Chapter 169: Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 3: The Tree of Harmony
Inside of the cave with the Tree of Harmony, Twilight was starring down her Darker half, Darth Veil Eclipse, who was smiling at Twilight as she spun her blades, holding them up to show she was ready as Twilight held up Spyro's lightsaber, holding up the purple bladed lightsaber as was ready to fight her darker half. After aminute of the two Twilights starring down one another, the Sith Twilight lunged first, swinging to attack, but Twilight blocked the attack, both of them exchanging attacks and blows as they tried to get one another, but Twilight, instead of focusing too much on defense, decided to change up her attack strategy and went full on offensive, striking with everything she had while also using fire spells to force her darker half back, making her laugh as she landed and used the Force to Puch Twilight back, making her hit the wall and slide down while the others watched.
"I must say, you've definitely gotten bolder since we last fought." Darth Veil Eclipse said. "You're a bit more aggressive since last time."
"What can I say, I learned to adapt." Twilight replied.
She then charged towards her darker half and began to swing the blade, remembering what Spyro taught her as she swung the blade again, forcing Darth Veil Eclipse back again, but this time the sith version of Twilight was ready for her, switching to Form two to try and disarm Twilight, but she kept up her attack, forcing the sith lord to continue to back away while her friends watched.
"Wow, since when did she get good with a lightsaber!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"She didn't." Spyro replied. "We only started her training yesterday after you girls left. We were doing a bit of sparring before it started to get late and we had to stop."
"So, how is she doing all that?" Applejack asked.
"She's using what she knows about her keyblade to help her fight." Spyro replied, watching as Twilight jumped and flew around, unleashing a Blizzard spell on her. "By using the magic that comes witht he Keyblade, it is causing her darker half to retreat, making her flee from the fight."
"Wow, she's really giving her mean old sithy sith self the one two!" Pinkie shouted. "Give her everything you got Twilight!"
"Uh, everypony, we got a problem." Rarity said.
Everyone looked back and saw that the Everfree was heading straight for them along with some Heartless, mostly Air Soldiers, some High Soldiers and a different kind of Heartless they never saw before, resembling Timber wolves, but they had red and black flowers on them and dripping fanged filled with a green liquid that when it hit the ground, it caused the plants around them to start to sizzle, wilting and die.
"Looks like we got a fight on our hooves as well." Spyro said, getting his saber and igniting it. "You girls focus on the Heartless, leave the over grown house plants to me."
"Whoever destroys the least number of Heartless buys the Ice cream!" Pinkie shouted.
"Oh, it is so on!" Rarity exclaimed excitedly.
The ponies all charged towards the Heartless while Spyro took off into the sky and charged towards the vines, cutting through them in order to make sure the Keyblade warriors had some breathing room to fight in. Meanwhile in the cave, Twilight and the Sith version of Twilight were continuing to fight one another, exchanging strikes and blows, but they kept on blocking each others attacks, making the Sith version fo Twilight angry as she used the Force to push the original away, causing her to fall and roll around a bit as she jumped into the air, swinging her head around as a storm of red lightning at Twilight, which she rolled away and got Spyro's lightsaber back. She reignited it as she blocked another volley of Sith lightning, sending it away as she pointed the purple blade at her Sith version as she descended.
"You may have found a new found vigor to fight, but you are no match for the power of the dark side." Darth Veil Eclipse said, using the Force to send her into the invicible wall, choking her. "In the end, you are just like your precious little princess. Weak and pathetic."
Twilight had enough of her darker sides taunts, building up some Force energy before unleashing it, breaking free from the grip as the sith was sent skidding backwards, digging her hooves itno the ground as she looked up in time to block the attack, Twilight continuing to be on the offensive as she struck with everything she had. Outside, Spyro was flying alongside Rainbow Dash as they both focused on their individual goals, Spyro slicing the vines to make sure nothing catches the ponies off guard while they fought the Heartless. Rainbow Dash was handling the Air Soldiers, slicing clean through each one as she hopped from cloud to cloud, getting a few of them to chase her before going into one of the thorny clouds, forcing it to shoot lightning at her as retaliation, but the lightning ended up hitting the Air Soldiers instead, vaporizing them as pink hearts were released.
On the ground, Applejack was taking care of one of the new Heartlesses, jumping back and running from it as it and a few of it's companions gave chase to the pregnant mare, but Pinkie popped out of her hat and pointed her cannon at them, firing it as Confetti and cakes hit them in the face, causing them to go blind from having icing in their eyes, but then they ran into some fo the vines and got entrapped by them. Applejack laughed as Pinkie disappeared back inside of the hat as Rarity was fighting off a few of the High Soldiers, though they had horned helments, they were no different from regular soldiers, waiting for them to launch themselves into a kick before blocking and slicing them in half as she flicked her mane, which one of the Soldiers got a lucky kick and knocking her down into the mud, gettig her dirty and ruining her mane as she looked at herself.
"My coat!" Rarity screamed, looking at her mane and seeing the mud in it. "MY MANE!"
"Oh, they're in trouble now." Rainbow Dash said.
Rarity screamed in rage as she charged the soldier that kicked her, tackling him and slashing at him like a maniac, everyone watching as she tore through the Heartless while the battle halted, finding this behavior for Rarity unlike her as he raised her blade and plunged it into the Heartless, releasing the pink heart as she got up, looked around and ran to get another Heartless as the world paused and Spyro looked at the readers.
"Note to self, don't get Rarity's coat or mane dirty." Spyro said. "unless I wanna end up like that poor sod."
The world resumed as Fluttershy was running, fleeing from the Timberwolf like Heartless as they got closer and closer to her, but a moment later, she tripped and ducked down and as she did, a ine shot out to try and grab her, but when she ducked, the vine went for the Heartless instead, their eyes growing wide in surprise when the vine hit them, causing them to explode itno dust as Spyro flew down and sliced the vine so nothing happened to the shy pegasi.
"Heh, rhyme." Pinkie said.
She popped out of the trees wearing commando makeup and an outfit as she took her Keyblade out and attacked a belt of bullets onto it, firing random spells at the heartless as they came at her, but each spell ended up hitting or missing, causing the dark creatures to flee and run away fromt he random party pony, lifting her blade in victory as confetti shot out of the tip of it, making her giggle to herself. In the air, Spyro was continuing to slice through the vines to keep them at bay while his friends handled the heartless, seeing that everything was still coming at them and he knew that eventually, they'd be overwhelmed before they could help Twilight, so he had to do something that was both reckless and dangerous. He closed his eyes and feltht he power of fire course through him, feeling it's burning sensation as he also felt the sting of poison go through him as well, the venom coursing through him and mixing with the fire as it seemed to make them more intense, opening his eyes as green flames appeared in them, accessing a power that he didn't know he could do as he opened his wings and the flames streaked across his body, the air feeling like it was on fire as the ponies fought.
"Phew, is it getting hot out here or is it just me being awesome?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Ooh, what's Spyro doing?" Pinkie asked.
They looked up in time to see that the green flames were surrounding him and he unleashed a fury attack, several green flaming tornadoes hitting the ground and spun around him, creating a circle in the ground as it sucked in all the Heartless and destroyed them one after the other, disintegrating them while also passing over the Timberwolf-like heartless, some getting destroyed instantly while others caught on fire and ran around tyring to put the flames out as they ran back into the woods, setting them ablaze as the vines writhed in agony, forcing them to retreat and back away as the flames spread. When the fury was over, he created a massive explosion and burned everything besides his friends, restraining hmself enough to where he could control the flames to make sure that nothing happened to them. As he finished, he fell to the ground, landing with a loud thud as he fell on the ground unconscious, having expended a lot of energy in that fury attack and focusing on not hurting his friends, everyone running to their unconcious friend.
"Spyro!" Applejack said, holding him up. "Come on sugarcube, say something! Say something!"
A moment later he burped, releasing more of that green fire as everyone all groaned n disgust, Rarity and Applejack holding their noses at the stentch of his breath as Applejack dropped him, Spyro sitting up as he rubbed his head.
"Ugh, never doing that again." Spyro said.
"Ah should hope ya don't." Applejack said, trying not to breath in the breath. "Ugh, what kinda element was that?"
"Bale Fire." Spyro replied, standing up. "It's a combination of fire and poison. A very nasty and very deadly combination. If you're hit by it, if the fire doesn't kill ya, the poison will."
"Well, hope you don't have to use it again." Rarity said. "Green is most definitely not your color."
"I wonder how Twilight's doing?" Fluttershy asked.
They walked over to see how she was doing and saw she was still fighting her hardest, doing the best she can using her training as a Keyblade training to fight, but her Sith side was getting the hang of her attacks, predicting each and every one of her moves, deflecting and doging them until she managed to push Twilight back into the wall, slamming against the rocky barrier as she fell down, hitting her head as she fell unconcious.
"Twilight!" They all shouted.
"I must admit, you almost had me there princess." Veil Eclipse said, approaching her as she spun her saber. "But in the end, you were no match for the power of the dark side. As our code goes, Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken." She then stopped, lifting her saber over her head as she got ready to finish her off. "The Force will free me."
Twilight tried to get up, looking up at her dark side as she got ready to fight, looking to her friends as her head hit the ground, her eyes getting heavy as she tried to summon any amount of strength she had left, not able to even sum enough to lift her head as she lost hope.
"Forgive me everypony." Twilight said, closing her eyes. "I failed you. I failed you all."
"Giving up, Jedi way is it, hmm?" Yoda asked.
Twilight then opened her eyes, looking around as she got up, finding she was in the middle of some kind of forest, in the middle fo a swamp as she looked for Yoda.
"Yoda?" Twilight asked. "Yoda, where are you?"
"With you, I am." Yoda replied.
Twilight turned around and saw the little green Jedi master again, seeing he was sitting on a long as he gave her a warm and caring smile.
"Yoda, I don't know what to do." Twilight said. "I tried my best, but my best wasn't good enough. I used Spyro's lessons to fight, but-"
"But trained to be a jedi you are not." Yoda said, finishing her sentence. "Trained to be a keyblade warrior and a magic wielder, you are."
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Twilight said. "I tried to be defensive while also going on the offense when it didn't work. But nothing worked. I tried my best, but-"
"No!" Yoda said, surprising Twilight. "Try, you must not. Do or do not, there is no try."
"Spyro said the same thing to me before." Twilight said. "Saying that if I try, then I didn't believe in myself. That I would always fail if I tried."
"Wise, young Spyro is." Yoda said. "Very wise, despite his age."
"But how can I succeed if I don't try?" Twilight asked. "I... I feel so lost." She then fell to her knees, tears rolling down her face as she looked in the murky water and saw her reflection and the reflection of her dark side, laughing at her as she looked back. "I don't know what to do."
"On the right track, you are, but taking the wrong path." Yoda replied.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
Yoda hopped down from his log, walking over to Twilight as she remained on the ground, not feelign threatened by the little green alien as he approached.
"Inside you, beats the heart of a jedi." Yoda said. "But at the same time, to your friends you hold powerful connections. Such connections, powerful, yet dangerous."
"Of course I have connections to my friends." Twilight said. "They are my first friends. they were there for me, helping me, making me who I am today! Spyro, teaching me everything I know now, my friends teaching me the values of friendship, I wouldn't trade that for the world!"
"Ah, passion." Yoda said. "For your friends, passion. Good."
"Good?" Twilight asked, watching the little green alien walk away. "But... I thought the Jedi way forbade such connections."
"Frowned upon, is it, but not forbidden." Yoda replied, getting back on his log as he meditated. "Wrong, we were wrong. Our emotions and our feelings by denying, to the dark side we opened ourselves. Growing inside us, we blinded ourselves to the corruption that was, allowing the sith to win."
"Like my dark side is doing now." Twilight said. "Winning."
"Won just through strength battles are not, but through spirit and through courage." Yoda replied, pulling out his old lightsaber, looking at it as he remembered the old days, the friends he made and the padawans he trained, remembering the good times as he put the saber down next to him and looked back to Twilight. "Much spirit in you Princess Twilight Sparkle, there is. Walk another path, perhaps you should. For you, one more suited."
"I don't understand." Twilight said.
"Trying to follow the old ways of the jedi order, you are." Yoda said, beginning to fade and scare Twilight. "Walk the same path your friend walks, perhaps you should."
"The same path my friend walks?" Twilight asked, trying to get more information as he faded. "Master Yoda, wait!"
"Your path princess, walk." Yoda said, Twilight looking around to see where he was. "You and your friends."
Twilight had no idea what Yoda was saying or understood what he said, on the verge of a break down when a light appeared behind her, shining bright enough for her to notice and turn around, seeing the light flying somewhere else, so she went after it, following the light through the forest and the swamp, making sure it was still within sight as she flew atfter it until she reached a cave, the light disappearing as it reached the cave, meaning thatthis was where she needed to be. She walked into the cave to see what it was the light wantd to show her, using her horn to light the way but all that was in he cave was vines and roots from the forest itself, not fully understanding what she was meant to find when she felt something touch her, jumping back and seeing it was herself, begging for help and it caused her to brighten her horn, finding the walls of the cave were littered with copies of herself reaching out for her, but she kept on walking, making sure not to be touched by the copies until she reached the end of a cave, walking through it and finding herself in some kind of dojo. The dojo itself was white with the symbol of the Jedi order on it, lightsabers on the walls and paintings of trees done in a Japanese style, finding it all to be beautiful when she spotted someone in the center of the room, wearing a white robe with yellow lining on it and wearing a mask, kneeling before a lightsaber.
"You seem trouble young Jedi." The man said, looking up at her. "Tell me, are you a Jedi?"
"Well... I don't know." Twilight replied. "Spyro says I have the potential to become one."
"And yet, you are close to the dark side as well." The man said, standing up.
"What is this place?" Twilight asked. "Who are you?"
"I am a Temple Guard of the Jedi Order." The man replied, using the Force to get his lightsaber. "As for what this place is, it is a place where many Jedi come to when they are unsure of themselves. A crossroad to determine their path."
"So, you're here to help me?" Twilight asked.
"Not exactly." The guard replied. He ignited his lightsaber and jumped up, swinging the blade down and forcing Twilight to ignited Spyro's saber, blocking the attack and going on the defensive as the guard swung his blade, jumping up, but the guard round house kicked her, making her fly into a wall as he approached. "Not a very good start now. Have you had any training?"
"I have." Twilight said, getting back up. "But I only just started my Jedi training."
She then charged and swung the blade to attack the guard, but he just blocked the attacks, moving with grace and elegance as each block was planned and calculated while Twilight's strikes weren't as graceful, exhausted from fighting her dark side as she swung wildly and randomly, being blocked everytime before the guard used the force to block the blade, freezing it and spooking the alicorn before being sent flying back into the wall, the blade deactivating as another hilt fell down next to her.
"I must say, I'm very disappointed." The guard said as Twilight got up, taking Spyro's saber and the one that fell down. "You must have had a very poor teacher if he taught you nothing to help you survive."
"Don't talk about Spyro like that!" Twilight shouted.
She ignited Spyro's blade again and the other blade, but it turned out to be a red lightsaber, making her freeze as she saw it, but she got over her shock and got ready to defend herself, the guard approaching her as he held his blade up to his face, the other end igniting to reveal a second blade.
"Your connection to your friends and to Spyro will be your downfall." The Temple Guard said, attacking and making Twilight defend, being forced against a wall as he disarmed her of the red saber, making her raise her coltfriends blade to protect herself. "Your connections make you vulnerable to the dark side. You aren't meant for the path of the Jedi." He then disarmed her of Spyro's blade, knocking Twilight down to the ground in the same position that she was when her darker half did. "In the end, you will fall to darkness and your friends will perish by your hoof. I am sorry young one, but you must be destroyed. There are only two paths, the Jedi or the Sith, and you aren't even close to being a Jedi."
"But... it's my path." Twilight said, her eyes getting heavy again as she saw the yellow blade in front of her eyes.
"You did follow your path, but it led you to the dark side." The guard said. "There are only two paths anyone can walk. The ath of the Jedi, or the Sith."
"No, there's a third path." Twilight said as the guard raised the blade.
She could see Spyro standing at the door way, looking worried and pounding at the door to save her, remembering what he told her yesterday.
"The Jedi are peace keepers, guardians, some believe saints and monks. But their code lead them to their down fall." Spyro said, Twilight remembering what he said. "It lead the jedi away from attachments, from passion and from familial love. They believed they were above their own emotions and feelings, but unfortunately, it lead them down a dangerous path. The longer one denies their emotions, the more those feelings will fester inside until you can't control them, leading them to the Darkside."
"Spyro's right." Twilight said. "I tried to keep my emotions from taking over, fearing the dark side, but the dark side is just what others call when someone uses those powers for a darker purpose. When really, it's just the Force."
"What are you babbling about padawan?" The guard asked.
"You believe there are only two paths to the Force, but there is a third." Twilight said, sitting up. "There is no Dark side, nor a Light side, there is only the Force." The guard swung the blade down to finsih her off, but twilight raised her hooves and stopped the blade with the Force, the blade inbetween her hooves, surprising the Temple Guard as she threw his blade away, using the Force to pull Spyro's blade to her and used her magic to grab it, reactivating it and continuing the fight. "I will do what I must to keep the balance, the balance keeps me together. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish." She then swung high, surprising the guard as he raised to defend himself, not noticing she unlocked the bottom half of the saber and struck, catching him off guard as she flipped over and allowed the Force to tell her what to do, her movements flowing with grace and with elegance, surprising the guard as she fought. "There is passion, yet emotion, serenity, yet peace, chaos, yet order. I am the wielder of the flame, protector of balance. I am the holder of the torch, lighting the way. I am the keeper of the flame, soldier of balance." She then knocked the guard down, pinning him to the ground as she pointed the blade at him, looking down at him as he was lying on the ground. "I... am the guardian... of balance."
The Temple Guard was starring at the pony in shock and awe, surprised to see she had her emotions under control while also allowing them to guide her and make her stronger.
"You... how did you...?" The Temple Guard asked.
"I remembered what Spyro said, the Grey Jedi's code." Twilight replied. "They knew that by denying their emotions, they opened themselves to the Dark side, but by embracing their emotions, by embracing the connections that they made with their friends, it made themselves stronger, more understanding of what others feel everyday. It made them stronger, unlike those who deny their emotions and weaken themselves just to avoid falling to darkness." She then deactivated the blade, reconnecting them and putting the blade back on her leg belt. "I choose to follow the same path Spyro does, the path of the Grey Jedi. My friends and my colt friend are my strength, my power, my family. I am proud to have them as my friends and as part of a herd. Can you say the same?"
The Temple Guard looked at Twilight, surprised that was her answer, chuckling to himself as he got up, pulling his lightsaber back to him as he walked away, stopping and turning to her.
"You may yet become a Jedi, Princess Twilight Sparkle." The Temple Guard said. "A Jedi of a new order."
A moment later, the door behind her opened up and she looked back, wondering if she should go inside and turned back to the guard to see what he was doing, but saw he was gone, wondering where he went as she walked ot the door with the light shining out, walking through it as the light engulfed her, bringing her back to the present as her eyes opened up, looking up to see her darker half was getting ready to finish her off as she smiled.
"Farewell, Princess." Darth Veil Eclipse said.
She swung her blade down, but she sat up and did the same thing that she did to the Temple guard, holding the blade with the Force and surprising her darker half as she threw the blade away from her, reaching out with the Force and getting Spyro's old saber back and ignited both sides, spinning the blade around as she starred her down, her dark side sensing a change in her as she lifted her blade up.
"I'm not going anywhere." Twilight replied.
Both ponies starred at one another, waiting for one or the other to make a move when the darker side of Twilight yelled in rage, leaping and spinnng herself and the blade as she struck, but Twilight blocked it before knocking the blade out of the way and struck, landing a fatal blow at her darker half as she gasped, looking down and seeing a large gash on her chest as she fell down, coughing as her saber deactivated, hitting the ground as Twilight walked over, picking her up as she looked down at her.
"I-Impossible." Darth Veil Eclipse said. "I-I was supposed to win. You... you were so close to the dark side. What changed?"
"My friends, that's what." Twilight replied, looking to the entryway. "They are my strength, not my weakness. They would never abandon me, like I won't abandon them. Even if I have new duties, that doesn't mean I won't stop caring about them or about my colt friend. We're a herd, we're family. And family stick together."
She then looked down, seeing the surprised look on her darker halfs face as her eyes turned back to normal, smiling at Twilight as she looked to her saber, pulling it to her before presenting it to the princess, surprising Twilight as she took it, looking over the two sabers as she looked down at her Darker half.
"You may yet... become a Jedi." Her darker half said.
She then closed her eyes and a moment later, she disappeared, fading from existence as the barrier to the cave disappeared, everyone running in to check on her.
"Twilight!" Spyro shouted, running to her. "Twilight, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Spyro." Twilight said, standing up. "I'll be alright."
"You sure darling?" Rarity asked. "We were very worried that you wouldn't make it when we saw you fall down."
"Believe me, I'm alright." Twilight said, igniting the blade and seeing it was red for a moment before it changed back to green, igniting the other half and seeing it changed to green as well, smiling as she deactivated it and put it back on her belt while Giving Spyro back his. "But I found something that I didn't think I'd find. Balance, and clarity."
"That's good Twilight." Spyro said, utting his hoof on her shoulder. "A clear mind is a focused mind. But now... now's the time we have to save Equestria."
"I know." Twilight said, looking to her friends. "We don't have anymore time to loose. Everypony ready?"
"Ready!" The girls replied.
Twilight flew up to the air and used her magic, removing the Elements of Harmony from their necklaces, making them spin around herself before removing hers, the elements ready to be returned, but then the thorny vines shot out and grabbed her, makign them all gasp, bbut Twilight took out her saber and ignited it, cutting the vines and freeing herself as she used her magic to return the elements to their original places, which they all closed around the elements anc they started to glow, releasing a powerful wave of rainbow colored light as it destroyed the vines in the cave and traveled to the town, Discord laying on one of the vines in a hawaiian shirt and sipping on coconut milk as the vine was destroyed, making him fall to the ground and look around to see that all of the vines were destroyed.
"Oh poodoo." Discord said.
Twilight flew back to her friends, seeing that the tree was still shining as a couple of vines remained, but were then destroyed, revealing the princesses were there and they walked over to them, Twilight ran up to them and hugged them as they hugged her back.
"We know how difficult it was for you to give up the Elements." Princess Celestia said. "It took great courage for you and your friends to give them up."
"Not as much courage as it took for her to face her darkness." Spyro said, walking up to them. "Facing her darkness was one of the more difficult challenges she had to face, but she pulled through and won, passing her most challenging test yet to becoming a Jedi master."
A moment later, Twilight felt a spark ignite in her as the tree started to glow, everyone watching as the elements flowed down and connected to the star shaped element as the rainbow flowed down to the sun and moon on the trunk before coming to the roots and from the roots, a flower grew and bloomed, revealing a chest with six keyholes around the lid og the hexagon shaped box.
"What the heck?" Twilight asked. "What's inside it? How do I open it?"
"Easy, with our Keyblades." Rainbow Dash said. She flew over and called her blade, pointing it at the chest as it fired a beam of light, but when it hit the chest, it glowed for a second before sending the beam back at Rainbow Dash, hitting her and knocking her to the ground in a daze. "Or maybe not."
"I may not know what is inside, but I do know you won't be solving this mystery alone." Princess Celestia said, revealing her firends smiling at her as she smiled back.
Everyoen then walked out of the cave and started to make their way back to Ponyville, the Everfree seemingly a bit calmer than before as they walked through the darkened woods, sensing the darkness in the woods was weaker than before. As they walked, they came out and saw Discord there wearing a styrofoam winger and banners appeared, confetti flying everywhere as he waved a flag.
"Bravo everypony, bravo!" Discord said. "However did you save the day this time? Blast the beastie with your magic necklaces I presume?" He then disappeared and reappeared on Applejack's back, wearing a cowboy outfit as he lifted her hair. "Speaking of, where are those necklaces? You know, the ones that sent me back to a very unconfortable and very rocky prison?"
"Gone." Applejack replied.
"Gone!?" DIscord asked, tapping his fingers together as she smiled. "Gone, huh?"
"Don't even thing about it Discord." Spyro replied. "We may not have the Elements of Harmony anymore, but we can still fuse into our harmony form and turn you back into a lawn ornament."
"And if you want to remain frineds, you better stop thinking what you're thinking right now and help us clean up." FLuttershy said, making Discord shrink as she talked to him.
He then disappeared and turned back up wearing a maid outfit, making Spyro laugh a bit.
"Fine, fine, I'll help clean up." Discord said as he walked away. "But I don't do windows."
They then got to walking again, heading back to town but Applejack was thinking about something, something that was nagging at her mind, which Spyro sensed and walked up next to her.
"What;s up AJ?" Spyro asked.
"Well, there's still something bothering me about all of this." Applejack said. "Why did all of this happen now? Why not before?"
"That is a good question." Discord said. "Those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago."
"Seeds?" Spyro asked, his words sounding like he was about ready to shout.
"What did you say about seeds!?" Twilight shouted, everyone glarring at him.
"Oh, yeah, the seeds I planted over a thousand years ago." Discord said. "Back when the two royal sisters first had the elements, I had a bag of seeds i was eating and purposefully spilt them into the ground, letting them dig into the ground, but it didn't go as planned. My plunder seeds were meant to steal the magic from the Tree of Harmony and capture the princesses thousands of moons ago. But it seems the tree still had enough magic in it to keep my little seeds from growing up big and strong. Guess that was a bit of a surprise."
"You do realize we could have used that information a while ago, right!?" Twilight asked, Spyro looking like he was about to have a nervous break down as his eye was twitching.
"And rob you of a lesson about being a princess?" Discord asked. "What kind of friend do you think I am?"
They were all ticked at the chaos being for withholding that information, which Spyro seemed to be the most angered about, his eye continued to twitch, his entire being turning black as a thermometer appeared, the red line goind up to the very top as a factory whistle went off and he went Hyper on everyone, their eyes wide with surprise as he gave a look of pure murder at the draconequus.
"OH THAT BUCKING DOES IT!" Spyro shouted. "I"M GOING TO KILL THIS FREAKING OVERGROWN SNAKE AND USE HIS HIDE AS A RUG!"
"Oh, please, you can't hurt me." Discord said. "I'm a deity of chaos, so nothing can hurt me. And neither can you."
"Hey, author, anyway you can turn his magic off so I can hurt this guy?" Spyro asked, lookign at the author, which he obliged by making a lightswitch appeared and flipped it to the off position, Discord looking at it and snapped his fingers, finding his magic wasn't working as he looked at Spyro. "Thank you."
"Now, now, let's be civil about this." Discord said nervously as he backed away. "Maybe we can come to a reasonable compromise."
"Oh, I'm a reasonable guy alright." Spyro said. "I'm going to kick your flank for fifty hours instead of the five hundred I was planning to do! Now get ready to die!"
He roared out as he lunged for Discord, everyone watching as he gave Discord a beat down, everyone cringing and covering their eyes with the occasional peak to see what he was doing, but when they heard a bone getting snapped, they closed their eyes again to avoid watching the massacre. The next day, early in the morning, everyone was gathered in Canterlot in the middle of the courtyard, the guards playing the fanfare as the two princesses walked up, leaving Spyro and Twilight behind as Spyro had fashioned a new crown for Twilight, waiting for the princess to give them the signal.
"Citizens of Equestria!" Princess Celestia announced. "It is with great joy, and no longer a heavy burden, that I raise the summer sun! For this celebration no longer represents the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but the return of my dear sister, Princess Luna!"
The crowd cheered as the princess said that, Luna smiling as she flew up in front of the statue of a moon that was set up earlier and used her magic to lower the moon as Celestia flew up a second later, using her magic to raise the sun, which the two were moving at the same time, Twilight getting ready as she flew up, the sun and moon side by side as she flew from behind and created a massive star, making it shoot out as SPyro shot into the air and released a light show of his own, using the fireworks to captivate the audience as they all cheered for them, the Summer Sun Celebration in full swing as everyone watched twilight and Spyro land ont he stage, looking to the two princesses as they smiled at them both, smiling back as they waved to the crowd. After the show was done and the celebration was complete, the group got onto a train and made their way back to Ponyville, heading back to Sweet Apple Acres and approaching the garage to get inside.
"Wow doggie, that was some party in Canterlot!" Applejack said. "Say what ya'll think, they know how to throw a celebration."
"You can say that again AJ." Spyro said. "But I'm just glad to be back home."
He approached the door, which it stared to open, but when it was fully opened, they all saw that the entire garage was a mess, parts everywhere, machines in pieces and ripped to sunders, the entire garage was a complete mess.
"Oh my, I hope you're garage isn't usually this messy." Rarity said.
"It isn't." Spyro said. "Must have happened when the vines attacked."
"Well, maybe we can help get it cleaned up Spyro." Applejack suggested.
"Yeah, it's the least we can do." Rainbow Dash said.
"Thanks girls." Spyro said.
They walked into the garage and started to get all the machines picked up and sorted, parts and machines that were still intact were placed on shelves and inside of boxes for him to sort through later while those that were completely wrecked and destroyed were sent to the smelter to be reforged and reused into new machines. But as they were cleaning, Spyro looked at his terminal and saw a code on the screen, looking at it and entering it and as he did, the entrie grid lite up as a new pathway opened up, leading straight to the Digital Circus and surprising him.
"Hey, Spyro, now's not the time for you to be playing video games." Rainbow Dash said.
"It's not a game Dash, it a code." Spyro said. "AIVA did it. She cracked the code!"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"We now have a direct route to the Digital Circus!" Spyro said.
"You're joking!" Rainbow Dash said, everyone gathering around.
"I kid you not, look." Spyro said, everyone looking and seeing there was now a route to the circus.
"Holy cow, you're right!" Rainbow Dash said. "Does that mean...?"
"Yes Rainbow." Spyro replied. "We now have a direct route to another world."
"Whoo doggie, that's wonderful news Spyro!" Applejack said. "Guess that means we'll be taking care of the darkness there now, huh?"
"Exactly." Spyro said. "I'll contact master Yen Sid and-"
"Uh, what's happening to the terminal?" Fluttershy asked.
They all looked at it again, seeing that the purple lightning was arching across the terminal, everyone backing away as the screen started to glitch out, static appearing as multiple eyes appeared on the screen, freaking everyone out as they continued to back way.
"SOMEONE LET ME OUT OF HERE!" A woman screamed.
Dark lightning shot out of the terminal and everyone ducked down, finding cover as the eletricity hit the walls and the ceiling, everyone finding cover, but one of the mirrors that sheets of metal Spyro had in the garage was hit, making it fall to the ground and nearly hit Applejack, but she jumped out of the way as it hit the ground, but as she jumped, the dark lightning hit her, but it didn't hurt her, but instead, it seemed to scan her, creating an outline as she started to get digitized, being sucked into the terminal, the lightning stopped, everyone looking to see if the coast was clear, finsing everything had calmed down.
"Sound off." Spyro said. "Is everypony alright?"
"I'm alright." Twilight said.
"Same here." Rainbow Dash said.
"I too am quite alright." Rarity said. "Though, a little dusty."
"Pinkie and I are alright." Fluttershy said.
"Wait, where's AJ?" Spyro asked.
They looked around to see where Applejack was at, not finding her anywhere until they found her hat, which was left behind after she got digitized, Twilight picking it up.
"Oh no, AJ." Twilight said.
"Applejack!?" Spyro asked, looking around. "Applejack, where are you!?"
"Spyro, over here!" Rainbow Dash said.
They all rushed over to the terminal, looking at it as the screen jumped to Applejack being in the Digital Circus, wearing a cowboy outfit with a sheriff star on her vest, looking a little worse for wears, but she seemed alright, Spyro having a mini heart attack as he saw her in there.
"APPLEJACK!" Spyro shouted.
In the Digital Circus, Applejack was started to wake up, the pony rubbing her head as she looked around, finding it was a literal big top she was in, looking around in wonder.
"Where the heck am Ah?" Applejack asked.
"Why hello there!" A figure said, freaking Applejack out as she jumped up and fell on her back, rubbing her head and looked to see that the guy that was talking to her was a man wearing man wearing a red coat with, black pats and a dress shirt with a black bow, but instead of a head, it was a row of teeth with gums and a pair of eyes in the teeth. "And who might you be if I may ask?"
"Ah'm... Applejack." The pony replied, getting up.
"Applejack, huh?" The figure asked. "Well, glad to know you remember your name. Most people who come to the Digital Circus don't usually remember their names. My name is Caine and I want to personally welcome you to the Digital Circus!"
"Well, it's nice of ya and all, but Ah really need to get back home." Applejack said. "If ya'll would be kind enough to point me to the exit, Ah'll-"
"Aw, you don't want to leave too soon now, do you!?" Caine asked. "Come on, I want to introduce you to the rest of the cast. Besides, there's no exit anyway."
"Wait, what!?" Applejack shouted, feeling a chill run up her spine.
"It's true!" Caine said. "Here in the Digital Circus, everyone here is home! We're basically one big happy family!"
"Caine, don't go freaking her out!" A womans voice said. A moment later, a rag doll wearing a pathed up purple dress with red yarn hair, a button for an eye and a regular eye came out, walking to the freaked out pony as she stood there. "Pay no attention to Caine friend. He's a bit eccentric. I'm Ragatha and don't worry, you're safe here. Come, I'll introduce you to the others."
Ragatha walked away, leaving Applejack alone with Caine, which she seemed more freaked out by the man with a mouth for a head and followed after the her, keeping an eye on Caine as they went, but above them, Maleficent was watching them, looking at Applejack with disdain.
"So, one of the little princes friends are here in this world." Maleficent said. "This complicates everything. Or... I could use this to my advantage." A moment later, a dark misty cloud appeared next to her, walking to the cloud. "And if the prince does come, I'll be ready."
She walked into the cloud and the dark mist disappeared, leaving the rafters and allowing for Applejack to follow Ragatha to meet the rest of her friends.