"...Unless, you think one of them might be the real Fluttershy. Oh, that certainly would be a nasty changeling trick, wouldn't it?"
Discord couldn't bring himself to move. It wasn't just the idea of being faced with dozens of copies of Fluttershy, all of them looking lost to despair, all begging for his help and claiming they were the real pony. It wasn't just the fact that he knew in his heart that none of them could possibly the real one, they'd never be stupid enough to bring her out here. The thing that left him rooted to the spot, feeling pure fear running through him for the third time in as many years, was that he realised that he had no way out of this situation. With his magic, he could send the entire changeling hive to the moon with a snap of his fingers. Without it now, his options were to either try and rescue one of the Fluttershys, go deeper into the hive or go back the way he came. The former would leave him wide open to the dozens of others and just get him captured, and they would never let him take the other two options, leaving him to face down dozens plus one and ultimately get captured.
The calls and cries echoed through the caverns around him, piercing the air like a storm of needles assaulting his ears. His body still refused to listen to him, paralyzed by the knowledge that he, the lord and master of chaos, was going to be bested by a bunch of bugs that had dared to try and impersonate his best friend...Those imposters...Something new began creeping up inside him at that thought. These whimpering grubs dared to sully his sweet Fluttershy's name and image, acting like she was some helpless filly that needed him to get her out of this situation. He realised that his arms were shaking slightly, his worries starting to burn away into nothingness in the face of these new facts. They didn't know her, they didn't know him, they thought he was just going to walk into their trap and throw his chance to help his friends away.
He knew he couldn't stop the changelings this time, but he could make them work for it and maybe buy the others some more breathing space. No, he was going to make them pay for it.
"Please..." The original Fluttershy whimpered. That word was one push too many.
A clawed hand shot out and closed around the changeling's neck. The sounds coming from the others stopped instantly as they took in the sight of Discord digging his hold into the faux Fluttershy's neck, talons burying themselves deep. She was gasping and scrambling, her hooves desperately attempting to gain some purchase, only for the rock that pinned her tail in place to give her nowhere to go. Discord's gaze turned back toward the swarm that faced him, the fear that had held him before replaced by a cold, furious glare. Several of the other Fluttershys backed up slightly at the sight, realising just what they were dealing with.
"You...Dare?!" Discord snarled. For a moment he wondered if he could do this, his clawed fingers twitching slightly. The pony he had had made it clear that she was not the real thing though. This imposter needed to pay, for Fluttershy...
The talons closed fully with a sickening crunch.
Realising they would have to do this the hard way, the other changelings dropped the façade and began to advance on the lone draconequus, hissing and snarling. They didn't drop their disguises though, presumably attempting to psyche him out. Discord's eyes narrowed as he dropped the faux Fluttershy, the body reverting back to its changeling form as it hit the floor. He planted his feet firmly down and dug the hoofed one in, bringing out the claws on his lion paw and readying for what he knew was his last stand. He wasn't scared though, he was going to do enough to buy Starlight and the others time to destroy the dark throne. He didn't have to win, all he had to do was fight.
The lead changeling broke into a run and lunged at him, doing its best to make the Fluttershy look it was wearing look aggressive. Discord twisted his body around the attack and grabbed the changeling by the tail, using the momentum of his grab to swing round and slam it into the ground head first. The impact knocked the changeling out of its disguise, either unconscious or dead, he didn't care which. His other hand gripped onto the tail and pulled the changeling back the other way, using the limp body as a bat on the next changeling to approach. Catching it blindside, the hit sent both changelings sideways into a wall where they collapsed and lay unresponsive.
The next two changelings came in together, one flying while the other went for his legs. Discord responded by swinging his eagle claw low and upward, catching the running changeling straight in the chest, the claws piercing the chitin below the disguise and throwing it back. Discord smirked as the wounded changeling hit the ground again and tripped another advancing changeling, he didn't have time to savour it though as his rising momentum let him grab the airborne changeling in his lion paw. The sight of the faux Fluttershy struggling for air in his hold was almost enough to waver his resolve, but remembering just what he had to do and why steeled it again. Discord may not have been the most reliable of beings but here, now, he had to step up.
The momentary distraction cost him though, another changeling was able to rush in and get a hit on his lizard leg, knocking him off balance. Even without his chaos magic, Discord knew enough about his abilities to know that he needed to up the ante if he wanted to last much longer. Both legs dug into the floor and he put all his strength into bringing the changeling in his grasp forward again. His arm swung down and he slammed the faux Fluttershy into the group with brutal force, letting go and rearing his head upward to catch another changeling with his horns, spearing into its underside. A cracking thud into the pillar behind him confirmed that changeling had lost control and crashed hard.
The rest of the changelings began to intensify their assault as he kept knocking them back, coming in three or four at a time now. More were beginning to arrive from elsewhere within the hive as well, the air filling with the humming of drone wings and many regular drones appearing among the dwindling number of faux Fluttershys. Discord could hear them coming from behind as well, cutting off his last avenue of escape. Not that using it would have been much use in the first place. As he floored another changeling with a paw punch, he knew that time was almost up. The floor was littered with at least a dozen and a half changelings, many of them bleeding and more than a few dead or dying. For every one defeated though, three more were still standing or flying and they were all closing in. Another managed to latch onto his side, trying to drag him down.
Discord growled again and smashed a clawed fist into the changeling's head, knocking him to the floor and following it up with a stomp from his goat hoof. Another crashed into his left shoulder in the meantime though, forcing him to wrap his teeth around its neck and yank it off as he swung round to kick another incoming changeling, landing a roundhouse kick to the side hard enough to shatter its ribs. Having to keep going defensive meant that he couldn't keep focusing on the others incoming though. Two went for his legs at the same time, managing to take his feet out from under him and bringing him down onto his front.
Before he had time to react, a dozen more swarmed in and fought to restrain his limbs. Even then he managed to dislodge one as his body flexed in struggle. Four more instantly slammed down onto his back, knocking the wind from his body and giving them time to completely hold him down. The last remaining Fluttershy copy smirked and advanced, finally dropping the disguise and charging its horn. Discord realised that this really was it, but he'd taken a number of them with him and the racket he'd made had to have drawn half the hive's attention for a good few minutes. He hoped.
'Fluttershy, Starlight, Thorax...Trixie...I did all I could. The rest is up to you.'
The changing fired a thick beam of magic, and his world went green, then black.
