The Crusaders Risk Everything
Derpy's cries of emotional agony rang through Ponyville while the rest of the town could only look on in shock.
A hornless, colorless Dinky was desperately hugging a nearly comatose Lyra and shaking her shoulders. "Mommy, wake up!" she cried. "Mommy we gotta go!"
"Dinky, Mommy's here! Mommy's going to help you!" The colorless, wingless pegasus struggled to reach her daughter but the fact that her legs were frozen made that impossible.
To the horror of all of the onlookers Dinky turned to Derpy with rage in her eyes that none had ever considered possible from the good natured filly. "You're not my Mommy!" she spat. "I've never seen you before in my life!" She pointed at Lyra. "This is my real Mommy!" The filly turned back to Lyra and began shaking her again. "Mommy, come on Mommy, we gotta get outta here! There's this bad mare that's trying to take me away, she says she's my Mommy! Mommy, wake up!"
Derpy's cries of agony returned full force.
* * * *
Apple Bloom's ears perked up as the cries reached the Crusader clubhouse. She looked out the window of the clubhouse for a moment before turning back to her fellow Crusaders who were in each other's forelegs, still crying their eyes out. Apple Bloom wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Girls, did ya hear that?"
Scootaloo sniffled and wiped her own eyes. "Yeah I guess so," she muttered.
"Ah think Discord did somethin' real bad again," whispered the yellow filly.
"I'm sure he did," whimpered Sweetie Belle. "He's doing a lot of bad stuff to ponies."
Apple Bloom nodded and looked out the window once more. "We gotta stop him," she whispered. "We gotta do something to make sure that Discord doesn't do anythin' else to innocent ponies!"
"But what can we do?" asked Scootaloo. "How can we stop him from doing anything else? We can't even wield the Elements!"
"But we can get his backpack!" said Apple Bloom. "Discord wouldn't keep that backpack around at all times unless there was somethin' in there that was important. Maybe we can find somethin' in there that'll help us at least help mah sister and her friends!"
"But we don't know where he is!" said Sweetie Belle.
"He'd be somewhere 'round here, right?" Apple Bloom mused. "He'd be 'round the Elements in case somepony tried to help them."
"The Everfree Forest?" whispered Scootaloo. "There's this clearing where TD likes to have lunch, we could start by checking there."
The other two Crusaders looked over at Scootaloo. Apple Bloom nodded and stood up. "We have to at least try."
* * * *
TD's eyes snapped open and he took a few rapid breaths before looking around and seeing where he was. He wasn't in his mind anymore, he was... in the clearing? The clearing where he talked with Pinkie Pie. Yes... he wasn't in his mind anymore.
His breathing slowed down and he pushed himself up to his feet. The thought crossed his mind that this was another Discord trick and with a snap of his fingers Discord would reveal that he was still trapped inside his own mind, forced to watch as Discord committed atrocities while essentially wearing his face. He had been forced to watch as Discord turned Dinky against her mother, something that Derpy would be forced to remember even if all of this was fixed.
TD took a few more deep breaths and began looking around the clearing. If he really was free from Discord, and the last time that had happened Derpy had nearly killed him, where was Discord now and why was he free in the first place? A feeling of unease crept up inside of him. Something was off. This was too easy of an escape and he didn't remember anybody saving him from Discord's influence.
"Greetings, TD, and welcome to your one happy spot in all of Equestria!" said the familiar voice of his tormentor. TD wheeled around to see Discord behind him grinning like a Cheshire cat. Discord leaned against a tree and idly began examining his claws. "I suppose you're wondering why you're out of your mind."
"Clever word choice, Discord," TD retorted, "but I'll grant that I'm curious."
"Well you recall my interaction with Celestia wherein I told her that some order was necessary to counter-balance the chaos? That is what is happening here. If you stayed in your mind too long then you'd eventually go mad and then I'd get bored of you after a very short while."
TD snorted. "So basically this is more of your mind games even though I'm not in my mind."
Discord rolled his eyes and his grin faded to a smirk. "If you wish to put it that way then I suppose I won't stop you," he said.
"Okay then, what are we doing out here?"
"I'm glad you asked!" said Discord, rubbing his paw and claw together eagerly. "You see, I was hoping to touch base with you a little bit and get your thoughts on what's going to happen in the near future." Discord snapped his fingers and TD suddenly found himself sitting in a desk completely unable to move anything except his head and neck. "I suppose that I'm just wondering how far you are willing to go to protect the ones you've actually grown to care about here. You were willing to attack me to protect those silly little foals even though I know you knew it wouldn't work in the slightest. I'm curious to see what you would do to protect all of them from me."
"I wouldn't have to do much, the Elements will beat you," TD snarled.
Discord shrugged his shoulders. "Very well then, I suppose if you aren't actually willing to do anything then we'll get to playtime with the Ponyville foals right now."
TD's eyes widened. "NO!" he cried, causing Discord to stop moving towards him to repossess him. TD closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking back up at Discord. "What is it that you want?"
"I didn't ask you to do what I want; I asked you how far you'd be willing to go to save them."
TD took a few more deep breaths and began blinking rapidly to hold back the first angry tears. "Depends on what saving them means," he said through clenched teeth.
"They don't have to endure a life of chaos. I will not use them as playthings and I will leave them alone. I will not make their lives miserable, I will not do to them what I will do to others, and I will ensure that they grow up as happy as I feel generous enough to allow." The two stared at each other in silence for a brief moment before Discord spoke up again. "How far would you be willing to go to give them that gift?"
TD slowly opened his mouth to respond, but found the words die in his throat when he saw flashes of color in the corner of his left eye. He slowly tilted his head downwards and allowed his eyes to shift to the left to see what he had noticed. The sight almost made him flinch his head violently. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were coming towards them.
"Crap," he mumbled to himself. What were they doing here?!
He looked back up at Discord who was looking down at him expectantly. "Give me a moment to think," he muttered.
Discord nodded. "Oh of course, take all of the time that you need. It is admittedly a big decision after all. Are you going to be selfish and let them suffer or will you endure psychological torment the likes of which you have never imagined for the sake of sparing them the same fate?"
TD snuck another glance at the approaching Crusaders and realized what they were there to do.
The backpack. They were here for the backpack with the horns, wings, and cutie marks of the Elements. He slowly nodded to himself. He had to buy them time.
"So what happens if I do choose the 'selfish' route?" he asked.
Discord shrugged. "That depends on how generous I'm feeling at the moment I suppose," he said. "Anything from being sent to a land away from Equestria to live the rest of your days in peace to flat out being sent back to your world. Both instances come at the expense that you have to watch what I do to the foals so you can truly grasp the consequences of your choice. Although, if you're a 'better them than me' sort of human then that might not be too bad."
TD sighed and reached his hands up to rub his temples but was frustrated by the fact that he was still frozen. He looked back up at Discord, this time with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. "Uh... I kinda have this tick where I rub my temples. It helps me think a bit so..."
Discord snorted but snapped his fingers and freed TD's entire body. TD tumbled onto the grass as the desk disappeared out from under him. He recovered quickly and sat up and glared at Discord who merely shrugged. TD took another deep breath and rubbed his temples. "So basically you're asking me if I want to endure untold suffering the likes of which would make Pinhead cringe or if I want the foals to do it instead."
Discord raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. "Pinhead?" he asked.
Apple Bloom had her mouth on the strap of the backpack now. He just needed to hold him off for a few more seconds.
TD raised an eyebrow now. "Yeah, Pinhead. You know, 'we'll tear your soul apart'? That guy?"
Discord scratched the back of his head. "Er... I'm afraid that I've never heard of such a being."
TD giggled like a madman and shook his head incredulously. "You mean you had unlimited access to my mind for a few days now and you never used that opportunity to learn a little more about me? I mean, didn't you at least look around to see what you could use against me?"
"Well I suppose I can if you want--"
"I mean geez, this is basic Possession 101. If you're strong enough to possess somebody then you can read their mind to see what makes them tick, right?"
She was balancing the backpack on her back now. Just a little while longer. She was clearly straining under the weight but if Discord was distracted long enough...
Discord frowned and moved a few steps closer to his victim. "And why would you know so much about possession?"
TD snorted and shot Discord an amused half smile. "I watch The Exorcist annually."
"The what now?"
TD facepalmed. "Oh come on, did you do any poking around in my brain at all?!"
"Maybe," said Discord, "and maybe if I did right now I'd find out why you're delaying. This isn't delaying for the sake of the decision; you're trying to buy time."
TD's smile evaporated and despite himself his expression changed to one of unease. "That's crazy," he whispered. "I just don't want to decide right away, that's all."
Discord's smile returned and he took another step forwards. "Don't lie to me, TD," he said. "I've dealt with ponies trying to buy time for thousands of years and believe me, I know when it's being attempted." Discord leaned over and looked TD directly in the eyes. "Why are you trying to distract me?"
TD remained silent, not daring another glance at the Crusaders. If they were smart they had gotten out of here a long time ago. That was something that did indicate that there was a 50-50 shot that they were still watching which would make all of this for nothing.
Discord reached his claw forward and stopped just short of placing one of them on TD's forehead. "It'll just take me one second to figure out just what you are up to and then--"
"NO!" screamed the voice of one of the Crusaders.
TD's breath died in his throat and he had no choice but to look over to see Sweetie Belle huddled up next to a tree. The other two Crusaders were nowhere to be found. "Don't hurt him!" she whimpered.
"Sweetie Belle what the buck are you doing?!"
Discord observed the shivering filly for a few moments before he snapped his fingers, teleporting the frightened Crusader directly in front of him, eliciting a squeal of terror from Sweetie Belle. "The human makes a fair point, what are you doing here?"
Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground and began shivering like it was thirty below in the clearing. "L-L-Leave h-him alone!" she stuttered.
Discord threw back his head and let out a cawing laugh. "Oh isn't that precious? I'm asking him what he'll do to protect you and here are the Ponyville foals gift-wrapping themselves for me to play with!" Discord shifted his evil smile to TD. "Maybe I don't need to ask you after all," he said. "Maybe we should ask the child to see what she would be willing to do to protect you."
TD was silent for a moment as he looked at Sweetie Belle but before Discord could react, he lunged at her and wrapped the frightened foal in his arms and turned his back to Discord to make himself into a human shield. Discord let out another guffaw at his attempt allowing TD to lean his head close to Sweetie Belle's ear. "What the buck are you doing here?" he growled. "Why didn't you get away."
"He was gonna read your mind," she whispered back. "Then he'd see us and none of us would get away."
"Might this be a conversation that I can be privy to?" said Discord's voice, cutting through the whispers. "It does sound most important."
"Just buzz off and leave her alone!" TD growled. "She isn't a part of this!"
"She isn't?" said Discord. "Well then I don't suppose she falls under the question she asks you which means that your suffering, if you chose that, wouldn't protect her which means..."
TD's eyes widened and he tightened his grip on the now crying Sweetie Belle but was unable to protect the filly from being teleported out of his grasp when Discord snapped his fingers. "JUST LEAVE HER ALONE!" he screeched, wheeling around to see Sweetie Belle hysterically crying in Discord's grasp.
"Oh I will," said Discord, waving his paw at TD. "After I make a few modifications."
Sweetie Belle squealed and began struggling to get out of Discord's grip just as TD dove towards the god of chaos. "LEAVE HER--"
Discord snapped his fingers.
* * * *
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom reached the front of the library, tears streaming down their faces. Sweetie Belle had told them to go, that if Discord read TD's mind then they'd all get caught and then they wouldn't get the backpack. As it was, Sweetie Belle had told them to go and they hadn't argued with her. They had just...just left her.
Scootaloo hopped off of her scooter and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. "We left her, we left her alone!"
Apple Bloom was in the back of the wagon next to the backpack, crying too hard to answer her friend. They had gotten the backpack and could hopefully fix the Elements. But now Sweetie Belle was in the hands of Discord and it was likely that they would never see her again.
At that moment Scootaloo looked up and was surprised to see not only a platoon of royal guards, but Princess Luna herself tending to the ponies that Discord had toyed with. The ponies were all free, though Lyra, Dinky, and Derpy were all still drained of their colors and appendages, and Luna had even managed to free the Elements from the library and was now doing her best to comfort a sobbing Fluttershy while the rest quietly talked about what to do next.
Knowing what needed to be done; Scootaloo hopped onto her scooter and zoomed up to the princess and Elements. "We got it; we got the box from Discord!"
The Elements and Luna all looked up at the sound of Scootaloo coming up. Rainbow Dash gasped when she saw the filly and ran up to her. "Scoots, you're okay!" She wrapped her fan in a giant hug that Scootaloo eagerly returned. Feeling her idol hugging her nearly brought her to hysterical tears as the weight of everything almost came crashing down on her, but she squeezed her eyes shut and held it in. She had to brave like Rainbow Dash had undoubtedly been inside the library.
Applejack had run over to the wagon and now held a sobbing Apple Bloom in her forelegs. "AB, you're okay," she soothed. "Ah gotcha. Princess Luna's here and she's gonna help us out. We'll beat Discord and get TD back. It'll be alright."
Apple Bloom continued sobbing into her sister's shoulder but managed to point to the backpack inside the wagon. Twilight gasped when she saw it. "That's TD's backpack!" She rushed over to it and opened it up to discover the box inside of it. She grinned excitedly and took the box out of the backpack. "Princess Luna, this is the box where he's been keeping all of our horns and wings, if you can use your magic to give them back to us then we can use the Elements!"
Luna flew over to Twilight and opened the box. "If that is true then we have no time to waste."
"Wait a minute," said Rarity, "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, where is Sweetie Belle? Wasn't she with you?"
Hearing the name of their fellow Crusader caused Apple Bloom to increase her sobbing and even Scootaloo finally broke down. Rarity whimpered in fear and walked up to the less distraught of the two. "Where is she? What did that monster do to her?" she whispered.
Scootaloo had to take a few seconds to calm down before she managed to stutter out an answer. "W-We were in the clubhouse when we heard Ms. Hooves crying about something and we knew that it was Discord doing something bad. We thought that since we seemed to be the only ones that he hadn't trapped yet, we had to at least try to find TD and do something about it."
Rarity whimpered and her legs gave out and she sat on her haunches, the first traces of tears in her eyes. "What did he do?" she repeated.
Scootaloo sniffled and wiped her eyes before continuing. "W-We went to a clearing in the Everfree Forest where TD liked to take his lunch breaks and we found him there. Discord was out of TD's mind and was talking to him. We tried to take the backpack that we saw Discord carrying because we knew he wouldn't carry it unless it was important so we quietly stole it from him. TD noticed and distracted Discord, but Discord figured out what he was doing so he went to go read TD's mind to see why he wanted to distract him." At this point Scootaloo's tears returned full force and she sobbed for a few moments before regaining her control and continuing on. "Sweetie Belle...Sweetie Belle said that we had to go," she whimpered. "She told us to go and she'd distract Discord." She began sobbing again and buried her head in Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "And we did," she finished quietly.
Rarity stared at Scootaloo for a moment, tears pouring down her face. "S-Sweetie Belle did..." All of a sudden the alabaster unicorn let out a cry of sorrow and collapsed on the ground, hysterically sobbing into her forelegs. Twilight quickly gave the box to Princess Luna and rushed over to her distraught friend.
"We'll get her back," she said sharply. "We won't let Discord get away with whatever he's done to her, I promise you."
"But what if he killed her?!" she wailed. "What if he twisted her so much we can't fix her?!"
"He would not have killed her," said Luna. "That is not his way. In terms of the latter worry I can only say this: we will fix her. That is not a promise so much as a state of fact, dear Rarity. As powerful as Discord is, his magic can be undone with the Elements of Harmony. Everything he did will be undone once he is returned to his stone prison."
"You have to be strong, Rarity," said Twilight. "We can't do this without you. If you're strong then we can fix Sweetie Belle and she'll be okay."
Rarity continued sobbing hysterically on the ground but Twilight's words had lessened the crying somewhat. Fluttershy had managed to calm down herself through that time and now walked up to Rarity and nuzzled her foreleg. Rarity's head snapped up and she looked into her friend's eyes for a moment before throwing her forelegs around Fluttershy's shoulders. Fluttershy gave a small smile and hugged Rarity, rubbing her back. "Shh, it's going to be okay, Rarity. Sweetie Belle will be okay. She's going to be okay because her big sister who loves her very much is going to make sure that it's okay, right?"
Rarity sniffled and slowly nodded. "Yes," she whispered.
"Exactly," said Fluttershy, pulling Rarity away and looking her in the eye. "She's going to be okay because you're going to make sure that it's okay. You love your sister very much and not even Discord can get between that."
Rarity sniffled again and wiped her eyes. "You are of course correct, Fluttershy," she said quietly. "I'm not going to help Sweetie Belle by being a blubbering mess now am I?" She took a deep breath and stood up, turning to face Luna. "Princess Luna, I think I have had quite enough of this. If you would be so kind as to give me my horn and cutie mark back I would be most grateful."
Twilight smiled and walked up next to her friend. "We're not going to let Discord take everything from us. We beat him once and we'll beat him again!"
One by one the Elements got into a line, each determined to once again beat Discord and save the lands from his twisted visions. Princess Luna nodded and levitated the wings, horns, and cutie marks out of the box and placed them in front of their respective ponies. Rarity gave a determined smile when her horn and mark began floating in front of her. "Let's do this," she growled.
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One "then" here would make more sense.
2217737 fixed.
One more thing: to mention Discord about what lies in the subconscious and memories of a human (one who likes terror movies) could have been a fatal mistake. If Discord is so cruel right now, just imagine if he could take lessons of the human concept of "chaos".
2217768 gonna have to give me a little more than that so I know where that is. I haven't memorized these chapters.
2217811 yeah. But when has TD exhibited the trait of 'grace and intelligence under pressure'? Roughly never if I recall correctly.
What if Discord found something else if he ventured into the human psyche? What if he found out about our own gods? What if said gods really existed and found that a foreign being is looking in on them? Wars between gods are often epic.
This getting really dark and cruel, poor Derpy
Please, tell me the ending is TD sacrificing himself!
Dammit...If TD dies....
All hell...
Will break loose.
So... Discord...
(pulls out a baseball bat)
...
...what "modifications"?
I've got a nasty feeling that Discord's gonna win
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheNon-Bronyverse
The TDVerse has a tvtropes page.
I've always pictured Rarity being some pony-like Rambo when she's pissed. I hope something really interesting happens.
2218700 Wow. I...I didn't know you and one other person hated TD that much.
2217750
I think there was an extra g somewhere in the scene where the CMC tell Rarity that they left Sweetie behind. I am not sure where, and I have to get back to watching Bleach.
2219681 I know and I'm thrilled about it!
2220114
Now all we need is a tvtropes page for The Secret Life of Rarity (as well as ones for the sequels, or a group page for all of them), and we're all set.
You know, today i was wandering when were you going to update this...
As for what Discord did... well, since he can posses minds, i don't doubt he can posses Sweetie Belle...
Now i'm wondering when are you going to update Broken Blossom...
2220194 man I would love that. TSLoR has a TVTropes Blurb on the Darkfics page so there's that.
2220337 I'm hoping to finish Breaking today and I'm part of the way through another Blossom chapter.
2220365
So, in the next chapter this will be wrapped up? Cool!
IDK why, but i read a lot of your stories in the most recent time. Please, keep up the good work
2219851 It's not hate, it would make the story unique.
Moar TDverse
A funny way to end this would be to have TD watch whatever Discord's doing to Sweetie, then discover that he doesn't really care as much as he expected, and totally abandon everypony in exchange for a teleport home.
2220365
Please stop making derpy cry. Please.
I'm FUCKING SERIOUS. DON'T EVER THINK ABOUT HURTING MY PONY.
Also, no SHIT, but I legitimately hate you. Take. Me. Seriously.
I'm also the tenth dislike on your story. I have only ever disliked 4 stories. Shape the FUCK UP.
2238152 Fear not, the next chapter has Derpy smiles and joy and relief.
Seriously though, there's no need for that hatred crap. It's a grimdark story, you knew what you were getting into.
2238159
Listen, read my nametag, and I will tell you that that video is what made me a brony. I take it pretty damn seriously. When I see grimdark, i expect lives ruined, but the symbolism of derpy can easily send me over the edge.
Just wanta let you know.
Edit: you now have +1 like for restoring my hope.
2238196 i totally get that an I am all for saving Derpy too. She's Derpy Hooves and nothing that any 'holier than thou' soccer moms and cowardly executives can do is going to take away our Derpy. Derpy all the way!
I only picked Derpy for that scene because she's an easy character to get emotionally invested in which in turn makes the horror both more horrifying and more real. I wouldn't dare kill her... ever.
2238215
Good choice.
Remember Derpy's threat to discord?
If you did hurt derpy, you would be discord, but in a less invincible and more easily mangled form.
2238279 Well you have to admit, it was kinda cool to see bad-ass Mama Bear Derpy in that chapter.
Just Like What Mole Said In Atlantis:The Lost Empire
"I'm So Excited!"
After Commenting This.TO THE LAST CHAPTER!
I'm buried in updates right now, sorry I'm so late.
I noticed a few errors:
I admit it. I almost teared up at some points in this chapter.
That's as close as I ever come to crying.
On the other hoof, Discord's joke about TD being out of his mind had me laughing way longer than was necessary.
One more chapter? I cringe to imagine what Discord has done.
Onward!
Oh. My. God.
This may be the only story since the ending of TSLOR that has had me in convulsions instead of me crying. BronyWriter, I once again commend you on your absolutely fantastic work. I can't wait for the ending.
2238279
god you must HATE the fic that has discord burtally murder derpy to discord the doctor it tore me up in side
speaking of which
YOU SIR just took a knife and stabbed me in the feels then you twisted the knife and pulled upwards
i hope your happy