“But… but… I don’t… Huh!?”
“What’s the matter, Rarity? Cat got your tongue?”
Rarity just stood there, mouth agape, as Discord remained immobile above the six of them by the stone’s power. Rachelle’s sleek crimson hair and black cape flowered freely in the winds of the storm. A lightning strike highlighted the wicked smile that spread on her scarlet face.
“Don’t you get it, girls?” she addressed them, in a patronizing tone. “This was actually my scheme from the very beginning. I’ve been planning this day since my very conception.”
“Conception…?” Twilight repeated.
“Ahhhh, yes. How observant. Your reputation precedes you, Twilight Sparkle. Let’s start off my story with a little trip down memory lane. Rarity, you remember a certain stallion named… Gerard, right?”
“Gerard Gelato?” Rarity recalled. “Well, yes, of course. But… what does he have to do with this?”
“Ohhhhhh, I get it!” said Pinkie. “Mr. Gelato was secretly an eeeeevil scientist, and Rachelle Ruby was the result of a hideous experiment gone wrong! …Right?”
“Not even close. As I was saying…” Pinkie sheepishly sat back down. “When you were with Gerard Gelato, he mentioned a deceased girlfriend, right?”
“Yes, I remember,” Rarity replied, still sounding puzzled. “Her name was… um… it was Chell… Copper! Yes! Chell Copper! That was it!”
“Her name was Chell Copper. She was the first one I ever loved. One day, perhaps a year or two ago, I received a letter. But right away, the hoofwriting was different. It was from her mother. She had written a letter to inform me that Chell had passed away, from radiation poisoning.”
“…Or did she?” Rachelle slyly whispered.
“Wait a minute…”
Rarity closed her eyes and tried to visualize the photograph that Gerard had shown her.
“She had shining golden hair, a light yellow coat, sharp purple eyes, and a warm, friendly smile. It was strange, but she almost looked somewhat familiar. I couldn’t help but feel that I had seen her somewhere before, even though I’m fairly certain I haven’t.”
She then opened her eyes and looked at Rachelle Ruby… and this caused her to fall back, gasping.
“Rarity!” Fluttershy caught her just as she fell. “What’s wrong?”
“The-the photo of Chell Copper…” she stammered. “If she were to dye her whole body and her mane red, then… she would look exactly like Rachelle Ruby. That’s why she looked so familiar! Because I had seen Rachelle Ruby before, when I made that dress for her three months ago and saw her with Button Down in the tabloids! Chell… Rachelle… It all makes sense now. YOU’RE CHELL COPPER!”
“I WAS Chell Copper!” she bitterly corrected. “It’s all very simple. One day, Chell and her cute little stallion friends were exploring a disused mine in Hayfield; a mine that had been closed some time ago due to a radiation leak. And sure enough, in her carelessness, she ended up stepping right onto a ruby. The irradiated ruby transformed her. Or to word it better, it replaced her. Because in a sense… kind, sweet, and naive little Chell Copper really did die that day. And Rachelle Ruby was awakened, ready to bring on the SEXYNESS!”
“And, what about your-- I mean, Chell’s friends? What did you do to them?” Rarity demanded to know.
“I slept with them, of course. What else?”
“Oh, for goodness sake!” Discord cried. “Will you skip the boring backstory-slash-erotica and get to the juicy stuff, at least?”
“Fine, Mr. Whiny Pants.”
“My plan all started during his last adorable little invasion of Equestria, when he turned Ponyville into… what did you call it, again?”
“THE CHAOS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!”
“Right, that.”
“You see, oh great Discord… I have something that might be of interest to you, as a sort of backup plan.”
“Backup plan? Why would I need a backup plan?” Discord mused, from atop his Ponyville throne. “Twilight and her friends have all given up, so I’ve already won.”
“Ahh, but you never know, do you?” She flashed a book open in front of him, the same book Celestia had shown the group earlier. “With this… nopony would be able to stop you, no matter what.”
“Wait a minute!” Twilight interjected. “Where did you get that book about Trotzamore in the first place!?”
“Well, duh. I obviously decided to ‘borrow’ it while I was breaking into that shabby library, looking for age spells to make me immortal. You’re… really not as clever as they say, are you?”
Twilight just grumbled in response.
“Back to what I was saying before… so using some of the other advanced magic spells I found, and a little something else, I was able to grant Discord a special power, and thus an alliance was struck. Because sometimes you just have to use someone in order to get what you want.”
“Hmmph,” Discord retorted.
“But… the rest of this still doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight protested. “I mean first of all, how was Discord freed from being a statue?”
“Through the power of love, Twilight Sparkle.”
“…Okay, now y’all have lost me,” said Applejack.
“Let’s keep going back, then.” This time, she turned her attention to somepony else. “Fluttershy.” Fluttershy immediately hid behind Rarity at the mention of her name. “Sweetie Belle came to you and explained how she fell in love with that weird little dragon in the first place. What exactly was it that she said triggered the romance, again?”
“Um… the-the extra flower Spike had?”
“Yes… now how did that flower end up there in the first place? And what of the butterfly she was chasing… Discord?”
“Oh, right… now I remember,” Discord replied.
Sweetie Belle was walking alone in the park, singing a soft tune to herself in tranquility. Meanwhile, Spike was picking some flowers alongside the path and putting them in a basket, humming to himself.
When Sweetie Belle wasn’t looking, Rachelle Ruby slowly peered from the top of a tree. She gave the signal, and all of a sudden, a yellow monarch butterfly appeared out of thin air in a white flash.
Sweetie Belle began watching the butterfly as she walked, so she didn’t see where she was going before accidentally bumping into Spike.
“Oof! Oh my goodness! I am so sorry, Spike!”
“That’s okay, Sweetie Belle.”
“Here, let me help you pick all those up.”
As the two of them got to work picking the flowers, Rachelle cast a spell, which caused an extra blue rose to materialize amongst Spike’s dropped flowers.
“I must’ve picked up an extra one by mistake. Hmm…” He thought for a minute, and then held it out to Sweetie with a smile. “Here, Sweetie. Why don’t you take it?”
“Huh?” Sweetie replied.
“I only need twenty of them. Just think of it as my gift to a friend, for helping me pick up the flowers.”
“Gee, thanks Spike. I don’t know what to say…” Gazing at the flower, a soft smile started to spread on Sweetie’s lips.
“But-- but-- I don’t understand!” Fluttershy protested. “How-how could Discord cause things to appear when he was still a statue at that time? …He was, wasn’t he?”
“All part of that special power I mentioned earlier,” chuckled Rachelle. “Speaking of butterflies, wasn’t there… another one that you used later, Discord? I’m thinking of one that was… brown at first, and then pink, and a little bit spectacled-- I mean, speckled.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both gasped.
“Oh! Hello! Goodness, I forgot I left the window open. Welcome to my cottage, Mr. Butterfly! Gee, what kind of butterfly are you?
Wait, I know! Those glittery brown wings… You’re a Gemmed Satyr, aren’t you? Oh, my! I haven’t seen very many Gemmed Satyr butterflies before! You look so pretty…
Huh? Where are you going? Oh, are you tired? Sure, go ahead and perch right on that… that picture.
That picture of Rarity.”
Pinkie Pie got up on her hind legs and was dancing around and laughing as the gemmed satyr flew around her in circles.
“Hee-hee! Oh, wow! Aren’t you just a silly little butterfly? And such a cutie, too! I think I’m going to call you… Chocolatey! Ha-ha, whoops!”
Before she could react, Pinkie tripped on one of her hooves and landed into the bucket of pink paint, splashing it all over both herself and the gemmed satyr.
“Wh-hh-hoops! Sorry about that! Now you’re a silly pink butterfly! Now I have to call you Pinkie! Oops! I can’t, because that’s my name!”
She kept laughing to herself as the gemmed satyr perched on her nose for a second before flying away.
“Pinkie, what are y’all doin’ over there?” asked Applejack.
“Oh, nothing!”
“Right…”
Am ah seeing things, or were her eyes gray for a second there? Applejack thought to herself.
“A butterfly? Oh, a pink butterfly, too. How cute! It kind of looks like the butterflies on my Cutie Mark. It also looks like… a gemmed satyr? Sort of like the one I saw the other day. But… I didn’t know gemmed satyrs could be pink.
Huh? What are you trying to show me, little guy? Wait a minute… I know this embroidering… It can’t be.
Wait, come back! Where are you going? Now it’s flying back away from me. It seems to be flying towards… wait… Is that a pony walking down the carpet? Oh, now I get it. A noble pony must be attending this concert, and decided to make a prestigious entrance. …Did I use that word right?
No… that’s no noble pony. Is that… no, it-it couldn’t be… She wouldn’t— Oh, my. Oh, my, it is! It’s her!”
“R-R-Rarity!?”
“So, yeah. The power of love,” Rachelle concluded. “That’s what Discord’s new power I gave him was all about. The more love building up around Equestria, the stronger his energy got inside that statue. All it took was a bit of sneaky manipulation and a very convenient wedding full of love…”
Twilight gasped. “My brother’s wedding!”
“I’m so glad we sent Queen Chrysalis that invite. She proved a nice distraction for Celestia and you girls to take care of while we made off with Luna.”
“Which… we did purely to get Celestia shivering in her gold-plated booties,” Discord clarified, chuckling to himself. But then, he stopped chuckling and turned angrily towards Rachelle. “But then you betrayed me! As soon as I was out of that statue, you sapped most of my powers away in a flash!”
“I took them away to make certain you wouldn’t become a threat. I knew you would jump at the opportunity to take over Trotzamore and then Equestria yourself, and ruin my own plans. Besides, we needed to stay in the shadows and not draw attention to ourselves for those three months so I could get close to Trotzamore and harness all the energy I needed. No doubt, you wouldn’t have resisted the temptation to fool around and cause trouble!”
“But I--“
“SILENCE!”
"But I’m still confused!" said Rainbow. "Why did you even need him for your plans anyway?”
“His magic, though limited, was just what I needed to help stir up the romances in your friends.” Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other uncomfortably. “Oh don’t get me wrong, you probably would have eventually realized your feelings for each other by yourselves anyway. I didn’t make up anything; I just gave you and your sister the extra push you needed. So don’t say I never did you any favors. Besides, all that romancing around was what enticed Celestia to recognize the ‘urgency’ of the situation and call on you all, didn’t it?”
She cleared her throat. “Now, then… any more questions?”
“Just one,” said Rarity. Rachelle groaned and rolled her eyes. “What was that whole thing with Fancy Pants about? Why did you just randomly decide to flirt around with him? Was that somehow part of your wretched plan too?”
“That was more a test of your romancing skills than anything else.”
“A test!?”
“Well… sort of test, sort of just me playing around a bit. After all, that Fancy Pants looked like he was probably good in bed. … And he was, for the record.”
“WHY, YOU DIRTY, ROTTEN LITTLE--” Rarity was about to pounce her, but Fluttershy acted quickly to restrain her. “Urrgh! Let me go! I’ve got to teach that rotten punk of a unicorn a LESSON!”
“But you see? This was the ultimate gambit! I just had to wait for you to come to us!”
“But… why?” Fluttershy wondered.
“Because there is no ‘REAL’ love. Love is nothing but a lie. It never lasts forever, it’s just a bunch of mad ponies wasting their time, biding their lives, in amateur devotion to their ‘special somepony’, when in reality, it’s just about making themselves feel better! I can change all of this ridiculous pettiness! Because what we really crave deep down is something more than that! Something more satisfying, more alluring, and much more fun! Equestria… SHALL BECOME THE WORLD’S GREATEST SEX EMPIRE!”
With great force, Rachelle fired a powerful bolt of energy at Discord.
"First order of business, I don't need YOU anymore!"
“What!? No! NOOOOOO!”
Much to his horror, and that of the ponies’, the spell transformed him into a statue like before… except now he was a sculpture made of pure ruby.
The ruby-fied Discord fell to the ground with a slam, immobilized even further in his spasming, screaming pose. All of the ponies gasped. Rachelle leapt into the air… and landed right on top of the Power Stone.
“So let's get rid of the love and bring on the SEXY TIME! Now that everything is in place, WE CAN BEGIN THE CEREMONY!”
The ponies could only watch in horror as the Power Stone started glowing a pure white. Instantly, all the lightning in the sky cast its way down to Rachelle, as if attracted to her.
Then… something monstrous happened. Rachelle was being affected by the great power, and she started to transform into something else. Her body grew larger and larger, and her coat darker and darker, as red and black-tipped wings appeared from behind. Her purple eyes became a pure blood red, as the teeth she bared became fangs.
Finally, her crimson hair stood on end and became a pure hue of black. A huge crown made entirely of ruby crystals appeared on her head.
Rachelle Ruby was now a bizzare and twisted dark alicorn creature, with a crown befitting of a gemmed princess.
“NOW SEIZE THE LOVE!” She beckoned in a deep and demonic voice. “TRANSFORM THESE PONIES, AND THIS LAND! REMOVE THE ACCURSED EMOTIONS OF LOVE! CAST THEIR HEARTS INTO CHAOS AND DESPAIR, AND LET LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP REIGN SUPREME… NO MORE!”
The Power Stone cast a light upwards. It reached up far past Trotzamore, and began to spread over all of Equestria. A huge wave of white energy practically flooded the entire land…
In the Mareianna Village of Tranquil Spirits, Zorophyllis was hugging a nonplussed Zamber intensely, even touching cheeks. However, Zamber suddenly turned completely gray and pushed her down.
“HEY! Get the hay off of me, you stinkin’ fillyfooler FREAK!”
“OW! I-I hate you!”
In Canterlot, Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-Lis were having tea on the porch of a fancy restaurant.
“It feels so good to be back together with you again, my sweet,” said Fleur.
“And you, my love. A toast to us!”
-SHWOOM-
“Though, I’ll still never forgive you for taking me to that disgusting opera!” Fleur suddenly snapped, having gone gray.
“Oh, really? Because with all your whining and snapping, maybe we should’ve stayed apart!” Fancy then splashed the tea all over Fleur’s mane, and her face went boiling red.
In Fillydelphia, Magnum and Pearl were washing dishes together.
“So honey, what did you get me for our anniversary today?”
“Uhhh… Aw shucks honey, I forgot again.”
“Oh, that’s okay, pancake. As long as--”
The wave swept over them, and next thing that happened, Pearl was pushing Magnum’s head into the sink water repeatedly.
“YOU FORGOT OUR ANNIVERSARY!?”
Finally, the wave headed towards Ponyville.
Inside of The Cobalt Flamingo, Golden Harvest and Berryshine were sitting at a table sipping a carrot martini together.
“Berryshine…” said Golden Harvest. “Have I ever told you that you’re perfect in every single way?”
The wave hit and they both went gray.
“…Except for the fact that you’re nothing but a disgusting alcoholic, and I hate carrots anyway!”
With a swoop of her hoof, she knocked the martini off the table. Berryshine looked down at the drink in devastation, and then disinterest. She turned her back with a humph.
A pony somewhere nearby could be heard gasping happily.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was sadly walking down the park, her head hanging low to the ground. The wave passed by her… but mysteriously, it didn’t seem to affect her at all.
What was that? I thought I felt something.
She looked all around her wondering what that sensation was.
The wave did however affect Caramel, who was sitting on a bench nearby.
“You know what? Forget this charade!” She shrudely decided, now speaking in a distinctly female voice. She pulled the hair tie off of her long tail, letting it flow freely. “What do I care about some stupid farmpony like Applejack, anyway?”
Lyra and Bon Bon, who were in the middle of an intense slap-fight, paused what they were doing to watch this bizarre scene.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
The six ponies were all blinded as the Power Stone flashed a bright white, and began sending out powerful white ripples over the land. It washed over the entire plain, and the once pink flowers were now an ugly gray color… and they certainly weren’t glimmering anymore.
Nor were they the only things turning gray in Trotzamore. As the ripples washed over Twilight and company, they all began to lose their colors too… and their personalities seemed to revert… very similarly to how they behaved when Discord used his magic on them.
“GREAT! How could you let this happen!?” Twilight screamed. “I guess you guys aren’t my real friends AFTER ALL!”
“What are y’all talkin’ about, Twilight? I don’t see anythin’ wrong here!”
“Oh, boo-hoo, poor Twilight!” said Fluttershy. “Are you going to cry, you big baby? Hee-hee-hee!”
“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!?”
“Will all of you please back away!?” Rarity clamored, pushing them all away from her. “How can I be the center of attention when you’re all breathing down my neck!?”
“Heh! As if I was going to hang around with a bunch of lame-o’s like you guys, anyway!” Rainbow retorted, rolling her eyes.
“NOW, ALL OF EQUSTRIA IS MINE! HEARTS, EMOTIONS, FEELINGS, PERSONALITY, SOUL! THEY’RE ALL UNDER MY DOMAIN! I AM IN CONTROL! AND RACHELLE RUBY WILL RULE WITH AN IRON FIST OF LOVE… AND SEX! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR PRECIOUS ROMANCES AND FRIENDSHIPS FOREVER, PONIES OF EQUESTRIA!”