Comet then turned his attention to the sky, still thinking about how the destinies of all the ponies on his mind would meet here…
"I've made up my mind…" he said solemnly. "I'm going to make the same sacrifice you made. Back then, it should've been me, not you…"
Comet proceeded to enter a meditative state, sitting down with his back legs crossed and putting his front hooves together. After spending some time in this state, he was able to feel the same anger, jealousy, and hate he could feel in the dream he had the night before and soon discovered the source of it.
"So these negative emotions are coming from the darkness of the Forgotten Comet…and vengeful souls inside it…" he told himself in realization. "I can feel that there's one soul that's long forgotten its identity brimming with far more animosity than all the others though residing at the comet's core…and one with a sense of identity possessing far less…could that be him?"
As Comet focused his attention on the soul he felt the least hate radiating from, words from the universe echoed through his mind…
"You will save them all…darkness is what drives them to you…because while they're only subconsciously aware of it, they know you can even save the first victim of the darkness, holding the potential to learn to strike with the force and speed of a comet. You should expect the unexpected though…and know that the first victim…he and the village leader are just like you and him."
Upon hearing these words, Comet became ever more motivated to stop the Forgotten Comet and began charging magic in his horn…
"Two days from now…" he said in thought with great determination. "I can tell from the aura of the comet and the rate at which it's intensifying that it will come towards where I am and be within striking range of my magic in two days…"
Comet was ready to enact what he had been planning. He'd use the fusion spell, then make his move before the fusion was fully complete. He had thought long and hard about what he needed to do differently from the Auroricorns who had stopped the comet before him and eventually came to the conclusion that the answer lied in the stars, thus why he had drawn sketches of them on his notes. An Auroricorn's magic grew more powerful when coming into contact with a star that was once a pony. Whether or not his lost relative's theories were true, there was at least one soul inside the comet that could become a star…and since that soul was the soul of his lost relative, the two could combine their magic to recreate the comet into something that would never return to cause destruction again…
"This is it…" Comet thought to himself confidently. "In two days, I promise you, my flesh and blood…this is where you will be reborn!"
However, unbeknownst to Comet when he had made that vow, his relative would be reborn sooner than that, shortly before meeting his friends...
While he did know that the universe intended to bring Izzy here and that his destiny was intertwined with the destinies of his friends, he had no way of knowing exactly how things would play out. He believed the way their destinies would be intertwined was through his memory living on through the elements and his reborn relative, believing the power of the elements could transcend the power of the terrible effect of the spell he planned to use to stop the Forgotten Comet, the effective erasure of one's existence. He'd hoped that Izzy and her friends would simply come to the abandoned amusement park, discover what the universe had brought Izzy and, in turn, her friends there for, and leave. What would transpire though would be much different…
The next morning, at the Crystal Brighthouse, Izzy began experiencing creative block, believing the cause of said creative block to be "the Blockwockys". The actual cause of her creative block was a side effect of Comet's memory loss magic, but being unaware of that, she used the Nova Charm to go on her journey across Equestria seeking a cure to what she believed was the cause.
Eventually, she found herself at the abandoned amusement park, where the Nova Charm split into six pieces that were placed in six slots around the park's attractions. After its magic transformed the place into the Boardtrot. Izzy's friends joined her at the Boardtrot just before the Nova Charm broke apart, a reaction to the magic of her and her friends' cutie marks. Something purple then glowed in the sky… Once this had happened, Comet felt the energy around him shift…
"Huh?" he reacted in surprise in thought. "What's going on? This magical energy…it reminds me of…the energy I felt in my dream…are all my friends at that amusement park?"
After some time had passed, Comet felt the Forgotten Comet's energy shift too…
"Something's off…" he said with concern in his mind. "It doesn't feel like the comet is heading towards me anymore…from what I feel, it's changing course…moving faster…heading towards the source of that magical energy…OH. NO."
All at once, Comet realized what was going on and became more scared than he had ever been in his life…
"THE FORGOTTEN COMET IS GOING TO DESTROY MY FRIENDS!" he cried in terror in his mind. "I WON'T BE ABLE TO HIT IT FROM HERE WITH MY MAGIC NOW THAT IT'S CHANGED ITS PATH AND IS HEADING TOWARDS THEM AT THAT SPEED! I HAVE TO TELEPORT TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK AND GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"
Without wasting a moment, Comet cast a spell to teleport himself to the Boardtrot, appearing right at the entrance of the place. He saw his friends coming close to the entrance, ready to leave after they were finished having their fun with the Boardtrot's attractions, fun that included singing a song at a karaoke place. They were smiling and laughing before they saw the aghast Comet and immediately became concerned for him, especially Izzy.
"Comet?!" Izzy exclaimed in surprise. "What's going on?! You look like you've seen a ghost! Did one chase you here or something?!"
"THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!" he called out to them frantically. "YOU'RE ALL IN GRAVE DANGER! YOU CAN'T OUTRUN WHAT'S COMING FOR YOU, IT'S TARGETING YOU BECAUSE OF YOUR NEW MAGIC! GET THE NOVA CHARM AND USE IT TO TELEPORT BACK TO THE BRIGHTHOUSE, NOW!"
"We can't!" Izzy explained. "The Nova Charm split itself into pieces after it came into contact with our cutie mark magic!"
"WHAT?!" Comet screamed, more panicked than ever now as he looked around to see confirmation that what Izzy was saying was true, seeing the pieces of the Nova Charm in the slots they were placed in.
"NNNOOO!" he cried in his mind. "MY TELEPORTATION SPELL ONLY HAS THE POWER TO TELEPORT THE USER!"
"HOLY STARS IN THE SKY, THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!" he shouted to the sky. "THE COMET THAT TOOK MY FAMILY FROM ME IS COMING HERE RIGHT NOW! AND EVEN IF I STOP IT WITH MY MAGIC, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DIE HERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOU! HOW DID THE UNIVERSE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?!"
"COMET, CHILL OUT!" Sunny yelled, stomping her forelegs on the ground and transforming into an alicorn, her desire to help her friend triggering said transformation. "SHOW US WHERE THAT COMET IS AND WE'LL STOP IT TOGETHER!"
"It's not that easy!" Comet retorted, still in a frightened state, but feeling slightly calmer in the presence of the alicorn that represented the element of hope, her magic slightly soothing him. "This comet has been the scourge to my kind for ages! We can't just…"
Comet paused in mid-sentence after the mild assuaging of his anxiety from Sunny's hope magic allowed him to see that the cutie marks of his friends were glowing, reacting to the pieces of the Nova Charm. He then looked into Izzy's eyes and saw that she was sad to see him unable to trust her and her friends in such turmoil, her eyes able to tell how all the chaos was affecting his luminescence…
"Comet…" she told him somberly. "I know this is hard for you, but you have to believe in us. You know that the Nova Charm split into six pieces for a reason. I can feel the magic coming from the pieces of the Nova Charm…I know that combined with the power of our friendship and the power of your Auroricorn magic, we'll get through this without any pony having to die. This has to be what the universe wants, I know it!"
"Guh…" Comet could only grunt in response to that and place his front hooves on his face, his anxiety rising again as his mind became conflicted on what to believe and do.
"Universe, please…" he begged in his mind. "Please, tell me what the right thing to do is! Is Izzy right or wrong?"
"Comet, I can not tell you that." the universe replied in his mind. "I told you that there are certain things I can not divulge, and in this case, if I were to tell you what you needed to do here, that would be going against your free will. You need to trust your friends because you want to, not because I told you to. Part of what gives the magic of friendship power is faith, and faith doesn't come from being straight up told what's right and wrong and what actions you need to take."
"Then just tell me what you can tell me!" Comet cried in desperation in thought. "ANYTHING!"
"Very well then." the universe answered his plea. "Even though the Nova Charm is in pieces now, it still has the power to teleport ponies. It just needs a spark of magic. I'm sure you can figure out what you could do from there…but just know that you're being tested…"
Comet's eyes widened in shock after hearing that. He was immediately able to discern what the universe meant by that. This was a test to see if he would choose to take a bigger risk and have faith in his friends to help him end the cycle without having to lose his life or stick with his original plan that he was more confident in despite it assuring he would die…
Eventually, Comet breathed a sigh. He didn't want to doubt his friends, but he could never allow them to be in this kind of danger no matter how much they wanted to help. The choice was clear…
"I'm sorry, Izzy…" he apologized as he begrudgingly prepared a memory loss spell, magic charging up in his horn. "I'm sorry, all of you…but I'm doing this for your own good."
"COMET, NO!" his friends all cried their plea, but it was too late.
Their memories of what had happened when Comet arrived at the Boardtrot were erased and as they shook their heads with their eyes closed as a reaction to being affected by the spell, Comet cast another spell in succession. As they regained their composure, the first thing they felt was their cutie marks glowing brighter than ever. This was a result of the second spell Comet had cast, a simple light-enhancing spell that he used to get a reaction from the pieces of the Nova Charm.
"Universe, I've made up my mind." he said in thought. "Take my friends back to the Crystal Brighthouse."
"What's going on here?!" his friends exclaimed as they looked around the Boardtrot and then at Comet in complete confusion. "Comet?! Why are you…"
His friends didn't get to finish what they were about to ask, as they were abruptly teleported to the Brighthouse, leaving only Comet there to lower his head, displeased with himself.
"I'm such a bad friend…" he told himself in shame. "But don't worry, guys…he'll be a good replacement for me…"
Upon saying that, he turned to the Forgotten Comet in the sky that was getting ever closer to him, now targeting him. He glared at it with a serious expression on his face as he began preparing the spell that all the Auroricorns who had stopped the comet before him had used on it…
"IT'S NOW OR NEVER!" he declared in indignation as an immense amount of magical energy poured out from not just his horn, but his entire body. "TIME TO RID THE WORLD OF YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
He then fired his magic at the comet, entirely covering it with his magical energy and stopping it from moving. Sweating profusely and panting from how much of a toll using magic of this caliber was taking on him, he was tempted to stop and take a breather, a temptation he fought against with all his might.
"The comet can't be stopped…" he told himself wearily in thought while huffing and puffing. "…until it's been fully recreated. I have to merge with it now…"
He then levitated himself into the air and brought himself towards the comet, ready to begin the process of fusing with it…
"It's time for us to finally meet…" he said solemnly. "LET US UNITE OUR MAGIC AND END ALL THIS!"
"As you wish…" the soul of Comet's relative replied in an equally serious tone. "Just know that we will not be ending everything for good right now…for you made a grave mistake by not trusting your friends…"
"Huh?!" Comet exclaimed in shock. "What do you me-"
Comet paused in mid-sentence as his mind became inundated with all sorts of thoughts as a result of merging with the Forgotten Comet. His relative would then proceed to tell him something that had him feeling overwhelmed with regret…
"NO." Comet uttered that single word as the purple stone embedded in the star-shaped accessory attached to his horn fell to the ground. "I felt it when I saw the stars…and yet I didn't realize…I was supposed to shine as the seventh…AAAGGGHHH!"
After that cry of defiance, Comet lamented his folly. After falling silent for some time, he accepted his fate and told his relative remorsefully…
"I could never apologize enough. Go now. It's up to you now to accomplish what I could not, including being a better friend to them than I ever was…"
"…Comet…" his relative replied sympathetically. "I couldn't have a better friend than you. Don't speak like this is the end for you. There is still something we must do together…"
Soon, with a bright flash of light, the Forgotten Comet was gone. On the ground, a blue Auroricorn stood, giving the sky a crestfallen look…
Things had gone much differently from how Comet had expected. The increase in his drive to help his lost relative from his confidence in his theories being true increasing had caused the Forgotten Comet to arrive sooner. What he didn't realize, the creation of a new force of light magic, may have also caused the comet to arrive sooner than he had anticipated by strengthening and attracting its dark magic as a result of a principle of Yin and Yang. However, it had also prevented his existence from being effectively erased as part of the spell used to stop the comet. Just as he had hoped, he existed on a new level now, not losing his identity with a new link being established with the universe and his friends that would make him impossible to forget…
…a link with the elements…
Meanwhile, after Comet's friends had been teleported to the part of the Crystal Brighthouse where the Unity Crystals were, they began shaking their heads and rubbing their front hooves against them in confusion. While the memory erasure from the spell used to stop the comet had not taken effect, the effect of the memory loss spell Comet used on them before still remained.
"He did it again…" Zipp said in annoyance. "I can't remember anything before he teleported us here…except…"
"The jewels…" Hitch interjected, having the same realization as Zipp. "Our cutie marks were glowing just like they were when Izzy brought the Nova Charm into the kitchen yesterday and when the Nova Charm split apart…meaning that the magic of the Nova Charm is still active, even as it's in pieces…"
It was then that Sunny could feel a strange energy pulsating from the Unity Crystals. Briefly, a purple light began to shine within them…
"Something's definitely amiss here…" Sunny said in a concerned tone of voice. "The magic from the Unity Crystals…I feel like it's evolving…evolving to deal with a new threat…"
"We have to get back to the Boardtrot right now…" a worried Izzy stated. "Comet may be able to erase our memories of our interactions with him, but a unicorn never forgets a pony's sparkle. The way Comet's luminescence was being warped by the darkness, it doesn't matter if that memory leaves my mind because it's stored in my soul…we need to make sure he's alright!"
Izzy's friends, believing her concerns for Comet's wellbeing to be valid, joined her on a trip back to the Boardtrot. Once the gang had made their way back there, however, they stumbled upon not a blue Auroricorn who was unsettled and unkempt, but a blue Auroricorn who appeared confident and composed.
"Hi, new friends." he nonchalantly greeted them with a smile.