“Is that really Ignis?” Pinkie says what all of the ponies are thinking as they watch a massive tear in space appear near the top of the barrier.

There’s no response as they all stare up. The elf is just floating with his torn and ragged pants, still shirtless. Thin glowing purple lines draw a complex pattern on his chest and shoulders as they go up his neck and stop right under his eyes. His eye sockets are just completely purple, it’s like looking at outer space but the dark void is a deep purple. There’s small galaxies just barely visible and the stars are all tiny Equestrian runes.

The biggest change is on his forehead. There’s a long translucent unicorn horn, just a bit shorter than Luna’s. The elfs hair is the same as when he’s using a bladesong, just an ethereal silver cloud that stops in the middle of his back.

Everyone's eyes shrink to pinpricks as they suddenly feel an unbearable pressure weighing on them. Even the alicorns are frozen in fear as they all have the impression that if any of them move a single inch right now, they’ll die. This, however, is not because of Ignis. No, this is because for the second time in his entire life, Discord is serious.

“True Bladesong.”

In an instant the entire city is claimed by the elf. Contained only by the barrier surrounding the edge of the city. Unlike the previous True Bladesong not even 2 minutes ago, this time Ignis did not change himself to match the world. As a being that has grasped the true essence of all magic it was effortless to claim all of the mana inside the barrier.

Discord has an intense death glare as he stares at the bladesinger, his back turned to the ponies. The draconequus opens his mouth to say something, but before even a single syllable can be uttered Ignis ignites his horn. The instant he saw Discord's jaw move he spotted an opening and took it by teleporting straight in front of Discord.

With a single slash across the midsection, the God is sliced in two. Everyone stares completely shocked as Discord's lower half floats away from his upper half. A thick black liquid pours out of the two body parts before shooting towards the other half. The ichor meets in the middle of the air and pulls the two halves back together.

As soon as his body is reconnected, Discord is completely enveloped in a massive silver beam of magic. The attack burns him all over and sends him crashing into the barrier. Ignis looks down at the ponies and gives Luna and Force a soft smile.

Bladesong Music.

We can choose the way of our future. Try a brand new path…
If I change the world…

If I change the world.

The drums kick in and that oppressive aura from the draconequus is overwhelmed by a much lighter presence. Everyone in the city suddenly finds themselves thinking, “It’s not over yet.”

Out of nowhere sparks appear in the air right next to Ignis, almost like two steel balls clashed together. The resulting sound is an ear splitting crack as the elf's head suddenly snaps backwards and he’s sent flying into a collection of buildings.

Not even a second later a silver blur shoots out of the rubble and collides with something in mid air. To everyone but Celestia it looks like he’s just swinging his sword in the air, but Celestia can see it. There’s four invisible Discords that all look slightly different from the original. One is missing the beard, they all slightly deviate in which animals make up the different parts of their body. It’s a strange sight to see a draconequus throwing punches and engaging in melee combat, but these four are doing it.

Say goodbye to everyone who stands against us. (A/N: Honestly maybe pause the song here, the next bit has a lot happening at the same time and requires a good bit of description. Resume at next italicized lyrics.)

The original Discord appears in the air and snaps several times in rapid succession. Several types of magic conjure in the air and fire at the elf. Black lightning, fire, acid, raw energy, and…cotton candy? “Well they can’t all be winners.” Discord thinks to himself.

Celestia ignites her horn without hesitation and gives all of the element bearers True Sight. Without missing a beat they all spring up into action, much to Ignis’ surprise. Pinkie suddenly appears in the air right next to Ignis with a…CANNON? There’s a loud explosion of confetti and one of the draconequus is sent flying.

At the same time Luna and Celestia start firing magic to intercept Discords attacks. A rope is thrown that wraps itself around one of the three remaining chaos clones. With a hard yank the creature is pulled away from Ignis where it’s promptly smashed in the face by two cyan hooves that send it flying into the ground.

Just before it can hit the ground though Applejack delivers a solid buck with both hind legs right in its center of mass. Sending the creature into a pile of rubble.

Hundreds of bricks and stones start flying through the air and pelting the two remaining clones who are unable to defend against it due to being attacked by Ignis. They’re all wrapped in a light blue magic belonging to a certain fashionista. One that looks quite proud at being able to display her level of skill with telekinesis.

A silver light flashes as the elf spins and the two clones are sliced into several pieces and they disappear like smoke.

The original Discord finds himself befuddled as a yellow pegasus flies right at him with one eye closed. “You have done enough, mister!” For a few precious seconds the God actually finds himself completely stunned as Fluttershy continues to scold him for all the harm he caused.

All of these actions happen simultaneously over the span of a few seconds.

No one has the power to stop a change that comes through…

Music.

Free from the harassment of the clones, Ignis flies straight at Discord while firing a beam of silver magic. As he launches the attack he teleports Fluttershy away from the draconequus. Several thick completely black walls of magic appear in between the elf and the God.

No, you can’t stop…

Magic.

As the lyrics mention stopping all of the conjured walls of force shatter and explode as Ignis shoots through them like a missile. Right as the elf reaches Discord two large beams of magic crash into the God from both sides of him. Each one fired from the two alicorn sisters. Right as they connect and sandwich Discord an emerald Moonblade slashes into his body several times.

Close your eyes and you can see the future before you.
Every note I sing is bringin’ you closer to your purpose.

Suddenly thousands of ponies in the city below start roaring with cheers as they all stampede towards the area the fight is taking place. The element bearers by this point have all joined together and dismissed one of the remaining clones, and now they surround the last one. The creature is passed around the group as it's bucked, hit with pony-fu, and shot by explosive confetti.

“You can have Tom back, by the way.” Everypony looks at Rarity a bit confused until suddenly a massive boulder falls on top of the clone. Crushing it instantly.

Once you’re there, don’t let go.

Discord snaps his arms outward and lets out an annoyed yell. Raw energy explodes outwards from the draconequus in a sphere shape as it repels the two blasts. It near instantaneously expands, knocking away Luna, Celestia, and Ignis.

Discord tries to recover a bit but instantly the elf pops into existence right in front of him.

“You wanna play a real game, unfurl the chain…”

The Chaos God is surprised when instead of a sword, a fist crashes into his face. He’s sent reeling a few inches before crashing into a barrier. He quickly realizes this barrier is not his. The barrier explodes and sends Discord flying back towards Ignis. The bladesinger ignites his horn and several walls of force appear in the air around him and Discord. They don’t form a cage, but they do all angle and face towards a single point in what would be the center of a dodecahedron if the walls connected.

Melody strung out like we’re walkin’ on a tightrope.

Discord is a bit confused by the barriers until Ignis turns and flies straight towards one of the barriers. Then he’s even more confused. Until Ignis reaches the barrier and flips in the air, putting his feet against the barrier and squats down, ready to launch himself.

Don’t wanna try, don’t wanna cry, wanna forget.

Ignis moves fast enough to only be seen as a silver blur once more as he starts bouncing around from one wall of force to another wall of force. Every time he bounces he moves through the center of the formation and lands a slash on Discord.

When he hears the lyrics Ignis can’t help but think back to when he was hiding away in that make believe future in his head.

Just wanna live inside a dreamland…

“Girls, use the elements! NOW!” Celestia recovers from being launched and screams at the element bearers. She recognizes that Discord is seemingly unable to do anything as he slashed several times per second by the bouncing bladesinger.

Wanna be free… and let a brand-new era dawn.

The girls start running towards each other as the elements start to glow. Out of nowhere Discord manages to perfectly time an attack as he clotheslines the elf zipping past him. He snaps his claws and right next to the elf's head space starts to fold in on itself as it's pulled into a single point. Until suddenly the space rebounds and all of that built up tension explodes forward, at Ignis’ head. Snapping his head back with a loud crack.

I know that we can…

Discord prepares to launch a follow-up attack when Ignis snaps his head forward again. With blood pouring down his face and his eyebrows furrowed into a death glare. Quicker than Discord can react, the bladesinger reaches out with his free hand and grabs the draconequus by the face. Then starts to spin in the air.

…Create a new world!

Releasing all of the momentum, Ignis throws Discord into the ground. As soon as he hits the ground all of the nearby ponies that had gathered due to the bladesong mob the discombobulated God. Hooves, stones, and spears are all pelting Discord as he lays in a small crater. The element bearers call out to Ignis and when he looks over they signal for him to come down.

They need him to join the group so they can properly fire the elements. Since Discord is too busy being assaulted by an angry mob Ignis starts to fly down towards the bearers.

We can choose the way of our future.
Try a brand new path…

Until he feels a sudden surge of magic at the center of the mob and Ignis realizes that Discord is about to unleash a massive attack on those ponies. They don’t realize how dangerous he really is!

If I change the world…

In a blind panic the elf diverts his flight and starts quickly moving ponies with his telekinesis while teleporting other ponies away from Discord. Then the surge of magic disappears entirely and reappears behind Ignis. It’s at this point Ignis realizes the civilians were a distraction.

“You really are predictable. I didn’t think you’d actually put all of your focus and concentration on trying to save those idiotic ponies!”

Before Ignis can even react or fully turn around he feels a massive surge of energy strike into his back. The muscles of his back are fully exposed as the attack completely obliterates his skin. Ignis screams in pain as he’s sent flying through the air.

If I change the world~!

“Just have them fire the elements now! They have no time!” Harmony shouts directly into Celestia's mind as the alicorn gawks in horror at how much damage was inflicted on the bladesinger.

She relays the order to the bearers and they all seem a bit confused but they try to channel the instinctual feeling they get when they’ve used the elements in the past. They all start to float and a dull rainbow is shot straight at Discord. He turns and just laughs as the rainbow harmlessly passes through him.

He’s completely unaware of the fact that the rainbow beam curved up and collided with the elf in mid air.

This boundless music brings transformation!

There’s a bright rainbow glow under the elf's silver hair that illuminates his back, and acts as a beacon to those below that can see it. Ignis is completely overwhelmed as he absorbs the entirety of the attack from the elements. His bracers glow brightly as the purple lines on his chest turn into glowing rainbows as well.

The amount of power in the elf keeps rising higher and higher as the amount of mana trapped in the barrier starts to get denser and denser. The entire city island starts to shake and rumble violently.

Then the barrier shatters.

Messages in song… reach even further~!

The mana domain of the bladesong, now unrestrained, expands more and more. The very faint silver glow passes over the Everfree and continues. It passes over Ponyville and then Canterlot mountain. As it grows more and more creatures are inside the domain and can hear the bladesong. It explodes outwards and surrounds the entire planet. The bladesong combined with the overwhelming, global power of Harmony allows the domain of his mana zone to claim all of the mana on the surface of the world.

Griffins, Dragons, Changelings, Deer, Zebras, Minotaurs, and all sorts of creatures look up, confused at the sudden presence and sounds of music playing. Some of the creatures that are vaguely aware of stories of bladesingers from the ancient past widen their eyes in fear. The ones at the Summit are able to instantly come to the conclusion that this power is from that elf creature they saw.

This dream will come true…

I believe in you.

Any ponies with wings instantly start to fly away from the city as they realize the barrier is gone. Not wanting to lose his potential hostages Discord turns away from the bladesinger that is tensed up and shaking in the air, and snaps away all of their wings and horns. Due to the panic and condition of the draconequus the alicorns aren’t affected and the elements protected the bearers from the magic as well.

Meanwhile Ignis is still trying to handle the amount of power surging within him as well as the information overload from having the entire planet in his mana domain. Sudden omniscience seems to be quite taxing on the mind.

After several seconds he finally manages to regain some level of composure before flaring his blade and flies straight at Discord.

Say goodbye to everything that’s weighing you down.
Transcend beyond reality to colorful worlds of music…
We need to keep on rising.

Discord switches to full on defense as he increases gravity over hundred fold for the elf. Managing to somewhat slow the elf down. Knowing he must avoid all of his attacks at all costs until the harmonic energy dissipates he starts to fly away from the elf. Weaving between different planes of existence as he flies, hoping to use the barriers of the planes to slow him down even more.

Deep in a cave in the middle of the dragon lands there are a few elder dragons meeting with Chrysalis and her drones. They’re interrupted as the mana domain claimed the space and they started listening to the bladesong as well. A few of the dragons are laughing about Equestria being so soft they manage to turn something like a bladesong into a song about peace. Chrysalis just stares, impressed at the progress the elf has made since their last encounter.

Close your eyes and take my hand, we’re runnin’ together.
We don’t have to live like this, I know we can all do…Better.

“Ignis, you don’t have to hit him to use the power of the elements!” Celestia speaks directly into his mind as he chases after the cowardly draconequus.

“Then how the hell do I use it? None of you gave me an instruction manual!”

I sing for liberation~!

“You just have to imagine the most powerful magic you can think of. It doesn’t have to be a real spell or attack, you're only limited to what you can imagine!”

“Is that why these things only seal creatures for 1,000 years? You guys aren’t creative enough to come up with real attacks?” Ignis sarcastically replies as he tears through different planes, just about within reach of Discord.

“That’s the upper limit of what they can do! Do you know how much magic it takes to seal somepony on his level for any amount of time?! It’s incredibly high!”

“Yeah yeah, just shut up and watch. Tell everyone to ingrain my attack into their minds.”

As he finishes that though he teleports in front of Discord and surprises him as he gets in his face.

“You wanna play a real game, unfurl the chain…”

Ignis grabs his head and slams him through a barrier, back into the material plane far above the city. As he slashes and chases around the God thousands of attacks from all sorts of different works of fiction from Earth go through his head. He could use Wish, but there’s a chance for a Monkey’s Paw type of effect and everything goes sideways real fast.

Melody lighting up the path to new horizons.
Don’t wanna try, don’t wanna cry, wanna forget…
Just wanna live inside a dreamland.

Celestia yells into his head that he’s nearly out of time. More and more spells and attacks pass through his mind, but none of them fit the bill for what he wants the elements to do. He doesn’t want to just turn him to stone for who knows how long. He also doesn’t want to outright kill him, and some attacks are too powerful. Ignis worries those might destroy the city or even the planet.

Wanna be free…

That one just might work. He slashes Discord one final time and makes his final decision.

…and let a brand-new era dawn.

“The Era of Gods belongs to me. I’ll let you be the first example, Discord.”

I know that we can…create a new world~!

The city starts to speed up its flight speed as Discord laughs in the elf’s face. “How about one final deal? You stop this nonsense and I won’t kill everypony here. You don’t have much time, colt.”

We can choose the way of our future!
Try a brand-new path, if I change the world…

Ignoring his words entirely, Ignis rises up a bit and punches Discord as hard as he can in the back of the head. The draconequus craters into the ground in the center of Canterlot, but this time the ponies are smart enough to not approach him.

If I change the world~!

Mana starts to condense and gather into a single point above the elf. As all of the mana in the world starts to move even Harmony becomes fearful. “What kind of spell could he possibly have thought of that needs so much mana?!”

This boundless music brings transformation.
Messages in song reach even further.

A loud snap rings out through the air as nearly three quarters of the entire world's mana has gathered around the elf. Every pony in the city feels their stomachs flip from the sudden sensation they’re feeling.

“Times up.” That sensation is the one you feel when you start to freefall. Clouds start to fly past the city as it begins falling through the air.

Ignis finishes gathering the mana and starts to chant the incantation for the attack he chose.

“I, Ignis, son of Zarra
Will show you the power of the Chain of the Heavens!
I will awaken the breath of the planet…
For I shall walk among humanity as friends.
Henceforth…”

An enormous golden portal appears in the air above Ignis. With only mere seconds left until Canterlot slams into the Ponyville camp. Everyone in the camp is looking up as the distant dot becomes larger and larger and they all start to scream as they realize a piece of a mountain is falling on them.

Time slows down as the attack is launched.

“ENUMA ELISH!”

A new Genesis!

The song finishes as hundreds of thousands of chains launch out of the golden portal above Ignis. All of the chains have a spear tip at the end of them. All of the chains start impaling themselves into the ground of the city. The chains become taut as they latch on.

Discord watches as hundreds of chains fly at him specifically and snaps his claws to teleport away from the entire country. Having completely admitted defeat he aims to just escape. Until a second snap is heard from the air.

“Counterspell.”

Discord's face contorts into a scream of panic as the chains wrap around his body and limbs. More and more layers of chains are added that start to chain him to the ground, completely immobilized. It's only when he’s chained to the ground, looking up, that he see’s what the true attack is.

A massive chain glowing with a rainbow aura emerges from the portal and starts to fly straight at Discord. Realizing this is the end, Discord ponders out loud. “I should pick a good pose this time, I think I should be more comfortable as a statue this time.”

The massive chain starts to fly towards Discords and Ignis replies to him. “You won’t be turning into a statue this time Discord. I’m not kind like these ponies, I won’t let you off so easily.”

The chain slams into Discord and the draconequus starts to truly panic and fear for his life as he feels his very essence being drained away. The only consolation is that he believes the elf is incapable of stopping the city from falling on the camp.

“Looks like I will truly surpass Karsus today. I’ll kill a God and stop my capital city from falling out of the sky.” Ignis comments as he uses telekinesis to grab all of the chains at the entrance of the portal.

He pulls them all together into a tight bundle and then grabs it with one hand. With his other hand he envelopes the entire chunk of rock under the city in his telekinesis. Then he attempts to fly up.

All of the ponies on the ground look up and are completely stunned as they watch the elf squeeze his eyes shut as he screams and pulls on the chains that have impaled the city. Luna's legs give out and she falls onto her rear as she stares up slack jawed. The entire city can feel their fall rapidly slowing down as blood starts to pour from the elfs nose.

“Just…a little….longer, Ignis. The attack is almost….finished…AAGGHHHHHHHHH!”

With a few feet to spare the island stops falling and even begins to slowly rise back up into the air. Then the Chain of the Heavens finally finishes and the chains explode into a massive rainbow.

The giant rainbow flies under the city and carries the entire island back to Canterlot Mountain in mere seconds as it magically reattaches the city. As if it was never torn away to begin with. As soon as it arc’s into the mountain it explodes into a huge rainbow shockwave.

That shockwave starts to fly over the entire planet as it undoes all of the Chaos Magic affecting the land. The cities are fixed, the animals are back to normal, and everyone that’s awake to witness it cheer as the rainbow shockwave flies over them.

Ignis reverts back to his normal appearance with a flash of light and his eyes flutter closed. He starts to rapidly fall out of the air and towards Canterlot. It’s only then that Luna and Force are knocked from their stupor and both shoot into the air to catch the elf. Luna is the one to arrive first as she grabs him in her telekinesis and floats him over to rest on her back.

“Take me down there, Luna.” Ignis weakly manages to utter out to the alicorn. She looks back at him a bit confused and surprised, but she does as he says and lands next to the element bearers in Canterlot.

“What did you need from here?” She asks him as he climbs off of her and staggers a bit trying to keep his balance.

“The jobs not finished yet. Quit hiding over there you piece of shit!” Ignis yells out as he walks toward a seemingly random building.

“You must be so disappointed knowing that your precious elements didn’t finish the job.” Discord smugly taunts as he walks out of said building and into the center of the city. Everyone gasps in shock.

“Oh no, it did exactly what I wanted it to do. I told you I wasn't turning you into a statue.”

“Well, that mistake will be your last. Thanks for the entertainment, bladesinger!” Discord laughs as he snaps his claws, but his laughing abruptly stops when nothing happens.

“I targeted your magic, Discord. Your power. Now you’re just an ugly animal.” As he finishes his statement he lands a solid right hook onto the former Gods face. Knocking him to the ground.

“Wh…what?! You can’t do that! Harmony can’t do that! This…this can’t be happening!” Discord loses his composure and starts to crawl backwards away from the elf while stuttering.

Ignis just cracks his knuckles and he stares at Discord. His eyes completely void of any light or emotion. “I’m going to enjoy this, Discord.”

Author's Note

Looks like I was half right, the fight is seemingly over, but the arc isn't quite finished yet. I ran out of time and had to end the chapter here, but it's a decent stopping point anyways so not a huge deal.

Power creep goes crazy huh? But forreal some of this stuff is what I meant when I said I imagine some of you will have some questions on why the Element of Magic specifically did things for Ignis that it seemingly doesn't do for Twilight. Just wait until after the next chapter to ask those questions, and also wait until next chapter but complaining about the previously mentioned power creep.

Also by the way, I'm not time skipping/off screening what's about to happen to Discord. I know the way the chapter ended some of you probably have a feeling the next chapter will start AFTER whatever happens, but nah I'm well aware we all wanna see this :P.

I will say to also remember this bladesong, it might end up being one of the most important ones of the story from a certain point of view.

Anyways I gotta go to sleep now!
Thanks for reading!