//------------------------------// // Ch.12 Set In Stone // Story: Discord's Reign // by chief maximus //------------------------------// DISCORD'S REIGN Chapter 12-Set In Stone Discord gracefully descended the staircase to the main floor where the mane six stood in silence. "Surprised to see me?" he mused, "I figured at least four of you would be." As his sinuous form reached the bottom step, Twilight finally found her voice. "Decided to show your true form, Discord?" the lavender unicorn growled. "Indeed." he responded with a grin. "I figured you trying to explain to them I was free would have taken some time, so I thought I'd be generous and help you out." Rainbow Dash took an aggressive stance and charged the god of chaos just as she had in her dream. He glanced in her direction and held up a paw. The cyan pegasus slammed into an invisible wall before bouncing back to her flanks on the ground. She shook her head and focused on him as Applejack helped her off the floor. "Now, now" he chastised, "Did you learn nothing?" Dash blinked. Was that a reference to her earlier nightmare? A lump of fear rose in her throat as she took a step back. He relished their dumbstruck stares. "Why so shocked? Aren't you pleased to see your old friend Discord?" They all backed away, forming a tighter group around Twilight as she stepped forward. "What have you done with the princess?" the lavender unicorn demanded. "In due time my dear, in due time. While I've got you all here, I simply wanted to give you fair warning that soon everypony in Equestria will be looking to capture you." he paused, taking in their expressions of confusion with utter delight, "I'm a sporting fellow, so I thought I'd give you a chance to skip town. Or face the mob." he shrugged and examined his talons. "Makes no difference to me." Rainbow Dash knew a bluff when she heard one. "Really? You're gonna get all of Equestria to turn on us? Looks like a thousand years in stone really did drive you nuts." Discord's expression remained the same, flicking his eyes toward the overconfident pegasus. "Very well," he said, still unconcerned by his captive audiences skepticism. "I can't force you to believe me now can I? I take it you all believe the citizens of Equestria view you as their saviors, the six wonderful ponies who sealed away big bad Discord, defeated Nightmare Moon and so on?" "You bet!" Applejack shot back. "S'not like we let it get ta our heads or nothin'." "Uh huh. Well, how long do you think their loyalty to you would last if it were their lives in danger? How many days do you think you'd have before they'd turn on you to save themselves?" Twilight recognized his grin. It was one he would adopt before making clear a rather painful point. "The masses are like sheep. They listen to the dog that barks the loudest, even though it may not be a dog at all, but a wolf. These ponies deserve a better class of wolf." "There's no way you could turn them on us! They love us!" Rainbow added, certain that Discord was just blowing smoke. "We've saved the world like, three times now!" "Well I certainly won't spoil the surprise, but that isn't the only reason I stopped by for a visit." he said excitedly, taking a step or two back from the group. "You see, I wanted to give you girls a gift for being such good sports while I tear your kingdom apart." he said snapping his fingers, conjuring six boxes all matching the respective pony's coat in front of each of them. They stared back at him suspiciously. "Go on! Trust me, if I wanted to hurt you I'd have done it already." Against all of their better judgment, they carefully removed the lids, wincing as they expected some kind of trap or bomb to go off in their faces. Instead all they found were their respective elements of harmony, resting on a fetching purple pillow. "Ha!" Applejack exclaimed, throwing her necklace on. "You're crazier than Ah thought!" the others followed suit with the exception of Twilight, who continued to glare suspiciously at hers. "C'mon Twilight!" Rainbow urged, "Put on your crown thing so we can end this!" "What's the matter, Twilight?" Discord asked, reveling in the mistrust across the young unicorn's features. "It's the real deal, I assure you." 'It can't be this easy...he must have done something to them, or knows something we don't...he would never just let us win like this.' Despite her doubts, she didn't see any other option. It was either try, or let him go back to ruling Equestria unchallenged. Though she felt like she was walking right into his trap, she slowly donned her tiara. She expected it to steal her soul or turn her to stone, but sighed in relief when neither event occurred. "See?" Discord said, putting his hands behind his back. "Would I lie to you?" "Now, I consider myself a fair player in life's game, so I'll give you this opportunity to send me back to the gardens and free Equestria from my chaotic grip. Sound fair?" he snapped his fingers as a rather flashy bullseye appeared on his chest. The six friends cast nervous glances at each other, but weren't about to argue. If he wanted to make this easy, far be it for them to stop him. "All right girls, lets send this guy back where he belongs!" Twilight concentrated, using her magic to power up her element. Her eyes glowed white as she felt the power take hold...before flickering back to their normal sapphire a moment later. They looked to each other in confusion as they tried their best to activate their elements, but to no avail. "Why isn't it working?" Pinkie asked, "Are we not harmonious enough or something?" Twilight groaned. She knew it couldn't be that simple. "What did you do to the elements?" she snapped, stamping a hoof onto the floor. A sudden realization hit Twilight the moment her words left her lips. She remembered in her nightmare that the elements didn't work there either, because of what Discord had done to the princess. The god of chaos let out a single chuckle as he recognized the dots the lavender unicorn had just connected. "Who me?" he answered coyly, "I didn't do anything to them. Though I suppose the elements won't work unless the one who created them walks among you, which brings me to the second part of my gift." He said snapping his fingers, a large, sheet-covered object appearing next to him. "I was using this as a hat rack, but with only one place to hang a hat, I found it rather useless. I was going to toss it into a volcano, but I figured you all would enjoy it a bit more." He reached up and took hold of the sheet, "Let no pony ever say the new ruler of Equestria isn't generous!" With that, he yanked the sheet away, revealing a horrifyingly familiar face. It was none other than princess Celestia, frozen in stone. The expression on her face was one of silent pleading, her wings extended to protect something behind her. A stone tear could barely bee seen tracking down her cheek. The six ponies couldn't say a word, so stunned they were by the horror of what Discord had done. The god of chaos' laughter ripped through the otherwise silent air, as he delighted in his masterpiece. "The elements of harmony have the power to seal one in stone," he gloated, "and so does the one who created them, but what happens when the one who created them is sealed in stone herself? he asked, the disbelief on their faces fueling his delight, "The elements won't work like this, yet you need them to free her from her granite prison! Quite the fun catch twenty two isn't it?" "Well I'm sure you all have a lot of catching up to do, so I'll leave you to it. Arrivederci girls, I have a kingdom to ruin!" he slowly began to fade away, only his eyes and devilish smile remaining before they too evaporated before them. There was silence as all eyes focused on their frozen leader, her remorseful expression burning into their souls. Twilight could scarcely feel her hooves beneath her as the shock of who was before her set in. Her second mother, her teacher of all the things she had ever known about magic, friendship, and the magic of friendship...set in stone. The other pony's were of course stunned and saddened, but none so much as the heartbroken lavender unicorn. Every memory she had of herself and the princess from when she was a little filly came flooding back into her minds eye as her physical eyes began to moisten. The normally bright, sharp minded unicorn hung her head in defeat. A few sobs escaped her lips as the straw that broke the pony's back stared down at her. The element of magic fell from her brow, making a dull metallic clang as it struck the floor. The others wanted to say something, anything to find some bright spot in their situation. Perhaps some loophole that would allow them to best Discord once more. But this time, it seemed that he had truly won the day, indeed the millennium. Without the elements of harmony, they were powerless to stop the new king of madness from imposing his will across the entire world. Every nation, state, village and town would be torn asunder beneath a tidal wave of insanity, and those in charge of stopping it were rendered impotent in the face of a villain who seemed to always be a step ahead. "Twilight..." Pinkie began, her normally happy attitude completely hidden beneath the gravity of their situation. "What do we-" "I don't know!" she snapped in frustration, tired of being the one everypony looked to for answers. For the first time in her life, she didn't have a solution. "I don't...nothing. What can we do? Without the princess we..." she began, unable to continue. She fought a losing battle against her overwhelming urge to lay down and give up. "Hold on now Twilight," Applejack started, slightly off-put by her outburst toward Pinkie. "We can't just give up. The princess is countin' on-" Twilight raised her head, a look of anger etched onto her face that was quite alien to the normally kind and helpful unicorn. "In case you haven't noticed, the princess is sealed in stone! She was the whole reason we beat him in the first place! Without her sending me all my old letters on the magic of friendship, I would have never gotten all of you back to normal!" she snarled in a mix of frustration and anger at the situation. "Now... now she's gone...and there's no way to bring her back." The lament in the unicorns heart was plain as day in her voice. She fell to her flanks and looked up through her tears at the princess, wishing she could just get some hint, some clue as to the correct course of action. Almost by will alone trying to free her teacher from stone, only to resume hanging her head in sorrow. 'He did it...he finally won...' "Uhm...Twilight?" Fluttershy asked meekly from the corner of the room she had been hiding in since Discord arrived. The learned unicorn gritted her teeth in frustration that her friends still hadn't got it through their heads that this was the endgame. But she knew yelling at Fluttershy wasn't going to help their situation. "What is it, Fluttershy?" "Uhm...well...you lent me that book on the princesses history a few weeks ago and...uhm..." she trailed off, intimidated by Twilight's smoldering glare. "What does this have to do with anything?" she asked in an unnaturally cold tone. "Oh! Uhm...nothing...I mean wait...It said that princess Celestia created the elements of harmony because she was an alicorn." Twilight cut her off again, her patience and frustration at the circumstances reaching a boiling point. "She's sealed in stone!" she snapped, "What good does that information do us?" Fluttershy recoiled behind her pink mane as Rainbow Dash stepped up towards Twilight. "Dont get mad at her!" she shot back with just as much anger in her tone. "She didn't do this to her," she snapped, pointing a hoof toward the princess, "Discord did!" The rainbow maned pegasus changed her glare at Twilight to a look of encouragement toward Fluttershy. "What were you going to say, Shy?" The shy pegasus emerged slightly from behind her mane as she continued nervously. "Well...uhm...if she had the power to create them, shouldn't Luna also be able to create some?" Twilights ears perked up, a flash of hope entering her otherwise darkened heart. She shook the tears from her eyes and stood back onto her hooves. "Fluttershy, you're a genius!" she exclaimed her mood lightening as if somepony had turned the sun back on. Her mood flashed from defeated to determined with startling speed. "I need to do some research, and contact princess Luna for starters. This may be our only shot, but you can be bucking sure I'm taking it!" "Atta girl!" Applejack added happily. "You sure you can handle this by yourself, sugarcube?" the muted orange pony asked, somewhat concerned about her rapid shift in moods. "Yes, I've got Spike and Owlowiscious to help me out if I need it." "Better leave the elements of harmony here so I can run some tests." she said, the rest of her friends putting their elements on her table. "It may take a few days, but hopefully Discord won't make his move until then." "And what if he does?" Rarity asked, concern evident in her tone. Twilight didn't say a word. Her eyes conveyed everything that needed to be said. "I don't want to be a bring-down here, but just in case this doesn't work...if any of you have anything you've ever wanted to do, I'd suggest you do it." They nodded leaving Twilight to her work as they left the library, gathering just outside it. They were still in the grips of disbelief that Discord had not only escaped, but had taken down what they believed to be the strongest pony in the world. They stood quietly among themselves. Not even Pinkie Pie had anything fun or interesting to say, the gravity of their situation so deeply serious. "If anyone can figure out a way to beat Discord, It'd be Twilight." Applejack broke the silence. It was intended to reassure her friends, but her unsteady tone betrayed her. They all nodded in agreement, though not at all confidently. Princess Celestia had always been their safety net, only a scroll away from helping them if things got out of hoof in Ponyville. Now they had no safety net, now the fate of every pony in Equestria, indeed every sane creature on this planet, rested squarely on their shoulders. "Take care girls. I'm gonna head back ta the farm." Applejack said, not wanting to make what for all she knew was their final goodbye any harder. They said their quick goodbyes and trotted slowly in opposite directions with the exception of Rainbow and Applejack. The two ponies walked in silence, still deep in thought about the implications of what had just been revealed to them. Rainbow Dash's head was spinning with all sorts of disturbing thoughts as she walked. If Discord was free, that meant he could have very well entered her dream and shown her that which she had wished he left buried. The guilt from the mere thought of what he had shown her tore at her heart like a bear tears through a bee hive. 'No...he can't control dreams! Right...?' The seed of doubt in the back of her mind continued to nag, casting a looming shadow over her true feelings for her muted orange companion. "Hey now, why're you lookin' so glum darlin'?" Applejack said with a friendly bump on Rainbow's flank. 'I may have killed your parents.' "Just...thinking about how we're gonna stop Discord." she lied. "Twilight is on the case. I'm sure she'll figure out a way." Applejack answered, her outward confidence belying her own apprehension at the prospect of actually beating Discord without the elements or the princess. After a couple more minutes of silence, Rainbow managed to shake her guilty thoughts. "So, what's one thing you've always wanted to do, but haven't?" Applejack screwed up her face in thought for a moment before answering. "Ah don't rightly know. I've never had to think about anythin' like that before ta be honest." The cyan pegasus looked over with a skeptical expression. "You've never had one thing you've always wanted to do? Nothing?" "Not really. I lived in Manehattan for a while, didn't much care for the big city though. My life's been this farm, and that's what makes me happy." she added contentedly. "Never needed much else 'cept a hard days work. Somethin' you'd know nothin' about." she teased, getting a soft scoff from Rainbow. "Right, let's see you manage the weather for a day." she shot back, returning her bump on the flank, "Oh that's right, you can't." "What about you hot shot?" she asked turning the tables on her partner. "What's one thing you've always wanted to do?" Rainbow nibbled her bottom lip in thought as she tried to think of something. Well, something that didn't involve another certain mare... "I dunno. It was fly with the Wonderbolts, but I already did that." "That wasn't the only thing you did with the Wonderbolts," Applejack teased, bringing a grin to Rainbow's lips. She was glad her orange love interest was so quick to forgive, though she still felt somewhat bad about it. "I said I was sorry..." she giggled back. "I know...but that don't mean I don't get ta tease ya 'bout it from time ta time." The conversation died down for a few more paces before Applejack realized something she wanted to do before their showdown with Discord. "I thought of somthin'." she gasped looking to Rainbow who returned her gaze expectantly. "I've always wanted to go to one a them cloud cities you pegasi are always goin' on about." "The closest one is Cloudsdale, but haven't we already been there?" "Well yeah, but we were just at the Cloudiseum. I woulda liked ta see the rest of the city..." she added with a slight drop in her tone. "It's too bad Twilight is busy workin' on a way to save our hides or I'd ask her ta whip me up some ah that lightness potion." Rainbow thought for a moment before remembering there was a potion shop in Cloudsdale where she could get some! Though why it would sell a potion an earth pony or unicorn would need in a city were earth ponies or unicorns couldn't travel was beyond her. A sly smile crossed Rainbow's lips as she stopped her trot. "What are your plans for tonight?" "Uhm, none as far as I know..." Applejack answered stopping beside her. "Good, don't make any. Meet me under our tree at sunset." she added stretching her wings in preparation to fly. Applejack looked a touch confused but responded with a slow, "Okay..." With a quick kiss on the muted orange earth ponies cheek, she was off into the clouds. Twilight worked feverishly in the shadow of her princess, drawing determination instead of despair from her frozen form. She believed Discord's true motives for giving them Celestia and the elements of harmony was to break their spirit, but a nagging thought held her from accepting that reasoning completely. It seemed Discord always had a hidden motive that wouldn't be immediately obvious until it was playing out before her. He may have been the god of disharmony, but that by no means meant he wasn't a meticulous planner. Spike carried volumes of books to Twilights desk as she referred back and forth to the many already open in front of her. "Anything else?" the young dragon asked stacking the books beside her. "Yes. I need you to take a letter." Spike dutifully produced a quill and scroll, ready to write down Twilights next words. She opened her mouth to speak, but came up with nothing, closing it shortly after. "Dear Princess Luna..." she began, repeating the same motion as before. "Any ideas on how to convince the princess her sister is actually Discord?" she asked glancing over from her desk. Spike shrugged, causing Twilight to let out a deep sigh. She put her hooves on her head, trying to think of the best way to convey her message without sounding like a lunatic. Twilight thought back to her dream, and how they'd gone to visit Statue Park to assure her Discord was still encased in stone. "Of course!" she said proudly to herself. "All we have to do is get her to go to the park and see that his statue is missing!" she said triumphantly to Spike as he began composing the message. "But what if he replaced his statue?" the baby dragon added. Twilight's proud mood quickly deflated after having a hole punched through her idea. "Then she'll have to break open the statue, and see that Discord isn't really inside!" she countered, her content smile gracefully returning. "Sounds good! Except that to her, we're pretty much asking her to free Discord." Twilight put her hoof on her head in thought trying to find a way around this dilemma. "Right...it's our word...versus her eyes." she sighed. "We've never steered her wrong before have we?" Spike added as he continued scribbling on the parchment. "No...I guess she'll just have to trust us." Twilight said, knowing how foolish it was to pin the fate of everypony everywhere on weather or not the moon princess would have the wherewithal to take a chance on setting free the spirit of disharmony based on a single scroll from one of her 'royal advisors'. "Wait a second. We've got the real princess Celestia sealed in stone in our living room! Why don't we just invite her over here and show her what Discord did!" Spike suggested, realizing that trying to convince someone via letter to break a statue they believed to be holding a dangerous entity to be a little more than a tall order. Twilight wanted to hit herself for not thinking of the simpler option. "Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you!" She said scooping him up in a hug as he struggled for air. After she released him and he caught his breath, he produced another scroll, ready to write. "Dear princess Luna, Ponyville is throwing a celebration in honor of your glorious job at keeping the night sky beautiful. We have planned this party for tomorrow night, and we would ask that you not tell princess Celestia, as we will be planning her a surprise party the very next day! The gathering will be held at the Ponyville Library. We hope to hear from you at your earliest connivence!" Your faithful subject, Twilight Sparkle Spike rolled the scroll up and sent it away in a jet of green fire, "And off it goes!" "How long do you think it'll take to hear ba-URP" the young dragon almost immediately coughed up a scroll with an 'L' seal affixed to it. Twilight unrolled and held it in front of her as she read it aloud. "Dearest advisor Twilight Sparkle, I am delighted you and the other subjects have decided to incur my favor with your celebration! I will arrive before sunset on the morrow. I look forward to having more of that 'fun' you all seem to enjoy so thoroughly! Princess of the moon, Luna." "Well that was fast." Spike commented hopping up on Twilight's bed. "Make us some tea Spike, tonight is gonna be a long one." The sun was setting over the hilltops while Applejack waited underneath her and Rainbow's tree. Not long after she had arrived she spotted a trail of multicolored light zipping through the few clouds in the afternoon sky. She smiled as her airborne companion flared her wings and landed softly before her. "Just what is it you have planned?" Applejack asked raising a suspicious eyebrow, only to be met with Rainbow's constant cocky smile. "You'll see. First you need to drink this." she said reaching into her saddle bag and producing a small vial of purple liquid. She glanced skeptically at her, then at the vial between them. "What? It's just that lightening potion Twilight made that time!" Rainbow assured. "You pestered Twilight while she's tryin to save us all?" Applejack said in disbelief. "No! I bought it at a potion shop in Cloudsdale!" She answered defensively, "You said you always wanted to visit a cloud city, well that's what we're gonna do." Rainbow smiled at her, enjoying the feeling she got when she made somepony happy, especially Applejack. She hadn't spent a lot of time helping anypony else besides Scootaloo on occasion, and that was mainly because if she didn't she wouldn't leave her alone. The look of joy on the earth pony's face made her heart flutter in a way she had never experienced before. "Rainbow...I don't know what ta say..." Applejack added softly, truly touched by Rainbow Dash wanting to spend what could be their last days as sane, un-turned-to-stone ponies with her, making her wish to visit Cloudsdale come true. "How about 'Thanks Rainbow, you're the best marefriend in the whole universe!'" The cyan pegasus teased, her gentle smile still across her lips. Applejack stepped towards her and nuzzled her lover affectionately beneath her jaw. She moved up to her cheek and gave it a quick kiss before planting another...then another... "You know, I never paid you back for that hickey..." She whispered. Rainbow reluctantly pulled herself away from the farm girls flurry of kisses to look her in the eyes. "Slow down on that stuff, or we won't get there." the cyan pegasus said as another skeptical look crossed Applejacks face. "You go Pinkie's ballon hidin' somewhere?" Rainbow scoffed at such an idea. "A ballon? No self respecting pegasus would be caught dead in a ballon. I'm your ride tonight." she said proudly, striking a confident pose with her wings outstretched. "Now chug this so we can get moving. The stallion at the shop said it would last for twenty four hours." Applejack removed the cork with her teeth and swallowed the same bitter liquid she remembered from the last time she had taken it. It tingled all the way down as it took effect almost instantly. Rainbow knelt down in front of Applejack, her flanks facing her as she glanced over her shoulder, "Hop on, cowgirl." "Uhm...how do I..." "Just put your belly against my back, and leave room for my wings. I can hold you, I promise!" she reassured, allowing her to gingerly straddle her as Rainbow stood up, lifting Applejacks hooves off the ground. She shifted nervously as the cyan pegasus whispered softly to her, "It's okay. I gotcha. Ready? 1...2...3!" With one mighty flap of her wings the two of them departed Sweet Apple Acres and headed west towards Cloudsdale. An extra special Atomic Brohoof to my editor-in-cheif FanNotANerd for his work in improving this chapter and the last.