Truth Behind Harmony

Twilight, Celestia, and all that had come to the gathering appeared outside Ponyville, all looking scared as they shook off the effects of the mass teleport.

“Ok, Celestia you take your sisters and go check the school house. Mom, Dad, take your group and search Ponyville. Me and the girls will check Sweet Apple Acres, now let’s move ponies!”

Everypony nodded, galloping in separate directions as Twilight and her friends took off toward the farm.

“Twi, why the hay are we checking the farm,” asked Applejack, racing along and barley keeping up with the much larger mare, cursing her newly gifted long legs.

“Call it a hunch,” was all Twilight said, picking up speed as they reached the tree line. As they ran though the threes to the farm they heard a groaning noise, turning toward it and finding Big Mac lying up against a tree, looking pale in the dark moon light.

“Big Mac,” cried Applejack, running over to him as he tried to rise. “Big Brother, speak to me, what happened to yah?”

He opened his mouth, trying to speak through the dryness he felt in his throat. Finally after what seemed like hours, he croaked out one word.

“Chee…Cheerilee…”

Every one save Twilight balked at this, Twilight walking up and using a rejuvenation spell to help Big Mac get some color back in him. “You’re saying Cheerilee did this to you,” she asked, her face growing grim after he nodded, “what did she want?”

Big Mac seemed to grow scared at being asked this question, but he answered all the same, struggling with his words as he tried to speak.

“She…she wanted Apple Bloom…I think she plans to take her…”

Applejack’s blood ran cold, and she turned, not even stopping to think about what she was going to do, she simply charged in the direction of the farmhouse. The others followed suit, but she was too fast for them to catch up, and when they reached the edge of the farms front yard, they heard Applejack wail in sorrow from inside the house.

When they entered, they found Applejack clutching the body of Granny Smith, tears streaming down her face as she cradled the lifeless form in her hooves.

“Applejack, hon,” said Rainbow, her demeanor changing into one of comfort as she walked up to her marefriend, “A.J. we gotta go, we have to save Apple Bloom remember?”

Applejack slowly calmed down, but when she raised her head from where it had been laying, Rainbow Dash had to back away, for the look of pure anger and hatred that was flowing from her eyes looked strong enough to cut through dragon scales.

Applejack rose, the element around her neck beginning to glow as she turned, instantly sensing where her opposite was. She neighed, the noise sounding almost feral as she took off through the back door, her hooves tearing up the ground as she charged in the direction of the mare who had stolen a piece of her family from her.

They arrived at the base of a hill, all of them spotting Cheerilee who was silhouetted against the moon, her eyes the only thing showing as the rest of her was cast in shadow.

“Why hello girls,” she said in a seductive voice, her eyes glowing as she stared at them with a piercing gaze, making all save Applejack uncomfortable.

“Where is Apple Bloom?”

“She and the other one are safe my dear Applejack.”

“The other one?”

“Sweetie Belle,” said Cheerilee, licking her lips as she thought of the little filly.

“Sweetie, you better not have laid a hoof on her!” Yelled Rarity, here horn glowing as she prepared magic to send against the fuchsia mare.

“Oh I haven’t done anything to the little angels; well…at least not yet any way. Now if you don’t mind, I actually have somewhere else to be at the moment, but don’t worry, I know not to leave a mare wanting for release.”

Cheerilee then reared on her hind hooves, opening her mouth and letting loose a haunting scream.

All across Ponyville, the Everfree, and Canterlot beyond could be heard a blood chilling screech echoing through the air. The ponies of Equestria cringed as they heard it, but the ponies hiding in the forest heard it and answered, hollering as they all started to stream out of it towards the two prominent locations, all those on hoof charging into Ponyville, while all those with wings flying at breakneck speeds to reach Canterlot, Nyx in the lead as they tore through the night sky.

As she finished her scream Twilight and the others watch as another form appeared next to her, composing itself fully into the being known as Discordia, who smiled down at the elements as Cheerilee left for Ponyville, not needing to see what would come next.

“So you are the famous elements of harmony my daughter Nyx has told me so much about,” said Discordia with a smug smile, “I must admit I expected something more…complete.”

“What are you doing here Discordia?”

“Oh I don’t know,” said the goddess, smiling as she walked around them. “I just wanted to see how you had shaped up from the last time I had toyed with you, after all-” she leaned close to Twilight, her voice changing to match Discords perfectly, “-I am Discordia, spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.”

Twilight backed up, looking at her with shock, but it was Pinkie that spoke up first, “That was YOU!”

“Why of coarse dear,” said Discordia, glancing at her with an evil grin. “You didn’t really think that Kirin whelp could control such power did you, he was simply a puppet to be used then discarded, and thankfully after today I will never have to use such again.”

She polished her hoof on her chest as she backed away, giving them a better target to aim at.

“Well ah don’t care what your planning on doing, we ain’t letting you out of our sights without a fight, come on girls!” Yelled Applejack; all of them activating their Elements and sending the all too familiar rainbow light Discordia’s way. It wrapped around her, swirling around her at a fast pace till suddenly, the light turned black and shattered, leaving Discordia untouched. She shook her head, and then fixed them with a look that chilled them to their core, a look of utter disdain.

Celestia blasted another group of enemy unicorns aside, using her wings to shield the group of fillies and colts she had found fleeing from Discordia’s raiders. She would have loved to send somepony over to Canterlot to fetch the royal guard, but if the black cloud of winged ponies surrounding it told her anything, she would be lucky if the city stood long enough for them to return.

“EVERYPONY TO THE TOWN HALL!” she yelled, grabbing up the children and running toward the location herself. She had just reached the half way mark when she was hit with a massive blast of magic, causing her drop the children as she was knocked off her hooves.

“Back off she‘s mine,” shouted a familiar voice, which caused Celestia to raise her head, her blood boiling when she saw who it was, even though he now was much taller and now possessed his own pair of wings.

“BLUEBLOOD!”

The former unicorn smiled at her as she quickly stood, getting into a combative stance as he prepared to charge the monarch. “You don’t know how long I have waited to do this Celestia, you stabbed my back, and I shall stab yours for taking what is mine.”

“So that is your entire reason for this, for siding with a monster that wishes to destroy our way of life?”

“Well, that and because I was born to it, it is what my cutie mark tells me after all,” he said, showing off the cracked compass on his flanks.

Celestia could not believe her eyes, but at the same time she knew it was truth. She had been harboring the enemy in her own kingdom, in her own bucking court, another black mark on her life.

Blueblood noticed the effect his admission was having on her and pressed the advantage, forming his signature rapier and charging forth. Celestia barely got her own weapon formed in time to block his first strike, the golden bladed claymore singing as the rapier struck it.

She used the advantage of her weapons weight to overpower her foe, but the moment she swung at his neck, her blade was blocked by another, and then she was kicked in the face, sending staggering her. She looked up to see Sombra, standing tall as his wings kept him aloft as he stared down at her with cold eyes.

“So you’re here to,” she asked, keeping the foals behind her as raised her sword. Sombra didn’t answer, instead just raising his sword in front of him and bowing respectably to her, as was custom. This seemed to piss off Blueblood some, who could not help voicing his opinion on the matter.

“What are you doing bowing to her you ingrate…”

“Etiquette demands it Blueblood, something you should remember being a prince and all, now leave us.”

Blueblood looked like he was going to protest for a fraction of a second, but seemed to decide against it, instead opting to fly toward a nearby battle.

“So, you sent him away so you could get revenge yourself, for what I did you all those years ago?”

“No, I sent him away so I could thank you.”

Celestia looked confused, and then got even more confused as Sombra’s form bust into green flames, becoming a creature she knew all too well.

“Chrysa…” she started to shout, only to have Chrysalis clamp her mouth shut with her fore hooves.

“Be quite, we don’t have the time.” said Chrysalis, letting go of her muzzle before continuing to speak. “Look I know we have had our quarrels in the past but that is null and void at the moment, I and my changelings have come to aid you.”

Celestia was about to laugh when her eyes caught something, and she moved to get a better look. Her jaw dropped open then, for fighting amongst her own ponies against Discordia’s hordes were the changelings, using their numbers to help drive back the black tidal wave and also to help the with the wounded. Also she could see in the skies above Canterlot that another mass of flying ponies was now battling with the swarm that surrounded her beloved city, trying to take back the skies to even the odds.

She turned toward Chrysalis, her face a mask of suspicion as she spokel, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because thanks to somepony I love my ponies and I are no longer starving, and I can finally think clearly without the nagging hunger clouding my thoughts. I am also doing this for many other reasons, but the main one is because of her.”

She looked behind her, and Celestia saw Dreamstride fighting alongside a group of changelings, helping guard another group of ponies that were unable to fight. “I need to show my mother that we are not monsters, and that we wish to coexist with others and not consume them. But that will have to wait, for now we must be quick. Discordia is in the Everfree with the elements, so you must gather your sisters and go help them; I will remain here and protect the foals.”

Celestia looked hesitant for a moment, but then nodded, leaping up into the sky to go find her sisters. Chrysalis moved in front of the foal, forming her bow and knocking an arrow, a look determination setting on her face as the first group of enemies charged her way.

“……I find myself…disappointed,” said Discordia, not even surprised as Applejack charged toward her, she being the first to recover from her shock. Applejack spun around when she reached Discordia, planning to buck the alicorn goddess with all her strength, only to have her grab her right leg in her mouth. Discordia grinned, deftly breaking Applejack’s leg and then flinging her into a nearby boulder, causing it to crack under the force of her impact.

“I would have thought-” she said, sidestepping Fluttershy as she tried to attack her “-that you would be more of a challenge than this.” She finished, grabbing one of her wings and ripping it out of its socket before kicking her through a tree. She chewed on the wing, crunching bone and feather alike as she heard a defining boom overhead, looking up to see Rainbow Dash charging toward her like a bullet shot out of a gun, a trail of rainbow light following in her wake.

She blew a strand of her mane out of her face, not amused by the spectacle. “Please Rainbow Dash, your one hundred thousand years too late to catch me off guard with a sonic rainboom.”

Her horn lit up, a bolt of lightning flying forth from it and blasting apart both of Rainbow Dash’s wings, causing her to crash into the ground and cause an explosion to erupt from the impact site.

Rarity and Pinkie attacked next, Rarity getting her horn bitten off like Fluttershy’s wing and blasted into the same rock A.J. had gotten sent into, causing it to completely crumble this time. Pinkie on the other hoof got herself trampled upon by the larger mare, who then kick her into the air to land next to Fluttershy as Discordia made her way to the last element standing.

Twilight stared in horror at the mare in front of her, watching her crunch Rarity’s horn as bile rose in her throat. Her eyes narrowed as anger began to well up inside her, and she growled as she tapped into her reserves of magic, archaic runes appearing on her body as she unleashed a torrent of magic at the alicorn. Discordia sent out a torrent of her own magic, the two rays meeting in the middle to collide and lock together as they struggled to reach their intended targets.

Twilight visibly struggled as she tried to force Discordia’s magic back, but Discordia wasn’t even sweating as she stared with what looked like a mask of shear boredom. After several moments Discordia finally sighed, for she had seen enough. “You know, out of all of them Twilight I had though you would at least prove more of a challenge, seeing as how you have embraced your element like my chosen have done. Oh well, board now,” she said; her magic fluxing and causing Twilight’s horn to shatter.

Twilight stood there, her eyes widened in shock as she watched the pieces of her horn fly away from her, not even feeling the pain as another blast hit her body, sending her flying. Discordia chuckled as she turned to leave, but as she started walking away she heard a defining roar behind her and looked back, smiling as she saw the flaming form of Celestia flying toward her, followed by all her transformed sisters as they drew closer.

“Looks like the fun has been doubled,” she said, smiling as she turned to face her nieces.