Static World

by Kendandra

12: False Start

A loud trumpeting sound startled Twilight Sparkle awake from her slumber. The young Unicorn clasped her hooves over her ears. Her head was spinning from a combination of her jarring awakening and from having stayed up far too late last night. Princess Luna was still fast asleep, curled up into a tight ball next to her on the bed. How she slept through the trumpet, Twilight could only guess. The trumpet sounded again, this time directly in her ear. Twilight swatted with her hoof at the horn it fell to the ground with an equally loud clanging sound. There was a screech of joy that came from the trumpet player, arguably more annoying than the trumpet itself.

“Twilight! Come on and get up you silly sleepy head! You’re missing it!” Twilight pulled her pillow over her head and flopped back on the bed. She glanced at the clock that was hanging on the far wall. The young pony let out a wine.

“Pinkie Pie, it’s too early for you to be in here…”

“But Twilight! We have to celebrate you and the princess’s relationship! This is a big deal! A celebration!” Pinkie Pie squealed with delight.

“Be quiet, you’ll wake Luna!”

“Princess Luna and Lady Twilight! Together at last! It’s a happy snappy bookworm-y love-y-dove-y part-y!” Pinkie Pie tossed confetti in the air that landed all over Twilight’s bed, and on the back of the sleeping Luna. “Come on! Get out of bed! It’s all covered in confetti now anyway!”

“It’s covered in confetti because… you….!” Twilight growled at the pink pony.

Pinkie Pie pulled Twilight out of bed and started prancing around the room. She pulled Twilight every which way and began giving her a tour of the party favors, “I’ve got punch! I’ve got cider! I’ve got cookies! I’ve got a pickle barrel!” Pinkie giggled incessantly, “Pickle Barrel!” She pulled Twilight over to a different table, “I’ve got a cake! A really big one with little figures of you and Luna on it! Mrs. Cake said that’s normally for weddings, but we might as well get a head start since you and Luna are going to last forever!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight blushed.

“Oh I’ve got games, too! I’ve got pin the tail on the donkey! Horseshoes! And board games too like Candyworld! Oh and other games like… Piñata! Pony-scotch! Leap-frog! Sacrifice! Ping pong! Silly-ooper! And…”

Twilight covered Pinkie Pie’s mouth, “Wait… what was that?”

“png pgn…” Twilight removed her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth, “phft! Ping pong?”

“No, the one before that…”

“Leap-frog!”

“No… I meant… never mind…”

Pinkie Pie gasped, “Oh! And we’ve got guests! Tons of guests! So many you won’t even believe!” Pinkie Pie trotted over and sat down next to very large wooden chair. She must have brought it for the party, because Twilight did not remember having such a chair. “Rarity and Spike and Rainbow Dash and a whole army of Griffins and Fluttershy and Gummy and Applejack and Big Mac and Lyra and Princess Celestia and Flim and Trixie and...”

“Celestia! Luna didn’t want to tell…!”

“And Carrot Top and Bloomberg and… oh yeah! All of Eqeustria! Oh! And Gilda the Griffin and…” Pinkie’s ramblings were drowned out by a thunderous male voice echoed in the room:

For she’s a jolly good filly!
For she’s a jolly good filly!
For she’s a jolly good filllllllllllll-ly!

With a flash of light a large figure took a set on the chair next to Pinkie.

Thaaaat no pony can deeeeee-ny!

“Happy birthday, Twilight Sparkle!” The draconequus placed his palm on top of Pinkie Pie’s head and chuckled. He gave Twilight a huge smile and an explosion of balloons welled up around him. They floated to the ceiling and then crumpled into rocks.

“It’s not my birthday.”

“Now hold on a minute! Pinkie Pie, the invitation said this was a birthday party!”

Pinkie Pie gasped, with a frightened look on her face, “I reused the invitations from a earlier party, this was to celebrate Twilight and Luna getting together….”

“So you just sat there while I busted in here singing a birthday song and you didn’t think to stop me? Now I just look like a fool.” Discord snapped his fingers and Pinkie Pie began to melt into a pile of pink goo. The pink pony let out a hideous wail as her face drooped to the floor. Twilight rushed forward but it was too late. With a sputtering sound the pink slosh pooled on the floor. A bubble of air popped on the surface and a slight giggle echoed in the room.

“You monster!” Twilight sobbed.

Discord stood up from his throne and loomed over Twilight, “I am many things, cheeky mare, but I am not a monster.” Discord clapped his hands together and slithered around to Twilight’s bed, “But today is not about me. Oh, no! It’s a celebration for you and little Lulu!” The draconequus gently stroked Luna’s mane. Twilight jumped forward and stabbed Discord’s hand with her horn.

“You don’t touch her!”

“You hit me! And you have the gall to call me a monster! I have never hit a pony before!” Twilight took a defensive stance overtop of the sleeping Luna. “What? You think you’re going to protect her from me?” Discord rolled on the ground laughing. He attempted to stand up but fell back down clutching his sides, “You silly filly! I’m not the one she needs protecting from!” He wiped a tear form his eye. “Oh that’s just too good! Protect her from me!” Twilight summoned a bolt of magic and zapped Discord in the face. The draconequus reared back. “My, my… we are feisty today! You’re acting like a dragon in heat! You want to fight? A round of good old fisticuffs? A bit of rabblerousing?” Discord snapped his fingers and in a flash of light he had donned a top hat and a curly bar mustache. His claws were covered in oversized, bright red gloves. “Come on, little pony! Put up your hooves! This is what you want right?” He began hopping in place and faking punches.

Twilight stood over top of Luna and focused magic in her horn to cast a force spell. “I’m so done with you, Discord.” Her horn vanished with a flash of light and Discord shook his head as he danced around the room.

“That’s not very sporting like, Twilight.” Discord lunged forward and struck Twilight in the side of her jaw. The small pony was flung into the air and crashed through her bedroom window. As she broke through the glass, the fragments slowed down. They sparkled and like snow. Perhaps they were snow now, she could not see much as she was flung out of the library and into a pit of nothingness. She was thrown far from the tree house into a black void. Eventually she landed against something. She could not see what it was she hit. She could see herself quite well, but not anything around her. There was just the color black to greet her eyes. Discord’s booming laugh shook her ribcage. The draconequus slithered around Twilight and placed his claw on her shoulder.

“What do you want with me?!”

“Want? This is still a party, isn’t it! I want to play some party games!” Discord smiled evilly, “Oh! I know a great one! It’s called Sacrifice!” Discord placed his paw against his head and cracked his neck. Luna appeared next to Twilight. The Alicorn kneeled down and used a wing to shield Twilight from Discord. “Oh that’s just too perfect. Even her soulless effigy is loyal and protective of you. How interesting. Your bond transcends my powers….”

“That’s why you’ll never win, Discord!”

“Win? Why do you keep assuming that I’m even playing the same game?” Discord snapped his fingers and the lights appeared to flicker on in the world. Twilight’s horn reappeared. The nothingness gave way to a mountaintop. Immediately Twilight saw they were surrounded by Griffins holding spears. “Stories tell of bonds quite strong, this true love writes poetry and song. But just how solid is your bond? How long will you cling when all is gone? I pose now a question to you, if you had to choose, what would you do? Let others live and stay the course? Or abandon your love when others demand recourse? To have it all, you cannot, this is the grim truth that ties your insides in a knot.” Discord snapped his fingers and Luna fell to the ground shivering.

“What did you do to her?”

“Calm down, it’s just a bit of weak knees. She’s perfectly healthy…. But rather unable to defend herself.” As Discord finished speaking, the Griffins began to charge. Twilight fired a bolt of magic from her horn and it found its mark squarely on one of the Griffin’s beak. In a burst of blue flames the Griffin was consumed. Twilight jumped back. She had not meant to do anything like that with her spell. She was not even sure she was capable of such an action. “Oh my! What did you do to that poor Griffin. Oh, well. It was just a Griffin after all. Not like it was a pony.” Twilight took a step backwards. Had she kill that Griffin? No, she would never do such a thing! She watched as the Griffins advanced and pushed past her. Luna struggled to stand but could not find the strength. One of the Griffins closed in on the princess of the night and stabbed her with a spear. Twilight cried out as she watched blood trickle out of the princess’s wound. She dug her hoof into the ground and blasted the attacker with a spell. It burned up in a burst of flame as it cried out in pain. As more Griffins approached Luna, Twilight blasted each of them in turn. Tears streaked down her face as she went about her task of protecting Luna. Discord cackled, “So, you’re willing to kill to save her? How noble of a sacrifice on your morals. Let’s up the ante shall we?” Discord snapped his fingers. The Griffins morphed into Pegasi. “Perhaps you were internalizing them as monsters. You seem to like using that label. But now there’s no doubt what your fighting.”

“Call them off! Ponies, listen to me! I mean you no harm!” But the ponies did not listen; they charged forward and attacked Luna with hoof mounted spikes. Twilight watched in horror as Luna’s body was cut by their attacks. Twilight attempted to cast a spell that would force them away, but all it did was set them on fire. The ponies screamed. Twilight wanted more than anything to crouch down and hide under her hooves, but every time she stopping fighting, Luna would get hurt.

“Hm. Still a killing machine, huh? I had no idea you were this ruthless, Twilight. Is she really worth that much to you? That you would kill your own kind?” Discord snapped his fingers, “How far does this devotion go? Let’s find out!” The army of Pegasi disappeared. An army of ponies, more than she had ever seen in her life were charging. Spears were flying through the air

“Well, Twilight?”

“No I won’t!” The army jumped into the air. One of the spears cut deep into Luna’s wing. Twilight cried out in pain. She closed her eyes and there was a flash of light, in an instant all was gone.

Discord laughed. “You are something else, kid.” A stone pillar broke away from the ground and lifted Twilight high in the air. She was pressed against the surface as it soared higher into the sky. It collided with the clouds and lifted up until Twilight could see the whole planet. It was burning in brilliant blue flames. “Would you sacrifice all of Equestria for her?” The pillar crumbled and Twilight fell. She fell faster and faster until a cone of flame engulfed her. Then she passed out.

---

Storm Dancer glanced around at the wasteland that was before him. Still this area was better than the Everfree Forest. He walked carefully around the area, watching where his hooves landed with each step. There were pits and holes all around the ground, making navigating this landscape difficult. After about an hour of searching various locations, eventually he found what he was looking for when he stumbled upon a tunnel in the ground. Cautiously he entered the tunnel and made his way down the dark passage. He had never dealt with Diamond Dogs before, even in his time in the army, but he was told they were like mini-versions of dragons, enslaved by greed. As he walked a sound began to echo down the tunnel. A sickening chattering sound that was grating on his ears. As he neared the sound’s source a voice called out, “Who’s there!?”

Suddenly, Storm Dancer found himself surrounded by large bipedal creatures. They were breathing heavily and drooling. Their breath was enough to curl a pony’s mane. He had never seen so much drool. “What have we here? A pony that is lost!” The largest of the three dogs barked.

Storm Dancer began rifling through his saddlebags, “I’m not lost. I came here to make a deal with you.”

“Rgh… Diamond Dogs do not make deals. You smell of gems! You must be from pony palace.”

“I am indeed. Tell me, do you have this?” Storm Dancer held of an old piece of paper with a sketch of a necklace on it.

“Rgh! Why do you carry a drawing of our keepsake?”

“Oh good, you have it. I want it.”

“Necklace is ours! You no take it!” The dogs grabbed at Storm Dancer’s wings.

“How about a trade then?” Storm Dancer removed a large sparkling ruby from his saddlebag.

“Rare Fireruby! We want! We want!”

“Then trade with me. I want the necklace, and you want this splendid Fireruby.” Storm Dancer pulled his wings out of the dogs’ grasp.

“What is stop us taking it?” Storm Dancer sighed, these dog things really needed to learn to speak proper pony.

“If you think you can. By all means!” Storm Dancer reared back on his hind legs, his front hooves bearing small knife like spurs, standard equipment for pony infantry.

---

Twilight awoke to the interior of the library. She had been screaming and was covered in sweat. She stared at the ceiling as she waited for her breath to slow down. At least it was over. Her nightmares had been happening so frequently that she was well past dreading putting her head on a pillow. At least it was over. She could fell Luna body next to hers. It was a comforting feeling, knowing that now whenever she woke up from one of those terrifying nightmares, Luna would be nearby. All the horrible things that happen in the dream would be just a fading memory. Twilight rolled over, her plan was to steal a kiss from her love.

“Morning darling.” Discord was lounging on the other side of the bed, with a curved bubble pipe in his mouth. He took a few drags on it as Twilight rolled out of bed. “Wait! You said we’d spend the day together!”

“Buck off.” Twilight did not cuss often. Actually she could not remember the last time she had.

“You know, Celestia never used such vulgarities with me. Why can’t you be more like her? Besides, you don’t realize that this may be our last time to talk like this. Just us, one on one. Look the point is I have much to tell you and not a lot of time left. Let’s play a new game. I call this one Love Divides.” Another flash of light blinded her. She hated that light. Every time it occurred her life became miserable. The library broke apart. Its pieces gave way to a void of starry space. “Never a more powerful force than that of the green eyes you’ll find. It makes tempers seethe and morals blind. Now you stand with your love here at last. The finale is upon us, the dice have been cast!”

Discord snapped his fingers. Luna appeared a few feet from where Twilight was standing. “Look, there’s the pony you love!” Twilight galloped over to Luna only for her vanish in a flash of light. “Oh, wait, sorry. She’s over there.” Luna appeared behind Discord. Twilight ran back to Luna’s direction but she faded away before she could reach her with a snapping sound. “Oh. I’m sorry. My fingers keep slipping. Try again!” Luna appeared a bit further away this time. Twilight started to trot over to the princess of the night only for a flash of golden light to blind her momentarily. Twilight glanced back at Discord. “Don’t look at me! My hands were tied.” Discord held up his hands to show that they were literally tied together.

Blocking Twilight’s path to Luna was Celestia. The elder Alicorn looked down disapprovingly at Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle!” The Alicorn’s voice boomed. “You have betrayed me.”

“What! No! I haven’t!”

“You have done the unthinkable.”

“No! I would never hurt Luna! She’s my everything!”

“I am disappointed in you, Twilight.” Celestia turned away from Twilight. Twilight was horrified. She had never seen Celestia scowl as she was now. Actually, Celestia had never acted this way before. In all the years she had known the princess, this was completely out of character for her. Then something clicked in Twilight’s mind. Suddenly her thoughts were crystal clear.

“I… I…” Twilight gritted her teeth, “I don’t care.”

“What?”

“I said that I don’t care.” It was spoken plain, with almost a hint of annoyance.

Discord flashed in front of Twilight and raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter Twilight? Normally these little images get your attention a bit more…”

“Celestia wouldn’t react like that. This is just a dream. This isn’t real.”

“Reality is subjective, but bravo!” Discord clapped his hands and confetti fell from the ceiling. “It only took your subconscious two months to realize that these were dreams. Bravo! That was sarcasm of course. A greater mind would have figured it out in less than a month.” Discord laughed, “So you won’t play my little games anymore will you?” Twilight shook her head. Discord frowned, “Oh how painfully boring.”

“What are these games supposed to teach me?”

“Why, the boundaries of your capabilities of course! Wasn’t that obvious?”

“Let me go Discord. I’m not playing anymore.”

“Well when you put it that way…. Nah.” Discord snapped his fingers and the world flooded with light. “Let’s see if I can’t knock theses silly ideas about reality out of your tiny little noggin.”

Twilight sat down, “No harm in you trying.”

“Oh aren’t we smug… Just for that cheeky comment, no more magic for you for the rest of our session.” Discord snapped his fingers and with a flash of white light, Twilight’s horn vanished.

Twilight glanced up at the space where her horn used to be. “Actually….” She glanced back to Discord, when a thought popped into her brain. “Since this is a dream,” with a flash of purple light, Twilight’s horn reappeared. “I think I’ll keep my magic.”

Discord’s eyes widened; his jaw fell to the ground, “But! That’s! Oh no… No… no… no! That doesn’t…”

“Make sense?” Twilight chuckled. “What fun is there in making sense?”

Discord let out a fearsome roar, “Fine! You want play hardball!? Let’s… play… hardball…” Discord snapped his fingers and with another flash of white light, the draconequus doubled in size. He snaked around Twilight and laughed. Twilight staggered back for a moment. Discord coiled into a tighter circle, threatening to strangle Twilight. His sinister cackle was panning around the area as he spun.

Then there was a flash of purple light. Discord found himself in the shadow of something monstrous. He looked to the sky to find it blocked. His ears dropped and his pupils shrank as he realized the shadow’s source. Twilight looked down from high above, her size easily equaling that of Canterlot Castle. The Unicorn leaned down to bring her face to the terrified and minuscule Discord. “Oh I know! Let’s play a game. I call this one Squish the Draconequus.” Twilight’s massive hoof raised as its shadow tracked itself over Discord.

Discord turned and began to run; Twilight’s rumbling steps tossing him into the air repeatedly. “Now Twilight, let’s be reasonable!” He said in a panicked tone, “We’re both reasonable creatures, right?” Twilight’s hoof slammed down dangerously close to his tail. Discord dropped to all fours and continued running, “Hey! Listen, if you squish me, you’ll be a killer! You’ll be no better than you think I am!” Discord snapped his fingers. A chariot appeared in a white flash. He climbed aboard the chariot and attempted to race away from the gargantuan Twilight. The chariot sped away unbelievably fast. Discord laughed as he looked back. “What’s the matter? Does all that size make you slow, Twilight?” The chariot crashed into a tree that had just appeared in a flash of purple. “Summoning trees in my path? That’s just rude.” Discord climbed out of the wreckage and attempted to resume running. Suddenly he felt his feet swept out from underneath of him. He began to fall sideways, towards Twilight. “Breaking the laws of gravity is cheating, Twilight.”

“My game, my rules.”

“Good cupcakes, you catch on fast….” Discord clawed at the ground as he was being pulled closer to the giant. Finally his claws gave out and he was flung into the air. He slid to a halt right below Twilight’s raised hoof. With another flash of purple light he found himself in a pit with Twilight’s hoof slowing coming down on top of him. “Now, now , let’s not do anything hasty! If you think about it… I’m not such a bad guy! I’m just trying to have a little fun! No…. No, no, no!” The hoof neared his head and his view of the sun was completely blocked. Discord snapped his fingers, and the sky turned in to a image of Ponyville burning. Twilight glanced at it, but otherwise ignored it. “Ok! Look! Look, I know we have our differences but is this really the answer?”

“You assault my mind with horrific images of those I care for. I’m done playing your games.”

“But squashing me? How dreadfully gruesome.” Discord winced.

“You’re omnipotent. I’m sure you’ll survive in some form or another. Just not within my mind.” The hoof came down with the force of a hurricane. Discord curled into a ball and shivered in fear. With a last second thought, he extended his arm and snapped his fingers. Princess Luna appeared next to Discord. The Alicorn looked up at the giant Unicorn with a fearful expression. Twilight’s hoof came to a sudden stop in the air. Discord glanced up with a bit of hesitation. His lips slowly curled into a smile. He snapped his fingers. Soon Twilight was back to normal size and Discord was looming over her.

“I’m going to forgive that little outburst. Because I’m so magnanimous.” Discord smirked, “Now, let’s see if I can’t reaffirm the gravity of this situation. Don’t worry; we’ll get this right if it takes all night.” Discord snapped his fingers.

Comments

[Reader Wolf]

Discord got PWNED!!

Also, I CLAIM THE FIRST POST!!

[WintherBloom]

Damn, I always love reading another chapter of this! It's just soooo good!

[Kasena]

Had to cover my mouth with both hooves just to keep from loling! Great job

[banjo2E]

...yep, Discord's training her.

DISCORD GON B GUD

[Water Lilly]

1649479

DISCORD GON B GUD

I see what you did there.