Return of Harmony
Present-day
In the small town of Ponyville, the son of Midnight Eclipse was sleeping soundly. He was as black as his father, but with a few striking differences: he had a blue streak in his mane and his eyes were a lightning blue. His name was Night Storm, and it's been a little more than a year since he returned to Equestria after living for sixteen years in a somewhat self-imposed exile. He was suddenly awakened by his marefriend Twilight Sparkle. "Night! Wake up! Something crazy is going on!" Twilight told him. Night quickly hopped out of bed and followed Twilight and Spike outside. Once there, he saw what she meant, cotton candy clouds were pouring out chocolate milk over Sweet Apple Acres, his friend Applejack's farm. As they arrived, the corn was turning into popcorn, the apples had grown so large that they were pulling down their trees, and the animals had some weird mutation in their legs that made them really long.
"Would someone please explain what in Tartarus is going on?" Night asked the rest of his friends, who were already there.
"All I know is that Ponyville isn't the only place affected by all of this. It seems to be happening all over Equestria," Rainbow Dash explained.
"Well, that's something," Night stated. Twilight then opened the book she brought with her.
"Don't worry everyone. I've learned a new spell that'll fix everything," Twilight told everypony. She cast the spell, but nothing happened. "My fail-safe spell… failed. What do we do?" Twilight wondered.
"Give up?" Spike offered. Twilight and Night glared at him.
"Spike, Twilight and Night will come up with something," Rarity said reassuringly as she gave her umbrella to Twilight.
"Yeah we will," confirmed Night. He then turned towards Twilight and asked, "Plan B?"
"Plan B," Twilight answered. "Can you and Rainbow coral the clouds in one place?" Night nodded and he and Rainbow got to work, forcing all the cotton candy clouds into one large clump. Applejack then threw her lasso at the clouds and pulled them down.
"Hey, what happened?" Pinkie asked, her mouth filled with chocolate milk. Twilight then whispered something to Fluttershy.
"Oh dear. I hope none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton candy clouds. I'd hate to have to share them," Fluttershy said.
"You and me both, sister," Pinkie said. All the animals were suddenly all over the corralled up clouds throwing Pinkie out of the way. "Hey!" she protested.
"And when y'all are done with that, feel free to have some popcorn for dessert," Applejack called out.
"And that's why you don't give up Spike. There is always a solution if you're willing to look for it," Night told him. Spike then let out a plume of fire and a scroll appeared. Twilight opened it and began reading.
"Come on everypony, Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately," Twilight explained.
Canterlot Castle
Thankfully, it didn't take long for the group to get to Canterlot and Celestia was waiting for them. "Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could! Is this about the weather? And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there—" Twilight asked before being interrupted.
"Follow me," Celestia said and the group followed her to a room Night hadn't seen before. "I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned. His name… is Discord. Discord is the physical embodiment of chaos and disharmony. Before Luna and I stood up to him, my father tried to seal him away. But shortly after his death, he was able to break out and returned to terrorize Equestria. So when we discovered the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone," Celestia explained.
"Alright Princess!" Rainbow commented.
"I thought the spell would contain him forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken," Celestia finished.
"What do you mean by, 'no longer connected?'" Night asked.
"You seven now wield the Elements. As a result, the magic has started to fade just enough for Discord to free himself. Now, I need you all to wield the Elements again and stop Discord before he makes Equestria his personal playground," Celestia explained.
"Princess Celestia, you can count on—" Twilight started.
"Hold it! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!" Pinkie pointed out.
"Seriously?" Night asked, not amused at the moment. Celestia then unlocks the doors where the Elements were. Inside was a chest with the Elements inside. But when Celestia opened it, it was empty.
"Oh, well. If anyone needs me, I'll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw," Pinkie said while the rest of the group were in shock. Though Night used his magic to make sure Pinkie stayed in the room.
"The Elements! They're gone!" Twilight said in shock.
"That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn't make sense!" Celestia questioned. That's when the group heard a burst of unknown laughter.
"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" a voice asked.
"Discord, I presume?" Night asked.
"Wow, somepony is using their brain. What a novel concept," Discord mocked.
"Show yourself!" Celestia demanded.
"Did you miss me, Celestia?" Discord asked. That's when the Discord in the stained glass window came to life. "I missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone," Discord said as he tapped the stained glass Fluttershy in another window.
"Enough! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?" Celestia demanded.
"Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while," Discord said. He snapped his fingers and the Element's disappeared from their window.
"You'll never get away with this, Discord!" Celestia threatened.
"Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you'd gotten since we first met. It's so boring," Discord mused.
"Hey! No pony insults the Princess!" Rainbow shouted. She then flew right at the window and Discord's picture teleported and Rainbow hit the window but not breaking it somehow. Discord then returned.
"Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash: famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent" Discord stated.
"That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!" Rainbow told him. Discord then teleported again.
"We'll see about that," Discord said.
"I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window," Rarity said.
"The beautiful Rarity: representing the element of generosity, if I'm not mistaken?" Discord said, appearing in a window closer to Rarity.
"So you know who we are, big deal," Applejack stated.
"Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack," Discord said as he made his form bigger.
"You seem to know our strengths too," Twilight pointed out.
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle, and yours is the most powerful and elusive element, magic. Fluttershy's is kindness and Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine: laughter," Discord said before disappearing again. He then reappeared where he got a good look at Night. "And then there is you, Prince Night Storm, representing the Element of Bravery. Out of all the Element wielders you alone have caught my interest," Discord stated.
"Really, may I ask why?" Night questioned.
"You are the son of my biggest adversary of course. Why wouldn't I take an interest in you? Especially with those powers of yours," Discord stated.
"Stop stalling, Discord! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?" Celestia demanded.
"Oh, you are so boring, Celestia. Fine, I'll tell you, my way," Discord answered "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began."
"What do you reckon he meant? Twists and turns and endin' back where we started?" Applejack asked. Night started to think about it, "'Twists and turns are my master plan,' probably has something to do with not making it easy for them. 'Then find the Elements back where you began,' what could that mean?"
"That's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!" Twilight shouted.
"Then good luck. Equestria is in your hooves," Celestia says.
"No pressure," Night commented. As the group approached the labyrinth, Night got a feeling that someone was watching them, probably Discord. Still, something wasn't sitting right with Night, and he needed to find out.
"W-We have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked as they arrived at the entrance.
"Nope! Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" Rainbow said, referring to her wings. "I'll just do a quick flyover and we'll have the Elements in no time." Before she got far, Rainbow's wings disappeared, followed by Fluttershy's wings, then Twilight and Rarity's horns. Night then felt his own wings and horn disappear, but that wasn't the worst part. His body felt different, not physically, but mentally. He tried to summon lightning, but nothing happened. Discord somehow severed his connection. Discord then appeared laughing at them.
"You–You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!" he stated as he burst into another fit of laughing.
"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight demanded.
"And my powers!" Night added.
"Oh, you'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: no flying, and no magic," Discord explained.
"The first rule?" Rainbow questioned.
"The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over, and I win. Good luck, everypony!" Discord finished, laughing as he teleported away.
"I'm starting to see why my father banished him," Night commented.
"At least we have each other!" Twilight pointed out.
"Yeah! Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!" Rainbow added.
"Then let's do this!" Twilight said.
"Together!" The group said in sync. That's when the labyrinth forced walls out of the ground, separating the group.
"Stay calm everypony! Head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!" Twilight called out.
"Moving out!" Rainbow shouted.
"See you in the center," Rarity responded.
"Yee-haw!" Applejack hollered.
"See you guys there!" Pinkie called out.
"On my way! And Twilight, be careful, I'd hate to expand your tab to me!" Night called out.
"Hilarious!" Twilight shouted sarcastically. Night then started moving, and the maze seemed to be doing everything possible to make things difficult for him. Long passageways that were dead ends, sections disappearing and reappearing later, this had to be Discord's work. He was leading Night somewhere, and he didn't like it. He rounded a corner and saw something whiz past him. Looking, he saw a sword and shield, leaving a trail of lightning. Night looked at his flank were the sword and shield sat with two lightning bolts forming a 'V' shape sat. That could be the Element, but that uneasy feeling returned. He followed the objects carefully, checking his surroundings for traps or ambushes. He then found himself in an opening in the maze.
"Alright Discord, what's your game?" Night called out.
"I don't know what you're referring to," Discord said as the objects disappeared and Discord appeared in their place. "I'm simply watching the show unfold."
"Yeah, something tells me that isn't how you roll," Night stated.
"Really? You know, you're right on one thing: I do have a plan for all this," Discord admitted.
"But you're too smart to just spill all the beans. That wouldn't be fun at all," Night pointed out.
"Two things right, congratulations!" Discord shouted, spawning in a mini party before it all disappeared. "Now, in all seriousness, I wish to show you something." Discord then opened a vortex and Night, out of curiosity, looked inside. Night's eyes widened as he saw Earth, but during his time on it.
"What is the meaning of this?" Night asked angrily.
"It's like I said, you interest me. It took a bit but I was able to look into your life on that planet. And I must say, I noticed a pattern with you," Discord told him.
"What pattern?" Night asked.
"That when things got too hard for you, you run away from it. You were always fast, so it made it easier for you to run away from all your problems. Even when your mother died you ran away. Back to here. It must be so humiliating: the wielder of the Element of Bravery is a complete and utter coward. So why don't you run away from this problem? This is clearly out of your league," Discord said.
"Get out of my head!" Night shouted and tried to attack Discord but he teleported behind him.
"What's wrong? I'm just telling the truth, or maybe you don't want your little love interest Twilight Sparkle to see just how cowardly you really are," Discord responded.
"You leave her out of this!" Night screamed, trying to attack Discord again.
"Maybe it's time you accepted the truth for yourself. That you really are a coward," Discord said, some weird spiral appearing in his eyes.
Twilight's POV
Twilight wished she knew what was happening. Applejack seemed to be lying, Pinkie Pie wasn't smiling at all, Rarity was acting greedy and carrying a huge boulder thinking it was a diamond, and Fluttershy was being cruel to everypony. "What was going on?" Twilight wondered. A part of the maze suddenly opened up and Twilight saw Night. "Night! Thank goodness, this maze seems to be driving everypony crazy" Twilight called out to him. Night, for some reason, didn't respond. Twilight tapped him on the shoulder and he leaped into the air.
"T-Twilight? Don't scare me like that," Night muttered.
"Night? What happened?" Twilight asked.
"Nothinghappenedabsolutlynothingcanwegohomenow?" Night asked in a rush. Fluttershy then hit Night and he jumped again before hiding behind Twilight.
"Now Night is scared of everything. What happened to him?" Twilight's mind questioned. They continued moving through the maze with Night sticking close to Twilight with his head down. "Don't worry. Once we find Rainbow Dash we can fix all of this," Twilight told him. Night muttered something Twilight didn't catch, but before she could ask about it, Applejack started talking.
"Well, looky there. Rainbow Dash is flying away. She's abandonin' us," she said.
"Now I know that's a lie," Twilight responded. But when she looked up, she saw a Rainbow doing the exact thing Applejack said she was doing. "How can that be?" Twilight asked nopony. The labyrinth suddenly collapsed around them and Discord was there.
"Well, well, well. Somepony broke the "no wings; no magic" rule," Discord said. He snapped his fingers and the wings and horns returned. "Game's over, my little ponies. You didn't find your precious elements. Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos," Discord finished as he started laughing hysterically.
That's Part 1 done, now on to—
Discord: Oh no you don't.
What the?
Discord: You don't get to end everything off there. Think of the readers. They don't want to wait for you to get off your lazy butt and finish this.
How are you even here?
Discord: I'm the Lord of Chaos, what did you think was going to happen? Now finish the story! In this chapter!
Alright, alright. Don't be a back seat writer.
"And what are you laughing at!?" Pinkie demanded.
"Oh, you ponies are just the most fun I've had in eons," Discord explained.
"Well, quit it! You'd better think before you laugh at the Pink...ie Pie!" Pinkie yelled, but Discord wasn't taking her seriously.
"Oh, yeah? Well ha, ha," Fluttershy said. She and Pinkie went back and forth while Rarity started attacking Applejack after she said something about "splitting her 'diamond.'"
"Girls, why are you all acting like this? We need to stick together," Twilight protested. She then heard Discord laughing and saw him on a couch eating popcorn.
"It's just too entertaining," he said between bites.
"Stop it, Discord. You're not playing fair," Twilight told him.
"I'm not playing fair? Perhaps we haven't met. I'm Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Hello?" Discord stated.
"How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, wait, did you...?" Discord started and he started laughing. "How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?" There was a flash of light and Twilight found herself back when Discord gave his riddle. "Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began." She was then brought back to where she was. "I never said they were in the labyrinth," Discord explained. Twilight was really confused as Discord continued. "Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. Maybe the magic of friendship can help you," he mocked. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some chaos to wreak." Discord then teleported and cotton candy clouds appeared and poured chocolate milk.
"Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk!" Pinkie shouted.
"Think, Twilight, think! 'Find the Elements back where you began.' Back where you began," Twilight thought out loud. Her friends started arguing again and she felt Night tap her on the shoulder.
"H-Hey Twilight? D-Do you t-think there's a chance we could go home?" Night asked with clear fear in his voice. Before Twilight could answer, something clicked in her mind.
"Home! Night you're a genius," Twilight told him.
"I-I am?" Night questioned.
"Yes! The Elements must be in Ponyville! Come on everypony! I've got a book that will lead us right to the elements!" Twilight called out. As she was walking with the girls falling behind and Night right beside her, a stampede of the long-legged bunnies ran over her.
"Are you okay?" Night asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, Night," Twilight answered. Everything suddenly got dark.
"Wow, I can see so much better now," Applejack said sarcastically. Twilight then heard a few things hit each other. "I meant to do that." Twilight tried to stand up but she slipped and fell. The light returned and Twilight saw why.
"Discord's turned are dirt roads into soap," Twilight realized. Discord then came skating in.
"Beautiful, isn't it? This is the new and improved Ponyville, and these are only my first of changes," Discord stated, referring to Ponyville, which was completely chaotic.
"This may look like fun, but it's not," Pinkie said as she skated past Twilight. Twilight groaned as Discord picked her up.
"Picture it: the chaos capital of the world," Discord told her as it instantly became dark again.
"I can't picture anything. It's too dark," Twilight remarked. Discord responded by dropping her.
"Well, wait a few minutes and you'll see it in the beautiful light of day. Or not," Discord said as he disappeared.
"Ponyville, the chaos capital of the world? Not if I have anything to say about it," Twilight said.
"Don't worry, you won't," Fluttershy's voice said as she went past her. As the group reached the Golden Oak Library the sun came back up.
"Okay, we're here. Everyone please, please, please just go inside, please?" Twilight begged. Night wasted no time and sprinted inside.
"I absolutely refuse," Applejack said as she walked in.
"With pleasure," Fluttershy said as she stopped on one of the bushes near the entrance.
"I hate libraries!" Pinkie proclaimed as she went inside. Twilight noticed Rarity was struggling to move her boulder and she tried to get her inside.
"Forget it, Twilight. I know what you're up to. The second I go in, you'll have your little minion Spike come and take Tom!" Rarity protested.
"'Tom?'" Twilight asked.
"Well it's not going to work," Rarity said, and now Twilight noticed that Rarity and the rest of her friends were grayer.
"You're not going in without him, are you?" Twilight asked. Rarity shook her head and Twilight picked up the boulder and plowed it through the wall.
"Careful, Twilight! You'll ruin his beautiful finish," Rarity told her, referring to her boulder.
"Oh for the love of…" Twilight started as Spike ran up to her.
"Twilight, what's going on? Why does everybody look so… gray? Spike asked.
"Don't ask. I need you to help me find something," Twilight responded.
"Hey, Twilight, what's soaking wet and clueless?" Fluttershy asked.
"Fluttershy, I've had just about enough—" Twilight started when a bucket of cold water was poured on her.
"Your face!" Fluttershy answered as she slammed the bucket on Twilight's head.
"What's happened to everypony?" Spike asked worriedly.
"I guess you just bring out the worst in us, Spike," Applejack stated.
"No time to explain. We've got to find the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she'll regret!" Twilight said, mainly referring to everypony but Night, who was hiding somewhere.
"The Elements of Harmony? Oh, I know exactly where that book is. Found it!" Spike said as he held it out. Fluttershy through a scroll at him and grabbed the book.
"Fluttershy, you'd better give me that book!" Twilight demanded, unable to keep the anger out of her voice.
"Keep away" Fluttershy sang as she threw the book to Applejack. The book then kept trading hooves and a full out brawl started. Twilight then saw the book by Night, who must have come out of hiding and was looking like he regretted that decision.
"Night, grab the book!" Twilight called out. Big mistake, as now Fluttershy was charging right at him and Night panicked. Lightning started going everywhere, electrocuting Fluttershy and forcing the others to take cover. Twilight, however, braved the storm and touched Night on the shoulder. He calmed down and the lightning stopped. Seizing her opportunity, Twilight grabbed the book as Spike stood guard. Twilight opened the book and was in shock. "The Elements! They were here all along!" she said with excitement.
"This is great! Now you guys can defeat Discord and put everything back to normal!" Spike continued. Twilight looked at her friends and saw their expressions.
"You don't even care, do you?" Twilight asked.
"No!" everypony but Night responded.
"I care, but I-I-I don't think they will work," Night stated.
"Well, I'm glad somepony thinks this is important," Twilight stated. Twilight then gave the ponies their necklaces and put her tiara and Night's crown on. "Let's go!"
"But Twilight, aren't you missing somepony?" Spike asked.
"Nope. We've got the liar, the grump, the hoarder, the brute, and Night. That just about covers it," Twilight answered.
"But what about Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked.
"Congratulations, Spike, you're the new Rainbow Dash. Now let's go!" Twilight shouted as she put Rainbow's necklace on Spike.
"Me? B-b-but what if she finds out I've been impersonating her? That won't end well," Spike realized.
"Too bad, you're Rainbow Dash. Now let's go defeat Discord so I don't ever have to talk to you girls again!" Twilight shouted. Everypony but Rarity shouted in excitement as they followed Twilight out while Night was sticking close to her. Twilight turned and noticed Rarity was trying to drag 'Tom' with her. "Move!" Twilight shouted at her. Twilight then used her magic and sent 'Tom' out the window.
"Well, well, well, I see you've found the Elements of Harmony. How terrifying!" Discord mocked.
"Discord! I've figured out your lame riddle. You're in for it now!" Twilight threatened.
"I certainly am. You've clearly out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate. I'm prepared to be defeated now, ladies. Fire when ready," Discord said, not taking them seriously and putting a target on himself.
"Formation, now!" Twilight shouted. Night complied, but the others groaned. "'Rainbow Dash', get over here!" Twilight activated the Elements and they seemed to work, but suddenly stopped. "What's going on?" Twilight asked.
"Mine's workin'. There must be somethin' wrong with yours," Applejack blamed.
"I HATE the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie shouted.
"Garbage…" Fluttershy muttered as she threw her Element. Rarity immediately pounced on it and ran off.
"Sorry, Twilight. I guess I'd better get back upstairs and clean up the library. Good luck with all this—" Spike started as Fluttershy tripped him.
"Oops, sorry, Rainbow Crash," Fluttershy mocked.
"Bravo, ponies, bravo! Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools," Discord stated as he clapped. Twilight growled at him as he skated away.
"It's your fault it didn't work," Pinkie shouted after him.
"Who are you talking to?" Twilight asked her.
"Any of you! ALL OF YOU! I'm outta here!" Pinkie declared as she left.
"I better go, too. I've got new better friends waiting for me at the farm," Applejack stated as she left too and Rarity started dragging her boulder away.
"Yeah! I'm sick of you losers," Fluttershy stated.
"FINE! Leave! See if I care! I don't need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs… enemies…?" Twilight realized. She looked and noticed Night was still standing by her. "Why don't you leave Night?" Twilight asked, the emotion gone from her voice.
"I-I don't know what I'd do without you," Night stammered. Twilight shrugged and started walking around, her head to the ground. She felt something poor down on her, but she didn't care. Twilight then heard Discord laughing.
"Oh, my stomach! Twilight, Night, you've got to see what I just did," Discord's voice said, Twilight couldn't see him as her eyes were closed and she was looking at the ground. Discord started laughing again. "It's priceless!" he wheezed. "Come now, Twilight Sparkle. You've got to get into the spirit of things! After all, this is your new home" Discord stated, Twilight finally opening her eyes. She looked around and said two words.
"Not anymore." Twilight then headed to the library and to her room.
"Night, Spike, pack your things. Don't ask where we're going, 'cause I don't know yet. Just not here," Twilight told them, throwing her Element in the trash.
"Can't...move. The princess...has been sending these...since I came back upstairs," Spike said and Twilight noticed the large pile of scrolls as Spike belched out another one. "Make it stop!" he pleaded. Twilight grabbed one with her magic and started reading and realized what she had.
"These are all the letters I've written to the princess since I've lived in Ponyville. But why would she send them back?" Twilight wondered. As she read, all these memories slowly started coming back. That's when it all clicked together. "Spike! Night! It's all so clear! Can't you see? Discord's trying to distract us from what's important. He knows how powerful our friendships are, and he's trying to keep us from seeing it. Do you remember what I said the first day we arrived in Ponyville? I told you that the future of Equestria didn't rest on me making friends. But the opposite is true! The friendships I've made since I've been here are what saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon. And now they need to save it from Discord! Starting with getting you, Night, back to normal," Twilight said excitedly. Night looked at her skeptically as Spike groaned.
"W-What do you mean?" Night asked worriedly. Twilight responded by kissing Night on the lips and performing a memory spell. Night's usual coloring returned and he shook his head.
Night's POV
Night opened his eyes and found himself in the Golden Oak Library and Twilight in front of him smiling. "Twilight? What just…" Night wondered when he remembered. "Discord," he said scornfully. Twilight then wrapped her hooves around him.
"Thank goodness you're back," Twilight said. "Now to get everypony else back."
"Twilight, wait. Look, about how I was acting earlier…" Night started.
"Don't apologize Night, that wasn't you," Twilight stated.
"Yes, it was. While I was in the labyrinth, Discord reminded me of just how much of a coward I am. And since I arrived here, I've thought that if I put on this brave face, then maybe I could just be that way. I'm sorry I never told you sooner, I thought that you wouldn't love a coward," Night finished.
"You're wrong," Twilight responded. Night looked at her surprised. "You think I fell in love with you just because you were brave? No, I fell for you because I saw the real you, behind that courageous persona. And you are brave, it just took some confidence for you to show that you stupid colt," Twilight finished.
"So, you're not mad?" Night asked.
"Why would I be mad? I'm just glad you finally admitted what was going on in that thick skull of yours," Twilight answered. She then kissed Night again and he kissed back, till Spike ruined the moment by shooting a plume of fire at them by mistake.
"Sorry, but can you two save it till after you beat Discord?" Spike wondered.
"You're right Spike," Twilight said as she levitated her Element out of the trash. "Now, let's get our friends back." Night nodded and the two headed to Sweet Apple Acres. "Applejack, I'm here to fight for our friendship," Twilight told her.
"Oh, now you want to fight. Where were you when I was battlin' Discord?" Applejack asked as she fought an imaginary foe. Twilight and Night both tackled her to the ground.
"Snap out of it. This isn't you! You're not a liar," Twilight told her as she performed the memory spell on Applejack. Her orange coloring returned and she shook her head.
"Wh-what happened? Twilight! Night! I saw a vision of us feudin' and fightin'. I couldn't face the truth, so I started tellin' lies. Can you ever forgive me?" Applejack asked.
"Would we be here if we didn't?" Night asked. Applejack smiled and the three headed to Fluttershy's. It took a bit, but after some fighting and a blast of lightning, they were able to restrain Fluttershy and restore her memory.
"Oh no! Twilight, Night, Applejack, I just had the worst dream!" Fluttershy told them. Rarity was easy to get, just approach 'Tom' and use the memory spell and boom. Rarity was back to normal as well.
"Let us never speak of this again," Rarity said after she pushed the boulder out of her house. Night shared a look with Applejack and Twilight glared at the two. A little while later, they had Pinkie in a cart laughing hysterically at what happened to her. The group approached Rainbow's house and Night and Fluttershy flew up to restore her memory but found the home empty.
"She's not here!" Night called out.
"Without Rainbow Dash, we can't use the Elements," Twilight stated.
"She could be anywhere by now! We're never gonna find her," Applejack worried.
"Yeah, we will, 'cause she's right there!" Pinkie told the group, pointing at a small cloud that Rainbow was napping on.
"How did we miss that?" Night wondered to himself.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out.
"Hey, guys!" Rainbow responded.
"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Twilight told her.
"That's nice," Rainbow said.
"Discord's still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat him with your element, Loyalty!" Twilight explained.
"Pfft. Loyalty, schmoyalty! Have you guys seen Ponyville? It's a disaster! I'm staying here in Cloudsdale where everything's awesome," Rainbow replied.
"How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?" Rarity wondered.
"The same way he got you to think that cheap rock was a bona fide diamond," Applejack responded.
"Need some water for that burn?" Night asked her.
"Both of you, quit it," Twilight told them. "Night, you're up."
"Give me a few moments. I'll try to make this quick," Night told the group and flew up to Rainbow. Night then charged up a Lightning Beam but Rainbow saw him before he could fire and flew off as fast as she could with the cloud. Night Lightning Traveled and managed to get under the cloud Rainbow was dragging along. Night fired, destroying the cloud and stunning Rainbow. Night took his chance and grabbed her and used the memory spell. Rainbow's color returned and she stopped resisting. Night set her on the ground as his friends caught up.
"Nice work," Twilight responded. Rainbow then regained consciousness.
"Wh-what happened? How's Ponyville? Where are the Elements?! Did we stop Discord?" Rainbow asked. A group hug then ensued as a trio of buffalo wearing ballerina clothing went by them.
"Well that's a thing," Night said.
"I think it's a little early for a group hug," Twilight continued. The group then headed to Discord, wearing their Elements. Discord was sitting on a throne and holding a cup of chocolate milk.
"Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing," he said.
"Not as wonderful as friendship," Twilight responded. Discord turned to face them and looked uninterested.
"Oh, this again?" Discord questioned as he drank the glass itself and threw the milk behind him, causing an explosion.
That's right. You couldn't break apart our friendship for long," Applejack responded.
"Oh, Applejack. Don't lie to me. I'm the one who made you a liar," Discord said as he pulled the Elements and their wielders, minus Night and Twilight, and held them in place in front of him. "Will you ever learn?" Night looked at Twilight and she nodded. The two teleporting into the center of their friend circle and putting up a shield. The two brought them to the ground and faced Discord.
"I'll tell you what we've learned, Discord: we've learned that friendship isn't always easy, but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!" Twilight told him.
"Ugh, gag. Fine, go ahead. Try and use your little Elements. Friend me. Just make it quick. I'm missing some excellent chaos here," Discord told them.
"Alright everypony, let's show them what friendship can do!" Twilight told the group.
"Wait-wait-wait!" Pinkie called out as she had her mouth open over a cotton candy cloud, drinking the chocolate milk. Night wasn't amused, but Pinkie hopped back into a battle stance shortly after. The Elements activated and started working. As the rainbow flew toward Discord, Night could make out his cries of protest as he was turned to stone. When the light cleared, Night took a look around and noticed that everything was back to normal. A crash and Night saw the Discord statue.
"Now that's a mug shot," Night commented, noting Discord's stance.
Canterlot
Celestia had all but insisted on a fanfare after Discord's defeat. Night tried to protest, but Celestia wouldn't listen. Night went through with it, but he certainly didn't enjoy it. Afterward, Twilight had pulled him aside. "So, that was an inconvenience," Twilight pointed out.
"Stopped a bad guy, so it wasn't all that bad. Definitely had other plans though," Night responded.
"So, I think we could cut down my tab to you by one," Twilight told him.
"Oh? And what gave you that impression?" Night asked.
"I did bring your memory back," Twilight pointed out.
"No. That doesn't count. You weren't actually saving me, you were just getting my mind back in order," Night responded.
"It does count and you—" Twilight started but Night cut her off with a kiss. "Fine, but I'll get you back, creatively," Twilight told him when they broke apart.
"We'll see," Night responded.
Now it's done, happy Discord? Oh wait, you're in stone again. Sucker!
Discord: Am I?
Oh, you've got to be fraking me right now.
Discord: I'm not so easily beaten. And I will return.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to do some pest control. *Pulls out Plot Shotgun and cocks it*