The Jedi Prince III: The Spark of Hope

Once the married trio had recovered, Princess Luna continued the conversation.

“Tirek is set on possessing Alicorn magic,” Princess Luna continued, “When he comes for us, we cannot have what he is looking for.”

“I’m more than willing to do my part and give up my magic,” said Twilight firmly.

“As am I,” Sunset added in the same tone.

“You both misunderstand,” said Princess Luna, “Our magic cannot just disappear into thin air. Somepony must keep it safe.”

“That somepony is you, Twilight,” Cadance added.

“Why me?” Twilight asked curiously.

“We do not believe that Tirek is aware that a fourth and fifth Alicorn princess exist in Equestria,” Princess Celestia explained, “If we transfer our magic to you, Tirek will not know where it has gone.”

“We also believe that Tirek is unaware of the fact that there are three human Jedi in the royal family,” Prince Blaze added.

“It’s only wishful thinking, Mom,” Cody said, “Plus you cannot forget that Tirek has Discord on his side. Who’s to say Discord hasn’t already told Tirek about us, father?”

“It’s possible he might find out whether or not Discord tells him,” Blaze replied.

“I agree,” Dagger added.

“Nevertheless, I believe this solution is the best way we can save our magic from falling into Tirek’s clutches,” Princess Celestia said.

“Do you understand what we’re asking of you?” Cadance asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied timidly as she opened her wings, “It’s just...Sunset and I are only now learning how to control our own Alicorn magic. To take on more-”

“Twilight, you represent the element of magic. If there’s anypony who can do this, it’s you,” Cadance interrupted as she walked up to the two alicorns. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna nodded in agreement.

“Taking on this task will be one of the most difficult things we’ll ever do, but with the help of our friends-” said Twilight as Cody and Sunset nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry, Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset, but you must keep your new abilities a secret,” Princess Celestia replied.

“What?!” Sunset interjected.

“I fear that your friends being aware of your new power could put them at great risk,” Princess Celestia explained as she took a step forward.

“Isn’t that already inevitable at this point?” Cody pointed out, “If Discord has already revealed our presence to Tirek...”

“All the more reason for you to keep these powers a secret so neither Tirek or Discord can use your friends against you,” Princess Celestia replied, “Keeping this secret will keep them safe. Do you and Twilight think you can take on this responsibility?” Cody looked over to his wife, waiting to see what she wanted to do.

“This is the role we’re meant to play as a princess and a prince of Equestria,” Twilight replied with determination, “We will not fail in our duty!” Cody sighed.

“We’re taking a huge risk doing this plan, Mom,” Cody said but then smiled, “But if there’s one thing my wives and I are good at, it’s succeeding even when the stakes are high. Let’s do it!”

“Then we must begin at once,” Princess Celestia replied. Sunset nodded as she made her horn glow and tap the tip with Twilight’s. The three princesses gathered around Twilight and Sunset as they made their horns glow brightly. Cody, Blaze, and Dagger stood watch. Then their eyes glowed white as three magic beams merged above Twilight and Sunset, creating a giant orb of pure magical energy that was about the size of a miniature planetoid. Twilight and Sunset cringed nervously as the orb shot a beam right at the two alicorns and headed directly at them.

Elsewhere, Tirek was busy draining some more ponies of their magic to increase his own strength and stature. Discord just watched a short distance away with a devious smirk on his face when his body suddenly wobbled about. Discord then shivered nervously.

“That can’t be right,” Discord muttered.

“What can’t be right?” Tirek asked.

“Nothing,” Discord replied quickly, “Carry on.” Tirek just walked away to collect some more magic as Discord just looked at two already drained unicorns.

Back at Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Cadance were now sitting on the floor, looking very drained. They turned to see Twilight and Sunset hovering in the air as their eyes and bodies were glowing white as the three princesses approached them. Once their hooves touched the ground, Twilight and Sunset closed their eyes to get the glow out. The two alicorns then rushed over to Princess Celestia and hugged her, each of them shedding a tear as they did so. Twilight and Sunset both gasped when they saw that by draining her magic, Princess Celestia no longer had her cutie mark. Princess Luna and Cadance lifted their wings to show that their cutie marks were gone as well.

“It is done,” said Princess Celestia, clearly out of breath and physically drained.

“Will you be alright?” Cody asked, not hiding how worried his was feeling.

“We will manage, dear nephew,” said Princess Luna bravely.

“Just focus on keeping our magic safe, Twilight and Sunset,” Cadance added, “And more importantly, don’t lose hope, little cuz. Everything will be alright.” Cody felt like he was about to cry, but managed to recompose himself as he gave Cadance a brave nod.

“May the Force be with you,” Princess Celestia said as the married trio left the castle.

It was already dark when Twilight, Cody, and Sunset returned home to Ponyville. Mostly because they had to find a quiet way back to avoid drawing any attention to themselves and that meant it took most of the night to even get back to the Library. The three of them then tried to tip-toe about as quietly as they could, especially since they saw that Spike was sound asleep in his basket. At least Spike was asleep until he decided to wake up at that very moment they walked by.

“You three weren’t gone very long,” Spike remarked as he sat up from his basket, “Does that mean everything’s okay?”

“Yep!” said Twilight replied quickly as she turned around to face him, “Everything’s fine!” Twilight then chuckled nervously as her horn sparkled a bit and some books went floating behind them. Cody and Sunset just gave a squeaky smile and said nothing. Good cause or not, they were not going to lie to Spike or anypony else...unless Twilight got herself tongue tied or something.

“In that case,” said Spike, “I’m going back to bed. Sun’s not up...and neither am I.” Spike then went back to sleep.

“That’s strange,” said Twilight to Cody, “The sun should be up by now...” Cody looked at his pocket watch. He and Twilight gasped once they came to a realization.

“The sun should be up by now!” they said together as they rushed to their bedroom and looked out the window to see the moon still high in the sky.

“You can do this,” said Twilight to herself as she made her horn glow and sparkle. Twilight tried to focus as hard as she could, which caused the moon to wobble a bit in its orbit. Sunset just kept her horn glowing so her magic was steady. Twilight was focusing so intensively that she started to float in the air, her mane and tail even started flowing a bit.

“She’d be gorgeous with a constantly flowing mane and tail,” Cody remarked.

Suddenly, the moon went down really fast and then started moving randomly about the sky. The sun and moon switched places in the sky a few times before Twilight and Sunset finally got the moon to stabilize and focused on getting their side of the planet to face the sun.

Back in Canterlot, the randomly moving sun had not gone unnoticed as Shining Armor and two guards were outside the castle. Suddenly, the two guards behind Shining Armor floated into the air and Shining Armor found that his captain’s helmet was missing.

“Shining Armor, why whatever are you doing here?” Discord asked as he made himself known wearing Shining Armor’s helmet.

“Back off, traitor,” Shining Armor snapped angrily as he shoved Discord away.

“The only one Discord betrayed was himself,” said Tirek as he appeared while draining the magic out of one of the guards and dropped him, “Abandoning his true nature to make friends with weak-minded equines who offer him nothing!”

Shining Armor fired a magic blast at Tirek, but the centaur grabbed the magic blast with his hand, smashed into a tiny orb and ate it. He then grabbed Shining’s head and drained the stallion of his magic. Discord watched as Shining Armor collapsed to the floor.

“How...could you...do this?” Shining Armor asked Discord weakly before passing out. Discord looked slightly unnerved. It was almost as if...he was starting to feel a little guilty...

“Why don’t you go and have a little fun?” Tirek told Discord as he wrapped an arm around the draconequus’s shoulders, “I won’t stand in your way.” Tirek then walked away. Discord just looked around for a moment before he chuckled deviously to himself.

Inside of the castle throne room, Princess Celestia just sat tiredly on her throne while Princess Luna and Cadance sat along the sides. Blaze and Dagger sat close to their respective wives and supported them. They were just doing their best to conserve their energy and wait for the inevitable. Just then, the room began to rumble. Princess Celestia slowly sat up as Tirek allowed himself into the throne room by smashing through the front door. He then tossed the broken pieces aside and marched right up to Princess Celestia. He then used his magic, which caused a yellow orb to appear between his horns every time he did so, and picked up Princess Celestia and inhaled. He was stunned to see that nothing happened.

“What have you done?!” Tirek demand as Princess Celestia just smirked and said nothing. Tirek then grabbed Princess Luna and tried to inhale her magic, but got nothing. He then did the same with Cadance with the same results.

“Where is your magic?!” Tirek demanded angrily, but none of the three princesses said a word.

Back at the Ponyville library, bright glows were seen from outside as Twilight and Sunset were struggling to keep their magic under control. They both decided to make their exit, but then realized the hard way just how much their magic had been powered up when they blasted the door to pieces.

“We have to gain better control,” said Twilight quietly to her husband, “We sure can’t practice here.”

“You’re right. Come on!” Sunset then ran off with Twilight and Cody right behind her. Neither pony noticed that Spike had been watching them and quickly ran off after them.

“Uh, Twilight? Sunset? Where are we goin’?” Spike asked, panting as he tried to keep pace behind them.

“Oh, uh, hi, Spike,” said Twilight nervously, “Uh, gotta go...somewhere...else...”

“See ya!” Sunset added quickly before she and Twilight literally rocketed into the sky, creating a explosive sonic boom as they took off and sent Spike flying away.

“Waaaaaah! Whoa!” Twilight screamed as she flew at a speed she was not used to at all.

“Woo! Now this is what I call flying at top speed!” Sunset called out, enjoying the high speed, but not for long.

“How do you fly moving this fast?!” Twilight retorted fearfully as Sunset flew beside her.

“With lots of practice and control, just hold onto my hand and I’ll keep you in steady. Just keep calm and I’ll guide you.”

Twilight did just that as they both zoomed right past Rainbow, who was just observing the town from a small cloud. Then their shockwave knocked Rainbow backward and off her white cloud. She recognized the purple and orange colored streaks flying away.

“Whoa! Twilight? Sunset?” Rainbow said in surprise as she tried to chase after her. Down below, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Sal, and Bucky had seen the two alicorns flying at high speed.

“Coming through!” Cody said, running by the others.

The three ponies shared concerned looks before they chased after Cody and the two alicorns. Fluttershy had been talking with Bucky when she noticed the two alicorns flying above.

It was then Sunset figured that she and Twilight should just get back on the ground to the avoid drawing any unwanted attention to themselves.

“Okay. Now let’s just take the descent nice and gentle...Oh! Oh! Twi...Twi! Not so fast, not so fast, not so fast!”

“Yiiiipe!” Twilight screamed as she and Sunset headed to the ground. They both made a hard landing before they skidded several yards across the ground before coming to a complete stop.

“Ooh!” Twilight yelped once they had stopped skidding.

“That was...a pretty good landing coming in that fast,” Cody said, having caught up to his wives, “Good job, girls.” Twilight gave him a smile but then noticed that the others were in front of them.

“Oh, my goodness, are you two all right?” said Fluttershy.

“Jumpin’ junebugs, Twilight and Sunset! When did you two learn to fly that fast?” Applejack asked. Twilight and Sunset then twitched from a minor surge of their magic before they began to sweat heavily.

“We must have caught a particularly strong breeze...or something,” Twilight said sheepishly before she and Sunset teleported themselves between Rarity and Applejack.

“Must have been “or something”, because there wasn’t any breeze up there,” Rainbow remarked.

“I don’t know what happened, but we don’t really have time to figure that out right now.” Twilight replied then got another twitch but just smiled innocently.

“Right, babe?” Twilight asked. Cody blinked before shaking his head.

“Y-y-yes Twily, we’ve got more important things to worry about,” Cody replied.

Cody, Twilight, and Sunset headed toward the Everfree Forest.

“Another visit to the Castle of the Two Sisters, I presume?” Rarity asked as she and the others gave Twilight, Cody, and Sunset over the top smiles, “We’d be more than happy to accompany you!”

“Not today!” Twilight replied as she got another magic twitch and Sunset quickly made her horn glow discreetly to stabilize her magic.

“We’d rather just have our trio time together if you don’t mind,” Cody added.

“Tirek may still be a threat,” said Twilight, “I need you all to stay here and encourage everypony to stay inside.”

Twilight and Sunset tried to take off again, but Cody placed his hands on their wings and shook his head. Twilight and Sunset just closed her wings and the three of them walked off together. The others just watched the trio disappear into the distance with worried and puzzled looks on their faces.

Meanwhile back in Canterlot Castle, Tirek was just sitting comfortably on Princess Celestia’s throne while the three princesses, along with Princes Blaze and Dagger were forced to sit before him on the floor.

“Getting rid of your magic so that I cannot take it from you?” Tirek asked, “That was your plan? How does it feel knowing that soon, every Pegasus, unicorn, and Earth pony will bow to my will, and that there is nothing you can do to stop it?” Prince Blaze, Prince Dagger, and the three princesses glared as Tirek made orbs of each pony tribe appear with his magic and then crushed all the orbs with his hands.

“You will not prevail, Tirek,” Princess Celestia retorted bravely. Tirek then used his magic to create a rectangular portal that lead straight to Tartarus.

“Give my regards to Cerberus,” said Tirek smugly as he used his magic to toss the five of them into the portal and sealed it shut.

“You meant our will, didn’t you?” Discord asked as he appeared and started animating a stained glass window with him treating the glass murals of the three princesses like string puppets.

“Of course,” Tirek replied as he walked up to Discord and gave him a necklace with an upside down triangle medallion on it, “Here, I want you to have something. This was given to me by someone very close to me. I give it to you as a sign of my gratitude and loyalty.”

“Oh, my!” said Discord as he admired and tugged his goatee, “I do love a good accessory. I suppose that’s Rarity’s influence.” Discord then created a stained glass mural of him and Tirek. Discord was riding on Tirek’s back as they held swords in the air that crossed. Well...Discord held a foot long sandwich which Tirek’s sword cut off a piece of it. Tirek laughed.

“Amusing,” Tirek remarked as he walked away, “But we have no time for such a things. With the princesses out of the way, we can now-” Tirek than stopped in his tracks when he saw the mural of Twilight and Sunset ascending into Alicorn status.

“Are this meant to be humorous?!” Tirek demanded angrily.

“Oh no, I haven’t touched that one yet,” Discord answered calmly.

“There’s a fourth? And a fifth?!” Tirek exclaimed, “And you didn’t tell me this?!”

“I just needed assurance that you truly considered this a team effort. And now I have it.” Tirek then grabbed Discord by the neck.

“Then where can we find these fourth and fifth princesses?” Tirek demanded darkly, “Where is their castle?”

“Castle?” Discord replied and laughed, “No, Princesses Twilight and Sunset, along with their husband, Prince Cody live above a library in Ponyville. Castle?” Discord laughed again as Tirek let go of him.

“Not for much longer,” said Tirek sinisterly as he rubbed his hands together and used his magic to melt the stained glass mural.

“However, Prince Cody is a Jedi like his father, Prince Blaze. The Jedi were peacekeepers serving the old Republic for 1,000 years and I was once a member of the Sith Order, who are their enemies, on my travels beyond Equestria during my reign of chaos. I trained under Darth Bane before he created the Rule of Two, but I was eventually excommunicated from the Sith for being ‘too comedic’,” Discord explained, “I advise you not to underestimate Prince Cody, so I give you my old Sith holocron and lightsaber since you gave me that necklace. May they serve you well.”

“So they shall. None shall stand in my way now,” Tirek said deviously as he activated the lightsaber, revealing a red blade on both sides. He then chuckled evilly. He was completely unaware that Blueblood was following close behind him with his hood up.

Out in the streets of Ponyville, the rest of Harmony Squad had just gathered together. The rest of the streets were empty and several houses had their windows boarded up.

“Alright, y’all,” said Applejack, “I think we’ve warned everypony to stay inside.”

“I’m sure Discord will catch Tirek and this will all be over soon,” Fluttershy replied.

“I’ll bet he takes his sweet time,” said Rainbow bitterly.

“Or perhaps these things just take time,” a familiar voice spoke up. They all looked to see Discord standing nearby.

“You’re back!” Fluttershy gasped as she jumped into his arms for a hug and then hovered before him, “Did you bring your cucumber sandwiches?” Discord then used his magic to make a plate of cucumber sandwiches appear on a plate.

“I did,” Discord replied before dumping them into the ground, “I imagine they’ll be your last descent meal for quite some time.”

Before the five mares, Spike, and the two men could react, Discord imprisoned them inside of a metal cage. The girls, Sal, Bucky, and Spike all shouted exclamations of shock and puzzlement.

“Ta-da!” Discord cheered as Tirek arrived behind the cage.

“You’ve gathered up all of them?” Tirek asked him as he leaned on top of the cage.

“And her little dragon, too,” said Discord as he pointed a fore-finger at Spike. Spike tried to bite the finger, but Discord pulled away just in time to avoid being bitten. Fluttershy was crying as Applejack held the yellow Pegasus close for comfort. The orange pony also glared angrily at Discord.

“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy sobbed, “I thought we were friends!”

“Oh, we were,” said Discord, “But Tirek offered me so much more than just tea parties. Surely, you saw this coming.”

“I didn’t,” Fluttershy cried as she looked away, “I really didn’t.”

The others gave Discord bitter glares as Fluttershy wept. Discord couldn’t make eye contact with any of them. Tirek didn’t bother to wait for Fluttershy to finish crying before he lifted the cage with his magic and sucked the magic out of everypony inside it, Spike included. Discord looked away until the deed was done. Tirek then dropped the cage into the ground and his body and strength grew far more than it had from draining any of the other ponies of their magic. Blueblood silently cackled at this while keeping a low profile.

“You really think they’d do anything for them?” Tirek asked.

“If Twilight and Sunset have magic to give, it will be yours. Soon there won’t be a Pegasus, Earth pony, or unicorn who will be able to stand up against us,” Discord said.

“Us?” Tirek exclaimed, “Who said anything about us?”

“You did,” said Discord, but was given the shock of his life when Tirek lifted him into the air with his magic.

“You’ve helped me grow strong, you’ve provided the means by which I can obtain Princess Twilight’s and Princess Sunset’s magic, and now you are no longer of any use to me.”

Discord looked sadly back at the group. Just then, Tirek inhaled all of his chaotic magic. Then the centaur let him go so the draconequus landed hard on his stomach.

“But you said this was a sign of your gratitude and loyalty,” Discord protested weakly as he showed Tirek the madallion, “A gift from someone close to you.”

“My brother who betrayed me,” Tirek answered, “It is as worthless as he is.” Discord now understood how it felt to be betrayed as Tirek stomped away.

“Surely, you saw this comin’,” said Applejack.

“I didn’t,” Discord replied sadly, “I truly didn’t...” For once, the draconequus was telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Twilight, Cody, and Sunset were just sitting together at the edge of a cliff above the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“We can do this,” Twilight said then narrowed her eyes.

“Yes we can,” Sunset replied.

Twilight and Sunset then made their horns glow, then teleported from the top of the cliff to a lower ledge.

“See! Ha!” Twilight said confidently, “Perfectly controlled teleportation.”

“Great job hon-” Before Cody could complement his wives, the two alicorns teleported themselves and their husband to one of the towers of Canterlot, a cliff overlooking a large waterfall, on top of some rampaging bison, and literally, caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Oh for crying out loud!” Sunset grumbled.

“Aw karabast,” Cody groaned. Twilight growled.

“Um... he wasn’t venting at you,” Sunset told her calmly. Twilight blinked and huffed.

“I know,” Twilight replied.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT! PRINCESS SUNSET! PRINCE CODY!”

Twilight, Cody, and Sunset gasped.

“Tirek!” they exclaimed together.

“You have something that belongs to me!” Tirek shouted. Twilight and Sunset made their horns glow and blasted their way out of the large rock. They rocketed into the sky at high speed, while carrying Cody. Now Twilight and Sunset had better control of their speed and zoomed past Tirek before he could react. The two alicorns then looked back and tried to land, but just like last time, they ended up skidding several yards forward before they smacked into one of Tirek’s fore-hooves. They both looked up to see Tirek glaring and looking down at them as they backed away.

“You three are going to give me what I want!” Tirek demanded as he went to inhale but Sunset and Twilight teleported away with Cody before Tirek could take their magic. The three of them arrived at the upper most balcony of the Library. Twilight quickly used her telescope to locate Tirek while Cody pulled out his macrobinoculars to search as well. Once they saw Tirek in the distance, the centaur looked in their direction and fired a giant magic blast at them!

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Twilight, Cody, and Sunset screamed as they were tossed away from the explosion and landed nearly as pieces of papers and book covered in flames rained down from the sky. Twilight, Sunset, and Cody had grabbed Owlowiscious, Padme, and R5 respectively in their arms and held them close when they landed hard on the ground outside. The married trio gasped as the library was destroyed. They had lost their home.

“Padme, grab R5 and get him out of here,” Cody told his pet aviserpen.

Twilight and Sunset were now very angry.

“No more running away,” Sunset said softly with her teeth clenched.

“Time to deploy our secret weapon!” Cody added.

Twilight and Sunset teleported a specially made battle suit that they built with Cody and the others. The suit was shrunken flat on the ground. Twilight, Sunset, and Cody used their powers to stand it up and the two alicorns cast an enlarging spell to restore the suit to full size.

“Remind me again, what is that?” Sunset asked.

“It’s a battle suit meant to fight supersized opponents. Behold, the Iron Jedi,” Cody replied.

The Iron Jedi was roughly 15 meters tall and it was made from old Clone War wreckage on Christophsis salvaged by the Freemakers. The suit’s mega-saber was powered by a giant kyber crystal, also from Christophsis. It was also equipped with thrusters on the back and on the bottom of its feet.

Together they exchanged firm nods, opened their wings, and then teleported with Cody to Tirek. They both gritted their teeth as they flew toward the centaur at high speed. Cody activated the thrusters on his battle suit and charged towards Tirek.

Twilight and Sunset combined their magic to launch a very strong and powerful magic beam. Tirek did his best to block, but the magic beam amplified in size and strength, knocking Tirek backward as the magic beam combusted into a massive explosion behind him. Tirek glared as Twilight and Sunset landed, glaring at him angrily.

“Now I understand what your fellow princesses have done!” Tirek bragged.

“Good! ‘cause you gonna wish you stayed in Tartarus when we’re through with you!” Sunset yelled.

Twilight and Sunset then charged up their horns before taking off into the sky so fast that the ground rumbled. A purple and peach colored streak could be seen as behind them as they flew about the skies side by side, but this time, they were in full control of their speed. Tirek then fired a magic beam at the two alicorns but Twilight put up a shield around herself, Cody, and Sunset to block the attack. Then both alicorns flew right through the magic blast unharmed and landed before Tirek. Together, they fired a magic beam at his face. Tirek grunted angrily before pushing the beam away with his hand. He then used his magic to pick up Cody, Twilight, and Sunset. The three of them fought to break free but Tirek tossed them both away.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Twilight, Cody, and Sunset screamed as they were sent flying into a mountain far away in the background. Both alicorns put up barriers around their bodies to minimize damage from the impact.

“Is that the best you can do?!” Sunset snapped.

Tirek replied by lunging at Cody and both alicorns and burrowed right through the mountain. Twilight and Sunset struggled to climb onto Tirek’s back. They then teleported themselves above Tirek, charged up their horns and fired a magic blast at Tirek from above. The impact caused a shock wave that sent Tirek crashing to the ground, making Tirek grunt. Twilight and Sunset then fired a powerful blast at Tirek from above, which created a large explosion. Cody and the two alicorns then landed and noticed that Tirek was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble as Tirek used his magic to cut up the chunk of ground Twilight, Cody, and Sunset were standing on. He then tossed the chunk away with Cody and the two alicorns standing on it. Twilight, Cody, and Sunset flew off before the chunk smashed into the ground behind them. Tirek roared angrily as he slammed the ground with his fist, making it rumble and produce several crags. landed and used his naturally fast ground speed to maneuver around the crags, even doing a large black flip from one crag to the next. Twilight and Sunset stayed in the air, blasting and dodging the crags, while Cody sliced some in half with the mega-saber. Sunset then front flipped into the skies to fly beside her as Tirek fired another magic blast.

Twilight and Sunset charged up their horns and fired another combined magic blast. The three magic blasts collided...

BOOOOOOOOM!

...creating a massive explosion. When the dust settled, Tirek was buried alive under some rocks, but managed to free himself without any trouble as Twilight, Cody, and Sunset approached him.

“It appears we are at an impasse,” said Tirek.

“Why?! What’s the matter, Tirek? Had enough?!” Sunset taunted angrily and gritted her teeth. Tirek smirked deviously.

“How about a trade, Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset?” Tirek offered as he snapped his fingers and made several bubbles appear. Inside of them were the rest of the girls, Spike, and Discord. They all had sad looks on their faces.

“Their release for all the Alicorn magic in Equestria,” Tirek proposed. Twilight and Sunset gasped, seeing that their friends had already been drained of their magic. The others shouted protests to Twilight and Sunset, except for Discord, who just sat quietly in his bubble feeling sorry for himself.

“What’s it going to be, Princess and Prince?” Tirek asked. Twilight had a very worried look on her face as Sunset growled and gritted her teeth. Cody just glared at the centaur. Neither of them was sure of what to do and even Cody wasn’t sure if he could capture all the bubbles with the Force and not risking harm to anypony.

“Don’t do it, Twilight and Sunset!” Rainbow shouted.

“We aren’t worth it!” Fluttershy added.

“Oh but you are, Fluttershy,” said Discord sadly to Fluttershy, “You’re the pony who taught me that friendship is magic. I had magic and friendship, and now I don’t have either.”

Twilight, Cody, and Sunset looked at Discord sympathetically. As much as they wanted to be angry with him and give him a piece of their minds, neither of them had ever seen the draconequus look so guilty and ashamed. The fact he was even imprisoned in a bubble was proof that Discord truly understood how it felt to be betrayed and that what he had done was wrong.

“Enough!” Tirek snapped, having enough emotional moments, “I want an answer, and I want it now!” Twilight then looked at her friends when she saw a color band flash across each bubble. Then a rainbow flashed over her eyes.

“We will give you our magic, in exchange for our friends,” Twilight told Tirek as Sunset nodded in agreement. Everypony else gasped in complete shock.

“As you wish,” said Tirek as he snapped his fingers to lower the bubbles to free all but Discord. The others looked up to see Discord still inside his bubble.

“All of our friends,” Twilight demanded.

“Now!” Cody added.

“After the way he has betrayed you, you still call him a “friend”?” Tirek asked.

“Discord is not a bad draconequus, he just made a bad decision!” Cody replied.

“Release him!” Twilight demanded.

“If that’s what you want,” Tirek replied as he snapped his fingers to make the bubble land and pop, releasing the draconequus beside Fluttershy.

“Thank you, Twilight and Cody,” said Discord before turning to Fluttershy, “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” said Fluttershy sadly with watery eyes as she looked away.

“Your turn,” said Tirek deviously as he inhaled both Twilight and Sunset’s magic at once. The two alicorns screamed in pain before collapsing to their sides in exhaustion.

“Twilight! Sunset!” Cody cried out in sadness.

“YES!” Tirek roared in triumph as his body more than doubled in size and strength.

One could say that Tirek had now achieved his “perfect” form. He then walked away as Twilight and Sunset struggled to sit up. Cody got out of his suit and helped his wives up as rest of Harmony Squad gathered around them.

“Twilight, Sunset, what were you thinking?!” Spike asked.

“Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable then friendship,” Discord explained as he showed the group the necklace, “But there is nothing worth more. I see that now. He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of his gratitude and loyalty. But when I say that it is a sign of our true friendship, I am telling the truth.” Discord then put the medallion around Twilight’s neck as a rainbow shined across it. Twilight then gasped as the purple color in her eyes returned.

“You think that might be the last one we need?” Applejack asked.

“I think it is,” Cody replied.

“We have to get to the chest,” said Twilight as she ran off while the others, including Discord following behind.

Harmony Squad made their way to the Tree of Harmony and gathered around the chest. Twilight then held up her medallion by the chest. The medallion was then grabbed by a magical glow, transformed into her key, and it put itself into the final keyhole. Twilight, Cody, and Sunset smiled. Just then, there a loud rumbling. Outside, Tirek had made his way toward the Castle of the Two Sisters and was using his magic to devastate the Everfree Forest. As this happened, Blueblood had kept trailing Tirek for some time.

“Together!” Twilight told the others, “I think we have to do this together!”

Cody noticed Tirek causing mayhem and saw a growth potion in a beaker when a rainbow flashed over his eyes and appeared in the middle of his eyes. He narrowed his brow in determination.

“I know what to do,” said Cody to the others, “You girls focus on using your keys to open the chest. I am going to stall Tirek!”

“WHAT?!” the others exclaimed.

“Cody, that’s crazy!” Twilight protested.

“I need you to trust me. Can you do that for me?” Cody asked. Twilight was afraid, but she smiled bravely.

“I trust you,” Twilight said softly as Cody smiled and headed up to face Tirek alone.

He then took the growth potion and poured it into a storage tank, making it grow to 50 meters tall. While Twilight did trust Cody, she and the others rushed to the outside of the cave. They were anxious to see what would happen. Cody then stood before Tirek, who had immediately noticed him.

“What do you want, Jedi?” Tirek demanded.

“To stop you from destroying all of Equestria!” Cody said bravely, “Behold, the Iron Jedi!”

“Be gone with you!” Tirek shouted as he launched a giant magic blast at Cody, but he blocked it with the mega-saber.

“You called your brother a fool and a traitor for embracing the magic of friendship,” said Cody boldly, “but now that same magic that you despised will be your downfall!” Tirek roared angrily as Cody stood up in battle position. The Battle of the Titans was about to begin. Tirek gave a loud laugh.

“I’d like to see you try and hurt me with your giant suit of armor,” Tirek challenged.

The centaur fired more magic blasts at Cody, only to deflect them back at him.

“My turn,” Cody said.

He then turned off the mega-saber and activated the laser repulsors on the suit’s hands, then blasted the evil centaur. Tirek tried to counter with his own magic blasts, but Cody intensified the repulsor blasts and scored a hit on him, knocking him down.

“Impressive, but I’ve got some goods of my own,” Tirek said, as he got back up.

He then activated the double-sided lightsaber Discord gave him earlier. Cody activated the mega-saber and the two began dueling.

Meanwhile, each of the mares placed a hand over their own key as they turned them at the same time. The top of the chest began to glow as a rainbow shot out of it and entered the Element of Magic in the Tree of Harmony. Some magical energy then flowed out of the center of the tree and entered the other elements. Strong magical power beams then descended onto the six ponies. Twilight just embraced the magical energy and smiled as she and the rest of the girls disappeared and were encased inside magical orbs. Then each orb burst to reveal that each pony had powered up.

Pinkie had blue and yellow balloon decals on both her hooves, her cutie mark restored, as well as a yellow, orange, and blue stripe in her pink mane and tail. Rainbow had lightning bolt marks on both her hooves as well as along the outer sides of her eyes as well as her restored cutie mark. Her wings were now rainbow colored and her mane was longer, thicker, and more spiky. The same could be said about her tail, which was loosely shaped like a lightning bolt. Applejack had apple decals on both her hooves in red and green. Unlike the other restored cutie marks, hers had been altered to feature a giant apple surrounded by two smaller apples. Her mane and tail, which were thicker and longer, now had red and lilac highlights in them and her hair ties were now giant green ribbons. Her stenson hat also had an apple decal on it. Fluttershy had various colored butterfly decals on both her hooves with her restored cutie mark. Her wings had a turquoise stripe in the middle with dark pink on the ends of each wing as well as pink heart decals on the outer tips of her feathers. Her mane and tail had grown in length as well as volume and had highlights of sea-blue, cyan, and lilac.

Rarity had diamond decals that were not just on both her hooves, but also had white outlines of diamond decals on her mane and tail. Her cutie mark was now one giant blue diamond with three smaller diamonds on the left side. Her mane and tail were also longer and had more volume as well. They also had stripes of pale blue, violet, and yellow highlights in them. Unlike her regular mane and tail styles, the curls were more defined at the very ends of each section of her hair. Her tail was also divided into two strands that had their own large curl at the end. Finally, Twilight had white and pale yellow diamond stars on both her hooves that sparkled in the light along with her restored cutie mark. Her wings now had bands of magenta and purple on them. Her mane and tail had an additional stripe of yellow and violet running through them. The other powered up ponies, gathered around Twilight before they flew out of the cave.

Back outside, Cody and Tirek were still engaged in an intense lightsaber duel. It wasn’t long until Cody put Tirek on the defensive and destroyed the Sith lightsaber. Tirek then blasted Cody with lightning coming out of his hands. Cody managed to block the lightning bolts and direct them back at him, leaving the centaur struggling to recover. Once he did, Tirek charged at Cody while blasting him, only for the latter to block his blasts. It was then that Tirek used his magically enhanced strength to rip an arm and a leg off the Iron Jedi suit, knocking it over. He then squeezed the arm carrying the mega-saber and damaged it.

Cody then activated the self destruct button, which sent him ejecting out of the suit before it exploded in front of Tirek’s face, creating a blast so powerful that it knocked Tirek over. Cody managed to land safely on the ground. Just as Tirek recovered from the explosion, he and Cody looked to the side and saw a giant orb rise into the air with six familiar ponies inside. Tirek angrily shot a magic blast at the giant orb, but his attack was easily blocked.

“How is this possible?!” said Tirek, “You have no magic!”

“You’re wrong Tirek!” Twilight replied boldly as the other girls hovered around her, “Sunset and I may have given you our Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!” The Mane six used their Rainbow power to blast Tirek, causing him to scream as his entire body was engulfed by both a bright light and the rainbow as his body released all the magic he had captured. In the process, his body rapidly shrunk in size and stature until he was reduced to his powerless state. Blueblood immediately came out of hiding, then seized the opportunity and decapitated Tirek with a swing of lightsabers. He then left the area, heading back to his ship before anyone could see him.

Cody and the Mane six were encased inside a gigantic orb of raw magic. They soon reached the center of all Equestria where they were so high in the sky that they could see the entire land before them.

The Mane six separated into three groups of two. Cody, Rarity, and Twilight headed toward Canterlot, where Shining Armor and his two guards were still sitting on the floor of the bridge. Then Shining Armor found that he could make his horn glow again and stood up, feeling her magic, strength, and cutie mark had been restored. He gave Rarity and Twilight a smile to say thank you. Fluttershy and Rainbow flew over to the group of grounded and weakened Wonderbolts and other Pegasi. They were quickly restored of their own magic, cutie marks, and their ability to fly again. Muffins especially was very pleased as Rainbow and Fluttershy flew in front of her. In Appleloosa, Applejack and Pinkie hopped about excitedly before the still drained Earth ponies as the magic wave went past them, restoring their magic, strength, and their cutie marks. The Earth ponies began to smile and dance happily. Finally, inside the prison hold where the three drained Alicorn princesses were chained and held captive. The restoration of magic in Equestria caused Princess Celestia’s chains to dissolve and soon the sun Princess found that her horn was glowing to show her magic and cutie mark had been restored. The same happened with Princess Luna and Cadance. The three princesses, along with Princes Blaze and Dagger quickly made their way out of Tartarus.

The Mane Six and returned before the Tree of Harmony via another magic orb. They quickly teleported out of it and exchanged smiles with each other as their bodies stopped glowing, but retained their powered up forms. They watched as the giant orb hovered above the chest and was absorbed back into it.

Harmony Squad was then startled when the Tree of Harmony gave off a bright light and the ground began to rumble. A huge rainbow broke through the ground above them and ascended into the sky before descending on the other side of Ponyville. The chest then rose into the air and traveled along the rainbow road until it reached the other side. The chest immediately planted itself into the ground. Only a few seconds passed before a bright light appeared and a giant crystal castle tree sprouted from the surface. It also had a pair of flag banners hanging from a pole on the left side. Cody and the Mane six were teleported before the new castle. It was then that the Mane Six powered down. Together, they started at the castle in awe and amazement.

“Sweet Celestia!” said Rarity, “Are you all seeing what I’m seeing?”

“But...whose is it?” Twilight asked as Cody and Sunset pondered.

“I believe it is yours, Cody, Princesses Twilight and Sunset,” said a voice. Cody and the Mane Six turned to see Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadance, Prince Blaze, Prince Dagger, Spike, Sal, Bucky, and R5 standing before them. Discord appeared from behind the group and gave them a friendly wave before standing beside Spike.

“You have been wondering what you are meant to do as princesses,” Princess Celestia told Twilight, Sunset, and Cody as she lead the entire group down one of the castle hallways, “Do you know now?”

“As princesses, I believe we have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria,” Twilight answered.

“And to spread it across the whole galaxy,” Sunset added.

“It is also our duty to show ponies and everyone else in the galaxy just how magical friendship can be,” Cody continued.

“This is the role we are meant to have in our world and our galaxy!” Twilight and Cody finished together, “It’s the role we choose to have!”

“But we didn’t defeat Tirek on our own!” said Twilight as she teleported herself, Sunset, and Cody between the rest of Harmony Squad, “It took all of us to unlock the chest!” The group shared a hug together.

“Then it is unlikely you three are meant to take on this task alone,” said Princess Celestia as she opened a pair of doors to another room. Harmony Squad gasped in surprise and amazement.

“Wowee!” Pinkie exclaimed. Inside the room was a chamber that had twelve thrones. Seven of them had the cutie mark of each of the mares on it. The eighth throne was smaller and designed for Spike and had been placed right next to Twilight’s throne. As expected, Twilight, Cody, and Sunset’s thrones were side by side of each other.

“You are now Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship,” said Princess Celestia, “And you are now Sunset Shimmer, the princess of empathy.” All but Twilight, Cody, and Sunset took a seat to try out their new thrones.

“But what is the princess and prince of friendship without their friends?” Princess Celestia asked as the group shared a hug with each other.

Fluttershy then pulled away a second and pulled Shenran into the hug as well. Then Twilight and Cody looked at Discord, who just peeked into the room, unsure if he should walk inside or not. The former used her magic to bring him into the room so he could join the group hug.

“Wait a minute, where’s my throne?!” Discord asked.

“I don’t think you’re quite there yet,” said Fluttershy as she hovered up to the draconequus. Discord chuckled.

“Yes, well, I suppose not,” Discord replied as he and Fluttershy smiled.

Outside the Castle, many of the Ponyville ponies approached the castle in awe. They had just gotten to the front door when Twilight and Sunset opened it and stood before them with their wings open, with Cody in between them.

Once Twilight and Cody finished singing, all the ponies smiled excitedly.

Twilight and Cody (sing):
Each one of us has something special
That makes us different, that makes us rare

Fluttershy and Rainbow mirrored each other as they flew above the group of ponies walking inside of the castle.

Fluttershy (sings):
We have a light that shines within us
That we were always meant to share

Rarity and Applejack faced each other as they sang. Then Pinkie and Rainbow stood beside Rarity and Applejack facing each other. Fluttershy and Twilight did the same along with Cody, Sunset, Sal, and Bucky so they made a V shape while they sang together.

Harmony Squad (sings):
And when we come together
Combine the light that shines within
There is nothing we can’t do
There is no battle we can’t win

The group gathered around the star in the center of the room’s floor. Each of the mares was glowing as a fast moving Element colored rainbow shot from the center star and flew out of the castle.

Harmony Squad (sings):
When we come together
There’ll be a star to guide the way
It’s inside us every day

See it now! See it now!

As the group sang, the element colored rainbow took off. First it flew through Manehattan, where Coco Pummel was busy sewing and smiled as she saw the rainbow go by. Then the rainbow swirled around Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin as they flew about the skies. Cheese Sandwich was just walking with Boneless two in his arms. Then he saw the rainbow zoom across the sky and blew his party blower. The rainbow then flew through the land of the Breezies. Seabreeze and several other Breezies smiled as the rainbow went by. In Rainbow Falls, Silver Shill was busy at his now legitimate goods tent in Rainbow Falls when the rainbow swirled around him and flew off, making him grin.

Harmony Squad (sings):
Let the Rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine
Let the rainbow remind you
That forever this will be our time

As a mandolin solo was played, the element-colored rainbow swirled around Discord who was now standing in the middle of the celebration. Princess Celestia was just watching the festivities when Discord presented her with a bouquet of flowers as a gesture of apology and friendship. To everypony’s surprise, they were regular, healthy, pretty flowers. Princess Celestia smiled at the gesture while Discord gave her a smile and a wink.

Twilight and Cody ended the song, the rest of Harmony Squad gathered around them as somepony took their picture.

Twilight and Cody (sing):
Let the rainbow remind you
That together we will always shine

Cody, Twilight, and Sunset agreed that their future had never looked so bright.