Dark Hearts and Spirits

The Elements of Harmony appeared in Discord's quarters with Trixie slung over Applejack's back. The draconequus had been drinking glass and offhandedly threw it out the window with a muffled bang when he saw the seven ponies appear.

"Ah, my friends. Won't you take a seat?" the spirit of chaos said, showing them to some chairs with eyes on the seats. The ponies stepped back and sat on the normal bed instead. "Well, what can I do for you? Surely Twilght wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important" Discord chuckled while lightly ruffling Twilight's hair in an attempt to rile the alicorn. Twilight growled but ignored Discord's jibe and let Fluttershy speak.

"It's nice to see your doing so well Discord."  the buttery pegasus said good-naturedly. Discord laughed and hugged Fluttershy.

"Then it is a pleasure to us both" Discord said, letting go of Fluttershy as he did. "Let's cut down on chit-chat, shall we? I'm going to read your mind" the chaos lord said looking expectantly at Fluttershy. Fluttershy nodded and he touched her head briefly with his finger causing her eyes to swirl for about a second. Discord took his finger off and digested the new information while Fluttershy shook off the effects of the mind read.

"What did you get?" Fluttershy asked, still somewhat dizzy from the experience. Discord chuckled while pressing the back of his head like he was changing slides.

"Well, a blue unicorn named Trixie went crazy...Nice speech Twilight, I should have used that....Ow, that had to hurt" the spirit of chaos muttered while his eyes showed the images that he was seeing.  Suddenly his eyes widened in horror and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath and stopping the images

"Discord!" Fluttershy yelped before rushing over to the draconequus and helping him up.

"No, you must go. He is already tracking you" Discord grunted. Before Fluttershy could voice the obvious "who is he" question, Trixie's eyes snapped open and she tossed down a small magic charge. "Shit!" Discord cursed as he turned the small flare into a coconut. Twilight was about to ask a question when she heard a horrible screech from behind their building.

"What was that?!" Twilight shrieked, now noticing the red haze forming on the horizon and the more screams echoing out through Canterlot.

"Dark-heart, the destroyer of worlds" Discord said and for the first time, Twilight saw Discord trembling with fear. "You know how I am the chaos incarnate, right? Well Dark-heart is destruction incarnated. His duty was to destroy planets so they could be returned to the universe and then shepherd the souls to Elysium. However, he enjoyed his job a bit too much and he went around destroying more planets than necessary and absorbing the souls of the populace. His M.O. was to make a deal with an inhabitant, granting them their greatest wish and then watching them squirm as he destroyed their world. He had no reason to do it other than fun. His reign stopped all of a sudden about 1,000 years ago." Discord relayed telepatically to save time before snapping his fingers and taking them out of his quarters.

"Lets get the Elements of Harmony girls!" Twilight yelled, attempting to keep her composure for the sake of the group. When Discord had relayed the psychic message, he also sent images of Dark-heart's job. The images were too horrible for Twilight to put in words and could best be described as hellish. The souls of billions, writhing in pain and being forced to be used as fuel for Dark-heart.

"Nope" a voice said mockingly. The statue gardens were still for a split second, even Discord and the mares froze. The calm was broken by a huge explosion and red smoke gathering together into the shape of a red earth pony with a messy black mane. His grin was way too big and stretched to the corners of his face, making him look like a corpse. Trixie teleported in a few seconds later, having been able to free herself in the confusion. "Get out of here, you're in the big leagues now" Dark-heart said to Trixie, his voice shaking with annoyance

"Hah! How bad can a chimera be?" Trixie laughed, tossing her mane out of her eyes and looking at Twilight haughtily. Trixie's question was answered when Discord let out a roar and began to truly show his power. A pink aura shot from him turning everything in the gardens into random colors and shapes, true chaos. Dark-heart merely looked unimpressed and with a flick of his hoof, the gardens were back to normal, albeit with a red haze.

"What a dumb idea Discord, wasting your time on theatrics" the demon chided, while clicking his tongue. "Oh but I see you got your friends out alright. How soft are you Discord?" the demon mocked, stepping around Discord threateningly.

"I could say the same for you, brat. You let your proxy go off just fine. Maybe she was your whore" Discord laughed at the younger immortal's expense.

"SHUT UP!!" Dark-heart screamed and charged forward crashing into Discord before leaping into the air to prepare a blast. To the ponies with enough nerve to watch they were nothing more than flashes of color across the sky and sonic booms as they exchanged blows across the sky. Dark-heart headbutted Discord only to receive a tail whip to the face, sending both parties to a halt to catch their breath. A bit of black blood dribbled from Dark-heart's lip causing Discord to smirk at the small victory. While Dark-heart was busy checking his own lip, Discord snapped his fingers to create a large gatling gun and started firing off explosive chocolate milks. Dark-heart scowled and flew upwards dodging most of the barrage, though a few explosions hit him and staggered him.

"To think I was afraid of you" Discord mocked before tossing away his gatling gun.

Dark-heart chuckled before muttering "You still should be". Dark-heart's body exploded and revealed his true form, a giant smokey cloud with the suffering of all the worlds he had destroyed reflected in the eyes of the cloud and magic bolts crackling around him. The only reason ponies in the crowd weren't dead was because Discord quickly formed a shield to protect them from Dark-heart's bolts. "Now, let the real fight begin" Dark-heart roared, his body's winds carrying the voice to every edge of Canterlot. Discord braced himself and shot out a monstrous balloon to eat Dark-heart. Dark-heart dodged it and fired his own beam at Discord. Discord slapped the beam away with a baseball bat before charging in for physical combat. The cloud was somewhat solid which made it possible for Discord to uppercut the demon. Dark-heart righted himself and slammed Discord into a statue with a psychic pulse.

"You and I both know that you're weak. I'm still standing" Discord laughed even as his body trembled from exertion. Dark-heart burst into giggles at the obvious bluff.

"What are you protecting? Your little mare friends?" Dark-heart said through giggles. Discord answered him with a blast of chaos magic to the face, turning part of the cloud into candy. Dark-heart quickly reformed and split into several copies then played pinball with Discord, each clone being a bumper. Discord was bounced back and forth a few times when Dark-heart stopped to mock Discord. "You know, I think you have-" Dark-heart began before being compressed into a stone and punted to the ground.

"Less talk, more rock" Discord panted, his body covered in bruises and his chest heaving. Dark-heart's revenge was swift and brutal. The cloud flew out of the crater, crashing it's bulk against Discord's sternum. Discord coughed up blood but Dark-heart didn't let up and formed two fists before crashing them into the small of Discord's back. Discord didn't get up this time. Dark-heart alighted down, back in the form of an earth pony, and started to beat down the god of chaos. A hoof smashed into Discord's face again and again, spatters of blood going everywhere.

"Discord!" Fluttershy yelped as she and the Elements of Harmony returned with not only the magical artifacts, but also Celestia and Luna. "Let him go or I'll...I'll" Fluttershy stammered, the adrenaline wearing off and taking bravery with it.

"You'll what? He's dead anyway" Dark-heart chuckled, lifting Discord by the neck into the air, "But I'm kind so I'll let you join him!" Dark-heart boomed, dropping Discord and firing a beam of red and black at the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited for the end. What she heard instead was Dark-heart cackling and pained breaths in front of her. She opened her eyes in horror to see Discord, burnt and hurt, had taken the blast for her. The draconequus collapsed seconds later, his breathing becoming labored. Fluttershy rushed over to Discord's side and propped his head up, tears staining both their fur.

"Hehe....To think that the lord of chaos would fall protecting a pony... now that's a funny joke." Discord coughed. "To think it started off with me...trying to break apart friendship....and now I die for it"

"You won't die" Fluttershy said, her heart breaking as she realized that she was lying.

"Don't lie...even if I was cruel to you....you were the only one to treat....me with genuine kindness...Being your friend was the best thing that ever happened to me...Please don't die...friend" Discord managed to cough out before his head lolled back and his breathing stopped. The god of chaos had been slain by the destroyer