Chapter 48: The Return of Harmony Part 1: Discords Return

It has been about a week since the Grand Galloping Gala and news about it spread very quickly about how chaotic it turned out to be and about some of the bold ponies who had caused it to be considered a disaster by some of the nobles. But the princess in turn called it the best night ever, saying it was one of the best Gala's she's ever been to, thanking the Elements of Harmony for making this Gala more interesting than it was in centuries, deciding to invite them again next year to make it just as exciting while also affordable for all ponies to attend and not just the rich nobles who would buy multiple tickets at a time, making it impossible for other ponies to come and enjoy the Gala as well.

After the Gala was over, Spyro had gotten the news that May had escaped her cell from the Mysterious Tower and was free again, possibly heading back to her master and he wanted to go after her, but Master Yen Sid told him that he already had Riku, Sora, and Axel out looking for May, but the moment he saw Spyro's condition, he knew he wasn't up for hunting them down, so he ordered Spyro to remain in Equestria and get some rest. During the week, he was helping out n the farm, but unfortunately his powers were not responding well, each time he tried to use the Force or to use a spell, he'd end up in serious pain, his body heating up every time he used the Force while also feeling pain throughout his body. His friends saw this and told him to take care of himself and not use his powers at all, letting himself get some rest so he doesn't over exert himself.

Today was an average day for Spyro, helping out on the farm while also being kept a close eye on as the family saw him in pain when he used the Force to lift a few buckets of apples, but drop them and hiss in pain. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo weren't on the farm at the time as they themselves have a field trip up at Canterlot to explore and learn about some of the history of their kingdom and about pony kind, so it was on him to get the chores finished for the day, without his magic and abilities as further use of those might turn out to be dangerous for him. As he was tending to the trees, his body started to heat up again, this time the heat was very intense and he collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain as it traveled from his chest all the way to his legs and then to his head, as he curled up, breathing heavily again as his vision blurred again, which Applejack saw and ran over to him, wanting to help him up, but when she got close, she stopped as she remembered how hot he gets if he has these episodes.

"Gah! I'm getting sick and tired of this!" Spyro hissed, getting up as the pain was going away. "Why is my body burning up like this?"

"Ah don't know, but Ah don't like it." Applejack replied. "Maybe we should get ya to a doctor. He might have an idea what's going on." A second later, it started to rain, but this time the water was brown and it smelled sweet, so the two of them looked up to see what was going on, but what they saw confused them. Above them was a pink cloud that was raining the brown liquid and it was something they couldn't figure out, so Spyro stuck out his tongue and tasted the water, getting a small taste and it tasted exactly like chocolate milk. "What in tarnation?"

"The liquid tastes like chocolate milk." Spyro said, getting a mouth full and swallowing it, licking his lips, enjoying the beverage. "It is chocolate milk."

"Why in all of Equestria would a cloud be raining chocolate milk?" Applejack asked. "Is this a prank or something?"

"Might be something Pinkie and Rainbow Dash cooked up." Spyro suggested. "We are the Three Prankateers, so maybe they're trying to have a little fun with us." He then flew up to the cloud, thinking Rainbow Dash was up there and snickering. "Ok Rainbow, you got us. A cloud raining chocolate milk, how did you and Pinkie come up with this one and why didn't you include me?"

As he got up to the top of the cloud, he didn't see Rainbow Dash at all at the cloud and there wasn't a sign that she has been there whatsoever. He looked around to see where the cyan Pegasus was at, finding her clear in the distance chasing another of the pink clouds, now knowing that this was not a prank and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were not behind it. He then smelled something sweet, tracing the smell back to the cloud, so he flew down and ripped a piece of the cloud off, sniffing it and found that it smelled like cotton candy, so he took a nibble from it, and was more than surprised as it was cotton candy.

"Ok, this is weird." Spyro said. "No way in heck Rainbow Dash would do something like this. Pinkie probably, but not Rainbow Dash."

"Hey, I didn't say you could go anywhere!" Rainbow Dash shouted, chasing after a pink cloud.

"Hey Rainbow, wait up!" Spyro said, flying after her. "What's going on here? What's with these clouds?"

"You're asking the wrong weather pony Spyro." Rainbow Dash responded. "There's crazy weather all across Equestria. Cloudsdail is getting hammered by a major cold storm."

"Need any help?" Spyro asked. "I can't use my powers without getting hurt, but I can help move the clouds."

A second later, they heard something pop and stopped, looking down at the cornfield Applejack had put in a few months ago and saw that all the kernels of corn were popping, and ear of corn ending up hitting Applejack with a whole lot of popcorn, causing her to fall on the ground. He also saw that Pinkie was diving through the popcorn, eating it and having a great time, but a second later, they both watched as the apples on the trees grew to gargantuan size, making the trees bend down, but not snap in half somehow, making both of their jaws drop at how large the apples got.

"Oh my sweet goodness." Spyro said. "You have got to be kidding me? First cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk, then it's the ears of corn turning to popcorn, even though it ain't that hot out, and now giant apples and bendy trees? Can this day get any weirder?" After asking the question and tempting fate, a lot of squirrels and rabbits came out of no where and started to eat the apples, chewing on the sweet and delicious apples, but a moment later, their legs grew as long as a giraffes legs, running and stampeding, which caused his eye to twitch as he began to loose his sanity. "I... just... had... to... ASK!"

"What the hay is going on?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Everything has gone bonkers."

"I don't know, but this is giving me some Wonderland flashbacks." Spyro said, looking like he was going to loose his mind. "And those are some memories I do not want to remember!"

"Hold on everypony, I got this!" Twilight shouted. "I've got a spell that should fix this."

Her horn then started to glow a hot pink aura and she shot out a beam of magic shot out across the area, bathing everything in a pink light when an explosion happened, blinding everyone for a moment, but when they opened their eyes, they saw that the spell had failed, everything was still so chaotic, animals with long legs, the clouds, everything was still a mess. Before he could ask what had happened, he felt a sharp pain in his chest again, believing he was having another episode, but it suddenly faded as a yellow orb shot out of his chest and out of the orb was a message from princess Celestia, confusing Rainbow Dash as she didn't understand what was going on. Spyro then opened the letter to see what was written, hoping for some answers from the princess.

Spyro,

I need you to get Twilight and the rest of your friends. Bring them to Canterlot immediately. I shall explain everything there.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

"Looks like the princess needs us." Spyro said. "We better go and see what she needs."

"You got it." Rainbow Dash said.

"Spyro, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouted, getting their attention. "Can you two corral all those clouds into a single spot in the sky?"

"No problem Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, saluting her.

Both Spyro and Rainbow Dash flew around in the air in the air, gathering the clouds together and then flying around them in unison, keeping them in a single spot around, constricting them into a single massive cloud while it still rained, much to Pinkie's joy as she kept on drinking the chocolate milk rain, her mouth wide open to collect as much as possible. A moment later, they both saw that a lasso was heading their way, so both he and Rainbow Dash moved out of the way as the lasso wrapped around the cloud, cutting off the rain and stopping it, much to Pinkie's displeasure as she shouted, asking what had happened and where the rain went. She then pulled the cloud down to the ground and tied the rope around a post, preventing it from flying away back into the sky as Twilight whispered something in Fluttershy's ear, the Pegasus mare smiling as she cleared her throat.

"Oh dear, I hope none of the animals see these delicious, most delectable chocolate filled cotton candy filled clouds." She said, the animals coming out of the trees and out of the apples to see the clouds, Pinkie already eating them. "I'd hate to share them."

"You and me both sister!" Pinkie said, which she was knocked out of the way by the animals as they started to eat them. "Hey!"

"And when ya'll are done with that, you can have some of this here popcorn for dessert!" Applejack said, laughing.

"Nice going Twilight." Spyro said, he and Rainbow Dash landing. "That was actually a great idea."

"It's no big deal." Twilight said. "Since my Fail-safe spell didn't work, I needed to go to plan B."

"And I'm glad you did because the princess called us to Canterlot." Spyro said, surprising her. "She needs the seven of us in Canterlot immediately."

"Well, what are we standing around here for?" Applejack said. "Let's get going partners!"

Everyone then ran into town, ignoring all the chaos around them as they went to the train station, taking the first train to Canterlot. In the grand hall at Celestia's castle, the princess of the day was pacing in front of the hallway into the castle, clearly worried about what was going on and looking up to the murals every now and then, but she mostly looked to the one with the strange looking chimera in it controlling a whole horde of ponies beneath him like they were puppets. After what felt like an eternity to her, Spyro and the Man Six ran through the doors and into the hall way where the princess was at, looking in their direction and was relieved they came.

"Princess, we came as fast as we could." Twilight said. "What's happening? What's doing on?"

"Twilight Sparkle, Spyro, thank you for coming." Princess Celestia said. "Thank you all for coming. I have called all of you here for a reason as you are probably the only ones who can defeat him." She then looked to the mural that she has been staring at as she waited for her students and their friends, everyone looking to the mural. "Our foes name is Discord. A thousand years ago, my sister and I faced an ancient foe who threatened to plunge this world into chaos and disharmony. And now, he's free."

"Free?" Spyro asked. "How? How'd he break free?"

"I'm afraid the spell my sister and I used to seal him away in stone has been broken." Celestia replied. "We used the elements of harmony a thousand years ago to seal him away, ending his reign of chaos and disharmony, but now we no longer have any connection to them, thus weakening the spell and allowing him to escape." She continued to lead them down a corridor filled with murals on each side of the hall, leading all the way to what looked to be a sealed doors that he expected the Elements of Harmony in it. "Beyond this door is where the Elements of Harmony are kept. Once they have been returned to us, we kept them here behind this door where only I can access them. Twilight, I need you and your friends to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord once and for all before he can do anymore harm to Equestria."

"But why us?" Twilight asked. "Why do you need us to do it?"

"Hey look!" Pinkie said, drawing everyone to where she was at. "Look at this one! We're famous!"

Everyone walked over to where Pinkie Pie was at, looking up at the mural she was staring at. The mural they saw had all seven of them on the ground, the Mane Six on the ground surrounding Spyro as they used the Elements of Harmony while he was in his Chaos form with the Keyblade he gets when he goes super while Nightmare Moon was above them surrounded by a rainbow aura and a Keyhole in her chest. The girls were wearing the Elements of Harmony and each were shooting a beam out at Nightmare Moon whose colors matched the gems on the necklaces and crown while Spyro put hit Keyblade into the Keyhole and unlocking the light within the heart, banishing the darkness from it as a dark aura was expelled from Nightmare Moon, destroying it.

"You and your friends have shown the full potential of the Elements of Harmony by harnessing the power of your friendship." Princess Celestia replied, everyone looking to her. "Because of it, you managed to banish the darkness from my sister and save herself before it could destroy her. And with Spyro's help, you managed to unlock her heart and help her to find her light, destroying the darkness within her .I knew back then that you six had the potential to wield the Elements of Harmony and with Spyro's help, you defeated Nightmare Moon, so I know you all will defeat Discord before he can cause anymore trouble."

"You can count on us princess." Spyro replied, walking up.

However, a moment later, Spyro felt the pain in his chest again, his body beginning to heat up again as his breathing became heavy, scaring the girls as he collapsed on the ground again while his vision started to blur again. Everyone gathered around him and Pinkie tried to put her hoof on his, but it immediately caught fire and firefighter bells started to ring from somewhere, Pinkie running around screaming fire before she stuffed her hoof in her mouth to put the flames out, smoke coming out of her ears as she felt relief, pulling her hoof out to show it was black with soot. Spyro didn't pay any attention to any of it, his vision getting worse as he could hear his own heart beat again, this time it was louder as everything grew darker around the edges of his vision, about to pass out if he didn't feel the healing effects of an elixir, the golden powder falling on top of him as he could feel his strength return to him, the heat fading and the pain gone, allowing him to get up shakily, but get up nonetheless.

"Easy Spyro, we can handle this." Twilight said. "You're not in any condition to do this."

"Spyro, if I may ask, are you sure you're alright?" Princess Celestia asked. "Last time I saw you collapse like that was at the Gala. Have these attacks been happening since then?"

"Only when I used my magic and abilities." Spyro replied, still feeling pain in his chest. "But now... it's become more frequent. And it's only getting worse."

"We really need to get you to a doctor Spyro." Twilight said. "You aren't in any condition to fight and I doubt you can use any of your magic or Force abilities in your condition."

"I'm afraid she's right Spyro." The princess said. "With how you are now, you won't be able to help anypony."

"It's fine, I'll be alright." Spyro said, regaining his strength. "I might not be able to use my magic, but I can still fight." He then called his Keyblade, using his magic to hold onto the handle of it, but it then started to flicker as he soon got a headache, loosing focus as his blade fell to the ground, his ears ringing as his headache got worse. "Or not."

"You take it easy Sugarcube." Applejack said. "We will handle this."

"Yeah, leave it to us!" Rainbow Dash said. "We'll take care of Discord in no time flat."

"Wait, hold on a second!" Pinkie said, landing right on Spyro. "Eternal chaos, it comes with chocolate rain. Think about it, chocolate... rain! An eternal supply of it of chocolaty, liquids delight coming from the heavens forever!"

Spyro then flipped Pinkie over onto her back, standing over her and smiling as the mare blushed, being in a compromised position as she crossed her legs.

"No Pinkie, bad Pinkie." Spyro said, booping her nose. "Chaos bad. Discord bad."

He then gave Pinkie a peck on the nose, making the mare giggle a bit as Spyro helped her up onto her hooves while the princess walked over to the door that holds the Elements of Harmony. She then stuck her horn into the middle of the sun shaped emblem that decorated the door, casting a spell into the door itself as the lines began to glow as it spread across the door, the six orbs then beginning to glow two at a time starting from the top and then working their way down until the door began to open, the princess backed away as the door opened to reveal a chest where the Elements of Harmony were stored in. Rarity was more amazed by the box than by anything else as she gazed in pure amazement at the glimmering blue chest. The princess then used her magic to pick the chest up and brought it over to the group, Spyro still having some trouble standing, but was still strong enough to stand without help.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." Princess Celestia said. "I have total confidence in you and your friends will defeat Discord and restore Harmony to Equestria. Take the elements and save Equestria." She opened the chest, it revealed that the Elements of Harmony were no longer there, the princess and the girls gasping in surprise as she dropped the chest. "B-but, that's impossible. the chamber is protected by a powerful enchantment that only I can break. This makes no sense."

Everyone then heard laughter throughout the hall, everyone looking around as Spyro tried to hold his Keyblade again, though it took his full focus, he managed to hold onto his weapon this time, though the aura was flickering a bit, he took a defensive stance, making sure he was near the girls at all times.

"Making sense?" Came a voice within the walls. "My dear Celestia, did you forget who I am? What fun is there in making sense?"

"Discord!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, growling as she looked around the hall. "Show yourself, NOW!"

"Aw, so you did miss me." Discord said, everyone looking to a mural with the ponies turned to puppets where the form of Discord came to life, looking at everyone with a malicious smile. "That's good, because I certainly missed you." he then moved to the mural where the seven of them found the Elements of Harmony, sitting on the image of Fluttershy. "I mean, it does get quite lonesome when you're trapped in stone for the last thousand years."

"Enough!" She shouted, growing furious with the chaotic being. "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony!?"

"I took them of course." Discord replied, moving to the mural where Spyro was and poked at his image, looking him over and then to Spyro. "And it seems the Prince of Light and Darkness is here. Though, he seems to be a bit... under the weather."

"I'm still strong enough to do this!" Spyro shouted.

He lifted his right foreleg and Force Lighting was sent out of his hoof, heading straight for the mural where Discord was, but the being of chaos didn't;t flinch, everyone watching as the lightning fell short as Spyro collapsed to the ground, hissing in pain as the lightning arced across his leg, unable to control it.

"Oh dear, it seems the prince can't control his powers anymore." Discord said, moving to the mural with Nightmare Moon and the seven of them. "And here I was hoping to see you use your Chaos form. That I wouldn't mind seeing."

"You'll never get away with this Discord!" The princess said.

"Oh I forgot how much green you are." Discord said, examining his nails on his lion paw. "It's really quite boring."

"Hey, no pony insults the princess and get's away with it!" Rainbow Dash said, flying straight for Discord, but he shifted somewhere else, making the cyan Pegasus smack into the window.

"Ah, you must be Rainbow Dash." Discord said. "You are famed for your loyalty to the princess and your friends. The perfect representation for the Element of Harmony you represent."

"That's right, I'll always be loyal to the princess and to my friends!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"We'll see about that." Discord replied, disappearing to somewhere else.

"I can;t believe you're wasting your time talking to a tacky window." Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

Discord then appeared in the window next to her, spooking her.

"Ah, the ever lovely Rarity." Discord said, trying to flatter her. "You represent the Element of Generosity, always giving something you value to someone else."

"So ya know us, big deal." Applejack said, glaring at Discord.

"Ah, but I know more than you think, honest Applejack." Discord replied, growing bigger.

"You seem to know our strengths." Twilight said, the creature disappearing and reappearing in another mural.

"You're correct Twilight Sparkle." Discord said. "I know that your element if the most powerful out of all of them; Magic. And I know that Fluttershy's element is Kindness and Pinkie Pie's is my personal favorite; Laughter."

As he said it, Pinkie started to laugh, making everyone turn to look at her as she laughed.

"Look, he's dancing on your head Twilight!" Pinkie said, laughing as Discord started to dance Twilight's head in the mural.

"ENOUGH!" Spyro shouted, a wave of Force energy that destroyed some suits of armor and spooked everyone. "What have you done with the elements, NOW!"

"Oh fine, I'll tell you." Discord said, moving to another mural. "But, I'll only tell you... with a riddle." He then started to appear in different murals, trying to confuse them as he began to speak. "To retrieve your missing elements, just make sense this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. then find the elements back where you began."

As he finished his riddle, the mural he was using to talk to them returned to its rightful place, returning back to a permanent piece of the whole mural. Spyro then felt the effects of using his Force ability and sat down, breathing heavily again as he heard his own heart beat again as he recovered, his vision returning to normal, but still feeling weak.

"What do ya think it means?" Applejack asked. "Twists and turns... and back to where we began?"

"Twists and turns?" Twilight asked herself, walking to the windows. "Back to where we began?" She then looked out the window and saw the hedge maze in the garden, an idea hitting her. "I got it! The hedge maze. That;s full of twists and turns, it must be where Discord hid them."

"Are you sure Twilight?" Spyro asked, limping to her. "What about the other part? Back to where you began, sounds to me like that's the more important clue."

"It's the only lead we have Spyro." Twilight said, looking back to him. "We'll get the elements, you stay with Princess Celestia and get some rest. In your current state, I don't want you in anymore danger."

Before he could have a chance to argue with her, the Mane Six ran out of the hall and towards the door, the princess wishing them luck in their quest while leaving Spyro with the princess, feeling weaker by the minute as he sat down. The princess could tell he was feeling weaker and walked over to him, sitting next to him as she looked him over, his color was pale and he was shaking uncontrollably.

"Don't worry about your friends Spyro." Princess Celestia said. "They will be alright. They can handle themselves."

"I know, but my gut is telling me something else." Spyro replied, crossing his legs. "I know the answer is in the last piece of that riddle. I need to meditate."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Princess Celestia asked, concerned for her pupil.

"When I meditate, it helps me to find the answers I need." Spyro replied. "The Force will show me what I need to see."

He then closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, meditating to find the answers he needed to the riddle, but as he was meditating, he didn't like what he was seeing. In the vision, it showed him the hedge maze and his friends approaching them, but then he heard laughter as a massive version of Discord rose up above the maze, his eyes becoming hypnotic as all his friends looked into them, five of them turning gray as he laughed with glee as he did something to them. He also saw where the elements were and finally had the answer he needed, but it then shifted to where his friends tried to use the elements, four of them still gray while the fifth was no where to be seen, the elements power failing as Ansem and Xemnas appeared next to Discord, May following soon after as the three dark beings sent a massive wave of dark magic at the girls, destroying them and hearing their screams as he breathed heavily, opening his eyes as he felt an excruciating amount of pain throughout his body, twisting and yelling out in agony, scaring the princess as she shouted for her guards to get a doctor.

"Hold on Spyro, hold on." She said, propping him back up. "We're getting you a doctor. Just hold on."

"No, no forget about me." Spyro said, sitting up and pushing through the pain. "The maze... it's a trap. A trap."

"What?" The princess asked. "You're saying the maze is a trap? For Twilight and her friends?"

"For all of us." Spyro replied. "The elements are where we first began. Where we first met. I need to... tell them."

He then got up and took a few steps towards the door, but then collapsed, the princess rushing forward to help him up, but became horrified when she saw cracks appearing on his hind legs, her body shivering as something was happening to him.

"No Spyro, you aren't going anywhere." Princess Celestia said. "You can barely stand and you are seem to be in serious pain. You need a doctor."

"My friends need me more." He responded, breaking free as he walked away.

Spyro walked out of the castle and towards the maze, hoping to catch up with them before they fell right into Discords trap and as he got there, he could see the girls were staring at entrance into the maze, getting ready to enter when he run up to them, the girls hearing his hoof steps and saw he was approaching.

"Spyro, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "Go back inside. You need to rest."

"No girls, you need to listen." Spyro said, getting their attention. "The maze, it's a-"

He was then cut off as some unknown force put a literal zipper over his mouth and zips it shut, cutting him off and shocking everyone.

"Ah, ah, ah, no spoilers." Discord said.

"Hey, not cool!" Rainbow Dash said, flying up. "Don't worry guys, if the elements are in there I'll fly overhead and find the elements in no time." Suddenly, her wings disappeared from her side, causing her to fall back to the ground before she even had a chance to go over the hedge. "Ow... h-huh? MY WINGS!"

Fluttershy then lost her wings, the timid mare looking to see she had lost her wings as well, screaming in fright and terror. Twilight and Rarity were just as unfortunate as their horns disappeared as well, the unicorn mares screaming as they lost their ability to use magic. Spyro looked back to his wings and saw they also disappeared and then to the nearby puddle, and saw he still had the zipper, but his horns have also disappeared, but he was a bit more calm about it as he spent most of his life without wings and without magic, so he didn't panic as much. They then heard laughter coming from no where and a moment later, Discord appeared, laughing and holding his gut as he laughed uncontrollably.

"Y-you should have seen the looks on your faces!" Discord said, still laughing as he floated in the air. "Priceless."

Not wanting Discord to get away with this, Spyro sat down and used his hooves to grab the zipper, unzipping his lips so he could talk.

"Girls, don't go to the maze!" Spyro said, everyone listening to him. "It's a-"

His lips were zipped again, but this time he got a steel plate over the zipper, preventing him from trying to unzip it again and to keep him quiet.

"I said no spoilers." Discord said, leering at Spyro. "Let them figure it out for themselves."

"Discord, what have you done to us!?" Twilight demanded, glaring at him. "Return our horns and wings this instant!"

"Oh don't worry, you'll get them back." He replied with a mischievous smile. "I just need to ensure there isn't any cheating."

"Cheating?" Twilight asked.

"Why yes Twilight Sparkle, no cheating." Discord replied, going up to her. "Our little game has a couple of rules. Rule one: No flying, and no magic." He traced his finger from her head all the way to her chin, thinking he had the upper hand, but Spyro called his Keyblade again, using his hooves to hold it and smacked him in an uppercut and then struck him in the gut, his whole midsection flying into the maze while his head flew up high, confusing him as he looked down at his Keyblade. "And no Keyblades!" He managed to pull himself together and snapped his fingers, the Keyblade disappearing and not coming back as he tried to call it back. "That actually hurt, you know? And the second rule, everyone here, including the prince, must play, or else I win be default. And as a punishment, the first five minutes of the game, the prince can't talk."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"It's his punishment for striking me." Discord replied, shrugging his shoulders.

He then snapped his fingers and a moment later, he disappeared, leaving the seven of them alone.

"Wow, Discord got really mad when Spyro hit him." Pinkie pointed out.

"Spyro must have done some damage to him when he hit him with his Keyblade." Twilight said, Spyro nodding his head in agreement. "Come on everyone, if we want the elements back, we need to play his game."

Spyro then rushed forward, blocking the way as he used his forelegs to try and tell them not to go in, making gestures to try and tell them it was a trap.

"Oh, charades! I love charades!" Pinkie said, sitting down to guess what he's saying. "Let's see, you're choking? No, no, no. You, got a stomach ache! No? Well, maybe-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, getting her to stop then looking to Spyro. "I'm sorry Spyro, but we don't have time to play. We need to get the elements back and we're wasting time." She then pushed past Spyro as everyone followed behind her, Spyro facepalming as he had no choice but to follow them to the entrance of the maze. "Alright everypony, we can do this. And we'll do it together!" As she said it, the hedge maze then separated into seven different paths as hedge walls popped out of the ground and cut them off, forcing them to take different routes. "Everypony, head for the middle! We'll regroup there!"

Everyone then ran in the direction their paths were taking them except for Fluttershy as she was scared to go through the maze all on her own. While everyone was on their own, Spyro was forced to stay in the entrance, trying to at least climb or bust through the wall, but nothing seemed to work, so he had no choice but to play along, walking the path of the maze he was on before going into a sprint, running along the path as he went, hoping to reach he middle and four the steel plate to vanish so he could warn everyone what was going on. After what felt like an eternity, he stopped to catch his breath, somehow he wasn't having an attack right at that time, wondering what changed just as the steel plate disappeared, allowing him to talk again, but his jaw felt numb, so he moved it a bit to wake it up so he could yell out and let the girls know it was a trap, but a door opened up behind him, turning to find it was the same door Sora went through in his dream before Destiny Island was destroyed by the Heartless.

As the door opened, a bright light flooded his vision, forcing him to cover his eyes so he didn't go blind, but when he could see again, he was shocked by what he was seeing; he was back home. He was back in his human form and saw his house and his neighborhood back on earth, the peaceful streets and the Cal de sac where he grew up on, played in with his friends, and all the happy memories that came with it, smiling as he looked at the happy streets, but then shook his head, hitting himself as he groaned.

"No, it's not real." He said to himself. "It's nothing more than an illusion. He's trying to get in your head. Don't fall for it."

"My, what a lovely neighborhood." Discord said, appearing in the tree on his front lawn. "So this is where you originate from. I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed. I was expecting something more."

"Discord!" Spyro shouted, trying to call his Keyblade, but couldn't.

"Oh come on, no need for violence." Discord said. "Besides, those last two hits really hurt."

"Good." Spyro said, cracking his knuckles. "Because even without my Keyblade, I'm more than capable of laying down the law!"

Without a word, he snapped his fingers and hundreds of Heartless and Nobodies appeared in the vision, forcing him to go on the defensive as they charged him.

"Now now, no need for that." Discord said, watching Spyro take on the enemies with his fists and literally winning. "You've only been a Keyblade bearer and a prince for over two years, getting close to three now."

"How do you know all of this?" Spyro asked, grabbing and Shadow and slamming him to the ground.

"I know everything." Discord replied. "But the one question you are wanting to ask is, 'What am I?' And the answer is simple, I'm a draconequus, a creature of pure chaos! And I can read your entire life story like an open book." He then snapped his fingers and a book appeared in front of him, opening it up as Spyro kept fighting. "And I do mean that literally. You're quite the adventurer. You even went to a few other worlds with your friends. Oh, don;t you and Applejack just look smashing in those outfits."

"You leave them out of this!" Spyro said, grabbing a Soldier, but before he could punch it, it disappeared.

A moment later, a rift opened up underneath him, causing him to fall into a dark void until he appeared in the Realm of Darkness, only hearing about it from Sora and Riku, but not himself, looking around to see what he could find, but found nothing.

"What is this!?" Spyro demanded, feeling his skin crawl. "Why am I here?"

"Spyro stop!" Sora shouted, forcing Spyro to turn around.

In the distance, he could see himself and Sora fighting, steel clashing against steel as Spyro had his darker version of the Keyblade out, fighting Sora as he used the Force to crush Sora, squeezing him until his heart popped out of his chest, flying into the sky, but Spyro just dropped Sora's body and pointed his Keyblade at the heart, a dark beam of magic shooting out of the tip as it hit the pink heart, causing it to shake, crack, and then shatter, preventing Sora's resurrection. He then turned to Spyro, whose skin went pale and was shaking as his darker half smiled at him, walking towards him as he started to laugh.

"No, this isn't real!" Spyro shouted, backing away. "I sealed you away! You aren't real! This is an illusion!"

"Oh, it's very much real Spyro." His darker half said. "You may have sealed me away, but I am always there, waiting to break free and destroy what you hold dear."

He then heard someone scream behind him, looking back and seeing something that made his blood freeze and his heart drop, his friends on the ground, on the ground and not moving as blood seeped out of their bodies and into the earth, coating the area in crimson red but he then saw his darker half standing in the middle of all them, holding Scootaloo with one hand by the throat, choking her as she hung there helplessly. Without another word, he ran towards his darker half, hoping to stop him, but as he ran towards him, he could hear screaming coming from his friends in Equestria and in all other worlds, screaming for him to stop as he heard hearts shattering around him. As he got closer, he could see the faint grin on his darker half as he raised his fist to punch Scootaloo, screaming out for him to let her go as he raised his own fist, darkness surrounding it as black and purple flames appeared over it, his anger and hate getting the best of him as he swung, wanting to his himself, but instead he heard a little girl scream.

He saw in horror as he had punched Scootaloo in the chest, those same dark flames in her chest as she stared in absolute horror as she looked into his eyes. He then looked at himself, finding that his skin was black and darkness was coming off himself, looking behind and finding his darker version smiling at him after seeing what he did.

"S-Spyro... b-brother... why?" Scootaloo asked, tears rolling down her face.

"No... please..." Spyro said, watching as he ripped her heart out of her chest, the young filly felling to the ground and wanting to grab her, but he couldn't control himself as he started to squeeze her heart, the little heart in his hand with very little darkness in it as he saw it starting to shatter. "No, stop it!" He watched as he crushed her heart, shattering it into multiple pieces as the light flew away into the sky, his heart shattered as he saw what he did, tears rolling down his own face. "No, no, no please. No."

"In the end, you shall fall into darkness." His darker half said, the scenery shifting to a ruined Equestria where everything was on fire, Golems were moving across the land and destroying everything, killing ponies as their hearts flew into the sky. "You cannot control the darkness, the darkness controls you. Though your heart is balanced, you will never succeed in destroying it, it will always come back. Even if you seal it away, it will come back. And when it does, your friends and all those you love, will die by your hand!"

Dark Spyro then flew into him, causing him to cry out in pain as he felt the darkness turning him, corrupting him as he felt himself slip away into the darkness, his darker half laughing as he corrupted him, his eyes turning white as he screamed for it all to stop. As he fell into despair, he didn't notice that he was back in the hedge maze, Discord laughing to himself as he relished Spyro's despair, watching as he became broken and unresponsive as he fell for his trick.

"Oh, all that darkness in you, so much power and you aren't strong enough to control it?" Discord asked. "Sure, you can control the dark elements, but the darker portion of your heart you can control. You fear that it will break out someday and will go on a rampage, killing your friends. So many friends and so many mares you love, so much heartache... and so much pain." He then used his paw to force Spyro to look up, his eyes swirling in a hypnotic state to change him, smiling as he did. "Sometimes, it's better to live all alone, no friends, no one you can love, all alone."

Spyro was forced to stare into the draconequus's eyes, his own eyes swirling just like his as he started to believe in the chaos beings words, believing that being alone is the better option so no one will get hurt. A moment later, his colors started to go dull, turning a slightly grayish color, starting from his hooves and working its way up his body, believing everything he was saying. He believed he should be alone, away from his friends and the girls he loves, and away from everything and everyone, closing his eyes as tears rolled down his face.

"Don't tell me you're giving up already." Spyro heard Riku say. "I thought you were stronger than that."

"You can do it Spyro!" He heard Sora shout.

"We believe in you!" He heard Donald and Goofy shout in unison.

He didn't understand what was going on, where those voices were coming from until he felt himself being pulled back into his heart, falling into the darkness again as his memories flashed before his eyes, memories of his friends in other worlds, the adventures they had, the fun and excitement from their journey's. A minute later, he saw the door that he sealed his darkness behind, finding it was open and his darker half was standing in front of him, looking unhappy and looking up at him, seeing nothing but remorse and sorrow in his eyes, which surprised him as he didn't understand why he was unhappy.

"You were right." His darker half said, surprising him. "You were right all along."

"About what?" Spyro asked, the gray almost covering him. "He's right, I should be alone and-"

"No, you shouldn't!" His darker half said, walking up to him. "I saw through your eyes how happy you are with your friends. How happy you are with the girls you love, that is real. What you're feeling now isn't. None of that is real."

"How can you be sure!?" Spyro shouted, tears rolling down his eyes. "Every time I use darkness, I feel like I'm turning into you. I don't want to hurt them. I don't want to turn."

"And you won't." Dark Spyro said, extending his hand, which Spyro instinctively took, not knowing why he did that. "Because you are stronger than that. You found a way to use darkness, minimize its use, while remaining in the light. But now, you have nothing to fear." As he said it, he started to fade as a blue heart appeared where he stood, catching him off guard as he backed away, but the heart flew to him and into his chest, feeling something deep inside awaken and feeling more power than before, his body heating up again to a scorching temperature as he yelled out in pain, dark flames surrounding him and a moment later, it vanished, feeling relief. "My power... is yours."

Back in the real world, the corruption had stopped, surprising Discord as he tried to finish what he started, but instead, his color returned to normal as he just smiled at the draconequus, who backed away in fear as he felt the spike of power in him.

"What is happening!?" He asked in shock, pouring more of his power into his spell, but the voices of his friends, both at home and in other worlds, reached out to him, encouraging him to resist while he no longer feared going out of control, the spell broken and Spyro stretching out his wings as dark flames shot across them. "How did you resist? I broke you! I should you what you would become! You killed your friends!"

The flames kept going across the rim of his wings, darkness draping him as his coat turned dark as the darkness in him finally rose up, Discord horrified by what he was seeing as he didn't expect him to become corrupted by his darkness, but then smiled as it worked to his benefit, standing his ground as he prepared to take control. However, when Spyro raised his head to look at Discord, his eyes were still purple, shocking him as he watched them turn gray and smile. Without warning, he lunged at him and and pinned him to the ground, unleashing bolts of dark lightning on him as he took on the chaos being, electrocuting him and then flinging him into the wall, smashing him into the wall like it was a brick wall, gasping in pain as he was being tossed around like a rag doll.

"Nice try pal, but your tricks won't work on me." Spyro said, walking to the dazed deity. "Your tricks had me fooled for a moment, but then I realized I would never do that. For too long I fear my darkness and for a good reason because I couldn't control it. Sure, I could control certain elements, but never my full dark potential. But then, I finally found peace with it. And it's all thanks to you." He kept walked while Discord leered at him, holding his arm as he still felt all the pain in his arm from slamming into the wall. "Because of you, my darkness finally saw what it couldn't see, true friendship. As long as I have my friends, as long I have those I care about, nothing is going to stop me. So take your cheap parlor tricks and GET OUT!"

Discord didn't argue with him as he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Spyro all alone in the middle of his path as he felt his darkness merge with his light, both feeding off one another in perfect balance as he smiled, returning to normal, but immediately regretted it as he felt a sharp pain in his chest again, this time it was worse than it was previously, his body feeling like it was being ripped apart, curled up on the ground in pain as Twilight walked by, finding him on the ground and becoming worried, rushing over to help him.

"Spyro!" Twilight shouted, running over and helping him up. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"Discord." He replied, the pain not going away, but still able to stand. "Trap."

"What?" Twilight asked. "Spyro, what are you talking about?"

"The maze... a trap." Spyro replied. "Elements... not here... Ponyville... where we first began."

"Of course!" Twilight exclaimed, hitting her own head. "Back where we began. Back where we became friends. I can't believe I didn't think about it."

"Our friends... trouble." Spyro said. "Trying to... make them... opposite... not the elements."

"Huh?" Twilight asked, but then understood what he was talking about. "Oh no, he's corrupting them. Making them the opposite of their current personality."

"We need to... find them." Spyro said, struggling to move.

"Spyro, you aren't in good condition." Twilight pointed out. "You need to get out of here and rest."

"Not until we save our friends." Spyro replied, walking away.

He walked forward, each step he took was painful, but he pushed through it as he walked along the path he was on, Twilight staying close behind so she can keep an eye on him in his current condition while they looked for their friends. But when they found them, it wasn't very pretty as Discord had already gotten to them, first starting with Applejack as when they found her, they found she was talking to herself in a wide open area and when they tried to ask who she was talking to, she turned out to be a bad liar, avoiding eye contact and scrunching her face. Pinkie wasn't any better as she was angry with everything, not smiling at all, and complaining everything. She never laughed, grinned, or even giggle a single time and every time they were talking, Pinkie would think it was about her and would lash out, which Spyro would reassure her it's not about her, deciding to do that for a while so she didn't;t keep lashing out.

The next pony they ran into was Rarity and she just as bad as she was lugging around a massive boulder, thinking it was a diamond and being overly protective of it. Every time someone got close to the supposed 'diamond', she'd get all protective of it and try to fight them, breaking his heart as his friends were becoming the opposite of what he fell in love with. But Fluttershy, she was by far the worse one as she became the biggest jerk as she started to pick on him, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and flipped him over, slamming him into the ground and knocking the air out of him and as he tried to get up, she kicked him where the sun doesn't shine, making him yelp in pain, much worse than what he was feeling currently as he collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain as his vision blurred, everything blending together as he laid on the ground in pain.

"I... did not... need that." Spyro said, getting up.

"Fluttershy... what's... wrong with... you?" Twilight asked, struggling to talk under the weight of the boulder. "He's... our... friend."

"Yeah, right!" She said in a mocking tone. "Like I'd be friends with such a whimper. He doesn't even have his magic anymore, like a certain somepony I know."

"Discord... mess with... them." Spyro said, getting up. "I just hope Rainbow Dash is ok."

"Look, Rainbow Dash is abandoning us!" Applejack shouted, pointing up and revealing she was flying away.

"But, how?" Spyro asked, looking up. "Discord took her wings and-" That's when it hit him, Discord took the wings and horns and is the only one who could give them back. "Discord! He cheated."

As he said it, the hedge maze disappeared, leaving everyone in a wide open space as Discord came in, everyone's missing appendages returning as he smiled at them.

"Me? Cheated?" He asked. "You have any idea who I am? I made the rules-"

"And you took our appendages!" Spyro replied, his anger rising as his eyes turned Sith. "And you're the only one who could have retuned them. You manipulated her, tricking her into flying away after returning her wings and winning by cheating!" Darkness started to rise up in his as dark flames shot across the rim of his wings, surprising Twilight. "You're worse than Hades! you're worse than anything else, making up rules where nothing applies and makes sense! And you turned my friends into something else, something they would never be! I'm going to rip you apart!"

He leapt at the draconequus, dark flames streaking across his wings and down to his hooves to attack him, but he just snapped his fingers and froze him in place, putting on a baseball cap and conjuring a bat, pointing to where he was going to send him flying before winding up his hit, smacking him on the face and sending him flying towards the castle.

"It's a home run!" Discord said.

"Spyro!" Twilight shouted, glaring at Twilight.

"Don't worry Twilight, I'm sure he's fine." Applejack said, looking away from her.

"I wouldn't worry about him." Fluttershy said. "Though I'll miss my punching bag."

"Discord, you lied!" Twilight said, getting his attention. "You said the elements were here, but Spyro figured out they're at Ponyville."

"Oh, so he figured it out did he?" He asked, looking to where he flew off to while his eye extended out like a telescope. "I'm actually impressed. As for me lying, I did no such thing. I said twists and turns were my master plan, so if he figured out where the elements are, he probably figured out what this maze was. It seems Spyro is more of a prized pupil than you are, huh, Twilight Sparkle?"

Discord then disappeared with a snap of his finger, leaving Twilight alone with her friends, who turned into the biggest jerks ever, a lying farm mare, an angry party pony, a greedy fashionista, and a bully who is beating up and picking on everyone cruelly.

"We need to get to Ponyville, now." Twilight said. "We need to get to the Elements of Harmony."

"And leave the dying hybrid behind?" Fluttershy asked. "Good idea, less baggage."

She then tugged on her tail, making her trip over, the lavender mare starting to get annoyed with her friends as she got up.

"This is going to be the longest and most disastrous day ever." Twilight said, getting up and walking to Ponyville, focused more on how her friends were behaving than on how Spyro was doing.