The Breaking of a Non-Brony
FLASH.
BOOM!!
Inhale.
Exhale.
A yellow pegasus poked her snout out of its hiding spot in her mane and gingerly looked around at her friends. "Did it work?" she whispered. "Did we get our wings and cutie marks back?" Fluttershy looked forward and saw Princess Luna lying on the ground, the tip of her horn looking burnt. She was breathing heavily and it almost seemed to Fluttershy that she was unconscious. She gasped at the sight of the princess and ran over to her, her wings fluttering nervously. "Princess Luna, are you..."
Her wings fluttered.
Fluttershy gasped and looked to her back where two butter yellow wings fluttered right where they should have been. And her cutie mark? A trio of pink butterflies adorned her flank right where they had been since the day she got it. "It worked," she said breathlessly. A large smile spread across her face. "IT WORKED!!"
Fluttershy ran over to Princess Luna and threw her forelegs around the night princess' neck. "IT WORKED!" she cried.
One by one her friends made the same discovery and gave cries of excitement and relief as the marks and appendages that Discord had torn away from them had returned to them. Twilight shot a few sparks out of her horn to test its abilities and smiled. "It's all what it should be." Her grin widened. "Discord's going down."
The only one who hadn't said anything was Rarity. Her horn and mark had returned as well, but her face was an expressionless mask, something that confused her purple friend. "Rarity, are you okay?" she asked.
"Oh I'm fine," said Rarity simply. "I'm simply imaging what we're going to do to that bucking draconniquus when I get my hooves on him, that's all." She turned to Twilight with a wry smile. "I wouldn't read my mind for a while if I were you."
"Oh come on, Rarity, I'm sure that a lady like you wouldn't think stuff like that," said a familiar young voice behind them. All six turned and gasped when they saw Spike standing behind them, his recently returned mouth split in a wide smile.
Rarity's blank mask slipped off and she copied Spike's smile. "SPIKEY WIKEY!" she cried, running up to the baby dragon and wrapping him in a big hug. "You're okay!"
Spike basked in the feeling of his crush hugging him close for a moment before answering. "Well yeah," he said. "You can't keep a dragon down for long!"
Twilight gleefully walked up to Spike, a scroll in her magical glow. "Spike, take a letter. We have some Elements to get."
* * * *
Twilight and her friends ran towards the forest with new purpose and the Elements of Harmony securely around their necks. Celestia had already been on her way to Ponyville with them when she had received the letter so it wasn't more than a few minutes before she arrived. She had decided to stay with her Discorded subjects while the Elements found Discord himself and turned him to stone.
Rarity led the charge to the forest, a fire in her eyes that frankly terrified the other members of the Elements. However, they knew not to snap her out of it. Her sister was at stake and it wouldn't be wise to try to talk her out of her tranquil fury. On that note, though, none of them could blame her. A few of them even wanted Discord as dead as Rarity did.
The run to the clearing was not a long one and soon the six ponies were there, all looking around for any sight of TD or Sweetie Belle. Rarity's mood had dissolved from one of fury to fear and she was running around the clearing. "Sweetie Belle!" she cried. "Sweetie Belle where are you?!"
Applejack looked over at her friend and leaned in close to Twilight. "Are we sure she's here?" she asked. "How do we know that Discord didn't... you know."
Twilight shook her head. "No, Discord isn't the type to kill anybody. It's not his style. If a pony is dead then they can't experience his chaos."
Applejack sighed and nodded. She opened her mouth to respond but her words died in her mouth when she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. She wheeled around and saw one of the bushes moving. "There, there's something in the bushes there!" she said.
Immediately Twilight ran over to the bush and pulled a few branches aside to see what was inside. The sight of the occupant of the bush made her gasp. The black, insectoid body, the holes in the form, the green fangs, all of it left no doubt of what kind of creature that was. "It's a changeling!" she cried.
The changeling squealed in fear and zoomed out of the bush. Twilight fired a beam of magic at it that froze its legs to the ground, trapping it. The changeling continued to cry out in fear, desperately trying to get its legs free from Twilight's spell. The six ponies surrounded it with Twilight standing in front of it. "Can you hear me?" she said coldly. The changeling looked up at her, shivering like it was wintertime but it slowly nodded. "Good. Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to shift into a form that can talk and I want you to answer any question that I have, is that clear?"
The changeling whimpered and shakily turned its head away from Twilight. Its frightened eyes scanned the other ponies around it until they landed on Rarity who was looking at it uneasily. When the changeling saw her, it squealed again but this time it wasn't fear, it was almost like happiness and relief. Immediately it tried to free itself and get over to her.
Rarity frowned at it. "Twilight, darling? Why is--" Rarity's words were cut off as a thought crossed her mind. She gasped and began gingerly walking up to the changeling. "S-Sweetie Belle?"
The changeling vigorously nodded and continued trying to get to Rarity. The unicorn's jaw dropped and she began blinking quickly. "Oh my," she whispered. "I..." The unicorn suddenly let out a piercing wail and rushed over to the changeling and wrapped it in her forelegs. "Oh Sweetie Belle, I'm so sorry! I should have been here to protect you!"
Twilight had to take a moment to register what she was seeing in front of her. That thing was Sweetie Belle? Discord had done...
Instantly the spell faded and the changeling Sweetie Belle wrapped her forelegs around Rarity's waist. Rarity began sobbing and stroking Sweetie Belle's head. "Sweetie Belle, you're a c-changeling so can you change back to how you used to look? Hmm? Can you do that for big sister; can you change back?"
Sweetie Belle whimpered and shook her head. Rarity let out another howl of sorrow and Sweetie Belle buried her head in her big sister's chest. Twilight walked up to the sobbing unicorn and gently put her hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "We'll fix her," she said. "I promise you that we'll fix her once we turn Discord into stone again."
"No," Rarity growled menacingly. "Once we DESTROY Discord!" She turned her head to face Twilight, now angry tears streaming down her face. "Once we turn him to stone I'll personally take a sledge hammer to his statue and reduce him to a pile of rubble for what he's done to Sweetie Belle; what he's done to all of us!"
Twilight uneasily took a half step backwards. "Rarity, I know you're upset, we all are, but right now we need to focus on finding TD and Discord so we can fix this. We need your help."
Rarity's expression softened and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. "You are of course correct, Twilight," she whispered. She turned her head back to her changeling sister and nuzzled her head softly. "Big sister is going to take you to your friends now, okay? They're going to look after you while my friends and I fix you."
Sweetie Belle whimpered and nuzzled her sister's chest. Rarity wiped more tears from her eyes and gently levitated her sister onto her back.
* * * *
TD leaned against a wall in his mind, not even bothering to look at the window that would have allowed him to see what Discord saw while he possessed him. Truly there was nothing else he wanted to see anymore. After seeing what discord had done to Sweetie Belle...
He sighed as that image replayed once again. Sweetie Belle had let out a loud wail that sounded more like a hiss when she had seen what Discord had done to her. Her first instinct was to try to scrape off the outer shell she had been given in the vain hope that it was merely encasing the real her underneath and she would be fixed. Once she had gotten to the point where such an action caused her physical pain, she had scrunched up her eyes in an attempt to return to her normal looks that way.
And Discord just stood and laughed the entire time. He was almost on the floor he was laughing so hard. When Sweetie Belle had tried to shift to a pony again, Discord gleefully told her that he had only given her the appearance of a changeling and not the actual powers. 'What's the point of turning you into one of the most hated creatures on the planet if you can just change right back?' he had said.
TD half closed his eyes before remembering that doing that caused the image of changeling Sweetie Belle to flash in his mind in a more pronounced manner so he opened them once more. He quickly wished he had kept them closed when he saw his tormentor standing before him. However, it seemed that Discord was not here to make fun of him as the god of chaos looked slightly... contemplative.
TD took a deep breath. "Buzz off; I have nothing to say to you."
Discord snorted and materialized a chair. "Maybe not, TD, but I have a great deal to say to you and I think you may want to hear it. It involves our future together."
"You make us sound like a couple," TD snarked.
"We may be more than that if things get more out of hand than they already have," said Discord. "By now I assume you have guessed that the diversion that those foals created was successful and Twilight and her pony friends likely have the elements in their possession meaning a confrontation between us would lead to me being turned to stone once more." Discord leaned in close to TD. "And you with me."
TD's eyes flickered up so they met with Discord's once more. "So what do you want me to do about it?"
Discord leaned back in his chair. "There's nothing you or I can do about it in the long run. I could go into hiding until the Elements die, but in doing so I would need to refrain from causing mass chaos lest they find me and turn me to stone anyway. I do not wish for it to play out that way. Besides, I don't like the idea of running."
"So you're going to take your medicine, is that it?"
"I've escaped from my stony prison twice in the past two years. I can do it again," said Discord confidently. "But in the event that I can't I'm curious to get your thoughts on what your future is like. In the event that I am turned to stone, you would be turned with me."
"I know," said TD blankly. "But it just harkens back to my question of what I can do about it. What do you want me to say; that I don't want that to happen to me? You already know that I don't but I'm not powerful enough to stop you from doing whatever you want to me. It's not going to be so easy for me to break out of my mind and even when I did, you just took it right back and didn't really leave my mind anyway." TD looked back up at Discord. "The only one who can get me free from your influence is you."
Discord shrugged. "Probably, yes," he admitted. "It is unlikely that the Elements can physically tear us apart and even if they do, they're meant to subdue gods. What do you think they'd do to your mind?"
"Rip it to shreds," said TD. "It'd probably have the same results as a lobotomy." TD leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "Kind of ironic that such a pure creation could do that to me."
"Power is power," said Discord. "If it's powerful enough to turn a being like me to stone then it has enough to tear your mind apart. How could it not?
"But let's say that when I'm imprisoned once more that it doesn't separate us. Well then you're stuck in here, never aging and never decaying, with me until such time that I am freed and let you go. It's a good opportunity for me to get an ally, don't you think?"
TD snapped his head down and glared at Discord. "I'd never ally myself with you. Why the heck would I do that?"
"Because I would be your only source of interaction," said Discord idly. "It wouldn't take a lot of effort to at least rationalize tolerating me while we're trapped in stone for however long." Discord gave TD a wry smirk. "Imagine what I could do to you in just a year’s time even."
TD remained silent but turned away from Discord and faced the wall behind him. Discord snorted and stood back up. "You think this a defiant act?" he said. "It isn't nearly as defiant as your initial ones. Oh yes, there was such fire, such passion, such hatred for me behind those actions. You really wanted to see me suffer for what I did.
"But it seems that after seeing what I did to the Elements, to Celestia, to those Ponyville simpletons, to that ridiculous child, you simply don't care anymore. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that you're faced with a possibly endless oblivion once the Elements arrive. I may not be able to cause widespread chaos like I wish to right now, but I can at least set up for next time and cause chaos with you." Discord snorted and turned away from TD. "And the Elements I suppose. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when it hits them that they've essentially killed you as far as they're concerned. Who knows? It may hit them hard enough that I'll get out in a few months at worst."
Discord smiled as he looked towards the window. "And we're about to find out."
With that, he was gone.
TD continued staring at the wall for a few more seconds. This really was it, wasn't it? He was essentially about to die if not physically then mentally. TD sighed and slowly got to his feet. No reason he couldn't face it like a man.
He turned around and walked up to the window. Sure enough the Elements were there, saying something to Discord. Huh, Rarity looked beyond livid right now. It was probably because she had found Sweetie Belle. TD supposed that he couldn't blame her for that. He would have been pretty mad too and he supposed that on some level he was but...
There was nothing left. No emotions anymore. His own mental death was about to occur one way or the other, and he couldn't bring himself to care at all. The Elements and Discord were talking to each other, probably some stereotypical good guy/bad guy schlock. It'd be soon now. They looked determined but at the same time there was an unmistakable hint of sadness and pain in their demeanors.
The Elements were firing up now. They were...they were glowing and shooting out... uh, their beams of... No...no this couldn't actually be happening!
TD took a frightened step back away from the window. This was it, it wasn't a dream, it was reality. Despite himself he really wanted to... scream. Tears of fear were already welling up in the corners of his eyes as he continue to back up as if the only thing that gave him hope was the notion that getting as far away from the inevitable blast would somehow free him if he...
The bright rainbow blast shot out of the individual Elements and just as they did, TD found himself in control of his body once again. He knew the Elements could see that. Discord's confidence and wild eyes would be replaced by his fear and normal ones.
TD whimpered in fear, almost as if he was a child getting a shot from the doctor, as the stone encasing traveled up his legs. He...he thought he could handle this, that if he removed himself from... his chest was stone now... from emotions that this wouldn't be so terrible. Discord was still in his mind, he felt that, but... He thought this would be easy! He thought... he thought...
TD's last action in Equestria was to let out a piercing cry of fear that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth.
Then he was gone.
* * * *
Slowly the Elements of Harmony trudged back into the town square where the townsfolk were cheering and celebrating. Everypony who had been under Discord's influence in any way had been freed and they were happiest of all. Derpy had her forelegs around her daughter and both of them were spouting tears of unadulterated joy. Life was happy for them again now that Dinky was safe in the arms of her mother.
Lyra had her horn, colors, and cutie mark again. She too was wrapped in the forelegs of one who loved her, in this instance her best friend Bon Bon.
Even Sweetie Belle was returned to normal when Discord was trapped again and she was now jumping happily in the air with her fellow crusaders.
Ponies were lining up to thank Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for freeing them from the vines that Discord had trapped them with. They all seemed to be okay and the Princesses were glad for their thanks.
Princess Celestia had just finished pulling her foreleg out of the grip of The Mayor when she saw the Elements walking towards her. Her smile of joy widened when she saw her star student, but quickly fell. There was no joy in her movement, of the movement of any of them for that matter. Surely they had...
Frowning, Princess Celestia spread her wings and flew over to meet the Elements. She landed in front of them and accepted their half-hearted bow. "Is it done?" she asked quietly. "Is Discord back in his stone prison?"
Twilight nodded slightly and sat on her haunches. "Yeah, he's back." She took a deep breath to hold back her tears. "And TD's in there with him."
Princess Celestia gasped softly as Fluttershy whimpered and buried her face in Applejack's shoulders. "The Elements didn't separate them?" she whispered.
Twilight shook her head. "I...I..." Tears began pouring freely from Twilight's face. "I THOUGHT IT WOULD WORK!" she cried. "They're the Elements of Harmony, can't they do anything?! Isn't it in their power to do things like that?!"
Twilight continued to sob as Celestia wrapped her forelegs and wings around her distraught student; unsure of what to say, unsure of what to do. She sighed as she recalled Discord's words to her that day in the throne room. Would it have been better to kill him by trying to send him back than to keep him here and force this pain and suffering on not only him, but all of her subjects in Ponyville as well?
She took a deep breath.
No, she decided, no that wouldn't have been best. Even if he was trapped in stone he was alive and that was enough for right now.
Celestia leaned her head down next to her sobbing student. "Twilight, I promise you that I will find a way to free him. I will not let him be trapped in stone forever. I will find a way to make sure that he can get out and live a long life that is as happy and content as he can. This isn't the end for him. We will not fail him."
Yes, they wouldn't fail him... again.
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
1,052 users online
1,996,930 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Seems like TD has gotten the short end of the stick in two out of the three side stories.
2238490 Yeah, but how many tragedies have you seen and happily? I promise that the canon story is happier for him for the most part.
Goodby TD, and flights of pegasus sing the to thy rest
I think at this point TD is in dire need of a hug. And soup. Everyone loves soup.
he'll be freed in keep calm and flutter on.
Celestia, you FAR overestimate the fortitude of the human mind... and that is if TD hasn't ceased to exist completely as the story implies.
A heart-rending epilogue where they try to free TD only to find an irreparably insane mess, or nothing at all, would fit really well right now.
Is there going to be a sequel on this one? I hope so. (I sound like one pf those people who write "I DEMAND A SEQUEL!", don't I?)
That Was Seriously A Pretty Good Ending,TD Surely Knew It Was The Inevitable And Accepted His Fate With Discord,But The Pain Of Slowly(?) Turning Into Stone Was Too Much For Him So He Shouted A Painful Shout.
I Admire How You Make Different Side/Alternate Stories Of A Story You Made.
Keep Up The Good Work :D
2239461 Nah,Their Questions Were A Biiiiiiit More Aggressive Than Your Question
2238858
I really hope this happens now
2238858 Well that's kind of heavily implied.
On Canterlot Defence I made it to wave 30 and died to Chrysalis(and dropped her to 5% HP)
2240140 Who did you use? I've only won with Rainbow Dash and Rarity (because their attacks can go through their targets) and maybe Fluttershy once.
2240282
I used Rainbow Dash. I fully upgraded everything too >.<
2241984 Fixed. Thanks. I'm curious, what parts made you almost cry?
2239461 ill do that for u.
I DEMAND A SEQUEL!!!!!
2243228 Thanks you!
Feels.
To be generic.... SEQUEL! SEQUEL! SEQUEL!
I really love this alternate ending story. Please consider sequel.
2242334 The part with Dinky and Derpy was heartwrenching, but what really got me was when Rarity realized that Sweetie wasn't with the others.
I would have commented on this last chapter yesterday, but your author's note distracted me, and I spent around four hours playing various pony related flash games.
My handy notepad informs me that I collected a few errors last night:
I find it interesting that all but one of these errors is a single dropped letter. It's pleasingly consistent of you.
I agree with a lot of people here that it doesn't feel quite complete. I don't think there is really enough for a sequel, and I see that you have already said you aren't planning to do one, but a short epilogue seems fitting. What that would contain, if one is made, is up to you.
And I sure hope Ponyville has a therapist. And that the therapist doesn't need therapy too.
Goddammit, you went and made me want to cry when TD died.
He didn't deserve that kind of shit...
2246680 Fixed. Thanks. Those missing letter ones aren't really picked up by Word are they?
2247075 You. You are welcome.
And no. No they aren't.
I'm sorry, but the TD is screwed train has to stop. You could make a sequel where he comes back with a vengeance and more power. All I can say is screw Celestia's moronic decisions.
2248287 Don't worry, the canon sequel has a lot less of this and never goes anywhere near to this dark. Seriously, though, this is labeled as 'tragedy' and 'dark' you knew what you were getting into. Still, it's the last dark piece I'm doing with him. Sure bad stuff happens to him in the canon sequel, but it's played for laughs and nowhere near this dark.
2248305 Yeah, I know but the fact that he's essentially dead and they just shrug it off like everything is all fine just ticks me off. I seriously just want....ah never mind I'm getting too worked up over this.
2248349 They're not shrugging it off, they want to find a way to get him out but, well, he is dead and they are upset by that.
2238291
Next time, give her a muffin-based minigun.
2248423 http://www.deviantart.com/art/Mysterious-Muffin-Mercenary-Mare-317953866
MOAR TD!!!!!!!!
2253486 Chapter 7 of Wanderings is to my pre-reader.
This made me want to Make AC Fred Murder discord With a Spoon
AND IT WILL BE BLOODY VERY BLOODY TOO MUCH BLOOD
AND DICORD WILL DIE IN OBLIVION FOR WHAT HE DID TO SWEETIE BELL AND TD HE WILL BURN AND BE GUTTED BY THE VERY ESSCENSE OF HIS MIND MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Discord Managed To Get on My Evil side Yep He Will die on air
And This Should Get A Sequel Where TD kills Discord.....
Just got around reading this, End of Ponies takes up a lot of time ya know, and I gotta say, really like the 'And I must scream' ending better, lots of people ruin it by making the true ending a happy one. Not that I'm complaining, cuz bad endings usually make a person feel like shit.
Making a round through my older faves, I feel I must say this.
I love this ending far more ,than the fake one. I hope it continues ,I'd love to see an insane TD. Hope you do more dark ones ,this was delightful.
Her first instinct was to try to scrape of the outer shell she had been given in the vain hope that it was merely encasing the real her underneath and she would be fixed.
To scrape off*
5634035 Nah, I'm not bad, but I want that too.