Equestria the land of harmony, or at least it was. Twilight Sparkle, once the proud student of Princess Celestia had felt betrayed by those she cared for most when they locked her away. The only one that came to her rescue was Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony who would warp her mind and heart to seek only vengeance. Twilight would end up getting just that but at the cost of her life, and in the process the ones she called friends would become doomed to wander inside a mountain for the rest of their days while Princess Celestia and Prince Shining Armor lost their lives. Now with them out of the way Discord would claim Equestria as his own and along with the changelings and a few others would set his eyes on the final ray of hope for the ponies, the Crystal Empire.
There were quite a few ponies that still had fight in them and were waiting for Discord's forces to arrive. Those ponies included most of the royal guard, Princesses Luna, and Princess Cadence, despite both having been broken-hearted over losing somepony they loved. And Forest, a student of the late Princess Celestia who while not under her guidance for long had become rather fond of her. Perhaps it was because she took him in when he had nowhere to go, but either way he was ready for a rematch with Discord. He remembered it as if it was yesterday when the attack on the capital happened, he tried to stop Discord. Before that though Celestia began the evacuation of the capital and he went to see her once again using her memory sphere.
"Oh Twilight, if only we could somehow return to those happy times," Celestia said. In her grief of losing Twilight she wouldn't stop looking at old pictures of her but carrying around the book would become distracting so Forest helped put the memories somewhere more convenient. With her help he put some of her most precious memories of her daughter in a small sphere that would let her watch them as they moved and talked. Forest had a rather unique connection with objects of magical properties, perhaps that was why Celestia took such a huge interest in him. After that she gave the sphere to Forest for safekeeping and would look out into the sky and would tell Forest to get out as well, but he refused and before long the attack came.
"I can't let you do this!" Forest said.
"Oh really? I didn't realize that I needed your permission." Discord replied with a rather somber tone.
"What you're doing is wrong."
"Oh is it now?"
"Of course it is, what you're doing will spread misery across the land, don't you care?" Forest then shot a beam of magic but Discord split his head and neck to dodge it.
"No I don't care, you know why? Because you ponies mocked me for my appearance when I was younger and turned me into stone after I was just having a little fun, nopony ever cried for me." Discord then summoned a giant mallet and tried to hit Forest with it but he jumped out of the way only to get whacked by a 2nd mallet. He was whacked in midair and landed against a nearby building.
"Sneaky little…" Forest struggled to speak and for that matter, stand. Suddenly his head was filled with images of a strange creature that looked like a pony but stood on 2 legs. "What, what is that?" Forest asked as he got back up and looked around as if what he saw had appeared right in front of him. But he quickly regained his senses and saw Discord so he attacked him again this time hitting him dead on.
"OUCH!" Discord said annoyed he let his guard down enough for a pony to land a rather solid hit on him. "Oh I thought you were down for the count."
"So was I," Forest said. "I guess we're just stronger than you give us credit for."
"I doubt that, very much actually, after all I turned Twilight against her friends and family didn't I?" Discord then let out a series of chaos magic attacks including one that hit Forest with a kitchen sink. Those attacks like before triggered the images in his head to appear again, before he knew it Forest was slammed against another building and Discord appeared right beside him. "You know it's funny really when I was hiding away plotting my revenge. I thought I was going to need some sort of phenomenal cosmic power to destroy the magic of friendship, but in the end all I really needed was a little insecurity and a few harsh words."
"No that can't be," Forest said trying to disagree but in reality he never had any friends. Forest then tried once again to stop Discord but the spirit of chaos and disharmony just had to slap him silly a little bit more and Forest was down for the count.
"What an annoying little pony." Discord said as he went to see how Twilight was doing.
When he awoke he was given the horrible news that Celestia was dead, killed by her former student who she thought of as a daughter. After hearing about this Forest went to see her grave, overcome with sadness for the one pony that cared for him was gone. There were times where he considered Celestia to be more than a teacher, not a friend but as a mother.
Now he would never get the chance to tell her exactly how he felt.
"This can't be real, it's like a bad dream," Forest said as he was in tears. But he wouldn't have time to cry for much longer as Discord and the changelings continued their attack. "I'd give anything to see her just one more time," he wished with all his heart, one day and to his utter shock he saw his surroundings change and when he did he saw himself back in the castle during the attack once again standing by Princess Celestia.
"Forest you need to get out of here," she said. Forest figured out what was going on right away and grabbed on to the pony he cared for like a mother. "Forest, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting you out of here!"
"I'm staying right here!" she replied.
"No you aren't." Forest then held on tighter and tried to do what he did only moments ago. He did, but as he did Celestia disappeared into the time stream Forest was traveling through and he found himself back in the present alone. "Why didn't it work, was it because I didn't directly prevent her death or am I the only one that can travel through time?" Forest tried again but for some reason he could never get it to work, after that and in the meantime he found himself helping Cadence and Luna trying to fight Discord and the changelings but all their attacks failed.
This brought the two princesses and Forest to the Crystal Empire, their last stronghold against the forces of evil that have grown stronger while the forces of good have grown weaker. Tirek broke through the front lines with the power he obtained in his 3rd form while King Sombra flew around in his shadow pony form distracting the Pegasus guards by using the shadows to blind their vision. Princess Cadence tried to take down Chrysalis with a few elite guards to back her up and Luna took to the sky with bat ponies to fight Sombra leaving Forest to fight Tirek with the Crystal Heart powering him up. Forest, despite having a large and down right ruthless opponent managed to defeat him, but his stamina dropped quite a bit in the process. But the others weren't as lucky Discord got rid of Luna and Cadence's backup leaving Sombra and Chrysalis open to go all out.
Sombra canceled out Luna's magic and would brainwash her into a doll-like trance never to be freed which would make her all the more of Sombra's trophy bride. Cadence was swarmed by several changelings who helped Chrysalis restrain Cadence and would force her to feed the changelings for the rest of her life, also never to be freed. Before long Discord helped them get to the center of the empire where Forest continued to fight but he was shocked to see Luna brainwashed and Cadence captured causing Discord to sneak up on him and destroy the Crystal Heart. "Looks like I win again."
"No it can't end like this," Forest said as he panicked and teleported away from all the bad guys.
"Where did he go?" Sombra asked.
"Who cares we won, let's party!" Discord said and the other bad guys agreed as they laid waste to the Crystal Empire while Forest was alone trying to figure out what he could do.
"There has to be something I can do. If I could somehow travel back in time like I did before, but even if I did, what could I do to stop such a horrible future?" Forest then reached into his saddle bag and found the sphere Celestia gave him and when he used the sphere to see all the moments of Twilight his late mother figure held dear, he had an idea to save the future. He focused with all his might, as he did before but only sparks had appeared before, but this time he could feel himself about to go into the past. Perhaps it was because this time he was determined to do it no matter the cost and within a magical spark he vanished, then everything around him faded away.
***
Princess Celestia was on the lookout for the pony she called her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, as she was flying around but as she continued to look she came across an unusual sight. A stallion with a light yellow coat and a long red horn all by himself, sleeping in the woods all alone. She went down to see the pony and if he was okay. "Are you okay my little pony?"
"Celestia?" Forest said as he awoke after Celestia lightly shook him and suddenly she was shocked when the pony she found grabbed on hugging her. "You're alive!"
"Well of course I'm alive, did you hit your head or something?"
"Funny enough I think that was the only part of my body that wasn't hit," Forest answered as Celestia forced him to let go. When she did she saw that Forest had a sphere that caught her attention so she picked it up and found that it had memories of Twilight.
"Where did you get this?" Celestia asked but just then Forest fell to the ground and Celestia helped him up.
"Get me to Canterlot." Forest asked.
"Why?"
"Because I know where you can find Twilight." Hearing that almost sent Princess Celestia's ears into shock, but before he could explain more Forest blacked out. Forest then awoke in a bed at the hospital wing of Canterlot castle with several guards around the bed who were put there to make sure Forest was okay. When he awoke Celestia was informed right away as she ordered and she went to the wing immediately, along with the other members of the Elements of Harmony including Applejack.
"How is he?" Princess Celestia asked one of the guards.
"He seems okay though a bit out of it," the guard answered. "So if I were you I'd try to make my questions short." Suddenly Pinkie Pie jumped on top of the bed and was right on top of Forest.
"Who are you? Where did you come from? Why's your horn a different color than you coat? Can you really help us find Twilight? Where is she? Is she okay? Will she ever forgive us?" Pinkie wanted to ask more questions but was suddenly surrounded by Celestia's magical aura and pulled off the bed and planted her in front of a rather unhappy Princess Celestia. "What? All my questions were short." Celestia then couldn't help but smack Pinkie on the side of her head, not too hard but it was enough for Pinkie to get the message and walk back to where she was.
"Forest, another timeline, a result of me getting in this timeline in the first place, yes I can, in a mountain west of here, she might still be, and for all of your sakes I hope so." Forest said to everypony's surprise except Pinkie.
"I beg your pardon darling?"
"He answered all my questions I asked Rarity, weren't you paying attention?"
"How long was I out?" Forest asked as he put his front hooves on his head.
"About two moons." one of the royal guards that was watching him answered.
"Yeah we were getting pretty worried about you." another royal guard that was watching him said.
"Wow, I hope I'm not too late." After saying that Celestia approached the side of the bed where Forest was.
"You said when I found you that you know where to find Twilight."
"Yes we need to hurry before she kills you again!" Forest said as he tried to get out of his bed but fell due to a lack of energy. The ponies were shocked to hear what he just said, including the guards, but after a few moments they got out of their shock and helped him back into bed.
"Again?" Rainbow Dash said confused as the rest of them.
"Yeah what in the hey are y'all talking about?"
"We don't have time, we need to go now." Forest said.
"We ain't budging until we get some answers, how do we know we ain't walking blindly into a trap? This could all be a big fat lie."
"I think he's telling the truth," Pinkie Pie said, surprising the others. "When I jumped on his bed he had a rather good vibe to him."
"His story does sound like it's too crazy to be made up." Rarity said.
"If Rarity believes him than so do I." Spike said to nopony's surprise.
"Yeah, if he was lying he'd try to make it more believable." Rainbow Dash said.
"I think even if he is lying we should look into it." Fluttershy said.
"Well then I guess it's decided." Princess Celestia said ready to get her beloved student back.
"Hold on a minute," Applejack said, stopping everypony and Spike in their tracks. "Why are we ready to believe somepony we just met?"
"Because the fate of this whole world is at stake!" Forest said.
"Is the whole world just for a pony that ran off and abandoned us?" Applejack was going to continue on but Princess Celestia smacked her in the back of the head which rather stung shutting her up in the process.
"She didn't abandon us, we abandoned her." Princess Celestia said. "Whatever problems we may have with her we can deal with that when we get her back, but we need to get her back. I believe this pony too. Yes it's risky but I'm willing to take that chance. So let's do this, for Twilight." Celestia then put her hoof out and the others joined including Applejack and even the guards.
"For Twilight." the others echoed.
"Yeah let's get her back!" Spike said.
"Forest was it?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Yes?"
"Will you help me get a plan in order for our rescue mission?"
"I already have a plan."
"All right then, and before we do Pinkie I'm sorry I smacked you earlier."
"Oh that's okay Princess Celestia it didn't even hurt really, that was just surprisingly out of character for you." Pinkie replied.
"Um Princess?"
"Yes?" Celestia replied as she looked at Applejack and knew right away what she was going to ask. "No, I'm not sorry for smacking you, you deserved that." The guards couldn't help but laugh a bit at their princess's response.
***
"So does this mean we can put everything into action now?" The changeling queen asked the spirit of chaos.
"Yes Chrysalis I think it's time to finally start the endgame." Discord would then get ready to put the final part of his plan in action, or at least he would have if not for the major interruption. Princess Celestia broke into the mountain with her group taking the entire changeling hive completely by surprise as well as the spirit of chaos. She was joined by Twilight's friends, Spike, Forest, several guards, and Shining Armor who used his barrier spell to force the changelings against the wall of the mountain. The sheer force of it alone knocked most of them out. Discord avoided it by teleporting to Twilight to tell a lie about Celestia leading an attack.
"Where's my sister!?" Shining Armor called out to the changelings that weren't knocked out only to get his answer when Twilight hit him with a stun spell. "Twily!?" Shining Armor asked as he tried to get up.
"My name is not Twily," she said as she was about to attack again. Or at least she would have if Forest didn't teleport behind her and used the sphere to place a mountain of memories into her head. He had reworked or rather reversed the magic of the sphere from taking memories out of a pony and into it, to instead taking the memories out of the sphere and into a pony. The sheer amount of information swimming into her head at once overwhelmed her and made her collapse.
"Uh oh," Forest said rather sheepishly. "I think I broke her."
"Then allow me to return the favor!" Discord announced ready to launch a counterattack, but as a plan was made to stop Twilight a plan was made to stop him as well. Forest had a rather unique connection with objects of magical properties, perhaps that was why Celestia took such a huge interest in him. Forest was able to connect with the Element of Magic and when combined with the other elements that Twilight's friends brought with them they were able to imprison Discord in stone.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh it worked!" Rainbow Dash said as she jumped and danced a little bit out of excitement.
"We aren't done yet, Rainbow Dash don't get cocky." Spike said while standing in front of Rarity ready to protect her.
"I think that ship has long since sailed darling." Rarity whispered to Spike. He was about to laugh but suddenly Forest, similar to Twilight collapsed to the ground as parts of his body changed color and stretched out. Princess Celestia having already gotten the out cold Twilight picked Forest up as well and brought him to the others.
"What's happening to him?" Fluttershy asked.
"From the looks of it, I think he broke himself as well." Celestia answered.
Forest awoke once again finding himself in the bed within the hospital wing of Canterlot castle with several guards once again around said bed guarding him, Forest even though they were the same guards. "Oh hey he's awake." one of the said guards said after seeing Forest get up.
"Oh that's good I was worried he'd take as long as last time to wake up." another guard answered, confirming Forest's theory. Just like last time a guard went to inform Princess Celestia who went to see how he was, but this time by herself.
"Forest, are you feeling better?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Yeah. I feel aches all over, but it's not too bad."
"Do you remember anything about yourself?"
"Yes, actually I remember everything about myself."
"Really? Well I'd love to hear, trust me I'm a really good listener."
"It all kind of came to me as I was sleeping like the memories were dreams of memories but it was still clear to me. I was built in a timeline different from this one. I was built by Star Swirl the Bearded to be some sort of guardian or was it protector?"
"Those are kind of the same things."
"Yeah good point, one or two of the details are still a little screwy. So anyway, even though I was built for that I looked down on ponies and I planned to rule over them, but Star Swirl stopped me. Centuries later I found a way to get my power back but I was stopped once again, this time the source of my power being destroyed. The timeline I tampered with was going back to normal but I was blasted before the timeline reworked itself, and I think that's how I ended up here."
"I see. So you weren't exactly doing what you were made to do."
"No," Forest answered as he grabbed the sheet of his bed a little. Seeing that Celestia placed her hoof on top of his to help calm him down, which did exactly that so he continued. "I didn't like the creature I was before. I don't know if it's because getting blasted here sets me straight like when you hit a machine and it starts working, or if spending time with ponies when I was Forest and forgot who I used to be helped me see things differently."
"I suppose it doesn't matter all that much as long as you turned over a new leaf."
"Yeah, but maybe it was you that helped me change."
"Me?" Celestia said, surprised.
"When I first got knocked into this timeline you found me and took me in as a student. Even though you literally had no idea who I was, you cared for me like a mother, I was a rather silent pony but I couldn't hold back my tears when I learned you died."
"Yes I think you may have mentioned that before, how did I die exactly again?"
"Twilight killed you," Forest answered. "I didn't see it but got told about it, you tried to get her to see reason but she was so consumed with hate that nothing you said or did worked. In the end Twilight killed you but doing so took all of her strength and she died as well." After Forest finished answering there was a moment of silence as Celestia didn't quite know how to respond.
"Wow, just wow."
"Yeah after that, well long story short things got worse but it somehow unlocked the power I had when my source was back and I was flung back in time. So now I have a chance to make things right but I don't think I can do it again."
"I see, this is quite a bit to take in. But perhaps it can help me when Twilight wakes up."
"Just be careful I don't want to lose you again, mom." After saying that there was another pause as once again Celestia didn't know how to respond. "Was that a bit much?"
"Yes a bit."
"Sorry."
"It's all right, well thank you for sharing all this and nice work on helping us get Twilight back and putting Discord in stone. In all honesty we brought the elements to help Twilight remember if she needed an extra push, I had no idea you could help the others use them."
"I didn't know at first either perhaps it was because of my connection with magical objects or perhaps it's because I know how important the friendship Twilight shares with those five is, and that it must not be broken like before. Or I guess after? As for helping Twilight that was simple in the future, Discord filled her heart and mind with hate so I took the precious memories that future you put in the sphere and put it into her head."
"Yes you already told me that, you figured it would cancel out what Discord did to Twilight. Speaking of which, maybe it's time I checked on Twilight. Why don't you get some more rest, I have a feeling you're going to need it."
"I have a feeling I'm going to need it as well." Forest said as he laid back down as Celestia made her way over to Twilight's bed which was literally surrounded by royal guards all standing in a circle around the bed. Several of whom parted the way when the princess approached the bed as well as the doctor looking over her daughter.
"How is she?"
"Her condition seems to be stable but there are quite a few uncertain elements. She needs rest above all else. Princess with all due respect, I said I would tell you when she woke up the same as the other pony."
"I know I just wanted to check up on her since I was already here." Celestia said as she gently stroked Twilight's mane making sure it wasn't hard enough to wake her and followed with a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Sleep well Twilight. Sleep well, my daughter."
"By the way Princess Celestia, do you think you can send a few of these guards somewhere else? It's kind of hard to work with them around?" The doctor asked.
"I'm sorry but no," Celestia replied right away. "I lost her once, I will not lose her again." Celestia would then return to her royal chambers for a nap thinking she was going to need rest as well.
***
West of the Canterlot there was an area known as the Undiscovered West, a place untouched by ponies. There was vast forest there as well as several mountains, one of which was where Discord and the changelings along with Twilight called home for nearly an entire year. There the changelings were attacked out of nowhere by a small yet effective group of ponies pushing their forces back and even somehow turning Discord into stone. "How can this be!?" Chrysalis said completely frustrated while she looked over at the statue that used to be her chaotic partner in crime while several changelings surrounded it.
"Is he gonna be okay, Pharynx?"
"How should I know Thorax I've never been turned into stone?"
"I imagine it's quite uncomfortable," Thorax said.
"Oh trust me it is," Discord said, surprising not only the changelings, including Chrysalis. Discord was then freed from the stone prison and the chunks of stone that surrounded him scattered everywhere, hitting a couple changelings in the process.
"Discord," Chrysalis said in relief as she flew over to him. "You were able to free yourself, how?"
"To be honest I'm not exactly sure of it myself," he answered. "That one pony who was holding the Element of Magic was weird."
"Coming from him that's got to be saying quite a lot." Pharynx whispered to his brother.
"Yeah." Thorax agreed.
"Perhaps while he was able to get the elements to work it was only the bare minimum of their overall power."
"Bare minimum?" Thorax asked.
"Yes, the last time the elements were used on me by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna I was trapped in my uncomfortable stone prison for a thousand years. But when that guy and Twilight's friends did it I got out in no time at all."
"I don't care about the details," Chrysalis said. "Now that you're free you'll be able to help us launch an attack."
"Yes, but first we need to get Twilight back."
"What?" Chrysalis asked in shock. "You can't possibly be serious. You saw what happened to her. She looked like her brain was scrambled. What use can she be to us now?"
"She's the key to all of this."
"She's a broken tool, we should use other more effective methods of taking over Equestria."
"Like what?"
"You talked about collecting others that also wish to rule as a backup plan. Perhaps it's time we sought them out."
"Honestly I just thought that would be something to help in the last push or so, between you and me and all the other changelings listening I don't really like getting my claw and paw dirty."
"Well I don't mind one bit getting my hooves dirty." Chrysalis replied who would soon gather a group of changelings to help her get the backup she was talking about.
"Chrysalis I want to make the ponies as miserable as you do, that's the whole reason why I brought this little alliance of ours together. But Twilight is the key and we need to get her back first."
"You already told me that and I already told you that she's a broken tool. That's all she ever was to us, a tool. Honestly, what do you care? You act as if she was a comrade to us as well." Chrysalis then left Discord to wonder why indeed he cared so much for Twilight.
***
Back at the castle Twilight had woken up and the very instant Celestia was told about it, she teleported to the bed and ordered the guards away to speak to her daughter in private. "Twilight," Celestia whispered to her while she was awake she was still coming to her senses. "Twilight, can you hear me?" She whispered again.
"Celestia?"
"Yes it's me Celestia, m-mother's here," Celestia answered with a tear in her eye. When suddenly Twilight jumped right on Celestia forcing her to the ground to her shock and surprise.
"You left me to rot in the dungeon!" Twilight then hit Celestia several times and would have continued but then the memories Forest put in her head earlier came back making her remember all the great times she had with Celestia. While not as much as before it still overwhelmed her causing her to fall down.
"I know, that was wrong." Celestia said as she got up then went over to Twilight to pick her up as well as pull her into a hug.
"No!" Twilight said when Celestia hugged her as she started slapping her to try and make her let go. But that just made Celestia hug Twilight tighter.
"I know, that was wrong," Celestia repeated. "I don't blame you one bit. But please understand I was in an impossible situation. I care for you greatly but I also feel the same about Cadence. No matter what I could do I was going to let down one of you."
"So you took the easy way out and screwed me over like you always did! You were a horrible mother and a worse princess!" Celestia wanted to say something to defend herself but couldn't. So for a moment or two she continued to embrace Twilight as she continued to struggle but quickly stopped and broke out into tears.
"Come on Twilight, let's get you out of here." Celestia then picked her up and brought Twilight to her royal chambers to get more rest. After Twilight fell asleep Celestia left the chambers and made her way to the kitchen where she ran into Twilight's friends as well as Forest. They asked how Twilight was doing and Celestia explained what had happened.
"She attacked you?!" Rainbow Dash said shocked as the others were. "You aren't going to lock her in the dungeon again are you?" After that the others even Forest stared at Rainbow quite mad at her for saying what she said. "Oh come on, I wasn't the only one thinking it."
"Be that as it may," Applejack said. "Maybe we should do that."
"WHAT!" The others said.
"If she attacked Princess Celestia who knows what else she'll do, she's dangerous."
"But she's still your friend," Forest said, this time the one that got the other's attention. "Please, you've all been given a chance to set things right. I may not have seen it with my own eyes, but I've seen how selfish actions can destroy even the strongest bonds."
"But even if we do screw up again you can just go back in time," Pinkie said.
"No," Forest replied. "I don't think I can. I'm pretty sure that was the only time I can do that. So that means it's up to all of us to set things right and protect the ponies we care about."
"Forest is right," Princess Celestia said as she was looking through the kitchen and finally found a cake making Pinkie jump from just the smell. "I lost Twilight once, I'm not going to lose her again."
"Hey Princess-"
"No Pinkie, this cake is for Twilight. I'm also having Shining Armor and Cadence coming here to help me help Twilight." Celestia then made her way back to the royal chambers and saw Twilight in her bed looking rather peaceful. "Twilight, are you asleep yet?" She didn't respond but Celestia could tell she was still awake.
"Twilight if any good came from this it made me realize how much I should have appreciated all that you did. And all your little things you did that I missed your letters, your visits, that glow in your smile when you saw how proud of you I was," Celestia had to stop herself as she started to tear up a bit. "Please forgive me Twilight, though honestly I don't blame you if you didn't, I probably can't forgive myself. But please know I am truly sorry and I'll do anything to make it up to you, even if it takes the rest of my life." Twilight didn't respond so Celestia then started to make her way out of the royal chambers with more tears in her eyes.
"Just leave the cake by the bed," Twilight replied, making Celestia turn around. She saw that Twilight had rolled over so she could face Celestia who with a bit of warmth in her heart placed the cake on a table by the bed and gently kissed Twilight on the head.
"I love you Twilight." Celestia whispered.
"I love you too, mommy." Twilight answered as she cried a bit as well. Celestia then fluffed the pillows a bit for her and placed another blanket over Twilight before she made her way out of the chambers. Once again determined to face any challenge she would have to in order to protect her daughter.
Canterlot, the capital of the land of Equestria, it was at times a shining example of pony life. But on this day it was attacked by not only a reluctant Discord along with Chrysalis and her love hungry changeling army. But also Tirek and King Sombra who Chrysalis with Discord's help found when they were weak and helped bring them back to strength. They, in return, joined forces to make the attack and their revenge all the better. The guards got on the counterattack right away while a few others informed Princess Celestia.
"This is horrible," Celestia said. "Prepare every guard and protect Twilight. I mean protect Canterlot, but protect her too." Celestia then helped the guards and the mane five and Forest wanted to help out as well.
"Did this happen in the future too?" Pinkie asked Forest while they prepared to fight.
"Well Twilight isn't on their side so, not quite," Forest answered. "But it's happening again, what if, what if we can't stop it like last time? Or next time or-"
"Hey hey," Pinkie replied in a calming manner. "It'll be okay."
"How do you know Pinkie?"
"Because you're here."
"Me?"
"Yes you couldn't be then who?"
"Huh?"
"You helped us get Twilight back, that didn't happen in the future right?"
"Correct."
"Well that's one thing you changed so who's to say you can't change another, and another and another."
"I suppose you have a point." Pinkie Pie then grabbed Forest by the neck and pulled him in close enough for their faces to touch which made Forest blush a little.
"Yeah so, I want you to make me a pinkie promise right now that you're going to do everything in your power to save the future."
"A pinkie promise?"
"Cross your heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in your eye."
"All right I promise." Forest then repeated Pinkie's bizarre sentence and body gestures that came with it. After that the mane five and Forest met up with Princess Celestia who was sending out the last of the guards to not only fight but also help get the citizens evacuated.
"Princess, we want to help kick flank too."
"That's good to hear Rainbow Dash," Princess Celestia said. "Because I'm going to need all of the help I can get."
"Well then it's a good thing I'm going to join in as well," Twilight said, getting everypony's attention, Celestia most of all.
"No!" Princess Celestia yelled. "Not a chance! Not happening! You get right back in my bed."
"I'm not tired anymore."
"I don't care you're not going!"
"Yes I am, you're going to need all the help you can get, remember?" Twilight then walked around Celestia but Celestia grabbed her from behind with both forelegs as well as her wings trapping Twilight in a powerful hug.
"I don't care, I'm not giving them a chance to take you away from me," Celestia replied with a tear running down her face. "I'm not going to lose you again." Suddenly an attack came from just outside causing a bit of the castle wall to break off. It was about to land on several guards too scared to move when suddenly the rubble was turned into bubbles. When they cleared Celestia saw that Twilight escaped the hug and saw a spark from her horn.
"I can take care of myself, especially since I've learned chaos magic." Celestia then saw the look in her daughter's eyes and sighed in defeat.
"All right, but stay close to me," Celestia said. They all made their way out and went to work, the mane five and Forest got to work fighting some of the changelings while Celestia along with Twilight and Luna helped the guards get civilians out of Canterlot.
"Before the sun sets on this day Canterlot will fall," Tirek said, who thanks to Chrysalis had been given enough power to return to his third form. "Though if I eat the magic of a certain alicorn princess, who knows how long it will be up in the sky." Tirek made his way through the city, taking the magical energy of any pony that had the unfortunate luck of getting in his way. While he and the changelings did some damage the evacuation was going rather well, mostly due to Twilight and the royal pony sisters using their magic to speed up the progress.
"I think we're halfway there!" Luna said.
"Good, once we're done here we can get to helping with the fight," Celestia said. "But we have to stay focused here and, Twilight, I told you to stay where I can see you."
"Sorry," Twilight said as she helped a family get through. Meanwhile the mane five and Forest managed to slow down quite a few changelings.
"Y'all ain't taking over this place!"
"We stopped you last time and we'll stop you this time," Rainbow Dash said as a rather large group of changelings surrounded her but she flew at them all super fast and the group dropped like flies. "Who else wants some?" Suddenly Chrysalis flew up to meet Rainbow Dash eye to eye.
"I don't want some, I want the whole thing," Chrysalis answered as she charged at the brave blue pony. While that was going on the others were doing a rather good job and fighting back the changelings, but the changelings spent quite a bit of time at the mountain training and their great numbers helped too. The latter of whom helped them start to pin down the mane five .
"Get your hooves off me this instant you ruffians," Rarity said as several changelings restrained her. Until the changelings were forced off thanks to Spike's fire breath.
"Rarity are you all right?" Spike asked as he ran over to get the slime off her.
"Yes, thanks to you my precious Spikey Wikey. But what in Equestria are you doing here darling?"
"I'm not going to stand by and let these monsters hurt my mare!" Spike answered with gusto that Rarity found charming and adorable at the same time.
"How noble of you Spike, but stay close to me."
"It's what I do best." Spike then got on top of Rarity and made sure the changelings didn't so much as touch her. While that was going on Forest was also doing a good job of pushing back the changelings and had Pinkie Pie backing him up.
"You know if these changelings weren't so evil they would be really good at parties." Suddenly Pinkie gasped, shocking not only Forest but also a few changelings. "Oh my gosh have you changelings ever been to a party?" Pinkie asked as she grabbed one of the nearby changelings by the face.
"What's a party?" The changeling Pinkie Pie grabbed asked.
"Oh my gosh it's true! No wonder you creatures are so evil." Pinkie Pie then pulled the changeling into a hug with Discord unknowingly watching from above.
"You always find a way to stand out in one way or another don't you Pinkie?" Discord asked. "If only the pony I was looking for stood out as much as you." As Discord searched for Twilight. Applejack, similar to Rainbow Dash, was kicking flank. Quite a few of them tried to tackle her all at once but she managed to force them all off and give them a good buck.
"Bring it on you varmints!" Applejack called out.
"Or you know you could all just give up," Fluttershy said. "I mean you know if you wanted to or wouldn't mind."
"Not interested." a rather creepy voice that seemed to come out of nowhere said.
"What the hey!?" Applejack said as she looked around and King Sombra appeared in front of them. Before she or Fluttershy could even say anything Sombra summoned a series of strange rocks that pushed them and the guards back.
"Nice work Sombra," Tirek said after making short work of more guards.
"Yes," Sombra replied in a rather echoing voice. "The capital will soon fall."
"And Equestria will be mine," Tirek said.
"You meant ours right?"
"Huh? Oh yes ours, forgive me force of habit from spending all that time in Tartarus all by myself."
"Yes I suppose." Sombra replied as he flew off but would keep a close eye on Tirek. Before long Twilight and the princesses got the civilians out and could finally join the fight with numerous guards that helped with the evacuation ready to back them up.
"It's time to make the changelings pay for what they did." Celestia said.
"Oh you just want to make the changelings pay? Well, that's rather fortunate," Discord said, hovering higher than Celestia and Luna. "For me anyway."
"Discord!" Celestia said. "Don't get confused, you're going to pay for what you did as well."
"Sorry I'm not here to fight, I'm just here to pick up a certain somepony," Discord said as he looked at Twilight. "There you are. Come on Twilight, let's go home before Celestia breaks your heart again."
"She's not going with you Discord!"
"You see that Twilight, now she's speaking for you when will it end with her?" Twilight remained silent as she had mixed feelings for the spirit of chaos who teleported right in front of her. "Come on, let's go."
"NO!" Celestia said as she teleported in front of her daughter. "You're not taking her from me again!"
"You pushed her away by yourself. You left her to rot in a cell, I rescued her and gave her a shoulder to cry on."
"Don't listen to him Twilight, you can't trust him."
"Why should she trust you any more than me? I was there for her when she needed me. You weren't!" Discord then used his chaos magic to summon a rather giant anvil to squish Celestia but Twilight summoned a shield to block it.
"No I'm not going to let you hurt her, no matter what she did this isn't the answer. What you're doing isn't solving anything."
"Of course it is Twilight," Chrysalis said as she arrived with Tirek and Sombra. "We're fulfilling our desire to rule over you."
"As we should." Tirek said.
"Perhaps some of us believe that more than others." Sombra whispered to Chrysalis, to her minor confusion.
"Hand over your magic!" Tirek ordered.
"You'll have to take them from us by force!" Luna replied.
"Fine with me," Tirek replied as he tried to blast Luna and Celestia. But when he saw Twilight and tried to blast her Discord summoned a barrier to protect Twilight. "Huh what are you doing? Why are you protecting these inferior creatures?"
"Twilight is not inferior."
"Well then get her out of the way!" Chrysalis ordered.
"All right, fine sheesh." Discord said as he tried to grab Twilight but she backed away.
"I'm not going with you!" Twilight said.
"Then you shall fall like all the other ponies here," Chrysalis said as she fired a beam straight at Twilight but Discord snapped his fingers and it turned into silly string.
"Chrysalis stop, I told you Twilight was the key to all this."
"This again he's turned into a broken record."
"No Chrysalis, he's good soft," Tirek said, who now in his fourth form restrained Discord. "He actually cares about these weak minded creatures who talk about friendship." Tirek then started to drain Discord's magic but Chrysalis stopped him.
"What are you doing? He's still our comrade."
"No he isn't, he's started to care for these ponies. He's a liability, we can't risk him going turncoat when we're so close to victory."
"So you decided to go turncoat first? That doesn't make sense even for me." Tirek then threw Discord to the ground and tried to capture the ponies around him but they slipped away, Twilight even managed to grab Discord and run off. Celestia and Luna ordered the guards to retreat while Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis made a mess of the capital. The royal sisters along with Twilight and the guards that could still fight met up with Shining Armor and Cadence who helped ponies get on several trains to the Crystal Empire.
"Why did you bring Discord Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"I don't know, it didn't feel right to just leave him there."
"He tried to attack me!"
"And then he defended me!"
"Sister!" Luna said as she got in the middle of Celestia and Twilight. "Now isn't the time for us to discuss this. We need to prepare. It won't take long for those villains to figure out where we retreated to. We can work out our personal dramas later."
"You're right sister, we'll need this time to think of a plan. But at least we don't have to worry about one of them at the moment." As the train made it's to the Crystal Empire Twilight was sitting alone in one of the seats when Shining Armor decided to sit next to her.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Look Twily, I know Princess Luna said to save our personal dramas for later, but I need to get this out of my system. I'm so sorry for what I did to you at the wedding, not a day goes by I haven't thought about what I did. And I know saying I'm sorry isn't nearly enough, but I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
"Why did you do what you did? You were supposed to be my big brother best friend forever?"
"I-I don't know Twily," Shining Armor answered rather hesitantly. He then got off the seat and left allowing Cadence to take his place.
"Twilight," Cadence said as she put her hoof gently on her back. "There's also something I want you to know too, the Cadence at the wedding wasn't me she was-"
"A changeling. Yeah I know when I was able to think more clearly I put two and two together."
"Wow, you always were a smart little pony."
"Funny enough when I was away I spent quite a bit of time with the changelings, they really aren't all that bad once you get to know them."
"Well whatever happens, I'm so glad you're back in my life when you were gone, my heart was broken and I don't think it ever got fixed." Cadence said as she put her hoof to her chest. "You're very special to me."
"I am?"
"Yes Twilight you are," Cadence said as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Cadence I'm so confused," Twilight said. "Discord made me hate, Forest made me less hateful, it feels like everypony else is in my head telling me how to feel. I think my head is going to explode." Cadence hugged Twilight when suddenly Chrysalis and a couple changelings attacked the trains. Suddenly a large can of bug spray came out of nowhere and forced them to retreat.
"Well it looks like I'm not completely useless," Discord said. "When Chrysalis interrupted Tirek she must have stopped him from taking all of my magic."
"Which means you can help us fight back?"
"Yes Twilight, and so can you I gave you some of my chaos magic as well remember? The two of us will be quite formidable."
"Wait Twilight, why should we trust him, he's the one behind this whole tragedy?" Celestia pointed out.
"Come now princess, I can't take all of the credit you helped too."
"He's right," Twilight said. "He filled my head and heart with hate using what happened to me as a starting point."
"Yes I tried to twist you into the perfect weapon for Celestia's undoing, but I didn't realize I would start to care for you as much as I did. But how could I not, what with all the time we spent together and all the time I spent in your head."
"But why help now?" Forest asked.
"Well Tirek figured I'd betray them eventually, so I might as well and despite all our time together Chrysalis didn't lift a hoof to help me, or make any real effort to stop Tirek from taking my magic. So I guess payback is another reason."
"Well if you want to help that's fine we're gonna need all the help we can get," Fluttershy said as she flew over to Discord. "Maybe after all this we can be friends."
"Friends? After everything I've done, you want to be friends?"
"Sure," Pinkie Pie said, agreeing with Fluttershy as she hopped over to Discord. "Being friends is way better than enemies. You don't go to parties with enemies."
"You know it's funny I spend so much time watching you ponies looking down on all of you, but when I finally got closer I see you're more than what I made you out to be. Does that even make any sense, even by my standards?"
"Actually it does," Forest said as he put his hoof on Discord's shoulder. "Maybe you and I should talk."
***
When the trains stopped at the Crystal Empire a plan was quickly put into motion, Shining Armor put up a barrier around the empire. With Discord mostly depowered and on their side they only had three threats: the changelings, Tirek, and Sombra. "Shining Armor can repel the changelings with his spell like that time," Cadence said.
"Speaking of last time, could you use the Crystal Heart to stop Sombra?" Luna asked.
"Yes I believe so," Cadance said.
"Then that just leaves Tirek," Celestia said.
"You leave him to me," Forest said as he approached the princess to their surprise.
"How are you going to defeat him?" Luna asked.
"Just like last time and just like Sombra, the Crystal Heart."
"Are you sure Forest?"
"Yes mo- yes Princess Celestia, I've always had a thing with magical items. Maybe it's because my power used to come from some kind of core, maybe those items somehow act as a substitute allowing me to use them so well. But whatever the reason, I just what to set things right and make the horrible future I witnessed not happen."
"Then let's get ready," Celestia said so Luna and Cadence flew up but Celestia stayed to put her hoof around Forest's neck. "And after all this, I'm okay with you calling me mom." Forest then made it to the Crystal Heart but started to tremble a bit.
"You okay?" Pinkie asked as she went to see how Forest was feeling.
"I'm scared, if we don't win there's no do-over."
"But Discord is on our side now, that's a major difference right?"
"But what if the other bad guys give him another chance and he takes it. We couldn't stop him last time. What if I somehow do get sent back in time but I'm never able to stop them. I could for all eternity-" Forest stopped Pinkie Pie wrapped herself around him for a hug.
"That stinkin thinkin is started to smell something fierce." Pinkie Pie let go as she saw Forest calmed down.
"Thank you."
"No problem. We're gonna give this our A game. So let's stop the bad guys and save the future."
"Yeah!" Forest agreed.
"Let's take them down."
"Yeah!"
"No regrets!"
"Yeah!" Forest said and suddenly kissed Pinkie who returned the kiss. After that everypony along with Discord and Spike got ready as the enemy forces were just outside the barrier.
"I figured they would do this," Chrysalis said.
"Do what?"
"Shining Armor put up his protective spell across the entire empire. It will take some time for us to break it."
"It's a good thing you went through all the trouble of getting every changeling for this attack, even the injured ones." Tirek said.
"Yes, every little bit will help in their defeat."
"On that we can agree on." Tirek then turned around and took the magic from not only Chrysalis, but her entire changeling army, making him bigger and stronger. He also took Sombra's magic as well taking his entirety with him. Not that he cared as he got all the more stronger as well as giving him a bit of a shadowy aura.
"What, what are you doing?" Chrysalis asked as she laid down in the snow unable to move.
"I made myself much stronger making it all the more easier to defeat these ponies and when I do I don't have to share my victory with you it's a win win."
"We were supposed to be comrades."
"You hardly cared when I did the same to Discord. Why should you be surprised?"
"Wow that's great," one lookout crystal guard who saw what happened said to another crystal guard. "Well I mean not for them, but for us because now we just have one enemy to beat. And since he's so big he'll be super hard to miss so maybe this won't be as hard as-" the guard was cut off when Tirek blasted Shining's Armor's spell and destroyed it entirely with a single attack. "Never mind."
"It was a somewhat pleasant thought though," the other crystal guard said.
"So much power and I haven't even taken the alicorn's magic yet. But I will soon." Tirek then made his way further into the Crystal Empire leaving the changelings in the snow.
"This can't be how it ends for me and my subjects," Chrysalis said as she struggled to get up but was powerless. "This can't be the end." Suddenly Chrysalis was teleported inside the Crystal Empire along with a small group of changelings.
"Thought this would be a better place for you to lay down," Discord said as he used what little chaos magic he had to bring some more changelings out of the snow. "Or at the very least warmer."
"Discord? W-why are you helping me? Why are you helping us?" Chrysalis asked.
"Because that's what friends do."
"Friends?"
"Yes, after everything I've done for them they still offer me friendship. And even when things seem hopeless they continue on, I guess they're stronger than we gave them credit for." As Discord and a couple ponies helped the changelings out of the snow, Tirek made his way further into the Crystal Empire that thankfully was evacuated earlier.
"Give me your magic!" Tirek said as he tried to blast Celestia who flew out of the way.
"You will not prevail, Tirek."
"And just what are you going to do to stop me? I'm already more powerful than even you could hope to be."
"And yet you still want more, how much is enough for you?"
"Enough for me to become the most powerful creature in this or any other land." Tirek then blasted several more buildings trying to get the princesses and along the way forced Twilight off a building she was on, forcing her to the ground. Several of her friends made their way towards Twilight to help her, those ponies being Applejack despite her feelings towards Twilight, Rainbow Dash who took a beating from Chrysalis but could still fight and her brother Shining Armor who made a small barrier to protect her as Tirek was about to step on Twilight. "What the?"
"You'll have to do better than that!" Shining Armor cried out.
"Uh, maybe don't antagonize the giant centaur." Applejack said.
"You haven't seen a fraction of my best!" Tirek said as he started stomping on the shield Shining Armor made that endured.
"You mean the best built from all the magic you stole?" Rainbow Dash asked which annoyed Tirek causing him to stomp on the shield more.
"Nice work Rainbow!" Applejack said.
"Twilight I'm sorry." Shining Armor said out of nowhere, surprising the three mares while making sure the barrier stayed up.
"What?" Twilight said.
"On the train I said I didn't know why I acted the way I did, I was lying. When mom and dad died I was in a dark place. And after Princess Celestia took us in, she favored you more, it might have been because you were still so young and she felt you needed more attention while I was almost out of school. But all the same, I was jealous of you Twilight."
"You were?" Twilight said, shocked while neither her or Rainbow noticed how much Applejack was taking what Shining Armor said to heart.
"Yes no matter what I did it seemed like I could never step out of your shadow, No matter what I did you were always the talented one. You were the apple of Celestia's eye, I think even Cadence liked you more than me."
"Why won't this break already," Tirek said as he stomped harder.
"I was so happy for the wedding, it was my special day and my jealousy blinded me to the truth." The barrier then started to crack but Shining focused more and sealed the cracks then started to talk much faster. "Even if Discord didn't take you away you probably would have left anyway. If I wasn't so obsessed with my wedding you never would have got taken away and I never would have lost you. I learned a valuable lesson that day, family comes first. It's nice to have a special day but the ponies in your life who love you, that's what you should really appreciate and that's what I promised I'd put first if we ever found you."
"Shining," Twilight said when suddenly she and her friends were engulfed in a magic aura. "Shining, what are you doing?"
"Keeping my promise, I love you Twily." Shining Armor then teleported the three mares to a nearby street corner just as the barrier broke. Shining Armor was then lifted up by Tirek until they were face to face.
"Where are the other ponies that were with you?" Tirek asked but Shining Armor was silent. Won't talk? Then I guess you'll have to do for the moment," Tirek then stole Shining Armor's magic.
"You're pathetic."
"What?" Tirek said clearly angered by Shining Armor's comment.
"You could take all the magic in all the world and that still wouldn't be enough for you. Nothing is ever enough for you, and the worst part is not too long ago I was sort of like you."
"You pathetic creatures are nothing like me!"
"We're more like you than you'd ever admit. It's funny as we planned our defense here I figured you were our worst threat, but now that I've gotten a close look at the emptiness in your eyes I actually pity you." Tirek then clenched his fists and then blasted Shining Armor, obliterating him to everypony's horror.
"Good riddance."
"N-O!" Cadance cried out as she flew over to Tirek in rage until Celestia and Luna, who finished clearing the mess and helping those hurt by the mess Tirek made, held her back. But that allowed him to grab all three princesses.
"This ends now!" Tirek called out.
"On that we can agree!" Forest said having finally made his way through and got close enough to Tirek. "You could grow to the size of a planet and still not be more powerful as us for we posses the greatest-"
"Speech later beat Tirek now!" Pinkie Pie interrupted Forest, so he fired the Crystal Heart right at Tirek causing to not only scream in pain but also shrink allowing the princesses to get free.
"How can this be?"
"I get it," one of the guards from before said. "Tirek absorbed King Sombra who is weak to the Crystal Heart so that means that now he's especially vulnerable-"
"EXPLAIN LATER BEAT TIREK NOW!" The guard next to him interrupted. Forest then used the Crystal Heart again causing Tirek to shrink once again, but Forest collapsed after using the heart several times.
"Forest are you okay?" Pinkie asked.
"Kind of, using the Crystal Heart like this is taking a lot out of me. I need a minute."
"Well let's hope you have one." Tirek, now in his third form, got up and resisted the pain.
"I, I need more magic." Tirek then looked around and saw Twilight helping several guards move what was left on the rubble. "Perfect," Tirek said as he grabbed Twilight with his magic. But before he could do anything else a rather large pie landed right on him making him let go of Twilight. "What the?"
"Banana cream, do you like it?"
"Discord! I knew you'd betray us."
"Yes, your self fulfilling prophecy came true." Discord then snapped her fingers and streamers surrounded Tirek. "Aw nuts, I was going for chains." Suddenly the streamer turned into chains trapping Tirek.
"Like that?" Twilight asked and Discord was quite proud of her. Tirek broke free and fired a magical blast straight at Twilight, but Discord got in front of her and summoned a shield that broke right away, causing him to take most of the attack to protect Twilight.
"DISCORD!" Twilight said as she ran over to him in tears. Tirek then absorbed the magic of the nearby ponies while Discord wiped the tears from Twilight's eyes.
"Nopony ever cried for me," Discord said.
"Forest, Tirek is getting bigger, you have to fire again," Pinkie Pie said.
"I don't think I can," Forest answered, barely able to stand. Tirek was about to absorb more but then Chrysalis having regained her magic led her army to attack Tirek and the princesses helped as well. "But I have to," Forest said after seeing the changelings attack. "Crystal Heart if you have to, take everything I have to offer."
"What?" Pinkie asked.
"Just as long as we can save the future for everypony, and make sure the magic of friendship, LIVES ON! IF IT COSTS ME MY LIFE THEN IT'S ALL WORTH IT!" Forest then fired his last shot that hit Tirek dead on and forced him to release nearly all of the magic he stole.
"No it can't be!" Tirek said back to his regular form.
"Oh it's about to get worse for you." Sombra said, still inside Tirek whose body started to turn to stone and crumble away, in mere moments he was a pile of rocks. The last few bits of magic he had flew off and the rubble became dust that would scatter to the winds.
"He's gone!" a crystal guard called out.
"We're saved, we're saved!" another cried. News of Tirek's defeat soon got to the whole empire and nearly everypony cheered. Spike was so happy they won he picked up Rarity and gave her the most passionate kiss he could who shrugged and returned it.
It's been a rough few days, I'll let him have this, Rarity thought. Oh! Watch the tongue Spikey Wikey. But not all were happy such as Twilight.
"C-can't you just heal yourself with your magic?" She asked while in tears.
"Not for something like this," Discord said as he placed his claw on Twilight's cheek wiping away more of her tears. "I'm sorry Twilight, I'm sorry for everything."
"I, forgive you," Twilight said and suddenly she felt a surge of chaos flow into her. "What the? What did you do?"
"It's yours now, use it better than I did." Elsewhere Pinkie Pie was trying to help Forest who couldn't move after using the Crystal Heart to defeat Tirek.
"He'll be all right right?"
"I don't know, using the heart like that seems to have taken a lot out of him," Cadence said as she and Luna went to check on him.
"Yes, especially in that last blast that took Tirek down to size, no pun intended." Luna said.
"Does that mean I stopped him?"
"Yes Forest you saved the day," Pinkie Pie said as she held him up a little.
"I did it, I did it," Forest said as he cried tears of joy. "I stopped him, I saved the future, I'm so happy," Forest said shortly before he closed his eyes for the final time.
"No, wake up Forest please wake up," Pinkie Pie said as she started to cry and her usually puffy mane became straight. "No it's not fair you barely made friends with anypony, it's not fair it's just not fair."
***
Forest, Shining Armor, and Discord were all buried at the Crystal Empire while many considered this to be a triumph, the victory at the Crystal Empire was bittersweet at best. Applejack decided to leave Ponyville for a while, maybe look for another place to make yet another apple farm for her family. She wasn't ready to face Twilight just yet, but was determined to seek things right with her one day. Pinkie Pie put off parties for a while to grief over Forest, only time would heal the wounds they carried.
Spike however continued to fawn over Rarity and even helped her reopen a shop in Manehattan.
"Thank you so much for all the help Spikey Wikey."
"Happy to help."
"Well I'm quite grateful all the same," Rarity said. Suddenly Spike wrapped his arms around one of Rarity's legs.
"No really, I'm really really really happy to help you." Spike said as he hugged a little tighter.
"That's quite a strong grip for an adorable little dragon."
"Oh I'm super tough, trust me." Spike said as he let go and showed off his muscles. Rarity knew Spike was a tad young for her, but she couldn't deny how much she liked him. And when he came of age she believed she would become quite fond of him. Spike would also make sure to visit Twilight every once in a while who was spending most of her time with Cadance. She would use her unique magic to help Twilight out with the mental issues she brought up on the train.
"So you and Shining Armor never got married?" Twilight asked as she and Cadance were sort of having a picnic at a Canterlot park.
"No, we wanted to find you first. Though in all honesty I wasn't sure I would have gone through with it when we did."
"What do you mean?"
"It's hard to explain, over time we just kind of drifted apart."
"I see."
"So are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I'm better now thanks to you." Twilight answered as she used her newly acquired chaos magic to make a drink for Cadance appear.
"My you're really getting the hang of that, but you always were a fast learner."
"Yeah," Twilight said sadly, seeing that Cadance put her hoof and wing around Twilight. "He did horrible things and tried to brainwash me, but he helped us and gave me his magic to use for good. That has to count for something right?"
"Right. Sombra helped us too. I forgot to tell you this before, an old friend of his returned and helped Sombra become a pony like you and me, well not me."
"I get it, how did it happen?"
"Well, it's quite a long story." Twilight then got closer to Cadence. "But something tells me you don't mind."
"Nope," Twilight then got a little more comfortable and rested her head on Cadence's chest. "Cadence, despite all that's happened, I'm glad you're still in my life."
"Me too," Cadence replied as she rested her head on top of Twilight's. Meanwhile Celestia watched them from afar along with Chrysalis. After the defeat of Tirek the changelings were surprisingly open to peace between their races. The ponies gave them a chance and before long the ponies got the changelings to accept love, including Chrysalis who spent most of her time with Celestia to help each other run their nations.
"You're spying on Twilight again." Chrysalis said.
"I can't help it, I'm determined to be a much better mother to her. I will be a better mother for you Twilight I swear."
"I suppose I understand, I'm determined to be a better queen."
"Well you've been doing a very good job so far."
"Yes, most of that is thanks to you, you make me want to be better. You make me want other things as well." Chrysalis then grabbed Celestia's hoof and her head slowly approached Celestia's.
"Wait," Celestia said. "This might be a little too fast."
"Ssh," Chrysalis said as her lips were slightly touching Celestia's. "I'll be gentle, I swear." Their lips then connected and they used their magic to lock the doors and close the windows.
The End
Author's Note
The 1st 2 stories ended on a song so to speak so why not this one too?
