"...Mom..."
It was faint but Twilight swore she heard Discord say mom. 'Is Nightmare Moon Discord's mom? They look nothing alike!'
"SEIZE HER! Only she knows where the princess is!" The pegasus guard flew to Nightmare Moon to stop her.
"Stand back, you fools!" Using her magic, Nightmare Moon struck lightning on the guards. She turned into a spectral cloud and left, leaving ponies fleeing the scene terrified.
Rainbow Dash freed herself from Applejack's grip and tried to chase after Nightmare Moon but she was faster. "Nighttime... forever?" Using the opportunity, Twilight and Discord fled to the library and Rainbow noticed. "Where are they going?"
In the library, Twilight put Spike to bed. He mumbled a bit the sat up, "We got to stop Nightmare!" He quickly fell back asleep and Twilight put a blanket on him.
"You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon, after all." Twilight went back to the first floor after turning off the light, ready to comfort Discord.
Discord was pacing back and forth with worry. His mother was gone, his aunt was gone, and now ponies might think of him as their next ruler or at least the one who can stop Nightmare Moon. He didn't want to rule anything nor did he want to hurt his mom. What could he do? He was a creature of pure chaos, he couldn't use the Elements. He barely knows anything about them. "All right, Discord, start talking. Who are you? Why did you lie to me about Nightmare Moon? Are you her child?!"
"Twilight, calm down."
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! Not only is Princess Celestia gone, but Nightmare Moon is free and the night is going last forever. I heard what you said back there, you said mom. Is Nightmare Moon your mom?" Twilight asked in Discord's face, no longer respecting his boundaries.
He shoved her out of the way and closed his eyes. "Twilight, it's... complicated." He walked to a different part of the room but Twilight refused to accept his answer.
"It can't be that complicated. You knew Nightmare Moon was returning and you kept trying to convince me it was just a foul's tale, because she was your mom. Want about Princess Celestia, huh? She's gone now with nopony to raise the sun? Do you want the night to last forever? Do you never want to see Princess Celestia again?"
Feeling enraged, Discord turned and shouted,
"I SAID IT'S COMPLICATED!"
Twilight sat back in fear, Discord's eyes glowed red, he grew sharp teeth, bigger, and in his shadow, she thought she could see mismatched wings and a snake tail, but she dismissed it as fear.
Seeing her fearful form, Discord took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He turned away from her, Twilight watched him turn back to normal, and waited for him to respond. "Twilight..." Discord stayed silent for a second as if he was trying to compose himself. "...please. Trust me when I say... it's complicated."
Twilight looked at him and she didn't see a prince, nor the possible son of Nightmare Moon, she saw a sad pony who was going through a lot. "Okay. Do you know anything about the Elements?"
Discord shook his head. "No. After I lost..." Discord sighed as he sat down. He rubbed his arm from comfort as he continued, "No. I never read about them. I never asked my Aunt either. Sorry."
Twilight put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. "It's okay. Come on, let's work together to find the answer."
Discord smiled and nodded. "Okay. Let's do it."
For almost five minutes, Discord and Twilight looked through every book for anything on the Elements. "How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony? Find anything?"
"No. You would think a library this big would have something about the Elements of Harmony but no, nothing."
"And just what are the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash asked as she burst through the door. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" Rainbow flew to Twilight's face and started backing her into a corner.
Before things could go south Applejack stepped in, she pulled Rainbow away from Twilight and told her, "Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?"
Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all looked at Twilight waiting for an answer. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Discord shake his head then pointed to himself. She knew what he meant immediately. 'He doesn't want them to know about Nightmare Moon being his mom.' Twilight sighed. "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her. But I don't know where they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do."
"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."
Twilight rushed over and pushed Pinkie out of the way. "How did you even find that? Discord and I couldn't even find it in the last five minutes."
Pinkie Pie jumped past her saying, "It was under "E"!"
"Oh." Twilight used her magic to bring the book closer to her and she skimmed through it until she found what she was looking for. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known... kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last-known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters." From the window, spectral dust was watching the girls and Discord. Making plans to stop them after retreating. "It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest."
"The Everfree Forest?!" Everypony but Discord and Twilight exclaimed.
"Great, let's go!"
"Whoa there, Your Highness," Applejack said as Discord tried to leave. He stopped and turned to her. "Your Highness, I think you should stay here."
"Nightmare Moon took my aunt. The Everfree Forest has dangerous creatures. You need me. My magic is powerful."
"Yes, but we can't have you get hurt plus, if Nightmare Moon learns that you're royalty, she might do to you what she did to Princess Celestia," Twilight explained. 'She may try to manipulate you too.' Twilight thought to herself.
Discord sighed. "You're right. I'll stay here. See if I can find an answer to the sixth mysterious element." The girls nodded as they left to find the Elements leaving Discord behind.
Discord looked out the window and watched them leave. Once he was confident that they weren't coming back he transformed himself back to normal. He had grown a lot in the last 1000 moons. He was taller, his horns had grown, and he now had a white goatee. He knew what the girls wanted but it's not what he wanted.
He flew to the highest window, looked outside, and saw that everypony was in their homes he flew through the night. As much as he enjoyed the moon and the cool breeze of the night, he didn't have time to enjoy it for long. He had a mission. He flew over the Everfree Forest and saw the girls, they seemed to be laughing about something. 'It's nice to see Twilight laugh. I hope she didn't tell the others about me and Nightmare Moon.'
Discord continued to fly through the sky until he found the old castle. It had been hundreds of moons since he and Celestia left, it was in shambles but parts were surprisingly still stable. He landed on the front steps. He hoped his mother was here so he stayed himself in case she recognized him. 'Maybe she'll recognize me and turn back to normal. There is also a chance that this won't work... but I have to try.'
He knew that this was dangerous but he needed to do this. He needed to find his mom. He needed to help her and fix his mistake. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the castle. "Mom? Mom! Are you here? Are you... in there?" Discord shouted out. His words echoed through the halls but he received no answer.
He searched through the broken halls of the castle until he landed on a familiar sight. He went to his room and not much was left. They took everything after leaving the castle. A scroll gleamed out of the corner of his eyes. He walked over to it and opened it, revealing a child-like drawing of him as a child, Aunt Celestia, and his mother before she became Nightmare Moon. He sat down and a tear fell down his eye.
The weight of everything had finally come crashing, his Aunt was gone, his mother was gone, and there was no pony left to care about him. No pony who knew about his true form, no pony who knew that he was a draconequus. He was terrified that Twilight and were friends were going to banish his mother again. He was terrified of ponies seeing what he truly was. 'Maybe... I can convince Twilight to help my mom. If I explain what happened, maybe she can use the Elements to help.' With a hopeful determination, Discord stood up and proceeded to the hall of Elements.
After transforming back to his disguise, Discord found Twilight with the Elements in front of her. Her eyes were closed, concentrating on activating the Elements. He walked over to her quietly. "Twilight?"
She opened her eyes shocked to see him here. "Discord?! What are you doing here? How did you get here without us seeing you?! What happens if Nightmare Moon sees you?!"
"No time. Twilight, I have something to tell you about Nightmare Moon. She..." Before he could explain anything, spectral dust flew past them and began to swirl around the Elements. "Aah!"
That scream scared the ponies outside. "TWILIGHT!" They ran in to help their friend as fast as they could.
"The Elements!" Twilight jumped into the tornado and Discord joined her.
The others were too late when Twilight and Discord teleported. "Where did she go?" Everypony started freaking out, wondering where their friend went.
"Twilight, where are you?" Applejack called out as the others ran around looking for her.
"Twilight and Prince Discord! I don't know how but I saw Discord here as well!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"LOOK!" Rarity pointed out. Another part of the castle was emitting a bright white light from a distance away.
"Come on!" All five ponies ran to the castle to save their friends.
Twilight and Discord landed in a puff of smoke. They coughed to get the smoke out and when they opened their eyes, they saw Nightmare Moon surrounded by the Elements. She laughed evilly as lightning struck around her.
"Twilight, listen. Maybe we can talk to Nightmare Moon," Discord said trying to convince her but she ignored him.
Twilight got in a galloping stance and puffed dust out of her nose. "Really?" Nightmare Moon was in disbelief. "You're kidding?" Twilight huffed once more. "You're kidding, right?"
Twilight readied her horn as she charged at Nightmare Moon. "Twilight, wait!" Nightmare Moon charged at Twilight as well, knowing the consequences of her actions. Instead, Twilight teleported herself to the Elements.
She groaned and rubbed her head. 'Note to self, practice the teleportation spell.'
"Twilight, please! Nightmare Moon isn't who you think she is she..." Before being able to utter another word, Nightmare Moon used her magic to slam Discord into the wall then onto the ground, knocking him out.
"Discord!" With a newfound determination, Twilight readied her magic. "Just one spark. Come on, come on!" The Elements started to glow but before anything could happen, Nightmare Moon teleported herself back to the Elements. Lightning forced Twilight back, sliding her to an unconscious Discord.
"No! NO!" The Elements sparked and Twilight smirked, knowing her plan worked but all of a sudden, the light from the Elements went away. Twilight gasped. "But where's the sixth element?"
Nightmare Moon laughed evilly as she slammed her hooves on the ground, destroying the Elements. "You little fool. Thinking you could defeat me. Now you will never see your princess or your sun. The night will last forever!"
Nightmare Moon laughed evilly as Twilight lost hope. 'What now? I have nothing to defend myself or Discord and I can't perform the teleportation spell again. What can I do now?'
That's when she heard it. She could hear the others shouting for her and Discord. 'They... came for me...' Twilight gasped. A spark revealed itself to her. Smiling, she turned to Nightmare Moon with a newfound determination. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong. Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!"
The smashed Elements began to glow and lift into the air, shocking Nightmare Moon. "What?"
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty." Gems with an orange glow began to surround Applejack. "Fluttershy, who tamed the manicure with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness." Pink glowing gems began to surround Fluttershy. "Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter." Blue glowing gems began to surround Pinkie Pie, who jumped for joy. "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity." Purple glowing gems started to surround Rarity. "Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty." Red glowing gems began to surround Rainbow Dash. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."
"You still don't have the sixth element. The spark didn't work."
"But it did, a different kind of spark." Twilight turned to her friends. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all..." She turned back to Nightmare Moon. "... are my friends." A bright glow caused every pony to look up, and a new element appeared. Its bright glow blinded Nightmare Moon and woke up Discord.
He rubbed his head as he tried to pull himself up. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element... the Element of Magic."
Discord and Nightmare Moon watched as the Elements fused and were reborn within the Mane 6. They all glowed as a rainbow emerged from them. Discord tried to stand up and run to his mother to protect her. "No... No, not again. Please! I can't lose her again!" Discord stood and took a step but he fell. He tried again and again but he couldn't get up, he wasn't fast enough. He covered his ears and closed his eyes, unable to hear her fearful screams again. Unable to see her leave him again.
"NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO!!" A rainbow surrounded Nightmare Moon that she was unable to escape from.
With the glow of the Mane 6, each pony was surrounded by a bright light, and once Twilight opened her eyes a white glow emerged. After the glow died down, the Mane 6 were lying on the ground. Each slowly stood up with a mild headache. "My head." Rainbow rubbed her head.
"Everypony okay?"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity was smiling happily, seeing her tail was back to normal.
"Why, Rarity, it's so lovely," Fluttershy commented.
"I know. I'll never part with it again." Rarity hugged her tail, happy to see it again in its beauty.
"No, your necklace. It looks just like you cutie mark."
Indeed it did, Rarity was wearing a golden necklace with a purple gem shaped like her cutie mark in the center. "Wha... huh?" Rarity noticed this and saw the same was true with Fluttershy. "So does yours."
Fluttershy had a pink gem shaped like a butterfly and she gasped at the sight. Applejack looked at her and it was an orange apple. "Look at mine! Look at mine!" Pinkie's looked like a blue balloon.
"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow's looked like a red lightning bolt. Twilight had a tiara with a magenta gem on top, shaped like a six-studded star.
"Gee, Twilight, I thought you were just spouting a lot of hooey. But I reckon we really do represent the Elements of Friendship."
"Indeed, you do." The sun rose once more and from the sunlight, Princess Celestia emerged, looking as graceful as ever. Everypony bowed except for Twilight, who was happy to see her mentor.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight walked over to her, happy to see her again.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." They hugged, happy to be reunited once more. Once they finished, Princess Celestia said, "I knew you could do it."
Twilight looked at her mentor confused then said, "But you and Prince Discord told me it was all an old pony tale."
She laughed a bit then said, "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. As for Discord, he has his own way of doing things. Trust me, he never meant any harm. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." Twilight looked at her friends and smiled.
Princess Celestia walked to a cowering Discord. She tapped his shoulder and he flinched hard. Tears had fallen down his face, "Aunt Celestia?" She smiled at him. He stood up. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help her again. It's all my fault."
She hugged him. "It's okay. Come, we have somepony to see if they have accepted true friendship into their heart as well."
Discord looked at her confused as he followed her. The others were confused and Discord asked a question they all thought. "Who?" He followed her to an unconscious alicorn who made him stop in his tracks. He gasped softly at the sight. It was a navy blue alicorn with a flowing spectral mane and tail. Her cutie mark was black with a crescent moon on it. She gasped when she opened her eyes.
"Princess Luna." Princess Luna looked up at Princess Celestia as she approached her. "It has been 1000 years since I have seen you like this." While Princess Luna was close to the ground in fear, Princess Celestia went down as well to talk to her. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."
"Sister?!"
Everypony was shocked. 'Now it makes sense why Discord said it was complicated. Nightmare Moon was his mother but inside, she was Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's sister. Maybe this is why he was apprehensive about this.'
"Will you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia stood up, waiting for her sister to come to her. Everypony leaned in closer, hoping for a yes. But Pinkie Pie leaned in a bit too close and fell.
"I'm so sorry!" Luna ran to her sister with tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much, big sister!" Tears began to fall from Celestia's eyes as she hugged her sister.
"I've missed you, too. And I'm not the only one who missed you." She moved and gestured to the shocked Discord.
Luna looked at him with confusion. He bit his lip and with a deep breath, he hit his hoof on the ground. Magic surrounded the Mane 6 eyes and it seemed as though nothing happened and nopony noticed besides Princess Celestia. Discord transformed into his true draconequus form, however, to the Mane 6, Discord still looked like a unicorn.
Luna gasped. "Mo... Moonlight." Discord smiled with tears in his eyes.
He hesitated at first, thinking this was a dream but he ran to her after seeing a nod from his aunt. "MOM!"
He hugged her and she hugged him back. "MOONLIGHT!"
"MOM?!"
"I missed you so much, mom."
With a tearful gasp, Luna said, "I missed you too, Moonlight. I'm so sorry. I'll never leave you again."
Pinkie Pie started to get emotional and cried waterfall tears. "Hey! You know what this calls for?"
"A PARTY!" Everypony gathered in Ponyville with Luna, Celestia, and Discord being drawn in by a chariot. Everypony was excited to meet Princess Luna. Everypony gathered around and even Spike joined, happy to see Twilight safe and sound. The two hugged as if it had been years.
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Prince Discord stood in front of the ponies of Ponyville and everypony bowed to them. Princess Luna looked down, still feeling guilty about her actions when she was Nightmare Moon. Two young fillies brought a bouquet of flowers and tied them around her neck, showing that they had welcomed her.
Princess Luna looked at her sister and smiled, feeling welcomed for the first time in a long time. She also looked at her son who was still in his pony form. She was concerned but knew she was going to ask about it later. She smiled at him, happy to be reunited with her family once more.
'My mission is complete isn't it?' Twilight thought sadly to herself. She looked down sadly, knowing what was going to happen next.
"Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"
"That's just it. Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."
Seeing her sadness, Celestia made a decision. "Spike, take a note, please." Spike took out a scroll and started to write down every word, Princess Celestia spoke, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the Magic of Friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."
The others surrounded Twilight, happy that their friend would be living in their home permanently. "Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia. I'll study harder than ever before."
Seeing Twilight ready to accept friendship, Discord came to a solution. "Aunt Celestia, after catching up with my mom, can I stay in Ponyville? I've done the same as Twilight for years. Isolated myself and not thinking I needed friends but after seeing what happened, can I stay?"
Princess Celestia smiled. "Of course, Discord. You can remain with Twilight in the library."
Everypony cheered excited for their friendship to grow stronger and the adventures they would go on in the future.
After the party, the Princesses and Discord returned to their home in Canterlot. After fixing up a room for her, Luna settled in her room with her son, who had turned back into his draconequus form.
"Discord, I can't believe how much you have grown. Your magic has grown stronger as well but tell me, why are you disguised around other ponies?" Discord turned away and sighed sadly.
"After you were banished to the moon, many ponies blamed me for your disappearance. I created a pony disguise for myself and I asked Aunt Celestia to erase everypony's memory of what I used to look like."
"Did you make friends? Even after your disguise?"
He shook his head. "No. Ponies found my blue horn weird and my red eyes strange and since I was a "prince" most ponies didn't like me for me, they only liked me since I was Aunt Celestia's nephew."
"I am so sorry, Moonlight. You must have been so scared." Luna put a comforting hoof on her son.
"I was." He turned to her with a smile on his face and his eagle talon on her hoof. "But when I went to Ponyville with Twilight, many ponies didn't question my horn or my eyes. I had ponies be nice to me despite my status and they wanted to talk. I had so much fun with the ponies of Ponyville. I want to reveal myself but... I can't. Not yet. Right now, I want to catch up with you. Show you how much better I've gotten at controlling my magic. You have to see what has changed in Equestria and I want to show you everything. After that, I want to return to Ponyville. I know Aunt Celestia told Twilight to learn about the Magic of Friendship but I want to learn as well. I want to hang out with Twilight and her friends." Discord blushed slightly at the thought of hanging out with Fluttershy. She was the pony he wanted to get to know the most.
She smiled at him. "I can't wait to see it with you. I am excited to see you make friends." They hugged, and mother and son were reunited once more.
As the night went on, Discord showed his mother his magic and how much stronger it had gotten. He told her stories about his magical mishaps and they even reveled in the silence of each other. Even watching the stars glimmer throughout the night. They soon fell asleep on Luna's bed with Discord wrapped around her. Luna slept for a few hours but woke up before the sun rose. She looked at her son with happiness and sadness. Her son had gotten so much bigger since she saw him last, he couldn't even reach her height, or fly, and he slept by her chest. Now, he was wrapped around her. 'How much have I missed in the last 1000 years?' Luna looked at the moon. Its light was shining through their window. Smiling, she started to sing.
“Distant moon so big and bright
Softest silver glowing through the night
High atop the mountain gold
Sun unseen
The world is cold
Here I wait
And here I stand
Early morning
Northern Hour hand
Studying in solitude
Looking for a hidden clue
I wish to see this world through my own eyes
To calm the elders and silence their cries
Because of you
I now gaze up and sing
The Lullaby of The Moon.”
She was unsure if Discord heard her as he got closer to her, smiling in his sleep. 'I promise, Moonlight. I won't ever leave you or my sister again.'