Chaos Reborn: The Corruption of Harmony

Chapter 17: So What Do We Do Now?

“Hey y’all! I think she’s waking up.” Applejack’s voice called out.

Twilight slowly forced open her eyes. She was disoriented, and her head was pounding.

“Twilight, my student, you need to get up, but please take it slow. You’ve overexerted yourself.” Celestia’s voice spoke to her.

Upon hearing her mentor, the recent battle surfaced in Twilight’s mind and she sprung up, half prepared to rejoin the fight. The quick movement caused a sudden drop in blood pressure and in a light headed daze, she collapsed over the side of her bed. Rainbow Dash swooped in to break her fall, propping Twilight back up on the bed.

“Careful now, Twilight.” Rarity cautioned her. “Please, take it slow. You’ve had a simply dreadful day.”

Twilight held her head, and tried to regain her composure.
“Wha-…Where are we?”
Her vision finally cleared, revealing that she was back home in the library. All her friends were there, staring at her with looks of concern. Celestia’s flank was wrapped in bandages stained with small traces of blood seeping through. Luna was there too, clearly injured, but not nearly as bad. There were a few scuffs and scratches, but by the looks of it, she’d heal up without any scarring.
The dazed unicorn surveyed the room. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were standing at her bedside with Celestia and Luna at the other end. Downstairs, Pinkie Pie was setting up decorations for a party. There was a large banner above the door reading “Get well soon”.
Twilight was happy to see her friends again, especially after all she’d been through in the future. A tear came to her eye, and she smiled at Applejack, remembering how she’d given her life, allowing Twilight to escape Pinkamina and her assistants, a sacrifice that made all of this possible and gave her the chance to make things right. However, her smile faded once again as she looked around and noticed those absent.
“Where’s the Doctor!?”
Twilight peeked around her friends, hoping to see him down below with Pinkie.

A door down below, leading to another room in the library, opened as the Twilight Sparkle of the current timeline stepped out with Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus’s head hung low as she came out with a pile of bloodied bandages.

Twilight’s past self spoke up. “I’ve done all I could with the healing spells Spike found, but it’s not looking very good. He’s stable for now, but we should really get him to a hospital.”

Future Twilight still wasn’t able to piece everything together. She tried to think back but the last thing she remembered was watching Celestia fall after Discordia and Pinkamina teamed up on her.

“How…did we get here?” She asked, looking to The Princess for answers.

“Well Sugar Cube, we found y’all here when we showed up.” Applejack was the first to explain.

“Yeah, you guys were pretty banged up, but Fluttershy patched you up as best she could.” Rainbow chimed in.

“You had us so worried, dear.” Rarity smiled softly with tears in her eyes.

“I told you they’d be ok if we set up ‘get well soon’ decorations.”, Pinkie Pie popped up behind Rarity, throwing confetti into the air.

The purple unicorn below teleported herself up to the rest of the group. “But they’re not ok, Pinkie. Just about everypony here has sustained serious injuries, and from what I can tell, future Twilight’s mind is likely strained. From the scorch marks on her horn alone, my guess is that she used every ounce of magic she had and then some just to get us out of Canterlot alive.”

“Well if what we’re up against is powerful enough to take on both of the princesses and win, I don’t reckon we can stop ‘em.” Applejack commented, with obvious worry in her voice.

“Pfft! We’ll take them down, no problem. All we need are the Elements of Harmony and they’ll be gone in ten seconds flat.” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“I’m not so sure about that. Her strength was immeasurable. Even when Luna and I were linked to the elements, I doubt we could have stopped this monster.” Celestia cut in, looking down to the bed at Twilight. “We need to know what it is that we’re facing. What happened in the future? And why does this new threat look so much like...you?”

Twilight lowered her head in defeat and began to explain the events to come. The girls gasped as she explained to them how, one by one, each and every one of them were picked off by a copy of Celestia and replaced with horrible counterparts from other dimensions. She recounted how she came to know the Doctor’s true identity and how together, they witnessed the creation of her evil double, born of a combination of the corrupted Elements of Harmony and the magic of Discord. She told them of the massacre of Ponyville, and lastly, she explained how she and Whooves escaped to the past in a last ditch effort to make things right.

The Princess was horrified as she took in the disturbing tale. In all her millennia of life, she’d never encountered an evil like this. All eyes were on Celestia as she strained to formulate a plan. If the Elements of Harmony were used in this creature’s creation, then the Elements alone would not be able to stop her. She and Luna were still weak from their previous encounter, and future Twilight and The Doctor were in no shape to do much of anything.
There was only one option. Celestia didn’t like even considering it, but it was the only chance they had of even hoping to defeat Discordia. She looked to Luna and could tell her sister was thinking the same thing. The dark alicorn nodded to reassure her that this was the only way.

Celestia finally spoke up. “We will have to free Discord and convince him to help us.”

The girls gasped again, shocked that Celestia would even consider turning the master of chaos for help.

Both Twilights protested in unison. “You can’t be serious!”

Past Twilight continued, stomping her hoof down
“Even if we could get back to Canterlot and free him, there’s no way we can possibly trust him! Have you forgotten what he did to Ponyville last time he was free? What’s to stop him from joining forces with Discordia? She is a part of him after all.”

Celestia understood their concerns, but tried to explain. “I know Discord better than anypony ever could. He wasn’t always a villain. You may remember when I told you all that Discord ruled Equestria before Luna and I. Before his reign of chaos, he was like us. He was an alicorn king. A king who, though flawed, had great capacity for good… and he and I were once very close.”

All but Luna simply stared blankly at her in disbelief, trying to imagine such an odd pairing.

“He was always one to cause mischief, but in my youth, it was part of what drew me to him. I was naive and easily swayed by his good looks and charming personality. At first his pranks were harmless. He’d replace the guards’ helmets with buckets or fill the rain clouds with chocolate milk. It was kind of funny, but he didn’t know when to stop. Eventually his pranks became more malicious and his subjects suffered for the sake of his laughs. I confronted him, and tried to guide him to be better. And for a time, he was. But in time he returned to his old ways and I was no longer willing to tolerate his mischief. I was forced to leave him.” Celestia bowed her head in regret. “He didn’t take it well. He lashed out on the citizens of Equestria, hurting them to get back at me. He became obsessed with spreading mayhem in his wake, and then he learned about the Trees…What you know of as the Elements of Harmony was once only half of a larger power called the Trees of Balance. Back then, this power was contained in the form of two intertwining magical trees that maintained an even distribution of Chaos and Harmony in Equestria. Discord, seeking a means to blanket the land in constant chaos, took the dark, thorny portion of the Trees into himself. It gave him unimaginable power, but also drove him mad, changing him into the first Draconequus, a creature who’s very composition defies order and balance. Luna and I were forced to harness the the magic from the remaining tree, and with that power, we formed the Elements of Harmony, to stop him. Together we used them to imprison Discord in stone. The citizens of Equestria were saved, but in Discord's absence, the land was left without leadership. Reluctantly, my sister and I took the throne in order to restore order to the land.” Tears formed in Celestia’s eyes, “Somewhere in there…is the Discord Luna and I once knew. We just need to appeal to him. Get him to understand the situation. He won’t let countless ponies die over a grudge. Discord isn’t like that. He’s not evil, just…bad.”

“But even if he’d be willing to help us, there’s no way to get to him. The statue is all the way in Canterlot and since that evil Twilight took control, the city has been surrounded by a barrier that can only be penetrated by dark magic. I don’t have the power to teleport us inside, and even if I did, you saw what happened to future Twilight. It would be a one way trip. The amount of energy it would take to cover that distance and bypass the force field would damage my horn.” Twilight reasoned.

“Then I shall go.” Luna volunteered. “I have the magic to transport Discord back, and perhaps the lingering energy of the dark power I once wielded will allow me to pass unnoticed.”

"Are you sure about this, Luna?" Celestia asked as if pleaing her to reconsider.

"Sister, there is no other way"

Celestia agreed after a brief moment of silence. ““Then it’s decided. Please be careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again.”

"Of course" She reassured her older sibling. Luna jumped down to the floor of the library and stepped out the door. Before she left, she turned to everypony and assured them. “If fortune shines upon me, I shall return before long.”, then spread her wings and took to the sky.

Back at the castle, bodies of fallen guards littered every room. A single guard, the Captain, was left to face Discordia. Blood was caked in his mane and fur. His body was covered in injuries, most of them severe, and his back legs were rendered useless. With his front hooves, he pulled himself forward, determination in his glaring eye. Discordia sat upon the throne watching with amusement as he struggled in vain to reach her. Just as he made it within a yard of meeting her face to face, his horn flickered. He fought to force out his last words. “I won’t let you- UHG!” The Captain’s pupils constricted and blood gushed from his mouth, as he looked down to find a black tendril protruding from his chest. The tendril retracted and he collapsed, bleeding out onto the floor.

“Good work, my servant.” Discordia smiled to the tall faceless pony standing behind the Captain’s body. “With Canterlot mine, all we need to do now is wait. Celestia double shall be birthed into existence tomorrow and with her at my side, nothing can stand in the way of my plans.”