The Second Return

Chapters

Deceiving days
Illusionist
Spurious history?
Cunning plan
Orchestrator at work
Rebels
Divine intervention
!

Deceiving days

Warning: This story is written by a guy who's got the English as a second language. Please be mindful about the possible grammar mistakes. Thanks.

Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres

It was a very hot summer day. You might think that’s a boring, common start of the story, but the hot weather was the first sign of the upcoming danger. Nopony was aware of it that time. Anyway, our story begins on the outskirts of Ponyville, at the apple orchard, where a young mare carried heavy buckets with water on her back, complaining about the weather.

“It’s been a week since all this crazed hot started. When Pegasi do somethin’ ‘bout it? Ah can’t be pulling the water from the stream forevah, dat’s for sure,” cursed aloud.

She came to the most weather-beaten tree. But she knew that even the cold water couldn't help. "Ah suppose this little fella is finished." She looked around the orchard. "And if Ah don't get a rain in a few days, all of them will be." She wanted to find her salvation in the sky, but only the scorching heat of the sun welcomed her. Or not? A blue Pegasus with colorful mane headed towards her. She knew her quite well, and hoped for answers.

"How'dy, Rainbow Dash," greeted the blue mare. "Ah need a favor. Could you hook some of your clouds here for a few drops of water?"

"That's why I am here, AJ," she replied and started explaining. "We are almost out of water at Cloudsdale and we used all of the local lakes. So I am checking the areas where the water is needed most."

"And?"

"And what?"

"How 'bout mah farm." Applejack replied with heavy impatience. "How long before you get some clouds here?"

"These sure could use some of them," said the light blue mare and expertly took a close look at one of the trees. "So we'll get them here in, uhm, five days?"

"Five days?!" Applejack couldn't believe it. "This place'll turn into a dry wasteland in five days."

"I am sorry, Applejack," Rainbow replied and started counting. "We have the Royal Gardens in Cantlerlot tomorrow, then Filly Delphia fields, some of your cousins near Los Pegasus and many others."

"Well, that's just great, so Celestia's flowers are more important than my apples, you say?" Applejack was so angry she could buck an apple tree in half.

"Hey, there's no reason to get mad at ME," said Dash, angered and hurt by AJ's tone. "It's not like I am in the charge of the Water Distribution Department. Everypony is lending a wing. Even the Wonderbolts."

Applejack was ashamed. Rainbow was the last pony to blame. "Ah don't know what has gotten into me. Ah'm sorry, Dash." She tried to cheer up. "Next time we wrap up the winder, remind me to keep some of that snow in mah barn, just to be safe when this comes again."

"Sure," promised Rainbow Dash with a smile on her face. She took a quick look over the orchard and pointed at two ponies walking towards them. "Look, it's Rarity and Twilight, they might know something about this."

Ponyville, Dam

Few hours before, Twilight Sparkle, together with her baby dragon assistant were looking at the dam. Not that she was a huge fan of dams, no. The problem was, the water held by the dam was gone. Except for a few puddles at the bottom, it was completely waterless. In those hot days, water was more important than ever and it was up to Twilight to find where has all the water gone. But she was not alone for this task, as her requested aid let itself known about being present.

"I hope I am not late, darling." said the just arriving white mare with curly purple mane. "I certainly took my time choosing the right outfit for this weather, but I do have to say it was worth it." She turned around and back so that Twilight and Spike could see her large, straw boater, decorated with various flowers, purple sunglasses and a gemstone necklace. Simple, stylish and beautiful. Baby dragon Spike could not take his eyes of her. But then again, he never could.

"Hello Rarity," Twilight greeted her. "We ourselves have arrived just a few minutes ago. I think I might know where the problem is, but I still could use your help."

"Would you mind explaining what is the matter, Twilight?" asked Rarity and looked at the empty reservoir. "I still can not see how I could be of any use to you dealing with this situation."

"You see Rarity," said Twilight and pulled some kind of map out of her saddle bag. "Two days ago, the most of water from this dam disappeared. The Pegasi planned to lift it up to Cloudsdale. I've been asked by the Mayor to find out where is it."

"Could it just simply... vaporized? The weather is hot enough, that goes without saying," suggested Rarity.

"I am afraid not," rejected her idea with a sigh. "Or at least not overnight. I have my theory, but I need to a closer look. Come with me Rarity. You can stay here Spike." The dragon saluted and Twilight started descending to the bottom.

"Wait Twilight," Rarity sounded seriously concerned. "Do you intend to take us into all that mud and dirt?"

"It's not that bad. The sun dried up the most of it. And I bet the remaining mud is even better for your skin and hooves than the one being used at the spa. Come, we can have a full service after this."

"We HAVE to have a full service after this," corrected Rarity and started carefully descending behind her.

When they reached the bottom, Twilight showed rarity her map. It was an old piece from the Ponyville town hall archives. "Subterranean river system of Ponyville" was the title. Twilight coughed in preparation for a long speech.

"A few days ago, Pinky told me about her Pinkie sense warning about upcoming earthquake," she ignored Rarity's shocked look and continued. "After my experiences with me warning myself, I have decided not to freak out, since, as Pinkie said, it will be nothing major. The epicenter was deep beneath the earth, but I am almost sure that it blocked one or two underground rivers and created a path for a new one. It also created a few holes beneath this lake and the water simply leaked somewhere beneath us. Can you see this?" Twilight pointed on the upper right corner of the map and Rarity nodded. "If water truly leaked, it will most likely flow through here," pointed with her hoof along the theoretical path, "and will probably end in the old underground lake not so far behind the Sweet Apple Acres."

"And how do I fit in all of this?" asked Rarity. She didn't want to dirty her hooves for nothing, after all.

"You see, there is no way I could access these tunnels, so I was trying to adjust the gem finding spell you taught me. While it worked fine, well, since I am not a nature born user of this spell, I could only find the apple juice bottles in my cellar. I need you if I want to search... deeper."

"A-are you sure, darling?" Rarity was not worried for nothing. "Is it safe? My gem crafting abilities are the core of my fashion techniques and I simply couldn't spend the rest of my life being able to search for something as common as water. Although these days, you could say that water is sure valuable than gems."

"Rest assured, Rarity," reassured her Twilight. "It is completely safe. I have triple-tested it and I have a fail-safe spell if it fails and other fail-safe spell in case of the first fail-safe spell failing. Nothing can go wrong," said with a huge, honest smile.

"Very well, my dear. Let's get started."

Twilight's horn gently touched Rarity's and started enchanting. The purple glow slowly turned into a watery blue one. The spell was ready. "It's done. You can already see the water beneath us. I'll go pick up Spike, you can follow the path on the map, we'll catch you in no time."

Rarity was glad she could finally get out of this mess. It was an easy walk for her, since the enchanting spell was strong and her horn almost pulled her along the path. Shortly after, Twilight teleported next to her, along with Spike. With each step in their hooves (and foots, since we can't forget about Spike), Twilight's theory was more and more likely. "This will be great. According to my calculations, there should be enough water to cover the weekly consumption of the middle Equestria," Twilight rejoiced.

"Just remember to save some for a wonderful, relaxing bubble bath," dreamt Rarity. Just like Twilight, her hooves were muddy and her well treated skin sweaty, since they've been walking towards the sun.

A tiny strip of the sun was still on the horizon when they reached Apple family's orchard.

"Look, that's Rainbow Dash waving at us," noticed Spike and pointed at her hovering above Applejack. But those two weren't the only ponies they saw. Yellow and pink mares headed their way too.

"It's Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie," recognized Spike instantly. "I wonder what have happened to them. They sure look exhausted. Speaking of which, I could really use a break."

Twilight looked at him with her disbelieving look. Not only was he sitting on her for the half of the way, but she thought he would show more endurance and energy in the Rarity's presence.

"What?" wondered Spike when he caught Twilight's look.

Ponyville, Fluttershy's cottage

Of all the ponies, it was Fluttershy who's got her hooves the most full. For the past few days, all animals in her caring were nervous and reckless. Fluttershy spent most of her time convincing them to eat, preventing them from running away, fighting each other and trying to comfort them.

"Please, little fella, just a little tiny bit. The tiniest of all tiny bits."
"Now careful, my friend. You don't want to get lost in that scary Everfree Forest, do you?"
"If you are full of energy, don't fight, have fun!"
"Shh, it's okey, big sis Fluttershy is here for you."

Those were the lines she kept using everyday. But even her kind words and gentle treatment were not able to prevent a group of her animals from running away. Two of her birds, one ferret and a chicken ran away that morning. She knew where they have gone, even though she was not ready to face the truth yet. Everfree Forest. One might say that when you live next to something, you'll get used to it. That wasn't the Fluttershy's case. Sure, she was a good friend of Zecora, the zebra alchemist who lived there, or a dangerous and fierce manticore, who just needed to be show a little kindness, yet the forest had its old, ancient history and secrets, before which anypony's heart would freeze. When she had the need to head there, she usually took one of her animal friends or asked somepony to accompany her.

Asking the animals was out of the question, she was glad for only a few of them running away. She had to ask one of her friends. But Applejack was tending her trees all day long, Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen, Twilight was busy with solving a mystery and Rarity said she'd already promised Twilight to help. She couldn't ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as she wanted runaways back alive and unharmed, if possible. Besides, they were in the middle of their grand crusade operation.

Only Pinkie Pie was free enough to help. "Nah, it's okey. I've got plenty of free time. Maybe I could throw a party for all freetimers. Is that a word? Oh well, I sure have to make a huge party when this heat is over. With lots of iced toppings cupcakes, ice cream, iced coffee, iced tea, iced chocolate," blurt Pinkie and daydreamt for a moment about all that delicatessen. "Aaaanyway, don't worry, auntie Pinkie is always here for you when you are in a bind," she promised. "I'll catch you at your cottage, Fluttershy," Pinkie parted with her and dashed into nowhere, only to be found already waiting at the cottage when Fluttershy quickly returned.

Pinkie was not waiting alone. She was with the lost bird, ferret and chicken. "How did I catch them? Well, I was bored, and since you mentioned something about 'seeking' and 'hiding', I've got eager to play hide-and-seek with them. You gave them a huge advantage, though, but it was of no use. I am the world champion, after all," said Pinkie proudly and out of nowhere pulled all her blue championship medals.

"I... I don't know how to thank you, Pinkie. But there is still a little birdie missing. Who knows where he might be by now?" sadly wondered Fluttershy.

"You mean that one with green and red feathers on his wings?" asked Pinkie.

"Have you found him?" asked Fluttershy happily.

"Yes. I had almost got him, but then I ran into Zecora in the forest and I chatted for a while."

"Aw, that's bad. N-not that I blame you, or anything," Fluttershy apologized silently and cowered.

"Don't be silly. We will find him. In fact, he's over there flying into the town," Pinkie pointed up the sky, on a fast moving black dot. "Let's go, Fluttershy, I don't want to lose now that the game is on." Both ponies rushed after him.

To their misfortune, the prey was one of the fastest bird. It wasn't flying at the top speed, but it still required the best effort from our mares. Pinkie was determined to win, and she was running with corresponding speed, often leaving Fluttershy behind. The bird fortunately landed on a tree or into a bush from time to time, unknowingly reducing his advantage. Yet as soon as Pinkie jumped to catch him, he flew instantly into the air, almost as if he was teasing her. With none of his breaks in town, the chase moved close to Sweet Apple Acres.

Pinkie was keeping up the speed, Fluttershy, on the other hand, was dead tired. She followed the pink pony, but she just was getting more and more away. A wild root appeared in front of her hooves and poor Fluttershy tripped and fell on her face. The pain wiped the exhaustion and replaced it with irritation. That's not what Iron Will taught me, Fluttershy unconsciously thought. You make me lose, I blow my fuse!

She got up on her hooves. "Enough is enough," she yelled (but her yelling is more like normal pony's tone), "I've had it with this stupid bird and this stupid chase." Fluttershy spread her wings and took off so fast, it would've left even Rainbow Dash in ave. Within a split second, she rushed over Pinkie Pie and caught the terrified and confused bird in hooves. He was trying to escape, but couldn't avoid Fluttershy's stare in his eyes. She was piercing him with her legendary stare.

"That's it, mister, now, you fly back to your nest and won't even think about moving your feather until I say so, you've got that clear?" threatened Fluttershy in anger. The bird started rapidly nodding. Fluttershy instantly changed to her balanced and happy expression. "That's a good boy," she kindly praised him, almost as if her thread a second ago never happened. Still terrified bird charged with his maximum power, obediently heading back to the cottage.

"Hey," Pinkie's voice startled her. She almost forgot about her. "Nice job. Maybe you could join me in the next competition. No wings, though. I almost got him, then some yellowpink ray above me got him first. You know what it calls for? Celebration!" answered her own question before could Fluttershy even start processing her words. Pinkie was thinking aloud about the theme and the name, when Fluttershy's fatigue made a huge reminder. "Oh, that's right," remembered Pinkie. She helped her on her hooves and looked around. Instantly, she noticed Rainbow Dash (with her coat and mane, she stuck out among the apple trees) and Applejack. Towards those two were heading Twilight and Rarity. Great, Pinkie thought, we can start the party already.

Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres

The ponies, although not deliberately, gathered together in the apple orchard. Time was late, but the moon was nowhere to be seen yet. All mares were tired and dirty. Applejack from pulling the water buckets, Rainbow Dash from her weather patrol duty, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity from their mystery case and Fluttershy with Pinkie Pie from their almost mare-a-thon long chase. Well, Pinkie was still high energy, but then again, she always was.

The ponies greeted each other and each group let the other know what were they doing. AJ and Rainbow kept their little dispute for themselves.

"... and then Fluttershy caught the bird," Pinkie portrayed Fluttershy's grab, "and used the stare on him. And that's how I got my cutie mark," finished the story Pinkie-style. "So..." she waited for a few seconds, "let's get this party started!" Quickly pulled her famous party wagon from behind a tree like it was there since the begging of the time and with party music, she started throwing confetti and stripes everywhere. Applejack was not twice as happy about the new apple trees decoration, but she knew she can't stop Pinkie while she's in her element.

"Not now, Darling," made Rarity futile attempt to stop her and interrupted her party song. "We all are tired and I can't stand my hooves dirty for any longer. If you all excuse me, I'll..."

This time, it was her who got interrupted. A bright green fire accompanied by a huge burp illuminated the ponies' face in the dark. A letter from Princess Celestia, Twilight and others quickly recognized. A scroll with the royal seal on a blue ribbon.

"The blue ribbon!" gasped Twilight and quickly grabbed the scroll from Spike, as he was getting his reading pose ready.

"What's wrong, sugarcube?" wondered Applejack. "It's just a blue ribbon. Maybe Celestia ran out of the red ones," made her joke, but this was not a laughing matter for Twilight.

Twilight knew what it meant. Red ribbons were used for Princess Celestia's letters. The blue ones were used by her sister, Princess Luna. Plus, the royal seal contained a letter L. Twilight rarely received a letter from her, so she began to worry if the Princess is safe. Her Twilight Sense was tingling.

"My dear friend Twilight Sparkle," started reading, "I was asked by my sister to summon you and your friends, namely Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack, to Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. We ask you for your swift arrival. We will meet you with my sister there. Princess Luna." Twilight finished and looked at the others with worries.

"Now this reminds me of somethin'." Applejack remembered Celestia's summoning letter concerning Discord's chaos rampage.

"What are we waiting for?" noted Rainbow Dash impatiently. "The princess needs us, hurry!" She turned towards the Ponyville and others quickly followed her. Rarity managed to utter something about not being properly dressed for a royal visit, but ran with others regardless. Pinkie's party wagon was left open, and along with the entire farm, far behind the rushing ponies.

Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library

Despite the late hour, almost everypony was outside in streets. Now, when the sun was set down by the princess, many went to enjoy the cooler temperature and to have a chat with friends. Seeing six dirty mares storming the town was not as big commotion as you might suspect. They've got used to their adventures already. It brought a refreshing excitement to everyday's boredom. Unless it was a parasprite invasion. The destroyed town was a little too much for a commotion.

Our mares, followed by questions and greetings from other ponies, reached the Library. From the outside, they could see a dim light coming from the main floor. A bitter voices echoed from inside. What could the princesses discuss? Twilight knocked on the doors (despite the fact it was her house and workplace, after all, but battering inside the royal presence is highly inappropriate). She, followed by other companions, entered the gloomy room.

As the last incoming Fluttershy closed the door, someone magically closed the curtains and lit all lights. Princess Celestia and Princes Luna were standing next to the table with a wooden pony head sculpture. What bowled over everypony was the sight of a familiar face. A creature with a head of a horse, with a snake tongue, a one long fang, a deer antler and goat horn, with a body made from an arm of a lion, a claw of an eagle, a leg of a lizard, a leg of a goat, a wing of a bat, a Pegasus' wing and finished with a dragon's tail with a white tail tuft. A draconequus. Discord. He sat comfortably on the table, with his claw on the sculpture and a smile directed to ponies saying "You should see the look on your faces."

The one they expected to never see again is sitting right before their eyes. What is he doing here? Is the weather his doing? And why was he chatting with Celestia and Luna about? Find shocking revelations about him in the next chapter of The Second Return.

Illusionist

Twilight simply gazed with her jaw open, Applejack rubbed her eyes, Rainbow Dash flew up and with her hooves ready, she started taunting Discord. Rarity was not far away from fainting, Fluttershy shrieked in her high pitched voice and Pinkie... well, Pinkie, with a huge smile, leaped to Discord and with her irresistible puppy eyes - she silently begged for something. Discord made a long, bored sigh, but quickly changed his expression into an entertained smile.

"Well, well, well," he said in his mischievous voice, "I don't remember taking requests on these hours. But then again, who am I to be bound by the rules?" he questioned himself and to Pinkie's eternal pleasure, he conjured a pink fluffy cloud above her head. Pinkie opened her mouth wide open (and that's something, since she could engulf a wedding sized cake in a single bite) and let the chocolate milk rain directly into her throat. Not in the library, thought Spike, I have just cleaned the floor.

"Oh, and nice to see you too, my little ponies," greeted Discord the others. To be honest, nice seeing him was the last thing you could see on their faces.

"P-princes, what's going on? What is Discord doing here?" asked the Princess confused Twilight.

But before could Celestia even take a deep breath to start explaining, Rainbow Dash jumped in. "Yeah, what's he doing here? So I guess the last time wasn't enough for you, huh?. How did you escaped?" Rainbow interrogated him.

The draconequus enjoyed the moment. "It's all true, Rainbow Dash," pretended confession and started to be dramatic. "I am a vile criminal. Put me behind bars. Throw me into the deepest dungeon of Canterlot. Have no mercy on me. I am finished," lied and handcuffed himself along with a heavy iron ball chained to his goat leg. Despite the performance, he couldn't pass to make his wicked smile.

"Stop with this at once, Discord," warned him Celestia, "I have not called for you for this."

Discord made a dissatisfied 'chm', unmade the handcuffs and the iron ball, and with his deceiving tone he leaned very close to Celestia. "Let's just call this an advance payment," he whispered.

"You should have listened to her," entered the conversation Luna, "she's your big sister, after all."

"SISTER?!" shouted unbelieving ponies. How in Equestria could the royal alicorns, the kind and wise rulers of the Sun and the Moon could be related this deceiver, the living embodiment of the chaos and lies.

"Listen? To her?" wondered Discord, almost as if he was insulted by that. "Tell me, Luna, did Celestia listen to my voice of reason before she turned me, to your dislike, I have to say, to stone? Because I remember it very well. Those thousands of years, being a statute, just to be proved correct, in the end." Discord's eyes showed recalling his long prison.

"And I have given you my sincere apologies for my mistake, Discord," reminded him Celestia, "but I still stand for my actions that day. Your evildoings brought misery and despair upon these lands. It was my... ours," turned to Luna, "duty to stop you at all costs."

"My research made a temporary disturbance, there is no denying," admitted honestly Discord, "but let me make this clear. All I've ever done was to set you free, my sisters, and to bring happiness and security to this world. The fact one part of me found the enjoyment in some of its phases was simply a little bonus for my work," smiled.

"Excuse me," dared Twilight to enter the quarrel, "but you can hardly call all that chaos from over a year ago a plan to make Equestria happy and secure place. No one enjoyed your world."

"I did," confessed happily Pinkie. "The popcorn, the chocolate milk, the pink clouds, the super soapy road, the..."

"And don't you think Ah forgot about you making me a big liar," Applejack interrupted Pinkie's list. She sure was still ashamed of her behavior that day.

"Or me betraying my friends," added Rainbow Dash.

"I still can't believe I acted like a meanie," remembered Fluttershy. To be honest, she was more than a little mean.

Rarity, in accord of the girl's agreement, has not said a word about her greedy obsession with Tom. Despite her silence, everyone remembered it.

"The point is, as much as I respect Princesses' decisions, I speak for all of us that we need a lot of explanations," almost ordered Twilight, "if we are to join the forces, which is, I presume, the reason why you've called us here," made her most logical guess.

Discord couldn't hold it and started laughing out loud. "Explanation? How lovely," said with tears in his eyes. "It's funny because I don't remember you requiring an explanation when Celestia sent all of you to defeat me." He started mimicking their voices and poses. "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony... he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness... You six showed the full potential of the elements... it is you who must defeat Discord," finished quoting Celestia. "We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again," mimicked Twilight's voice. He again made a long bored sigh. "You were set against me, in a good faith, that's for sure, based on these few, highly inaccurate information. No need for anything else, let's just do what the Princess wants us to do," said ironically.

He was right, at least partly right. Despite the Celestia's goodwill for everypony, she could tell them more about him. The time was pressing back then, but girls wondered from time to time who Discord really was. Where did he come from? Why was he doing that? Girls, and especially Twilight were keen to learn something about him.

"But rejoice, celebrate and make a huge party... not literally, for now," he added, since Pinkie was immediately pulling party decoration out of nowhere, "since this time, the good and kind Discord will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know, now that we have both parties willing to listen." He took a brief pause and looked into everypony's face. "But we need to have everyone present. I don't like telling the same story twice... so boring."

"What do you mean, Discord?" asked Celestia. "I have summoned the current wielders of the Elements of Harmony as you required. All of them are here."

"When I say we miss some of them, then I mean it," repeated Discord. "After all, it was I who created them."

"WHAT?" shouted all six mares. There's no way Discord could be the inventor of the Elements of Harmony. They represent friendship. A trait which Discord clearly lacks.

"It was I, who created them," repeated Discord with frustration; he didn't like saying anything twice. "Once again, you have no idea about these marvelous creations you are wearing and you are so connected with. The finest art, the ultimate magic, the perfection itself," praised his works. "Celestia stole, or let's be nice and say borrowed them, and not knowing anything about them, she and Luna used its powers against me. When I was gone for that moment, she studied them. You did create some boring, yet accurate names for them, but calling them the Elements of Harmony?" he turned to Celestia. "Please, you, of all the ponies, should know what the term harmony is about. Your name would be true, should they be in balance with the elements of Technology, Betrayal, Greed, Lies, Sadness and Cruelty. And I don't remember forging any of these."

"So there are other elements?" asked Twilight. Her heart was rapidly beating. She was always fascinated with these items and now, the truth, or at least Discord's truth was at hoof.

"Yes," confirmed Discord. "Not six, as you all think, but twelve. Twelve essences, or as you say elements, filled with the most advanced magic. And when I say advanced, it is way beyond the spells locked in the secret Canterlot archives." What archives was he talking about, thought Twilight, I thought I had access everywhere. "Don't you wonder why all wielders of these elements are mares? Not a single stallion?" he smiled. "That's because of my fail-safe protection. My creation is so powerful, that I made one half visible only to mares, other half only to stallions. Since, as you soon discover, I both fulfil and neglect these conditions, only I was able to see and use them all. A clever protection against my latter confirmed worries," pointed with his claw at Celestia.

Twilight had so many questions. "What do the other six elements, or essences, represent?" was the one she asked first. Discord was obviously in a talkative mood and Twilight stood true to saying about striking while the iron is hot.

"It's hard to say, they are made of complex magic, after all," he said, "but should I had to describe them in one word each, I say Defense... no, Protection is better, Strength, Agility or Dexterity, I can't pick one here, Charisma, or rather inner beauty, but that's not one word, Willpower and Perception. Yes, these will do. Agility is better I guess."

So the six known elements were associated with other six. The elements of Protection, Strength, Agility, Charisma, Willpower and Perception. Who could wield them? And how do they find them? Twilight and others almost forgot they were summoned here to prevent something from happening. If they've been told an hour ago that they will be friendly chatting with one of their most dangerous foes, they sure would burst in laughter.

"For now, let me say this about the elements," said Discord, not leaving any room for other Twilight's questions so far. "They are imbued with life. Their purpose, so to say, was to gather the energy for my plans. They can be inactive, in sort of a slumber, before they once again start fulfilling their task. During this era, when I broke from my prison after the elements changed their wielder, I made a mistake of thinking that only six of them are active. But during our playtime in the royal maze, I started having my doubts after having a certain... troubles with Fluttershy," he looked at her so mean that the yellow pony almost apologized for giving him such a hard time manipulating her.

"Since you've proved yourself quite capable of breaking my deception and waved with the elements ready to use in front of me, I knew I had no choice but to remove you permanently if I want to have a peace for my work," said Discord coldly.

"To kill us?" asked silently Twilight.

"Yes. Unlike Celestia, I see the greater picture. If the six lives were needed for my plan, it was but a minor price. Trust me, if Celestia and Luna weren't so fond of you, I would have done so immediately. But," he added unconsciously and almost shed a honest tear, "I couldn't bear to see my sisters crying, never again."

Before could anyone start to sympathy with him for his sibling love, he once again switched to his common, deceiving voice and expression. "To your luck, although you might not remember it, you shielded yourself and your friends with that protection spell of yours. When I saw how the small part of affected landscape got erased, my doubts were cleared. This realization changed my plans. I let you to use the elements on me." He made a filly voice and whined. "But it huuurts so much."

"What has my protection spell to do with this?" wondered Twilight. She was proud of this spell, although she was not a good with it as...

"Your brother," finished her thought Discord. "Shining Armor, your so called B. B. B. F. F. The spell you've casted is unique, can not be learnt. It was of a weak form however, but that only means someone very close to you had to be able to use it properly. During my second time being a statue, I have confirmed it, especially during the Changeling's invasion. Your brother, Shining Armor, is, and I am absolutely sure, the element of Protection. Only its wielder can cast this spell in its fullest and correct form."

Of all the news she heard today, this for the most incredible for Twilight. My big brother is the element of Protection, she thought. It does make a sense. She told Discord and others her story about how she first used this spell. Shortly after being accepted into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, she and her brother got lost in the Canterlot Mountains. They got separated in a heavy blizzard. Twilight cried for her brother, but her voice only caused an avalanche. Later, the Rescue Ponies found her buried under the snow, unconscious, yet somehow maintaining the protective field around her. However, her brother was concious, inside of a much bigger bubble. While Twilight had to spent weeks honing her spell to the point where she could cast it at will, Shining were able to do this feat with absolute ease, and with bigger radius every time.

Discord yawned and stretched himself. Stories with happy ending and predictable development very incredibly boring for him. "Yes," he took the word once again. "When I confirmed the elements of Magic and Protection being related by blood, I knew where to look. You see, every single element is paired with other one.

Magic is the best way to protect,
that path is the only one correct.

Honest ones tell only true, no wrong,
for that inside they need to be strong.

Loyalty is not rock solid, it's agile,
only the masters can do it with a smile.

Kindness is clearly the best trait,
it does affect the others, there's no debate.

Generosity is very hard to truly hold,
only with willpower you are able to share your gold.

If you can make your friends smile,
for that you need to perceive a good while."

Discord finished his dose of wisdom. The unlikely voice have spoken. "Ah s'posse my brother is the element of Strength, watcha think?" guessed Applejack. "What? It ain't like I can't take together one and one," said when the others disbelievingly looked at her. Heavy thinking was usually Twilight's specialty, while Applejack was ready wherever the hard work laid.

"I have reached the same conclusion, dear Applejack," confirmed Discord her calculations. "Honesty is indeed paired with the strength. You sure are strong for yourself," flatted her and she quickly blushed. She was not good at receiving compliments. "But, as I have told you, these six elements, are only visible to stallions. Since the rest of you three are brotherless, according to my rules, remaining elements should be inactive," concluded Discord his theory.

"You can hardly blame any of us for not having a brother," objected Rarity. "It is not like we never wanted to have a brother."

"Hold on a second, brother," told him Luna. "You said the three are brotherless. But only Twilight Sparkle and Applejack have brothers. Does it mean...?."

"Yes," Discord didn't let her finish. "Although the mare does not know it yet, she indeed has a brother. An older brother. She already met him several times. A Pegasi stallion," he paused for a moment and looked at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash was confused. "You mean to say that I have a brother?" she asked. "That's as likely as the Wonderbolts failing one of their performances."

Discord made his wicked smile. "Search your feelings and memory. What Pegasi stallion have you met several times, you think about him every day and is older than you?"

The remembering part was easy for Rainbow Dash. She wasn't very sociable. She knew everpony from Cloudsdale, since they work together, but a Pegasi so important she thinks about him every day? There is one name, however...

"Nah, that can not be. There is no way I could be related to Soarin'," she said almost, laughing on her foolish idea.

"You sure?" Discord still pierced Rainbow with his manipulative gaze and smile. "The Wonderbolt. One of the fastest fliers in Equestria, just like you. Famous for his acrobatic stunts, just like you. The coat of a color not so different from yours. Your hero you've been always attracted to."

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh," Rainbow Dash suddenly realized. It all makes sense! "I am a sister to the Wonderbolt. This is the best day EVER!" rejoiced from the bottom of her heart.

"Anyway," calmed Rainbow's excitement Twilight, "that still makes only three of us. Does that mean the elements of Charisma, Willpower and Perception are inactive for this time?"

"I thought you might already solve my little riddle, my dear," said Discord with a slight, but obvious disappointment. "As far as my rule goes, you should be right. But as I said, it was me who forged them. They might have a little laws disobedience inherited from me."

"That means they could be visible to mares too?" asked Twilight and Discord nodded.

Fluttershy was silently standing close to the doors. She was not that afraid, but she still shivered in fear when Discord instantly moved to her and gently pat her on her mane.

"You see, ever since our maze encounter," he was thinking aloud. "I never stopped wondering how. How were you able to resist my deceiving skills I am so proud of. Where others quickly failed, you, the most unlikely of all, stood undefeated and beat me in my own game." He recalled his futile attempt to make lose her kindness by pointing out her weaknesses.

"Sorry, but there was nothing else I could've said," silently apologized Fluttershy for no reason.

"And that's exactly why I failed. Your kindness is the source of your charisma. Your greatest strength, and, to a certain degree, your greatest weakness. Discord himself defeated by a shy pony, who turned my trap against me. You, however you might deny it, are the element of Charisma. Even if it's not obvious to ponies, you sure have it when you react with the other life forms of Equestria. To tame a wild manticore, that's truly a great feat. Deeds of the ancient heroes would pale compared to this. Who would have thought, that this small, fragile pony could stand face to face to a mature red dragon, one of the strongest wild creatures, and make him cry? I have you know, I have an endless imagination, yet this is something I can not comprehend. Your personality is way stronger than any of us can imagine."

Nopony ever said something this magnificent about Fluttershy. Sure, her friends always encouraged her and cherished, but have herself compared to the bravest heroes of Equestria is something she could never dream of. "Why, thank you," she thanked him with a smile on her face and a few happy tears.

Does that means a pony can wield multiple elements at once? Should make sense, the Princesses used all six and there are only two of them, thought for herself Twilight.

According to Discord's pairing system, Rarity should be the element of Willpower. When others looked at her, she admitted without a hesitation. "It is true; I do happen to surprise myself how am I able to withstand all that pressure I have to face as a fashionista. Once I set my mind on something, you know I have to see it finished." Girls knew she was telling the truth. They remember well her endurance as she made their dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala.

Discord still had something to say on Rarity's account. "The willpower is incredibly useful for many spells. Your gemfinding is one of them. The levitation spell, the core magic for every unicorn, is exceptional in your case too. It is one thing to levitate a brush to fix your mane, but to use a tiny needle to sew small pieces of cloth together is something completely different."

The last unassigned element, the element of Perception, Pinkie Pie, was trying to squeeze a few more drops out of the pink cloud. She ignored Discord's telling. Or maybe she was paying attention, there was no way to tell. Discord watched her for a moment with a smile, and confessed to other ponies. "Pinkie is my favorite pony, because she reminds me of myself. We both enjoy everything funny, after all. Yes, maybe my fun is just for me and not for others," he stopped Twilight when she was about to lecture him about his ways of fun. "But you have to agree with me that there is something magical about this earth pony. Unless you have some boring logical explanation of her being able to travel anywhere faster than anypony, her being able to pull anything out of nowhere. I am almost certain she is, to some degree, capable of the same reality bending as I am," expressed his theories.

"As for her... Pinkie Sense, yes, that's the way she calls it, and her eidetic memory, it is due to her style of perceiving the reality. She perceives the world on a different level, putting emphasis on the insignificant and minimizing the important. That's how she can laugh in the face of danger. It sure would be interesting to see through her eyes. Even I would be..."

Discord suddenly interrupted mid-speech and with a huge, painful roar grabbed his lion paw. Celestia and Luna quickly ran to him and ask him if he's feeling all right.

He was breathing, slowly and heavily, and eventually changed his painful expression to his confident smile. "Nah, it's nothing. A small miscalculation reminding me of the time I am wasting here," said and whispered for himself something about someone giving him a harder time than he expected at that moment.

Celestia agreed. "Time is precious. We must gather the missing elements," she started ordering. "Applejack, go to your brother and kindly bring him here," Applejack with the cowpony 'yeehaw' dashed into the night. "Rainbow Dash, fly to Cloudsdale and find Soarin' there. I am sure he will believe your explanation, but in case of not, tell him that I, Princess Celestia, require his presence here," Rainbow Dash saluted and flew through the opened window so fast, leaving her typical rainbow line behind the flight path. Celestia turned to Twilight. "Your brother is on a night guard duty in Canterlot right now. I will teleport there and bring him here as soon as possible."

Twilight stopped the Princess before she could use her spell. "There is no need for that, Princess. Shining was rather worried about some of my recent adventures. He knows his duties, and Princess Cadence now too, make him very busy, unable to watch over me all the time. To be able to help me when I need him, he and I are connected to use the Astral Bridge."

Astral Bridge is a transportation spell, where the two users are connected between themselves and the invoker can invite his counterpart to his position any time and anywhere. It is an advanced spell, but since the invoker does all the magic, it can be used to call ponies regardless of being an earth pony, a Pegasi or an unicorn.

Shining Armor told Twilight not to overuse it for every occasion. "But listen, Twily," she remembered his words, "don't hesitate to use it when you are in a danger. Better safe than sorry, right? I can't go against my guard squad motto," he told her.

This crisis, even though I still know nothing about the threat, Twilight thought, could be called dangerous for sure. Her horn brightened with its characteristic purple glow, as she was focusing her magic. I wonder how easy could this be for Rarity, Twilight was interested. This spell required a maximum concentration. Slight mistake and the summoned pony could end miles away.

Twilight stopped her focus. She finished the casting. A small misty circle, just large enough for a stallion to fit in, appeared before her. Now it was up to her brother to answer it. Twilight couldn't know how long will it take. Could it be that her brother is something more important to do? Her worries were proved false, since within a few seconds, a white unicorn, dressed in the yellow and purple royal armor, showed up in the circle.

Shining Armor wasted no time. As an experienced captain, he quickly checked the surroundings. He did show a little surprise when he saw the princesses, but it was nothing compared to the sight of a draconequus. "You must be Discord," he correctly guessed and within a blink of an eye, Discord found himself trapped inside a purple protection field. "What are you doing to my sister?" threatened him with apparent anger in his voice.

Before could Twilight start explaining, Discord wasn't keen to stay obediently in the bubble. "Valiant effort," he admitted and touched the field. With ease, the field was diminished. "But I know how to break this," he taunted him with a smile.

Twilight grabbed her brother, as he was about to charge forward. "Listen Shiny," called her brother, "he's here to help us. Trust me. Let me explain it." She summarized everything important of what has Discord told them today in a few short sentences. Twilight needed this skill when dealing with impatient ponies like Rainbow Dash, who considered everything longer than three sentences boring and not worthy of her time.

Her brother Shining Armor still had his eyes fixed on Discord. Even with the Twilight's explanation, the suspicion was still great enough for him. "I don't believe him, but if you do, then so should I," he remembered his wedding experience, where he wrongfully framed his sister, only to be proved she was right all the time. "But let me tell you this, Discord. One single doubt, no matter how small, and I will personally throw you into the Dungeon," threatened him with his captain's voice.

Please, what could a pony like you do to me, wanted to say Discord. Before he could strike back in their taunting battle, Applejack returned with her brother. The huge, red stallion seemed to be still watering the apple trees, despite the late night. Big Macintosh properly bowed to the Princesses, as the etiquette requires and when he saw Discord, he silently asked his sister AJ.

"Is that him?"
"Eeyup," she confirmed, obviously imitating his ways of speech.
"Can ya trust him?"
"Dunno," she expressed her hesitation. She almost never holds grudge against anypony and she's always the first to forgive and apologize. But, as she thought, Discord would had to do more than this 'fancy schmancy explanation' to redeem all what he put her and her friends through.

"I have one question," asked Twilight again. Everyone present knew, and Twilight the most, she had more than one. But since every answer opened several others, there was no way she could've get all of her answers in the near future. "Isn't it possible that Fluttershy is the element of Willpower and Rarity the element of Charisma? One could say you have to have a strong will to stand up to the dragon. And I never saw any colt or stallion refusing Rarity's request," proposed her argument.

"Oh please, Twilight," objected Rarity and shook up her well treated mane, "that is something anyone can achieve with the proper approach and manners. I simply happen to know the right words," she smiled, proud of her manners required for a lady like her.

"You know, my dear Celestia," Discord turned to his sister before replying Twilight, "your best students used to be brighter in the past." Celestia ignored this insult, since she was in no mood for arguing, and in the same moment as Twilight opened her mouth to try to prove him wrong, he continued. "As I said, the elements are more alive than artificial. Their power fluctuates. The names we have given them are insignificant. I have seen all of you acting against your so treasured elements even without my little help. I have seen you, Twilight Sparkle, questioning your use during your first Winter wrap up here in Ponyville. How helpless you were without your magic. You could hardly call Fluttershy kind after Iron Will's lesson. Rarity's greed for admiration made her forget about the birthday present for you as a reward for all the hospitality you've secured for her. Applejack reluctant to tell you the truth about her reason for leaving Ponyville. Rainbow Dash abandoning her friends the very same day, leaving them to their fate in the desert. Pinkie's party with rocks and flour? I could laugh, but I highly doubt she would. I can go on, I've got pages of these," he showed a full stack of heavily written papers. His snake tongue clearly enjoyed this highly.

Every bit of respect and sympathy Discord earned from ponies so far was gone. It is never nice to point ones mistakes, especially the ones they want to forget. All the things Discord has mentioned again were one of the things the said pony was least proud of and wanted to forget. Now, the wound has been opened again. But Twilight did not intend to let Discord have it his way.

"Yes," she admitted, "our hearts quivers sometimes. But, and I will stand for this any time, every obstacle we encountered, every disagreement we had, and every trouble we faced was overcome, settled and prevailed by our friendship. It reinforces our connection among us every time. Makes us stronger. I have absolute faith in our friendship, and I forever will," finished her speech. Gosh, that would be an excellent report for the Princess, realized Twilight. She looked into Celestia's face and saw a satisfied and proud smile. The Princess was impressed.

Even Discord was impressed. In his case, that only fuelled his lust for victory. Resisting prey makes the triumph tastier. "Your overconfidence in friendship is your weakness," stated with his worst intentions.

"And your lack of faith in it is yours," struck back immediately Twilight. She sure was in a fighting mood. Unfortunately for her, Rainbow Dash just flew back through the window with her rainbow barrel roll, followed by a pale blue Pegasus with dark blue mane and a winged yellow bolt cutie mark. Her long lost brother, member of the Wonderbolts - Soarin'. He bowed to the princesses and greeted them and when he saw the draconequus, simply scratched his head and shrugged shoulders.

Rainbow Dash was on cloud nine. "We flew from Cloudsdale, it was an awesome flight. Sure, we had that one winner flight after the Best Fliers Competition, but at night? Now that's something completely different. It's like 20..." spouted Rainbow, only to be stopped by still upset Discord.

"Yes, yes, we all get it," he said as annoyingly as possible. "Now that everyone is here we can explain to you what's going on." Finally, thought Rainbow. She never liked to skip her naps, but now she had to skip her bedtime, despite her flying all over Equestria today, just to listen to Discords overly long story.

"How is the time? Shouldn't we hurry?" asked Celestia with concerns.

"It's fine," reassured her. "I will try to make this quick." He took a deep breath and his energy seemed to be decreasing. That too applied to other ponies. Still dirty, sweaty and with messy manes, their attention level could drop to zero any time. Sure, Discord kept the telling interesting, and with some of his insults more than exciting, but everypony has its limits. Discord noticed their fatigue and to his unusual hospitality, he conjured comfortable pillows, along with grape juice and large variety of snacks. Without any encouragement, the ponies started to gobble up. This looked like a sleepover at Twilight's, one of their outdoors picnic or Rarity's tea parties.

Meanwhile, Discord turned to sisters and quietly asked them. "Is there something you don't want me to tell them? I will have to tell them almost everything for them to get the picture about who she is and why is it so important to stop her. Lies, deception and words manipulations are my proudly honed skills, as you know," he praised quietly himself.

"No, Discord," she refused him loud enough for everypony to hear. "I want them to know everything you consider important. Only the truth. Lies and my reluctance to listen to you led to this. I won't let it happen again."

"Boring, but wise choice," agreed Discord. "Well then, my dear audience, let me tell you my story. And as you know, the best way to start a story is at the beginning. No interruptions please," he directed his request to Twilight mainly and started.

So Discord is related to Celestia and Luna, and is the creator of not only six, but twelve elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash discovered her brother and he's going to help our mares, together with Big Mac and Shining Armor. But who will they fight with? And what secrets is Discord willing to reveal? Discover more in the next chapter of The Second Return.

Spurious history?

I wasn't always in this form, in this mixture of creatures, gathered together to serve as a container for my souls. Once, I was formless consciousness, just a pile of thoughts, just like my sisters. Now, when I say sisters, it's not like we are related by blood. We don't have father and mother like all of you have or had. The best way to describe us is by calling us the avatars. My sister Celestia is the avatar of the Sun, my sister Luna is the avatar of the Moon and to my eternal resentment I am the avatar of this planet, now called Equestria.

In our early days, this place was a barren wasteland, filled with sand and rock, lifeless. Yet, in our duty, we were commanded to serve our purpose. Every day, Celestia was to raise the Sun to shine upon that misery only we were to see. At night, we were forced to watch it in the moonlight. My purpose was to move the clouds, to pour water into rocky hills and to shape the landscape into various forms. It wasn't boring, as we had no idea what the fun meant back then.

We carried our duty, like a machines, days by days, for millions of years. We would still be aimlessly following the blind purpose if we hadn't discovered... the life. One day, during the daily reshapement of this world, I found something green sticking out of the ground. It was a plant, a flower. When I saw it, I was overwhelmed with something new, with a new feeling. I felt alive.

I showed that flower to my sisters and they too experienced it. We realized how pointless our existence is. It seems like feeling alive comes at a price. To overcome our useless destiny, I started spreading the life all over my domain in the most wondrous forms I could create. I covered the ground with grass and trees and flowers and they enjoyed our gifts in forms of sunlight and water. Our lives gained meaning. Still, it was not enough.

I was satisfied with the landscape, with forests and meadows, lakes and swamps. But it was silent, only my wind made them speak. Thus I created animals, made them thinking, so we could listen to them and watch them. The purpose was complete, every day was meaningful.

Meaningful, but repetitive. I saw the animals having their freedom. They could do whatever they could do. I, on the other hoof, was still bound to my duty, to take care of this planet. To free myself, I started to look for the perfect replacement. After many failed attempts, I finally succeeded. The earth ponies, gifted with strength, to shape the land to their free will. Pegasi, gifted with the wings, to carry for the sky and to protect the life with rain and clouds. Those were the two main types of ponies, blessed with the intelligence of our own. There were countless of minor types, most of them already extinct, others, like unicorns, still present to this day.

Even though I was delighted by my efforts and watched them closely, an unstoppable virus spread quickly throughout the pony population, killing every living being we cherished. We had to start again. We called it the First Age. To prevent this from ever happening again, we decided to take a matter form. So far, we have been invisible entities watching them from above, or in my case from beneath. You can see out first form to this very day - combining all three main pony types, the alicorn type was created. Even I was an alicorn. Just like my sisters, even I've got a name. It was a long time since someone called me that way. Named after this planet, I was Terran of the planet Terra, meaning 'earth' in long forgotten language.

The Second Age was of course better than the previous one. We have learnt from our past mistakes. Even though we were able to prevent any disease to take place, a tragedy occurred nevertheless. One of the unicorn magicians, gifted with potent magic skills, destroyed the land with one of his spells and thus, we had to start anew. We sure wondered if we are doing the right thing.

As the Third Age started, I severely limited the magical abilities of unicorns. To even enforce our precaution, the magic itself was to be studied at the special schools and we watched closely the ponies with great abilities. Well, I can honestly say we have not failed that Age because of magic. No, it was something different. A war. A war, so large and so destructive, we ended that Age regardless of survivors. The horrors of the war were so intense that they would beg us to do so anyway, just to forget it. I was shocked by the hatred of my creations. This was nothing I gifted them with. We took our last, final attempt.

The Fourth Age. This Age. I continued to supervise the magic, while Celestia started to teach the ponies about the magic of the friendship. Some minor conflicts still took place from time to time, several diseases or catastrophes hit the pony race hard, but now, with the knowledge of the friendship, they were able to help one another, without our great efforts. I always feared what could possibly destroy this Age. This time, the threat didn't come from ponies. It came from us.

You see, creating the life requires an incredible amount of energy. Celestia provided the almost unlimited solar energy, while I took care of the magic itself, with my sister Luna handling the minor, but important adjustments. Every time we created a new Age, it was harder and harder. One might say it will go easier, since, well, it was our fourth time already, but we always thought it's because of our improvements from the past Ages.

Few hundred years since this Age began, almost all of our original powers have suddenly diminished. Celestia and Luna could still, to our fortune, control the Sun and the Moon. Since I stopped caring about the daily duties, I was only able to use the same magic as unicorns could. If it weren't for that suddenness, I could say we were getting old, but something, or rather someone, was behind it.

Shortly after that, we have got a message from our Creator. It wasn't a message like a letter. From one second to the other, we knew what he, or she, or they, I don't know, wanted to say to us. It was the first time we've got a word from the thing closest to the parents we never had. No, they were no caring words full of love and how proud of us they are.

"For the unapproved manipulation with the Life force and failing to carry your purpose, your existence is declared undesirable and you are to be replaced to restore the harmony."

That was the message. Restore the harmony. What a joke. And you thought that your dentist reminding you your monthly check-up is the worst thing you could find in your mailbox.

I've gathered a few theories about this Creator, as we call him. I think he himself is not that divine as you might think. He is more like an observer, else we wouldn't be here. If you create something, you know how to undone it, don't you think? Following that idea, I found we've got a counterparts. Another spirits, with more power and the only objective. To destroy the life, once and for all. You have already met one of them. The counterpart to Luna is called the Nightmare Moon. Her goal was to set eternal night upon the world of living. As you know, without the sun, there is no crops, meaning no food and in the end, no life. Celestia got a spirit called Helia. She was to scorch every corner of this planet with the sun beams. And finally me. I've got a brother, who goes by name of Chaos. Just like his name, his purpose was to throw everything into the eternal chaos.

So, suddenly, there were our antagonistic counterparts, with more strength than we ever had, with their pre-set purpose and a single goal. To destroy. So why are we still alive and talking? Even though they were without a doubt more powerful, we had something they had not. Allies. You. While we stood together as brother and sisters, they fought among themselves, to our fortune. Should they come after us at once, we would stand no chance.

First to warm us with her presence, literally, was Helia. She was the most powerful of them all, but quite arrogant and overconfident. I did improve my magic back to formidable levels, so I was able to encounter her. But I was not alone. My twelve dearest friends, bravest heroes of all times, fought her together with me. I have to mention something problematic about our Helia. We could not kill her, as she was, like Celestia, connected with the Sun. Killing her would kill both my sister, destroy the Sun and therefore eventually kill all the life. Probably one of the Creator's fail-safe mechanisms.

It was a terrible fight, easily overshadowing the Third Age's war. We were able to imprison her, but ten of my companions paid the ultimate price. I knew I had to do something different next time. Another fight of that magnitude was not something this land could withstand again. I have made my decision, and instead of waiting, I looked for, and found, Chaos. Not to battle him, but to understand and explain.

We had a very long chat. He was willing to listen, I was willing to talk. We found some similarities. We both disliked our Creator, we both enjoyed creating. Chaos would do anything to avoid fulfilling his purpose. It was against his name to follow someone else's orders. I would do anything to protect everything I hold dear. He knew, that is we cut our connection with out space objects, the Creator would lose his interest. We would be insignificant, or rather invisible to him. But how could we achieve that? The Moon is not that important for this planet, sorry Luna. But this planet and the Sun is vital. None of us could do that.

Chaos had a plan. An offer you can not refuse. He told me there is a way. The Restart, he called it. It would require rebuilding this planet, the Moon and the Sun, and to remove anything that connect us to them. That way, they would exist regardless of our presence. Since I've already created ponies to substitute me for my original purpose, there had to be someone to raise the Sun and the Moon instead of my sisters. Our counterparts would lose their purpose and my sisters would gain freedom. Chaos was not asking for much. To take a part during the rebuilding was enough for him. But still, accepting his help seemed like a pact with the devil. Helia was out of the game, Chaos was de facto too and Nightmare Moon could be defeated too, since she was the weakest of them all. Sorry Luna.

But the Creator could sent another to do the job. Chaos' plan was the only permanent solution. We have joined together. Literally. We mixed our spirits together, merging memories and personalities. Both Chaos and Terran died, and I was born. The lover of chaos, the mighty magician, the protector of this planet. I still say Terran got the bigger part in me. To leave my past behind and focus on the present and future only, I've created a body as a collection of various animal parts, working together in harmony, to constantly reminding me of my goal. To disrupt the Creator's harmony and to move the scales to our good.

I have not wasted my time and started with the plan. I've had experienced recreating the planet for several times, and I modified it countless times, yet it was not even a basic of what I needed to get started. I had to start from the core. I had to include the three space objects, make them work together. I need to say that I had both Terran's and Chaos' powers, so I was free to run any test I needed. To Celestia's and others displeasure. Celestia and Luna were not happy of my action. I've tried to explain it, but I was expelled. You are only good for sowing the discord among us, parted Celestia with me with these words. That's how I got my charming name. I was a brother to them for no longer. For Celestia, that is. I have you know that Celestia had to keep Luna locked when I returned a year ago. Anyway, I convinced myself of my truth and continued with my experiments.

In hindsight, I realize how dangerous my experiments were. Some of them threatened the very existence of this place and the lives of everypony. It's for greater good, I kept myself telling that. Celestia declared she could not tolerate that any longer. My action could lead to an end of this Age, and we had almost no power to start again. I had my powers, but not Celestia and Luna. Even if they had, I was so proud of the ponies of this age, that I couldn't start the new one. For the first time, you stood to our expectations.

Celestia was of the same feelings, and she decided to put your happiness and safety over my quest to secure happiness and safety for all of us. I had almost finished my plans. I would have made everything rotate, the Sun set the middle, the Equestria around the Sun in almost perfect circle, and Moon around the Equestria. The differences between the Equestria and Sun would cause the different temperature and pressure. That would create the wind and clouds, and seasons, all this without Pegasi or Celestia's actions. The Sun and the Moon would rotate around the Equestria, making day and night to come and go all by themselves.

The theory was perfect; to achieve it required a precise calculations. Before I could even start with them, Celestia and Luna barged into my hideout, armed with my latest creations, the elements, which she named to my displeasure the Element of Harmony. Why did I create the elements for, you might ask. Well, for my plan, I needed a way more magical energy than ever. Since Celestia has been striped of her powers, I could no longer rely on her solar powers. The elements are my solution. All twelve of them would gather energy, from whichever sources, keep it stored, so I could use it later. I intended to place them on key ley-lines, to use them as a focus points when I finally switch from chaos to law.

Of course, Celestia had no idea what they were for, only that they were powerful magic focusing objects, and since I refused to turn back on my plan, she set me to stone. I had to add that I let myself to be set in stone. I could easily break out, to reflect the spell, since the Elements were still weak back then. But then again, I could do my maths from that stone prison and it would take a long time to prepare myself for the recreation. Meanwhile, the elements could gather the required energy.

It took longer than I expected. The source of that delay was Helia. She tried to break out of her prison and I had to stop her. Keeping her locked up required most of my focus, leaving me with only a tiny power to study for my plan. It took five thousand years.

Meanwhile, the Nightmare Moon made her appearance. As you know from your fairy tales, she defeated Luna and Celestia was forced to use the Elements on her. Since you can raise the Sun, raising the Moon is almost a piece of cake. But now, Celestia lost her brother and her sister. You know, Celestia, I watched you every time you did your duty. I saw the loneliness and the pain in your eyes every day and night. It hurts me twice as much to see you alone and suffering.

The Nightmare Moon made her return after a thousand years and since you know the best how you've dealt with her, I won't repeat it. Since the Elements changed its user, the magic from its previous one was weakened. That's how the Nightmare Moon was able to escape and since I was done with my calculations, it eased me my arrival. I wasted no time, since Helia was not showing any will to reduce her escape efforts.

You've told me that throwing the Equestria into chaos is not a good way to make it a happy and secure place. Well tell me, Twilight, how do you clear your library? Don't you throw all your books on the ground, making even bigger mess, and start sorting them one by one? And you, Applejack. How do you clear your barn? There is no easier way than to throw everything outside on a huge pile, and then start giving them back in order. Speaking of order, I sure remember Rarity's despair, when her room of organized chaos got cleaned by her sister. No, my ponies, I am here to make new laws, new rules. It is hard to fit them into existing rules and laws. The chaos, on the other hoof, is something you can bend, twist, push and pull, form at will with ease.

Since I still had to keep Helia at bay, my chaos proceeded slowly. Even during our wonderful party at the Canterlot maze, I had to focus on fighting her. When I broke out of my prison, I saw only six elements active. It later proved to be a mistake, as I have told you, but I still decided to proceed with my plan that time. It would take longer than I expect, but I managed to break Helia's efforts and to throw Equestria into chaos at the same time. Breaking your connection with the Elements was not as easy as I have planned, but I managed to do so, at least for a while. You, however, managed to restore the connection and you've decided to unleash its power against me. I was this close to kill all of you, since I would still be able to use the Elements' power. I saw countless deaths; six more were but a grain of sand in a desert. As I've said, seeing your protection spell made me stop.

Every single active element would make my plan easier than you could possibly imagine. For the second time, I let myself to be defeated, or at least to make you think so. You don't know how to use the Elements properly, you only know how to unleash its powers. You've almost got me killed with that strike. The pain still echoes in my body. But, I was alive, and I could do my observations.

I've focused my energy into watching all six of you, I even looked into your past, ever since your were small fillies. To my surprise, I discovered not one, not three, but all six remaining elements being active. I've could now proceed with almost no effort. Twelve elements, charging themselves for five thousand years, were more than enough to finish my goal. I have measured their energy, double checked my calculations and were ready to set myself free from my prison. But, I was, and I still am, too weakened from your attack to be able to break that spell. Your stone prison was way more potent than the first one. You have no idea how much I cursed you. I was a step away from the finish and due to some six little ponies; I had to wait for several decades, before I could even attempt to break it.

My freedom came sooner than I thought. Do you remember those Diamond Dogs, who kidnapped Rarity and forced her to locate gems for them? Well, they still continued to search for gems even after that. They dug too deep and too greedily. They broke the Helia's prison and she was set free. While it's almost impossible to break out from the inside, you don't need anything special to get in from the outside. I had my mind occupied with other things, since she seemed to calm a little for a change. With the vision of freedom, she went to the surface. I was able to stop her and pull her back, but I was too late. One single ray of sunlight touched her. That moment I realized her power. When we stopped her the first time, she was simply playing with us. Now, she's mad with rage and unleashed her full power. Her roar caused several underground earthquakes.

Even Celestia heard that voice. She wasted no time, unlike of what we are doing right now, and came to my statue, realizing I was the only one who could stop her. I couldn't stop Helia from the prison, that goes without saying. The problem was, the stone prison spell was not meant to be broken, ever. Well, if there were really no way, I wouldn't be sitting here, right? Celestia found a way. She simply called for my help. During the Second Age, I swore her that I would come to her side whenever she needed, regardless of the circumstances. To even strengthen my promise, I reinforced it by the long forgotten spell, the Unbreakable Oath. It gave me the power to break out of the prison.

I wonder what would you try to do should Celestia decided to keep me there. Fortunately, she did not and here we are. The current twelve elements and three founders of this world. Oh, and a little dragon. One does not simply forget about the dragon.

I have foreseen Helia's intentions, and Celestia confirmed them. The Sun is moving closer and closer to Equestria. This time, Helia won't scorch it. She wants to absorb the entire planed into the Sun's flames. The earthquakes, the hot weather, the animals feeling unease - all of that is because of her. I know how to stop her, but I need your help for that.

We finally know the name of our foe - Helia, the counterpart to Princess Celestia, is on her way to destroy Equestria and only Discord and our ponies can stop her. What is his plan? Will it work? In the next chapter of The Second Return, find about events that even Discord is shocked about!

Cunning plan

It was almost time for Celestia to raise the sun, as she does for her entire, incredibly long life. Some ponies outside already started going to work. Celestia once again asked Discord about the time.

"Well," he said, "this story took longer than I've expected, I skipped the half of what I intended to say and forgot to say some other details, but we can't waste any more time. I have a plan on how to counter her, the one I told you about. But I am not sure how long will it take. You can buy some for me. Do not raise the sun yet, my sister. You can not overcome Helia's summoning command, but you can slow it. Try to keep the sun as far from Equestria as possible. And you, Luna. Position the Moon between Equestria and the sun. It will reduce Helia's energy income, buying us once again more time," he ordered, or rather asked, his sisters. "It will be dangerous task and should you feel any danger, don't hesitate to stop. It would be futile to lose the Moon and your life just for a time advantage."

As the both princesses prepared for departure, Celestia made her speech to everypony. "Listen, my little ponies, I trust Discord in this matter. I am sure he will do his best. Follow his lead, he will protect you and with his help, you will be able to finish it before she breaks out. May your friendship guides you," she gave them her blessing. "We will be at the Astrological Tower in Canterlot," said to Discord before Luna and her departed.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Twilight. She had tens of questions, just like everypony else, but she knew there were no time for them. The time to speak is over, now is the time to act.

"I need a workplace," stated Discord. "There is no such nearby, the closest is in the Everfree forest. Or, rather under the forest. You sure remember the ruins where you encountered Nightmare Moon. That used to be one of my residences. It was prettier during my time, of course. But enough talking here, we can chat on the way there," he shut himself.

Twilight and her brother lead the others to the door, but Discord halted them. "No, no," he said. "We won't go that way. I don't want to draw the attention. Helia still thinks I am imprisoned just like her. I don't want to taunt her, not for now. And you sure don't want to be seen with me, despite what you have learnt about me. We will go underground."

Ponies had to agree on the attention part. "But we still need to go outside," mentioned Twilight, "the nearest cave is still far away from here."

Discord smiled. Twilight quickly realized that she's probably wrong and he will be happy to prove it. "I would not be so sure about that. Come with me," he ordered them to follow him. He led them to the Library's cellar, filled with Twilight's research equipment. There he crouched, with his head touching the ground and knocked on the floor several times. He was listening to something inaudible to ponies, since in a few seconds, he smiled again and his snake tongue made some sort of vibrating sound. The floor cracked up and revealed a staircase leading into darkness.

"This oak, planted by one of my dearest companions," he explained, "is one of the twelve places I intend to use as ley focusing points. This is a potent place for magic, as Twilight can confirm. She has no problem to practice it here, as this place enhances unicorn's magical abilities. Follow me and stick closely. I ask the unicorns for some light, since unlike me, you will need some to see in that darkness."

The group started descending into the underground caverns. Twilight told Spike to stay there and watch the library. Spike was too tired anyway, since he was awake the entire night. Everyone was, but the ponies knew they had no time to rest. Twilight and Shining Armor followed the Discord on the lead, Applejack and Big Mac guarded the middle and Rainbow with Soarin' kept watching the rear.

The air was heavy, the ceiling wet and ground dirty. From time to time, they heard some inexplicable sound. A roar, maybe a cry? Fluttershy was not that afraid as you might have guessed. She was encouraged by Discords words about her and she wanted to stay true to them. Pinkie giggled from time to time when she saw some funny shadow or her bizarre reflection in the puddles. Rarity was silence, thinking about what have Discord told them. She wondered what the previous Ages looked like. And how Discord have looked as an alicorn. Applejack discussed the crops with her brother and Rainbow Dash described her flying techniques to Soarin'. He seemed impressed by her sister abilities. Shining Armor silently watched every corner, every turn and suspicious shadow.

"Are you sure we are heading the right way?" worried Twilight, "I tried to keep the track, but I've got lost almost immediately."

"No worries," assured her Discord, "I know every inch of Equestria. I used to be Equestria, remember? I am, to this day, to some degree. I know the underground just as good as you know your home," said and kept walking into the never ending net of tunnels. From time to time, he stopped, waited on the others, and then certainly lead them onwards.

"When we reach your workplace, what are you going to do there?" couldn't resist asking Twilight. She wondered how Discords hideout could look like. But she doubted it will be as weird and chaotic as his version of Ponyville. It will be probably dark room, full of equipment and books, she guessed.

"I need to create a device that would connect the elements' energy into one point. You could call it the Thirteenth Element, if you wish. It will help me to imprison Helia once again."

"Why do you need our help then?" asked Twilight, since she knew Discord wouldn't go with them without a reason.

"To perfectly forge it, I need a life essence from each of you. Your hearts would be perfect. Just kidding," quickly added when he saw Twilight face turn grey and Shining's into fury. "A drop of blood, even a hair from your mane will be enough. It needs to be fresh, however."

"I've got an idea. Why don't we use the time travelling spell? I could warn us, and then we would have enough..." proposed Twilight, but Discord interrupted her.

"I don't like time travelling. What power have your actions, when you can undone them? None, I tell you. You will start being careless, not minding the consequences. Anyway, after the Second Age, the time travel was severely limited. You, the Element of Magic, could travel about a week in the past. I, in all my powers, could travel for a year. Even so, it would be too little to reach our past selves. The time travel is out of the options," rejected her idea.

"So, let say that after we defeat, I mean imprison Helia," said Twilight, "what are you going to do? Do you still intend to throw the world into chaos?" asked with worries.

"Yes. That is my goal, and I will not step back from it. We need a permanent solution. What are we doing now is only temporary. It will made Equestria safe from her for the rest of your lifetime, but the future generations would had to repeat this again. It's not responsible."

Discord found his path blocked, but he simply turned back and took them into different tunnel. "Seems like the earthquake blocked that path, we will have to use that way. Anyway, when I am done with all the work, I probably return upon the throne of Equestria. I used to be a king, you know? King Terran was the name. I wonder where my throne is buried..." got lost in his memories.

"Equestria needs no king," objected Shining Armor. "Two princesses are enough. Having a king and princesses would destroy the equality of all."

"Equality. It is funny you mention that. For those same ideals ended the Third Age. I wish you knew how much effort did Celestia have to make to ensure this equality. Even though she taught all of you about it and friendship, there are still kings and queens. Celestia can deny it as much as she wants, but there are ponies she cares about more than the others. You know I am talking about you," explained. "She is strong, yes. But inside she's more fragile than anyone else. You know nothing about her..."

"That's not true," objected vigorously Twilight. "I am her best student and I have spent so many nights with her, talking about..." she stopped herself. What were they talking about?

"Talking about you, your accomplishments, your studies, your everything," knew Discord very well. "You only see her as a princess and teacher. Not as a close friend. That is something she desires the most. To have fun, just like you. To be free, from all those duties. I can simply go to hell, for all I care. But I want them to enjoy the living. Just try to make her talk. She needs somepony else than just Luna to open up with her feelings. The problem is, the more she loves you, the bigger wound you cause her when you die. It is inevitable and something that happened countless times."

The party moved into vast cavern with a lake. Discord stopped for a moment, and used his magic to fully enlighten the place. The lake was dark, silent. Cold. In the distance, they could see an island in the middle of the lake. It almost looked like a ruined... tower?

"You see that?" pointed at that ruin. "The relic of the past. Once a beautiful city, filled with happy ponies. Then the war came, and the city was gone. The war was terrible everywhere, but this city, in this city it was the worst. Only this tower remains from the Third Age, along with the ghosts of the dead. The horrors are still fresh every time I remember its name. Stalliongrad. The turning point of the war. Maybe Lunagrad was even worse, but that is not something I want to speculate about."

Ponies could not imagine how terrible it had to be to leave even Discord in silence. Applejack took off her hat to honor the dead and watched together the ruins for a moment. Thank Celestia we live in peace, was everypony's thought.

"And we will follow the dead if we stay here any longer," reminded Discord their mission.

It had to be almost noontime, guessed Twilight. The tunnels' walls began to be covered with roots. Discord told them they are close, as those roots are from the trees in the Everfree forest above them. He told them a story about the forest.

"The Everfree forest in one of the many reminders of my experiments. As Pegasi know well, you don't need to take care of clouds above this place. The animals are taking care of themselves and trees and plants are growing by their will. It is a home to many creatures from the previous Ages I was proud of and was sorry to leave behind, extinct. It is frightening place to you, because you don't understand its beauty. This place is free, forever. Everfree."

If the Everfree is beautiful, then I am a fashionista failure, thought Rarity. It is only appealing during the Nightmare Night maybe.

The ponies could hear a river somewhere beneath them. Girls wondered if that river serpent was still around. But hearing the river would mean they are close.

They reached a dead end. There was no going forward, only back. "Hey," shouted Rainbow Dash at the back, "don't tell me you've got us lost," accused Discord. He ignored her and studied the wall in detail.

"We are here," told to everypony. "Step back a little, I'll open the door." He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. His breath was sparkly green smoke, revealing the marks on the wall, now shining clearly with the green tone. An ancient language, known only to Discord. He ordered in commanding voice the doors to open. What a way to lock your room, thought Twilight. This could help her not to be disturbed during her studying mare-a-thons.

Nothing happened.

"I, Discord, order you to open," commanded again with noticeable irritation.

Still nothing.

"Let's go, bro, we'll buck our way through," suggested Applejack to her brother. With their powers combined, the wall would stand no chance. Discord thought otherwise.

"No," he rejected them, "there is no force or magic in this world that could break through. This spell is similar to the one I used to build the prison for Helia. Only this time, the goal is to keep others from getting in, not out."

He focused, calmed himself and spoke in an ancient language, probably the same as on the wall. "Narž, étar Discord, tsúké ittír palúr." To Twilight, is seemed similar to the ancient chanting spells.

Instead of the door opening, a chilling laughter came from behind the wall.

"Wait a minute," realized Discord, "I know this voice..."

The laughter came closed and in a moment, the wall started glowing in blue, with blue fog coming out of it. A small foggy cloud shaped itself into a pony. "Ghosts!" screamed, to everyone's shock, Rainbow Dash and quickly fled behind the corner.

The pony ghost, emitting blue aura, big as Macintosh, with a wild mane and large Pegasus wings, gazed into everypony's face. "Who dares to disturb my slumber?" questioned them with his fearsome voice.

"Me, Discord, you know me as Terran, Terran the Greenmane, the All Knowing, the Wise One..." introduced himself to the ghost.

"I know of no Discord, nor Terran," the ghost refused him.

Discord knew he lied. "Stop horsing around, Neklan," he named the ghost, "I know it's you. The same voice, the same look, the only one with the good reason why to be here from all the others," forced him to show his colors.

The ghost, likely called Neklan, stopped his fearsome performance. He began smiling and his voice changed from cold to cheerful one. "Damn it, Terran, you have no idea how glad I am to see you here," he welcomed him and wanted to brohoof with him, only to realize he's a ghost and Discord has a paw and a claw instead of the front hooves. "Oh, I forgot, well, I hoped you could play along with me for some time. I have you know, I had some great lines prepared," he turned to other ponies. "And you must be our successors. I recognize some of you. And where's my favorite mare, with her rainbow mane and her Element of Loyalty?" he asked and started searching for her.

Rainbow Dash covered in the corned and chewed her hoof in the mouth. "G-g-ghost!" she said in scared voice when Neklan approached her with the rest behind him.

"You sure grew up since the last time, Rainbow. But your mane used to look better, almost as good as mine." It was true; his ghostly name resembled her mane when she was just a filly. "Still trying to impress the Wonderbolts, I guess. It has to to be true, since every time you do one of your epic crashes, the ceiling in these caverns shakes so hard, it scares me to death. Oh wait, I am already dead," he laughed out loud at his own jokes, and Pinkie joined him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Discord, dead serious.

"Well you see, I saw one bottle of the Roseblood wine in your lab here, and I thought I might take a sip. The best wine is the blood of rose, there can be no better for heroes, we used to say. And to think it aged here for five thousand year, in the perfect temperature. You have no idea how much I want to be alive to taste it," he day dreamt about his passion.

"Funny," said Discord, but with tone meaning the exact opposite. "Now the real reason, if you don't mind."

"Pff, have you forgotten, Terran?" asked him Neklan. "I've, we all have, made an oath. And I remember you warning us that even death won't release us from it," he reminded.

"I was being ironic."

"And I was being moronic," admitted with pretended honesty. "But this is so great you are finally here. You would never guess, but it's pretty lonely down here. However, I wasted no time, and for the past four thousand years, I composed poetry. I have about several hundreds of them. Which one do you want to hear first? Something epic, something romantic, I have some good tragedies, inspired by my lifetime experiences. So, which one?" asked sincerely.

"None," Discord strictly refused his offer. "We will talk, but the work comes first."

"Right!" agreed Neklan, "First make heroic deeds, then sing about them at the feasts. To the Discord's cave!" he led them.

"And by the way," mentioned Discord, "surely you had to notice that place being under the Time Lock. It will be exactly the same as it was when I suddenly left it five thousand years ago."

Who exactly is this Neklan and how is he related to Discord? Will Discord be able to forge the Thirteenth Element in time to stop Helia? In the next chapter of The Second Return, find something interesting about Rainbow Dash and get ready for another unexpected visitor.

Orchestrator at work

The cave, hideout, laboratory, you name it, was a huge place. Five hundred hooves long and two hundred hooves wide, filled with bookshelves, tables, maps, books and scrolls on the ground, containers with various liquids (some of the red ones dangerously resembled blood), huge barrels with sulfur, boxes with gold, copper and silver metals. A fully equipped alchemist table, a star map (outdated, as Twilight quickly realized), a surgical table, cupboards with tiny cases. This and many more, all covered in dust and rust, dimly enlighten by a magical fire in the centre of the room.

"Just as you have left it, Terran," presented Neklan the room. "Or rather, just as you were forced to leave it, when your sisters came here to banish you." So this was the place where Celestia and Luna imprisoned their brother. What a fitting place for that act. Some places were covered in red blood or burned. It appeared Discord didn't give up without a fight.

"This should do the thick," Discord said and enlightened the torches. The room looked a little less gloomy. "Fine, let me get to work, you other stay here and don't touch anything. I will call you when I need you. And you," he turned to Neklan. "Don't even think about leaving this place. I still have some questions for you," he commanded and started looking for various equipments all over the place.

"Excuse me, sir," asked Twilight boldly, "would you mind introduce yourself? We have never heard of you before, I am afraid."

Neklan quickly bowed in apology. "A thousand sincere apologies, my lady. My name is Neklan the Merry. Well known for my cultivated taste of wine, mares and poetry. I was one of the twelve Terran's companions, who joined him on his heroic adventures," he bowed again.

"You mean you've helped him to stop Helia?" asked Twilight.

"So you've heard about me! That is so wonderful!" he rejoiced. "Well, it was not as heroic as I have intended. Me and my other nine friends have perished during that fight. But then, our company managed to defeat her, so it was heroic enough to be..."

He was interrupted by a purple fog appearing out of nowhere. Just as in Neklan's case, the fog too formed into a pony shape. This time, it was an unicorn. Unlike any other unicorns, he had not one, but three horns, and majestic look in his face. His voice was filled with wisdom. Without a doubt, he quickly grasped the situation.

"Greeting, you are the Elements, I presume. All twelve gathered, with three of you hosting not one, but two of them. Interesting. Terran is here too, I see. If you excuse me, I have to help him," he apologized and moved to Discord checking the content of a huge box. He was surprised to see him, and seemed... happy, like a good old friends meeting again after a long time. Ponies could not hear what they talked about. Discord started quickly explaining and the purple ghost pony nodded or sometimes disagreed. They both went into one of the bookshelf lines, disappearing from their sight.

"Are we expectin' other guests?" wondered Applejack. Neither Discord nor Celestia told them about ghosts.

"Who knows, my dear, who knows," said with a hope. "As usual, he knows much, but forgets the proper introduction. His name is Napoli of the Three Horns. The best mage of our time, the only one who could walk alongside Terran on the road of magical discovery. He was the one who taught us this spell, allowing us to come back to this realm. He could've at least make us able to enjoy the fine drinks again," didn't hide his complains. Discord and Napoli argued over some huge opened scroll.

"He was then the other of Discord's, uhm, friends?" guessed Twilight.

"You are correct. There were twelve of us. All gathered around Terran. And I guess this is the best time to start with one of the best things you can do at the evenings. Poetry." He started to recite, and with his trained voice, it was almost like a singing.

In ancient times of heroic deeds,
the ponies of the finest breeds
made an oath to protect this land,
surely it was a journey grand.

Beneath the Moon and under Sun
we sure hard hardship, we had fun.
From the icy north to southern lands
our epic mission never ends.

Twelve of us, companions,
the six mares and the six stallions,
with Terran as the thirteenth core,
about us I'll tell you something more.

Napoli, blessed in the magic art,
he was the first one at the start.
Right at the moment he was born
they saw there are two more horns.

Although Tara was born at a farm,
she swore to protect friends from harm.
There is no one with a stronger shield,
with it she never had to yield.

The most loyal was Neklan,
from any challenge never ran.
Wine, poetry and fine mares,
to doubt of him no one dares.

Grifel was the best at flight,
she was so agile, fast as light,
a daring queen of the sky,
it is something you can not deny.

The sage with the name Narcius,
his honesty was obvious,
for his wisdom served for only good,
to help the others he always stood.

Gavora, from the mountains peak,
she ventured down to challenge seek,
her stomp could cause an earthquake,
that strength was pure, and not a fake.

Although you might not guess by name,
the kindness made Furioso's fame.
I am obliged to make a remark,
he always brought light into the dark.

From royal court the Lady Ann,
her beauty lasts for lifetime span,
charismatic, oh there's no doubt,
you can't have gala with her being out.

Dahoman generous with bits,
he helped with money where it fits,
his giving never seen before,
he was always ready for the poor.

Kostrava with willpower great,
the art and paintings were her fate,
she sure was of a limitless mind,
the most creative artist you could find.

If you are unease, go find Portlanc,
the pony who lived to party, sing and dance.
Always armed with laughter,
he will make your day brighter.

Shagga, visionless and blind,
from her eyes no light have ever shined,
she could perceive all from then on in,
foretold all things before they could begin.

So twelve of us, companions,
in place of an army of millions,
and with Terran, as you can assume,
we ventured forth, to meet our doom.

Neklan seemed to have more to recite, but all of a sudden, he stopped. "I am sorry, but the last three strophes make my heart ache every time. They are full of pain and sorrow for my fallen friends," made his apology. Discord noted back at the library something about his friends paying the ultimate price. So these are the ponies who helped him back then. None of the girls could imagine the pain of losing one of their friends, forever. So many times they stood at the edge of death. Always they made a step aback, into safety. Will the day come, when they won't be able to?

The light and noise from a burning furnace filled the chamber. Discord heated various metal rods. He did mentioned forging, after all.

Rarity paid close attention, unlike Rainbow Dash, who disliked poetry even more than Twilight's boring explanations, and wondered about the composition of the poem. What are the odds of using the names of all twelve elements in the single poem, unless they are related? She asked him about it and he confirmed her suspicion.

"Oh, that is easy. Once, Terran asked us a simple question: What do we value the most?" he got lost in his memories. "Each one of us made different answer. For me, as you know, it is the loyalty. Loyalty to Terran, to my friends, to this land, to myself. It gives me strength, even in afterlife." Neklan looked around and when he didn't see Discord, he leaned to ponies and whispered. "Terran will never admit it, but he sure can get quite nostalgic. He made each element with his feelings for us. After all, he did make them to gather the energy. Since our valued traits gave us strength, he was sure it would work with his elements too."

"The Element of Loyalty, huh?" said Rainbow suspiciously. "Well I am the Loyalty too," mentioned proudly. She forgot about her fear of ghosts. Neklan was not that scary any more, although it still was awkward to talk to a ghost.

"I know you well, Dashie," he called her with her filly name. "Being a ghost is not as exciting as you would think. I always enjoy the Nightmare Night, though. I can walk freely amongst the others and I always receive huge compliments on my well made magic costume. I won several costume competitions too. I could make them scream very well," he hesitated for a moment, but then quickly made his head fall from the neck, and started flying with it all around the place. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash screamed, but to others, especially Shining, Big Mac and Soarin', it seemed like an old, cheap trick. Neklan saw their reaction and made an offended face, followed by lines about ungrateful audience.

"Anyway," continued with his head back at its place, "I missed the sky very much, so on the bright days, I took few rounds around Equestria. I had to stay up to date. The language chanced a lot, and you stopped using cognomen and agnomen in your names. Being called only Neklan, instead of Neklan the Merry, would make me feel naked. You also keep wearing clothes less and less. It sure must be hard to earn a decent living as a tailor," he made a compliment towards Rarity.

"A fashionista, if you don't mind," gently corrected Rarity. "I would give anything to see the fashion of that time. It had to be amazing," she dreamt.

"It was nice, clean and practical, but to call it amazing knowing your works would be an insult towards your carrier," he flattered Rarity once again. "So like I said, I was watching the world from the sky. Not for fun, no. I was searching for someone. My companion, Shagga of the Endless Paths, told me, I quote, 'to find a mare, a filly, not an older, with a mane of six colors, regardless of order. The spell of your love make her acquire, for as a preparation for the end is it required.' I knew Shagga never tells anyone her prophecies without a good reason, so I searched for that requested filly, even after my death. I found some mares with five colors, sometimes with seven, but just recently I managed to find a mare, a filly, with beautiful, six-color mane," he paused and looked at Rainbow Dash.

It took a while before Dash realized it is her who Neklan talks about. She grabbed her tail and recounted the number of the colors, just to be sure. "Huh, I am six-colored, but I don't know any spell. I don't know if you've noticed, but no horn here, see?" she knocked on her forehead.

"Are you sure you don't know any spell? During my days, the earth ponies and Pegasi were capable of magic, just as the unicorns without magic specialization are. I could swear there is a spell you are proud of. It sure was a fitting show at the wedding," he gave her a significant clue.

Rainbow started recalling. "My awesome Sonic Rainboom? That's no spell, it's an aerial stunt!" she corrected him.

"Spell, stunt, ability. Just words. You sure remember the first time you've done this Sonic Rainboom, right?" asked.

How could Rainbow Dash forget? It was her best day ever. Nopony ever forgets the day they've got their cutie mark. Rainbow nodded.

"Even I remember it well. I was there, you know. That chilling feeling you've got? That was not excitement. Not completely, I mean. I was there, flying closely behind you, so close, you could almost hear me, as I casted the Magical Inheritance on y..."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Discord suddenly appeared behind his back and questioned him with terrifying voice. "You are no magician, Neklan. In case you don't know it, you can kill the heir even if you are right. And not only will you kill him, you'll also tear his soul apart. I would never expect such hazardous action from you," he didn't hide his disappointment.

"That's why I helped," said the purple ghostpony, Napoli, behind Discord. Discord turned and intended to scold him too, but Napoli stopped him. "Do you think I am the irresponsible one, Terran? I would never allow anyone to do such a thing unless I am completely sure. Safety first, as my love used to say, remember?" Napoli was offended, but gained control and calmed himself. "The Magical Inheritance is dangerous, but since I am dead, or rather very close to that state, I've gained a lot of knowledge. With that, I was able to remove every risk. I would still hesitate to use it, if it weren't for the Shagga's prophecy," he admitted.

"Wonderful," resigned Discord. Another prophecy. He hated that. A true prophecy means you are bound to do something, to let something to happen. Where's freedom in that? "What prophecy this time?" said obviously annoyed.

"At time you are already gone, there is a thing which must be done. Important spell you must revise, else our hopes leave in goodbyes. If you do so, we have a chance, and the Elements with us at our last stance," quoted the prophecy. I like riddles, thought Twilight, but this is neither the time nor the place for them.

"A riddle, I sure love them, just like my mares here," Discord made them remember the time he hid the Elements and forced them to solve his riddle. "So," tried Discord to explain it. "You have corrected the spell. Neklan used it on Rainbow Dash. What was the target spell, Neklan?" he asked him.

"The spell of my love. I sure enjoyed the presence of other mares, but I always stood loyal to my true love. Grifel the Light-fast," he remembered his special pony. "And the spell was no other than Golden Blast, of course."

"I see," realized Discord. "When she used it, the entire sky got cleared by a golden nova, brining happiness to everyone who saw it," described the spell.

"But hey," reminded Rainbow Dash. "Mine Sonic Rainboom is way cooler than that. It's rainbow colored, for those who never had the honor to see it."

Napoli explained how the Magical Inheritance works. "The inherited spell adapts to the user. Grifel's mane was like golden wheat. That's why her spell was golden. Her nova was way faster than yours. It was considered lifetime luck to witness it even once. Yours, on the other hoof, is slower, rainbow colored as your mane and as a bonus, it sparkles. Not sure where do the sparkles come from. Maybe it's the side effect of my Activating Command?"

"Activating Command?" asked Twilight, who was silent for longer than usual. "I just happened to read about it. You can use this spell to re-enable any of your previous spells. It is used for spells where the casting is complicated, so you don't have to do it every time."

"Yes, I used it to activate the Elements for this age," revealed.

Discord was not surprised at all, compared to others. "I knew it had to be you. You were the only one connected to them and with the sufficient knowledge on how to control them. Still, to activate them using third party spell is remarkable," he praised him. "Seems like the ironwork is cool enough," guessed and without asking for permission, he quickly grabbed few hairs from each pony's manes.

"Hey," complained Rarity, "that's not how you treat a lady."

Discord ignored her whining, I mean complaining. "Now, the Elements," he said for himself. With his paw open, he commanded "Come!" and all six elements appeared in his possession. So that's know he got them from Celestia's magic protected safe, realized Twilight. How easy.

"Six are here, and I need to forge four more. There is no need to forge new ones for those who got two of them, just a simple modification will do," mentioned Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "Three for the present stallions. I'll shape them after your cutie marks," mentioned Soarin', Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. "And finally, the thirteenth for myself. The Element of... hmm... Chaos?" said, but immediately rejected. "Let's keep it nameless. I hate naming them anyway," decided and started putting the pieces together. Every so often, ponies could hear his brainstorming, like 'Where is the copper?', 'The circle will do the trick' or 'No, that is still too low'.

"It may seem too late to ask," said Shining Armor while Discord was already away and occupied with the making, "But do I need to have a new element crafted? Princess Celestia mentioned that our love between Cadence and myself is the seventh element." He had a point. Their love defeated Queen Chrysalis, their love managed to do something that even Celestia couldn't.

"The magic," started Napoli, "originates from your power source. Stronger the source, stronger the magic. And love, together with hate, is the strongest one. And ask yourself, what is love? Isn't love having someone you want to protect so much, for the rest of your life? It is so fitting in your case, Armor."

Rainbow Dash seemed down, and sadly raked in the floor with hoof. So that's how is it, she thought in desperation. My awesomest trick is something I was given due to some stupid riddle. Not something I've earned because of my super flying skill. What now? What else have I been given? Her desperation was obvious, and Napoli comforted her.

"Do not even start thinking low about yourself, Rainbow Dash," he lectured her. "Magical Inheritance is useless, if you don't have the power to activate it. Who knows, maybe you are the only Pegasus caster of this age. That is something you had to work hard for."

Soarin' quickly came to aid. "He's right, Rainbow," agreed with him. "If you underestimate yourself, how should we think about ourselves, as the Wonderbolts? Not only had you saved my life during the Best Young Flyers Competition, but also of my two friends, Spitfire and Misty. I will never be able to repay you for your fast help that day."

The Wonderbolts membership would be fine, thought still depressed Rainbow Dash.

As if could Soarin' read her mind, he added. "The only reason you are not a Wonderbolt already is that we are already full for this and the next season. We can't change our formation mid season. Our performances require a heavy training, you know that the best. But hey," he said, closely leaned on her and whispered. "I could pull few strings to get you a spot during our breaks at the shows. Just imagine it. The entire stage, just for you, the entire audience just focused on you. What do you say?"

Her depression was replaced by another one. She remembered her stage fright at the Competition. That's something you can handle with training, she boosted herself. Yeah, how can I tell Fluttershy to trust in herself if I can't do it myself? She gave her brother a nervous, yet happy smile.

"See? Now that's my sis for sure," he praised her. "When we are done here, I can show you a few tricks that might work. But you have to train hard to master them. Not too hard, though. Cap' would had my feathers if you were better than us," he said seriously, imagining Spitfire's face when she's angry.

Neklan looked upward, as if he could see through the ceiling. "The forging will take some time. I suggest you to get some sleep. You can find some old hay to sleep over there," he pointed at a huge pile of hay in the corner. What could Discord use it for? It was hard to imagine him sleeping on hay. "Who knows how soon we will have to depart. We'll let you know if your presence is needed, so rest now," he encouraged.

Twilight wondered how long it was since she woke up. It felt like a year, due to all the news she learned today. Here, underground, you couldn't guess what time it was. There were several clocks on the walls, but none of them worked. Although she was hardened from her study runs, she never felt so tired. She found a nice pile of hay and laid down her weary body. Her brother did the same close to her.

"Hey Twily," whispered Shining quietly. "Do you know the last time we slept like this together? You were just a filly back then. You sure grew up, sis."

She did not respond. Her eyes were closing fast. The last thing she saw was the blue and purple glows of Neklan and Napoli, discussing something.

The lull before the storm. It won't last for long. While the ponies are resting, will Discord be able to finish his work? In the next chapter of The Second Return we will at least stand face to face to Helia and the story will reach its peak.

Rebels

Twilight could swear her eyes have not even closed, when she was woken up by a painful and bitter roar. They heard a similar one before, when Discord told them about the elements. This time, it was way more intense. It could mean only one thing. Helia broke completely free from her prison. Ponies rushed fast as lighting to the source of the roar.

What they saw was a not pleasant view. Discord's goat horn got burned to the core, and blood from the wound flowed all over his face. The unicorns knew what happened. Every unicorn filly is taught to know their limits of magic. If you overstep them, your horn will be destroyed, leaving you unable to use spells for the rest of your life.

That was not the only thing capturing everypony's attention. A new ghostpony seemed to join their ranks. Or it would be proper to say a zebra. Her grey aura emitted with mystery. For some reason, her eyes were covered in bandage. Was she blind? Could that pony be Shagga?

There was another thing that seemed out of place. A simple spear, with a rusty chain attached to it, laid on the table amongst the elements. Shining could not believe his eyes. "By Celestia," he said amazed, "is that...?"

"Yes, yes it this," confirmed Discord, being finally able to handle the pain. "Now, listen carefully, I shall say this only once. Helia is free and she's heading to the Astrological Tower. Your elements are done, not mine however. You have to buy me some time. Take them," he lifted all nine elements and put them each on their respective owner. "All their power is unlocked and enhanced. You," turned to Twilight and Shining, "your protection spell will now hold against anything she throws at you, for a while that is. She will not kill Celestia, but I am worried about Luna. Her life has no meaning for her. Protect them both and protect your lives at all cost. What are you waiting for, go!" he urged.

Napoli took the lead. "Hurry, the portal is ready," pointed at the platform in the middle of the room. They didn't notice it before, but now, the markings on it glowed in the dim light. "It will take you to the palace, it's the closest place. We'll await you there," promised and all three ghostponies disappeared. Discord tinkered with a ball shaped clockwork device, attached to the end of a rusty chain. Was that the thirteenth element?

The time to take action has finally come. Twilight and her friends faced many dangers before, but this, this was different. Helia is more powerful than Princess Celestia, Luna and Discord together. She boasted about her faith in friendship, but could not get rid of a tiny doubt in her heart. It doesn't matter, convinced herself Twilight. Even if we go to our doom, we have to do our best. For Celestia, for Discord, for Equestria.

Everypony else has already teleported anyway. Twilight was the last one. Before she stepped on the portal, she looked at Discord. His expression was void. The teleport took her to the palace.

A significant temperature difference almost made her faint. They were in the main hall, where Celestia greets visitors. Through the large, decorated windows penetrated dark, red light. Twilight was shocked when she looked outside. Flames rained from the sky and most of the buildings in Canterlot were on fire. Frightened and confused ponies ran back and forth, trying to find a safe shelter.

Rainbow Dash wanted to help them, but Napoli stopped her. "You can't help all of them. We need to get quickly to the tower. When Helia is locked up again, Terran will fix it. Follow me, I know the way."

It was not easy to get quickly to the tower. Twilight knew the palace very well and she was surprised where they were lead by Napoli. But before she could mention anything, they reached a dead end.

"You've got us lost?" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"No," said Napoli and pointed on a wall on his left. "Behind that wall, there is a faster way. It will save us some time."

Without the need to be told, both Applejack and Big Macintosh approached the wall, and with synchronized big buck, they made a huge hole in it. "Ah just hope Celestia forgets to send a repair bill," joked Applejack.

The room they entered was the Green Picture Gallery. Napoli was right, knew Twilight. This will save us plenty of time. In a minute, they reached the staircase, leading to at the top of the Astrological Tower. The sound of their hooves and quick panting echoed through the narrow, rotating staircase. The air was hotter with every stair they took. She had to be there.

The Astrological Tower is the tallest building in Canterlot, and almost the tallest building in Equestria, if there weren't for skyscrapers in Manehatten. Its golden roof can be seen from far away, and it's often used as a landmark by Pegasi. It was build with a spacious balcony, where Celestia and Luna perform their most important duties every day and night. At the top of the tower, there is the Observatory room, themed like any other palace room, only filled with star maps, telescopes, planetary models and astrology books. That was the place where they should have met the princesses and the most likely place to find Helia.

The doors were open. One of the door wings was ripped from the wall and in pieces on the floor. Bright red light came from the room, accompanied by sound of burning fire. Everypony could feel the evil presence there. "She's there," confirmed Neklan. "Brace yourself, for this is the climax of our adventure."

Led by Shining Armor, all of them entered the room, slowly and carefully. The sight was too difficult to watch. The decoration flags burning, the books turned to ash. Shattered windows, glass all over the place.

Princess Celestia, barely conscious, was pinned by a flame sword to the ground. The burning blade pierced her flank, leaving her unable to move. Her sister Luna was trapped too. She was tied tightly with burning chains, and her struggles only increase her pain.

In the middle, standing on the floor painting of Equestria, showing her back to ponies, stood Helia. She was taller than Celestia, of pure white coat. Her hooves, her long tail, her tall mane. All of them burning with red fires. The cutie mark, like Celestia's, represented the Sun, only in her case, the mark was active, showing occasionally sun eruptions. The wings of her were not Pegasi, but phoenix ones, of red and yellow colours.

She ignored them. She ignored them so long, that Rainbow Dash wanted to yell at her, to get her attention. The ponies were afraid to make a single step. Eventually, Helia slowly turned her head to them. Everypony saw her face.

Her eyes burned so bright, no one could stand to look into them for more that a brief moment. It was like looking into the sun on a summer day. Her horn was the same, pulsing with energy. Her look was, despite her overall appearance, freezing to death. Compared to that, Fluttershy's Stare was like harmless puppy eyes. With every breath Helia took, a fire and smoke came from her nostrils. She watched them.

Celestia wanted to say something, but she had no power to do so. However, they could see the message in her eyes. Run.

That only strengthened their resolve. Shining Armor gathered all the courage he had and, as a Captain of the Royal Guard, made his demands. "Surrender, Helia, and you will be granted a fair trial." He knew there was absolutely no chance she would comply.

The grey ghost zebra suddenly spoke. "Watch the wings," she warned them, a second before Helia, instead of responding, mightily waved with her wings. That swing unleashed a wave of fire, aimed at the ponies. Thanks to zebra's warning, Shining was able to set up his shield. Her warning came true. She must have been Shagga, one of the Discord's companion mentioned by Neklan.

"Well, so much for the formalities," mentioned Armor. "Now what?"

"That was a good reaction, my friend," acknowledged his skills Neklan. "Watch her wings all the time, that's how she got the most of us. Even me, due to my mistake focusing on her horn. Sadly, we won't be able to help you much, only with a good advice. If you don't mind, I will start giving the orders," he offered and everypony quickly agreed. After all, he had the experience of fighting with her before.

Instead of speaking, in order to prevent Helia from hearing them, the ponies could hear his voice in their mind. "Good. Armor and Twilight. You stay here at the front and make her to attack you all the time. Rainbow and Soarin'. Distract her with your flying speed. She will try to hit you with the horn, but I am sure you'll be able to avoid it."

Napoli had also something to whisper in their minds. "I will undo her binding magic used on Celestia and Luna. When it's done, you, Big Mac, take Celestia back here and Applejack will do the same with Luna. The rest of you stay here behind the shield. The more of you here, the more appealing you are for Helia's attacks. Shagga will inform you prior to her attacks, so it will give you a second or two. Remember, we are not to defeat her, only to delay until Terran arrives."

Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor joined their magic to make their finest shield yet. The shield was nurtured by their will to protect. Twilight had their precious friends; Shining had her love and city to keep safe.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin' prepared for distracting maneuvers. "Do you know the High Yo-Yo maneuver?" asked Soarin'. Rainbow Dash knew it. It is one of the hardest maneuvers she tried. "Good, you're the defender, I'll be the attacker. After that, we'll do Defensive Spiral and classic barrel roll. Then we'll have to improvise. Are you ready?" asked his sister. She never managed to do the High Yo-Yo before, and in this small room with no initial speed it seemed almost impossible, but she was sure she'll make it. Rainbow nodded. "Fine, wait for the next wing swipe. That is our opening."

Helia still gazed upon them. "The wings," Shagga made her warning again. The wave was way stronger than before, it almost broke through. "We have to increase it," said Twilight to her brother, just as the Pegasi duo dashed instantly to distract Helia.

It worked just as planned. Shagga warned them of her attacks and Helia was forced to switch between her horn beams aimed at the Pegasi and fire waves directed on the main group. Napoli was silently casting his spell, safely behind everypony, out of Helia's line of sight.

"Get ready," said to Applejack and Big Mac. "Now, go!" Before could Helia even realize, both princesses were safe behind the shield.

There was a small side effect of their rescue operation. Now, Helia got mad. She made a huge stomp with her front hooves, resulting in fire fissures all over the room. Her cooldowns between the attacks were gone and the new ones came with even bigger strength than before. Rainbow Dash got hit, and her right wing got burned. Soarin' quickly caught her and brought behind the shield.

With the distraction gone and everypony gathered at one place, the failure of the protective shield was a matter of a minute, at the best. Twilight was already bone-tired, her horn resonated with stabbing pain and all that heat almost made her vomit. I am sorry, brother, she wanted to say, but I have to leave you alone for this.

The shield was getting smaller and smaller. The fire almost engulfed them all. You know what they say about heroes. They say a hero always arrives in the nick of time. Just like that, a heavy door wing flew instantly over the room, hitting Helia and shattering into dust. She stopped her actions and looked at the entrance. Dust slowly settled, revealing the arriving draconequus. The main actor has come to the stage.

It's time to duel! Discord vs Helia, an uneven match, with the fate of Equestria as a price. Waste no time and head to the next chapter of The Second Return, where Discord and Helia measure their strengths.

Divine intervention

Discord sure knew how to get Helia's attention. Her fire changed into blinding yellow, and the room temperature increased. Wasting no time, Discord, with a single finger snap, fixed the room and healed most of the injuries caused by Helia. Celestia was finally able to stand up. She was still weak, but determined to face her foe together with her brother. He had a different opinion.

"I know you are not a fighter, my dear," refused Discord her efforts. "I will have to call dibs on her. You see, she made it personal and I have something to say to her." He touched the almost gone shield and reinforced it with his powers. It shined with every possible color. It served as a protection from getting inside, and at the same time, from getting out of it. Discord really meant his wish to not let the others interfere.

Now that he had no reason to spend his energy on holding Helia back in the prison, he returned to his obvious chaos making. Another finger snap and his throne of chaos, decorated with deer horns, was summoned. His opponent was standing still, awaiting his attack.

Discord took the seat and with his victory smile, he watched Helia. If there were not for the burning flames, you could easily confuse her with a statue. Still, she emitted a strange aura. Both anger and fear, mixed with anticipation and patience.

"Why. Why, why, why, why," he asked. "Why are the others still alive. Why does Equestria still exist. Why do you hesitate with your attacks," questioned her. "You are powerful, way beyond me. Even now, you could strike me down with a single strike. You can clash the sun into this planet within a second. I was never supposed to imprison you in the first place. So why, why are you holding back?" Is he stupid, thought Twilight. Don't tell her about the powers she might not know about.

Silence. Discord was obviously irritated, but managed to keep it down. Instead, he called for his element at it appeared in his paw. His element looked like a ball used for hoofball. Its skelet was made of various metals, mostly of gold and silver. Inside of that skelet was another one, made of several rings, turning in various directions around the core. The core was a flashy light, emitting pleasant warmth, shining with various colors. If you could picture life, this is how it would look like.

The thirteenth element, unnamed, was connected by a rusty chain to the spear they saw in his hideout. Ponies wondered what it could server for. Except for Shining, they had no idea about the spear. They soon were to learn the truth about it.

If Helia was surprised by the weapon Discord brought to bring her down, she didn't let other know about it. Her flames burned in anticipation. Could she wait for a perfect chance to strike, when her opponent shows even a tiny opening?

"Do you recognize this spear, Helia?" asked her as he was playing with that weapon. "I am sure you don't. This spear is just a tale, told by guards and soldiers. Spear of an Unknown Pony is its name. It belonged to a common pony, ordinary citizen, who picked this spear and in order to protect his family, he faced his foe, despite having absolutely no chance of success. His story is to inspire others not to hesitate upon giving their life for the sake of others. No one knows the name of that pony, but I know the name of his foe. It was you, Helia," framed her, staring in her eyes, filled with hate and accusation for her past deeds.

"Yes, did you think I had forgotten? Did you think I have forgiven? For the thousands you burned to ashes, the Old Kingdom, scarred by your actions so hideously, we had to sink it into the ocean? For my friends, killed by you right before my eyes? Do you know how hard it was for me to tell their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, their little foals, that their loved ones will never return? Oh, that's right," changed his hate to irony, "I forgot you see us only as a fuel for your flames, a pile of logs, a heap of coal."

"But I am not here to reflect on the past. It is done and gone, only the vague present and the hope of tomorrow matter. Let me ask you, although I do know you won't reply, one thing. What are you going to do, when, purely hypothetical, you defeat us and burn this place in flames, to the core. What then, when your precious purpose is fulfilled, your mission over and there is nothing more for you to do. Will you spend the rest of eternity roaming mindlessly around the dead, cold universe? Of course not."

"There is an answer to all my questions about you. The one thing, explaining your lack of radical and decisive actions. Chaos knew it very well. Should he not, there would be now way for him to join the forces with me. It's all about a feeling. To you, and to Chaos likewise, it's like a disease, a poison to your mind. Something you can not get rid of. With all its pros and cons, it is strongly nested in your mind. The feeling to be... alive."

For a split of second, even Discord thought she moved to attack. He firmly grasped the spear, but Helia stopped her action. Her flames were completely white and the temperature was incredible. Only thanks to Discord's magic was the room still existing. Even when the ponies inside the shield were safe from the heat, they still started feeling sick. Oh no, realized Twilight, she's burning so hot. The radiation! She was not sure if the protective spell works even against that threat, but if not, they had no time before the amount of it gets fatal.

Even Discord noticed it, and hastened his speech. It was time to deal his best strike. "You are like not him, Helia. It is not too late, leave this mad action and the Creator behind. We both know you don't want to do this, that you want to be with us, as a family," tempted her, but the result was the opposite.

"NEVER!" yelled Helia, with the voice way powerful than traditional royal Canterlot one. "The Starfather's Will is absolute. I am perfect, unlike you, I will not betray my purpose. This world will burn, and there's nothing you can do." Her voice was confident. Too confident, realized ponies.

"Indeed," said Discord and offered her an honest bow. "There is nothing I can do. You forget who I am. Who we are," referred to his Terran and Chaos parts.

"The traitor will pay for his actions," she said without any mercy for him.

"And not only us." He closed his eyes and commanded. "Come, my brothers and sisters, the hour you await is here. Stand true to your oath and to Equestria." The sound of his voice penetrated every part of their bodies. The ghostponies looked up, to the ceiling. Even Shagga, blind even in her death, raised her head up. Neklan silently cried. "I have waited so long for this moment, my friends."

All three ghostponies left the bubble and gathered next to Discord. Suddenly, others started appearing! Not only the ghosts of unicorns, Pegasi, earth ponies and zebras, but of a long forgotten races too. Two wereponies, a mix of wolf and ponies, with bristly coat, sharp fangs and clawed hooves. Also, two fire ponies were present. They looked like smaller, wingless version of Helia, with mane and tail burning in their respective ghost colors. All twelve appeared ghosts had different color. All of them gathered next to Discord.

If Helia were like any other pony, she would burst out in laughter. But she remained calm and coldly stated her remark. "It is illogical to rely on someone not of this sphere of existence. Their presence here is a violation of the Law. They are failures, just like this everything."

"They are not the only ones. The wielders of my greatest creation," pointed at the ponies, "my sisters, Celestia and Luna, and every living thing on this planet is with me. They are my family, my children. All of us, against you alone. You are forgetting one thing, all the time, Helia," reminded Discord.

"That is??"

"Friendship is magic."

It was all over before could anypony else beside the actors to realize. At the same moment, Discord, calling Helia's name, threw the spear with all his strength against her. She also threw at him one of her fire spears, but this time, it was blue. With no sides caring for defense, Discord's spear penetrated into Helia's body, and her flame spear stuck out of Discord's dragon tail.

Helia tried to remove the spear from her wound, but Discord was quicker. In the ancient tongue, he yelled his command. "Šagare!" Despite the fact that Twilight and her friends had no idea of its meaning, they were unable to move a single hoof, despite their efforts. The spell was so strong, it left even Helia wide open. Even her fires ceased to move for the time.

"Too easy," taunted Discord. "I was looking for some challenge, my dear. You were the first one worthy enough to measure the strengths with in years." Now, his element was connected to her body by the rusty chain and spear. The chain itself seemed not reliable enough for this important task.

Discord picked his element, firmly in his hands, ignoring the burning spear in his tail, and started the ritual. Everypony's element started lending its energy into his. The energy lines looked different for each pony. One was rotating spiral, other was straight, pure red line, one was a thin as thread, and so on. Helia was still unable to move, yet her presence radiated incredible hatred directed at Discord.

As the energy kept flowing into the orb, ponies started to feel exhausted. To their relief, all lines disappeared when the orb reached its full power. Discord raised his element above his head, to make his boasting speech about it.

"Behold, the greatest art, the marvel of ancient magic and modern technology. The ultimate power in the universe. Your new prison," turned his attention at his target. "Don't worry, it will hurt. A lot. Not like the pain was ever a concern to you, you so-called perfect being," made his bitter insult.

With his eyes closed, full focus and maximum concentration, the energy slowly poured into Helia. The rusty chained started gaining multiple colors, as it was revitalized by the spell. Even without knowing how it worked, one thing was clear. When the rust is removed and colors touch her body, it will be over. With every single link closer to the goal, Helia's presence was more and more overwhelming. Come on, cheered everypony for the element.

It was too good and too easy for it to be true. The foe's fires ablaze, and without even moving, Helia made something... you can't call it voice or sound. It was speechless yell, but powerful enough to cut the chain in half, right before it was almost over for her. The thirteenth element's light was gone and all the color slowly vaporized into nowhere. Their only hope... failed.

Once again, Helia had a perfect reason to burst in laughter. There was nothing that could save them now. In the end, she is the victorious. Discord was disappointed by his failure and with unreadable emotion, his mind was occupied with thinking.

"You have failed," stated Helia obviously, as if someone could already forget the events of the past minute. "There is nothing you can do now. It was futile of you to resist your fate, his will."

Twilight knew this was the end. They did their best, she was sure of that. She was glad she met her friends and had two wonderful years with them. She was honored to be Celestia's faithful student. Thoughts about the afterlife started to appear in her head. Everypony will meet at the other side.

Unexpected voice disrupted the silence. "The doors are closed, you are unseen and the darkness awaits you." Shagga made her prophecy. Yes, agreed Twilight. Our doors to the future are closed, and the darkness awaits us. Insignificant lives like our are not worthy of Helia's consideration. They are unseen by her.

"Shagga," asked her Discord with unbelievable happiness. Was he insane? "Are you sure of that?"

"Always."

Discord changed. His eyes gone red, his laughter was not vicious, but chaotic evil. And the voice. Silent, chaotic and crazy. He was talking to himself.

"Haahaha," he laughed. "This... is it, Terran! The moment you and I have waited for. Please, let me do it, I want to do it. I have all I need. She's here. And I'll take her with us too. To the ultimate chaos, where insanity is the only rule. Please," he begged himself. It seems like his part, belonging to Chaos, made his appearance.

"No," replied back in his normal voice and look. "We will do it, but together. We started it together, we end it together."

Celestia had a very bad feeling about it. Her brother never told her anything about this. "What are you doing, Discord?" asked him, but got no reply.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me," repeated Helia. "Your attempt followed the most logical way, but its power was no match for me."

Discord sat on the throne. His ghost companions waited in anticipation. They knew something more about his plan B. "Yes," he said silently, "this is the best way." For a while, he looked into nowhere, making sure he won't fail anything. "It is on, you know what to do," ordered his long-gone comrades. Every ghostpony nodded in approval.

Each of them stood next to other living pony. Twelve ghosts protecting six mares, three stallions and two princesses. Odd pony out, Napoli, inserted his hooves into the floor. One of the fire ponies, mare incredibly charming and beautiful even in her death, whispered into Twilight's ears. "To ensure your protection, we have to bring you slightly closer to our realm. There is no need for you to worry, as we have complete confidence in this," she said in sweet voice. She gently inserted her hoof into Twilights body. She suddenly became cold, despite the obvious heat from Helia. Her vision became blurred and she could hear some unrecognisable whispers. She felt like... dying. Other ghosts did the same for their respective protégés.

With a loud snap, Discord summoned a huge, golden gong. Everypony, even Helia, was confused. In silence, he smashed it with a mallet and the sounds seemed to shatter everything. By everything I mean the entire Equestria. All around them, as far as they could see, was black nothing. Above, beneath, left and right. They felt no floor, no ground, but still they were not falling. There was nowhere to fall.

Helia started looking in every direction. As if she had lost something important. Discord knew what it was.

"Looking for you precious Sun, my dear," asked her with a huge satisfaction. "Oh, you won't find it here. Let me welcome you to this place. This is the middle of the universe. A place so old, that the stars from here are already gone, and the light from the new ones has not yet reached it. This is the best place for eternal chaos, the perfect place to lose your sanity."

Celestia could confirm it. Even she could not feel the presence of her star. They had to be really far away. Helia, for the first time and the last time, was in doubts. She had no idea what to do. As always, she chose the most logical way - to attack Discord, now, with her full power.

Every part of her started burning in various spectrum. Starting with red, turning to yellow, white, blue and violet. She burned so hard with so incredible power, that she was almost invisible. Eyes of the ponies could not distinguish the colors of that frequency. Regardless of the flames and light, ponies were still cold. The ghost ponies were keeping them alive.

"Too late for this, Helia. You are forgetting who I am. I am Chaos. This is my realm. What I say here, goes." He started looking all over the place, as if he was looking for an annoying fly. "Can you see us, you puppeteer, the one who is sending others to do his dirty job. I know you can't. And before you can even start looking for us, it will be all over. For you, for me, forever."

His taunting was not left unanswered. A beam of light was approaching them. It seemed so fast, but still so far away. Helia seemed relieved. "You fool. It is over. For you. The Starfather will deal with you personally, as you wish." Now was another good time for an evil laughter.

"Right, no time to waste. I have no intention of meeting him."

With the fiercest roar he could made, his blood veins raised all over his body, pumping the blood with crazy haste. But for him, it was no blood. It was blue, shining with white dots. Pure magic energy.

It was not still enough for him. He drained the last bits of energy from the Elements. The elements of Strength, Protection and Agility cracked, and their wielders fainted.

Helia made her charge, only to be pushed away, with no effort at all.

Discord raised his hands and focused all of his life energy into an incredibly small, absolute black ball.

Once again, Helia attacked with furious, lightning fast flames. No effect.

Celestia's sense was telling her to stop Discord, but she could not move any part of her body.

The light beam was getting closer, with increasing speed.

Discord was finished.

He took a last look into everypony's face. He was calm. Prepared.

In all his might, he yelled. So hard, it was to be heard in the every corner of the universe.

"LONG. LIVE. EQUESTRIA."

His hands clapped and silent explosion of light blinded everypony. As their sight was returning, they slowly started to see the Observatory room around them. All was back to normal. Almost. The windows, floor, walls and ceiling fixed, but the star map was burned in half, some books torn apart and one of the four royal flags was missing.

Discord and Helia were not present anymore.

The ghostponies were relieved and happy. One after the other made their rejoice known and disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again.

"At least, we have our revenge."
"In the end, all that awaits us, is death."
"We finally made her pay for the crimes she committed, right?"
"Thanks for the help, living ones. Terran would not make it without you."
"See you on the other side, everypony."
"Well, as Shagga predicted, this was the only path he would choose."
"Do you think we shall see him soon?"

Shortly after, only Napoli and Neklan remained. Celestia, Luna and Rainbow Dash were still injured. To Celestia, there was something else causing her bigger pain than this. Just like Luna, they could not sense Discord anymore. He knew how to hide his presence, but they knew this was not one of his doings.

"Twilight Sparkle," approached her Napoli, "You have shown us a great potential. I will watch over you from the other realm, if you don't mind." Twilight doubtfully nodded, as she was not sure if he's going to haunt her. "You all showed us your strength. I thank you for that and bid you farewell." With these words, he parted with them and in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

Neklan, the last one remaining, also wanted to give his speech. "Although this has not ended as we expected or hoped for, it was an honor to meet you all. I wish I could stay here longer and make an epic poem about your deeds, but finally, our oath is fulfilled and I can't resist the call. Terran seems to made a complete explanation in his final letter," he pointed to just appearing scroll, tied by two green ribbons. "I hope it will take you long time before you visit us. Take your time and enjoy living. That's something Terran wishes you to do." He bowed to everypony, and with farewell, he followed his friend into the land unknown to the living.

Everypony gazed at the letter from Discord. What did Neklan meant by "final letter?" Maybe he is afraid to get imprisoned by Celestia again, thought Twilight. But the likely truth was different.

All's well that ends well? Unfortunately, this won't end like other of their adventures. Find about Discord's final letter in the last chapter of The Second Return.

!

Celestia picked the scroll and started reading, despite the fact it could have been meant only for her.

"Dear princess Celestia,

Today I've learned a valuable lesson. Well, to be honest, I knew it for a long time. When you want to protect something, sometimes, despite all the efforts, you have to sacrifice someone to achieve this. And there is no bigger proof of friendship than sacrificing yourself for your close ones.

Your faithful student,
Discord.

PS: Fortunately, this is not one of the boring friendship reports you have to read every week. This goodbye letter of mine is little bit juicier, if I may say so.

To be honest, I lied to you, to Luna, to everypony. I hope you are not shocked. Deceiver was one of the names from which I chose new one. Who knows, even this is just a pile of lies and deceits.

First, let me congratulate myself on saving our worlds, our old bodies, our raison d'être. How did I do that, you ask? Well, I hope I have enough ink for this.

Ever since the moment I merged with Chaos, I couldn't stop thinking about the weapon against the Creator. It had to be the best and with clever design. You don't know him, even I still don't, but Chaos was willing to share everything about him with me. I discovered two crucial information for my plan. One - most of the times, he is present as a light form. Second - he rarely intervenes himself. I knew I had to lure him out, if I ever want to make him stop interfering with our lives.

As for my plan to recreate this world not to be dependent on us, there was a single flaw. Even if we would cut our bonds, the Creator would still be present. That means a possible threat for future generations. No, my sister, I had to finish it once and for all. That was something I had to do, whatever the cost.

I have learned a lot during my experiments before our little disagreement. Although they brought freezing winters and blizzards upon the Old Continent and caused the extinction of many races, wereponies and fire ponies included, I still find it acceptable, in the end. Don't make that face, Celestia. Without it, the history would be very different. Let the others make the final judgment. Yes, that will be for the best.

There is a need to mention something else, too. You are not the only one teaching the others about the importance of friendship. Without any effort from my side, Helia learned a lot about the friendship, love and beauty of life. I am sure of that. You see, Chaos, Nightmare Moon and Helia were just like us. Created to do their purpose. And as you remember, it took us long time before we became who we are today. When I saw Chaos for the first time, it was like looking at the pictures of my very early fillyhood.

My first years with Chaos were hard for both of us. We fought and argued about every single thing. In those days, Chaos had the bigger part in me. That's why I acted the way I acted. Please forgive him, I mean me, about that. Those were not acts of evil. He was inexperienced, learning his way in this world. Eventually, he let me to lead the way, while he gets some turns from time to time. For me, he was like a small brother, wanting to play with every toy possible. Too bad it resulted in creating chaos.

Helia was something similar, but different in certain aspects. There was no way you and she could join together like we did. Imagine her as a filly, who made her first step into a big, unknown world, charged with a mission she could not fully comprehend. Instead of making friends, she was supposed to destroy, from the very first moment she gained consciousness. Despite her manifestations of cold logic, I am sure she, somewhere inside, felt a terrible pain, and fought with her inner strength against her mission, just like Chaos did.

I know her powers well, just like she did. But she never used them. For those thousands of years I kept her locked, she was just playing with me, there is no other explanation. She had to enjoy being alive, even in that miserable form of an underground prisoner. It was better than to finish her goal and be gone, forever. However, she could not resist it for long. She was the main weapon. Chaos and Nightmare Moon were just backup plans by the Creator.

Despite her will and my efforts, she broke free. Let me assure, which I should have done so right at the start of this letter, that almost nopony died. I would say she, the good part of her, is the main hero here. Without her, I would never be able to success. I can't even tell you how much sorry I am for her for the role she had in my plans. With time, she could be like us. I dreamt about having her as a sister. I hate you, Creator, for making me do this.

The whole plan with thirteen elements was very unlikely to succeed. Even so, I went for it. I wanted the Creator, not her. Recreating the world is of no use while he is present. Having Helia imprisoned for the second time was still not enough for his attention.

So I put to use my best skills - taunting, lies and deception. I intended to angry Helia so much she would call him herself. Since you were present, you don't need the explanation. I made her boil in rage and fear. It was I who called for him, but only the presence of Helia made him able to find us. By the way, if my companions are still present, tell them good job for protecting all of you.

He was coming. The plan was working, as Shagga predicted. I suspect, and I am very serious about it, that Shagga is something like our mother, if the Creator should be considered as our father. She was here to balance the powers and to help us all. I have no other explanation for her being able to see every possible event in the future.

It was time to do the spell. I searched every corner of the universe looking for a perfect trap. I doubt I could kill the Creator, as he was probably not alive the way we are. But I had to made him disappear. Forever. For that purpose, using all my magic, energy, skills and wisdom, I created my best, and I really mean it this time, creation. The Black Hole.

The Black Hole, an object with so strong gravity, it prevents anything from escaping its reach. Not even the magic, the fastest thing ever. Since the Creator was heading our way in the form of light, he was sure to get sucked inside. However, there is was Chaos, Helia, and Nightmare Moon. Despite my best efforts, I was still unable to fix one single flaw. The caster too is consumed by the hole. Chaos, acting mature beyond my expectation, told me to separate myself from this body and let him do it alone. Damn it, of course I refused. I won't let anyone sacrifice himself, only me. Sadly, I had to take Helia and Nightmare Moon with me. With me gone, they would have no one to stop them. I used the most of the elements energy, so you can't use them for a while. I am sure I squeezed more than I intended from the elements of Strength, Agility, Protection, Willpower, Perception and Charisma. Sorry, but you won't enjoy them anymore. The original Elements of Harmony will start recharging soon.

So this is it. I, Chaos and Terran together, am trapped in a place of no return. Helia and Nightmare Moon are there with us. The Creator is defeated and Equestria free. To be honest, I don't know if I am still alive or not. There is no way for you to tell, since the signal for Equestria to stop existing can't reach your place anymore. I don't know if I'll be able to die. If not, well, I have some company there. Chaos was a fine prison mate and I am counting on him again.

As I create these lines, I am casting the Black Hole spell, together with my last Reality Bend. I won't be able to fix all the damage, but that is for the good. It would be wise to keep something as a reminder for the future ponies. I've failed to get rid of some possible future problems. Still, nothing you or the ponies around you can't handle.

We won't see each other again. There was no other way I could do my intentions. I still have to thank the Creator for blessing me with sisters like you. Please, take care of Equestria just like you already do and may this Fourth Age lasts forever.

I love you, Celestia and Luna, and everypony else. Even the Black Hole can't stop my love from reaching you. And although I am leaving, it will be with you.

Always."

Gone. Discord was gone, forever. He sacrificed himself for the sake of his sisters and Equestria. Luna, realizing she won't see her brother anymore, ran anyway in tears, and her heavy sobbing echoed, as she was running the stairs down.

On the other hand, Celestia was dangerously calm. She even smiled. "There is nothing to worry about, dear ponies. I know him very well. There is no way he would put himself in such risk."

"Discord," she called him, "I know you are hiding. There is no need for that. I won't imprison you again. You can come out."

It was heartbreaking sight. Celestia could not accept the facts.

"Come on, brother. You are too old for hide and seek."

But even she can not deny it for long.

"Remember, Terran? You promised you would come, whenever I call you. I am calling you, if you have not noticed." Her voice was on the brink of tears.

He did not come. There was no way he could.

"Traitor, deceiver!" she insulted him in tears. "You promised! Three of us, together forever! Why did you do that, why. You left us alone, Terran, alone..." Her last words got lost in tears. Ponies felt helpless. "Come," said Twilight, "there is nothing we can do," resigned and left the princess behind, still crying and calling her brother.

Shining Armor parted with them. He needed to check Cadence and start organizing damage report teams. Soarin' left too, saying something about checking Cloudsdale and overall situation. Rainbow wanted to go with him, but with her injury, she could not manage to fly for so long. Her brother asked her friends to take care of her.

Back in the main hall was active portal prepared for them. "Ponyville, Library," was written in purple letters. A parting gift by Napoli.

"Ah can't believe we're just gonna leave the Princess here alone," worried Applejack.
"What do you suggest we do, darling? Two days ago, Discord was still our greatest foe. So much have changed since then. To lose a brother... I just don't know how to help her," felt Rarity.
Not even Twilight, otherwise crafty in every situation. "I think it's best we leave her alone for a time. I shall visit her tomorrow, when we are all rested. It has been the longest day for us."

One by one, they stepped into portal. As soon as the last Pinkie entered, the portal closed.

Spike awaited them inside the library. "Finally, you are back! So, did we win, huh? I knew you guys could handle anything..." He stopped when he saw their expressions. "I'll tell you everything later, Spike," promised Twilight, "but now I need to get some sleep. Good night everyone."

Ah, her comfy bed, how she missed her. Nopony could separate her from it. Her body was used to such pressure. After her multi-day studies, she needed a deep sleep to process all she had learned. Now, after all this, she wishes to forget all of it. Celestia and Luna crying, Discord roaring in pain, his final words. It was too much for her. A hay bed is good, but nothing beats your own, were her final thoughts before falling into dreamless sleep.

"Wake up, Twilight."

"Just a few minutes," she said with her face buried in the pillow.

Spike came later again. "Wake up, there is a letter for you, from the princess," said and waved with the scroll around her.

Instantly, Twilight's body fully has fully awoke. With great concerns, she read the short announcement. She was asked to attend Discord's funeral, taking place in Canterlot next Sunday. The carriage will pick her at the Library at six. Simple as that. Nothing more. Twilight checked the back page too, hoping to find something to tell her about Celestia's feelings. Still, she felt uncertain about replying. Since no words came to her mind, she decided not to.

Later that day, she discovered her friends being invited, or rather asked to participate, too. So in five days, they attend a funeral with nothing to bury, a last farewell with someone who might still be alive. Twilight just hoped it will help to raise Celestia's spirit after that.

In the following days, Ponyville seemed to already forget all about this. The dam got repaired, water once again flowed in the rivers and animals peacefully minded their business. Apple family was busy fixing the orchard, as it was one on the few things Discord not repaired. Applejack did not mind at all. Hard work is the best cure for heavy mind, she says. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were occupied with their jobs. Summer Sun Celebration was next Monday, the day after the funeral. Even though it was held this year in Vanhoover, a remote town in the north, it still meant increased orders for bakers and fashionistas.

For Rainbow Dash, those were one of her most boring days. She was injured before, many times, yet now, she wanted to do so much. To train even harder, to spend time with Soarin'. Even though his sister was injured, he couldn't visit her almost at all. If you are the Wonderbolt, the term free time is something you can forget. Fortunately for Rainbow, Fluttershy was able to keep her company. Sometimes, when she was alone, regretted she didn't asked Discord or Neklan about their adventures. She knew all Daring Doo's adventures by heart and knew theirs had to be even more exciting.

And Twilight? Well, Twilight too wanted to squeeze every possible information from Discord. Anyway, she closed the water mystery case. With the dam repaired, there was no need to investigate further. In her spare time, she got occupied with history books. It was not like she doubted Discord's words (although you should, said her voice of reason), but now that she was introduced with his point of view, it was her duty as a scientist to compare facts. Twilight felt urge to write that down, before she could forget anything important. That would be against Discord's wish. Even Celestia wants to keep some parts unknowns to others. As she was bothering herself about this dilemma, the expected Sunday came.

All six mares gathered at Twilight's. Even Big Macintosh came too. Rarity came in a black mourning dress, hat and veil. It made her look very noble. Grieving, but noble. Pinkie's hairs were straight as noodles. Applejack's front left hoof had a mourning ribbon. All ponies silently watched the clock. Exactly at six o'clock, not a minute sooner or later, one of the royal Pegasi guards knocked on the door and led them to a royal carriage. In a moment, they left Ponyville behind, as they flew into Canterlot.

During that trip, Twilight realized it is exactly two years since she came to Ponyville. Yes, two years ago, at this time, she was at the Pinkie's welcoming party in her library. Shortly after that, they formed their friendship when facing Nightmare Moon. All of that seemed so far away. With all of their adventures and excitement, the time seemed to fly like the fastest Pegasi. On the horizon, in the summer night, ponies could see the towers of Canterlot.

This funeral was intended to be private, without anypony's else attention. Twilight could only guess where the ceremony will be held and as soon as the carriage started to descend, she had to praise the princess for her choice. They landed in the middle of the Canterlot maze, the very place they've met Discord for the first time.

Both princesses were present, just like Shining Armor and Soarin'. Both of them had their uniforms put on, the very same they wore on the wedding. There was one thing nopony could fail to see. A complex marble statue, replacing the old fountain, was raised. It featured fifteen characters. In the middle was Discord, in his draconequus form. His right lion paw rested on the back of an unicorn pony. Pony's mane and tail was made of green marble. Details of his face radiated wisdom, justice and truth. This was his form as Terran. Discord's left eagle claw patted the mane of another unicorn. Created out of black marble, with no details except for a wicked smile. That had to be Chaos.

These three were encircled by twelve other ponies. Girls instantly recognized Napoli, Neklan and Shagga. The others must be the remaining Discord's companions. Each stallion was paired with his mare counterpart. Napoli took place next to a sturdy unicorn mare. Neklan had his head leaned on a Pegasi mare with the most wind-swept mane they ever saw. All of them faced Discord, with smile, respect or admiration. Later, ponies discover Celestia and Luna being authors of this remarkable monument.

The bells of Canterlot announced the midnight. At the same moment, Discord's horns lit with magical light and Celestia approached the statue. Nopony else was expected to arrive. Only those who were with him until his final moments were present. Twilight expected long, heartbreaking speech from Celestia. Her words for him were short and simple.

"Thank you, Terran, and I am sorry." That was all and ponies knew why. It was impossible to describe her feelings for him in any language. Instead, she thanked him for saving Equestria and apologized for imprisoning him. After a brief moment of silence, both princesses started singing a requiem for Discord.

It was the first time ponies heard them singing, very slowly, minding importance of every sound. Lyrics were of very old tongue, but even if they could not understand the words, their hearts were filled with emotions such as love and sadness. Their voice went up, and sang in the sky and wandered through passages of the hedge maze.

"Entúr aátar, simplera óbídie. Sínor daáte, prosuús thé, den anafé étár."

Shining Armor, as a captain, and Soarin', as a high ranked member of the Wonderbolts, sincerely saluted and other ponies deeply bowed. The ceremony was over.

"Your highness," approached Twilight her princess. "I know you grieve for the loss of your brother and your heart is scarred by the thought of not seeing him again. I want you to know we'll all do our best to mend that wound, although it will never fully heal." Other ponies too offered their support.

"Thank you, my dear ponies," accepted Celestia honestly. "Even as the ruler of the Sun, my life would be dark without my sister or ponies like you. Even during those thousand years, when both Terran and Luna were imprisoned at the same time, it were your ancestors who gave me the strength to carry on and hope for better tomorrows. Yes, my dear ponies," she realized. "There is always hope."

With that, she parted with everypony, thanked them for their help and support and took off, heading to Vanhoover. Those who were there to witness her Summer Sun Celebration sunrise would swear there was nothing else in their lives so touching and moving. Only few ponies knew Celestia dedicated that sunrise to bring her light into whichever darkness Discord was trapped in.

Soarin' had to part too, as he had a morning show in Manehatten. Twilight's brother also got his hooves full. "I got something big up in the north. I might need your help in a few weeks, so get ready for a new adventure!" He left smiling and soon disappeared in the maze.

Twilight got an idea. "Uh, Princess Luna?" she nervously asked the princess gazing at the stars.

"Yes, Twilight?"
"Would you mind hearing my friendship report?"
"Sure, I would love to."

"Ahem," started. "Dear Princess Luna. In the past days I found that even your greatest enemy can turn into the greatest hero, and for that, we should make our best to understand each other."

Luna was not saying anything. For there was not more to say. She completely agreed.

He saved them all. Still despised by many, truly loved by few. That was his way of life.

Such was the way of Discord. The Second Return of his was also the last. Or wasn't...?