“Well, I suppose I should be pleased to find that without me, Silver Streak has absolutely no imagination…” Discord grumbled.
Twilight looked thoughtfully at the monotone counterparts. Without warning she shot a stream of purple from her horn, heading straight for Deceit. Twilight’s counterpart, Enmity, laughed as a shield formed itself around the entirety of the grey group.
“I can’t believe you actually thought that would work. How could Twilight Sparkle possibly defeat herself?” Enmity smirked at her from behind the shield.
Twilight bit her lip. She thought that the counterparts may have been an illusion to distract them from continuing, but that shield was certainly no illusion. It had stopped her attack dead in its tracks. She heard a growl and looked over at Ebony, who was charging up for his own attack.
“You may be able to counter Twilight, but you are not even close to matching her, because you are missing one thing. Without the Elements of Harmony you don’t stand a chance against me.” His horn blasted a deep blue towards the shield, holding it there for a few moments before the shield finally disintegrated and the counterparts were turned into grey colored poppy flowers. Ebony frowned at the flowers, and no one but Fluttershy seemed to notice that something was bothering him. She looked at him thoughtfully and figured he must be thinking of Misfortune again.
The Mane Six and Ebony continued to walk through the ghost town, taking care to trample the poppy flowers thoroughly before moving on. Soon they had left the little town behind, never seeing another pony after the Elements of Misfortune. They were traveling over rocky terrain that slowly sloped upwards, Twilight occasionally checking the map.
Twilight finally broke the silence that had engulfed them all ever since Fluttershy bonded herself to Discord. “Ebony, how was your magic able to defeat the Elements of Misfortune when mine wasn’t able to even breach their shield?”
Ebony looked at her in surprise. “Why, I thought you would have figured that out by now! Twilight, my dear, let me make one thing perfectly clear: without your precious Elements, there would have been nothing to stop me from taking over Equestria.”
Twilight gulped and said the only the thing that came to mind. “Ah.”
Ebony chuckled. “No need to fear, I have no desire for Equestria… at least not at this moment. I’m more interested in taking care of little miss Silver Streak, so that I may no longer be troubled by her.”
Somehow this statement didn’t make Twilight feel any better.
The seven travelers finally reached a very large cave, one that strongly reminded Twilight of the cave in which the Ursa Major owned in the Everfree Forest. Ebony didn’t say a word as they stopped just outside the mouth of the cave.
“So, uh, what’s the game plan guys?” Rainbow Dash asked, a slight quiver in her voice as she planted her hooves on the ground.
They all looked at Ebony, who didn’t register that he was being watch until he realized that the conversation had stopped. He glanced over, only to find everypony looking at him. Surprised as he was, he simply stared back at them for a moment before replying, “Oh, wait… you want me to figure out the strategy?”
“You did know her best, according to the Princess.” Applejack told him logically.
He sighed heavily. “Well…. Perhaps I should go in there first, and try to talk her out of what she is doing. If I can’t seem to knock some sense into her, then you girls will-“
“No.”
They all looked at Fluttershy, surprised to hear that word come out of her mouth with such confidence and without a second of hesitation.
Ebony looked at her with concern, “What do you mean no, my dear?”
Fluttershy looked at him defiantly. “I told you from the start that I would be with you to help you through this. Not some of it, not most of it. All of it. Every single step of the way. You will not be going in there by yourself.”
The other Elements looked at her with absolute shock. They had never heard Fluttershy talk like that to anypony, ever.
Ebony gave her a sympathetic look before saying, “Darling, I don’t know what she will do. I would prefer for you to stay out here until I call for your assistance.”
Fluttershy’s gaze had not faltered. She didn’t even reply to him… which in and of itself was the reply, though not the one Ebony was looking for. He sighed in defeat.
‘I should’ve known better than to argue with her when she’s like that… when Fluttershy is stubborn, she won’t budge… but sweet Chaos is she cute when she’s like that.’ He thought to himself.
“Very well, my dear. But on one condition: stay silent. Don’t say a word to her unless I expressly tell you to. Alright?” Ebony looked at her seriously, and she simply nodded in response.
“Did he seriously just ask Fluttershy to be quiet? Really? Is that even necessary??” Rarity whispered to Pinkie, who giggled in response.
Ebony and Fluttershy walked into the ominous cave together, quickly disappearing from sight.
Fluttershy walked closely to Ebony, making sure that their sides were touching constantly so that she wouldn’t lose him in the darkness. She whimpered softly and she felt him put his wing around her, as if shielding her from the dark. They walked on, and Fluttershy wondered whether they would be able to even see Misfortune past all of the impenetrable darkness. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, despite Ebony’s wing draped over her, they were surrounded by silver light, almost as if the moon had been summoned in the cave. A few feet away was a mare, her coat silvery grey and her mane as white as snow. If she hadn’t known better, Fluttershy would’ve said she was incredibly elegant.
“Discord, my my my. It has been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“That’s not my name anymore, Silver Streak.” Ebony growled.
Misfortune laughed at him. “Nor is that mine, but let us not waste time on trivial things such as names. Are you here to beg me for forgiveness and join me again?”
“Ha! You wish. I’m simply here to try and talk some sense into you, that’s all. Although I’m secretly hoping you don’t listen to me.”
“You know, someone once told me there was no fun in making sense. Since when did you try to talk sense?” She sneered at him.
“How did you come back, Silver?” He ignored her question.
“Oh come now Discord, sweetheart. You should know me by now. Do you really think I would’ve allowed myself to be caught by those two unless I had a backup plan?” She sniffed, as if she smelled something terrible. “Celestia and Luna have always thought they were better than you and I, and it was reflected through how the pony’s treated us. Remember how they used to sneer, how the other fillies and colts would bully us for trying to be better than what we really were?”
“That wasn’t the Princesses fault Silver, and you know-“
“How DARE you treat this as if it was nothing!” She cut him off, her eyes flaming with hatred and anger. “You would simply dismiss how we were treated, how miserable we were, as if it meant nothing?”
Ebony looked at her with sadness in his eyes. “Silver, I was never miserable. I never cared how other ponies treated me, because their opinions didn’t matter to me. There were only three ponies in the world whose opinion mattered, and that was you, Celestia and Luna. That was something you never truly understood, was it?”
She hissed at him loudly. “You always were soft, Discord.” Her gaze rested upon Fluttershy, who immediately shrank back. Misfortune looked from her to Ebony thoughtfully. “Where are your manners, Discord? Who is the little mare friend?”
“Don’t you even touch her, you wench.”
Misfortune feigned shock. “Why, I was only being polite! Here you and I are reminiscing about the good old days, and your friend here is simply left out.” She grinned widely at Fluttershy, making Fluttershy retreat into her rosy pink mane even more. “Come now, don’t be frightened. What is your name?”
Fluttershy whimpered, not wanting to answer. Misfortune frowned.
“Is she a mute, then?” She looked questioningly at Ebony.
“That is none of your business, Silver Streak. You have business only with me.”
Misfortune’s eyes narrowed. “And who are you exactly? You look like Ebony Laughter, yet your heart remains Discord.”
“What are you talking about, Silver.” He said her name like a curse, making her laugh.
“I think you know exactly what I am talking about, Discord. There was a reason why you were no longer Ebony Laughter, why you chose to be the Lord of Chaos.”
“You made me this way.”
She giggled at him. “Oh dear, it seems as though some pony has lost their memory. Shall I entertain our guest with a story, then?”
“Silver—“
But it was too late. Misfortune was already looking at Fluttershy, a strange gleam in her eyes. Fluttershy, try as she might was unable to look away from them, and felt herself slowly slip away….