Luna, Celestia, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and over 120 ponies have been marching through downtown Canterlot for over 15 minutes since Celestia lost her horn and wings.

Anytime they were ambushed or attacked the violence ended within seconds. Not a single injury on either side. How? It’s simple.

Inspiration. Some would give it a different name, perhaps.

Any would-be attacker simply gazed upon the massive group and instantly realized how the cards had been laid out. Four of the six elements and two of the Princesses are just minutes away from the castle with an entourage rivaling the size of an entire platoon of guards.

In the face of fear and certain death all it takes is seeing that the path to victory is not impossible. It’s why hope is the one thing all villains and oppressors fear. Even Gods are not immune to this fear.

As Discord observed from beyond the Material Plane the group marched and 70 became 90. Then 90 became 100. 100 became 120, and an uncomfortable pit had begun to form in the draconequus’ gut. The castle was within sight now and 120 had grown even further to 200. Words were no longer even required to sway the hearts of those approaching with malicious intent.

They just moved forward undeterred and ponies popped up from rubble and alleys, silently regaining their colors as they joined the group and continued forward. Discord finally stirred and decided to move into action once more. Afterall, he was also a participant in this game.

He just hadn’t been a very active one so far.

“I still have my final obstacle. I made sure to send well over 200 ponies to the castle. Even if they have the capability to overcome that obstacle they don’t have the time. The delicious irony for the Princesses that once again time is the enemy even they cannot defeat to save their little ponies.” That pit of uncomfortability flared up in the Gods stomach. The unshaking feeling in the back of someone's mind that says, “Something’s off.”

No longer able to ignore that whisper of doubt, Discord slithers into nonexistence and appears inside the castle. That uncomfortable feeling finally bubbles to the surface and evolves into true fear. Every single pony outside the castle, in the lobby, throughout the first and second floors is lying on the floor unconscious.

Turning his head to the sound of hooves on stone he finds the massive group of ponies just another minute or so away from reaching the main gate of the castle. Turning serious for only the second time in his entire life the Chaos deity raises his awareness to observe the entire city. He knows where four of the elements are, but where are the other two?
Time remaining until Canterlot reaches Ponyville shelter camp: 30 minutes.

“Wait, what are you doing here?! No no that’s not even the right question. HOW did you get here?” Ignis raises his voice in genuine shock as he arrives at the vault room of the elements. His breathing sounding slightly winded from continually fighting and clearing the entire castle of hostiles.

“Ooooooh! That’s a good question! What AM I doing here? I think I’m supposed to be here? What are YOU doing here, mister? Hmmm? You ever think of that?” A certain pony replies with a disturbing level of nonchalance.

“Pinkie I’m serious! There were at least 150 ponies here waiting on you or your friends! How did you get past all of them?”

“I didn’t get past them silly! Mister meanie pants snapped his magic and BOOM I was here!” The mare moves her hooves around pointing all over the room in exaggerated motions as she talks. “Wait! Did you kill all of those ponies?! That’s not nice!”

“No! I didn’t kill anyone. Well, I killed one of them. I knocked out the rest of them though. I can’t believe how lucky you are to have just been teleported straight here to the vault room. Seriously what the fuck?”

“Well I wouldn’t say it was luck. I noticed everypony was popping like Twilight does when she teleports and I was like “oooo am I gunna teleport?” and then I was like “Well if I’m gunna teleport I wanna go to the castle so I don’t have to walk!” and then I went pop and I was here!”

The elf just stares at her with a blank look, completely dumbfounded. Did she… did she exert her will on the weave as Discord teleported her? That shouldn’t be possible right? Right…?

“Oh! Wait I just realized, you’re not the scary shadow thing anymore! Does that mean… oh no. Does that mean the Princess is dead?” Pinkie starts to literally deflate as air comes out of her ears and her mane starts to sink and droop like a bouncy castle with a hole in it.

“No. I overcame the creature that was possessing me, but she did sustain some injuries. I managed to heal her enough to stabilize her though.”

“Yippie!” Just like that she’s back in the air and bouncing around. “Does that mean you saw my friends? I was going to go look for them but I got worried I’d get lost and then I wouldn’t be able to get back. That made me scared that I’d be the reason we’d fail and then all my friends would laugh at me like the last time we played a game with Mr. Meanie Pants, and I didn’t wanna go through that again so I just stayed here.”

“No, I haven't seen any of them. Luna and Celestia sent me here to make sure this place would be safe when your friends arrived and they went to go find the others. They should be here any minute now though.” Sitting down on the floor Ignis puts his palms down on the stone and leans back onto his hands. Letting out a huge sigh. “Gods above it’s been a long week.”

“You can say that again!” The earth pony plops down next to the elf and after her statement she just stares at him, expectantly. He stares back with some confusion, eventually tilting his head. “Well? Are you gunna say it again? I said you could.”

The absurdity of the entire conversation finally breaks him from his serious mood and for what feels like the first time in forever the elf laughs. Not just a chuckle or a snort of air from his nose, but a full on belly laugh. Nearly falling onto his back as he places his hand against his eyes and looks up. “Gods above, it has BEEN A LONG WEEK!”

Both of them are laughing now as Ignis caves and plays along with saying the phrase again. Pinkie starts to say something but suddenly shoots into the air as her entire body starts to spasm. “WooOOaH, THIS Is a DOoZy~~”

“Are you having a stroke? Wait, I think you did this in the Everfree back on my first day here too. It’s your Pinkie sense right?”

“Yeah and this one is bad! I don’t even know what this one means, but it’s really bad! The only thing I recognized was that it’s below me and it’s bad. I think my friends are in trouble below us!”

Ignis got up and walked up to one of the stained windows looking out over the main gate and his eyes widened in shock.

“Fuck.”

As the massive group of ponies approached the main gate they’re stopped when Discord appears in the air above them laughing maniacally. “Ahh hahaha! You ponies actually think you have a chance?”

“We won’t be stalled by your words, fiend. Let’s keep moving everypony!” Luna shouts at the creature and the group takes a few steps forward.

“Now now, I think all of you loyal citizens want to hear what I have to say. You’re all here because you think these heroes have a chance. You think they can save you. I guarantee if you knew what I knew, you’d all turn on these so-called heroes. In fact would you all like to make a wager?”

“Don’t listen to him, my little ponies! He’s just backed into a corner and afraid! He’s doing this because he knows we’re going to beat his game!” Celestia noticed the hesitation in the group and tried with everything she had to keep them moving forward. But, it wasn’t enough. Her heart absolutely sank as only 30% of the group started moving again.

Seeing his opportunity Discord pounced and snapped his talons. Directly into the minds of every single pony that didn’t continue moving he broadcasted just a single image. Within seconds the color drained from every single pony that was shown the image. Any hope of victory was shattered in an instant at what they saw. Unfortunately this magic also compelled them to keep silent about what they were shown. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem except that every single pony that was shown the image gave up hope. Of the original 215, 190 were shown the image and all 190 turned against the group.

Perhaps that's for the best though. For, if any of them had resisted the despair and told the Princesses or the guards what they saw it might’ve caused even the alicorns to give up.

Several seconds of terror passed as the 25 ponies left stared with wide eyes at the massive group turning and surrounding them. An instant later and it devolved into a full on brawl as the draconequus conjured popcorn and watched the chaos with a hearty laugh.

With everyone robbed of their magic and wings the ensuing fight can only be a slaughter. As the brawl starts Celestia orders everyone to surround the elements and try to slowly move through the melee towards the castle. Luna loses her cool and starts to go into a frenzy, clearing a small path for the bearers to try and escape the mob.

Hooves, bricks, and spheres are flying in every direction and within minutes it seems all hope is lost. A rogue brick bounces off of Luna's head and a few seconds later a spear embeds itself into Celestia's barrel.

The solar alicorn is in a much worse state as she nearly collapses on the spot, her breathing extremely labored. A bright red streak of blood is a glaring contrast to Lunas fur as it runs down the side of her head and neck. All four of the element bearers are also covered in minor wounds as they try to help and shield Celestia. Luna only goes into an even more frenzied state.

All of the commotion dies as there’s a bright flash of light accompanied by the sound of glass breaking. Everyone looks up into the air to see Ignis falling through the air aiming straight for the center of the mob.

Luna lets out a gasp as she notices he isn’t flying. Mainly because he just jumped from the highest level of the castle and is falling over 100 feet easily. A golden glow starts to emanate from the elf as he gets closer to the ground and his long fiery hair melts together into an ethereal fiery mane, similar to Daybreaker.

“All of you get to the vault room. I’ll handle this.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone. I just got you back and I’m not going to abandon you here and risk losing you again!” Luna yells up at the elf, completely failing to notice another large rock flying towards the back of her head.

“It’s the ponies you should be worried about. It’ll be nearly one versus two hundred so I can’t afford to not use my Bladesong. But, I’m not sure how well I can hold back my blows while I’m in this state. I doubt I can be gentle, so you should worry about these fools instead.”

He reaches out with his hand and catches the stone in his telekinesis before throwing it back at the pony it originated from. Luna wants to argue further but finds that she can’t find fault in his statements. Looking at her sister with worry Luna finally concedes that other things take precedence right now. She trusts him to take care of himself.

Ignis reaches out with his telekinesis again and surprises everyone as suddenly a massive pocket in the mob opens and the 25 ponies find themselves no longer under attack. The elf lands next to the small group and slowly scans around casting a cold stare at all of the attackers.

Everyone there can only stare in awe. The presence they’re feeling right now is one they’ve never felt from the elf. Instead of an intimidating and heavy pressure signaling for them to run or fight a predator stalking them from nearby, they all feel a regal presence. Everyone except the princesses feel slightly insignificant, like they should cast their gazes to the ground. Luna takes note of his posture, and how he’s standing proud.

I’ve never seen him like this before…it’s almost like he’s royalty. Is this what the presence of an elven noble is supposed to feel like? But why is he only exhibiting this presence now? She thinks to herself as she tries to help her sister stand. Once Celestia is standing Ignis turns and looks at the gate of the castle. With slow deliberate steps he places a hand on the side of Lunas head and casts Cure Wounds, healing her. Then doing the same to Celestia. Once that’s done he leans down and places a soft kiss on his Goddesses head where her horn would be.

Then he looks at the ponies blocking the way to the castle and calmly utters one word.

“Move.” With a single phrase the crowd parts and all 25 ponies start to slowly move through the opening towards the castle. Looking around confused and amazed at what’s happening right now. Then it happens. The sky grows dark and the moon rises up over the horizon.

“Symphony of Steel.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns9dhhEW1mE

The fiery ethereal mane turns into the same silver cloud that Ignis had when he used this technique the first time against Discord.

Maybe I’m colorblind. Don’t know where I lost the colors.

The entire group of 190 take a hesitant step backwards away from the elf as he looks around at them once more.

I only see black and white.

Can’t help but to think of it.

Something that hasn’t happened in a while happens again. The bladesong feeds a series of images into every single creature's mind as they all stand there. Including the bearers, the alicorns, and the guards that are making their way into the castle.

But it all comes back when the moon gets low, dancing in the afterglow.

It’s a short memory from the elfs dream, where he was dancing with Nightmare Moon in an empty ballroom filled with moonlight.

And when the room starts spinning and my eyes are closed, feeling like I’m not alone.

The couple quickly step in sync across the ornate tiles as Ignis grabs her hand and spins her around. The elf in the present shows a nostalgic soft smile as he closes his eyes and drinks in the memory.

Cause there’s a ghost~ in the machine…I only see you when I go to sleep.

As the gate is closing behind, them Luna looks back at her knight one more time with a conflicted face filled with sorrow as she is shown the memories. She looks at her sister. “Tia I thought this effect from the bladesong was meant to show enemies the error of their ways?”

“Originally, yes. It seems it can be used in other ways. This seems to be transforming his rage, hatred, and despair into a sort of nostalgic grief. He’s remembering her the times they shared instead of killing in her name. Perhaps the world has determined this bladesong is for him instead of his foes.”

I built a world under the sheets…

Tens upon tens of flashes of images of the mare smiling, laughing, showing him a runic pattern in a book, sparring, and even flashes of small gestures of affection flash. As these images flash the golden glow from the elf grows brighter and the zone of harmonic mana vibrating in his frequency expands exponentially.

And when I’m dreaming that you’re here with me~
I close my eyes and keep us alive~, someone please turn off the lights~

Stars appear in the sky and the moon rises higher as the volume of the song increases. The regal presence starts to feel just a bit more intimidating.

Cause there’s a ghost in the machine, I only see you when I go to sleep.

Ignis’ mana zone has expanded so far that the castle training grounds is in his domain of awareness. Reaching out with two hands a few ponies look confused as he just stares off towards the side of the castle.

There’s a ghost in the machine.

Two wooden swords come flying through the air over the castle and the walls of the main gate. They rotate and flip as they zip towards the elves' outstretched hands. As they fly through the air a thumping series of bass notes start to pick up in speed.

There’s a ghost in the machine.

The training swords land in his hands and they begin glowing brightly as mana is unconsciously imbued into the weapons. The thumping increases in speed even more and with each thump another image of the deceased mare flashes through the minds of everyone present.

Cause there’s a ghost~ in the machine, I only see you when I go to sleep.

One final memory plays and its her final moments. Everyone feels the emotions of the elf in that moment as Nightmare's final words are uttered out like a whisper as she turns into smoke and vanishes. I love you, Ignis.

All of the instruments stop. The pressure in the air is immense, none of the monochrome ponies feel like they should even breathe in this moment in an attempt to keep the bladesingers attention away from them.

There’s a ghost in the machi-

In a flash absolute carnage is unleashed. Several ponies suddenly find themselves over 15ft in the air with their ears ringing and darkness closing in around the edge of their vision. From an outsider's perspective the elf disappeared entirely and a zig-zag line of silver light started violently bouncing around inside the dense group of ponies. The silver line shoots up into the air along with a seemingly random pony. The elf hits the pony three times knocking her higher and higher with each strike and then he does a flip and kicks her in the back of the head, sending her plummeting back into the ground. Landing on a group of ponies, knocking all of them out.

“That’s for hitting my girlfriend in the head with a brick, you stupid bitch.”

He starts moving at speeds too fast to be seen with an untrained eye and continues to efficiently dispatch more and more ponies. A solid quarter of the mob is scattered around on the ground sprawled out unconscious.

The bearers and alicorns are climbing up to the second floor of the castle when Luna hears Ignis make his vulgar statement that’s followed by a loud crashing sound. She can’t help herself as a small blush and soft smile appears on her face along with a hint of pride and embarrassment from such a loud declaration of their relationship.

I close my eyes, keep us alive~

Ignis is visible again as he stops in the middle of the group. There’s a stallion dangling in the air with his legs brushing against the ground as he’s being held by the back of his neck in the elfs grasp. Only the whites of his eyes are visible and Ignis drops him, looking at him with a cold stare as he hits the ground and his face slides across the ground until he comes to a stop, unconscious. Apparently one of the wooden swords shattered since he’s back to only having one.

Someone please turn off the lights~
Cause there’s a ghost in the machine~, I only see you when I go to sleep.

Ignis looks around at the roughly 120 ponies left and feels nothing at their looks of frozen fear.

Why don’t we go somewhere…where we can grow old together…

Another scene plays but this one isn’t from a dream nor is it a memory. It’s a potential future that the elf had imagined at one point in the past. It’s of a massive castle looking building in the Everfree with a big courtyard full of aspiring mages. In the upper level of the building Ignis, Nightmare, Luna, and Force are eating in an office. Talking and laughing about something as Nightmare grades research papers.

And nobody knows we’re there?

Come to think of it…

The scene fades to a small cabin in a seemingly random clearing in the Everfree where the herd is laying together under a blanket by a lit fireplace.

But it all comes back when the moon gets low.
Dancing in the afterglow.
And when the room starts spinning and my eyes are closed, feeling like I’m not alone.

Luna is forced to pause as she chokes up a bit as she watches the scene of this imaginary future. A small elven girl with blue hair and a young unicorn colt with white fur and a purple mane filled with silver stars run into the room and jump on the group of adults cuddled up under the blanket.

Cause there’s a ghost in the machine, I only see you when I go to sleep.
I built a world…under the sheets, and when I’m dreaming that you’re here with me.

The instruments and the bass flare up as over 20 wooden swords come flying over the castle wall. They all come to a stop and hover over the elf, forming a semi-circle behind his head as they all point forwards.

Ignis jumps forward and starts spinning through the group with violent swings of his arms once more as the swords in the air seem to just follow him around. Seemingly harmless at the moment.

I close my eyes, keep us alive.
Someone please, turn off the lights~

Cause there’s a ghost~ in the machine. I only see you when I go to sleep.

The elf speeds up to the point of no longer being visible once more.

There’s a ghost in the mach-

As soon as the music flares up one last time all of the floating swords take off and join the elf in completely dispatching this group of traitors. The sword all moving with what seems to be a mind of their own as they zip around, over, and through the enemies. In just a quarter of a minute the remaining 120 are down to 40 as the elf and his telekinesis controlled swords tear through the group.

The remaining ponies are finally completely overwhelmed with an unsuppressable fear and start to sprint away from the castle screaming.

With no more pony targets left the elf snaps his head up and glares at a seemingly empty space of air.

“Your turn, you ugly piece of shit.”

Before Discord can react the elf is right in front of him and the draconequus yelps in surprise as he's suddenly yanked from the Ethereal Plane.

I close my eyes, keep us alive.

Discord turns into a flat two dimensional version of himself and unnaturally bends his body at odd angles as he dodges the elfs sword swings and the flying swords zipping and stabbing at him through the air. He can’t help but to laugh as a look of anger finally flashes on the elf's face.

The true target of Ignis' rage is finally in front of him and he drops all restraint as he drops a wooden sword and conjures a 5th Level Shadow Blade.

Someone please turn off the lights~

As the elf picks up even more speed Discord is forced to start conjuring strange shapes that look like crystals, but they’re not physically there. They’re just drawn into the air. Their strange shapes bend space around the two causing both of their bodies to seem distorted and twisted. As if someone was looking at them through a kaleidoscope.

Ignis grows confused as he gets a viewing of the true powers of the reality warping God. Has the idea to turn off Real-Time Combat until he remembers that Discord can see and manipulate his dice. So, even doing that wouldn’t help him overcome this strange defensive tactic.

He can only start swinging his swords with even more ferocity and speed as he tries to force himself through the distorted space.

Cause there’s a ghost…

There’s a loud tearing sound followed by several cracking noises as Ignis is able to correct the space through the harmonized mana within the range of his bladesong. He ended up just forcing more and more mana into the area while condensing it further and further, his intuition telling him that it would work.

Him and Discord are both surprised as it does actually work and the Shadow Blade is mere milliseconds from striking the God.

I only see you when I go to sleep.

The song ends and suddenly everything feels wrong. Ignis feels like his body is bending in ways it’s not supposed to. He’s completely unable to move as he glances down and realizes all of the space near his torso is being pulled into a single point. The air and sky around him look stretched and twisted.

A loud crack rings out that sounds like hundreds of strikes of thunder when the twisted and stretched air rebounds and launches the elf at insane speeds away from the castle and fight. As Ignis starts to lose consciousness he realizes that Discord just pulled all of the nearby space into a single point and then used the energy of the space snapping back to normal to launch him like a slingshot.

In that instant Ignis realizes that his consciousness is fading, but it hasn’t actually faded yet. In a moment of clarity he taps his chest and casts Cure Wounds at 4th Level. Healing himself back up to half of his maximum hit points.

Then he slams into the shield at the edge of the city and slides down it until thudding against the ground with a groan. Despite no longer being at zero hit points the elf still passes out.

His eyes open a few minutes later to a message from the system.

Integration…72%

Time remaining until Canterlot reaches Ponyville shelter camp: 16 minutes.

As the bearers enter the room their tackled by a cheering Pinkie Pie. Pinkie is speaking far too fast for any of them to understand, but they're all just happy to see each other. Applejack starts to ask a question to the hyperactive mare, but is interrupted by a cheer and a gasp as Celestia enters the room and regains her horn and wings.

They all cheer as the entire group runs to the vault and Celestia enters her horn into the slot and opens the door. As the door slowly opens the music from the Bladesong outside comes to an end. Once it's open she pulls out a small box with her telekinesis and opens it to reveal the Elements of Harmony. She hovers each element to it's rightful bearer until only one remains and it's at this moment everyone realizes the same thing.

In the excitement of being reunited and Celestia regaining her magic they were all so caught up in the moment of victory they forgot to notice one critical thing when they spotted Pinkie in the vault room. She was alone.

"Hey y'all, uhm... Where's Twilight?"

Author's Note

Uh oh.

Also I'm too tired to proofread, if there's errors I'm sorry :( please just comment the mistakes and I'll fix 'em when I wake up.

Thanks for reading. <3