedom simply isn’t worth that. Remember, little brother: I’ll always love you.“
With these words, the rest of him disintegrated. The particles fell into the box. As soon as all of them had fallen in, it closed shut. The heroes landed. They looked over to Discord.
„Discord?“, Fluttershy asked softly.
But Discord didn’t answer. He walked over to the box and gently picked it up. Then he turned to the Mane Six. With tears streaming down his face, he asked:
„May I keep it?“
Twilight nodded.
„Thank you.“, Discord said before teleporting away.
