Hello there, ponies and stallions. So nice to see you. What is it that you have there?

The Elements of Harmony? My my, they are nice trinkets, are they. But do you think they are enough to defeat me? The Great and Powerful Discord.

Well I suppose all of those adventures I've put you through is bound to have helped you become the ponies (and stallion) that you were meant to be. Made you perfect users of the Elements.

DJ Pon-3, how I made you force the others to confront the truth about their path and accept their past mistakes.

Derpy, how I gave you the opportunity to prove that laughter is indeed the best way to overcome said past traumas.

Nurse Redheart, how I gave you the opportunity to sacrifice the only thing you had left, your life, in the ultimate act of generosity. Good thing you managed to survive, isn't it?

Miss Cheerlie, how I gave you the chance to protect those young fillies and through your kindness get them back to their parents.

Doctor Whooves, how even though I stranded you from your party you had the loyalty to stay besides them, even when offered the chance to travel through time and space.

And you, my dear Trixie. I gave you the opportunity to befriend these pitiful ponies (and a stallion) and learn that the strongest magic is indeed friendship.

Yes I orchestrated it so that you'd learn the lessons that the other little ponies learnt, so that you may have enough power to activate the Elements of Harmony. But now comes the famous test.

You've proven your worth against my challenges. But can you prove your worth against me!

Doctor Whooves, I offer you this choice. You say you are loyal. I say that loyalty is a fault for the weak. You may have stuck by your friends before. But what if I gave you the choice. The ultimate choice. Between your precious time... or her. You can have one, but you doom the other to be destroyed forever. Even if you defeat me my power will still linger, so you will never be free. So are you loyal to her. Or to a simple concept of time?

Derpy, my dear. These ponies don't laugh with you. They laugh at you. Everyone thinks of you as nothing more than a joke. Even when you try to be yourself people mock you and jeer against you. They slur against you. They make you change who you are to please themselves. They don't accept you for you. Can you really say that you have any friends? That laughter is all the great when directed at you?

Miss Cheerlie, you say that you are kind. But this is clearly untrue. You are a teacher. Teachers by their nature have to be strict in order to discipline their children. But it's more than that. I've seen your past. I know that you weren't always kind. I knew you use to be a bully. The biggest filly in the playground. How can you have the Element of Kindness when you were once so merciless?

Nurse Redheart, the giver of so much. Now what sort of sham is that. How much have you really given? You're just doing your job, nothing more. You work those long hours so you can earn more bits. If you were truly generous you'd give away every cent. You'd work for free. But no, you do it for the bits. Generous? Ha. And I'm unfunny.

DJ Pon-3, has speaking the truth ever brought you anything but misery? How many friends do you have? How many people like being around you? Nobody likes someone that always tells the truth. All you do is ruin the fun for others. All you do is make people feel bad by telling the truth when it is far more sensible to lie. What has honesty brought you except loneliness?

And Trixie. The Great and Powerful Trixie. If you're as amazing as you say you are, why don't you have any friends? Surely someone with your magical power could conjure up some friends with ease?

So, my little ponies (and that one stallion), what do you say? The others fell under my power, what makes you think you're better? Is there anything you can say to me that will break my hold over you? Is there any response at all? What is it that you're about to say, hmm?

Yes. You're right.

Yes. You're right. I can never choose between two equally valid options. My loyalties will always come into conflict. But just because I choose one option doesn't mean I'm not still loyal to the other. I refuse to make the choice though. I shall be loyal to her and to the concept of time. There is nothing you can offer or inflict onto me that will make me change those loyalties. It isn't as clear cut as one or the other. A stallion may have many loyalties, some of them conflicting. But that doesn't mean one is less than the other.

Yes. You're right. People do laugh at me, at my silliness, at my misfortunes. And I'm okay with that. Because at the end of the day I like laughter, any sort. And if they're laughing at me, well, they're not laughing at someone else. If I'm being ridiculed they're not bulling someone who couldn't handle it. I've been laughed at my whole life. But I don't see why I should let it get me down.

Yes. You're right. I wasn't very kind. I was a big bully. I may never be able to change what I did. But I can choose what I do now. Now I realize that I made a mistake. I'm a teacher. We're not kind. But we are generous. I don't get paid overtime. I don't get paid to help put on school productions. I don't get paid to make sure every student is happy. Because I don't care about being paid. Any money I got would be given back to my fillies and foals to further their hopes and dreams. I've already fulfilled my dreams. I want to give so they can fulfil theirs.

Yes. You're right. I'm not very generous. I only work the long hours for the bits. But I could make better bits in a whole raft of other professions. But none of them would give me the satisfaction I get when I see those that suffer recover under my hoof. That they will go out into the world and do what they want thanks to what I do. Yes, we lose a few. More than I'd care to admit. But that doesn't mean I should stop being kind to them anyway.

Yes. You're right. The truth hurts. And sometimes it's unpleasant. But someone has to stand for it. The truth is to precious to be discarded. I know that it's the truth that I see my gift as a blessing, nor a curse. That while being forced to speak the truth may drive ponies away, telling lies will only hurt them greater when the truth does come out. The truth may hurt, but at least it doesn't hurt as long as lies.

Yes. You're right. I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, do not have many friends. Or any friends. My exceptional gifts have made me an outcast amongst society. My talents have put me a league above the rest. So maybe I'll never have friends. Maybe I'll forever be alone. But I'm not going to change who I am to make ponies feel better about themselves. I may be egotistical, boastful, prideful. But that is who I am as a pony. If I changed myself to make friends, then I wouldn't be doing it at all.

My my, you are some smart little ponies (and a stallion). Capable of working through my manipulation. Realizing that the elements don't perfectly fit and switching them around. That is very clever. So go ahead. If you think you have enough power, fire away. Encase me in stone, reverse all of this process. Go ahead and shoot. I'll like to see what happens.

… So once again I am frozen in stone. I suppose I should feel upset that I have been defeated.

… If I was defeated, that was. You really think those false bearers have enough power to encase me for another thousand years? I'll be out within a few decades at most. The feeble power those bearers provided will barely stop me. The original bearers are still corrupted. Parts of the land are still under my control. This is nothing more than a rest.

You see I've been planning this right from the start. There was always the chance that the original bearers regain their old moods and throw off their brainwashing, ready to face me down once again. They might have even been able to beat me.

But giving false bearers the chance to do it, well, the Elements of Harmony were hardly at their full strength. Nothing that I couldn't resist against. So I set it all up. I set it up so Trixie would find Celestia and go on that fool's errand. That she'd unite a ragtag group of ruffians that wouldn't have a chance of stopping me. All I needed to do was set up a few scenarios to let them truly power up their Elements enough for them to work.

I'll be out of here in a few decades to do this all over again. My my, it will be a lot of fun.

I can hardly wait.

See you soon.