Mares and Chaos, part 3
Trixie frowned and turned away. “Trixie, are you alright?” Twilight asked. Still silent, Trixie refused to look back. “Trixie, what’s wrong?”
“You, Sparkle. You’re what’s wrong.” Whipping back around, Trixie faced Twilight. “You did this to me.”
“Sparkle? Trixie, I’m not Sparkle; I’m Twilight, her sister,” the lavender mare insisted.
“No, she ain’t,” Applejack interjected.
“Not. Helping. Applejack,” Twilight said.
“Yes, you are. You’re Sparkle, and Trixie is dreaming,” the blue magician insisted. “None of this- None of this is real.”
Twilight stepped forwards. “Trixie...”
But the mare panicked and scrambled backwards, tripping over her own hooves as she did so. “Stay-Stay away!” She picked herself up and started running towards the edge of the crater where the maze once stood. “Nooo!”
Twilight started to follow her, but Discord chose that moment to appear right before Twilight, obstructing her path and allowing Beatrix Lulamoon to escape. “Hohahaha! What fun! What fun! This is the most entertainment I’ve had in aeons!”
From behind their magically conjured restraints, the two Pinkies started hissing and spitting in rage at Discord’s laughter.
“Shut it, Discord. You’re not playing fair,” Twilight said.
The spirit raised an Eyebrow. “I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met. I’m Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Hello?”
Twilight snarled. “How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?”
Discord recoiled. “Did you..?” He burst out laughing. “How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth? What a riot. In fact, I think it was Trixie who suggested the labyrinth. Where is she, by the way? And those delightfully colorful speedsters, too? Hmm... Well, you don’t need the Elements, seeing as you don’t even have a full set of Element bearers to go with it.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Twilight insisted. “We’ll beat you one way, or another.”
“Oh, I’m so nervous,” the draconequus mocked. “Keep trying, Twilight. Maybe if you were an only child, you might have had a chance. Of course, you know how troublesome siblings can be, always doing what they want. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some chaos to wreak.”
Thunder boomed, and chocolate milk rain fell from cotton candy clouds. And Twilight knew what to do.
“Give me that!” A Rarity screamed.
“I SAW IT FIRST!” The other countered.
But first, Twilight had to fix this.
A disturbed Cobalt hastily exited the bookshop where he had just met the Grim Reaper himself. Behind him walked Sparkle, nose already buried in the accursed tome of Pain.
Then she rear-ended Cobalt. “Huh? Why’d you stop?”
“Ms. Twilight?” Cobalt said worriedly.
“What?” She looked up. “Oh, buck.”
Before them stood none other than Discord, towering over them at over six times their height. “Now, now, Sparkle, there’s no need for that kind of language.”
“Sorry. What do you want, Discord?” Sparkle said calmly.
“Oh, nothing much,” Discord replied, shrinking a tad. “Just two tiny little things, that’s all.”
“And those would be?”
“First,” Discord teleported, appearing smaller and wrapped around Sparkle’s body, “I wanted to say that, most likely, if the Elements of Harmony are used, they are going to kill you and your son, and render Cobalt over there a veritable vegetable.”
“What!”
“Oh yes. See, for them to cleanse the world of my influence, the Elements are going to have to bathe the entire world in their magic, putting you in the crossfire, especially since they think you’re willingly working for me!” Discord smiled. His talon traced a concentric circle on Sparkle’s chest, conjuring a target on the fur. “I hear that, as a mortal, the Elements are soul crushing. Funny, for such light artifacts they are really quite grim. And while I may just be turned to stone, the same cannot be said of you."
“And what about me?” The assassin asked.
Discord popped up beside him. “Why, the Elements would try to rip away your soul’s geas without any grace. I’m sure that would be quite traumatic on your young mind.” Cobalt gulped.
“And the other thing?” a now thoroughly shaken Sparkle asked.
Discord snapped his lion’s paw. The Dread Necroptica vanished from Sparkle’s magical grip and reappeared in Discord’s possession. “This book contains what likely is your only hope of saving yourself and letting me be defeated. But I don’t want that. No, I’m not going to be defeated, and you’re going to help me make sure that the Elements of Harmony never fire. I’m sure you two can figure something out. Ta-Ta!”
He vanished with the sound of a struck gong.
“Buck.”
“I”m with you on that one, Ms. Sparkle,” Cobalt said.
The reversed sound of a gong crashed against their ears. “Oh, I almost forgot,” Discord said as he reappeared. “Just to make things interesting, I planted the locations of the various elements deep within the subconscious of each of the Element Bearers. Given enough time, I’m sure they’ll find them. As for you, here’s a map... and some more motivation.”
The skin of Sparkle’s right foreleg started to peel away in paper-thin strips from just below the shoulder. Deeper and deeper the changes went, and Sparkle could only stare in horror as her leg disintegrated out from underneath her. When her muscles failed, she lost her balance momentarily before one of the specters she kept in her body at all times animated the bones. Even they, the only remaining pieces of her limb, were looking far more worn and brittle than they should.
The papery strips of Sparkle’s flesh knitted themselves together in the air, forming a map. As soon as the last stripp attached itself, the whole thing rolled up and flopped onto the ground, though neither pony was looking at it.
Instead, Cobalt was already tearing a strip of cloth from his Gala suit to form a tourniquet, and Sparkle was trying to heal a wound that resisted her efforts.
Discord smirked maliciously. “No, no, Sparkle. I’ll fix your leg good as new when you’ve saved us from the Elements. But you better hurry if you don’t want that missing limb causing you trouble.”
Unlike the un-split mare known as Twilight Sparkle, the light mage known only as Twilight was far more aware of the symptoms of mind manipulation. And, unlike that magical generalist, Twilight was far more attuned to the magic within other ponies. That she could currently feel the earth pony magic inside both Applejacks, instead of just her own, told her that the physical space that the two timelines were in was far closer than it had ever been, and that magic was crossing over as well as light.
Of course, considering that she had been awake for nearly twenty hours at this point, she didn’t stop to consider that. Instead, she just went up to both Applejacks and purged the chaotic magic from their brains.
“Ugh, Twi/Twilight, what’s goin’ on?” was the first thing out of each of their mouths when they were purged and returned to their original color.
Twilight quickly filled the AJs in. “Now, who do we treat next? The mad Pinkies, the rabbid Flutterbeasts, or the murderous Rarities.”
“Ah’d say Pinkie, because she’s the strongest of those three,” an Applejack said.
“Right, I’ll just-” but the moment Twilight released the glowing restraints on the pink ponies, they both lunged at her. “Gah, AJ! Help!” Suddenly tackled by twin earth ponies, Twilight accidentally released the magic restraining the Flutterbeasts and the Rarities. The two former immediately joined the fray, while the two unicorns decided to fight amongst themselves instead.
“Ah’m comin’, Twilight!”
Had the streets not been deserted, the sound of massive wings beating overhead would have sent ponies running. As it was, the dracolich the wings belonged to was a welcome sight for the injured mare and her companion. “Mom!”
The behemoth landed near the duo, shrinking as he moved towards them. “Mom, I was so worried about you. Wha- Mom, your leg...” Thorn stopped shrinking when he was only twice their size and rushed forwards to support Sparkle.
“Hey, Thorn. Gah... Don’t... Worry. I’ll be fine. It’s just a flesh wound.”
Baffled, Thorn gaped. “Just a flesh wound? There’s no flesh left!”
“Thornecrovitar, it’s going to be fine. You’ll see.” Sparkle smiled, pained as her expression was. “Stings a bit, though. Can’t quite seem to convince myself that my leg doesn’t hurt. Anyway, are you alright?”
“Yes, Mom,” the drake answered. “Some ponies decided to be dragon slayers, but I took care of them.” Sparkle sighed in relief.
“Right, Thorn, can you give us a lift?” Cobalt asked. “We need to get to the east side of upper Canterlot ASAP.”
Thorn’s frown deepened. “The hospital is the other way, you know.”
“Yes, but we, all three of us, might not survive the night unless we get moving now,” the stallion retorted. “I’ll explain on the way,” he added, seeing Thorn’s confusion.
“Hmmm,” he rumbled, adding back to his size. “Come on then, hop on.”
“Thanks, Thorn.”
In eastern Canterlot, precisely where there was an X on a unicorn’s leg-turned-map, one Trixie Lulamoon burst into her father’s home on the verge of crying. “Wha- Beatrix? Is that you?” The surprised stallion inside asked. “What are you doing here?”
“Trixie is running away,” she said. “They were...” She trailed off, her eyes fixating on a display case on the back wall. “The Elements!”
And so they were. Within that case sat three of the Elements of Harmony, one Element of Magic and two Elements of Laughter. A smile bloomed across Trixie’s lips as she sprinted forwards to grab them.
There was a knock on the front door. Trixie’s father turned and said, “Who could that be?” He opened the door.
The forest green faux-unicorn outside said, “Hello. My teacher and I are looking for a set of weapons disguised as gold necklaces or a gold tiara, each with a large gem in the middle, called the Elements of Harmony. You wouldn’t have happen to have seen them, would you?
“I-”
“DON’T LET THEM IN!” Trixie shouted, interrupting her father.
Trusting his daughter, the stallion said, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you. Good day-” the sun suddenly set, “-er, Night.” He tried to shut the door, but a hoof blocked it.
The door was pried open magically, revealing not one, but now two ponies. “I’m sorry,” the new mare said, “We’re coming in.” She shoved her way past the stallion, who recoiled at the sight of her leg, and hobbled right into the house. “Hello, Trixie. It looks like you have something I need.”
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Sparkle looked at Trixie, slightly confused, before she remembered that she was still wearing the orange fur dye from the Gala. “I just said, you have something I need. Ssss...” She hissed in pain, and then a blob of inky blackness formed at the tip of Sparkle’s horn and shot towards Trixie. It forced its way into her mouth and down her throat, causing trixie to convulse slightly and her eyes to unfocus.
“What are you doing to my daughter?” The father bellowed. He started to charge forwards, but collapsed thanks to a book to the head, courtesy of Cobalt. A second later, he too was implanted with a blob of shadow.
“Get up and, ahg, come here,” Sparkle ordered, and the two specter-possessed ponies complied. “Now, get me something to tie you two up.”
“Hehehe, as you wish, mistress,” the specter in Trixie giggled.
Across the street, a gray pony in a gray suit put away a set of collapsible binoculars.
Twilight’s head suddenly shot up as the glow around her horn intensified. “What is it, Twilight?” a newly uncorrupted Fluttershy asked.
“Trixie’s moving towards us, and fast,” Twilight answered. “She’s really close now.”
There was a tremendous boom and an equally tremendous roar that reverberated the very ground. Green light erupted from the other side of the city block, glowing against the currently night sky.
“Oh Twilight, Darling, please tell me that’s not your nephew,” a Rarity said. “Meeting him once was enough, and I really don’t think I want to meet him again, now.”
“That is, and Trixie is over there with him,” Twilight answered. “Come on, everypony.”
The group of nine ponies, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, their doubles, and Twilight, all set off in a gallop. Hooves pounding against the chocolate pavement of warped Canterlot streets, the nonet charged forwards to find their friend/acquaintance. Rounding the corner, Twilight had to stop short to avoid running into a massive Thorn. “Ah! Hello, Thorn. It’s good to see you.”
“The feeling isn’t mutual,” the lich replied, glaring at her with his toxic green eyes.
“Twilight,” a voice said from behind the dragon, “It seems we have a little conflict of interests here.” From behind him, Sparkle emerged, eliciting gasps at the sight of her leg, or what was left of it.
“Sparkle, what happened to you?”
“Discord took my leg and my book. ‘Motivation,’ he calls it, though I call it an annoyance. Ssss... Agh. I’d still do it even if he hadn’t taken those from me.”
“Do what?” The illusion shattered, revealing two bound, gagged, and panicking ponies, held at knifepoint by a third.
“Trixie!” several of the group cried out. They tried to rush forwards to help their friend, but were stopped by Sparkle’s magic.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the necromancer said. “One more step, and Cobalt will slit the throats of Trixie and her father. And unicorns, don’t even think of using magic. They’ll be dead before you can even say ‘alacazam.’ Got it?”
Rarity shouted, “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try us,” Thorn said, his massive head positioned just behind her.
“Th-Thorn? What? I thought that you-”
“Loved you? Not anymore. Especially not now,” the drake stated.
“What do you want, Sparkle? You wouldn’t have a hostage otherwise,” Twilight asked.
Sparkle made a contemplative noise. “What do I want? I want your obedience, for one thing. I also want both sets of the Elements; I’ve got five already, but I need them all. And, while Thorn’s out retrieving them, I need you to do something for me.”
“What?” Twilight growled.
“Oh, it’s simple really. I just need you to bring me both Rainbow Dashes. All eleven of you need to be here, or Trixie and her father will die,” Sparkle smugly stated. “Tick, tock. You better hurry if you want to see them alive again.”
“No!”
“What was that, Fluttershy?” Sparkle asked.
The butter yellow pegasus confidently marched up to the necromancer and looked her right in the eye. “No! I won’t let you hurt my friend. You are going to release my friend right now, missy. Just because you are a scary, evil sorceress doesn’t give you the right to threaten my friends. You may have a lot of nasty spells, but you do no - I repeat - You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?”
“Fluttershy,” Sparkle’s voice said from behind her, causing Fluttershy to spin around, “who are you talking to?” Fluttershy jumped. Sparkle was behind her! But when she looked back over her shoulder, the Sparkle she had been giving the Stare to wasn’t there. “Well, regardless, I would get moving if I were you. I’d hate to have to kill you as well.”
“Eeep!”
“Come on, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, ignoring the extra squeak her identical voice elicited from Fluttershy. “Let’s go save Rainbow Dash first.”
“Good idea, sister,” Sparkle agreed, carefully avoiding making eye contact. “You go do that. And Thorn...”
“On it,” the drake said as he shot into the sky.
Rarity shook her head, clearing the disorientation of Twilight’s impressively long-range teleportation. “That... That evil mare! I’m sorry, Twilight, but I knew your sister was no good. Everypony knows dark mages go bad, and it seems she’s no exception,” Trixie’s Rarity said.
The party mare walked up alongside Rarity as they made their way down the chaotic Ponyville streets. “I know, right?” A Pinkie Pie said. “And she’s not even gray! That’s like, super evil, ‘cause Discord wasn’t even messing with her head!”
“Can we not talk about this, please? That’s my sister, and...” an utterly exhausted Twilight choked up for a second. “I never thought she’d do something like this.”
Fluttershy stepped up next to Twilight. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I...”
“Thanks, Fluttershy.” Turning to address the group, Twilight said, “Come on, we need to find Rainbow Dash. My spell said she should be right about-”
“There!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing up to a lone cloud in the sky. Then, seeing what was going on upon the cloud she blushed. “Oh.”
“Oh my.”
“Um...”
“RD...”
Upon the cloud, there was both Dashes, and they were in the middle of -
“Enough! Break it up, you two!” a furiously blushing Twilight shouted, gripping each panting, sweating, and gray Dash with her magic and prying them apart.
“Ah, come on, Twi. We saved our parents and helped rebuild Cloudsdale. We deserve a little time to ourselves, don’t you think?” The Dashes said in unison.
“And when my sister murders Trixie because you didn’t come, then what?”
“Didn’t come? Bwahahaha!” one of the Dashes laughed. “That’s a laugh!”
The other, having known Trixie far better, took a second to look at the faces of the ground-bound group. “Hey, I think they're serious... Seriously lame. BwaaAAHH!” RD had started to laugh, but then was yanked to the ground by Twilight.
“She’s not joking, Dashie, and I know jokes,” Pinkie affirmed.
“Hmph, whatever. Later losers,” Rainbow Dash said before flaring her own, pulsating magic and breaking out of Twilight’s grip, followed almost immediately by the other Dash doing the same.
Twilight reached her limit right then of tolerance for Discord’s nonsense. She mustered up her magic and swatted at the leading Rainbow’s left wing, sending her careening into the other Dash. Twilight charged towards where she figured they would land, and, seeing that they were beginning to recover from their collision, Twilight telekinetically forced their wings shut and caught them a few hoof-lengths above the ground. They bucked and thrashed, but to no avail. Twilight’s horn touched the first, and then the second, forcing the chaotic magic out of each of their brains.
“What happened. I was-” The newly restored Dash on the left looked at the one being restored on the right. “Oh sweet Celestia, I’m NOT LESBIAN!”
The other Dash, waking up to hear her counterpart say that, blanched at the memories. They immediately scrambled to get away from each other, gagging as they did so. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“What was I thinking?”
“Ugh!”
“Girls, please,” Twilight said. “I’m exhausted. I can’t deal with this right now, and I still need to get us back to Canterlot so we can save Trixie, and now I’ve got two more ponies to carry. Can you just stop?”
“Wait, you were serious when you said your sister was going to murder Trixie?”
“Yes, now come on!”
“Right.”
“Twilight, Darling, can we be of assistance?” the Rarities inquired.
“Can you share magic with me?” Twilight asked back.
“Of course, Dear. That’s why we offered.”
Two ribbons of blue-white magic extended, one from each Rarity, and sank into the back of Twilight’s skull, where her magical core was located. Horn humming with fresh power, Twilight’s magical appendage erupted with blinding white light, enveloping the group.
When the light faded, they were on their way to Canterlot.
Thorn stepped out from the shadows, carrying the seven remaining Elements of Harmony. “You work quickly, Thorn,” Cobalt said as he relieved the dragon of his burden.
“Discord’s directions were quite specific,” replied Thorn. “How’s Mom?”
“She can’t get the blood to clot - the chaos magic is interfering with her own, and she can’t purge it,” he somberly replied. Looking back at her resting form, Cobalt added, “Miss Sparkle’s already cast a blood-regeneration spell, but unless we can get some food and water in her soon, or get her leg back, she’s going to lose that body.”
“And Savior, too.”
“Who?”
“The colt she’s pregnant with,” answered Thorn.
“Buck.”
“Language, Cobalt.”
The dragon sat down next to the reclining, heavily breathing necromancer. Her two prisoners sat docile, held that way by obedient specters. “Hey, Mom. I’m back.”
“Thorn...”
“You’ve got to be strong for just a few more minutes. I passed the Bearers on my way back. They’re just a few blocks away. Can you stand?”
She shook her head negatively. “No, not on my own. Whatever Discord did, it’s sapping my physical strength really badly. But...” Her body rose and repositioned itself. “My specter can use my body like a puppet. I had to cut all nerve signals... it hurt too much.”
“We’ll get through this, together,” Thorn assured her.
“All three of us,” Cobalt added. Then the sound of galloping hooves graced his ears. “Showtime, I guess.”
“Sparkle! We have Rainbow Dash now,” Twilight called out. “Now Release Trixie and give us the Elements of Harmony.”
Sparkle looked at them. “Did you...? Wait, you actually thought I’d give Trixie back? No, I said if you wanted to see Trixie alive again, you’d get Rainbow Dash. And look, here Trixie is, alive, as you can clearly see. But...” Sparkle limped towards Trixie. As she did, ten shadows materialized from behind buildings and lamp posts and slid across the ground, merging with the shadows of all the Element Bearers save Twilight. “...That can be fixed.” Unaware of the sudden supernatural infestation, the Bearers watched as Sparkle kissed Trixie on the cheek, causing her to fall over, dead.
“NO!” They cried, but, with the exception of Twilight, they suddenly found themselves unable to move their bodies.
“Sparkle, stop this! Please!”
“I’d be very careful with your next action, sister. Try to save a friend or attack me, and I kill again.” Sparkle looked towards the sky. “DISCORD! Come here!”
A flash of light signified the arrival of the Lord of Chaos. “Haha! Such drama! I definitely made the right choice with you, Sparkle.”
“I’ve got what you want. Now give me back my book and my leg,” Sparkle demanded.
“Hmm... I still see one set left. I tell you what, kill Fluttershy here, and I’ll give you your book back. Kill Twilight, and I’ll give you your leg back.” Sparkle stiffened ever so slightly, and though Discord didn’t catch it, Twilight did. “But if you want both, kill every last one of the Bearers.”
Without a word, Sparkle walked up to the indicated Fluttershy and kissed her. The pegasus dropped like a puppet with cut strings. “My book?”
It appeared with a flash of light before Sparkle. “Thank you. Now, I’m going to take a while for the others, so you might not be interested in hanging around,” Sparkle said. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of other ponies to torment. Just make it so that my leg comes back when the last of them is dead.”
“Sure, sure,” Discord said. “Very well. Enjoy your toys, Sparkle. Arrivederci.” Then, he vanished.
“How could you?!" Twilight roared. “HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT!”
But Sparkle didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at Twilight. Instead, she tapped her good hoof against Fluttershy’s body. “Wake up, Fluttershy.” Then, she limped over to Trixie and did the same thing.
Much to everypony’s shock, the two formerly dead mares did exactly that. Upon seeing Twilight’s shocked face, Sparkle smirked. “Honestly, Twi, it’s like you forgot that I could put a soul back into its own body. They only needed to be dead for a few seconds, to fool Discord. I needed my book and you needed these.” From where Cobalt was silently observing, twelve enchanted pieces of jewelry floated towards their respective owners, held aloft by Sparkle’s dark aura. As each attached itself to its respective owner, a black cloud escaped each of their mouths, freeing them from Sparkle’s control.
“Now, go get that bucking asshole!”
“Language, Mom.”
“Shut it, you.”
“Are you sure you made the best decision?” a worried Cobalt asked.
Sparkle looked up from her book. “No, but I’m sure I made the right decision. Whether we survive or not is a gamble I’m willing to pay.”
“Hey, Mom, if we don’t make it... nevermind.” Instead of saying what was on his mind, Thorn just hugged her.
She hugged back. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it. Hey, Cobalt, come here. You’re part of this little family, too.”
Cobalt walked over and awkwardly leaned in towards them, before Sparkle’s good hoof brought him fully into the embrace. In the distance, a brilliant rainbow dome materialized over Ponyville. Sparkle, the only one looking in that direction, darkened her horn, hoping that she’d get the spell right and that she’d have enough strength to save them.
“I love you!”
Then there was white...
In the space between seconds, a disembodied spirit halted a paradox.
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the picture of the two rainbow dashes didn't stay. mind linking that in the authors notes?
Oh dear...
Discord will be Discord, so I'm pretty sure in the end he'll be reformed like last time, just with a few different tricks up his sleeve(and 2 fluttershys). Unfortunately things won't end well for Sparkle once her Celestia finds out what she did.
Discord reformed after that show? No, not ever! Leave him in stone!
I would rather see Discord reformed, but I would also like to see said reformation taking actual effort to work, rather than happening in half a day.
No he shouldn't
Instead he should become one of us!
5830109
Yeah...
At least cannon Discord have that one redeming feature that his 'pranks' never physically hurt ponies.
This one, though? I frankly hope the fucker burns alive. That thing with the leg, gloating over how that poor bookstore owner died, demanding Sparks kill the Element bearers...
Heck, even better, have Sparks figure out how to turn him mortal with that book, and then see how he likes having that claw of his pealed like a banana. My guess is that it won't be quite as fun then for the prick.
1- Yes, reformed discord
2- I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU END THE CHAPTER UN SUCH A HEART BREAKER CLIFFHANGER!
3- Please, I need the next chapter soon
5830191 I'm with you, this bastard is beyond redeeming.
5830191
Going to have to agree with Lord of Dorkness here, this Discord has almost no redeeming qualities. It'd be a really hard sell to justify reforming him without explaining away how they can trust someone who was so eager to see the element bearers killed. Otherwise, it'd be logical for him to arrange for the death of one or all of them as he is being 'reformed'.
I guess if you used the excuse that it was all part of a Grander Plan and he knew that they wouldn't die I might possibly buy that, but it's a hard sell right now.
5830102
"Look. I solve problems. It wasn't like I had a choice, Discord literally took my leg away and prevented me from healing, I was going to die otherwise. I tricked Discord so he could be defeated, and no one except the shop keeper got hurt in the process. What more could you ask of me?"
5830331
I like that line... I might use it verbatim, if you don't mind. (Or not, who knows?)
5830338
Go ahead.
5830340
Thanks.
5830084
I fixed the image in the text.
Read the description and already like it. Putting it in my favorites and read later list!
Hate to break it to you, but it actually is T Rated.
I love the new cover image.
By the way, the description of Sparkle losing the flesh on her leg had me squirming...good job.
I'm incredibly curious and insatiably maddened by such a cliffhanger!
I don't wanna wait to see who said that and to whom!
5830493
No, you misunderstand; the omitted text that should have been where the image was wasn't T rated. You know, lesbian Pegasus self-cest? Clone-assisted masturbation? Whatever...
Why is it so awesome? ;-; I demand MOAR.
The cliffhanger is strong with this one.
Reforming Discord is at the very least a much harder sell than last time. It's still possible that Celestia lets him out on a leash, but I certainly wouldn't expect Fluttershy to make an open-ended promise not to use the Elements if he steps out of line. Perhaps Sparkle can come up with a backup plan if he tries anything, or they may just rely on their ability to take him out again. He might have a different keeper than Fluttershy.
If you could find a way to not reform him and still have him play an active role in the story, that would be fantastic, so...
+1 NEIGH
Yup, totally worth the hype. Best chapter yet! This is a chapter that makes me wish I could upvote twice, but as it is you get to go onto my "Cool books" shelf, which is where I put my favorite favorites.
Discord would make a pretty freaking awesome Anti-Hero in the future, so I wouldn't reform him.
I would say don't reform Discord, it seems to me that this Discord is far worse then cannon Discord what with giving Sparkle the deal of killing all the bearers and Trixie and Twilight in order to get back her leg and book which Discord stole in the first place.
Not sure how Tirek can be beaten without Discord though if you don't have him reformed.
5830740
So is that a yes or no?
yes i think he should. ^_^ i find it will be interesting to see how its done when you add sparkle to the mix. :D
5830740
Thorn could probably punch Tirek really, really hard.
Besides, Tirek was defeated by that Rainbow stuff. The only thing Discord contributed was that necklace thing, which some one else could be substituted.
I would like to see what you plan on doing with a reformed Discord. I say go for it.
5830740 it's entirely possible feeding on sparkles magic could prove fatal for tirek, yes she is a dark mage but also a necromancer meaning he would be absorbing pure death. in an unprepared body thats always lethal and being magical doesn't make tirek prepared.
After your alternate interpretation of Discord who's far crueler and more willing to inflict painful and potentially deadly damage to ponies, I have to say that any attempt to reform would have to be with a VERY large stick, and potentially advanced dark magic thanks to Sparkle.
I don't really see them making any real attempt to reform Discord, either from the principal agents, the Mane 6 + Trixie because of what Discord was able to get Sparkle to do, and from Celestia's perspective as well. I can't imagine they think that a fusion of the timelines is an ideal circumstance and it seems like his very presence fuses them. Plus, he all but forced Sparkle to kill two of them, all be it temporarily.
That's going to come back and bite her, even if it was simply a ploy to insure that Discord let her have access to the book that could potentially save her and those near her's existence. Now... no clue if that part was necessary or not, but I can understand erring on the side of caution.
5830563 Oh! Yeah, that makes much more sense, sorry for letting that one fly over my head :/
No reformation for this Discord. He is undeserving of a friendship with Fluttershy since he had Sparkle kill her.
I love how you put this at the end in the white text. The gradual color fade was good, too. I wonder how many people missed it?
I say free Discord and let the good times roll!
5830740
Ummm... hello? Homicidal (Equuicidal? Omnicidal?) Sparkle jacked up on dark magic with few/no real friends to hold hostage? If Tirek tries to absorb her magic I'm certain she has some VERY nasty curses in place for that, disregarding the fact that absorbing that Dark of magic may kill him outright anyways. Thorne is undead as well so Tirek's magic drain may not even work on him. Cobalt, Shining and Twilight are the only other possible hostages, one of which is in a different dimension and may have quite a bit of difficulty with Tirek admittedly (she does have friends and is less suited to kill Tirek {she may need Discord to win using Rainbow Power}). The others could simply be sent way.
Also tealspeckles response.
Ohhh but what about Savior? That could be an interesting wrench in this.
5831306 Le bad end for Discord.
I say have Sparkle reform him if anyone does. After that display I doubt any of the good guys would even release him.
I guess I would like to see him reformed, but not like in the show.
I say have some form of reformed Discord, cause he's baller as hell.
5831337
Ha! I browse with the medium dark theme! The only thing I missed was the fact that I was supposed to miss it!
I personally like the idea of Sparkle reforming Discord in her own ways. Perhaps turning him into some sort of thrall, or binding him in some way?
Reform, but messy.
PS- you might want to author's note about the white!text final line. I don't think everyone is going to highlight that section to check for that. <__<;
5831695
It's specifically made to be hard to see.
Vote for reform, though that's just me.
5830338
I like this idea. She did the wrong thing for the right reasons and ultimately, the right outcome.
5830563
I only saw the fixed image but I forgot that websites have standards. Not some standards, any standards.
5831695
This would certainly fit with the darker theme of the story in general, even if it is less personally satisfying. My only question would be how long does he stay bound? If we take as a given that he is immortal, (similar to Death as he is a function of matter as death is a function of life,) even if he was bound 'forever' by Sparkle's standards, chances are he would find a way out. Due to being the amoral physical embodiment of chaos, Discord could easily have a "corrosive" effect on those around him (ie they are affected by his chaos, even if he isn't actively choosing to affect them.) I'm not trying to disagree with you, and I think I had a salient point, but I don't know what it was. I'm sorry.
5831873
But it's pointless if it isn't seen. :P That's all I'm saying.
Either way, fun chapter.
5831920
It's not about seeing it, it's about finding it. That's why it's not exactly the same white as the default background.
A reformed Discord would be interesting, but it should be different from how the show did it. I kinda like the idea of Sparkle being heavily involved in it, making it really hard and uncomfortable for Discord. Maybe to drive him towards atleast trying friendship--the alternative would be some ingenious spellwork from Twilight and the Element's magic, rendering him almost powerless, followed by twelve hours with Sparkle in an isolated, sound-proofed room...
5831361 5831015
Dark mage Sparkle should not be able to beat Tirek at 3/4 power (before eating princess magic). Canon Twilight had all the powers of the princesses and it ended in a draw (though I think she would have won eventually). If it all it took was necromancer to beat Tirek then he would have been food for someone else a long time ago.