Everyone stared at where Toby and Discord vanished into one of Elfilis's portals. Some didn't know what to say, some didn't know what to hope for, and others were totally lost. Fortunately, only moments after Elfilis himself disappeared, all of Discord's actions came undone. Five ponies and one changeling stumbled as they fell from cages that no longer existed, one Princess took a deep breath of relief as her countenance turned from stone to flesh and fur, and one studious unicorn awkwardly waved a golden changeling goodbye as he shrunk back down into a baby. An entire city slowly recovered as animated objects became still once more and various curses and effects imposed on the citizens were cured almost instantly.

Storo the mouse stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead as the airship he had been grappling the legs of came to a stop and finally allowed Daroach to check on Doc, Spinni, and the many Squeakers of the Squeak Squad. He turned to the flying man in a red cape who had helped hold down the ship and gave him a nod of appreciation. A man in a full red suit ran in faster than Storo could blink, casually greeting Superman as if it was a normal day. It reminded the big rodent of Spini.

"Hey Supes. Looks like the big deer man did it. You wanna go home or should we run a lap to make sure I didn't miss any ponies that are stuck in trees or something?"

"I think I should help the 'Squeak Squad' here with getting their ship back in its proper place, but if you want to check one last time for anyone else stuck in a weird situation I think that would be appreciated."

"The 'Squeak Squad?' I take back anything I ever said about the 'Justice League.' Meet back up at the castle? Ten bucks says that's where the big brawl went down."

"That's a suckers bet Flash."

Back at said castle, Princess Celestia was fretting over Aurum, making sure that there were no lingering effects from his peculiar transformation. While she was busy, the Element Bearers all grouped up, happy to see eachother safe and sound.

"Oh my gosh! That was awesome Twilight!" Rainbow smiled even as Pinkie Pie jumped in front of her.

"Yeah! The big meanie was all 'grrrr' and Elfilis was all like 'Oh shit' and then you just jumped in and were all like 'Dragons are my bitches' and then he exploded!" Twilight smiled uncomfortably before trying to correct her.

"That's not what I... Oh whatever. I'm just glad you're all safe. I was so scared! I was just... and then everything started... I didn't know what to do!" Princess Luna watched as the brave unicorn broke down in front of her friends. She was very impressed by her sister's student, and the image of her crying while all her friends tried to calm her down and reassure her didn't diminish that respect in the slightest.

This was the pony who was willing to face Nightmare Moon alone if she had too. The pony that took a leap of faith to trust five other ponies when it was needed the most. The pony who pulled off a spell of ludicrous power in mere moments when the Gala was attacked, and not even days later was pushing her recovering magic to its limits maintaining a spell of her own creation that allowed her to hide from Discord. Luna was going to have to ask Celestia how she found such an outstanding young mare. But she had other things to focus on. Carina very unsubtlely cleared her throat to gain the younger Princesse's attention.

"Yes, Carina? Is there something you need?"

"Don't patronize me," Whoops, that wasn't the tone she was aiming for. "you're the only one who can check on Elfilis right now."

"Apologies. You are right, but I'm afraid that if I enter the Dream I will not be coming out for awhile."

"Huh? Why not? You going to try to steal him away for yourself?" Luna smirked as Carina tried to wiggle her eyebrows, but she could tell the mare wasn't entirely joking.

"No. My body is... not well at the moment." She jumped, undoubtedly worsening her condition, as an unfamiliar voice called down from above her.

"That's an understatement." Luna, and the rest of the ponies for that matter, all looked on in confusion at Superman. After all, the only human they know is Professor Oak, so this flying man in tights was especially odd to them. Nevermind the fact that he wasn't actually human, but they didn't know that. "You have a major break in your back left leg, massive swelling and blockage of blood vessels in your front left leg, bruises all over your front and a neat crack right along your upper jaw. I'm impressed you're still standing."

"Ah, thank you?" Luna didn't go much farther before Celestia rushed up to her, baby Aurum latched onto the back of her neck.

"Luna! I knew it was bad, why didn't you say anything! What did Discord do?!"

"Tia, please, I know. I'll be okay. I had a very rude awakening, between being forced from Elfilis's Dream and the 'pranks' Discord left me with. The migraine was unbearable, I could barely think, barely see through the tears in my eyes. But I knew something was wrong, and I got desperate, so I... turned off the pain?"

"What?! Luna!"

"Yes, I know! It was a very rash decision. But Discord was free and there was chaos in the halls and I couldn't just lay in bed and wallow!" The flying man interjected at this point.

"You hurt yourself more by trying to get around without a sense of pain, didn't you?" Luna reluctantly nodded.

"Yes, it isn't possible to remove pain without also removing many of the safety limits your mind always has in place. To say nothing of how hard it was to turn corners while I couldn't feel the ground under my hooves."

"I really would suggest getting medical attention at this time. I know you all have magic, but if this seems like something you will need help with the Justice League would be willing to offer as much as we can. As soon as we find Elfilis anyway..." Celestia made Luna sit down as she began casting healing spells, but she still allowed her sister to ask Superman questions.

"I thank you, but I am afraid we have never heard of the Justice League. Am I right in assuming that Elfilis brought you here from another world?"

"Yes, though I think it was mostly an accident in his part. I didn't think he was going to leave so soon and I stepped up to him as he opened the portal on himself. There is one more with me, Flash. He's the fastest man alive, he should join us soon. So, where is Elfilis? He is our ticket home after all." Luna sighed and prepared to drop the spell that was keeping her concious.

"He is in his Dream at the moment. I am going to check on him now, but if he can't leave for any reason I won't be able to be able to get back to you about how he is until I wake up again. So no sedatives." She said that last part to her sister, who frowned at her but let it go for the moment. Superman just sighed.

"Well, hopefully he's okay and isn't busy with anything. Let him know there's no hard feelings if he can't come back for us yet, it was our choice to stick around and help. We do need to get home sooner rather than later though."

"I will let him know." Luna winced, dropped the spell and-

I was having the most difficult time with Discord's bullshit. First of all, whatever the gunk was that I felt on his mind was apparently oozing out from somewhere deeper inside. He was only knocked out and under my control so long as I was in the Dream with him, so I literally had to either cure the festering mind wound or I had to push him back into the 'real world' and hope that the others had found the Elements of Harmony by then. I had Discord's memories of planning to hide the Elements, and even I didn't know what he eventually did with them. That meant I played it safe and kept him in here with me while I tried to help him. Everything got weirder from there.

At some point I thought to myself, 'Man, this is a pain trying to do everything based on feeling. If only I could see what I was doing.' Discord apparently decided that meant he should fucking disintigrate into Dream Matter and leave behind only a large ball of silver liquid. It was always flowing into itself and had ugly black pus bubbling up in places. I just stared for a good moment before turning to Toby, who was just watching with a frown on his face.

"Did I just rip out his Soul? Have I been messing with Souls this whole time instead of minds? Is there a difference? How much did I just fuck up?" Toby just shrugged, which was enough movement to put him into a slow spin, and I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Fine. This is salvageable. Magalor came back from being a Soul-form, Marx might've done something similar, so Discord isn't dead. Just... Corporeally-challenged." I pondered what to do next for a couple of seconds, just stewing in the silence.

"... So, Discord is apparently following Kirby rules. That means... what? His body was apparently made of Dream Matter, and I now have his Soul Matter here. Supposedly he has Heart Matter somewhere in this mess and I should probably treat all this gunk as Dark Matter." I felt Toby float onto my head and take hold of my antlers. "Now... Dark Matter in the games was usually fucked up by friendship and love, but the rules are played fast and loose. Gooey is Dark Matter but he converted when he was somehow exposed to positivity, but other Dark Matters just exploded. Nevermind the fact that I don't want this crap to explode..."

"Elfilis...? Ugh... Sorry, are you alright? Where is Discord." I turned to see Luna tiredly float her way over to me. It was worrying, as i don't think she'd ever looked tired in the Dream before.

"Uh, he's..." I pointed my hands at the Soul in exasperation. "Here, I guess."

"Hm? Is he imprissoned in there? What is it?"

"Well, no. That is Discord. His Soul, to be specific..."

"...Elfilis?"

"Yes...?"

"That's terrifying." I groaned out loud as Toby giggled at me.

"It was an accident! Which doesn't make it better, but still! He isn't dead, and this is probably my best bet at helping him."

"Yes, about that..." Luna looked uncomfortable with the prospect, and I didn't blame her. She didn't get to see what I saw. "Are you sure... Is he like the Nightmare and not just...? Guh, answer the question, you know what I am trying say." I nodded, though I wasn't sure how to describe my feelings on the matter. It came to me pretty quickly though.

"So all that Dark Matter here? It was put there by Starswirl-"

"I will tear them out by the roots and burn them in the depths of Tartarus." I knew I could count on her.

It was hours later, leaving Celestia alone in the throne room as she tried to stave off a headache. Luna was in medical, as was Twilight and the Elements and Cadence insisted on taking Aurum off the princess's hooves. Reconstruction efforts were relatively painless, with the worst of the damage being scattered items in the streets and a broken window or two on most streets. The worst of it fixed itself after Discord's defeat. She knew she was assuming he was defeated, but she had faith in both Elfilis and her sister to keep things handled while they were both in their 'element' as it were. Truthfully? Her headache was from other ponies.

The nobility raised a fuss about how their belongings should be recovered before anypony else's, and it didn't matter how many times she explained that wasn't even logistically possible. Celestia only got them to stop with help from Superman and the Flash, with them agreeing to pretend to be foreign diplomats. The nobles ate up the story with gusto, and last she saw was the man in blue straining to keep a smile on his face as pompous ponies fought to convince him who was the most rich and important among them. Luckily, it appeared she would be able to send him and his friend back home soon. Celestia smiled as Elfilis appeared from a portal, actively yawning as his wings drooped from his hunched over head.

"Long night?"

"Mm. You're welcome by the way." Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Thank you Elfilis, truly. I was going to say that after I got you to see to your wounds." Elfilis just groaned when he looked down to see the various places Discords claws and scales had cut into him.

"Later, that'll have to come later. There is still so much to do before I can let myself pass out."

"It is alright to take a break, is it not? Discord isn't still a threat is he?" The princess sincerely hoped not. She let her chest relax as he shook his head.

"No, but we have to talk about that. Discord I mean, and Luna reminded me I have to send the heroes back home, and we should probably discuss what we learned about the fabric of reality. Most importantly though..." He yawned again, leaving Celestia in suspense. What was more important than knowledge on how the very world around them worked? "-aaaaah. Most importantly I have to sleep with Carina." Oh. Of course.

Author's Note

Got a sadness infection, all better now. On more serious notes, calm chapters are hard to write into after climatic events and things will be calmer for awhile. For realsies. Im not gonna start season 2 with Starswirl riding into ponyville on Tireks back or anything.