The Elements of Harmony were reduced to dust.

Nightmare Moon cackled at her victory, smirking at the idiot ponies who had thought that they could defeat her. The world would be embraced by her beautiful nighttime eternal, and there was nothing they could do about it. The thought filled her with mirth.

But they still had hope. She could see it in their eyes.

“What? Do you still think you can defeat me?”

Twilight shook her head.

“No, no. I want to know why you’re only doing things halfway.”

Her friends looked on in confusion.

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I want to know why you’d settle for just seeing the world covered in darkness, merely witnessing everyone’s death cold and unloved. Why die with the knowledge that everything you’ve ever known will continue on as an empty husk, never to see light or life again, when you have the power to turn everything to dust?”

The other ponies were speechless.

“Is this a trick? Are you trying to play a game with me? Because I don’t find it very funny.”

“Together we can end it all for good. Together we can finally show these ponies the real meaning of this world, what it’s like to truly be alone.”

Nightmare Moon recognized something in her words. She bowed her head.

“Small one, I don’t know where you’ve heard these words, but I do not wish to hurt anyone. I do not want to see my little ponies die. I only want you all to see something beautiful. But now, I realize my resentment has clouded my judgment, and now I’m only hurting those I love.” She lifted her head back up, opening her eyes. “And I cannot do that.” A cloud of darkness trailed from her. In a moment her horrific form had been replaced by a small, blue pony. “I am sorry, my fellow ponies. Please forgive me. My selfishness, my anger, and my despair. I’m sorry for the pain that I have caused you. I am sorry...” Her voice trailed off. The silence was filled with her tears.

The Sun was dawning.

“We forgive you,” said the warm voice of Celestia. “Luna.”

The two sisters embraced one another.

“Now, my little ponies.” She turned to them. “Twilight, while your method was... rather unexpected, I suppose it worked out in the end. Thank you.”


A violet energy spear erupted from the earth, phasing through Luna’s body and impaling her on its ethereal shaft. She let out a choked yelp. The magical energy that had rammed through her pulsed with light as white forks of electricity ran down its length. Her eyes glowed and the center of her soul shown through the rest of her body. The horrific ghost of the villain they had just defeated rose up from her body. Its eyes blazed with midnight smoke, and its maw moved up and down, the lines of its lips drooping sharply like malformed teeth, caught in the midst of a silent scream.

In a flash the grotesque ensemble before them was reduced to dust, leaving a small orb of spangled energy.

“You should have taken my offer. It would have been less painful that way.”

A very dark expression fell over the face of Celestia. The five ponies around Twilight stood with expressions of horror, of disgust, of complete heart-brokenness.

Maniacal laughter filled the room. The energy orb that had once been Luna floated over to Twilight. When it reached her, it passed through her breast and into her body. Ripples of energy ran down her legs, and her eyes glowed with light. The light subsided, and Twilight smiled.

“So, who’s next?”

The dark expression on Celestia’s face grew graver.

“I do not know who you are, nor do I know what you have done with my student, but I will give you just twenty seconds to explain yourself.” Her eyes were trails of fire. “Before I return you to the deep pit of Tartarus from whence you came.”

Twilight laughed. “I am Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia’s breathing became funny for a moment.

A beam of bright sunlight shot through the room, becoming a beacon of fire and burning down everything in its path. Where once Twilight was standing only ashes remained.

“What a weak attack,” said a voice behind her. “And I counted. That was only sixteen seconds.”

“I don’t know about you ladies, but I’m gonna hightail it outta here,” shouted Applejack.

She ran, and the others followed soon thereafter.

“Not so fast.”

Purple orbs popped into existence around them all. They elevated into the air.

“I still need you.”

A curtain of flame fell down around Celestia. Waves of fire washed over the room, one after another. She was very quiet and very still.

The five pony bystanders screamed as they saw these waves of fire rushing toward them. But when they passed by, none of it reached their elevated position.

Twilight Sparkle burst into being in the same spot she had been standing before.

“I can see it in your face. You want to know why I’m doing this. Well, I’m sick of explaining it to you. But you’re a smart cookie, so I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.”

Fire in your eyes will burn away the tears.

“But enough talking. It’s time to take this to the next stage.”

One after the other the bubbles containing her friends were filled with spears. An encore of Luna’s demise played five times, leaving in its wake an orange orb of energy, and a blue orb, and a white orb, and a yellow orb, as well as a pink orb. These swirled all around Twilight at incredible speeds. She was lost in a tornado of technicolor.

“Do you have what it takes to defeat your precious Elements of Harmony?”

After the tornado dissipated, all that was left was a monster of rainbow and moonlight and magic. Its six wings twitched, and its four legs stomped the ground. Its eyes glowed, and its horn shown like a prism splitting light.

Celestia blinked.

“So, I can take your soul now and save you from great suffering. Or, I can fight you until your body is too weak to keep me from it. What will it be?”

“I don’t understand what is happening. But I feel in my heart that I must stop you from accomplishing whatever it is you are trying to accomplish here, no matter the costs.”

An enormous energy spear flew across the room, shattering into shards of blue, black, and violet light against the golden shield surrounding Celestia.

“That was the wrong answer.”

“Then so be it.”

Day had broken.

Spear after spear materialized from the aether. They all shot at Celestia in rapid succession, slamming into the barrier she had erected only moments before. Ten, twenty, thirty spears. They grew swifter every second. Fifty, sixty, seventy. Celestia closed her eyes, bowed her head, and relaxed her body. Eighty. One century of swords sent towards her.

A crack ran along her left side.

Screaming, Twilight hurled a massive bolt of energy at her mentor, trying with all her might to shatter the barrier between them.

Celestia opened her eyes.

An odd brightness lit the room. The bubble surrounding Celestia became concave, cupping the large blast that had been sent at her. With a slight spin, the whole arrangement became a ray of golden light beating back the blast.

An explosion ensued, causing both ponies to fly many feet in opposite directions. The old castle was now mostly rubble, though the remaining walls still suggested something similar to its original shape.

Celestia stood up, covered in bruises and wincing slightly.

Twilight, or the monstrosity that she had once called Twilight, did not show any signs of damage.

“You’re weak. Your fury is weak. No matter how hard you try, in the end you’ll always die.”

Celestia stumbled in the rubble.

“You’re not even a challenge anymore.” She readied an energy spear. “Sure, the first few times I was too weak to do it. I still had hope that you could help me.” Twilight stepped forward, and the bolt of energy at her side flew through the air, smashing into a golden ribbon around Celestia, shattering into shards of sunlight and the dust of night. “It was difficult at first. But once the emotion died inside, all that was left was skill and determination. Eventually, I had to win.”

Three spears appeared. One, two, three, and they shattered against three golden ribbons, each one weaker than the last.

“Heh, you get it now, don’t you? Even if you manage to kill me, this timeline will be wiped out and everything will be set back to zero. Make everyone happy, make everyone miserable. None of it matters in the end.”

A single spear.

There was no ribbon to meet it this time.

“Goodnight, Sunshine.”

A sound like popcorn spilling along the ground.

“I bet you’ve really been practicing that one, haven’t you?” bleated the source.

Twilight turned. Off to the side, sitting in a row of cinema seats, was Discord.

“Aren’t you supposed to be stuck in stone right about now?”

The cinema seats disappeared. In their place stood Discord in a laboratory coat, leaning over an instrument that spit out a long ream of paper covered in a single squiggly line.

“Look at these disturbances in the reality continuum. All these spikes in chaos. A delightful sight. But they all end in--” The machine exploded. “Nothing.” Discord wiped the soot from his face. “That’s what you’re trying to do, right? End everything.” He smiled. “Well, howevermuch you’ve amused me thusfar, I simply can’t allow that. So, I’ll stop you. And stop you again. Until you tire of trying.”

Twilight laughed.

“Even if I decide to endure another eon of the same saccharine story playing out time and time again, do you really think I won’t try this route again?”

“Eh, from one godlike immortal to another: Something’s gotta give.”

“It won’t be me.”

Twilight Sparkle absorbed the celestial soul.

Götterdämmerung was here.

The world was whipped with the winds of dusk and dawn.

“Well, that is rather terrifying.”

NOW YOU DIE.

Gray energy projectiles filled up everything and everywhere. They all came down on Discord.

He stepped to the side.

“I see you’re serious about this, then. Well, while I am actually incapable of doing the ‘serious’, I can certainly ask for a bit of back-up.”

Discord pulled out his CELLPHONE.

“Ring-ding-ding, get here as soon as you can, Darling.”

The cellphone became a life-sized statue of himself.

“You see, you were indeed correct that I was supposed to be serving as a statue in Celestia’s garden around this time. That means that there is twice as much of me to go aroud!”

The statue cracked. The two halves fell away cleanly, leaving only another Discord posing dramatically.

“Mmm, mrauh?” The second Discord scratched his back. “Did my alarm go off early? Was there an annum-savings time scheduled or something?”

“Sorry to say it, but we have a bit of a situation.”

They looked over at the world ending.

“Can it wait until later?”

“It just said the world was ending!”

“Just rewind the tape when you’re done?”

DISCORD.

“Whuahah, scary voice.” Discord jumped into Discord’s arms. “Who, what, where?”

DISCORD, I CAN GIVE YOU UNLIMITED POWER. WORK WITH ME, AND WE WILL WIN TOGETHER.

“Unlimited power, you say?” Discord rubbed his chin. “Wait, what’s the catch?”

“You, I mean, we already have unlimited power, you ninny!”

“But wouldn’t it be double unlimited power? You could break twice as many limits!”

“You’re supposed to be on my side! Your own side!”

“But twice as many limits! That’s more than the average number of limits!”

ENOUGH.

Götterdämmerung readied ‘Infinity Spear’.

“Banter later! Fighting now.”

“Oh, if you insist.” Discord wore a dress. “But I was always more of a lover than a fighter.”

“Listen, my friend... My friends are in there somewhere. Maybe if we call out to them, someone will hear it.”

“You’re friends with that thing? We have friends?”

“It’s a long story!”

The battle began.

Wherever it was they were, the upside was full of death. The downside as well. Pointed things were positioned all over the place, and they were headed straight for the duo.

Discord did a flawless pirouette atop Discord.

YOU CAN’T AVOID ME FOREVER.

“Then stop missing.”

WE’VE BEATEN YOU BEFORE.

“Oh, you know how it is. The villain will be bested in the end. And howevermuch I hate to admit it, this time... I’m not the villain.”

“Maybe I really am on the wrong side after all.”

Discord sighed. “Can we just get to the part where we scream nonsensical names at the enemy whilst chucking progressively more absurd attacks at them?”

“I call this one Bob!” Discord drew back a bow and arrow. He released the arrow, which became a blitzy bolt of chaotic energy in the air. It disappeared into the darkness. “Mm... I see your skills might surpass even mine. But can you handle Bob 2.0?” Discord did the same as before, but it couldn’t live up to the reputation of the original. “Wait, what are we even attacking? There’s nothing here.”

“This... That is a good question, actually.”

GIVE UP.

Götterdämmerung orchestrated ‘Ultra-Oblivion’.

“This is it. I’m going to have to call for help.”

“I still can’t believe I’ll become you eventually.”

Discord dialed a number on his phone.

“Wing-ping-ping, pick up please. Hey, you know that favor I owe you? Ya, well, you’re going to have to call it in today.” He hung up. “Only a mo--”

The aether around them shook. Portals popped into existence, and out of them flew, sauntered, stalked, skated, jogged, slid, and crawled a large variety of Discord.

“Let’s get this done!” shouted one holding a machine gun and having an eye patch over his left eye. “Who else is pumped?”

At the center of everything, a black hole sprouted. Its immense gravitational field started to suck in several of the Discords that had appeared.

The pull became extreme. Small sections of realtiy broke off and swirled into the growing black pit. It grew larger and stronger, until everything was filled up with blackness and light.

STILL?

Only Discord was left standing.

“Fluttershy...”

Night in your eyes will hide away the tears.

“Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack...”

Discord sighed into darkness.

“Rainbow Dash, Celestia, Luna... Everyone I care about, everyone who’s shown me so much compassion. Everyone who’s taught me how to love others, how to care about them and make friends with them...”

Discord stood up to the end.

“Twilight Sparkle...” He spread his arms wide. “If you can hear me, if we were ever friends, please, stop.”

In the darkness something was stirring.

“Come on. Come out. Let me see you one last time. We’ll hug this out like proper impossibly-overpowered entities of evil.”

Twilight Sparkle looked across the expanse of space.

“Yet no matter how much I care about you, no matter how many times I help you to become the best person you can be, none of it matters in the end. This is my last chance. This is the last corridor of the castle, and everyone’s fate rests at its end.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. But our story will not end here. I refuse to allow that.”

A polygon of lighted lines surrounded her, folding in on itself and forming a cage.

“Goodbye, Twilight.”

The world flashed, and all went white.