It was the middle of the night in the Canterlot. The bell in the castle struck a dozen times. Most of the city was sleeping. There was nobody near the sculpture garden. The only sound was the leaves in the hedge maze in the center of the hill as they fluttered lightly in the cool breeze. Stone figures, all cold and dead, sat silent around the hedges under the moonlight and the thousands of stars in the dark blue nighttime sky.

A mare shrouded in a dark cloak was carefully walking up the hill and took her time examining the garden. After checking to make sure she was alone, she walked all around the garden, looking for a particular statue. It didn't take long for her to find it, the Draconequus who had recently turned back into stone had returned to his usual place in the garden.

The mare looked around a second time to ensure she was by herself. A large glimmering gem sat on her outstretched hoof held in front of the statue. It was releasing multicolored particles that whizzed around the statue. A tiny fissure appeared in the stone. And then another, and then the cracks grew wider and wider. In just a few seconds, the statue burst apart and the Draconequus was released from his stony prison.

"Oh, wow! I'm out again!" He took a moment to stretch. "That's feels good."

"Keep your voice low..." the mare instructed.

"Wait... who are you? And how did you free me?"

The mare lowered her hood to reveal a lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle.

"But... how could you reverse the princess's spell?"

"With this..." Twilight grinned, holding up the shimmering gem.

"Hold on a second, I think I remember hearing that conversation. Didn't she destroy it?"

"Aha! What you failed to see was the old switcheroo. Remember when we were running from the snortles? Well I didn't trust you when I saw you gazing at that box, so I replaced it with a worthless one I found on the way out. I kept the real one in the old tent most of the time."

"Twilight! You're a genius."

"And when we were in the royal library, I found a book on the history of the Draconequus which I hid to take home. After that party, I read all about the war of your species with the ponies. And I found out lots of information about the chaos crystal. It was created by the ponies to contain the chaos energy and keep your people extinct."

"And so the chaos energy is what released me? That's brilliant! Do you have any idea how powerful that could be? That could bring my species back!"

"Consider it my gift to you," she said, "My gift to a great friend."

"Um... are you sure you trust me with this?"

"No. Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I trust you. That's why I took certain precautions. The gem is locked."

"What? You can't lock it."

"Well I did. You won't be able to bring your people back."

Discord held the amazing gem in his hands and paused. "I... don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"But... when I leave, we may never see each other again."

"And I will return to my normal life and become the Element of Magic again. But you never know, I may just see you again."

He smiled. "So you aren't angry with Celestia anymore?"

"Not really, I think she was only trying her best to protect Equestria. I mean, it's not like you've proven yourself trustworthy in the past. She had to assume you were dangerous."

"You have a point." he admitted. "Still, I'll keep in touch with you if I can."

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

"And just one more thing. Please have a good life, Twilight. Can you do that for me."

"I will." she promised. And using her magic she placed an identical statue of Discord where he had been standing a minute earlier. It would be enough to fool everypony for now. "It's time to go."

He rose into the air and soared away with the hope gleaming in his eyes that Twilight had always loved to see. He disappeared among the stars in the distance, flying away to a better land where he could be happy. Twilight fought hard to hold back tears. Eventually she was once again alone in the garden with nothing left but the memories of the times they had had together.

She stared at the place where he had vanished and whispered quietly. "Take care, my friend."