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“You think I have something to do with all this?” Discord asked huffily. “If I wanted to ponynap the princesses, I’d have come up with something far more creative.”
“This has your cloven hoofprints all over it,” Rainbow said angrily.
“Correction.” Discord detached the leg with the goat’s hoof and waved it in the air. “I have one cloven hoof, Miss Dash.” The hoof then decided to give Rainbow a swift kick in retaliation for its master’s supposed hurt feelings, and the cyan mare rubbed her abused flank as Discord casually reattached the leg.
“Well, somethin’s responsible for all this,” Applejack said flatly.
“Indeed,” Rarity said, her genteel voice clipped.
“I brought some books with me,” Sunset said, pulling the books out of her bag by hoof. “I was going to leave them with Twilight, but it seems we might have a more pressing need.”
“What are they for?” Fluttershy asked in a very small voice. Discord lost his grump and put a paw on her withers, his face sad.
“They tell of the history of Equestria,” Sunset explained, relieved her presence had so far been well-accepted by Twilight’s friends. The purple unicorn had explained that Sunset had been a former pupil of Celestia’s, but had left out the rest of the painful history, and nopony questioned her, accepting Sunset as a friend. This had warmed the amber unicorn’s heart more than she’d cared to admit, and she could now see some merit in having friends. They certainly made troubles a lot easier to bear, for one thing. “They explain the founding of Equestria, as well as what happened when Discord took over, and how he was defeated. It also goes on to give some backstory on the Elements of Harmony.”
“Really?” Pinkie asked, awed.
Sunset nodded. “They originally came from the Tree of Harmony, which is located somewhere deep inside the Everfree Forest. Apparently Celestia and Luna needed something powerful enough to stop Discord in his tracks.”
“Complete fabrication,” the draconequus muttered, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Sunset continued. “And of course, everypony knows the story of how Celestia later used the Elements to seal Nightmare Moon away,” she added. "And we all know how they were used to purify the darkness from Princess Luna, not to mention giving Discord his second taste of life as a garden ornament." Discord rolled his eyes, but made no comment.
“I suspect that taking the Elements from this tree wasn’t the smartest idea,” Twilight guessed. "I mean, the Tree must've held enough power to survive without them, but I'm guessing that's no longer the case."
Discord actually looked ashamed as he stepped in. “Not entirely their fault,” he said, staring at the floor. “I, uh, shall we say, wanted to find a way to leech the magic from the Tree of Harmony and capture the princesses. So I planted plunderseeds, and after many years they finally sprouted into the beautiful specimens you see all around you.” He sighed. “I don’t feel anywhere near as smug now, for some reason. Anyway, the Tree must have remained powerful enough even without the Elements to maintain its free status, until the seeds finally grew up.”
Sunset walked over and put a hoof on his shoulder. “The point is, you’re sorry for what you’ve done,” she said gently. “That’s all that matters.”
“Exactly,” Applejack agreed, joining the amber unicorn, and soon everypony was gathered around Discord, assuring him they forgave him for his past stunt. This brought a smile back to the draconequus’ face, and he gleefully produced bouquets of flowers in each mare’s coat colour, including Sunset’s. These flowers, predictably, spat water in everypony’s face, but nopony was inclined to be mad, instead laughing the stunt off and wiping the water off their muzzles. “So what do we do then?” Sunset asked, once the hilarity had died down.
“It’s easy,” Rainbow said. “We give the Elements back.”
“If it’s that easy, I vote we mosey on over to this Tree and do just that,” Applejack said.
Twilight smiled at her friends. “Then let’s do it,” she said.
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Predictably, it didn’t turn out to be that easy. When they finally reached the Tree, located deep inside the Everfree Forest, they discovered the plunderseed vines had fully taken over, completely smothering the tree and blocking all access. “And nopony’s magic is working,” Twilight fretted. "How are we going to get the Elements back if no unicorn can use even basic telekensis?"
Discord frowned. “Something’s wrong,” he said, uncharacteristically serious. “The vines shouldn’t have taken over this far.”
“Then what’s making it this bad?” Spike asked, clinging tightly to Twilight.
A low, booming laugh sounded, and everypony’s eyes widened. “No,” Sunset whispered, horror filling her as she recognised that laugh. “You have got to be kidding me!”
The laughter sounded again, and a figure of horror entered the cave. A centaur of massive size, with two wicked looking horns arising from a mane of white hair, he looked like a creature of nightmares, with eyes as black as night. Even Discord blanched when he saw the monstrosity. “Tirek,” he snarled, stepping protectively in front of the shocked mares.
The centaur laughed again. “Discord,” he greeted, his voice deep and gravelly. “As you can see, I’ve been busy myself.”
“How did you get out?” Sunset demanded.
Tirek chuckled. “Quite easily,” he said. “You may recall an incident when Cerberus left his guard post outside Tartarus. I took my chance, and while he was gone, slipped away.” His eyes glittered with malice. “And I’ve been absorbing the magic of every unicorn, pegasus, earth pony, and alicorn.”
Twilight’s eyes widened with horror. “Then that’s why they disappeared?” she demanded. Beside her, Sunset looked ready to be sick on the spot. "That's why no pegasus can fly, nor can any unicorn use their magic, nor the earth ponies their strength?"
“Precisely,” Tirek boomed. “And then it was a very easy matter for the plunderseed vines to scoop them up, just as I planned with Discord many years ago.”
“What?” the mares exclaimed.
Discord hung his head as he finally admitted the full truth. “Tirek and I were in cahoots a long time ago,” he said. “In exchange for complete domination over all of Equestria, I agreed to plant the plunderseeds and drain the Tree. Tirek would then drain all the magic from everypony in Equestria, and then he would go on his way, and leave me in charge.” He lifted his head, his eyes glittering. “But then I was turned to stone, and Tirek was sealed in Tartarus.” He stepped away and turned to face the shocked ponies. “Now he’s back, and ready to fulfil his end of the bargain.”
Only Sunset saw the shattering pain in his eyes, and she put a hoof out, stopping the others from descending in a rush on the traitorous draconequus. “And what do you get in return?” she demanded.
“Complete domination of Equestria,” Discord said, his voice flat. “Tirek then gets to rule Tartarus, and with the Tree out of commission, it cannot fight back.”
Twilight stepped forward, angrily shoving Sunset’s hoof aside. “Traitor,” she said coldly.
“You forgot we still have the Elements,” Rainbow added.
“And we can blast you back to stone, and do for Tirek as well,” Rarity said, her voice edged with frosty anger.
“I don’t think so,” Tirek disagreed. He opened his mouth, and then, to the horror of the seven ponies and one dragon, streams of light emanated from the Elements; red, blue, purple, orange, pink and magenta. “NO!” Twilight screamed.
But the inexorable absorption went on, until the Elements hung grey and lifeless around their wearers’ necks, while the crown’s light winked out. “You bastard!” Rarity exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.
“How could you?” Fluttershy cried, rounding on Discord in rare anger. “I thought we were friends!”
Discord looked her in the eye. “We are,” he said, his voice strangely soft. Fluttershy met his gaze, and what she read there seemed to ease her broken state. She collapsed in a heap nevertheless, tears streaming down her cheeks and soaking her muzzle, and Rainbow sank down next to her, burying her face against her fellow pegasus’s mane, hiding her own tears.
Tirek chuckled at the sight. “And now for the final coup de grace,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed this little interlude, but let’s cut to the chase. Time to drain the magic of the last remaining ponies left who had any chance of stopping me.”
“What?” Discord snapped out of his shattered state to confront his ally. “You promised me that you’d leave them alone once you got the Elements,” he said angrily.
“I lied.” Those two words took all the fight out of Discord, and he retreated, his face gone pale. “Besides,” Tirek added, his voice conversational, “you lied to me in the first place. You told me the princesses still had their magic, but when I confronted them, they already had their magic drained. Now who took it, I wonder?”
Discord shot a pained look at the seven ponies and one dragon. Despite her lingering anger and pain, Twilight knew, deep down, that she could trust him. Despite his shocking betrayal, she knew he was still their friend. Clearly he had tried to cut a deal to spare them, even if Tirek seemed to want to go back on that deal. And there was a niggling sensation growing in the back of her mind, a feeling that something was about to go down. She shared a look with her friends, who all nodded.
“I did,” Discord said, drawing himself up to his full height. Twilight winced, despite knowing the shocking truth. “I took their magic, every last drop of it. So if you want it, you’ll have to get it from me.”
Tirek studied him. “I see,” he said. “Well, I am a creature of my word, I suppose.” He then shoved Discord brutally aside, and Twilight screamed in pain as she felt the rest of her magic being ripped from her. The other ponies cried out in equal pain and Spike’s wail of agony dug into her skull, hurting her as nothing else could. But most prominently she heard Sunset’s screams, and her heart went out to the amber unicorn, even as she felt her own heart being ripped from her chest.
By the time her stunned senses recovered, Twilight felt beaten inside and out. She didn’t need to look at her flank to know; her cutie mark had vanished, and the light had died from her friends’ eyes. Spike was curled in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably, and Sunset wobbled her way over to the distressed baby dragon, gathering him in her forehooves and rocking him back and forth, crooning a soft melody that Twilight recognised from her fillyhood. Her own mother, Cadance, and Celestia had all hummed that melody at one time or another, and she herself had used it when Spike had been so ill following their last run in with Discord.
Tirek, in the meantime, had grown even larger, and his eyes gleamed. “You were telling the truth after all,” he mused. “I’m surprised.”
Discord glared at him, tears streaming down his face as he cradled a sobbing Fluttershy in his arms. She was clinging to him as if her life depended on it, and the draconequus looked ready to do murder. “Our deal is off,” he snarled.
“It was never on in the first place, you fool!” Tirek roared. “You should never have believed me, Discord!”
The draconequus got to his feet, carefully placing Fluttershy in Twilight’s waiting forehooves. “Take care of her,” he said in a broken voice. He swallowed. “And for what it’s worth, I never betrayed you willingly, any of you. I had no choice. Tirek… is my creator.”
Twilight nuzzled him. “Be safe,” she said, and the others gathered around, giving him their reassurances. As Sunset took her turn at bidding Discord farewell, the amber unicorn was amazed at the level of forgiveness the other ponies and Spike were displaying. Discord had betrayed them most abominably, and yet, Twilight and her friends were still more than willing to take him to their bosoms and forgive him. He’d been forced into his heinous acts – which in truth was no real excuse – but even so, it shouldn’t have been so easy to forgive him.
But then Sunset noticed a faint red glow emanating from her chest, flickering softly before disappearing. She opened her mouth, then shut it again. No sense bringing Tirek’s attention to this little phenomenon, she thought.
Discord finally stepped away from the comforting herd. “You will always be my friends,” he told them. “No matter what happens.” He then turned to Fluttershy, taking her face in his hands and kissing her tenderly on the forehead. Fluttershy opened her mouth, but Discord put a finger over her lips. "I know," he said softly, tears in his eyes. He let her go reluctantly, and Twilight felt her heart seize up in fear as the draconequus turned to his former master. “Do what you will,” he said in a flat voice.
Twilight had to look away as Tirek did just that; when she had the courage to look back, Discord was gone.
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