Chapter 99: Disharmony Pt. 2
Two figures flashed before each other as they fired magic beams. Night Light did some arm movements as the symbol circle around his waist flashed. A sphere of blue magic raced forward; Velvet drew some magical shapes as her magic shot out and collided with the orb. Both royal figures were pushed back as they shot back with their feet digging into the ground.
The two quickly began doing several arm movements as they dodged and fired magic at each other. For Night Light, he was trying to free his wife from Discord's control as it seemed his magic had infected her mind. The King slammed his hands on the ground as blue chains appeared from a portal. They wrapped themselves around Velvet as she was lifted into the air.
Velvet struggled as her hand moved about. Soon buzzsaws appeared as they sliced through the chains and broke her free. She landed and thrust her arms out as a magic wave came at her husband. Within seconds, a huge explosion occurred as a massive wind effect occurred. The nearby plants, trees, and shrubbery were affected as they were yanked from the ground.
The smoke cleared as Velvet looked at the site before her. There was a large crater from where Night Light once stood. Soon, it showed a massive barrier, as inside, her husband released his hands as the shield came down.
Both royal figures were shown with scuffs and dirt along their clothes and skin as they appeared to push each other to the limit. Soon Night Light cracked a smile.
"This takes me back, honey. Do you remember how many times I tried to do that transfiguration spell?" asked Night Light.
"About 7,589 times," answered Velvet.
"True. But the whole point of learning that spell wasn't so that I knew how to do it. It was moreso an excuse to see you. I couldn't stay away from you. That's how much I was in love with you, honey. Please, come back to me."
"Sorry, but Velvet can't answer," spoke the woman as her eyes flashed.
"Then it looks like this prince needs to woo his princess one more time," smiled Night Light as his hands powered up.
Velvet did the same as her hands glowed. Both made a full moon motion with their arms as they thrust them out. A magic beam was shot forward as they collided with each other. They met in the middle as both King and Queen put more into them. Soon it caused everything to be blinded in a white light.
Discord sighed, arching his arms over his head to crack his back. He glanced at the massive steaming canyon he'd carved through the forest. The body of the Jedi-his name was Storm-buried beneath mounds upon mounds of relocated dirt.
Discord chuckled, his arms falling to his sides.
Storm reminded him quite a bit of Unity.
Ah, Unity. His precious love. Queen of the Sirens. She would've loved to meet him. Discord was sure that she'd have just adored him. After all, they were willing to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones. They both held a strength beyond anything he'd ever seen. Not many would fight an impossible battle for someone else's sake, you know?
Though, it wasn't just psychological similarities. Change his species and gender, dye his skin white, and he'd be a dead ringer for Unity.
That wasn't the only thing about the boy that reminded him of his lover.
Discord waved his paw around a little, shifting hundreds of pounds of dirt around until the injured little Jedi Knight was revealed.
Discord hummed at the sight. Burned skin, lacerations, broken bones, charred flesh, and blood. All in all, he held up quite well. Seventh Element or not, most creatures caught in that spell were lucky if they weren't turned into piles of ash.
Still, that wasn't what Discord was looking for. Rather, it was the innocuous pendant that the Jedi wore around his neck. It looked simple enough, if a bit abstract, but that wasn't why it interested Discord. He was interested in it because it reminded the draconequus of a memory.
(Memory)
"Why do you wear that silly thing?"
"Well, that's a funny question, Dissy. It's the royal crest, so I wear it!"
"But-but it's so simple! I doubt something like that is actually worthy enough for royalty like yourself!"
"Hmph, just because it looks simple doesn't mean it's not worth it. I would've thought someone like you would've realized that."
"W-well then, why do you wear it?"
"Because, simple as it looks, it holds a meaning that has guided the Royal Family since the beginning of my race."
"And... what does it mean?"
"It means 'to persevere.' That, even when in the face of the unknown and impossible, I must stand strong. If I waver for even a moment, the fire in my soul will go out."
(End of Memory)
"... 'To persevere,' huh?" he asked himself, idly rubbing the spot beneath his eye, letting the dirt fall gently back over the injured boy, minding his open wounds.
Five. That was the number of times one of Storm's attacks connected.
Five! Astonishing! Not even some of his past foes could manage more than two real hits each. Magical ones didn't count since he was immune to them and therefore didn't care if they hit.
Of course, Unity was the only other individual to lay that many hits against him. Though, she had hit him more often. Their first impressions of each other weren't the best ones, after all.
Thinking about it, that was probably why he'd chosen the spell he did. Unity's pride would've killed her if she'd been knocked out by mere pain after a battle like that. But a spell designed to level a castle? Merely getting knocked out by a spell like that would've sated her pride, at least a little.
Perhaps he was wrong in assuming that Storm held the same pride, but he didn't think so.
Sating the poor fool's pride was the least he could do, considering what would happen once he and his little friends imprisoned him.
Discord knew that he wouldn't be free for very long, not this time. If Storm had been anything, anything, other than a Jedi, then Discord would've readily imprisoned all seven of them at the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again!
After his imprisonment, he hoped the poor boy was strong enough to face the truth of the Elements. He'd seen the things those Elements did to their Bearers, even during his many years residing within the Tree.
He scoffed.
And humans called him evil.
Oh well... there wasn't anything he could do for him. He could only pray that this little Jedi was strong enough.
Unfortunately for Discord, a copy of himself popped into existence before him.
"What in the blazes was that?!" Copy asked, waving his limbs around. Discord waved his concerns away,
"Nothing much. I was merely putting our little friend here out of commission. He was strikingly similar to Unity, and I felt this was the only appropriate response. Now, how are things on your end?" he asked.
"That's not-!" The copy began, only to shrug, "Eh, whatever. Those ponies seem to be blundering around as expected. I removed their powers and placed a few rules for our little 'game.' I've even taken to influencing some of them to drive them apart if they find the Elements. Though some took a bit of effort to 'convince.' Except for Fluttershy, I had to force it upon her," Copy explained. Discord nodded.
"It would make sense that the older Elements and their Bearers would be more resilient, and the oldest would be practically immune. Alright then, let's get back to it," he said, then snapped his talons, dispelling the copy. He paused for a moment, letting his copy's memories flow into his own before he popped back over to the maze to see how the girls were doing for himself.
Twilight grunted with every step, the boulder's weight taking its toll on her back.
Part of her wondered why she was carrying a stupid boulder of all things until it, oh so unhelpfully, reminded her why.
Her friends were acting strange. She could see it happening right in front of her. The way that Fluttershy-sweet, gentle Fluttershy-shoved the others around, smirking whenever one of them cried out. She could see how Pinkie Pie-happy, joyful, always smiling Pinkie Pie growled when she heard someone start laughing at her. How Applejack-honest to a fault, can't-lie-to-save-her-life Applejack kept dodging questions, always darting her eyes about shiftily. How Rarity-generous, understanding Rarity-kept sending her nasty glares, usually accompanied by a 'You'd better not be thinking about taking my diamond, Twilight!' or two.
She... didn't understand why this was happening.
Yes, the idea that Discord was free and causing havoc worldwide and that they were the only ones in the world who even held a chance of stopping him was stressful. Absurdly stressful, in fact, but...
Okay, so the way her friends were acting was a little understandable. She, the bookworm who freaked out over every test she'd ever taken, understood that stress could make a person act funny and do crazy things, but this was crazy!
On the bright side, Storm didn't have to deal with this.
She and the others had just been locked into the maze, completely separated by Discord, mind you, when she'd heard the sound of shattering glass and had looked up to find Storm leaping through the sky.
It was... a little sad to find out that he still thought the Elements were somewhere else. Discord had gone so far as to remove their powers, not to mention separate them, proving that the Elements were in the maze.
But, sad as it seemed, Twilight was still immensely glad that he'd fallen for one of Discord's tricks. He was injured already, and the last thing Twilight wanted was for him to get any more hurt. Now that he'd figured out where they were, he was out of the picture and away from Discord, meaning he was safe from any other of Discord's plans.
It would have been nice to have at least one friend acting normally around here.
"Oh, wouldja look at that!" Applejack suddenly shouted, looking up into the sky, "Rainbow Dash is flyin' away! She's abandoning us!" she said, glaring at the sky.
Twilight scoffed, letting the boulder slide off of her back-she took a moment to revel at the lack of weight on her back and shook her head.
"Now I know that's a lie," she said, glancing up into the air, only for her jaw to drop as Rainbow Dash flew away, "What?! Rainbow Dash! How could that be?!"
The girl's ship was shown soaring through the air. Twilight didn't have time to further contemplate the impossibility of Rainbow Dash abandoning them as the ground beneath them began to shake, and the sky was overcome by clouds.
Suddenly, the maze walls started to shake before getting sucked into the ground, taking every last inch of vegetation with them, leaving Twilight and the other four standing in the middle of a barren field of dirt.
"Well, it looks like somebody broke the rules!" Discord's voice echoed through the air before suddenly appearing through the cloud of kicked-up dirt, looking rather severe as he snapped his claws.
The feeling of her magic rushing back nearly caused Twilight to wet herself from the sheer sensations it brought back.
"Game over, girls," Discord said, raising his claws to the sky as lightning danced through the air, "Looks like we're due for a big ol' storm of chaos! HahahahmhmHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Twilight's entire world practically fell beneath her as those words rang through the air.
How... but-but they were so close!
"And just what're you laughin' at?!" Pinkie suddenly barked, stalking angrily towards the spirit, while Twilight watched on, a small part of her beginning to wonder if this behavior was actually because of stress or not.
"Oh, nothing much," Discord said, smirking at the angry pink pony, lifting himself off of the ground while doing so, "It's just... you girls are quite entertaining!" he said, "Though, not quite as entertaining as your boyfriend, of course," he added, glancing off somewhere.
"Well, quit it!" Pinkie snapped, "You better think before you laugh at the pink... ie, Pie!" she growled at him.
Twilight relaxed a little. At least she was still making jokes. That meant that only some things seemed to be going bad.
... Wait.
"Boyfriend?" Twilight mumbled, "But that would mean-"
"Oh yeah?" Fluttershy suddenly piped up, "Well, ha. Ha."
"Quit it!"
"No. Ha. Ha. Hahahehehehaha."
"ARGH!"
Twilight stumbled back a little, seeing the least temperamental people she'd ever met arguing like this more than a little jarring.
"Hey, uh, Rarity. 'Bout this diamond'o yer," Applejack said, "Twilight said we should, uh, split it six ways since we, uh, found it together." Rarity growled and tackled the farm girl away.
"Stay back! He's mine! All mine!"
"Wha-girls!" Twilight cried, "Wh-why are you all acting like this?! We need to stick together!"
"Hmhmhm... all too entertaining," Discord muttered. Twilight turned to find him lounging on a velvet seat that hadn't been there before, an upside-down book in claw.
Twilight stared at him for a moment and turned back to her friends before glowering at the spirit.
"Stop it, Discord!" she demanded, approaching him, "You're not playing fair!"
"'Not playing fair'? Really?" Discord asked, peering over his sunglasses, "I'm your enemy, princess. 'Playing fair' isn't something that enemies do for other enemies," he said, tossing his book aside as he rose from his seat, "Besides, I'm the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. What were you expecting?" he asked.
Twilight huffed and stomped her foot.
"You said this was a game to you! That we all had to play by the rules! How can we finish this 'game' if you take away the maze before we can reach the Elements at the center?!"
"Hmm?" Discord's brow raised before a devilish smirk overtook his features, "Oh, you actually thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?"
"Wha-? O-of course!" Twilight said, before shaking her head, "I know the Elements are-were in the labyrinth!"
"Really?" Discord asked, leaning back again, "And... just how exactly did you know? If I recall correctly, I never said anything about a labyrinth."
"But-but-!"
"But, but, but-" Discord mocked her before chuckling, "Silly Twilight Sparkle. Your Jedi friend had it right from the beginning," he said, causing Twilight's chest to grow cold, "I find it rather odd how you so easily dismissed his claims. But, then again, I suppose it's only natural for you humans to ignore other species, isn't it?" he asked.
Twilight didn't hear that last part, her mind working too frantically to catch up.
Storm was right! How could I have been so stupid?! Of course, he was right! He has much more experience in this kind of thing than I do! Why didn't I listen to him!?
A small, treacherous part of her told her that it was because she didn't want him to be right.
It reminded her that she wanted to do everything she could to keep him away from Discord. He'd been injured, after all. And she didn't want him to get hurt anymore. By disagreeing with him, she could drive him away from Discord and the danger he represented.
"Funny. You wanted to protect him, didn't you?" Discord suddenly asked, looking at her, though his sunglasses prevented her from getting a read on his expression, "You wanted him out of the picture so that he'd be safe, yes?"
Twilight swallowed thickly but found herself nodding.
"A shame then. He figured out where the Elements were, down to the last detail. It really was quite brilliant how he managed to figure it out all by himself," Discord suddenly gave her a wicked grin, "I had to get rid of him, of course."
Her world froze.
"Wh-what?"
"I got rid of him, you see. He was dangerous to my plans. He'd not only managed to injure me a number of times, but with a personality like his, he wouldn't have stopped chasing after you lot, wouldn't have stopped trying to help you. Not until he was dead, at least."
D-dead?
Storm was... dead?
No... no, no-nonono, that-that couldn't be!
But it was, wasn't it?
No... no, he-he couldn't be dead! He was Storm, for god's sake! S-sure Discord was powerful, but-but surely Storm couldn't actually be k-killed?
But wasn't Discord too much for him? Hadn't he been broken and beaten to the ground within that short period before she had decided to go back for him?
It would be just like him, wouldn't it? To fight an impossible battle, even if it meant dying? The danger didn't matter. He'd sacrifice it all to protect them. To protect her.
But... but he couldn't be dead.
He just... he just couldn't be.
She hadn't told him. Hadn't confessed it to him.
Now she never would.
"It would appear I've broken her," Discord muttered, waving his paw in front of her face before straightening himself and shrugging, "Oh well, I suppose I'll simply have to find my entertainment elsewhere for now," he said, before snapping his talons and disappearing in a flash of light.
A flash of lightning lit up the sky, also breaking Twilight from her thoughts, just before a torrent of chocolate milk rain poured down over the five.
"Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk!"
Twilight shook her head and turned away from Pinkie.
Was there even any point in searching for the Elements anymore? Her friends were... different. She thought it might be stress, but was it really?
And Storm...
She banished the thought from her head.
No. Storm wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. Discord had fooled her once with the maze, and Twilight would not let him fool her again!
He never actually said the boy was dead. Only that he wouldn't stop until he was.
He had 'gotten rid' of him. For all Twilight knew, he just teleported Storm to the other side of the planet or tossed him in a pit or something similar. Admittedly, Twilight had jumped to conclusions, just like when she spotted the hedge maze from inside. Her thoughts had run wild and come to a conclusion before she could bother to talk to the others about it, and it had cost them precious time, and now...
Twilight glanced over at her four remaining 'friends.'
They were acting strange now. Maybe... maybe this was how they really were, and the stress of all this just brought it out?
Twilight knew she would've been happy to shout at them or tell them to leave her alone, but she could never bring herself to do that. Whenever she felt like that, she'd either bury herself in books or seek out Storm.
Everything... everything would be fine. They just needed to find the Elements, and everything would return to normal. She was sure of it now.
So, she needed to think.
Where were the Elements of Harmony?
"Don't touch my gem!"
"I'm touching your gem. Haha!"
"Why are you laughing?!"
Twilight groaned.
"Ugh, I just want to go home now..." she muttered before perking up, "Home? Home. The library! Of course! That's where the girls and I first grouped up together! The Elements are in the library!" she smiled, and even clapped her hands together, "Yes! It's so obvious! No wonder Storm figured it out so quickly!" she nodded to herself and turned to the girls, "Alright girls! We're heading back to Equis!"
He stood petrified at the sight before him.
She smiled brightly even as she plunged a knife into her eye.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He couldn't move. Couldn't stop her.
Blood, thick and red, ran through her coat, dripdripdripdripping onto the floor.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
*SHLICK*
*SHLICK*
*SHLICK*
*SHLICK*
Limp, she fell to the ground, blade lodged through her once lively blue eye, blood pooling around her, staining his hands red.
The smile never left her face.
How Weak.
It was dark.
He couldn't see.
Something was on top of him, pressing down against him.
He shifted slightly, and so did his confinement.
Trapped. Stuck. Getoutgetoutgetoutgetoutoutoutout-
The dirt he'd been trapped beneath exploded outward, leaving Storm to greedily suck in the fresh air around him.
For a moment, everything seemed fine.
And then his wounds let him know how much the world sucked right now.
"Argh..." he stretched a bit, hissing slightly as his wounds protested the movement, "What the did he hit me with... and how the hell am I still alive after that?" he asked himself.
Storm shook his head and climbed out of his faux tomb, looking himself over.
His skin had been burned away in some spots, and he definitely had a few broken bones from the attack. Not only that but there were various spots of flesh that had been charred black, leaving flaking bits of skin and dried blood to fall away. They were deep lacerations across his sides and leg, but they seemed to have mostly clotted.
Knowing him, he'd probably re-open the wounds within the next hour.
Storm groaned and rubbed his face.
Storm quickly surveyed his surroundings.
He was still in the Everfree, that much he could tell. The general atmosphere and appearance of the trees suggested that he hadn't been moved since his... altercation with Discord.
The sky was the same, with the sun and moon hanging above. That meant that, however long he'd been out, it hadn't been long enough for Discord to be imprisoned again, in stone or otherwise.
Then again... could Discord be imprisoned once again? After all...
I won't allow a Seventh one to appear.
Was he telling the truth?
Was... was he supposed to be an Element Bearer?
No... that was ridiculous. Storm simply couldn't-
I can no more destroy the Elements, and their Bearers, than they can destroy me.
... Dammit.
It made sense, in a way. If Discord couldn't destroy the Elements and their Bearers, it would explain why he hadn't been killed by Discord's last attack.
But... what if he was lying? What if-
But I'm no liar, you see.
I may twist my words, but outright lying isn't as fun.
... Dammit. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
It just didn't make sense! Seven Elements. Seven! What Element could he possibly be the Bearer of? Sarcasm? Stubbornness? Secrecy?
Well, Element or not, he still needed to help the girls. Who knows what Discord had gotten up to since he knocked him out.
But first... where the hell was his lightsaber?
"Finally! We're here!" Twilight shouted as they crossed the hill, "It should be just right over! Oh, sweet..." Twilight muttered, coming to a stop once... Equis was in sight.
Though only half was raining, the sky was covered in pink clouds, splitting Equis down the center. Large chunks of the ground had been torn and now levitated in the air, with the largest one holding an upside-down Town Hall. The surrounding land had been given a multicolored checkerboard pattern that hurt Twilight's eyes.
Those deformed animals from earlier in the day were running around aimlessly, and dancing buffalo could also be seen frolicking about.
The most jarring thing, perhaps, was the complete lack of anyone she could see. Nobody was out and about on the streets, leaving them completely empty. It was as though it had been turned into some... ghost town.
"This is..."
"Chaotic?" a woefully familiar voice asked directly in her ear. Twilight yelped and jumped away, turning to find Discord smirking at her rather than the empty air that had been there moments before.
"Discord!" she snapped, glowering at him,
"Why, yes! It's me!" he said, spreading his arms out, "I'm so glad you noticed, Twilight Sparkle. Tell me, how do you like the few changes I made to your dear little home, princess?" he asked, "Aren't they marvelous? And to think! This is only the beginning of it!" he said, disappearing from sight.
Twilight yelped once more as an arm wrapped around her stomach and hoisted her.
"Imagine! The Kingdom of Equis: The Chaos Capital of the World!" Discord announced cheerily before dropping her, "Doesn't it just fill you with excitement?"
"Not in the slightest," Twilight growled, dusting herself off from the impromptu drop. Discord only shrugged.
"Well, I suppose you'll just have to get used to it, won't you?" he asked, walking away and disappearing again.
Twilight glared at the spot Discord once occupied but turned back to Ponyville after a moment.
"The Kingdom of Equis: The Chaos Capital of the World?" she said before scoffing.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
"Don't worry," Fluttershy said, shoving passed her, "you won't."
Twilight's eye twitched.
It had taken them some time, but Twilight and the others had managed to get to the castle library with only a few issues.
Namely, Fluttershy messing around with Rarity's 'diamond' and a few altercations between Applejack and Pinkie.
They were really beginning to get on Twilight's last nerve.
"Okay, girls!" Twilight announced loudly, "Can we all please please please get inside pleeeaaase?"
"I absolutely refuse!" Applejack stated, immediately heading inside.
"With pleasure," was Fluttershy's response, though she did stop to trample one of the bushes by her door, irritating Twilight.
"I hate libraries!" Pinkie announced, also heading inside.
Twilight waited a moment, sighed, and turned to face Rarity, who was struggling with pushing her 'diamond.'
Twilight waited a moment, sighed, and turned to face Rarity, who was struggling with pushing her 'diamond.'
"Please just go inside. We need to hurry!" she moaned. Rarity growled at her, the sweat dripping down her face and giving her a rather manic look.
"Nice try, Twilight, but I know your plan!" she declared, "The second that I go inside, you're going to have your little brother, Spike, come out and steal Tom!"
"Tom?"
"Aha! But I'm onto you. I know what you're planning! And it's not going to work!"
Twilight just stared at her for a moment, twitching before groaning.
"You're not going inside without it, are you?" she asked but didn't receive an answer, "Fine!" Twilight snapped, using her Force powers to drag the stupid boulder behind her.
She slammed it against and through the front door, not bothering to care about any damage she may have caused to her castle, ignoring Rarity's shrill screeching about how she better not have scratched Tom.
"Twilight!" Spike cried, jogging over to her, dripping water for some reason, "What the hays going on with everybody?" he asked, "Why're they all acting so... weird?" Twilight shook her head, gently slipping by him and over to the bookshelves.
"I don't want to talk about it, Spike," she said, "I need The Reference Guide To The Elements of Harmony," she said.
"That thing?" Spike asked and perked up, "Oh! I know exactly where it is!" he said before darting into the next room.
"Hey, Twilight, what's clueless and wet all over?" Fluttershy asked.
"What?" she asked, not even surprised when Fluttershy upturned a bucket of water onto her head.
"You!" she shouted before slamming the metal bucket onto her head. Twilight stumbled slightly at the impact but didn't suffer many injuries.
Thankfully, it was a pretty light bucket, so it couldn't cause much damage.
Still annoyed her, though.
"Here it is, Twilight!" Spike said, running back into the room. Unfortunately, the small prince was tripped by Fluttershy, who then took the book for herself.
Twilight, beginning to get angry, growled at her, tossing the bucket aside.
"Fluttershy, give me that book!"
"Keep away!" she shouted before tossing the book aside, where it was caught by Applejack.
"Applejack, give me the book!" Twilight shouted.
"What book? I ain't got no book," she said, throwing it away.
"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled, only for the pink girl to scoff and turn away from her, throwing the book back over to Fluttershy. The shy-turned-cruel girl eagerly reached out for it, only for Spike to tackle her, leaving Twilight fully able to grab the book.
"Finally!" she groaned, only for a familiar blue aura to surround the book and yank it away from her.
"Mine!" Rarity shouted, darting passed her.
"Wha-Rarity! Do you even know what you just took?!" Twilight demanded, chasing after the mare.
"No, but if you want it, I want it!"
"Argh! Give me that book!"
She continued to chase Rarity, darting around furniture and the other ponies for nearly a minute, until Rarity made a sharp turn, leaving Twilight stumbling after her and causing her to blindly crash into 'Tom.'
Dazed, Twilight stumbled away. She corrected herself, growled at the sight, and turned to face Applejack and Pinkie.
"Where is she?!" she asked, "Where's Rarity?!"
"Beats me," Applejack said smugly, not-so-subtly hiding the book Twilight was after under her hat.
"Lies!" Twilight snarled, jumping at the stronger girl. She shoved the country gal down to the ground, grabbing the book desperately, only for Pinkie to jump on her, pinning her to the ground.
She tossed the girl off her and kicked Applejack in the gut, allowing her to dive for the book, finally grasping it in her hands.
She panted and jumped away from the girls, huddling against the nearest bookshelf.
"Stay back!" she shouted, glaring at the four girls slowly advancing on her, "This is my book, and I'm gonna read it!" she snarled as Spike jumped in, standing between her and the girls.
She glared at them for a moment, then turned to the book, flicking it open.
"Finally, now I can- the Elements?!" she shouted. Rather than finding a passage about the Elements, as she'd expected, she opened the book to find that it had been completely hollowed out and contained the Elements of Harmony themselves.
"I can't believe it. The Elements were here all along!" she gushed, her previously bad mood evaporating.
"That's awesome, Twilight!" Spike agreed, smiling back at her. Twilight jumped to her feet.
"Can you believe it, girls?!" she asked, spinning around, "We found the Elements of Harmony, toge-you don't even care, do you?!" she snapped when she saw her friends lounging around instead of celebrating with her.
""""No.""""
"Ugh!" Twilight groaned, falling onto her behind, "I can't believe it. My friends... have turned into complete jerks!" she snapped. The princess used the Force nearly tore the Elements out of the reference book.
"Necklace," she snapped, forcefully placing Rarity's necklace on before proceeding to do the same with the others, "necklace, necklace, necklace, weird tiara thing," she muttered, placing the tiara containing the Element of Magic onto her head, "Alright everybody, let's get this over with," she snapped, beginning to stomp her way outside.
"Uh, Twilight?" Spike asked, "Aren't you missing-?"
"Nope!" Twilight cut him off, "We've got the liar, the grump, the hoarder, and the brute! That just about covers it!" she said, giving Spike a wide and painfully fake smile.
"But... what about Rainbow Dash?" he asked. Twilight stared at him for a moment and sighed.
"Congrats, Spike," she said, shoving the Element of Loyalty onto his neck, "you're the new Rainbow Dash," she concluded, making her way out the hole she'd made in the door.
"What?" he asked, "Me?! But-but what if she finds out I was impersonating her?!" he asked, rushing to catch up with her.
"Too bad," was Twilight's response, "Let's just get out there, defeat Discord, and then we'll never have to talk to each other again!"
There was a round of excited cheers behind her, further aggravating Twilight's already short fuse.
The sound of grinding stone behind her caused her to pause for a moment before she growled as her horn lit up,
"Move it bitch!" Twilight snapped at Rarity, sending the massive boulder flying out through the library wall, creating another large hole, before taking an aggravated step outside.
"Okay," she muttered, glancing over each of the girls and Spike, "okay, we're all here. Now where the fuck is Discord?"
The sound of slow, sarcastic clapping met her ears, and she turned to find who else but the very draconequus she was looking for.
"Well, well, it would seem you little girls finally found your little Elements of Harmony. How terrifying," he drawled.
"Shut up, Discord!" Twilight snapped, "I figured out your stupid riddle, so just shut up and take it!"
Discord chuckled.
"Oh my, I never would've taken you for that kind of girl," he teased. Still, Twilight's foul mood prevented her from feeling any embarrassment, thankfully, causing Discord to pout, "Oh, you're no fun. Fine," he said ignominiously, "you win. You've clearly proven yourself superior," he snapped his talons, and put on a pair of sunglasses, "I'm prepared to be defeated, Twilight Sparkle. Go on, I accept my fate. Take the shot," he added, placing a target directly over his heart.
Twilight growled.
"Formation!" she snapped, having to take a deep breath to control her temper when her 'friends' groaned at her, lazily taking place around Discord, but she noticed one was missing, however, "Rainbow Dash!" she snapped. Looking around for Spike, who nervously peeked out from behind, 'Tom.'
"Hehe...?" he laughed before swallowing and jogging over to the empty spot between herself and Applejack.
"Alright," Twilight said, "let's get this over with."
Using the Element on her head was... strange.
While she couldn't exactly recall all the details of what happened the first time she used it, she did remember how strange it felt.
She could feel something within herself, a part of her she recognized as her magic, that was, yet was not, a part of her.
It felt infinitely strange to reach down within that part of her self-but-not.
She could feel it resonate. She could feel it pulse within her like a second heartbeat. Every pulse was slow, tempered, and grew stronger. Like a burning star, she felt it fill her with warmth until it exploded.
Twilight began to rise into the air, and a magnificent aura surrounded her as the air became charged with magic.
In that instant, she could feel so much more. She felt the waves of magic course through the air. She felt the individual heartbeats of her friends, the magic rushing through their very being. But most importantly, she could feel their emotions brushing against her mind.
Disdain. Anger. Greed. Dishonesty.
The light faded, and Twilight fell to the ground, the grunts around her telling her that the other four had felt much the same.
"Ugh... what happened?" she muttered sluggishly, feeling her entire body pulse once in agony before it faded.
"Mine works fine," Applejack said, "yers must be broken."
"I hate the Elements of Harmony!" Pinkie snapped, frowning, while Fluttershy tore hers off.
"Garbage," she muttered, tossing the priceless artifact to the side, which Rarity was too happy to jump on.
"Mine!"
Sarcastic laughter broke her from her thoughts, and she looked up to find Discord languidly approaching her, a smug grin on his face,
"Wonderful job, Twilight Sparkle, just look at all that harmony in Equestria!" he mocked, gesturing to the chaotic landscape around them, "Truly, you are a gem. It would seem that I've won," he said, gently tapping Twilight on the nose, retracting rapidly when she growled at him, "Discord rules!" he added, turning around and walking away, laughing all the while.
"It's your fault that the Elements didn't work!" Pinkie snapped.
"And just who are you talking to?!" Twilight hissed, narrowing her eyes at the annoying pink girl.
"You!" she said, then glanced at the other three, "All of you! I'm outta here!" she growled, stomping off towards town.
"So am I," Applejack said, walking off as well, "I've got new, better friends waitin' for me back at the farm!"
"And I'm sick you of looosers!" Fluttershy felt the need to add, flying away.
Rarity didn't even say anything, letting the grinding rock tell of her departure.
"F-fine!" Twilight shouted after them, "Fine! I don't need any of you anyways!" she said, breathing heavily, "Leave! See if I care! With friends like you who needs-!" she choked for a moment, tears beginning to fall down her face, "e-enemies..."
What... what was even the point anymore?
Was this friendship? A brief period where she was happy, only to come crashing down, leaving her with some empty, hollow hole?
Sighing, Twilight turned around and headed back into her ho-... back into the castle, as the sun slowly began to set.
It hadn't taken him much longer after that discovery to find his lightsaber, which had thankfully escaped the devastation mostly unscathed, though it was likely it wouldn't stay that way for much longer. The hilt was chipped in a few places, and the button was slightly cracked, and he would definitely need a new one later, but it would do for now. Assuming it didn't snap immediately when he ran Discord through the next time he saw him. Storm turned it on as the blade flicked a bit due to the damaged kyber crystal.
Regardless, he'd spent long enough in this damned clearing and was finally rushing towards town, ignoring the sharp pains in his chest, which were an unfortunate result of his cracked, likely broken. Still, he'd rather be optimistic right now, ribs.
He arrived back in Equis soon enough but nearly tripped over himself in shock when he saw what became of the town. Checkerboard ground, the earth was torn asunder, buildings flying through the air, chocolate rain covering half the town, really!
"What a mess..." he muttered. It wasn't very good to see... in such a state, but it hammered home the fact that the girls had yet to find the Elements.
Dammit! Were they still up in Canterlot?!
Storm shook his head. There was no time to be wondering where they were. They were being hounded by Discord back in that maze of theirs. It was likely that he'd done something, made it endless, or something, and trapped them.
If that was the case, he needed to bring the Elements to them personally.
The idea left a bad taste in his mouth. He'd essentially be abandoning Equis to its fate until he got the girls their Elements.
But what about his?
He ignored the thought and made a mad dash for the castle library. He came to yet another screeching halt when the castle came into sight.
It looked perfectly fine, untouched by the rampant chaos that surrounded it. Well, perfectly fine, aside from the two giant holes in the wall!
Dread overcame him for a moment before he ran inside.
The place was a mess!
Books were strewn about the floor, and even one of the shelves had been knocked completely over! He looked around the room, finding some small signs of a struggle, a fight even, but there didn't seem to be any blood or signs of serious injury, at least.
That calmed his nerves slightly, but they shot right back up when a thought hit him.
Discord wouldn't need to make a mess if he looked for the Elements. That meant that someone else had been looking for them.
And judging by the hollowed-out book he spotted lying on the ground, someone had found them.
Before his panicked heart rate could shoot up any further, a sound was heard in his ears. He stepped out the library's door into the castle's main hall. The sound was heard again as it was coming from up top. Without thinking, he bolted up the stairs and nearly slammed through the door at the top.
It was a fairly small room, with a purple, circular rug on the floor, a cuckoo clock hanging off the wall, and a large bed resting against the wall, with a small perch beside it. There was a window off to the left, where a set of green curtains were pulled shut, partially hiding a star-covered telescope from sight.
He was, admittedly, surprised at the sight of Twilight's bedroom. He'd figured there would be more bookshelves. Not to mention, more luxurious given she was a princess.
He'd only scanned the room for a moment before his gaze settled and locked onto the curled form resting on the bed.
"Twilight?" the boy called, taking a few steps towards the purple ball, which twitched at the name before it uncurled slightly, revealing a familiar head of striped hair.
"Storm?" she asked, though she didn't turn to look at him. He nodded.
"Yeah, it's me," he said, frowning, "What happened? If you're here, then that means you lot realized the Elements are here. So why is Discord still running around?" he asked, walking forward. Unfortunately, his wounds were still a little resistant to his movement, and he kicked a small trash bin he'd missed in his earlier scan, spilling its contents onto the floor.
"Shit, sorry, I'm a little-" he cut himself off when he caught sight of a golden tiara with a star-like gem in the center.
When his eyes landed on it, he felt a sudden warmth blossom into his chest. It was like a rush of fire coursing through his veins, numbing the pain he felt from his wounds while also filling him with a rush of energy as if he'd suddenly downed a gallon of caffeine.
The Element of Magic.
"Wh-bu-Twilight!" he snapped, looking up at her, "Why is there an Element of Harmony in the trash?! What happened to you and your friends?!" he asked, striding over the trash on the floor until he was right beside her.
The girl scoffed and turned to look him in the eye.
"They are not my friends," she stated, with all the certainty of an executioner's axe. But it wasn't her words he'd focused on. No...
It was her eyes.
Eyes, once bright as a shining star, were now dull. A brilliant, gorgeous purple faded into a melancholic gray.
Once filled with life, they now gazed back at him with all the brilliance of a fresh corpse.
"Sparky..." he breathed, feeling his heart ache within his chest the longer he stared at those eyes, "What happened?"
"I thought they were my friends," she began, turning away from him, her voice cold and bitter, like it should never be, "I thought they all cared about me, about each other, but I see it now. It was fake, wasn't it?" she asked, then scoffed before he could answer, "I should've known." she trailed off, her eyes beginning to fill with tears, "... they were right," she breathed quietly, "I'm just some... friendless loser," she whispered, burying her face in her pillow, "I'm... I'm worthless."
Those words...
Without conscious thought, Storm hopped onto the bed beside her, wrapping her with one of his arms, completely ignoring the pain it caused him. This was more important.
"You're not worthless, Twilight," he said before he could register his own words, "far from it. You're honestly one of the most valuable girls I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."
The girl twitched and turned away from him even further.
"You're just saying that..." she muttered, her voice muffled slightly by the bed. Storm shook his head.
"No, I'm not. I've met a lot of people in my life, and..." he swallowed the lump in his throat, "I can... I genuinely mean it when I say that you're probably one of the few I can't imagine life without. We might not have known each other for long, but..." he trailed off, not knowing how to finish the sentence. Instead, he opted for something else, "... You're important, Twilight. To your family. To your friends... To me."
The teen curled further into a ball, her ears folding against her head.
Storm frowned but didn't move away.
She wasn't listening... no, she was listening, and his words were having some effect. The image of her eyes flashed into his mind.
Discord was behind this. He'd done something to alter Twilight's personality, and if her words were anything to go by, he'd done the same to the others. He wouldn't be able to change her back to normal like this. His words might be helping, but Discord's magic was obviously working to ensure the opposite was true.
His magic. It made her hate herself, made her worthless in her own eyes.
A fire raged within his chest.
No, true as his words might have been, to someone who viewed themselves so lowly, artificially or not, the words of one individual, no matter how sincere, meant nothing.
He needed the others to save Twilight from Discord and now herself.
He needed to snap five others out of the same thing to save one girl from Discord's influence.
He chuckled to himself.
Challenge Accepted.
Author's Note: Well, it looks like Storm has somehow managed to survive. But he doesn't seem to be looking good, burned skin, broken bones, lacerations, charred flesh and a bit of blood. Not to mention, being buried under dirt. Safe to say, Discord did a massive number on the Jedi, and his lightsaber being damaged. And if that wasn't bad enough, the girls have now been influenced by the draconeqqus' magic. And it seems Storm now has the impossible task of snapping the others out of it to help Twilight. As always leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.