The Choice is Yours, Discordby TheBlueInkwellChaptersDiscord's DreamInner ConflictThe Choice is ClearOld Enemies ReturnThe Ransom is RecievedThe Choice is DividedChaos VS Crystal: Part 1Chaos VS Crystal: Part 2Sombra's Final ContributionThe Final Showdown Part 1The Final Showdown Part 2The Final Showdown Part 3The Final Showdown: THE ENDChaos VS Crystal: Part 3Discord's Dream*** When Discord awoke, he was surprised to see two things. One, he was in a bright cheery sunny flower field. The world around him was sky blue and absolutely cloudless and sunlight bathed the long grass and the multiple types of flowers that grew in bunches. The air was warm with the occasional pleasant cool breeze. The sounds and chirps of bluebirds seemed to be cradled in the breeze into the ears of Discord, who was resting under a large sturdy oak tree where the shiny green leaves rustled sightly. Discord sat up and yawned, "My oh my...what a nap!" he glanced around, "A flower field? Rather strange, I would have preferred it a little more...creative!" Discord snapped his fingers and made cotton candy clouds gather in the sky and rain chocolate milk into a tiny drinking glass. Discord drank the glass on the outside of the milk with no hesitation and was about to toss it aside, but before he did so he heard a soft angelic voice. One Discord knew all too well. Discord then fallowed a trail of larks, song birds, and song birds that swirled around him and lead him up a hill of long soft grass. He looked around rather confused, but nevertheless he went along with it. It wasn't until the draconequus reached a sort rounded hill, he found the source of the voice. The sun showed through the cotton candy clouds and revealed a yellow and pink pony with butterflies for a cutie mark, Fluttershy. The birds flew over to her and flew around her, singing along to the little tune that Fluttershy was singing. As Fluttershy was singing, Discord became entranced. Not only in the performance, but in Fluttershy herself. Her soft yellow coat, her long luscious pink mane, her wide adorable teal eyes, and her gentle voice of a true angel combined with the pure sunlight seemed to paint a picture far too beautiful for words. Discord blushed as red as a tomato, "Pure...beauty..." he murmured. As soon as Discord spoke, Fluttershy spotted the draconequus. She gasped and blushed, "D-Discord!" she flew off into the branches of the oak tree and hid. Discord snapped his fingers to catch up with Fluttershy, "Please do not run my dearest Fluttershy..." he said as he hung down from one of the branches, "I absolutely adored your performance!" Fluttershy shrieked and fell off the branch and onto the ground, a few leaves rained down around her. "Are you alright dear?" Discord asked as he peered down from the branch and teleported to the ground. Fluttershy shrieked once more and stood up, trembling. Discord smiled, "Relax my dear..." "I-I'm so sorry D-Discord!" Fluttershy stammered still trembling, "I-I was bothering you!" she squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered. Discord frowned, "Bother me? Fluttershy, you've never bothered me in the slightest!" he exclaimed, "I love to hear you sing! You have the voice of an angel!" "O-Oh...R-Really?" Fluttershy stuttered. "Of course dear!" Discord said, "And it's not just your voice, it's everything about you! I truly do love everything about you, Fluttershy..." Fluttershy looked up at him and stopped trembling, "D-Discord..." "From your wonderful smile to your soft fur..." "U-Um...D-Discord..." "Everything about you is as wonderful..." "D-Discord?" "In fact...I have to confess...I..." Before Discord could continue, Fluttershy flew up to Discord's cheek and kissed it. Discord blushed and cupped his cheek, "Fluttershy..." Fluttershy smiled ever so sweetly, "D-Discord...thank you...for the s-support...I-I really like you, you know...?" Discord didn't waste a split second in pulling Fluttershy in closer to him, "I've always had the idea that you would like me....Dearest Fluttershy..." The sun began to set as the two creatures lips touched. When the kiss was broken, Discord murmured softly. "I love you..." Author's Note Hi guys! This is my first Fluttercord Fanfic! Enjoy! Inner Conflict*** Discord awoke on one of the cotton candy clouds, floating above the wooden floor of Fluttershy's Cottage. He sat up, yawned, and stretched tiredly. Looking around, Discord saw all the animals Fluttershy was caring for sleeping in their little cages and habitats. He could hear little noises like snoring with the rare cute sneezes. The sunrise filtered through the one window in the living room, warming the room just a touch. Suddenly, the integrity of the cotton candy cloud was weakening underneath Discord. He was unaware until he fell through and fell to the floor with a thud. "Ow..." Discord looked up through the hole in the pink cloud above him, "What in the name of Equestria? My patented cotton candy clouds have never made me fall!" he teleported himself upwards and stuck his claw into the sugar fluff, "Someone decided to have a little snack! And this early in the morning too!" Discord dug around until he pulled a little bunny out by his big toe, it was Angel. "I should have known it was you, Devil!" Discord said smugly. "Have you no manners? Fluttershy said you couldn't eat sweets this early!" Angel crossed his arms, far from amused. "Look I know you want these delicious cotton candy clouds," Discord told him, "But rules are rules!" Angel rolled his eyes, as if to say: "Since when does the God of Chaos fallow the rules?" Discord crossed his arms in a matter-of-fact way, "Since I was reformed! I just gained back the trust of the princesses and the Elements after the Lord Tirek incident!" "Seriously? You've gone soft!" "I have not gone soft! The God of Chaos doesn't need to fallow such petty rules!" "Prove it!" Discord narrowed his eyes, "Oh I'll do more than prove it!" he snapped his fingers and made the room become littered with cotton candy clouds that were filled with ice cold chocolate milk, ready to rain. "Check, and mate!" he beamed with pride. Angel once more rolled his eyes, "Oh please! Is that all you can do? Sprout stupid pink clouds what rains flavored milk? Pathetic!" "Oh you want to see what I can do?" Discord asked, "Fine, you asked for it!" He snapped his fingers and in a flash, the room became upside down and the floors and the walls switched with the furniture and cages. The ceiling turned into soap and the floor turned into maple syrup, and outside it was raining cats and dogs. "How do you like that? Ha!" "O-Oh my! Discord! Why are you upside down and w-what is on the floor?" Discord stopped and looked up to see Fluttershy upside down, "Oh, good morning Fluttershy! I was just showing Angel I'm still the God of Chaos!" "O-Oh...I see...But...th-this is my h-house...can you maybe...st-stop...? I-If you don't mind..." Fluttershy asked as politely as she could. Discord knew he couldn't say no to Fluttershy, it was literally impossible. He snapped his fingers and everything reverted back to normal. Fluttershy smiled, "Th-Thank you Discord...do you want to help me make breakfast...?" Discord chuckled, "I'd be delighted, my dearest Fluttershy..." *** In Fluttershy's kitchen, Fluttershy worked to make blueberry muffins while Discord merely watched and occasionally handed ingredients. But Discord was just there to watch Fluttershy's every little graceful move. Discord hadn't been this moved by a pony since Princess Celestia. But sadly, Celestia took his heart and broke it the day she and Luna turned him to stone. After Discord was released, he tried to confess his feelings a final time. But Celestia outright rejected him, which caused him to attack the Elements and turn them against each other. It wasn't until Celestia ordered Fluttershy to help Discord reform, that he fell in a conflicting love between Celestia and Fluttershy. At this point, Discord was still conflicting between the two mares. Celestia was immortal like Discord. She was smart, funny, a prankster, and very pretty. But Fluttershy had been the kindest to him, though she wasn't immortal. She was also smart, but she had this hidden part of her. An aggressive side, which gives her a sense of courage and this flame in her soul that would only burn through when needed. Both mares had amazing qualities, but how can Discord choose? He couldn't, could he? Nevertheless, Discord was entranced in every little movement made by the butter colored pony in front of him. He could feel his cheeks burn as he didn't think he could be in the presence of Fluttershy. "...Now we're done," Fluttershy said, "I'm going to take a basket over to SugarCube corner, Pinkie Pie loves my muffins...well, so does Derpy..." she giggled. Discord was leaned on the wooden counter, "Hm?" Fluttershy giggled once more, "I'm going to take a muffin basket to Pinkie Pie and Derpy...there's a new tray out, so you help yourself..." "O-Oh yes! Thank you Fluttershy!" Fluttershy placed the basket of muffins on her back, "I'll be back Discord!" with a flap of her wings, she took off to the sky. When Fluttershy was out of sight, Discord took a muffin from the tray on the counter and took a bite, "Mmmm! Positively marvelous as always Fluttershy!" he exclaimed, "You make muffins that tastes better then...Celestia's...cakes..." Discord then was back into the internal conflict, "But Celestia has better ideas for pranks..." Discord muttered, "But Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness...and has opened her heart to me...believes in me...trusts me...is patient with me..." he ended up listing more of Fluttershy's perks than Celesta's perks. But Celestia still was on his mind. There was only one way to settle the conflict in Discord's head. Discord snapped his fingers, and teleported to Twilight's kingdom. *** Author's Note Stay tuned my friend! :) The Choice is Clear*** The minute Discord teleported into the new large knights-at-the-round-table themed throne room, he knew where Twilight Sparkle was. Up in her new library reading, she was a book worm after all. As Discord walked to the library, he could hear rustling and books ranging from leather-back to hard-back hitting the wooden floor. "Is anyone here?" Discord asked as he glanced into the various rooms in that single hallway. Soon Discord reached the door and the source of noise behind it, he knocked on it, "Oh yoooohoooo! Princess Twwwwwiiiiillllght! Are you in there?" "D-Discord? W-What are you doing here THIS early in the morning!" was Twilight's response. Discord entered the room and was surprised to see the huge library a mess. Books were askew and tossed aside as Twilight read the books briefly and tossed them behind her, "No...no...NO! URRRRGH!!!" she groaned. "What's the matter? Is the Princess of Friendship having trouble with her books?" Discord asked smugly, "That's a new for you, 'Princess.'" Twilight at this point had her ears back, a clear sign that she was at her breaking point, "What do you want Discord? I don't have time, I have a date with Flash Sentry today and I've never been on a date, so I need to know the protocols...and so far, NONE of these books are giving me a solid answer!" Discord laughed, "You think you can learn about dating from a book?" Twilight glared at him, "You can learn a lot from books! "Okay okay, you're right...but I need you to answer a question for me!" Discord proclaimed. "Okay...?" Discord frowned, "Okay, here it goes...I have a crush on Celestia..." Twilight giggled, "I know, she told me that..." "What?" Discord exclaimed. "She told me about your little crush about her, plus it's very obvious!" Discord blushed, "It was not THAT obvious!" Twilight narrowed her eyes, "Um...you gave her a bouquet of flowers the day I gained my title..." "T-Those were only to apologize!" "Uh huh, yeah, sure..." Twilight smirked. Discord sighed, "Anyways," he found it hard to speak now, "I...I also have a crush on some other mare..." Twilight kept looking at the books in front of her and kept tossing them aside, "Does this pony know you?" "Yes she does...you know her too..." said Discord. "Oh I do? Who is it?" "Fluttershy..." Twilight froze, and in the process dropped all of the book she was holding with a thud, "What? If this is a joke, it isn't funny Discord!" Discord swallowed the lump in his throat that had been stuck there for the time he had been there, "I-It's not a joke...Twilight..." Twilight turned to face the God of Chaos, knowing he was serious by the fact he didn't call her by her title, let alone the Princess title. Twilight was silent for a moment before asking, "And you are asking me who you should pursue? Celestia or Fluttershy?" Discord nodded, looking at the floor nervous to know the answer. Twilight sighed, "I can't tell you who you should love, it should be your choice..." "Well you were no help! I'm going to Rainbow Dash! Maybe she will be blunt enough!" Discord then teleported away. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to browse her beloved books. *** It did not take long for Discord to find Rainbow Dash at all. Rainbow Dash was not in Cloudsdale, she was at Sugarcube corner with Pinkie Pie and Rarity to just hang out and remember the golden years before Twilight became a Princess. Discord went up to them, "There you are Rainbow Dash! I have been looking all through Equestria to find you!" Rainbow Dash glanced over at him and groaned, "Can't I catch at least one day without you bugging me Discord?" she muttered. "Why Rainbow Dash! Show some manners!" Rarity exclaimed. "Oh I have manners! What I don't have is time to deal with Discord's nonsense!" Rarity rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you do...Now Discord-" Suddenly, a bell went off. Everypony knew what that meant, they heard Pinkie Pie shout two words. "CUPCAKE FIGHT!" Discord was then confused, "Cupcake fight?" "It's somepony's birthday, and they requested a cupcake fight!" Dash explained, "And the ponies at Sugar Cube Corner can't say no to a pony on their birthday!" "Ooh sounds like fun!" Discord exclaimed. Rarity stood up, "Well I'm out of here! I don't want sticky frosting in my mane!" "Aw come on Rares! Where is your sense of fun, huh?" Before Rarity could reply, cupcakes started to soar in the air hitting most of their targets, namely Rarity herself. Discord ducked most of the cupcakes, and even poofed up a pink umbrella. "Well, I can see everypony is busy so I'll just go to Applejack! She's the most honest anyway!" he then teleported away. *** "Celestia-darnit! Big Mac! Have you see the apple masher? Granny Smith's making Zap Apple Jam now!" Discord heard the Element of Honesty shout at the top of her lungs. Discord then heard her brother say, "Nope..." Looking on the ground beside him, he saw the tiny mallet only used to mash Zap Apple into a lumpy mush to boil and add ingredients and do the steps as needed. Discord picked it up, "Applejack? Looking for this?" Applejack looked over at Discord and sighed in relief at the sight of the object, "Eeyup! Why don't ya jus' hand it over now please?" she asked as she pointed to the trees that were now filled with rainbow apples, "Those Zap Apples will be gone in a few minutes and we still don't have enough!" "Hold on Applejack, I need you to answer a question!" Discord told her, keeping the object out of the sunset orange pony's grasp. Applejack began to grow annoyed, "Well maybe I'll answer if you give me that frickin' thing!" "Why Applejack! I'm appalled by your language! Do you kiss Caramel with that mouth?" "Shuddap!" Applejack shouted, "I'm on a tight schedule as it is Discord!" Discord smiled, "Then answer my question!" "Fine! But make it quick!" "Okay...so who do you think I should ask out? Fluttershy? Or Celestia?" Discord asked. Discord expected the southern Earth Pony to completely freeze in shock, or tackle him and beat him to a pulp. But she didn't. In fact, Applejack just shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Well I'll give you a real easy answer, Fluttershy..." "You seem very calm about this, why aren't you blowing up like Twilight did?" Discord asked. Applejack was now walking to the barn to hand her elderly grandmother the apple masher, "Because I have been anticipatin' this question since the day you were reformed..."she handed Granny Smith the tool and walked back out, "Honestly, I don't know why you didn't get together sooner." "Really?" "Yep, Celestia won't go for a God who's sole purpose is to cause chaos and disharmony...she's too uptight that way..." Discord merely nodded, "I see..." "Plus Fluttershy seems to favor ya and look up to ya!" Applejack told him, "I can't really see why, but answer me this..." she narrowed her eyes. "Promise not only me, but the rest of the Elements that if ya do make that choice...take good care of her...and if ya don't...it's back to stone for you...I know we don't have the Elements with us...we'll use Rainbow Power..." Discord smiled nervously and said, "I-I promise...I-I Pinkie Promise..." he crossed his heart and stuck a green apple cupcake in his eye. "Good, now I believe you have feelins' to confess!" With that, Discord teleported back to Fluttershy's cottage and began to plot...the perfect way to confess... *** Author's Note Thanks for all the support! The cover for The Choice is Yours, Discord is being made by XxSilverTheHedgehog on DeviantART! Old Enemies Return*** Fluttershy groaned as she struggled to clear the dizziness in her brain, "Ugh...wh-wha...what happened?" All she remembered was she was leaving Sugar Cube Corner. She saw a hoard of multicolored butterflies fly into the Everfree Forest and was concerned, for something as small as a butterfly could be injured badly in that evil forest. Fluttershy pursued them and pleaded them to stop. Usually, any creature, let alone butterflies would stop and pay attention to the butter and rose pink pegasus. After all, Fluttershy's talent was to communicate with the critters of Equestria. But the insects seemed to be deaf to Fluttershy's pleas, as if they were ignoring her. They continued to fly into the forests, much to Fluttershy's shock. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew into the Everfree Forest, where she was knocked on the head by a large wooden stick. Now it seemed Fluttershy was chained to the grey decaying yet strong concrete ground in an also decaying abandoned castle. The room was a throne room. The thrones were turning to a pile of rotten sawdust, the walls and its paint was grey and peeling, and the ceiling was one hoof bump from caving in. On the rotting walls, a tattered banner barely clung to a nail above the throne. The more Fluttershy squinted at it, the more it looked like an enemy from not only her past, but her friend's past. Lord Tirek. Tirek was the most recent villain to date, not to mention the toughest. But the Rainbow Power sent him back to Tatarus. Didn't it? "Hello Fluttershy..." Fluttershy began to tremble at the voice and began searching frantically for its owner, but she already knew who the owner was. Lord Tirek himself. Usually the giant monster's voice was powerful and strong, enough to knock any pony off its feet. But now it seems old, weak, and cracked, similar to an elder pony. Fluttershy new at this stage that the evil monster was at a very vulnerable state, but give him time, and he could destroy the entire world of Equestria by ridding every pony of their magic, flight, and strength. Fluttershy was cowering now, "T-Tirek?! No! Y-Y-You should b-b-be b-b-back in-" "Shut up!" Tirek shouted, "Sombra, you know what to do!" The world around Fluttershy began to grow colder and colder as a puff of black mist with those threatening red-green eyes with the purple mist spilling out from them. The mist laughed darkly, this cause Fluttershy to try and run away. But the shackles stayed put around her ankles as Sombra entered her body. Fluttershy screamed and tried struggle, but the more she struggled, the faster her flesh and bone were converted into crystal the color of her fur and mane. Soon there was no struggle, for now her entire body was crystal and the process was compete in second after it converted her head. Fluttershy was now a crystal statue, her expression fear and sadness. Sombra left the body and gained his pony form. "Well done King Sombra...that power is useful...Now we wait...We wait for Discord..." Author's Note Thanks for reading, I know it looks a little short, but it's supposed to be. It's a little window, foreshadowing of what's going to happen later, because trust me were all going to need this. I'm sorry it's not what you expect, but honestly all it's meant to be is foreshadowing and nothing more, the main plot will continue next chapter. Once again, I'm sorry it's not what you expected, the main plot shall begin next chapter... The Ransom is Recieved*** Discord had it all planned out, he would make lunch for the both of them in the form of a picnic in the meadows. Discord would be his amazing self and charm her, then and only then would he confess his feelings. Discord got to work making the lunch that consisted of fruit salad made of pineapple, green grapes, red merlot grapes, apples courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres, bananas, pears, blueberries, and dragon fruit. A few small cheese wheels with those tiny cheese knives, two muffins leftover from breakfast with tweaking to make it fresh out of the oven once more. Some grape juice on ice was the cherry on top, everything was complete. All Discord had to do now was wait. Minutes turned to hours, and pretty soon it became to be night time. Discord sat there on edge, and only asked through the darkness of the cottage. "Where are you...Fluttershy?" *** "Discord! Discord! Wake up!" Discord groaned as his back ached severely, "Wha?" he sat up and glanced around. It was midnight now, and there was no light in Fluttershy's cottage that was on. Discord knew he was sitting on the cold hardwood floor and was not comfy, so he stood up and stretched. "What's wrong Princess Twilight?" he asked, being able see the lavender alicorn through the darkness. "Spare the formalities! We have a major problem!" Twilight shouted. She seemed frantic and scared, so something had to be wrong. Twilight teleported them to Canterlot Castle and dashed to the throne room where Celestia, Luna, and Cadence awaited for the gathering. The six ponies of friendship ran in, frantic like Twilight. Well...not exactly six. Fluttershy wasn't there, and that concerned Discord greatly, as he should have been. Discord glanced around, "Where on Equestria is Fluttershy? She's never late!" "That's what we called you here for!" Rainbow Dash said, "She was kidnapped!" Discord froze, 'Kidnapped? Oh chaos tell me she's joking!' Celestia gave him a ratty torn up letter, "We received this letter over an hour ago, we believe it's from Lord Tirek..." Discord looked up at Celestia, "How could you possibly know that?" "I recognize his messy barbaric hand writing anywhere," Celestia muttered, "We believe he kidnapped Fluttershy, and he wasn't alone..." "How do you know he's not working alone?" Discord questioned. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Just read it..." Discord then began to read it: Dear Ponies of Equestria: It's been awhile since we've last met hasn't it? But don't worry, we shall meet again...when me and my associate crush you! But that's not why I have written this letter, the reason I am writing this letter is to request that the God of Chaos, Discord meet me in the Everfree Forest ALONE! If he refuses, let him know we have one of his friends! The yellow and pink pony that is such a crybaby! If he doesn't show up with in the next 24 hours, we will do the unthinkable to that pony! Don't think we won't hesitate to smash her! The clock is ticking, LT&KS "Judging by the crude handwriting, we know that Lord Tirek wrote this as well as his intitals..." Princess Luna said, "And KS can only stand for King Sombra... We knew he would return someday, we just didn't think he would team up with the most deadliest monster in Equestria." Twilight stepped forward, "Discord, you have to go...don't do it for us, do it for Fluttershy..." she flinched, "I hate to think about what those monsters are doing to her right this second… She's really frail! She can't make it out there alone..." Discord remained silent as he thought of Fluttershy. He saw her in pain...pleading...CRYING.... "Oh I'm going all right...to rescue her..." The Choice is Divided*** Discord stormed into the Everfree Forest with no hesitation, never caring about his own life for even a second. Discord couldn't care less about the timber wolves glaring and growling at him or the cold wind ripping through the air, all he cared about was finding the villainous scum that took his one and only love from him. Tirek and King Sombra...Discord's unfortunate targets, the targets of pure chaos. The Chaos God wasn't called a "god" for nothing, he could turn the world upside down quite literally with just a snap of his fingers and would not have any second thoughts, Through the darkness, a fine black mist seemed to be watching Discord despite not having any eyes, "Diiiiisssssssccoorrrrdd..." its distorted voice seemed to vocalize. Discord turned around at the voice and spotted the mist which retreated into the brambles, and the chase was on. The black spiky brambles caused great pain to Discord, who was whacked repeatedly with those branches of discomfort. They hit his long neck and pulled several feathers out of one of his wings. Discord gritted against the pain and trudged on, nothing could stop him now. Except for a tiny rock sticking out of the ground in front of Discord with a large hill-like slope in front of it. As you can probably imagine, Discord stubbed his toe on that tiny rock, causing him to tumble down that steep dead grass covered slope with piles of dry as a bone dirt to break his fall. Dust floated in the air for a quick second until it settled a second later, causing Discord to sneeze. "Owowow...that's a ride were I want my bits back..." Discord muttered as he stood up and brushed off. In his line of sight a few steps away, he saw something along the lines of a crystal statue...getting closer...he realized his true fear... The pony statue was Fluttershy, with the expression of fear plastered onto her face. Discord touched Fluttershy's cheek in shock, looking for a speck of warmth. But there was none, there was no sign of life at all. Discord felt his heart shatter, "Fluttershy..." "If it isn't the great and powerful god of chaos..." the black mist seemed to hiss, "Discord..." the black mist formed into a grey unicorn with a black mane and those ever iconic red and green eyes always glaring, "It's been a long time..." the unicorn growled with a smirk. Discord didn't even bother to turn his head or cast a glance, "Sombra...you're supposed to be dead..." Sombra laughed evilly, "I was dead...but thanks to Tirek...I am reborn..." "...Where is he...? Where is Tirek...?" A much deeper laugh was heard behind Discord, "Are you...looking for me?" Discord turned around, glaring at the tall monster, "You've grown..." "Thanks to the Crystal Heart..." Tirek growled with a smile, "I crept my way into the Crystal Empire, drained the energy of the Crystal Heart, and in turn...awoke Sombra..." Discord's fists clenched in rage, "You know, it's one thing to betray my trust..." his teeth grated against each other, "But if you....DARE..." he poked a claw at Tirek's chest, "DARE...bring Fluttershy...MY FLUTTERSHY into this..." Discord's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he smirked with a look of insanity, "I have no choice but to make your life more...chaotic..." "Oh...is that so?" Tirek challenged, "I doubt you have any real power...after all...all you do is hang around ponies..." Discord was losing his sanity inch by inch, "Why did you send that ransom...? And why did you tell me to come alone...?" Tirek smiled deviously, "Join us..." "Join us...and you shall be spared..." Sombra said. "There is no way on Celestia's green Equestria I would EVER join you!" was Discord's heated response. The sound of a deep rumbling hearty laugh came from Tirek, "If you join us...I'll make Sombra return Fluttershy back to normal..." he growled as he pointed to the crystal statue in front of the group. Discord was hesitant to ask the next question, "And what if I don't...?" Tirek walked over to the statue and raised his boulder-like fist, "Fluttershy...becomes Flutterdust..." Discord was then silent. *** Back at Canterlot, the ponies waited feverishly for Discord's return. Cadence had to return to the Crystal Empire due to emergency, the Crystal Heart was dying and along with it the kingdom. "This is horrible..." Twilight muttered as she paced back and forth in the throne room, "Fluttershy is kidnapped and Discord went after her...and hasn't come back..." Rainbow Dash looked at the stain glass windows, "And now we just figured out that Tirek MANAGED to drain the energy of the Crystal Heart without anypony knowing!" she looked back at Twilight, "Do you have an explanation? ANY explanation?" "Sadly I don't..." Rarity sighed, "How could this possibly get any worse?" "Simple! We could be on the brink of a major apocalypse some zombie ponies that want to eat our brains and possibly put them into brain cupcakes or any kind of sweets really... Or we could be in a sugarfree universe or kids are only allowed to eat vegetables..." Pinkie exclaimed. Applejack sighed, "Y'all are fussin over a cat playin' with yarn..." she said, "Have faith in Discord, and we can get through this...you do have faith in him...don't y'all?" Each of the ponies from then on were silent, for deep down their faith was waring more than thin. For the very first time, everypony was losing hope. Author's Note Hey, Inkwell here! Thanks for reading! Chaos VS Crystal: Part 1*** Discord was silent. "So?" asked Tirek, "What's it going to be Discord...?" Sombra pointed to Crystal Fluttershy, "The weak ponies..." and then pointed to Tirek, "Or glory..." Not a sound was heard for what seemed like forever, Discord was actually contemplating his actions. On one hand, if he joined the bad guys he would get his one true love back to normal. However, they could be lying straight to his face as Tirek once did. If he didn't join the duo, he could lose not only his friends and his life, he would lose his love forever. Tirek frowned, "Can't make up your mind huh?" he crossed his arms, "That's too bad..." he snapped his fingers and Fluttershy teleported away out of reach. "Hey!" Discord shouted, "I don't believe you are playing fair!" Sombra laughed, "Since when to you care about fairness?" Tirek smirked, "You've truly gone soft Discord..." Discord growled, "Have not!" "Have too!" Discord was now fed up, a rare emotion for him. He felt so insulted he just wanted to destroy the duo here and now. But there was a small insignificant problem, he was reformed. Discord had sworn not only to his new friends but to Fluttershy herself that he would not use his powers for anything then to help people, and Discord would feel nothing but shame if he broke such a promise. Then again...his powers could be used to kick Lord Tirek's flank as well as Sombra's while he was at it and it was all to help Equestria, to help Fluttershy. "Do you really want me to SHOW you why I was placed in stone for a good thousand years?" Tirek laughed, "Oh I'm not going to fight you," he turned around and stated to walk away, "You're not worth the effort...I won't even take your power, you aren't even worth it...face it...you are too weak..." "Tirek! You'd do well to turn and fight me!" Discord challenged, "Any villain that doesn't is a true coward!" he proclaimed with a smirk spreading across his face slowly. Tirek was silent, he didn't move or speak. But he was in fact listening, "You used to be all strong and powerful...but all you do now is hang out with ponies...they have made you as useless as that Fluttershy..." Tirek glanced back at Discord, "I won't even take your chaotic magic, it's not worth my precious time...the next time we meet...whether you want to help us or not...I won't hesitate to blast you..." he opened a portal to what seemed like an unknown place with his new found magic and turned to King Sombra, "Let's go now...we've wasted enough time here...let's go home..." Somba just stood there, silent as ever. "Sombra?" Tirek looked confused at the evil king. Evil laughter erupted from deep inside Sombra's jet black chest, startling the several nocturnal animals that lived inside of the Everfree Forest, "Discord...you are really something...you are really willing to fight for this pony...Fluttershy..." "You were once the Guardian of not only the Crystal Empire but it beloved symbol of love, buy that principle you should understand the concept of love and it's power..." Discord muttered, "But you were bind to its extent..." Somba laughed and grinned, "So you say love has power...?" Tirek rolled his eyes, "Just finish him already..." he growled in annoyance. Discord's hands began to glow with chaotic energy, "It does...it starts out as friendship magic...but it evolves into something so much more powerful..." Sombra removed his helmet and regal coat, "Then show me this power...because I promise you, your love is NO match for my nightmares!" Sombra's magic than brought forth a jet black crystal sword. *** Discord laughed as he poofed up a rubber sword that looked like a real knight's sword, "You call that piece of jewelry a weapon?" However within seconds of Sombra attacking and clashing with the rubber sword, it was sliced in half with a pitiful squeak. Discord teleported backwards before the sword could make contact, and began to distort the world around Sombra. The Everfree Forest was as bright as the sun up close, blinding the dark crystal king. Sombra roared in anger as he reared on his back legs and brought his front hooves down, bringing shards of grey crystal from the earth, hitting Discord and sent flying into the air. Discord shot at Sombra with pure chaotic energy, a dark blueish purple ball of energy fueled by strange children's laughter, and created a ton of smoke in the process. Discord landed on his feet and didn't look back, he was victorious in his efforts. For Discord knew as much as anypony, nopony could ever handle a dose of pure chaos and live to tell the tale. But Sombra wasn't living...in his mist form he tore through the smoke and seeped through Discord's body before he even realized it. Then Discord's vision turned to black... *** "Tirek was right...this fight was quite disappointing if you ask me.... Discord awoke to a big spacey black limbo, silent as he could be. "I could very well kill you...but that would let you off too easy...someone as weak as you doesn't deserve this torture...but I know who you once were...strong...mighty...I looked up to you...so I shall grant you the harshest death of a god..." Discord growled, "Well aren't you generous?" "You deserve it..." "Yes yes, get on with it...I assume you are going to lunge out at any moment and make it as painful as possible..." "Mentally yes...physically you won't feel a thing..." Discord raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" There was no answer. Only a faint purple mist entered Discord's body, turning his eyes a green mist with a purple mist expelling from them. *** When Discord opened his eyes, he sighed in relief to see he was back at Fluttershy's Cottage. He sat down on the green couch and stretched out, "It was nothing but a dream..." Suddenly the front door opened, revealing Fluttershy. Discord jumped up, "Fluttershy! You're home!" he teleported over to the pink and yellow pegasus and gave her a big bear hug, "I had this horrible dream! You were kidnapped and-" "Why are you still here...?" Fluttershy asked bitterly through gritted teeth. The sudden coldness in the normally kind and sweet Fluttershy caused Discord to look at her in shock, "I-I...I live here!" he exclaimed, "Don't you remember?" Fluttershy struggled out of Discord's arms, "How could I forget? You are like a wart! Annoying and hard to get rid of...!" "Surely you don't mean that!" Discord said. He was rather confused about Fluttershy's aggressive behavior, perhaps she decided to take lessons from Iron Will again, "Fluttershy...you didn't go to see Iron Will again, did you?" Fluttershy stomped her hoof, "No...! I'm just tired of l-living with you...!" "W-Why?" Fluttershy growled, "W-Where do I begin?" she got up in Discord's face, "Y-You're lazy, your pranks a-are annoying, nopony likes or cares about you...! Especially me! I-In fact..." Fluttershy now had Discord backed up against the walls, "I-I...I hate you!" Discord felt his heart break as he struggled to find words, "B...B-But...I...I-I love you...!" "L-Love me?" Fluttershy growled, I wouldn't love you e-even if you were the last l-living THING on Equestria!" At that point, Discord wanted to die... *** "NOOOOOOOO!!!" There was a snapping shattering noise as Discord snapped out of it, "Huh? Wha?" "Are you alright?" Discord looked up to see a dark blue alicorn. "Princess Luna?" Author's Note Luna???? What are you doing here????? Inkwell here! Thanks for reading! Chaos VS Crystal: Part 2*** The Princess of the Night stood tall in front of the shook up Discord, looking rather concerned. Discord could see her horn lighting up the darkness in a sky blue hue, and sighed in relief as he stood up and brushed himself off "That was a rather close one Discord...you were close to injuring your heart..." Luna told him. Discord shivered, "W-What are you doing here? And what do you mean? Where are we?" Luna sighed, "It is night time in Equestria and I am making my rounds in my subject's dreams...I found your dream...and it appears it was a dream inside of a dream...either that, or this isn't a dream at all...you might be in your mind...and the scene in front of you could very well be a part in your mind..." "That's impossible!" "Far from it...Sombra must have channeled the power of the door of nightmares that Twilight and Spike encountered in the taking back of the Crystal Empire...how he did it, I have no clue..." Luna began to walk forward with Discord fallowing, "He knocked you out, and is now taking control of the fear in your mind..." Luna stopped, "He is making your mind think about your many fears, each one more terrifying than the last..." Discord nodded, "I suspected as much...the mind is awake even when you are asleep, right?" Luna nodded, "The only way to stop these images is to replace them with good images...all by thought...and if you don't...you shall die in your mind...your heart is breaking...if you allow yourself see your fears and believe that they are real...your heart will eventually stop working...and you will become evil and emotionless..." "So...think good...don't look at the bad..." Discord muttered, "Thanks for telling me..." But Luna was gone. No sooner had Luna left, the purple mist came into being and Discord braced himself. *** When Discord opened his eyes, he saw he was in the middle of a room. Not just any room, Twilight's Throne Room. The more Discord looked around, the more he realized that all six of his friends were gathered in a circle around him, and they were far from happy. They were in their Rainbow Power forms, angry and glowing. "You have betrayed us for the last time, Discord!" Twilight shouted. "You really are a meanie pants!" Pinkie shouted. "I actually thought you were loyal!" Discord heard Rainbow growl. "Ah can't believe you would go ahead and lie to us like that!" Applejack shouted. Discord looked over at Fluttershy and saw her face was shimmering with tears, "I-I thought you were my friend...." she murmured. Discord felt a sharp pain beginning to form in his chest, until he remembered Luna's instructions. He remembered remembered when Tirek had betrayed him and used him and the mane six to force Twilight to give up the Alicorn magic. *** Twilight watched as all of her friends fell from their bubbles, all except one. That one, was Discord. "All of my friends..." Twilight growled. Tirek looked back at the ex-villain, "After all he's done, you still consider him a friend?" Discord knew then Twilight was going to change her mind, but was shocked to see the exact opposite. "Release him!" Tirek sighed, "As you wish..." with a snap of his fingers, Discord was free. Discord smiled, "Thank you Twilight..." *** A second memory flashed before Discord's mind, the after party of the unveiling of Twilight's Kingdom. *** The moon was rising in the sky as the ponies of Ponyville retreated to their homes to rest their sleepy heads. The Mane Six were also exhausted, which meant they too were retiring into slumber as soon as they reached their homes. Twilight sighed as she carried a sleeping Spike to bed, "Tomorrow is another day...eh Spike?" Spike merely snored and mumbled something about sapphires in his sleep. When the baby dragon was put in his bed, Twilight went over to her new queen-sized bed and tucked herself in. "Goodnight Spike..." Twilight murmured. Her eyes "Twilight?" Twilight's eyes snapped open at the sound of Discord's voice, "D-Discord!" Discord entered the room, "In the flesh!" Twilight sat up in shock, "What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, "Fluttershy is probably worried about you!" "Relax, Fluttershy's asleep...she won't know I'm gone..." Discord muttered. "Then answer the first question! You can't just barge in my room whenever you-" Discord snapped his fingers and teleported behind Twilight and focused his attention on the the plushie of Flash Sentry on her bed next to her, he picked it up and examined it, "Who is this?" Twilight blushed wildly and jumped up, "Give that back!" Discord kept the plush out of the purple alicorn's reach, "Is this that Flash colt? Heh, isn't he something?" "Discord!" "Oooh...you like him don't you?" "Discord, please!" Discord snapped up a tree of which he sat on a branch with the Flash plush and a new Twilight plush, he pushed them together to make them kiss, "Flash and Twilight, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Twilight turned red in a mix of anger and embarrassment, "Discord! Knock it off-" "First comes love, then comes marriage..." "SHUT UP!" "Then comes foals in a baby carriage!" Discord exclaimed in pure laughter. That did it. Twilight exploded as she turned white and her mane burst into a flaming inferno, "DIIIIIIIISSSSSCOOOOORRRRD!!!!" Knowing the line had been crossed, Discord made the tree and the Twilight plush evaporate into thin air. "Geez Twilight, no need to get your mane in a bunch! I have come to express my thanks!" Twilight took a deep breath and allowed the flames in her mane to extinguish as the color of her fur regained it's former state, "Thanks?" "For not letting Tirek take me away!" The alicorn was silent for a moment before saying, "If you want to thank anypony, you should thank Fluttershy..." Discord scratched his head, "What do you mean?" Twilight sighed, "I was about to let you rot with Tirek...after what you did, you can see why I would think that..." she muttered, "But I looked into Fluttershy's eyes for a spit second...and the moment I did...I saw every good thing about you..." Twilight smiled, "If Fluttershy can see good and friendship in you...I can too...and you know what? You are my friend for life..." Discord smiled, "Thank you, Princess..." *** The moment the good memory ended, the dark hallucination of Discord's vision faded into the darkness, never to be seen again. And for a split moment, Discord could hear Sombra swear in his agony. And so he ventured forth. Author's Note Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I have even bothered to update! I am really sorry, but I have been working on other projects too! Stay tuned for the epic conclusion of Chaos VS Crystal! Sombra's Final Contribution*** Discord awoke in a hospital bed oddly enough, and he wasn't alone. "Discord...!" the melodic voice of Pinkie Pie sang, "Wakey wakey sleepyhead..." Discord groaned, "I'm up..." he sat up and saw Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash circled around him, "Where am I?" "You're in the hospital..." Twilight muttered. Discord could see Twilight looked exhausted and tired, her wings were molting and her flank and hair looked askew and ill. It was as if she was in a fight and was drained of all of her magic. He could see that the rest of the ponies were tired, drained, and sullen. Rainbow Dash's eyes looked tired and dull, her flank was torn and scratched, and feathers were falling from her wings exposing her pink flesh. Rarity's beautiful mane had twigs, split ends, and mud coating it and her lovely white fur was scratched and dusted with dirt. Applejack's hat look burned and falling apart, she had a large cut across her back and the rest of her fur was coated in dust. Pinkie Pie was the worst of all. Her bouncy hair was straight and embedded with twigs, her eyes were dull along with her body. She wasn't Pinkie Pie, she was Pinkamena. "What...happened to you girls?" Discord questioned with a slight gasp, "You all look like you need a trip to the spa!" he snapped his fingers and a pool of warm bubbling water appeared. Pinkamena was the first to jump into the pool, the others fallowed accordingly, each of them sighing in content. Discord smiled softly, but the smile soon faded when he remembered what had happened to him. The nightmares, Luna, Velvet Crystal, and Sombra. Fluttershy as a statue burned in his memory like a flame and he snapped. Discord got up from his bed and ripped the IVs from his veins, "Fluttershy!" he exclaimed, "I need to get back out there!" "I wouldn't jump out of bed just yet..." a familiar deep voice said from the doorway of the room. Discord turned to the doorway, "King Sombra!" he braced himself for an attack from the villain. Rainbow laughed, "Relax, he's a good guy now!" Indeed the look in Sombra's eyes was not evil, exerting purple mist from his glowing green-red eyes. Instead his eyes were merely red. Sombra was no longer wearing his long regal cape or spiky metal crown, instead he had no attire. Sombra was a regular unicorn once more. "I see..." Discord muttered as he stood up, "You nearly killed me though...I think an apology, possibly a meal, is in order." Sombra rubbed the back of his neck, "Relax...I'm paying the medical bills..." Discord smiled, "Good enough..." Pinkamena's hair inflated into her bouncy pink curls and transformed into Pinkie once more, "Sombra saved you!" "He did?" "He did," Twilight said as she left the tub and grabbed a towel Discord gave her, "Luna told us that you were in danger, so we ran into the Everfree Forest and searched for you." Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs and relaxed as the bubbles worked away the knots of her spine and wings, "We found you knocked out in a big patch of dirt, Sombra was looming over you!" "We saw him as a threat and tried to attack him," Rarity continued as she ran a brush (courtesy of Discord) through her curling purple mane, "But that all changed when a pack of Timberwolves chased us off a cliff!" Applejack brushed her hat free of dust, "And just as we fell, Sombra teleported us here, and here we are..." she frowned, "He told us stuff that ya need to know Sugarcube..." "But first...you might want to get back in that bed and put in your IVs..." Sombra said. Discord groaned, "But I'm fine! I feel great!" Applejack sighed, "Trust me, you won't feel great for long..." "And pray tell, why?" Sombra sat down, "Well...you see...Tirek...he...h-he's planning to brainwash Fluttershy and make her be his wife..." Discord's eyes widened, "WHAT?" "At first, he was only using Fluttershy to get you to join..." Sombra explained, "But when you refused and he kept Fluttershy, he fell for her..." "THERE IS NO WAY IN TARTARUS THAT I'M GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN!" Discord yowled in rage, "WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS TIREK?" "T-Tirek is...Tirek is..." Sombra tried to speak, but he began to wobble side to side and eventually collapsed. Discord caught the fallen king, "Sombra! What's wrong?" Sombra panted, Discord could feel the king's breath become shallower and shallower within each second passing. Sombra's voice was soft, "Freed...from immortality...body...aging..." he gasped out. Discord gasped, "No! There must be something I can do!" "Cannot...stop this now...no time..." Sombra panted, "Listen...Tirek has a castle...in the center of the North Everfree...it's lined with traps...Fluttershy is in throne room...Tirek guards her...free her...with your...y-your..." Sombra began to age into an old stallion and decay into dust, in a matter of seconds there was no trace left of the king. Discord just stood there in his own shock, silent as ever. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder, "He was immortal due to the dark magic spell he was over...when he was free, his body compensated for the years he didn't age...which was over 1,000 years..." she smiled, "At least he told us what we needed to know...and at least he is finally free..." Discord merely nodded, "I agree..." *** In a castle of red and black deep within the northern part of the Everfree Forest, on a black and grey throne sat Tirek. With the crystal Fluttershy... "You will bear my child...pegasus..." Author's Note Thank you for reading! The next part will be the final part! (excluding the epilogue ) Stay tuned! ) The Final Showdown Part 1*** Discord's recovery was swift, even for a chaos god. He stayed in the hospital a total of five weeks, and considering the damage Discord suffered, it was incredible that he survived such a terrible attack. For the poor bringer of chaos was suffering night terrors, severe chest pains, and pure dark magic running through his veins due to Sombra shooting that cursed arrow. In short, Discord was miserable beyond measure. The doctors and nurses did all they could to ease Discord's pain, and Twilight helped his body destroy the black magic for it was was only a small but fatal dose and would only grow if left untreated. If untreated and able to spread, Discord would become like Sombra when he found his insanity. Despite all the comfort Discord was given, he was still miserable. The sudden death of Sombra shook him to his core, and what Sombra had told him about Tirek and Fluttershy shook him even more. Discord tried constantly to convince the hospital and the elements that he was in tip top shape, but to no avail. He even tried to escape once, but Rainbow Dash stopped him and assured him that he would be released very soon. Of course Discord would always protest and Twilight would have to stick him with a tranquilizer, well, about five tranquilizers usually did it. Every night Discord would have nightmares, some Princess Luna would shutter to witness. One dream would contain Tirek and Fluttershy, Tirek would be on his throne with Fluttershy tied up next to him. Tirek would laugh maniacally before bringing the butterscotch colored pegasus closer to him and kissing her. The next dream that Discord tended to have was seeing the whole of Equestria burn in a fiery inferno, and the one who caused it all, Tirek, watched from a hill far away. The final dream was the most unsettling. Discord was fighting Tirek and Discord lost. These dreams were the one reason why Discord stayed awake. Soon Discord was released and he couldn't have been happier. *** Back at Twilight's castle, the elements and Discord called together Celestia, Luna, and Cadence for a course of action. "Thank you for calling us in short notice..." Celestia said as she entered the throne room, "It was rather hard to get here..." Luna looked tired for she was traveling by day instead of night like she was used to, "Tirek has these brainwashed slaves that he turned into crystal statues...he's made them stronger and more capable to fight with dark magic... " she sighed, "They have tried to attack Canterlot and Ponyville as well as the rest of Equestria, but our national guards are keeping them away from civilians as well as our castles...but we have no clue how long it's going to last..." "Then we have to evacuate the civilians!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Twilight sighed, "There's no place we can put them, not even Cloudsdale is safe! A good majority of the slaves are pegasai!" Applejack stepped off her throne, "There must be some way we can protect the ponies of Equestria!" she stamped her hoof, "Ah have a big brother, little sister, an' a grandma an' Caramel!!" "And you don't think I don't have family?" Rarity growled, "My little sister, my parents, and my Spikey Wikey is are in danger too!" "I have three sisters, my parents, and Cheese Sandwich!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Rainbow Dash sprung up from her throne in objection, "I have Scootaloo! I ain't losing that kid!" she said, "I also have parents and Sorin!!" "I have my brother...who is protecting me...my parents...Cadence...Flash...all of us..." Twilight murmured. Celestia nodded, "I understand your concerns...and that is why I will not allow you to fight Tirek..." "WHAT?" "You have family to protect...if and when and if Tirek breeches our defense, then only then will you be able to fight..." Luna said. Discord raised his claw, "What about me?" The princesses and the elements stared at the Draconequus in shock, "Discord..." Celestia said. "Let's face it...I am the only one who can even stand a chance against him! I know his fighting skills, unlike you princesses..." Discord explained, "And yes, he may be able to take my magic, but I've already lost Fluttershy! There's nothing left for me to lose!" Luna stepped forward, "Sending you to fight him is the LAST thing we want to do!" she sighed, "Allow us Princesses to battle! Besides, you betrayed us the one time we let you fight Tirek! Do you really think we trust you?" Discord crossed his arms, "Why not? You don't have anymore options!" Luna looked down at the ground trying to think, "We...W-We..." Discord snapped up a chart with a stick, "You don't have a better option...you nor your sister and Cadence know the fighting styles of Tirek, you know nothing of his magic other than his draining abilities, I have nothing to lose, and frankly I'm going to fight for Fluttershy!" "That is all true, but consider this Discord..." Celestia muttered, "Suppose he drains you of his magic, what will happen then?" Discord smiled as he snapped the chart away, "He won't, promise! He may be a villain, but he fights fair enough...Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, please..." The princesses were silent, they stared at each other and looked back at the Draconequus, "Give us a second to talk about it..." Celestia muttered "Twilight, come..." Twilight stepped off her throne and fallowed her associates out of the throne room, not looking back one time. Applejack's eyes narrowed, "What in tarnation are you planning, Discord?" she asked. "Whatever are you talking about Applejack?" Discord mused, "I have no plan!" Rainbow Dash crossed her front hooves, "Yeah right! What are you planning you chaotic nut?" Discord frowned, "What I have planned is a secret...nothing more..." "Whatever it is," Rarity muttered, "You better bring back Fluttershy..." Pinkie pulled out a blue cupcake and swallowed it whole, "Yeah, if you don't bring her back we will be so so so sad! Pinkie Promise me right now that you'll bring her back!" her eyes narrowed, "Pinkie Promise it!" Discord rolled his eyes and crossed his heart, "Cross my heart and hope to fly," he snapped up a pink cupcake and shoved it in his own face, "Stick a cupcake in my eye..." he muttered. Pinkie nodded, her eyes still narrowed, "Good..." Suddenly the throne door swung open again and the princesses entered once more. Discord looked up at Celestia, "So?" Celestia turned to Luna, Cadence, and Twilight and then back at Discord, "We have reached an agreement," she said, "We agree you are the only one who is capable of fighting him at this present time...if however, you fail in your efforts..." "Equestria will fall..." Luna finished. Discord nodded, "I am aware..." Celestia nodded back, "Very well...you will challenge him at sundown..." *** The wind blew sourly against Discord's body as he entered the northern part of the Everfree Forest. The shadows covered the chaotic god, hoping to jump start his fears but to no avail. The whole of Equestria was alerted of the fight about to take place and responded by taking cover and having an evacuation plan. Twilight helped her brother and the rest of the royal guard shield Canterlot and the main areas. by strengthening the spell just a bit. Rarity allowed every pony in Ponyville with no protection to take cover in her boutique, including her own family. Pinkie took all the foals in Ponyville that were fussy or lost their parents and calmed them down with jokes and treats at Sugarcube Corner. Applejack took the other ponies from the farms in Ponyville with no shelter and put them in a storm cellar at Sweet Apple Acres, assuring them that they were safe. Rainbow Dash alerted Cloudsdale and did Fluttershy a favor by placing all of her animals in their homes and in her cottage. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence helped each and every pony in Equestria find shelter, whether it be in their homes or their own castles. The princesses then set up magical barriers around the rest of Equestria.The barriers of the princesses and the barriers of the royal guards merged together to create one big bubble protecting everything. Everything was prepared for the fight that very well could wipe out the whole of Equestria. Discord was prepared and ready to fight, knowing full well that if he failed, he would lose Fluttershy and the whole of Equestria. He approached a tall spiky red and grey castle, where a loud barbaric laugh was heard. Discord knew full well who it belonged to, and he wasn't about to give up now. He then sighed, and entered the castle where Tarturus was made. *** In the dark, dirty, candle-lit, throne room sat Tirek. He sat there, Fluttershy statue on his lap like a dragon guarding a princess. "So, let me get this straight...you hate ponies...you wanted to SMASH Fluttershy...and now you want to...MARRY HER?" Discord growled. Tirek gritted his teeth, "I knew Sombra would fail..." he stood up and tossed Fluttershy aside, "That is why I lied to him about my plans...he was merely a pawn in my little game, fed false information...and he gave the information that would make you come back here..." he smirked, "I just said that to make sure you would come..." Discord teleported back to catch Fluttershy, "You are truly a manipulative fool..." Discord hissed. Tirek burst out laughing, "Thank you for the compliment..." "Yeah, well playtime is over..." "Oh no..." Tirek locked the throne room door with a snap of his fingers, "Not until you join me..." Discord rolled his eyes, "I've told you know...I've come to stop you!" "I don't think you'll stop me...not when I make the rules..." Tirek snapped his fingers once more and Fluttershy disappeared from Discord's arms. "BRING HER BACK RIGHT NOW!" Discord shouted enraged. Tirek gritted his teeth, "Not until you join me!" Discord crossed his arms, "Never!" he declared through gritted teeth, "You can't expect me to join you after all you have done!" "Look, if you join me...you will be free...be free to do what you want!" "What good is that when you don't have any friends to share that fun with?" "You don't need those ponies!" "That is what I used to think!" Discord told Tirek, "But after meeting Fluttershy, I realized that I could do what I want...but if I did, I would betray the only pony I have ever truly loved that loved me back!" Tirek laughed, "How do YOU know she loves you?" Discord's eyes began to glow a bright glow, "Because...she's the only pony to stand with me...I was a villain, a bad guy, but after meeting Fluttershy...I DON'T WANT TO BE A BAD GUY ANYMORE!" he shot a ball of chaotic energy at Tirek, who shot a large beam of magic to counter. "THOSE PONIES HAVE RUINED YOU!" Tirek shouted. Discord froze the beam in place with ice, teleported above Tirek, and shot a large beam of his energy at him with a direct hit. When the smoke cleared, Tirek leaped up and grabbed Discord by the neck. He slammed him into the walls and floor until he heard a delightful snap of bone. Tirek then released Discord from his alligator grip, then left, knowing he had something to attend to. *** Discord groaned as he awoke, it was night time now as the moon shone through the gaping hole in the throne room wall. But something didn't seem right. Metal floor... Metal bars... Metal roof... It was at that moment his mind registered, Discord was in a cage in a throne room. And he was not alone. "Ah...so you're finally awake..." Trying to sit up created a blossoming pain that came in a massive wave through Discord's entire body, "AGH!" "I wouldn't try to move...your back is broken..." Tirek growled, "So I know you won't go anywhere..." Discord moaned as he laid back down. Tirek approached the cage, "And as an extra measure, I have taken your magic so you can't escape...so...now we can do business..." he smirked, "And before we begin...know what position you are now in, Discord..." Discord winced in his numbing pain, silent as ever. "Now then, I will give you two choices...join me...or watch everything you love BURN..." Tirek said. Out of the corner of Discord's eye, he could see Tirek holding the crystal Fluttershy in his fists. Tirek laughed, "It's your choice, Discord..." Discord began to shake horribly as he glared at Tirek, wanting attack him so badly. "G...her...b-back..." "Join me and she lives..." Silence met Tirek before he heard, "N-Never..." "Well then..." Discord heard a smashing noise, it was like glass only thicker. He knew that it was crystal smashing onto the concrete floor. "I guess you can stay there and rot..." Discord could hear Tirek walk away into a long hallway, and then their silence. In his pain, Discord willed all of his pain away to the best of his abilities to sit up and jump back in terror as he saw a pile of fine crystal dust in front of his cage. Discord outstretched his hands to gather what was left of his love and brought them onto his lap to hug and embrace as the tears gathered and fell in time with his broken heartbeat. At that moment, something inside Discord changed. Tirek took his one love away and on the way to destroy his friends and the world with it, and you don't do that when Discord was still standing. "TIREK! IF I EVER GET MY CLAWS ON YOU I WILL MAKE YOU CRAWL BACK TO TARTRUS WITH YOUR TAIL IN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!" There was nothing but silence...So Discord hid the dust and curled up to sleep... *** Author's Note Hey! This chapter had to be split into two parts! Sorry The Final Showdown Part 2*** Excuse me...? Would you be Discord?" Discord awoke in a black limbo, warm, safe, and free from his pain in his body. Stifling a yawn, he glanced around. "Am I dead?" Discord asked himself. "No, you are sleeping, Discord..." a soft voice said. Discord saw a bright light and the shape of an earth pony. When the light faded, he saw it was a crystal pony. The crystal pony was a velvet cake red with a darker shaded curly mane, her deep brown eyes spoke for her and told Discord she was worn out. The crystal pony's cutie mark was two ruby red crystal shards crossing to make an X. Discord narrowed his eyes, "You look..." "Like someone you know?" the pony asked. "Exactly!" The pony giggled, "Most ponies know me as the one behind the Fall of the Crystal Empire..." Discord smiled, "Velvet Crystal..." "You know...I didn't mean to cause it...I didn't mean to lie to Sombra..." Velvet said with a frown, "I-It's just...he's the only pony to really love me...he said he wasn't into poor ponies! So I lied and said I was rich! One lie led to a-another and..." Discord put a claw on his shoulder, "I hate to stop your story, but I really need to wake up and get out of here!" There was laughter in the darkness, "What will you do if you can get out?" Discord jumped up and glanced around, "Who said that?" "Oh? Do you not remember me? The first pony to challenge you and your reign? The one you called the Destroyer of Chaos?" Then he remembered...before Celestia and Luna sealed him away, a third princess stepped into the ring for a challenge. "Princess Kaze...you still live?" A dark grey alicorn and a blazing blue mane and glowing amber eyes stepped forth, her tornado cutie mark standing out of the darkness. "Oh I live...me and my subjects live protected and safe..." Discord chuckled, "As always Kaze...you've proven you're the top pony around here..." "Let us skip the formalities Discord," Kaze said, "Now...you've been captured by Lord Tirek, your back is broken, and your powers have been sealed away..." Discord looked puzzled, "What? What do you mean seal away? I mean, I know he took away my magic, he absorbed it!" Kaze laughed, "He didn't absorb it! Not like last time!" "What?" "Let me explain..." Velvet Crystal stepped forward, "Well, due to absorbing all of the Crystal Heart's raw untamed magic, if Tirek were to absorb anymore magic he would..." "Die..." Kaze finished. Discord's eyes widened, "Oh my...do you mind telling me what he did with MY magic?" Kaze sat down and yawned, "The same place where he's keeping all his excess magic, his room..." "Tirek is keeping the magic close to the crystal statue slaves in case his magic runs out..." Velvet told Discord, "Those Crystal Slaves will only snap out of their state when they hear the three words from their loved ones...I love you..." "Is that all I need to do?" "It's not that simple..." "It never is..." Kaze smirked, "First and foremost, you need to take all the crystal statues to the Crystal Empire, their home, to their loved ones where they can hear the words I love you, then the curse should be broken from them." "Secondly, in order to do that you must get your magic and free the other magic from their prison so they can return to their owners," Velvet Crystal said. "Thirdly, you need to defeat Tirek...keep him fighting until he gets weak and small enough to hit him with the Rainbow Power...hitting him with Rainbow Power at his full stature with the full power of the Crystal Heart would cause an explosion big enough to wipe out half the population of Equestria..." Kaze explained. Discord nodded, "Well that's simple for me!" he frowned, "Or it WOULD be if I wasn't trapped..." Velvet Crystal smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder, "You'll find a way...Fluttershy may be gone...but you have to protect the world she held so dear...for her...for your friends...I know you, you won't let a cage stop you...can we count on you?" Discord smiled, "You can count on me!" *** Author's Note Stay tuned for the FINAL chapter!! THE LAST ONE! XD The Final Showdown Part 3*** The minute Discord awoke he was plotting his escape. He thought of waiting for Tirek to enter so he could play dead so he could trick the monster into being locked in the cage. Sadly, that would fail. Tirek was much too large and strong to be held with the tiny cage, not to mention Tirek was too smart to fall for such a trick. Discord thought of trying to squeeze through the bars, after all he was thin and the bars were widely spaced. However when Discord realized he was immobile in his agony whenever he tried to move, he tossed that plan right out the hole in the wall. It even came down to try and chew through the bars, and so Discord tried. But after hours of trying, after breaking his tooth nine times, he gave up. Hours turned to days. One day turned to seven days. Over that time, Discord watched as Tirek tried to breech the ponies' defenses. Thankfully the ponies' shield was iron clad, made with every type of unicorn and alicorn magic in Equestria. It was strong the first four days they were strong, but the last two days, each pony was getting weaker and weaker within each attempt of Tirek's breakthrough. On the eighth day, Discord could see a crack in the magical barrier. He knew then, he had to stop Tirek fast. *** It was at this point Discord decided to go with plan number two, despite the plan failing once before. After all, if you don't succeed, try and try again. Night fell over the Everfree Forest, and at this point Discord had the schedule of Tirek down. He knew that he would not be fed, at all. Discord hadn't been fed for these seven days, and even though it hurt him, Discord was immortal and wouldn't die whatsoever. Besides, he was used to his stomach begging for food, and ignored it professionally. All Discord had to do was wait for the large harsh snores of the tyrant in the hallway in the next room. He waited for the moon to rise into the center of the sky, and when he heard the fateful snoring of Tirek he put his plan into action. As the moonlight shone through the gaping hole in the wall, Discord piled up the remains of Fluttershy and put them in the corner of the cage where the moonlight didn't dare reach. He then slithered through the bars. It may have seemed easy considering his stature, but considering he had a broken back it was far from easy. Basically, Discord tried his hardest to ignore the blossoming pain, but it was harder than trying not to be naughty for the sake of Equestria. Even the slightest movement dealt him the worst pain he had ever been in. Despite all of that, Discord wouldn't crack. Not one bit. After several minutes of crawling through the long dark hallways, Discord located Tirek sleeping in his bed, snoring loudly. Next to the bed of Tirek, Discord was taken aback to see a heart shaped crystal. The Crystal Heart. *** The Crystal Heart laid there, leaning up against a crate containing jars of multicolored magic and crystal statues of ponies in front of it. One of the jars contained a dark purplish green magic, Discord's magic. Discord smiled when he saw his magic, "Hello old friend...let's do this, shall we?" he crawled forth, never stirring a statue, and he untwisted the jar and allowed the magic to flow within him, healing his pain and revitalizing his spirits. With a snap of his fingers, the rest of the magic as well as the Crystal Heart was teleported to Twilight's castle and the statues to their loved ones. "Well that was easy..." "Huh...? What?" Discord saw Tirek sitting up and quickly dived underneath his bed. Tirek took one good look at the barren spot next to his bed and roared, "DIIIIIISSSSSCORD!!!!" Okay, game's over. Discord teleported back to the cage, repositioned himself to look broken, and made it his goal to protect Fluttershy, or whatever was left of her. Tirek entered, "YOU!!!" Discord yawned weakly, "I what?" "WHERE IS MY EXTRA MAGIC???" Discord raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" "Don't play dumb with me!" Tirek roared, "And the slaves! WHERE ARE THEY?" Discord moved limply and pulled off his best fake wince and moaned, "I haven't the sl...slightest idea..." Tirek stomped up to the cage and stared Discord down with his burning amber eyes, "Listen you chaotic mixed puzzle! I know you did something!" "Oh Tirek..." Discord smiled weakly, "How could I possibly do anything...? I'm in a cage with a broken back and no magic...I can't..." Tirek sighed, "I guess you have a point, but you MUST have a way of communicating with those ponies!" Discord rolled his eyes, "And how would I do that? That shield is too thick for communication on the outside world..." he was lying of course, only pure souled ponies could enter in and out, as well as be protected. "And how do YOU know that?" "Even without my magic, I can tell you will not be able to get into it..." yet another lie. Tirek smiled, "How so?" "It's far too complicated for a simple mind like yours..." "What the-" Tirek slammed his fist into the cage, shaking it horribly, "Are you calling me INFERIOR?" Discord laughed, "Ohohoh! You should see your face! Priceless!" Tirek roared loudly, enough to make Discord's ears ring loudly, he then stormed out of the castle, breaking all the doors off their hindges. "I-It seems I've over done it..." Discord muttered to himself. *** Author's Note Sorry for the delay, I've been dealing with a lot stuff lately...so as a result, I have to spit the final part in two in order to reduce stress and stuff...the next chapter should be the last, but...I don't know... Enjoy. The Final Showdown: THE END*** Huddled together in Twilight's castle, was the entire whole of Ponyville. Each pony was put into well-sized groups and given one of the many rooms of the castle, promised protection no matter what. Each day seemed like a million years to Twilight; but she managed to calm the ponies down, even when she herself was scared. Twilight had a routine, a duty to uphold now that the other princesses were focusing all their efforts keeping shield up to par. Twilight was now the temporary ruler of Equestria. At first, Twilight refused to rule Equestria alone. She tried to convince Celestia to go through the magic mirror and ask Sunset Shimmer to rule with her, considering Sunset had been a former student and must have had a some experience with the mechanics of ruling. But Celestia told Twilight that Sunset couldn't come back with the shield up, they had to put up that shield immediately with no time to travel time or dimensions. The sooner the shield was put up, the safer the ponies would be. Discord was the only person keeping most ponies from breaking into insanity, and as sad as it was, Twilight had given up hope on Discord and assumed he was no more. She wanted so badly to tell the ponies of Equestria the truth, but Twilight knew that if she did, the ponies would loose all hope and chaos would rain down from the sky. Not in the form of chocolate milk, but in the form of asteroids and fire. The world would be destroyed soon and Twilight knew it. But she did her best to keep everything in order, even if the end came. On this final day, Twilight was sitting on her throne looking over the cutie map to track her friends' whereabouts. Pinkie was at Sugar Cube Corner, giving out the daily rations, or whatever was left of them. Rainbow Dash was in Cloudsdale, training with the Wonderbolts in case there was an emergency. Applejack did what she could with farming, considering there wasn't any rain or very many seeds to spare. Rarity on the other hoof was traveling Equestria with Spike, helping anypony she met find shelter someway or another. Leaving Twilight all alone to deal with running Equestria. "Everything seems in order...still..." Twilight sighed and rubbed her tired baggy eyes, "I mustn't rest...not before Tirek is stopped..." she teleported up a piece of paper and a quill with some ink, "I hope this time she writes back..." "Dear Princess Celestia: Time for the weekly report. On the eighth day of our imprisonment, despite our efforts, the shield seems to be weakening within every second...Discord...is gone...forever...even if he was alive...he would never be able to...the shield, though weak, could still block him out...all hope is lost... -Princess Twilight Sparkle" Just as the letter was sent, a scroll with the Crystal Empire symbol on the tie appeared in front of Twilight. "Hm? Cadence?" Twilight then opened the scroll and read it. "Twilight: You are needed at the Crystal Empire immediately, I have alerted your friends and they are all coming...hurry as quick as you can... -Cadence" Twilight merely gazed at the letter for a few moments before setting it down and alerting Flash Sentry. "What is it, Princess?" Flash asked eagerly with a smile upon his face. Twilight resisted the urge to blush at that smile as she kept her calm demeanor, "I need to head to the Crystal Empire quickly, please look after Ponyville for a couple of hours." Flash gasped, his eyes widening in shock. "It's only a few hours, relax..." "I can't believe you're trusting me with this!" "Well, there's no other pony qualified to be my successor at such a time as this...I trust you..." Twilight packed a backpack and headed to the door, "I know you'll do a good job..." she added with a smile. Flash smiled lightly, "Thank you, Princess..." Twilight turned from the large throne room doors and walked over to Flash, "There's no need to be formal, Flash..." she leaned in slowly and kissed him. The shock of the sudden kiss caused Flash's wings to unfold, but Flash soon melted into the kiss softly. "Just call me Twilight..." Twilight murmured in a voice of silk. Flash merely nodded. With that, Twilight turned to the door and left. *** Since the trains were shut down, Twilight sent a letter to Shining Armor telling him that she was to be expected at the Crystal Empire. She then headed to the border of Ponyville and left the protected city with a spell to walk through force fields. It was alicorn magic, meaning only the princesses were able to go in between cities. It was the only spell capable of such a feat, so rare it was thought to have been lost in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives. Twilight managed to find it during the whole time travel incident. She taught it to the other princesses and now they were able to go from city to city when they had to. Twilight watched as the sun began to set as she walked through the desolate fields leading to the Crystal Empire, she then teleported herself to the Empire. On the outskirts of it, Twilight then used the walk-through spell to go through the shield. The Empire that was once filled of light and laughter of the Crystal Ponies, was now desolate, gray, and dead as a doornail. When approaching the entrance of the castle, Twilight was stopped and checked by the Crystal Guards. Soon she was led into the throne room by two guards; where Cadence, Celestia, and Luna waited. At the princesses' feet, laid crystal statues of ponies who had gone missing over the course of a few months lined up in unbroken rows. Twilight had helped in the search to find half of the ponies, but she was saddened to discover none of them were Fluttershy. "Woah, what happened? Are these what I think they are?" Twilight inspected the ponies carefully. Luna nodded, "Indeed...and that's not all...sister?" "Yes yes...I know...we have reason to believe.-" Celestia nodded and brought forth the Crystal Heart. Twilight gasped, "That's great! Put it back into place!" "We can't..." Cadence pointed to a spreading crack in the blue crystal of love, "It's damaged, until I can patch it up, it won't be able to protect the Empire!" Twilight groaned, "Ugh...how long will that take?" "It should take a few hours..." Celestia said. Without much warning to be had, an ultra sonic boom was heard blasting through the kingdom, pulling up trees from its roots and making awful loud your shattering sound. At that moment did twilight realize that someone was trying to break the barrier. And they were succeeding whoever they were. Twilight knew it was, she knew it was none other then Tirek. Her heart pounded out of her chest as her fears were confirmed. Luna looked up at the barrier outside to see it shattering, "So it begins..." *** CRACK! SMASH! Discord was on the border of the shield when he saw Tirek using his massive fists to shatter the barrier. He gritted his teeth. "Tirek..." Tirek whirled around and roared, "DISCORD!" "L-Look...Tirek... I thought about what you have said, what you were planning to do, and everything we will do...." Tirek's eyes lit up with rage, "And?" "I refuse to let you do this, I am against this entirely…you have taken away almost everything I have, you were threatening my friends with extinction, and you took away the one thing no one can replace..." Discord hissed with an icy voice, "You do not do that to me, I am the Lord of Chaos… you seem to have forgotten that!" "Oh I have not forgotten anything, you mixed up Heathen!" Discord's fists began to tremble as they clenched together, "I used to be evil, are you still think I had to be mean in order to have a good time! But there was one pony who showed me that I could have a much better time if I invited friendship and the love of my life...and she's not here anymore thanks to you...but in a way..." he brought one paw up to his chest, "She lives in me...my love for her still lingers in my heart, or what is left of it anyway... It may seem stupid to you, but love is a very powerful thing...I suppose Sombra never told you that either...you never loved anypony, it's clear now..." "Oh my Luna! are you seriously going to give me some stupid friendship monologue, Princess Twilight has really been a bad influence on you Discord!" Tirek roared in anger, "I never needed love, it slows you down, makes you weak!" Discord sighed, "To you, it makes you feel that way. But if you really understood, if you really took the time to let it enter your heart...you could see the power of true love..." Tirek smiled, "Really?" his fist gathered together a bright orange energy into one sphere of magic, "Can your precious love stop this?" he fired it at Discord. Discord fired a purple sphere of magic right back at him, "With the love I have...I'm invincible!" Myself more spears of orange energy were fired each one bigger than the last, who scored kept dodging, countering, and levitating them away from him and the shield. With each shot fired, Tirek became more and more exhausted. With all the energy he had absorbed through the Crystal Heart coursing through his veins, it was literally burning his body more and more within each second. His fur began to singe and smoke with each fireball shot. Discord could literally smell the power coming off of him. But where Tirek began to burn up due to the power, Discord only got stronger. Every memory of his reformed life coursed through Discord's mind, with every image of his friends flashes in his head, with every conversation he and his friends ever had ringing in his ears, and with every fiber of love for Fluttershy in his heart. He became stronger in spirit, however...his body was becoming battered and burned by the spheres being thrown at him. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST..." Tirek unleashed all the power he could muster into one gigantic spear but most impossible to dodge, Discord knew he had to face that powers head on. There was no holding back this time. "FAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!" Discord released a sphere of his own magic on instinct, he was not about to lose. Discord had to win...for his friends...for Fluttershy's memory... What would Fluttershy think if her friends were hurt? If her animals lost their home? It would tarnish her memory. And Discord could not live with that. The orange sphere however was a major adversary, so much power have been put into that sphere that it burned even on Discord's end. Discord winced as the burning sensation crawled up his paws and arms, boiling his very blood. Yet he refused to give up, how could he give up on the one he couldn't protect? The pain didn't seem to faze Discord, I guess being hit by a giant rainbow that turned him to stone seemed to into increased his pain tolerance. Discord's eyes began to glow a strange pink color, and he had pushed onto the orange spare had turned the same shade of pink. His veins began to glow through his translucent skin the same color, all leading up to his heart which was also glowing. It was then that this gorgeous body begins to feel a little bit fuzzy, a little bit giddy, like he was young again and able to cause chaos once more to his heart's content. He began to feel that he was not alone. Warm and safe. This is what love truly was. Discord welcomed it. With the love in his heart fueling his failing body, Discord moved his hand downward away from the sphere. He then used the last bit of strength he had to snap his fingers as a final act. He teleported up into the air and tossed a new sphere above Tirek and tossed hit downward at his head. What was expelled from Discord's power was far greater then what he had expected, even from him. The sphere was a rosy pink and formed much quicker than any normal form of magic. The more Discord's body relaxed, the quicker it formed, and before Tirek could react, Discord released it upon him. There was a bright flash of light, and that was all Discord could remember. *** When Discord was conscious, he could feel himself laying in a soft cotton couch covered by the softest blanket he had ever felt. So soft and fluffy, surrounded by many stuffed animals. Discord could smell vegetable soup in the air, filled with ears of baby corn and green beans. But the one thing that made Discord happy beyond everything else...was Fluttershy singing. The flowers to the east Sunset full of peace Fills my heart I must confess With love at its best... When Discord opened his eyes, he could see Fluttershy, sitting on a chair beside him soaking a cold washcloth, alive and well. Sorry I'm too shy I will not lie If we break this tie I might cry... Discord frowned at the lyrics, Fluttershy should never cry. But if I don't speak now I don't know how I can face you now I'll hide my face and scowl Oh sweet friend if I may If I even am allowed to say You color my world from grey Can I tell you I love you today? Discord hummed a soft laugh, "I love you too...Fluttershy..." Fluttershy gasped and glanced at Discord, "Discord!" she hid her face in the washcloth. Discord chuckled, "Relax Fluttershy dear...I think we have a lot to talk about...perhaps over that soup you're making...?" Fluttershy didn't look up, smiling, "O-Okay..." *** Author's Note I'm not dead guys, chill out! I just needed a long long long break...Writers block is mean Anyways guys, I am so so so so so sorry about all this! I'm back now! I swear! So this is the end of an era. Thank you for the support, and see you next story Chaos VS Crystal: Part 3*** From then on it was the same technique, the purple mist would appear and something terrifying from his deepest fears would emerge. Whether it be spiders,Fluttershy dying, or being homeless on the street. But as Discord went on, he realized that this was starting to tire him. These fears came with a warning, the purple mist, but that didn't save him from the shock and pure crushing sadness or fear that would follow. These fabricated visions of Discord's fears came like volts of electricity that shock to him through his body, each one more fierce than the next. But despite all of this, Discord forced himself to tread on with what little of his heart he had left to find King Sombra, wherever the heck he was. What discord didn't know was that Sombra was watching in the darkness.... "Rrrrgh...he caught on to my technique...I was going to save this...but I guess I'll have to pull out the big guns..." *** Discord's chest began to flood with anxiety as he tread through the light crushing darkness. He was looking back, waiting for the dreaded purple mist of fears. But after several moments, nothing happened. Discord still kept his guard up, he was ready for whatever was going to happen next. Moments turned to minutes, and minutes seemed like hours to him. "Heh heh...Discord...you have done extremely well..." a deep voice echoed through the darkness. Discord glanced around, "Sombra you coward!" he gritted his teeth, "Taking over my unconscious mind and triggering my up most terrifying fears! How pathetic is that? A real king would draw his sword!" "Oh Discord, have you already forgotten that I have already drawn my sword?" Sombra hissed, "And you didn't deserve such an honorable death considering you fell like a chopped down oak tree... Lord Tirek was right, you have truly gone soft… And this is the only way I can get rid of you... In the worst way possible... Discord let his fists ball up in a mix of fear and anger, "Are you joking? You must me if you think this is the worst way to die!" he laughed, "Bring on the chaos if you DARE!" Sombra laughed coldly, "Oh I dare..." "Then bring it on!" All of a sudden, Sombra's laughter became harsher with longer echoes. A black arrow soared through the darkness, hitting Discord straight in the heart. Discord howled in pain and confusion, "Ah! Where is the third vision, cheater?" "Oh I realized I don't need that third vision anymore, you caught onto my technique and you would win… And I just can't let that happen... So I realized the only way I'm ever really going to beat you, is to stop you forever... By making you who you once were...making everyone kneel before you as you destroy their home!" Discord's heart began to pound wildly in his chest, "How come you didn't do it sooner? You had many opportunities to do this before!" Sombra laughed, "The reason I didn't do it sooner was I had to think about if I should use this method, I didn't want to waste it on anypony you know, just the lowest excuse for a villain... A villain who wants to be reformed, and has "seen the error of their ways"... I can only do this once, once every 1000 moons and only in this form as a last resort, for it drains my energy something fierce..." "So… This is going to turn me into who I was?" Discord exclaimed. Sombra appeared before the terrified Discord, in his robe and crown making him regal as ever, "Exactly, when this is all over you will be a true villain again, and what's better is that you will work for me and the Lord Tirek forever as we take over Equestria!" Discord completely panicked and tried to pull the black arrow out of his chest, but it was stuck in place like the sword in the stone. What was worse, was the fact that a numb tingling feeling was starting to spread all over his body starting at the chest and working its way down to the tips of his claws and ears. "You can't do this!" he protested. "You brought this on yourself, if you had just stayed a villain, this would never of happened…you would have taken over the world by now! But instead you have became soft like a pony and even became infatuated with one!" "Please, I beg you, don't turn me back into a villian… When I began my reformation, I didn't want to change… But after living with Fluttershy my eyes were open to all the pain and misery, and not to mention annoyance, that I caused...!" Discord pleaded. Sombra growled, "It was all that Fluttershy's fault...your love for her has made you weak..." Discord saw that the arrow was emitting a black mist, that began to envelop him, "You're wrong...S-Sombra..." he struggled to get each and every word out as the mist was sucking the breath out of his lungs, "My love f-for Fluttershy has made me...b-better...ponies actually l-like me...and they want to b-be my...friend..." Discord winced as a sharp pain shot through him. "A-At one...time...you...y-you used to know how that felt..." he murmured, "The Crystal Ponies adored you...you b-brought them p-peace...and joy...u-until you demanded their love...and decided to force it out of them..." "They stopped being loyal..." "Only one stopped being loyal...the only pony you ever loved...oh, what was her name again? I have such a fuzzy memory..." Discord's voice was no longer laced with pain and fear, but regaining his coyness and pride in it, though it was still weak. Sombra's eyes lost their terrifying glare and gained a look of pain, "Velvet Crystal...she betrayed me...she cheated on me with another Stallion..." Discord laughed a bit, "Did she? Did she really cheat on you?" he asked, "It seem you didn't get the whole story..." "What didn't I get?" Sombra roared, "I SAW HER KISS THAT STALLION ON THE CHEEK!" "Ohohoho! Oh this is priceless!" Discord pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "That stallion was her uncle! Moon Stone! He was visiting from Manehatten and she hadn't seen him and forever! And by the way," he nudged Sombra's shoulder, "He doesn't trot that way, he's into stallions!" Sombra teleported out of Discord's space, "She told me that! But she was a compulsive liar! She said she was rich when she was poor, she said she had a brother when she had a sister, and she'd play sick to get out of working in the Crystal Mines!" he growled. "Oh trust me, I know, she lied about everything," Discord said, "But she wasn't lying about this..." "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER? YOU NEVER MET HER!" Discord sighed, "You're right...I never did meet her...but Celestia did..." Sombra's eyes widened, "What?" Discord snapped his fingers and a TV appeared, "I wonder what's on TV?" he searched through the channels, "Tosh .0? No way, Big Bang Theory? That Sheldon fellow sure is into Star Trek...My Little Human? Oooh I am such a fan!" he soon reached a channel where Celestia was shown, "Here we go! It's called, History of the Crystal Empire! Sit down and take notes because you failed the last test!" Sombra then watched the screen... *** It was midnight in Canterlot, and Celestia along with her sister Luna were sitting at their thrones when all of a sudden the throne room doors swung open, revealing a royal guard with a small velvet colored earth pony with a curly darker velvet mane and soft tired brown eyes. "Let's go you!" the guard growled as he shoved the mare forward. The mare whimpered at the sudden force of motion. Celestia looked down at her, "What is the meaning of this?" "This burglar was sneaking around the royal gardens looking for an entrance!" The mare glared at the guard, "I'm not a burglar! I wish to speak to the princesses!" Luna spoke, "What do you need to speak with us about?" "My name is Velvet Crystal! I come from the Crystal Empire, and I come bearing horrible news...and it's all my fault..." the pony said. Celestia observed Velvet Crystal, she looked tired, as if she ran all the way from her Empire. Her cute mark was a bright blood red crystal shard, so she must have been a crystal miner. "What has happened?" Celestia asked as she stood up. Velvet began to tremble in fear as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, "It's King Sombra..." she whimpered, "He went mad a few days ago over thinking I...I c-cheated on him with another stallion..." Luna went to her sister's side, "And did you?" "No I didn't! I may have kept things from him but I would never cheat on him! I loved him with all my heart! My mother always taught me that cheating gets you nowhere!" Velvet told Celestia. "Why did you keep things from him?" Luna pondered. Velvet turned away "W-Well..he's big...powerful...and I'm small...weak...I wanted to seem big and powerful too...so he would love me..." Celestia's hoof cupped Velvet's chin so their eyes met, "And I'm supposing he saw through all of the lies..." When Celestia withdrew her hoof, Velvet nodded sadly. Luna glanced at her sister and then back at the crystal pony, "No wonder he didn't believe you..." Velvet Crystal let out a sob, "I-I meant no harm by it! I r-really didn't!" she wailed, "But now, he's demanding everyone's loyalty! He e-even found th-this dark m-magic spell that s-sealed off the...whole empire...no one can get in or out for a thousand years!" "That's impossible!" Luna exclaimed. Velvet pulled out a spell book, "It's possible...turn to the page with the warning on it..." Celestia did so and looked back at Luna, "It's true..." Luna glanced at the pages, "That's so strange..." "There's nothing we can do now..." Celestia sighed, "Not for a thousand years..." Velvet was crying now, more than she ever had in her life. She knelt down in despair, "This is all my fault!" Celestia looked down at Velvet Crystal, "This is only partly your fault...and for being dishonest you should be punished..." "But we believe this is punishment enough if you promise to be honest in the future..." Luna said. "I promise! I promise!" Velvet wailed. *** Sombra stood there in shock, "I loved her...no matter the wealth...no matter the family...I loved her so much...but when she said she didn't love that stallion, I just couldn't believe her...I couldn't trust her... tears fell from his eyes in a glimmer of grief, "If I couldn't trust her...who could I trust?" "That's the thing about love...it's all about trust...if you really loved her you would trust her...lair or not..." Discord told the broken king, "Is there a line to how much one can lie? Yes, of course there is...but...when it comes to your love...you must trust her no matter what it may be...and if she abuses that...than she never loved you...but Velvet did love you...she isn't crying for her home...she's crying for you..." Sombra fell to the floor, "I've been such a fool! I enslaved my empire for nothing! Velvet!" Discord struggled to walk over to Sombra, "I'm sure she forgives you...and I'm sure she wants you to help me defeat Tirek..." Sombra smiled, "I think she would like that..." Author's Note Thanks for reading!
Discord's Dream*** When Discord awoke, he was surprised to see two things. One, he was in a bright cheery sunny flower field. The world around him was sky blue and absolutely cloudless and sunlight bathed the long grass and the multiple types of flowers that grew in bunches. The air was warm with the occasional pleasant cool breeze. The sounds and chirps of bluebirds seemed to be cradled in the breeze into the ears of Discord, who was resting under a large sturdy oak tree where the shiny green leaves rustled sightly. Discord sat up and yawned, "My oh my...what a nap!" he glanced around, "A flower field? Rather strange, I would have preferred it a little more...creative!" Discord snapped his fingers and made cotton candy clouds gather in the sky and rain chocolate milk into a tiny drinking glass. Discord drank the glass on the outside of the milk with no hesitation and was about to toss it aside, but before he did so he heard a soft angelic voice. One Discord knew all too well. Discord then fallowed a trail of larks, song birds, and song birds that swirled around him and lead him up a hill of long soft grass. He looked around rather confused, but nevertheless he went along with it. It wasn't until the draconequus reached a sort rounded hill, he found the source of the voice. The sun showed through the cotton candy clouds and revealed a yellow and pink pony with butterflies for a cutie mark, Fluttershy. The birds flew over to her and flew around her, singing along to the little tune that Fluttershy was singing. As Fluttershy was singing, Discord became entranced. Not only in the performance, but in Fluttershy herself. Her soft yellow coat, her long luscious pink mane, her wide adorable teal eyes, and her gentle voice of a true angel combined with the pure sunlight seemed to paint a picture far too beautiful for words. Discord blushed as red as a tomato, "Pure...beauty..." he murmured. As soon as Discord spoke, Fluttershy spotted the draconequus. She gasped and blushed, "D-Discord!" she flew off into the branches of the oak tree and hid. Discord snapped his fingers to catch up with Fluttershy, "Please do not run my dearest Fluttershy..." he said as he hung down from one of the branches, "I absolutely adored your performance!" Fluttershy shrieked and fell off the branch and onto the ground, a few leaves rained down around her. "Are you alright dear?" Discord asked as he peered down from the branch and teleported to the ground. Fluttershy shrieked once more and stood up, trembling. Discord smiled, "Relax my dear..." "I-I'm so sorry D-Discord!" Fluttershy stammered still trembling, "I-I was bothering you!" she squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered. Discord frowned, "Bother me? Fluttershy, you've never bothered me in the slightest!" he exclaimed, "I love to hear you sing! You have the voice of an angel!" "O-Oh...R-Really?" Fluttershy stuttered. "Of course dear!" Discord said, "And it's not just your voice, it's everything about you! I truly do love everything about you, Fluttershy..." Fluttershy looked up at him and stopped trembling, "D-Discord..." "From your wonderful smile to your soft fur..." "U-Um...D-Discord..." "Everything about you is as wonderful..." "D-Discord?" "In fact...I have to confess...I..." Before Discord could continue, Fluttershy flew up to Discord's cheek and kissed it. Discord blushed and cupped his cheek, "Fluttershy..." Fluttershy smiled ever so sweetly, "D-Discord...thank you...for the s-support...I-I really like you, you know...?" Discord didn't waste a split second in pulling Fluttershy in closer to him, "I've always had the idea that you would like me....Dearest Fluttershy..." The sun began to set as the two creatures lips touched. When the kiss was broken, Discord murmured softly. "I love you..." Author's Note Hi guys! This is my first Fluttercord Fanfic! Enjoy!
Inner Conflict*** Discord awoke on one of the cotton candy clouds, floating above the wooden floor of Fluttershy's Cottage. He sat up, yawned, and stretched tiredly. Looking around, Discord saw all the animals Fluttershy was caring for sleeping in their little cages and habitats. He could hear little noises like snoring with the rare cute sneezes. The sunrise filtered through the one window in the living room, warming the room just a touch. Suddenly, the integrity of the cotton candy cloud was weakening underneath Discord. He was unaware until he fell through and fell to the floor with a thud. "Ow..." Discord looked up through the hole in the pink cloud above him, "What in the name of Equestria? My patented cotton candy clouds have never made me fall!" he teleported himself upwards and stuck his claw into the sugar fluff, "Someone decided to have a little snack! And this early in the morning too!" Discord dug around until he pulled a little bunny out by his big toe, it was Angel. "I should have known it was you, Devil!" Discord said smugly. "Have you no manners? Fluttershy said you couldn't eat sweets this early!" Angel crossed his arms, far from amused. "Look I know you want these delicious cotton candy clouds," Discord told him, "But rules are rules!" Angel rolled his eyes, as if to say: "Since when does the God of Chaos fallow the rules?" Discord crossed his arms in a matter-of-fact way, "Since I was reformed! I just gained back the trust of the princesses and the Elements after the Lord Tirek incident!" "Seriously? You've gone soft!" "I have not gone soft! The God of Chaos doesn't need to fallow such petty rules!" "Prove it!" Discord narrowed his eyes, "Oh I'll do more than prove it!" he snapped his fingers and made the room become littered with cotton candy clouds that were filled with ice cold chocolate milk, ready to rain. "Check, and mate!" he beamed with pride. Angel once more rolled his eyes, "Oh please! Is that all you can do? Sprout stupid pink clouds what rains flavored milk? Pathetic!" "Oh you want to see what I can do?" Discord asked, "Fine, you asked for it!" He snapped his fingers and in a flash, the room became upside down and the floors and the walls switched with the furniture and cages. The ceiling turned into soap and the floor turned into maple syrup, and outside it was raining cats and dogs. "How do you like that? Ha!" "O-Oh my! Discord! Why are you upside down and w-what is on the floor?" Discord stopped and looked up to see Fluttershy upside down, "Oh, good morning Fluttershy! I was just showing Angel I'm still the God of Chaos!" "O-Oh...I see...But...th-this is my h-house...can you maybe...st-stop...? I-If you don't mind..." Fluttershy asked as politely as she could. Discord knew he couldn't say no to Fluttershy, it was literally impossible. He snapped his fingers and everything reverted back to normal. Fluttershy smiled, "Th-Thank you Discord...do you want to help me make breakfast...?" Discord chuckled, "I'd be delighted, my dearest Fluttershy..." *** In Fluttershy's kitchen, Fluttershy worked to make blueberry muffins while Discord merely watched and occasionally handed ingredients. But Discord was just there to watch Fluttershy's every little graceful move. Discord hadn't been this moved by a pony since Princess Celestia. But sadly, Celestia took his heart and broke it the day she and Luna turned him to stone. After Discord was released, he tried to confess his feelings a final time. But Celestia outright rejected him, which caused him to attack the Elements and turn them against each other. It wasn't until Celestia ordered Fluttershy to help Discord reform, that he fell in a conflicting love between Celestia and Fluttershy. At this point, Discord was still conflicting between the two mares. Celestia was immortal like Discord. She was smart, funny, a prankster, and very pretty. But Fluttershy had been the kindest to him, though she wasn't immortal. She was also smart, but she had this hidden part of her. An aggressive side, which gives her a sense of courage and this flame in her soul that would only burn through when needed. Both mares had amazing qualities, but how can Discord choose? He couldn't, could he? Nevertheless, Discord was entranced in every little movement made by the butter colored pony in front of him. He could feel his cheeks burn as he didn't think he could be in the presence of Fluttershy. "...Now we're done," Fluttershy said, "I'm going to take a basket over to SugarCube corner, Pinkie Pie loves my muffins...well, so does Derpy..." she giggled. Discord was leaned on the wooden counter, "Hm?" Fluttershy giggled once more, "I'm going to take a muffin basket to Pinkie Pie and Derpy...there's a new tray out, so you help yourself..." "O-Oh yes! Thank you Fluttershy!" Fluttershy placed the basket of muffins on her back, "I'll be back Discord!" with a flap of her wings, she took off to the sky. When Fluttershy was out of sight, Discord took a muffin from the tray on the counter and took a bite, "Mmmm! Positively marvelous as always Fluttershy!" he exclaimed, "You make muffins that tastes better then...Celestia's...cakes..." Discord then was back into the internal conflict, "But Celestia has better ideas for pranks..." Discord muttered, "But Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness...and has opened her heart to me...believes in me...trusts me...is patient with me..." he ended up listing more of Fluttershy's perks than Celesta's perks. But Celestia still was on his mind. There was only one way to settle the conflict in Discord's head. Discord snapped his fingers, and teleported to Twilight's kingdom. *** Author's Note Stay tuned my friend! :)
The Choice is Clear*** The minute Discord teleported into the new large knights-at-the-round-table themed throne room, he knew where Twilight Sparkle was. Up in her new library reading, she was a book worm after all. As Discord walked to the library, he could hear rustling and books ranging from leather-back to hard-back hitting the wooden floor. "Is anyone here?" Discord asked as he glanced into the various rooms in that single hallway. Soon Discord reached the door and the source of noise behind it, he knocked on it, "Oh yoooohoooo! Princess Twwwwwiiiiillllght! Are you in there?" "D-Discord? W-What are you doing here THIS early in the morning!" was Twilight's response. Discord entered the room and was surprised to see the huge library a mess. Books were askew and tossed aside as Twilight read the books briefly and tossed them behind her, "No...no...NO! URRRRGH!!!" she groaned. "What's the matter? Is the Princess of Friendship having trouble with her books?" Discord asked smugly, "That's a new for you, 'Princess.'" Twilight at this point had her ears back, a clear sign that she was at her breaking point, "What do you want Discord? I don't have time, I have a date with Flash Sentry today and I've never been on a date, so I need to know the protocols...and so far, NONE of these books are giving me a solid answer!" Discord laughed, "You think you can learn about dating from a book?" Twilight glared at him, "You can learn a lot from books! "Okay okay, you're right...but I need you to answer a question for me!" Discord proclaimed. "Okay...?" Discord frowned, "Okay, here it goes...I have a crush on Celestia..." Twilight giggled, "I know, she told me that..." "What?" Discord exclaimed. "She told me about your little crush about her, plus it's very obvious!" Discord blushed, "It was not THAT obvious!" Twilight narrowed her eyes, "Um...you gave her a bouquet of flowers the day I gained my title..." "T-Those were only to apologize!" "Uh huh, yeah, sure..." Twilight smirked. Discord sighed, "Anyways," he found it hard to speak now, "I...I also have a crush on some other mare..." Twilight kept looking at the books in front of her and kept tossing them aside, "Does this pony know you?" "Yes she does...you know her too..." said Discord. "Oh I do? Who is it?" "Fluttershy..." Twilight froze, and in the process dropped all of the book she was holding with a thud, "What? If this is a joke, it isn't funny Discord!" Discord swallowed the lump in his throat that had been stuck there for the time he had been there, "I-It's not a joke...Twilight..." Twilight turned to face the God of Chaos, knowing he was serious by the fact he didn't call her by her title, let alone the Princess title. Twilight was silent for a moment before asking, "And you are asking me who you should pursue? Celestia or Fluttershy?" Discord nodded, looking at the floor nervous to know the answer. Twilight sighed, "I can't tell you who you should love, it should be your choice..." "Well you were no help! I'm going to Rainbow Dash! Maybe she will be blunt enough!" Discord then teleported away. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to browse her beloved books. *** It did not take long for Discord to find Rainbow Dash at all. Rainbow Dash was not in Cloudsdale, she was at Sugarcube corner with Pinkie Pie and Rarity to just hang out and remember the golden years before Twilight became a Princess. Discord went up to them, "There you are Rainbow Dash! I have been looking all through Equestria to find you!" Rainbow Dash glanced over at him and groaned, "Can't I catch at least one day without you bugging me Discord?" she muttered. "Why Rainbow Dash! Show some manners!" Rarity exclaimed. "Oh I have manners! What I don't have is time to deal with Discord's nonsense!" Rarity rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you do...Now Discord-" Suddenly, a bell went off. Everypony knew what that meant, they heard Pinkie Pie shout two words. "CUPCAKE FIGHT!" Discord was then confused, "Cupcake fight?" "It's somepony's birthday, and they requested a cupcake fight!" Dash explained, "And the ponies at Sugar Cube Corner can't say no to a pony on their birthday!" "Ooh sounds like fun!" Discord exclaimed. Rarity stood up, "Well I'm out of here! I don't want sticky frosting in my mane!" "Aw come on Rares! Where is your sense of fun, huh?" Before Rarity could reply, cupcakes started to soar in the air hitting most of their targets, namely Rarity herself. Discord ducked most of the cupcakes, and even poofed up a pink umbrella. "Well, I can see everypony is busy so I'll just go to Applejack! She's the most honest anyway!" he then teleported away. *** "Celestia-darnit! Big Mac! Have you see the apple masher? Granny Smith's making Zap Apple Jam now!" Discord heard the Element of Honesty shout at the top of her lungs. Discord then heard her brother say, "Nope..." Looking on the ground beside him, he saw the tiny mallet only used to mash Zap Apple into a lumpy mush to boil and add ingredients and do the steps as needed. Discord picked it up, "Applejack? Looking for this?" Applejack looked over at Discord and sighed in relief at the sight of the object, "Eeyup! Why don't ya jus' hand it over now please?" she asked as she pointed to the trees that were now filled with rainbow apples, "Those Zap Apples will be gone in a few minutes and we still don't have enough!" "Hold on Applejack, I need you to answer a question!" Discord told her, keeping the object out of the sunset orange pony's grasp. Applejack began to grow annoyed, "Well maybe I'll answer if you give me that frickin' thing!" "Why Applejack! I'm appalled by your language! Do you kiss Caramel with that mouth?" "Shuddap!" Applejack shouted, "I'm on a tight schedule as it is Discord!" Discord smiled, "Then answer my question!" "Fine! But make it quick!" "Okay...so who do you think I should ask out? Fluttershy? Or Celestia?" Discord asked. Discord expected the southern Earth Pony to completely freeze in shock, or tackle him and beat him to a pulp. But she didn't. In fact, Applejack just shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Well I'll give you a real easy answer, Fluttershy..." "You seem very calm about this, why aren't you blowing up like Twilight did?" Discord asked. Applejack was now walking to the barn to hand her elderly grandmother the apple masher, "Because I have been anticipatin' this question since the day you were reformed..."she handed Granny Smith the tool and walked back out, "Honestly, I don't know why you didn't get together sooner." "Really?" "Yep, Celestia won't go for a God who's sole purpose is to cause chaos and disharmony...she's too uptight that way..." Discord merely nodded, "I see..." "Plus Fluttershy seems to favor ya and look up to ya!" Applejack told him, "I can't really see why, but answer me this..." she narrowed her eyes. "Promise not only me, but the rest of the Elements that if ya do make that choice...take good care of her...and if ya don't...it's back to stone for you...I know we don't have the Elements with us...we'll use Rainbow Power..." Discord smiled nervously and said, "I-I promise...I-I Pinkie Promise..." he crossed his heart and stuck a green apple cupcake in his eye. "Good, now I believe you have feelins' to confess!" With that, Discord teleported back to Fluttershy's cottage and began to plot...the perfect way to confess... *** Author's Note Thanks for all the support! The cover for The Choice is Yours, Discord is being made by XxSilverTheHedgehog on DeviantART!
Old Enemies Return*** Fluttershy groaned as she struggled to clear the dizziness in her brain, "Ugh...wh-wha...what happened?" All she remembered was she was leaving Sugar Cube Corner. She saw a hoard of multicolored butterflies fly into the Everfree Forest and was concerned, for something as small as a butterfly could be injured badly in that evil forest. Fluttershy pursued them and pleaded them to stop. Usually, any creature, let alone butterflies would stop and pay attention to the butter and rose pink pegasus. After all, Fluttershy's talent was to communicate with the critters of Equestria. But the insects seemed to be deaf to Fluttershy's pleas, as if they were ignoring her. They continued to fly into the forests, much to Fluttershy's shock. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew into the Everfree Forest, where she was knocked on the head by a large wooden stick. Now it seemed Fluttershy was chained to the grey decaying yet strong concrete ground in an also decaying abandoned castle. The room was a throne room. The thrones were turning to a pile of rotten sawdust, the walls and its paint was grey and peeling, and the ceiling was one hoof bump from caving in. On the rotting walls, a tattered banner barely clung to a nail above the throne. The more Fluttershy squinted at it, the more it looked like an enemy from not only her past, but her friend's past. Lord Tirek. Tirek was the most recent villain to date, not to mention the toughest. But the Rainbow Power sent him back to Tatarus. Didn't it? "Hello Fluttershy..." Fluttershy began to tremble at the voice and began searching frantically for its owner, but she already knew who the owner was. Lord Tirek himself. Usually the giant monster's voice was powerful and strong, enough to knock any pony off its feet. But now it seems old, weak, and cracked, similar to an elder pony. Fluttershy new at this stage that the evil monster was at a very vulnerable state, but give him time, and he could destroy the entire world of Equestria by ridding every pony of their magic, flight, and strength. Fluttershy was cowering now, "T-Tirek?! No! Y-Y-You should b-b-be b-b-back in-" "Shut up!" Tirek shouted, "Sombra, you know what to do!" The world around Fluttershy began to grow colder and colder as a puff of black mist with those threatening red-green eyes with the purple mist spilling out from them. The mist laughed darkly, this cause Fluttershy to try and run away. But the shackles stayed put around her ankles as Sombra entered her body. Fluttershy screamed and tried struggle, but the more she struggled, the faster her flesh and bone were converted into crystal the color of her fur and mane. Soon there was no struggle, for now her entire body was crystal and the process was compete in second after it converted her head. Fluttershy was now a crystal statue, her expression fear and sadness. Sombra left the body and gained his pony form. "Well done King Sombra...that power is useful...Now we wait...We wait for Discord..." Author's Note Thanks for reading, I know it looks a little short, but it's supposed to be. It's a little window, foreshadowing of what's going to happen later, because trust me were all going to need this. I'm sorry it's not what you expect, but honestly all it's meant to be is foreshadowing and nothing more, the main plot will continue next chapter. Once again, I'm sorry it's not what you expected, the main plot shall begin next chapter...
The Ransom is Recieved*** Discord had it all planned out, he would make lunch for the both of them in the form of a picnic in the meadows. Discord would be his amazing self and charm her, then and only then would he confess his feelings. Discord got to work making the lunch that consisted of fruit salad made of pineapple, green grapes, red merlot grapes, apples courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres, bananas, pears, blueberries, and dragon fruit. A few small cheese wheels with those tiny cheese knives, two muffins leftover from breakfast with tweaking to make it fresh out of the oven once more. Some grape juice on ice was the cherry on top, everything was complete. All Discord had to do now was wait. Minutes turned to hours, and pretty soon it became to be night time. Discord sat there on edge, and only asked through the darkness of the cottage. "Where are you...Fluttershy?" *** "Discord! Discord! Wake up!" Discord groaned as his back ached severely, "Wha?" he sat up and glanced around. It was midnight now, and there was no light in Fluttershy's cottage that was on. Discord knew he was sitting on the cold hardwood floor and was not comfy, so he stood up and stretched. "What's wrong Princess Twilight?" he asked, being able see the lavender alicorn through the darkness. "Spare the formalities! We have a major problem!" Twilight shouted. She seemed frantic and scared, so something had to be wrong. Twilight teleported them to Canterlot Castle and dashed to the throne room where Celestia, Luna, and Cadence awaited for the gathering. The six ponies of friendship ran in, frantic like Twilight. Well...not exactly six. Fluttershy wasn't there, and that concerned Discord greatly, as he should have been. Discord glanced around, "Where on Equestria is Fluttershy? She's never late!" "That's what we called you here for!" Rainbow Dash said, "She was kidnapped!" Discord froze, 'Kidnapped? Oh chaos tell me she's joking!' Celestia gave him a ratty torn up letter, "We received this letter over an hour ago, we believe it's from Lord Tirek..." Discord looked up at Celestia, "How could you possibly know that?" "I recognize his messy barbaric hand writing anywhere," Celestia muttered, "We believe he kidnapped Fluttershy, and he wasn't alone..." "How do you know he's not working alone?" Discord questioned. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Just read it..." Discord then began to read it: Dear Ponies of Equestria: It's been awhile since we've last met hasn't it? But don't worry, we shall meet again...when me and my associate crush you! But that's not why I have written this letter, the reason I am writing this letter is to request that the God of Chaos, Discord meet me in the Everfree Forest ALONE! If he refuses, let him know we have one of his friends! The yellow and pink pony that is such a crybaby! If he doesn't show up with in the next 24 hours, we will do the unthinkable to that pony! Don't think we won't hesitate to smash her! The clock is ticking, LT&KS "Judging by the crude handwriting, we know that Lord Tirek wrote this as well as his intitals..." Princess Luna said, "And KS can only stand for King Sombra... We knew he would return someday, we just didn't think he would team up with the most deadliest monster in Equestria." Twilight stepped forward, "Discord, you have to go...don't do it for us, do it for Fluttershy..." she flinched, "I hate to think about what those monsters are doing to her right this second… She's really frail! She can't make it out there alone..." Discord remained silent as he thought of Fluttershy. He saw her in pain...pleading...CRYING.... "Oh I'm going all right...to rescue her..."
The Choice is Divided*** Discord stormed into the Everfree Forest with no hesitation, never caring about his own life for even a second. Discord couldn't care less about the timber wolves glaring and growling at him or the cold wind ripping through the air, all he cared about was finding the villainous scum that took his one and only love from him. Tirek and King Sombra...Discord's unfortunate targets, the targets of pure chaos. The Chaos God wasn't called a "god" for nothing, he could turn the world upside down quite literally with just a snap of his fingers and would not have any second thoughts, Through the darkness, a fine black mist seemed to be watching Discord despite not having any eyes, "Diiiiisssssssccoorrrrdd..." its distorted voice seemed to vocalize. Discord turned around at the voice and spotted the mist which retreated into the brambles, and the chase was on. The black spiky brambles caused great pain to Discord, who was whacked repeatedly with those branches of discomfort. They hit his long neck and pulled several feathers out of one of his wings. Discord gritted against the pain and trudged on, nothing could stop him now. Except for a tiny rock sticking out of the ground in front of Discord with a large hill-like slope in front of it. As you can probably imagine, Discord stubbed his toe on that tiny rock, causing him to tumble down that steep dead grass covered slope with piles of dry as a bone dirt to break his fall. Dust floated in the air for a quick second until it settled a second later, causing Discord to sneeze. "Owowow...that's a ride were I want my bits back..." Discord muttered as he stood up and brushed off. In his line of sight a few steps away, he saw something along the lines of a crystal statue...getting closer...he realized his true fear... The pony statue was Fluttershy, with the expression of fear plastered onto her face. Discord touched Fluttershy's cheek in shock, looking for a speck of warmth. But there was none, there was no sign of life at all. Discord felt his heart shatter, "Fluttershy..." "If it isn't the great and powerful god of chaos..." the black mist seemed to hiss, "Discord..." the black mist formed into a grey unicorn with a black mane and those ever iconic red and green eyes always glaring, "It's been a long time..." the unicorn growled with a smirk. Discord didn't even bother to turn his head or cast a glance, "Sombra...you're supposed to be dead..." Sombra laughed evilly, "I was dead...but thanks to Tirek...I am reborn..." "...Where is he...? Where is Tirek...?" A much deeper laugh was heard behind Discord, "Are you...looking for me?" Discord turned around, glaring at the tall monster, "You've grown..." "Thanks to the Crystal Heart..." Tirek growled with a smile, "I crept my way into the Crystal Empire, drained the energy of the Crystal Heart, and in turn...awoke Sombra..." Discord's fists clenched in rage, "You know, it's one thing to betray my trust..." his teeth grated against each other, "But if you....DARE..." he poked a claw at Tirek's chest, "DARE...bring Fluttershy...MY FLUTTERSHY into this..." Discord's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he smirked with a look of insanity, "I have no choice but to make your life more...chaotic..." "Oh...is that so?" Tirek challenged, "I doubt you have any real power...after all...all you do is hang around ponies..." Discord was losing his sanity inch by inch, "Why did you send that ransom...? And why did you tell me to come alone...?" Tirek smiled deviously, "Join us..." "Join us...and you shall be spared..." Sombra said. "There is no way on Celestia's green Equestria I would EVER join you!" was Discord's heated response. The sound of a deep rumbling hearty laugh came from Tirek, "If you join us...I'll make Sombra return Fluttershy back to normal..." he growled as he pointed to the crystal statue in front of the group. Discord was hesitant to ask the next question, "And what if I don't...?" Tirek walked over to the statue and raised his boulder-like fist, "Fluttershy...becomes Flutterdust..." Discord was then silent. *** Back at Canterlot, the ponies waited feverishly for Discord's return. Cadence had to return to the Crystal Empire due to emergency, the Crystal Heart was dying and along with it the kingdom. "This is horrible..." Twilight muttered as she paced back and forth in the throne room, "Fluttershy is kidnapped and Discord went after her...and hasn't come back..." Rainbow Dash looked at the stain glass windows, "And now we just figured out that Tirek MANAGED to drain the energy of the Crystal Heart without anypony knowing!" she looked back at Twilight, "Do you have an explanation? ANY explanation?" "Sadly I don't..." Rarity sighed, "How could this possibly get any worse?" "Simple! We could be on the brink of a major apocalypse some zombie ponies that want to eat our brains and possibly put them into brain cupcakes or any kind of sweets really... Or we could be in a sugarfree universe or kids are only allowed to eat vegetables..." Pinkie exclaimed. Applejack sighed, "Y'all are fussin over a cat playin' with yarn..." she said, "Have faith in Discord, and we can get through this...you do have faith in him...don't y'all?" Each of the ponies from then on were silent, for deep down their faith was waring more than thin. For the very first time, everypony was losing hope. Author's Note Hey, Inkwell here! Thanks for reading!
Chaos VS Crystal: Part 1*** Discord was silent. "So?" asked Tirek, "What's it going to be Discord...?" Sombra pointed to Crystal Fluttershy, "The weak ponies..." and then pointed to Tirek, "Or glory..." Not a sound was heard for what seemed like forever, Discord was actually contemplating his actions. On one hand, if he joined the bad guys he would get his one true love back to normal. However, they could be lying straight to his face as Tirek once did. If he didn't join the duo, he could lose not only his friends and his life, he would lose his love forever. Tirek frowned, "Can't make up your mind huh?" he crossed his arms, "That's too bad..." he snapped his fingers and Fluttershy teleported away out of reach. "Hey!" Discord shouted, "I don't believe you are playing fair!" Sombra laughed, "Since when to you care about fairness?" Tirek smirked, "You've truly gone soft Discord..." Discord growled, "Have not!" "Have too!" Discord was now fed up, a rare emotion for him. He felt so insulted he just wanted to destroy the duo here and now. But there was a small insignificant problem, he was reformed. Discord had sworn not only to his new friends but to Fluttershy herself that he would not use his powers for anything then to help people, and Discord would feel nothing but shame if he broke such a promise. Then again...his powers could be used to kick Lord Tirek's flank as well as Sombra's while he was at it and it was all to help Equestria, to help Fluttershy. "Do you really want me to SHOW you why I was placed in stone for a good thousand years?" Tirek laughed, "Oh I'm not going to fight you," he turned around and stated to walk away, "You're not worth the effort...I won't even take your power, you aren't even worth it...face it...you are too weak..." "Tirek! You'd do well to turn and fight me!" Discord challenged, "Any villain that doesn't is a true coward!" he proclaimed with a smirk spreading across his face slowly. Tirek was silent, he didn't move or speak. But he was in fact listening, "You used to be all strong and powerful...but all you do now is hang out with ponies...they have made you as useless as that Fluttershy..." Tirek glanced back at Discord, "I won't even take your chaotic magic, it's not worth my precious time...the next time we meet...whether you want to help us or not...I won't hesitate to blast you..." he opened a portal to what seemed like an unknown place with his new found magic and turned to King Sombra, "Let's go now...we've wasted enough time here...let's go home..." Somba just stood there, silent as ever. "Sombra?" Tirek looked confused at the evil king. Evil laughter erupted from deep inside Sombra's jet black chest, startling the several nocturnal animals that lived inside of the Everfree Forest, "Discord...you are really something...you are really willing to fight for this pony...Fluttershy..." "You were once the Guardian of not only the Crystal Empire but it beloved symbol of love, buy that principle you should understand the concept of love and it's power..." Discord muttered, "But you were bind to its extent..." Somba laughed and grinned, "So you say love has power...?" Tirek rolled his eyes, "Just finish him already..." he growled in annoyance. Discord's hands began to glow with chaotic energy, "It does...it starts out as friendship magic...but it evolves into something so much more powerful..." Sombra removed his helmet and regal coat, "Then show me this power...because I promise you, your love is NO match for my nightmares!" Sombra's magic than brought forth a jet black crystal sword. *** Discord laughed as he poofed up a rubber sword that looked like a real knight's sword, "You call that piece of jewelry a weapon?" However within seconds of Sombra attacking and clashing with the rubber sword, it was sliced in half with a pitiful squeak. Discord teleported backwards before the sword could make contact, and began to distort the world around Sombra. The Everfree Forest was as bright as the sun up close, blinding the dark crystal king. Sombra roared in anger as he reared on his back legs and brought his front hooves down, bringing shards of grey crystal from the earth, hitting Discord and sent flying into the air. Discord shot at Sombra with pure chaotic energy, a dark blueish purple ball of energy fueled by strange children's laughter, and created a ton of smoke in the process. Discord landed on his feet and didn't look back, he was victorious in his efforts. For Discord knew as much as anypony, nopony could ever handle a dose of pure chaos and live to tell the tale. But Sombra wasn't living...in his mist form he tore through the smoke and seeped through Discord's body before he even realized it. Then Discord's vision turned to black... *** "Tirek was right...this fight was quite disappointing if you ask me.... Discord awoke to a big spacey black limbo, silent as he could be. "I could very well kill you...but that would let you off too easy...someone as weak as you doesn't deserve this torture...but I know who you once were...strong...mighty...I looked up to you...so I shall grant you the harshest death of a god..." Discord growled, "Well aren't you generous?" "You deserve it..." "Yes yes, get on with it...I assume you are going to lunge out at any moment and make it as painful as possible..." "Mentally yes...physically you won't feel a thing..." Discord raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" There was no answer. Only a faint purple mist entered Discord's body, turning his eyes a green mist with a purple mist expelling from them. *** When Discord opened his eyes, he sighed in relief to see he was back at Fluttershy's Cottage. He sat down on the green couch and stretched out, "It was nothing but a dream..." Suddenly the front door opened, revealing Fluttershy. Discord jumped up, "Fluttershy! You're home!" he teleported over to the pink and yellow pegasus and gave her a big bear hug, "I had this horrible dream! You were kidnapped and-" "Why are you still here...?" Fluttershy asked bitterly through gritted teeth. The sudden coldness in the normally kind and sweet Fluttershy caused Discord to look at her in shock, "I-I...I live here!" he exclaimed, "Don't you remember?" Fluttershy struggled out of Discord's arms, "How could I forget? You are like a wart! Annoying and hard to get rid of...!" "Surely you don't mean that!" Discord said. He was rather confused about Fluttershy's aggressive behavior, perhaps she decided to take lessons from Iron Will again, "Fluttershy...you didn't go to see Iron Will again, did you?" Fluttershy stomped her hoof, "No...! I'm just tired of l-living with you...!" "W-Why?" Fluttershy growled, "W-Where do I begin?" she got up in Discord's face, "Y-You're lazy, your pranks a-are annoying, nopony likes or cares about you...! Especially me! I-In fact..." Fluttershy now had Discord backed up against the walls, "I-I...I hate you!" Discord felt his heart break as he struggled to find words, "B...B-But...I...I-I love you...!" "L-Love me?" Fluttershy growled, I wouldn't love you e-even if you were the last l-living THING on Equestria!" At that point, Discord wanted to die... *** "NOOOOOOOO!!!" There was a snapping shattering noise as Discord snapped out of it, "Huh? Wha?" "Are you alright?" Discord looked up to see a dark blue alicorn. "Princess Luna?" Author's Note Luna???? What are you doing here????? Inkwell here! Thanks for reading!
Chaos VS Crystal: Part 2*** The Princess of the Night stood tall in front of the shook up Discord, looking rather concerned. Discord could see her horn lighting up the darkness in a sky blue hue, and sighed in relief as he stood up and brushed himself off "That was a rather close one Discord...you were close to injuring your heart..." Luna told him. Discord shivered, "W-What are you doing here? And what do you mean? Where are we?" Luna sighed, "It is night time in Equestria and I am making my rounds in my subject's dreams...I found your dream...and it appears it was a dream inside of a dream...either that, or this isn't a dream at all...you might be in your mind...and the scene in front of you could very well be a part in your mind..." "That's impossible!" "Far from it...Sombra must have channeled the power of the door of nightmares that Twilight and Spike encountered in the taking back of the Crystal Empire...how he did it, I have no clue..." Luna began to walk forward with Discord fallowing, "He knocked you out, and is now taking control of the fear in your mind..." Luna stopped, "He is making your mind think about your many fears, each one more terrifying than the last..." Discord nodded, "I suspected as much...the mind is awake even when you are asleep, right?" Luna nodded, "The only way to stop these images is to replace them with good images...all by thought...and if you don't...you shall die in your mind...your heart is breaking...if you allow yourself see your fears and believe that they are real...your heart will eventually stop working...and you will become evil and emotionless..." "So...think good...don't look at the bad..." Discord muttered, "Thanks for telling me..." But Luna was gone. No sooner had Luna left, the purple mist came into being and Discord braced himself. *** When Discord opened his eyes, he saw he was in the middle of a room. Not just any room, Twilight's Throne Room. The more Discord looked around, the more he realized that all six of his friends were gathered in a circle around him, and they were far from happy. They were in their Rainbow Power forms, angry and glowing. "You have betrayed us for the last time, Discord!" Twilight shouted. "You really are a meanie pants!" Pinkie shouted. "I actually thought you were loyal!" Discord heard Rainbow growl. "Ah can't believe you would go ahead and lie to us like that!" Applejack shouted. Discord looked over at Fluttershy and saw her face was shimmering with tears, "I-I thought you were my friend...." she murmured. Discord felt a sharp pain beginning to form in his chest, until he remembered Luna's instructions. He remembered remembered when Tirek had betrayed him and used him and the mane six to force Twilight to give up the Alicorn magic. *** Twilight watched as all of her friends fell from their bubbles, all except one. That one, was Discord. "All of my friends..." Twilight growled. Tirek looked back at the ex-villain, "After all he's done, you still consider him a friend?" Discord knew then Twilight was going to change her mind, but was shocked to see the exact opposite. "Release him!" Tirek sighed, "As you wish..." with a snap of his fingers, Discord was free. Discord smiled, "Thank you Twilight..." *** A second memory flashed before Discord's mind, the after party of the unveiling of Twilight's Kingdom. *** The moon was rising in the sky as the ponies of Ponyville retreated to their homes to rest their sleepy heads. The Mane Six were also exhausted, which meant they too were retiring into slumber as soon as they reached their homes. Twilight sighed as she carried a sleeping Spike to bed, "Tomorrow is another day...eh Spike?" Spike merely snored and mumbled something about sapphires in his sleep. When the baby dragon was put in his bed, Twilight went over to her new queen-sized bed and tucked herself in. "Goodnight Spike..." Twilight murmured. Her eyes "Twilight?" Twilight's eyes snapped open at the sound of Discord's voice, "D-Discord!" Discord entered the room, "In the flesh!" Twilight sat up in shock, "What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, "Fluttershy is probably worried about you!" "Relax, Fluttershy's asleep...she won't know I'm gone..." Discord muttered. "Then answer the first question! You can't just barge in my room whenever you-" Discord snapped his fingers and teleported behind Twilight and focused his attention on the the plushie of Flash Sentry on her bed next to her, he picked it up and examined it, "Who is this?" Twilight blushed wildly and jumped up, "Give that back!" Discord kept the plush out of the purple alicorn's reach, "Is this that Flash colt? Heh, isn't he something?" "Discord!" "Oooh...you like him don't you?" "Discord, please!" Discord snapped up a tree of which he sat on a branch with the Flash plush and a new Twilight plush, he pushed them together to make them kiss, "Flash and Twilight, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Twilight turned red in a mix of anger and embarrassment, "Discord! Knock it off-" "First comes love, then comes marriage..." "SHUT UP!" "Then comes foals in a baby carriage!" Discord exclaimed in pure laughter. That did it. Twilight exploded as she turned white and her mane burst into a flaming inferno, "DIIIIIIIISSSSSCOOOOORRRRD!!!!" Knowing the line had been crossed, Discord made the tree and the Twilight plush evaporate into thin air. "Geez Twilight, no need to get your mane in a bunch! I have come to express my thanks!" Twilight took a deep breath and allowed the flames in her mane to extinguish as the color of her fur regained it's former state, "Thanks?" "For not letting Tirek take me away!" The alicorn was silent for a moment before saying, "If you want to thank anypony, you should thank Fluttershy..." Discord scratched his head, "What do you mean?" Twilight sighed, "I was about to let you rot with Tirek...after what you did, you can see why I would think that..." she muttered, "But I looked into Fluttershy's eyes for a spit second...and the moment I did...I saw every good thing about you..." Twilight smiled, "If Fluttershy can see good and friendship in you...I can too...and you know what? You are my friend for life..." Discord smiled, "Thank you, Princess..." *** The moment the good memory ended, the dark hallucination of Discord's vision faded into the darkness, never to be seen again. And for a split moment, Discord could hear Sombra swear in his agony. And so he ventured forth. Author's Note Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I have even bothered to update! I am really sorry, but I have been working on other projects too! Stay tuned for the epic conclusion of Chaos VS Crystal!
Sombra's Final Contribution*** Discord awoke in a hospital bed oddly enough, and he wasn't alone. "Discord...!" the melodic voice of Pinkie Pie sang, "Wakey wakey sleepyhead..." Discord groaned, "I'm up..." he sat up and saw Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash circled around him, "Where am I?" "You're in the hospital..." Twilight muttered. Discord could see Twilight looked exhausted and tired, her wings were molting and her flank and hair looked askew and ill. It was as if she was in a fight and was drained of all of her magic. He could see that the rest of the ponies were tired, drained, and sullen. Rainbow Dash's eyes looked tired and dull, her flank was torn and scratched, and feathers were falling from her wings exposing her pink flesh. Rarity's beautiful mane had twigs, split ends, and mud coating it and her lovely white fur was scratched and dusted with dirt. Applejack's hat look burned and falling apart, she had a large cut across her back and the rest of her fur was coated in dust. Pinkie Pie was the worst of all. Her bouncy hair was straight and embedded with twigs, her eyes were dull along with her body. She wasn't Pinkie Pie, she was Pinkamena. "What...happened to you girls?" Discord questioned with a slight gasp, "You all look like you need a trip to the spa!" he snapped his fingers and a pool of warm bubbling water appeared. Pinkamena was the first to jump into the pool, the others fallowed accordingly, each of them sighing in content. Discord smiled softly, but the smile soon faded when he remembered what had happened to him. The nightmares, Luna, Velvet Crystal, and Sombra. Fluttershy as a statue burned in his memory like a flame and he snapped. Discord got up from his bed and ripped the IVs from his veins, "Fluttershy!" he exclaimed, "I need to get back out there!" "I wouldn't jump out of bed just yet..." a familiar deep voice said from the doorway of the room. Discord turned to the doorway, "King Sombra!" he braced himself for an attack from the villain. Rainbow laughed, "Relax, he's a good guy now!" Indeed the look in Sombra's eyes was not evil, exerting purple mist from his glowing green-red eyes. Instead his eyes were merely red. Sombra was no longer wearing his long regal cape or spiky metal crown, instead he had no attire. Sombra was a regular unicorn once more. "I see..." Discord muttered as he stood up, "You nearly killed me though...I think an apology, possibly a meal, is in order." Sombra rubbed the back of his neck, "Relax...I'm paying the medical bills..." Discord smiled, "Good enough..." Pinkamena's hair inflated into her bouncy pink curls and transformed into Pinkie once more, "Sombra saved you!" "He did?" "He did," Twilight said as she left the tub and grabbed a towel Discord gave her, "Luna told us that you were in danger, so we ran into the Everfree Forest and searched for you." Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs and relaxed as the bubbles worked away the knots of her spine and wings, "We found you knocked out in a big patch of dirt, Sombra was looming over you!" "We saw him as a threat and tried to attack him," Rarity continued as she ran a brush (courtesy of Discord) through her curling purple mane, "But that all changed when a pack of Timberwolves chased us off a cliff!" Applejack brushed her hat free of dust, "And just as we fell, Sombra teleported us here, and here we are..." she frowned, "He told us stuff that ya need to know Sugarcube..." "But first...you might want to get back in that bed and put in your IVs..." Sombra said. Discord groaned, "But I'm fine! I feel great!" Applejack sighed, "Trust me, you won't feel great for long..." "And pray tell, why?" Sombra sat down, "Well...you see...Tirek...he...h-he's planning to brainwash Fluttershy and make her be his wife..." Discord's eyes widened, "WHAT?" "At first, he was only using Fluttershy to get you to join..." Sombra explained, "But when you refused and he kept Fluttershy, he fell for her..." "THERE IS NO WAY IN TARTARUS THAT I'M GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN!" Discord yowled in rage, "WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS TIREK?" "T-Tirek is...Tirek is..." Sombra tried to speak, but he began to wobble side to side and eventually collapsed. Discord caught the fallen king, "Sombra! What's wrong?" Sombra panted, Discord could feel the king's breath become shallower and shallower within each second passing. Sombra's voice was soft, "Freed...from immortality...body...aging..." he gasped out. Discord gasped, "No! There must be something I can do!" "Cannot...stop this now...no time..." Sombra panted, "Listen...Tirek has a castle...in the center of the North Everfree...it's lined with traps...Fluttershy is in throne room...Tirek guards her...free her...with your...y-your..." Sombra began to age into an old stallion and decay into dust, in a matter of seconds there was no trace left of the king. Discord just stood there in his own shock, silent as ever. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder, "He was immortal due to the dark magic spell he was over...when he was free, his body compensated for the years he didn't age...which was over 1,000 years..." she smiled, "At least he told us what we needed to know...and at least he is finally free..." Discord merely nodded, "I agree..." *** In a castle of red and black deep within the northern part of the Everfree Forest, on a black and grey throne sat Tirek. With the crystal Fluttershy... "You will bear my child...pegasus..." Author's Note Thank you for reading! The next part will be the final part! (excluding the epilogue ) Stay tuned! )
The Final Showdown Part 1*** Discord's recovery was swift, even for a chaos god. He stayed in the hospital a total of five weeks, and considering the damage Discord suffered, it was incredible that he survived such a terrible attack. For the poor bringer of chaos was suffering night terrors, severe chest pains, and pure dark magic running through his veins due to Sombra shooting that cursed arrow. In short, Discord was miserable beyond measure. The doctors and nurses did all they could to ease Discord's pain, and Twilight helped his body destroy the black magic for it was was only a small but fatal dose and would only grow if left untreated. If untreated and able to spread, Discord would become like Sombra when he found his insanity. Despite all the comfort Discord was given, he was still miserable. The sudden death of Sombra shook him to his core, and what Sombra had told him about Tirek and Fluttershy shook him even more. Discord tried constantly to convince the hospital and the elements that he was in tip top shape, but to no avail. He even tried to escape once, but Rainbow Dash stopped him and assured him that he would be released very soon. Of course Discord would always protest and Twilight would have to stick him with a tranquilizer, well, about five tranquilizers usually did it. Every night Discord would have nightmares, some Princess Luna would shutter to witness. One dream would contain Tirek and Fluttershy, Tirek would be on his throne with Fluttershy tied up next to him. Tirek would laugh maniacally before bringing the butterscotch colored pegasus closer to him and kissing her. The next dream that Discord tended to have was seeing the whole of Equestria burn in a fiery inferno, and the one who caused it all, Tirek, watched from a hill far away. The final dream was the most unsettling. Discord was fighting Tirek and Discord lost. These dreams were the one reason why Discord stayed awake. Soon Discord was released and he couldn't have been happier. *** Back at Twilight's castle, the elements and Discord called together Celestia, Luna, and Cadence for a course of action. "Thank you for calling us in short notice..." Celestia said as she entered the throne room, "It was rather hard to get here..." Luna looked tired for she was traveling by day instead of night like she was used to, "Tirek has these brainwashed slaves that he turned into crystal statues...he's made them stronger and more capable to fight with dark magic... " she sighed, "They have tried to attack Canterlot and Ponyville as well as the rest of Equestria, but our national guards are keeping them away from civilians as well as our castles...but we have no clue how long it's going to last..." "Then we have to evacuate the civilians!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Twilight sighed, "There's no place we can put them, not even Cloudsdale is safe! A good majority of the slaves are pegasai!" Applejack stepped off her throne, "There must be some way we can protect the ponies of Equestria!" she stamped her hoof, "Ah have a big brother, little sister, an' a grandma an' Caramel!!" "And you don't think I don't have family?" Rarity growled, "My little sister, my parents, and my Spikey Wikey is are in danger too!" "I have three sisters, my parents, and Cheese Sandwich!" Pinkie Pie shouted. Rainbow Dash sprung up from her throne in objection, "I have Scootaloo! I ain't losing that kid!" she said, "I also have parents and Sorin!!" "I have my brother...who is protecting me...my parents...Cadence...Flash...all of us..." Twilight murmured. Celestia nodded, "I understand your concerns...and that is why I will not allow you to fight Tirek..." "WHAT?" "You have family to protect...if and when and if Tirek breeches our defense, then only then will you be able to fight..." Luna said. Discord raised his claw, "What about me?" The princesses and the elements stared at the Draconequus in shock, "Discord..." Celestia said. "Let's face it...I am the only one who can even stand a chance against him! I know his fighting skills, unlike you princesses..." Discord explained, "And yes, he may be able to take my magic, but I've already lost Fluttershy! There's nothing left for me to lose!" Luna stepped forward, "Sending you to fight him is the LAST thing we want to do!" she sighed, "Allow us Princesses to battle! Besides, you betrayed us the one time we let you fight Tirek! Do you really think we trust you?" Discord crossed his arms, "Why not? You don't have anymore options!" Luna looked down at the ground trying to think, "We...W-We..." Discord snapped up a chart with a stick, "You don't have a better option...you nor your sister and Cadence know the fighting styles of Tirek, you know nothing of his magic other than his draining abilities, I have nothing to lose, and frankly I'm going to fight for Fluttershy!" "That is all true, but consider this Discord..." Celestia muttered, "Suppose he drains you of his magic, what will happen then?" Discord smiled as he snapped the chart away, "He won't, promise! He may be a villain, but he fights fair enough...Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, please..." The princesses were silent, they stared at each other and looked back at the Draconequus, "Give us a second to talk about it..." Celestia muttered "Twilight, come..." Twilight stepped off her throne and fallowed her associates out of the throne room, not looking back one time. Applejack's eyes narrowed, "What in tarnation are you planning, Discord?" she asked. "Whatever are you talking about Applejack?" Discord mused, "I have no plan!" Rainbow Dash crossed her front hooves, "Yeah right! What are you planning you chaotic nut?" Discord frowned, "What I have planned is a secret...nothing more..." "Whatever it is," Rarity muttered, "You better bring back Fluttershy..." Pinkie pulled out a blue cupcake and swallowed it whole, "Yeah, if you don't bring her back we will be so so so sad! Pinkie Promise me right now that you'll bring her back!" her eyes narrowed, "Pinkie Promise it!" Discord rolled his eyes and crossed his heart, "Cross my heart and hope to fly," he snapped up a pink cupcake and shoved it in his own face, "Stick a cupcake in my eye..." he muttered. Pinkie nodded, her eyes still narrowed, "Good..." Suddenly the throne door swung open again and the princesses entered once more. Discord looked up at Celestia, "So?" Celestia turned to Luna, Cadence, and Twilight and then back at Discord, "We have reached an agreement," she said, "We agree you are the only one who is capable of fighting him at this present time...if however, you fail in your efforts..." "Equestria will fall..." Luna finished. Discord nodded, "I am aware..." Celestia nodded back, "Very well...you will challenge him at sundown..." *** The wind blew sourly against Discord's body as he entered the northern part of the Everfree Forest. The shadows covered the chaotic god, hoping to jump start his fears but to no avail. The whole of Equestria was alerted of the fight about to take place and responded by taking cover and having an evacuation plan. Twilight helped her brother and the rest of the royal guard shield Canterlot and the main areas. by strengthening the spell just a bit. Rarity allowed every pony in Ponyville with no protection to take cover in her boutique, including her own family. Pinkie took all the foals in Ponyville that were fussy or lost their parents and calmed them down with jokes and treats at Sugarcube Corner. Applejack took the other ponies from the farms in Ponyville with no shelter and put them in a storm cellar at Sweet Apple Acres, assuring them that they were safe. Rainbow Dash alerted Cloudsdale and did Fluttershy a favor by placing all of her animals in their homes and in her cottage. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence helped each and every pony in Equestria find shelter, whether it be in their homes or their own castles. The princesses then set up magical barriers around the rest of Equestria.The barriers of the princesses and the barriers of the royal guards merged together to create one big bubble protecting everything. Everything was prepared for the fight that very well could wipe out the whole of Equestria. Discord was prepared and ready to fight, knowing full well that if he failed, he would lose Fluttershy and the whole of Equestria. He approached a tall spiky red and grey castle, where a loud barbaric laugh was heard. Discord knew full well who it belonged to, and he wasn't about to give up now. He then sighed, and entered the castle where Tarturus was made. *** In the dark, dirty, candle-lit, throne room sat Tirek. He sat there, Fluttershy statue on his lap like a dragon guarding a princess. "So, let me get this straight...you hate ponies...you wanted to SMASH Fluttershy...and now you want to...MARRY HER?" Discord growled. Tirek gritted his teeth, "I knew Sombra would fail..." he stood up and tossed Fluttershy aside, "That is why I lied to him about my plans...he was merely a pawn in my little game, fed false information...and he gave the information that would make you come back here..." he smirked, "I just said that to make sure you would come..." Discord teleported back to catch Fluttershy, "You are truly a manipulative fool..." Discord hissed. Tirek burst out laughing, "Thank you for the compliment..." "Yeah, well playtime is over..." "Oh no..." Tirek locked the throne room door with a snap of his fingers, "Not until you join me..." Discord rolled his eyes, "I've told you know...I've come to stop you!" "I don't think you'll stop me...not when I make the rules..." Tirek snapped his fingers once more and Fluttershy disappeared from Discord's arms. "BRING HER BACK RIGHT NOW!" Discord shouted enraged. Tirek gritted his teeth, "Not until you join me!" Discord crossed his arms, "Never!" he declared through gritted teeth, "You can't expect me to join you after all you have done!" "Look, if you join me...you will be free...be free to do what you want!" "What good is that when you don't have any friends to share that fun with?" "You don't need those ponies!" "That is what I used to think!" Discord told Tirek, "But after meeting Fluttershy, I realized that I could do what I want...but if I did, I would betray the only pony I have ever truly loved that loved me back!" Tirek laughed, "How do YOU know she loves you?" Discord's eyes began to glow a bright glow, "Because...she's the only pony to stand with me...I was a villain, a bad guy, but after meeting Fluttershy...I DON'T WANT TO BE A BAD GUY ANYMORE!" he shot a ball of chaotic energy at Tirek, who shot a large beam of magic to counter. "THOSE PONIES HAVE RUINED YOU!" Tirek shouted. Discord froze the beam in place with ice, teleported above Tirek, and shot a large beam of his energy at him with a direct hit. When the smoke cleared, Tirek leaped up and grabbed Discord by the neck. He slammed him into the walls and floor until he heard a delightful snap of bone. Tirek then released Discord from his alligator grip, then left, knowing he had something to attend to. *** Discord groaned as he awoke, it was night time now as the moon shone through the gaping hole in the throne room wall. But something didn't seem right. Metal floor... Metal bars... Metal roof... It was at that moment his mind registered, Discord was in a cage in a throne room. And he was not alone. "Ah...so you're finally awake..." Trying to sit up created a blossoming pain that came in a massive wave through Discord's entire body, "AGH!" "I wouldn't try to move...your back is broken..." Tirek growled, "So I know you won't go anywhere..." Discord moaned as he laid back down. Tirek approached the cage, "And as an extra measure, I have taken your magic so you can't escape...so...now we can do business..." he smirked, "And before we begin...know what position you are now in, Discord..." Discord winced in his numbing pain, silent as ever. "Now then, I will give you two choices...join me...or watch everything you love BURN..." Tirek said. Out of the corner of Discord's eye, he could see Tirek holding the crystal Fluttershy in his fists. Tirek laughed, "It's your choice, Discord..." Discord began to shake horribly as he glared at Tirek, wanting attack him so badly. "G...her...b-back..." "Join me and she lives..." Silence met Tirek before he heard, "N-Never..." "Well then..." Discord heard a smashing noise, it was like glass only thicker. He knew that it was crystal smashing onto the concrete floor. "I guess you can stay there and rot..." Discord could hear Tirek walk away into a long hallway, and then their silence. In his pain, Discord willed all of his pain away to the best of his abilities to sit up and jump back in terror as he saw a pile of fine crystal dust in front of his cage. Discord outstretched his hands to gather what was left of his love and brought them onto his lap to hug and embrace as the tears gathered and fell in time with his broken heartbeat. At that moment, something inside Discord changed. Tirek took his one love away and on the way to destroy his friends and the world with it, and you don't do that when Discord was still standing. "TIREK! IF I EVER GET MY CLAWS ON YOU I WILL MAKE YOU CRAWL BACK TO TARTRUS WITH YOUR TAIL IN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!" There was nothing but silence...So Discord hid the dust and curled up to sleep... *** Author's Note Hey! This chapter had to be split into two parts! Sorry
The Final Showdown Part 2*** Excuse me...? Would you be Discord?" Discord awoke in a black limbo, warm, safe, and free from his pain in his body. Stifling a yawn, he glanced around. "Am I dead?" Discord asked himself. "No, you are sleeping, Discord..." a soft voice said. Discord saw a bright light and the shape of an earth pony. When the light faded, he saw it was a crystal pony. The crystal pony was a velvet cake red with a darker shaded curly mane, her deep brown eyes spoke for her and told Discord she was worn out. The crystal pony's cutie mark was two ruby red crystal shards crossing to make an X. Discord narrowed his eyes, "You look..." "Like someone you know?" the pony asked. "Exactly!" The pony giggled, "Most ponies know me as the one behind the Fall of the Crystal Empire..." Discord smiled, "Velvet Crystal..." "You know...I didn't mean to cause it...I didn't mean to lie to Sombra..." Velvet said with a frown, "I-It's just...he's the only pony to really love me...he said he wasn't into poor ponies! So I lied and said I was rich! One lie led to a-another and..." Discord put a claw on his shoulder, "I hate to stop your story, but I really need to wake up and get out of here!" There was laughter in the darkness, "What will you do if you can get out?" Discord jumped up and glanced around, "Who said that?" "Oh? Do you not remember me? The first pony to challenge you and your reign? The one you called the Destroyer of Chaos?" Then he remembered...before Celestia and Luna sealed him away, a third princess stepped into the ring for a challenge. "Princess Kaze...you still live?" A dark grey alicorn and a blazing blue mane and glowing amber eyes stepped forth, her tornado cutie mark standing out of the darkness. "Oh I live...me and my subjects live protected and safe..." Discord chuckled, "As always Kaze...you've proven you're the top pony around here..." "Let us skip the formalities Discord," Kaze said, "Now...you've been captured by Lord Tirek, your back is broken, and your powers have been sealed away..." Discord looked puzzled, "What? What do you mean seal away? I mean, I know he took away my magic, he absorbed it!" Kaze laughed, "He didn't absorb it! Not like last time!" "What?" "Let me explain..." Velvet Crystal stepped forward, "Well, due to absorbing all of the Crystal Heart's raw untamed magic, if Tirek were to absorb anymore magic he would..." "Die..." Kaze finished. Discord's eyes widened, "Oh my...do you mind telling me what he did with MY magic?" Kaze sat down and yawned, "The same place where he's keeping all his excess magic, his room..." "Tirek is keeping the magic close to the crystal statue slaves in case his magic runs out..." Velvet told Discord, "Those Crystal Slaves will only snap out of their state when they hear the three words from their loved ones...I love you..." "Is that all I need to do?" "It's not that simple..." "It never is..." Kaze smirked, "First and foremost, you need to take all the crystal statues to the Crystal Empire, their home, to their loved ones where they can hear the words I love you, then the curse should be broken from them." "Secondly, in order to do that you must get your magic and free the other magic from their prison so they can return to their owners," Velvet Crystal said. "Thirdly, you need to defeat Tirek...keep him fighting until he gets weak and small enough to hit him with the Rainbow Power...hitting him with Rainbow Power at his full stature with the full power of the Crystal Heart would cause an explosion big enough to wipe out half the population of Equestria..." Kaze explained. Discord nodded, "Well that's simple for me!" he frowned, "Or it WOULD be if I wasn't trapped..." Velvet Crystal smiled and put a hoof on his shoulder, "You'll find a way...Fluttershy may be gone...but you have to protect the world she held so dear...for her...for your friends...I know you, you won't let a cage stop you...can we count on you?" Discord smiled, "You can count on me!" *** Author's Note Stay tuned for the FINAL chapter!! THE LAST ONE! XD
The Final Showdown Part 3*** The minute Discord awoke he was plotting his escape. He thought of waiting for Tirek to enter so he could play dead so he could trick the monster into being locked in the cage. Sadly, that would fail. Tirek was much too large and strong to be held with the tiny cage, not to mention Tirek was too smart to fall for such a trick. Discord thought of trying to squeeze through the bars, after all he was thin and the bars were widely spaced. However when Discord realized he was immobile in his agony whenever he tried to move, he tossed that plan right out the hole in the wall. It even came down to try and chew through the bars, and so Discord tried. But after hours of trying, after breaking his tooth nine times, he gave up. Hours turned to days. One day turned to seven days. Over that time, Discord watched as Tirek tried to breech the ponies' defenses. Thankfully the ponies' shield was iron clad, made with every type of unicorn and alicorn magic in Equestria. It was strong the first four days they were strong, but the last two days, each pony was getting weaker and weaker within each attempt of Tirek's breakthrough. On the eighth day, Discord could see a crack in the magical barrier. He knew then, he had to stop Tirek fast. *** It was at this point Discord decided to go with plan number two, despite the plan failing once before. After all, if you don't succeed, try and try again. Night fell over the Everfree Forest, and at this point Discord had the schedule of Tirek down. He knew that he would not be fed, at all. Discord hadn't been fed for these seven days, and even though it hurt him, Discord was immortal and wouldn't die whatsoever. Besides, he was used to his stomach begging for food, and ignored it professionally. All Discord had to do was wait for the large harsh snores of the tyrant in the hallway in the next room. He waited for the moon to rise into the center of the sky, and when he heard the fateful snoring of Tirek he put his plan into action. As the moonlight shone through the gaping hole in the wall, Discord piled up the remains of Fluttershy and put them in the corner of the cage where the moonlight didn't dare reach. He then slithered through the bars. It may have seemed easy considering his stature, but considering he had a broken back it was far from easy. Basically, Discord tried his hardest to ignore the blossoming pain, but it was harder than trying not to be naughty for the sake of Equestria. Even the slightest movement dealt him the worst pain he had ever been in. Despite all of that, Discord wouldn't crack. Not one bit. After several minutes of crawling through the long dark hallways, Discord located Tirek sleeping in his bed, snoring loudly. Next to the bed of Tirek, Discord was taken aback to see a heart shaped crystal. The Crystal Heart. *** The Crystal Heart laid there, leaning up against a crate containing jars of multicolored magic and crystal statues of ponies in front of it. One of the jars contained a dark purplish green magic, Discord's magic. Discord smiled when he saw his magic, "Hello old friend...let's do this, shall we?" he crawled forth, never stirring a statue, and he untwisted the jar and allowed the magic to flow within him, healing his pain and revitalizing his spirits. With a snap of his fingers, the rest of the magic as well as the Crystal Heart was teleported to Twilight's castle and the statues to their loved ones. "Well that was easy..." "Huh...? What?" Discord saw Tirek sitting up and quickly dived underneath his bed. Tirek took one good look at the barren spot next to his bed and roared, "DIIIIIISSSSSCORD!!!!" Okay, game's over. Discord teleported back to the cage, repositioned himself to look broken, and made it his goal to protect Fluttershy, or whatever was left of her. Tirek entered, "YOU!!!" Discord yawned weakly, "I what?" "WHERE IS MY EXTRA MAGIC???" Discord raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" "Don't play dumb with me!" Tirek roared, "And the slaves! WHERE ARE THEY?" Discord moved limply and pulled off his best fake wince and moaned, "I haven't the sl...slightest idea..." Tirek stomped up to the cage and stared Discord down with his burning amber eyes, "Listen you chaotic mixed puzzle! I know you did something!" "Oh Tirek..." Discord smiled weakly, "How could I possibly do anything...? I'm in a cage with a broken back and no magic...I can't..." Tirek sighed, "I guess you have a point, but you MUST have a way of communicating with those ponies!" Discord rolled his eyes, "And how would I do that? That shield is too thick for communication on the outside world..." he was lying of course, only pure souled ponies could enter in and out, as well as be protected. "And how do YOU know that?" "Even without my magic, I can tell you will not be able to get into it..." yet another lie. Tirek smiled, "How so?" "It's far too complicated for a simple mind like yours..." "What the-" Tirek slammed his fist into the cage, shaking it horribly, "Are you calling me INFERIOR?" Discord laughed, "Ohohoh! You should see your face! Priceless!" Tirek roared loudly, enough to make Discord's ears ring loudly, he then stormed out of the castle, breaking all the doors off their hindges. "I-It seems I've over done it..." Discord muttered to himself. *** Author's Note Sorry for the delay, I've been dealing with a lot stuff lately...so as a result, I have to spit the final part in two in order to reduce stress and stuff...the next chapter should be the last, but...I don't know... Enjoy.
The Final Showdown: THE END*** Huddled together in Twilight's castle, was the entire whole of Ponyville. Each pony was put into well-sized groups and given one of the many rooms of the castle, promised protection no matter what. Each day seemed like a million years to Twilight; but she managed to calm the ponies down, even when she herself was scared. Twilight had a routine, a duty to uphold now that the other princesses were focusing all their efforts keeping shield up to par. Twilight was now the temporary ruler of Equestria. At first, Twilight refused to rule Equestria alone. She tried to convince Celestia to go through the magic mirror and ask Sunset Shimmer to rule with her, considering Sunset had been a former student and must have had a some experience with the mechanics of ruling. But Celestia told Twilight that Sunset couldn't come back with the shield up, they had to put up that shield immediately with no time to travel time or dimensions. The sooner the shield was put up, the safer the ponies would be. Discord was the only person keeping most ponies from breaking into insanity, and as sad as it was, Twilight had given up hope on Discord and assumed he was no more. She wanted so badly to tell the ponies of Equestria the truth, but Twilight knew that if she did, the ponies would loose all hope and chaos would rain down from the sky. Not in the form of chocolate milk, but in the form of asteroids and fire. The world would be destroyed soon and Twilight knew it. But she did her best to keep everything in order, even if the end came. On this final day, Twilight was sitting on her throne looking over the cutie map to track her friends' whereabouts. Pinkie was at Sugar Cube Corner, giving out the daily rations, or whatever was left of them. Rainbow Dash was in Cloudsdale, training with the Wonderbolts in case there was an emergency. Applejack did what she could with farming, considering there wasn't any rain or very many seeds to spare. Rarity on the other hoof was traveling Equestria with Spike, helping anypony she met find shelter someway or another. Leaving Twilight all alone to deal with running Equestria. "Everything seems in order...still..." Twilight sighed and rubbed her tired baggy eyes, "I mustn't rest...not before Tirek is stopped..." she teleported up a piece of paper and a quill with some ink, "I hope this time she writes back..." "Dear Princess Celestia: Time for the weekly report. On the eighth day of our imprisonment, despite our efforts, the shield seems to be weakening within every second...Discord...is gone...forever...even if he was alive...he would never be able to...the shield, though weak, could still block him out...all hope is lost... -Princess Twilight Sparkle" Just as the letter was sent, a scroll with the Crystal Empire symbol on the tie appeared in front of Twilight. "Hm? Cadence?" Twilight then opened the scroll and read it. "Twilight: You are needed at the Crystal Empire immediately, I have alerted your friends and they are all coming...hurry as quick as you can... -Cadence" Twilight merely gazed at the letter for a few moments before setting it down and alerting Flash Sentry. "What is it, Princess?" Flash asked eagerly with a smile upon his face. Twilight resisted the urge to blush at that smile as she kept her calm demeanor, "I need to head to the Crystal Empire quickly, please look after Ponyville for a couple of hours." Flash gasped, his eyes widening in shock. "It's only a few hours, relax..." "I can't believe you're trusting me with this!" "Well, there's no other pony qualified to be my successor at such a time as this...I trust you..." Twilight packed a backpack and headed to the door, "I know you'll do a good job..." she added with a smile. Flash smiled lightly, "Thank you, Princess..." Twilight turned from the large throne room doors and walked over to Flash, "There's no need to be formal, Flash..." she leaned in slowly and kissed him. The shock of the sudden kiss caused Flash's wings to unfold, but Flash soon melted into the kiss softly. "Just call me Twilight..." Twilight murmured in a voice of silk. Flash merely nodded. With that, Twilight turned to the door and left. *** Since the trains were shut down, Twilight sent a letter to Shining Armor telling him that she was to be expected at the Crystal Empire. She then headed to the border of Ponyville and left the protected city with a spell to walk through force fields. It was alicorn magic, meaning only the princesses were able to go in between cities. It was the only spell capable of such a feat, so rare it was thought to have been lost in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of the Canterlot Archives. Twilight managed to find it during the whole time travel incident. She taught it to the other princesses and now they were able to go from city to city when they had to. Twilight watched as the sun began to set as she walked through the desolate fields leading to the Crystal Empire, she then teleported herself to the Empire. On the outskirts of it, Twilight then used the walk-through spell to go through the shield. The Empire that was once filled of light and laughter of the Crystal Ponies, was now desolate, gray, and dead as a doornail. When approaching the entrance of the castle, Twilight was stopped and checked by the Crystal Guards. Soon she was led into the throne room by two guards; where Cadence, Celestia, and Luna waited. At the princesses' feet, laid crystal statues of ponies who had gone missing over the course of a few months lined up in unbroken rows. Twilight had helped in the search to find half of the ponies, but she was saddened to discover none of them were Fluttershy. "Woah, what happened? Are these what I think they are?" Twilight inspected the ponies carefully. Luna nodded, "Indeed...and that's not all...sister?" "Yes yes...I know...we have reason to believe.-" Celestia nodded and brought forth the Crystal Heart. Twilight gasped, "That's great! Put it back into place!" "We can't..." Cadence pointed to a spreading crack in the blue crystal of love, "It's damaged, until I can patch it up, it won't be able to protect the Empire!" Twilight groaned, "Ugh...how long will that take?" "It should take a few hours..." Celestia said. Without much warning to be had, an ultra sonic boom was heard blasting through the kingdom, pulling up trees from its roots and making awful loud your shattering sound. At that moment did twilight realize that someone was trying to break the barrier. And they were succeeding whoever they were. Twilight knew it was, she knew it was none other then Tirek. Her heart pounded out of her chest as her fears were confirmed. Luna looked up at the barrier outside to see it shattering, "So it begins..." *** CRACK! SMASH! Discord was on the border of the shield when he saw Tirek using his massive fists to shatter the barrier. He gritted his teeth. "Tirek..." Tirek whirled around and roared, "DISCORD!" "L-Look...Tirek... I thought about what you have said, what you were planning to do, and everything we will do...." Tirek's eyes lit up with rage, "And?" "I refuse to let you do this, I am against this entirely…you have taken away almost everything I have, you were threatening my friends with extinction, and you took away the one thing no one can replace..." Discord hissed with an icy voice, "You do not do that to me, I am the Lord of Chaos… you seem to have forgotten that!" "Oh I have not forgotten anything, you mixed up Heathen!" Discord's fists began to tremble as they clenched together, "I used to be evil, are you still think I had to be mean in order to have a good time! But there was one pony who showed me that I could have a much better time if I invited friendship and the love of my life...and she's not here anymore thanks to you...but in a way..." he brought one paw up to his chest, "She lives in me...my love for her still lingers in my heart, or what is left of it anyway... It may seem stupid to you, but love is a very powerful thing...I suppose Sombra never told you that either...you never loved anypony, it's clear now..." "Oh my Luna! are you seriously going to give me some stupid friendship monologue, Princess Twilight has really been a bad influence on you Discord!" Tirek roared in anger, "I never needed love, it slows you down, makes you weak!" Discord sighed, "To you, it makes you feel that way. But if you really understood, if you really took the time to let it enter your heart...you could see the power of true love..." Tirek smiled, "Really?" his fist gathered together a bright orange energy into one sphere of magic, "Can your precious love stop this?" he fired it at Discord. Discord fired a purple sphere of magic right back at him, "With the love I have...I'm invincible!" Myself more spears of orange energy were fired each one bigger than the last, who scored kept dodging, countering, and levitating them away from him and the shield. With each shot fired, Tirek became more and more exhausted. With all the energy he had absorbed through the Crystal Heart coursing through his veins, it was literally burning his body more and more within each second. His fur began to singe and smoke with each fireball shot. Discord could literally smell the power coming off of him. But where Tirek began to burn up due to the power, Discord only got stronger. Every memory of his reformed life coursed through Discord's mind, with every image of his friends flashes in his head, with every conversation he and his friends ever had ringing in his ears, and with every fiber of love for Fluttershy in his heart. He became stronger in spirit, however...his body was becoming battered and burned by the spheres being thrown at him. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST..." Tirek unleashed all the power he could muster into one gigantic spear but most impossible to dodge, Discord knew he had to face that powers head on. There was no holding back this time. "FAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!" Discord released a sphere of his own magic on instinct, he was not about to lose. Discord had to win...for his friends...for Fluttershy's memory... What would Fluttershy think if her friends were hurt? If her animals lost their home? It would tarnish her memory. And Discord could not live with that. The orange sphere however was a major adversary, so much power have been put into that sphere that it burned even on Discord's end. Discord winced as the burning sensation crawled up his paws and arms, boiling his very blood. Yet he refused to give up, how could he give up on the one he couldn't protect? The pain didn't seem to faze Discord, I guess being hit by a giant rainbow that turned him to stone seemed to into increased his pain tolerance. Discord's eyes began to glow a strange pink color, and he had pushed onto the orange spare had turned the same shade of pink. His veins began to glow through his translucent skin the same color, all leading up to his heart which was also glowing. It was then that this gorgeous body begins to feel a little bit fuzzy, a little bit giddy, like he was young again and able to cause chaos once more to his heart's content. He began to feel that he was not alone. Warm and safe. This is what love truly was. Discord welcomed it. With the love in his heart fueling his failing body, Discord moved his hand downward away from the sphere. He then used the last bit of strength he had to snap his fingers as a final act. He teleported up into the air and tossed a new sphere above Tirek and tossed hit downward at his head. What was expelled from Discord's power was far greater then what he had expected, even from him. The sphere was a rosy pink and formed much quicker than any normal form of magic. The more Discord's body relaxed, the quicker it formed, and before Tirek could react, Discord released it upon him. There was a bright flash of light, and that was all Discord could remember. *** When Discord was conscious, he could feel himself laying in a soft cotton couch covered by the softest blanket he had ever felt. So soft and fluffy, surrounded by many stuffed animals. Discord could smell vegetable soup in the air, filled with ears of baby corn and green beans. But the one thing that made Discord happy beyond everything else...was Fluttershy singing. The flowers to the east Sunset full of peace Fills my heart I must confess With love at its best... When Discord opened his eyes, he could see Fluttershy, sitting on a chair beside him soaking a cold washcloth, alive and well. Sorry I'm too shy I will not lie If we break this tie I might cry... Discord frowned at the lyrics, Fluttershy should never cry. But if I don't speak now I don't know how I can face you now I'll hide my face and scowl Oh sweet friend if I may If I even am allowed to say You color my world from grey Can I tell you I love you today? Discord hummed a soft laugh, "I love you too...Fluttershy..." Fluttershy gasped and glanced at Discord, "Discord!" she hid her face in the washcloth. Discord chuckled, "Relax Fluttershy dear...I think we have a lot to talk about...perhaps over that soup you're making...?" Fluttershy didn't look up, smiling, "O-Okay..." *** Author's Note I'm not dead guys, chill out! I just needed a long long long break...Writers block is mean Anyways guys, I am so so so so so sorry about all this! I'm back now! I swear! So this is the end of an era. Thank you for the support, and see you next story
Chaos VS Crystal: Part 3*** From then on it was the same technique, the purple mist would appear and something terrifying from his deepest fears would emerge. Whether it be spiders,Fluttershy dying, or being homeless on the street. But as Discord went on, he realized that this was starting to tire him. These fears came with a warning, the purple mist, but that didn't save him from the shock and pure crushing sadness or fear that would follow. These fabricated visions of Discord's fears came like volts of electricity that shock to him through his body, each one more fierce than the next. But despite all of this, Discord forced himself to tread on with what little of his heart he had left to find King Sombra, wherever the heck he was. What discord didn't know was that Sombra was watching in the darkness.... "Rrrrgh...he caught on to my technique...I was going to save this...but I guess I'll have to pull out the big guns..." *** Discord's chest began to flood with anxiety as he tread through the light crushing darkness. He was looking back, waiting for the dreaded purple mist of fears. But after several moments, nothing happened. Discord still kept his guard up, he was ready for whatever was going to happen next. Moments turned to minutes, and minutes seemed like hours to him. "Heh heh...Discord...you have done extremely well..." a deep voice echoed through the darkness. Discord glanced around, "Sombra you coward!" he gritted his teeth, "Taking over my unconscious mind and triggering my up most terrifying fears! How pathetic is that? A real king would draw his sword!" "Oh Discord, have you already forgotten that I have already drawn my sword?" Sombra hissed, "And you didn't deserve such an honorable death considering you fell like a chopped down oak tree... Lord Tirek was right, you have truly gone soft… And this is the only way I can get rid of you... In the worst way possible... Discord let his fists ball up in a mix of fear and anger, "Are you joking? You must me if you think this is the worst way to die!" he laughed, "Bring on the chaos if you DARE!" Sombra laughed coldly, "Oh I dare..." "Then bring it on!" All of a sudden, Sombra's laughter became harsher with longer echoes. A black arrow soared through the darkness, hitting Discord straight in the heart. Discord howled in pain and confusion, "Ah! Where is the third vision, cheater?" "Oh I realized I don't need that third vision anymore, you caught onto my technique and you would win… And I just can't let that happen... So I realized the only way I'm ever really going to beat you, is to stop you forever... By making you who you once were...making everyone kneel before you as you destroy their home!" Discord's heart began to pound wildly in his chest, "How come you didn't do it sooner? You had many opportunities to do this before!" Sombra laughed, "The reason I didn't do it sooner was I had to think about if I should use this method, I didn't want to waste it on anypony you know, just the lowest excuse for a villain... A villain who wants to be reformed, and has "seen the error of their ways"... I can only do this once, once every 1000 moons and only in this form as a last resort, for it drains my energy something fierce..." "So… This is going to turn me into who I was?" Discord exclaimed. Sombra appeared before the terrified Discord, in his robe and crown making him regal as ever, "Exactly, when this is all over you will be a true villain again, and what's better is that you will work for me and the Lord Tirek forever as we take over Equestria!" Discord completely panicked and tried to pull the black arrow out of his chest, but it was stuck in place like the sword in the stone. What was worse, was the fact that a numb tingling feeling was starting to spread all over his body starting at the chest and working its way down to the tips of his claws and ears. "You can't do this!" he protested. "You brought this on yourself, if you had just stayed a villain, this would never of happened…you would have taken over the world by now! But instead you have became soft like a pony and even became infatuated with one!" "Please, I beg you, don't turn me back into a villian… When I began my reformation, I didn't want to change… But after living with Fluttershy my eyes were open to all the pain and misery, and not to mention annoyance, that I caused...!" Discord pleaded. Sombra growled, "It was all that Fluttershy's fault...your love for her has made you weak..." Discord saw that the arrow was emitting a black mist, that began to envelop him, "You're wrong...S-Sombra..." he struggled to get each and every word out as the mist was sucking the breath out of his lungs, "My love f-for Fluttershy has made me...b-better...ponies actually l-like me...and they want to b-be my...friend..." Discord winced as a sharp pain shot through him. "A-At one...time...you...y-you used to know how that felt..." he murmured, "The Crystal Ponies adored you...you b-brought them p-peace...and joy...u-until you demanded their love...and decided to force it out of them..." "They stopped being loyal..." "Only one stopped being loyal...the only pony you ever loved...oh, what was her name again? I have such a fuzzy memory..." Discord's voice was no longer laced with pain and fear, but regaining his coyness and pride in it, though it was still weak. Sombra's eyes lost their terrifying glare and gained a look of pain, "Velvet Crystal...she betrayed me...she cheated on me with another Stallion..." Discord laughed a bit, "Did she? Did she really cheat on you?" he asked, "It seem you didn't get the whole story..." "What didn't I get?" Sombra roared, "I SAW HER KISS THAT STALLION ON THE CHEEK!" "Ohohoho! Oh this is priceless!" Discord pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "That stallion was her uncle! Moon Stone! He was visiting from Manehatten and she hadn't seen him and forever! And by the way," he nudged Sombra's shoulder, "He doesn't trot that way, he's into stallions!" Sombra teleported out of Discord's space, "She told me that! But she was a compulsive liar! She said she was rich when she was poor, she said she had a brother when she had a sister, and she'd play sick to get out of working in the Crystal Mines!" he growled. "Oh trust me, I know, she lied about everything," Discord said, "But she wasn't lying about this..." "WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HER? YOU NEVER MET HER!" Discord sighed, "You're right...I never did meet her...but Celestia did..." Sombra's eyes widened, "What?" Discord snapped his fingers and a TV appeared, "I wonder what's on TV?" he searched through the channels, "Tosh .0? No way, Big Bang Theory? That Sheldon fellow sure is into Star Trek...My Little Human? Oooh I am such a fan!" he soon reached a channel where Celestia was shown, "Here we go! It's called, History of the Crystal Empire! Sit down and take notes because you failed the last test!" Sombra then watched the screen... *** It was midnight in Canterlot, and Celestia along with her sister Luna were sitting at their thrones when all of a sudden the throne room doors swung open, revealing a royal guard with a small velvet colored earth pony with a curly darker velvet mane and soft tired brown eyes. "Let's go you!" the guard growled as he shoved the mare forward. The mare whimpered at the sudden force of motion. Celestia looked down at her, "What is the meaning of this?" "This burglar was sneaking around the royal gardens looking for an entrance!" The mare glared at the guard, "I'm not a burglar! I wish to speak to the princesses!" Luna spoke, "What do you need to speak with us about?" "My name is Velvet Crystal! I come from the Crystal Empire, and I come bearing horrible news...and it's all my fault..." the pony said. Celestia observed Velvet Crystal, she looked tired, as if she ran all the way from her Empire. Her cute mark was a bright blood red crystal shard, so she must have been a crystal miner. "What has happened?" Celestia asked as she stood up. Velvet began to tremble in fear as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, "It's King Sombra..." she whimpered, "He went mad a few days ago over thinking I...I c-cheated on him with another stallion..." Luna went to her sister's side, "And did you?" "No I didn't! I may have kept things from him but I would never cheat on him! I loved him with all my heart! My mother always taught me that cheating gets you nowhere!" Velvet told Celestia. "Why did you keep things from him?" Luna pondered. Velvet turned away "W-Well..he's big...powerful...and I'm small...weak...I wanted to seem big and powerful too...so he would love me..." Celestia's hoof cupped Velvet's chin so their eyes met, "And I'm supposing he saw through all of the lies..." When Celestia withdrew her hoof, Velvet nodded sadly. Luna glanced at her sister and then back at the crystal pony, "No wonder he didn't believe you..." Velvet Crystal let out a sob, "I-I meant no harm by it! I r-really didn't!" she wailed, "But now, he's demanding everyone's loyalty! He e-even found th-this dark m-magic spell that s-sealed off the...whole empire...no one can get in or out for a thousand years!" "That's impossible!" Luna exclaimed. Velvet pulled out a spell book, "It's possible...turn to the page with the warning on it..." Celestia did so and looked back at Luna, "It's true..." Luna glanced at the pages, "That's so strange..." "There's nothing we can do now..." Celestia sighed, "Not for a thousand years..." Velvet was crying now, more than she ever had in her life. She knelt down in despair, "This is all my fault!" Celestia looked down at Velvet Crystal, "This is only partly your fault...and for being dishonest you should be punished..." "But we believe this is punishment enough if you promise to be honest in the future..." Luna said. "I promise! I promise!" Velvet wailed. *** Sombra stood there in shock, "I loved her...no matter the wealth...no matter the family...I loved her so much...but when she said she didn't love that stallion, I just couldn't believe her...I couldn't trust her... tears fell from his eyes in a glimmer of grief, "If I couldn't trust her...who could I trust?" "That's the thing about love...it's all about trust...if you really loved her you would trust her...lair or not..." Discord told the broken king, "Is there a line to how much one can lie? Yes, of course there is...but...when it comes to your love...you must trust her no matter what it may be...and if she abuses that...than she never loved you...but Velvet did love you...she isn't crying for her home...she's crying for you..." Sombra fell to the floor, "I've been such a fool! I enslaved my empire for nothing! Velvet!" Discord struggled to walk over to Sombra, "I'm sure she forgives you...and I'm sure she wants you to help me defeat Tirek..." Sombra smiled, "I think she would like that..." Author's Note Thanks for reading!
