//------------------------------//
// The Showdown 
// Story: Nightmare at Canterlot High 
// by SuperBlackdeth666 
//------------------------------//

After what seemed like only a brief moment, Sunset and Rainbow opened their eyes to find themselves in what would most certainly be a realm within their dreams. Hence, this would be where their final ultimate confrontation with Groundskeeper Discord would be contested.

They were at the front entrance of C.H.S. The building was untouched. Turning around, they found the horse statue that served as a portal to Equestria every thirty moons in the same condition.

Nonetheless, as the two stood to their feet, Sunset couldn't help but notice something that was not right: a telltale sign that they were indeed in dreamland. "Do you notice something... different around here?" she asked.

Rainbow took a moment to survey the immediate area and she did indeed notice something different (so she claimed, anyway). "Bushes and grass look like they could use a trim. I see a few weeds poking outta the walkway. No wonder we need a groundskeeper. Almost makes me wanna miss Discord." She smiled in satisfaction. "Not much has changed around the school for this dream. We're in the clear."

However, that was not what Sunset was referring to. "Um," she said haltingly, pointing out a shaky arm."I think you might want to take a look at the whole town, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow turned her head to the direction Sunset was indicating. She gasped. Something was indeed different. Something much more so than what she thought at first.

Where the town of Canterlot had been, it was now replaced by a gigantic golf course. There were no roads, no sidewalks, no houses, no shops, no streetlights, no cars, no traffic lights, and especially no people, except the girls. Everywhere they looked, there only existed teeing areas, bent grass set up as fairways and roughs, water hazards, sand traps, putting greens, flagsticks in the holes, and a couple of garden houses protruding from the grass. The trees, large hedges, and shrubberies served as the surrounding greenery. Ten golf carts were parked just a few feet from the school, waiting to be driven.

"I guess the kids were right," acknowledged Sunset. "Discord sure loved to play golf."

The mere mention of that last word suddenly got Rainbow fuming as if she were a stick of TNT about to explode. "Golf, golf, golf!" she yelled. "I hate golf! My folks always drag me to this boring country club on the weekends! I have to wait in the cart and watch them play the lamest excuse for a sport! 'Golf's not so bad,' they say. 'It could be fun,' they say. 'Give it a try, Dashie,' they say. 'You'll love it,' they say!"

"Come on, Rainbow," Sunset insisted. "Golf does have some benefits, like burning calories, stress relief, using creativity, and... Well, you could meet new people."

But Rainbow, reluctant to heed any of those words, simply crossed her arm. "I'll start playing golf when pigs fly!"

As if on cue, a flock of pigs suddenly flew past the two like a flock of birds, except that they were oinking, instead of tweeting. To make things more ironic, one little piglet even stopped to lick the stunned Rainbow on the cheek before rejoining its family.

Rainbow wiped the saliva off of her cheek. "Sunset, if we live through this..."

"Yeah, golfing lessons can wait," replied Sunset. "Now come on."

As the girls walked across the giant golf course, a myriad of strange and wacky things appeared before they eyes; things that would otherwise probably only be seen while high on marijuana or LSD. Buffalo wore ballet dresses and were doing that very dance on two legs. Colonies of bunnies were running around with elongated legs. Bats were digging holes under the ground, instead of flying in the sky. Squirrels swam on top of the water as if they were ducks.

Most astonishing of all, the sky was changing from day to night and back again every ten seconds.

"What the hay's going on here?" asked a perplexed Rainbow. "Why's everything all wacky all of a sudden?"

"It's chaos, Rainbow Dash," Sunset explained grimly. "This is how Discord rules his domain. Without a single trace of harmony."

"Well, that explains the animals around here," Rainbow reasoned.

"Animals are only half the things he can corrupt," intoned Sunset. "We'll need to be careful."

As soon as she finished speaking, a wet brown drop landed on Rainbow's nose, almost as if a bird had just left a deposit from above, as birds are known for doing.

"Huh?" Cautiously, she wiped the small object off and smelled it. Fortunately it wasn't bird droppings. It was something much more pleasant-smelling. "Hey, it's chocolate!"

"Chocolate?" Sunset paused, a look of unease showing in her face. "You don't think...?"

Before she could finish her thoughts, both girls were being pelted by large amount of chocolate rain, which fell from clouds of pink cotton candy. Their clothes were stained within seconds. Liquid chocolate dripped from their hair as the rain suddenly ceased; it seemed like no sooner than the rains came that the chocolate raindrops simply vanished on their way down, leaving the sky crystal-clear once more.

"Wow, and the schoolbooks said it couldn't be here again." Needless to say, Rainbow was clearly annoyed a good deal. "Don't mention this to Pinkie Pie. Ever."

"Once we've stopped Discord from killing more kids, we won't need to," assured Sunset as she drenched her skirt, which had been soaked all the way through with chocolate. "For goodness' sake, I just had this dry-cleaned."

"Worrying over clothes is Rarity's department, Sunset." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Don't take her job."

"Uh, yeah, whatever," Sunset replied, getting herself and Rainbow focused back on the task at hand. "We can't be far now."

And so the girls trudged on. As they walked gingerly beside the hedges, it began to get cold. They embraced themselves as they shivered, but struggled on.

"H-h-h-h-hey..." Rainbow stammered, feeling ready to come down with hypothermia. "If we're out on a n-n-n-n-n-n-nice sunny day, why has it d-d-d-d-d-d-dropped to f-f-f-f-f-f-fifty below all of a s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sudden?" Cold white vapor escaped from her mouth as she spoke.

"He's close," Sunset intoned as her eyes narrowed to slits, trying to shield themselves from the burning cold. "I can feel it."

"Y-y-y-y-y-you're not kidding?" stuttered Rainbow. "Well, let's s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-see if you're r-r-r-r-r-right." With that, her shivering gave way to a loud, challenging voice; she clenched her fists as she spoke, "Alright, Discord! We know you're out there! Come and get us, you sicko!"

Even as Sunset tried to shush her, Rainbow's words echoed throughout the golf course. Rabbits scattered in all directions. Flying pigs took cover in the trees. Squirrels broke from their surface swimming and dived deeper underwater. Bats dug tunnels in a hurry, leaving behind signs that read "DO NOT DISTURB."

"Rainbow Dash, are you crazy?!" Sunset whispered hoarsely.

"Just wanted to drag him out into the open."

Sure enough, before Sunset could retort, a faint tan-nan-nan-nan-nan-nan caught her attention.

"What was that?" she gasped as she looked frantically from left to right, searching for the source of the sound.

"Huh?

"I thought I heard a... motor running."

Rainbow Dash looked around back at the school. "But all the carts are still parked," she observed. "I don't see one of them missing."

Suddenly, the motor noise came again, causing the girls to jump.

"Where's that coming from?!" Rainbow gasped, now being able to hear the sound.

"I don't know, but it's getting louder and..." Before Sunset could finish her sentence, Discord's crazed laugh suddenly rang out from behind the hedges, a sinister echo accompanying its tone. "Rainbow, look out!"

No sooner had Sunset thrown herself onto Rainbow, pushing her out of the way, when Discord, his large head atop a multicolored machine—a mix between lawn mower and a tractor—plowed through the hedge the girls had just cleared. At his front were fierce-looking sickles, which acted both as a plow and fingers.

"Thanks, Sunset," said Rainbow as Sunset helped her back up to her feet.

"Save the thanks for when we get outta here alive," Sunset replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry, ladies," said Discord in a mock-apologetic tone. "Did I startle you? I should've yelled out 'four.'" He snickered maniacally as he roared his engine.

"Rainbow, remember when I said 'divide and conquer?' asked Sunset.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I think now's the best time to do that."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" affirmed Rainbow. "Let's split!"

And so they did. Rainbow took the left side of the golf course, while Sunset took the right.

"I'm going to have fun with this," Discord hissed with a twisted smile. Shifting gears, he drove down the hill, laughing viciously all the way.

Sunset hid in the bushes near Hole 5. Though she quivered like a little girl, she kept quiet as Discord patrolled the vicinity.

"Oh, Sunset...! Rainbow Dash...!" Discord taunted in a singsong tone of voice. "Where are you...? Come out, come out, wherever you are..."

Rainbow sat behind the sloping hill that hosted Hole 14. She only dared to take a peek at Discord before ducking back down.

As for Discord, he spoke in an amplified voice as he passed by Hole 7, his mockery aimed at Sunset. "Did you really think you were the one ruling Canterlot High, Sunny dear? I'd been ruling there long before you came from Equestria. No one was a far better dresser than moi. At least I didn't need to win a Princess' crown to gain that much popularity."

Sunset was paying no heed to this taunting. Come on, girl. Think. Think. What would Twilight do? Peering through the leaves, she noticed a large sand trap in the sixteenth fairway. A long garden hose was attached a few meters away from it. A bag of grass clippings stuck out from a garbage canister at the second teeing area.

That gave Sunset an idea. When Discord was far away and too conceited to notice, she sneaked out of the bushes and then ran for the disposed bag as fast as she could.

"Ah, if only you could be as dead as I am now," lavished Discord. "It's certainly made me a lot happier."

"That's it, Discord," whispered Sunset. "Keep talking..."

"Oh, and Dashie?" Discord jabbed as he moved away from Hole 13. "You were lucky to escape me without so much of a scratch. I had no idea Fluttershy had such a high voice. Imagine how much higher I can make it the next time we meet." He gave off a ominous laugh.

Rainbow furrowed her eyeballs with rage upon hearing those words. Her mouth opened, showing her gnashed teeth. And that was when Discord made the statement that pushed Rainbow Dash off the edge.

"By the way, when I'm done playing with you, I think I'll pay Soarin' a visit... with my sickles."

At that moment, Rainbow sprang from her hiding place and lunged at Discord. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM, YOU FREAK!" she bellowed as she flew at him, ready to dish out some punishment. But then, all of a sudden, Discord's mower-tractor body transformed into some sort of ten-foot-tall robot, stopping Rainbow in her charge. "Aw crud," she murmured.

"Time to make this game even more interesting," Discord sneered. Producing a blaster from his right arm, he locked on target. Then, he fired.

Rainbow dodged the shot just in time, resulting in a scorching hole on the putting green.

"D'oh!" snapped a frustrated Discord. "You made me create a divot!"

"Guess that affects your scoring, pal!" mocked Rainbow as she blew raspberries at him.

Seething in anger, Discord resumed shooting, chasing Rainbow all the way to the next hole. No matter how hard he tried, Rainbow was just running too fast for him to get a lock on her. More divots were being made, the Hole 15 flagstick had been shot off, and one blaster bolt went into the lake.

"Why. Won't. You. Just. Hold. STILL?!" he growled as he continued to shoot and miss.

"Hey, lawn boy!"

"Huh?" Discord swiveled around to his right. He didn't need to guess who called out to him.

"You missed a spot!" Sunset motioned to a long section of uncut grass, which she was standing in front of, near Hole 16. "Hope your boss doesn't dock you a few bucks for this!" she teased.

His temper rising higher, Discord swiftly changed back to transport mode. "When I get through with you," he thundered as he bore his sickles at the ready, "they'll have to do a fine compost-mortem! Oh, I crack myself up." He shifted into high gear and floored on the gas, flying right towards Sunset at full speed.

"Sunset, what are you doing?!" Rainbow gasped. "Get outta there!"

But Sunset didn't as much as move a muscle. She just stood there, staring defiantly at Discord as he came closer... and closer... and closer...

"Sunset?! SUNSET!" Rainbow thought for certain that this was the end for her new friend, that she would suffer a grisly death in this dream, and thus a grisly death for real...

But suddenly, as Discord came within inches of Sunset, he could move no further. His wheels spun helplessly. Bits of grass flew from the untrimmed bed, revealing the disguised sand trap. Because water had been mixed with the sand, it was impossible to get out.

"What? No! Not the sand trap!" Desperately, Discord morphed into several different sorts of multicolor flying forms to escape—a Pteranodon, a rocket, a jet plane—but it was no good. The more he struggled, the faster he sank. So he just gave up and reverted to his original human form. "Why does it always have to be the sand traps?!" he whined, the sand sucking him down at waist level.

"You've lost, Discord," Sunset smirked, triumph flowing through her veins. "I guess you could say I set up a hole... in one."

All Discord could do as he sank into the sand was sigh in bitter defeat. "Well played, Sunset," he said. "A perfect par. For that, I salute you." As he did so, his head and right arm disappeared into the sand below. The only things that surfaced were a packet of small bubbles.

Watching the whole progress unravel before her eyes, Rainbow ran up to Sunset and pulled her in for a big hug, squeezing her so hard that she thought her ribs might break. "Sunset, that was so awesome!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you managed to outsmart that creep! Not bad… for an egghead." She winked.

"I just had to improve somehow, Rainbow Dash," Sunset replied modestly. "You did pretty good with outpacing Discord yourself."

"Comes with being an athlete." Rainbow then turned to a concerned face. "Next time, warn me about what you're planning before you have me go scaring me like that."

"I'll try to remember that. I promise." After a moment's pause, she looked at her friend, showing a very inquisitive, curious look. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's Soarin'?"

Rainbow looked away nervously, her cheeks giving off a shade of red. "Uh, nobody?" she said, dishonesty shading her voice.

"Is he like your... pet?" Sunset asked.

Rainbow scoffed. "Don't make me laugh!"

"Oh, I get it!" sneered Sunset, as realization dawned on her. "So he must some sort of boy, right?"

Rainbow hesitated, her pupils darting right to left.

"Well, I'm waiting," Sunset teased.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Rainbow let it all out. "He's a freshman at Cloudsdale University."

"Cloudsdale University?!" Sunset gasped excitedly. Pulling Rainbow by the coat collar, she hastily demanded, "You have got to show me that place! Tell me how big their library is! What their colors are! What teams they have!"

She then stopped herself for a moment, absolutely stumped. Then she looked at Rainbow, bearing a smug smile. "You've got a crush on that boy, don't you, Rainbow Dash?"

Her face redder than ever, Rainbow pushed Sunset off her. "I do not!"

"Deny all you like, R.D," Sunset said haughtily, "but I dated Flash Sentry long enough to know when love's in the air."

"I'm not denying anything!" Rainbow protested.

"There, you see? You're doing it again," jabbed Sunset. She watched as all Rainbow could do was groan in frustration.

While the girls argued, Discord, now a giant octopus formed from balloons of his various suit colors, slowly rose from the sand trap behind them. A gray balloon formed his head. He smiled his most sickening smile ever...

Meanwhile, Sunset had gotten Rainbow to admit to indeed having certain feelings for this certain Soarin'. "Having a crush isn't such a bad thing," she reassured her.

Rainbow growled. "If you ever say one word about this to the girls—and I mean any of them..."

"Relax," smiled Sunset kindly. "My lips are sealed."

"Thanks," said Rainbow, sighing in relief.

Sunset shrugged in a playful manner. "Hey, what are friends for?"

At that precise moment, Discord suddenly thrust out his front tentacles at the girls. He grabbed them before they had a chance to react. The girls screamed with surprise and terror as they were dragged out into midair, the balloon arms wrapping tightly around them.

"I gotta admit, Sunset, you really had me there for a few seconds," Discord snickered. "But I just remembered something: you can't kill what's already dead!" He cackled in bemusement. "Looks like the joke's on you, huh?"

"Ugh," Rainbow groaned under her breath. "I'm really getting tired of this guy."

"Girls?" Sunset called out. "We could use a little help here!"

Abruptly, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Fluttershy came up running to the sand trap. "Wow!" exclaimed an elated Pinkie. "Is that Discord acting as a gigantic balloon? Gotta try that in my dreams sometime!"

That was when the girls noticed Rainbow and Sunset's predicament. "Oh no!" squeaked Fluttershy. "Rainbow Dash! Sunset! You're in trouble!"

"Wake up, y'all!" urged Applejack.

Rainbow turned her eyes and gaped as she saw the girl she loved as a sister. "What the... Fluttershy?"

"Wait a sec..." reasoned Sunset, letting the sudden appearance of her other friends into her mind. "If you're here with us, then you all must've fallen asleep too!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Sunset!" Rarity snapped indignantly. "I, for one, am not asleep. I just happen to be resting my eye..."

She stopped as realization dawned on her and the others on the ground.

"Uh oh!" they all echoed. One second later, they were hoisted away by Discord's empty tentacles as the madman continued sinking into the sand.





Meanwhile, in Sugarcube Corner, Sweetie Belle was the only one in the group still awake. She sighed in derision upon noticing that her sister Rarity and all the others had fallen asleep.

"Well, I guess it's up to me... again."





Back in the nightmare realm, Discord was drawing his would-be victims ever closer to the sand. "Thanks to these special powers I've been granted by good old Beezlebub," he hissed, "my kind of balloons are extremely tough on the outside. Even if you've brought pins with you—which you obviously don't—you won't be able to pop your way out."

"No kiddin'," whimpered Apple Bloom, wincing. She could feel the strength of steel-like rubber.

Scootaloo likewise had trouble with breaking free. "You could... lighten up... on the grip," she said as she struggled.

A snicker escaped Discord's mouth. "Fat chance of that ever happening, kiddo."

It was at that point that Sunset gave up all hope. In her eyes, there was no conceivable way that any of them could wriggle their way out of this mess, and she sincerely felt that the end was near.

"Goodbye, girls," she uttered in defeat. "I'm so happy to have had great friends like you."

"Yeah. Friends that I hope will be resurrected as people who can stay awake for half-an-hour!" Rainbow Dash snapped in an irritated tone. "Not that I blame you, Fluttershy."

"Thank you, big sis," came the weak reply.

"See you round, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo sighed sadly. "Wish we spent more time together."

"Yeah. Same here, Squirt." Rainbow lowered her head in remorse.

Then, just when the girls had all accepted their fates, an innocent child with a hairstyle almost as curly as Rarity's stood behind Discord. Sweetie Belle, who had fallen to sleep and entered the dream to save her friends and big sister, jumped forwards toward her foe, latching her fingers onto the rubbery surface of his balloon head. She slowly made her way to the top. There, she found a knotted neck.

Eyes burning with determination, she started to untie Discord's one weak spot.

"Remember, ladies!" Discord sneered as the girls were brought even closer to their fates. "It's not the submersion!" He paused to let his voice drop to a dramatically low pitch. "It's the sudden lack of air…" The sound of his psychotic laughter then roared loudly across the land.

"Laugh this off, Discord!" Holding the loose balloon neck with both hands, Sweetie Belle took one big breath and blew into the lip with all her might.

Almost immediately, Discord felt his body expanding. The increased pressure from within caused him to release the girls, who landed safely on the grass. Overwhelmed by panic, he tried in vain to get Sweetie Belle off him, but his tentacles grew stubbier by the second.

"Everyone better cover your ears! It's gonna be a loud one!"

Once the girls all did as Pinkie instructed, Discord had reached his limit. "Kids these days," he grumbled.

And with a deafening pop, the menacing form of Discord was gone. Colorful bits of balloons—all that remained of the homicidal maniac—rained all over the place, no longer a threat to the girls or anyone else.