Tales From the Trash Bin 22. Flurry Heart's Treasure.

Another Dead Fic that I'm putting up for adoption based off of a deleted scene from SMoTE. PM me if you want it. Otherwise, have a good day!

The Mad Queen.

---

All was peaceful in the Crystal Empire.

The barrier above the Amore Palace swelled with love and faith, encompassing the Empire like a blanket as it protected everypony inside from the harsh winter storm that bombarded their shield.

The dome above them, which held an illusion of a clear summer day to obscure the cruel weather outside, flickered as a dark shadow suddenly smashed against the wall of magic. The living darkness pulled back like a wave, preparing for another attack against the shield.

Still, the peace inside the Empire remained unchanging with only a few silent screams escaping inside.

There was a calm stillness that came from the frozen eyes that stared up at the artificial sky, a moment captured in time that would soon be disturbed when the barrier would inevitably fall. The methodical sound of blood dripping like a leaky fountain was a graceful melody that played through the streets.

The morbid song of death was only interrupted by the thunderous clash of shadows hitting the shield.

An assault from the outside that desperately chased after the slaughter within. The barrier remained firm, unwilling, or perhaps unable, to fall as the last of the crystal ponies inside drew their last breaths.

Only two remained inside the trapped Empire as the darkness fought to break in.

Shining Armor, a young and flawed copy of a unicorn that had once lived, stood against the cloaked alicorn that trotted through the bloodshed. A magical shield covered himself and the limp body of his wife, protecting him for only a moment before a tendril of magic shot through his paper-thin defenses, piercing him in the heart as the mare drew closer.

She trotted in measured steps, taking her time to pass the familiar stranger as his last breaths slipped from his body.

Beyond their still bodies stood the Crystal Heart, a divine jewel that fed off of her own power to keep the shield raised. Plucking the artifact off of its pedestal caused the barrier to fall, allowing the darkness to sweep through the streets as it raced inside.

The tidal wave of shadows swarmed around the Amore Palace, giving the mare a wide berth as she lazily looked at the dark twister that surrounded the plaza.

A dark stallion with a crimson soaked horn emerged from the shadows, glaring at the hooded figure as she held the Crystal Heart aloft in her magic. She had known the stallion well enough as King Sombra, albeit a bit larger than the other familiar false kings she had met before.

Removing her hood revealed a crown holding a pink star, and a red lightning bolt gem decorating her necklace. Splatters of blood were scattered on the three other necklaces that were wrapped around her legs, a pink butterfly was missing from her morbid collection.

“King Sombra,” the mare greeted.

“You know of me. Then I see my reputation proceeds me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I kill monsters like you all the time. The only reason I even know your name is because you all have the same one.”

“Monster? You slaughter my property, desecrate my homeland, and spread senseless death, and I’m the monster? I know that demons cannot look in mirrors, but I thought a creature like you could understand your hypocrisy. I—”

Any more words were silenced with a single step towards him, causing Sombra to shy away and briefly retreat into the mass of shadows around them. The light coated mare couldn’t suppress a smile as the former king growled at her.

“Filthy wench. You will pay for what you’ve done!” He promised, sending a volley of magical attacks at the mare.

Each enchanted spell and hex bounced off of her shield, or completely missed their mark as they suddenly veered off course.

Another step drew her closer to the desperate king.

“All I’ve done is protect my home,” the mare argued with a bored voice, launching her own attack with a bright flare that burned the dark vortex.

A shrill cry sprang from the inferno as Sombra leapt out of his twisted shadows. Without warning, a tendril of light wrapped around his throat and brought him closer to the young alicorn.

“I’d do anything to protect the Crystal Empire.”

“y-you killed them all,” Sombra weakly wheezed as he tied to teleport away from her grasp.

He was only given a second of reprieve to catch his breath before another spell bound his legs to the ground below him. In a flash of light, the gnarled horn atop his head shattered, eliciting another cry from the king as the bone of his horn fell around him.

“I’m doing you all a favor. After all, at least your elements are still intact. Besides, there are worse fates than death,” the mare stated, earning a tear-filled glare from Sombra.

“You… You’re insane!” He yelled. “Y-you killed them all, you monster! What is there left!? The elements, the sisters, you killed everypony! How does this protect anypony?!”

“It protects my ponies,” she argued in turn. “You’ve always thought too small, Sombra. In this world and every other world I’ve met you in, and I’ve already tried to explain this to them. They all died without understanding, and frankly, I don’t care if you do either. Take solace in knowing your world will protect mine.”

“You… Discord will—”

“Stay away. Nearly every Discord always does,” she stated before killing one of last Equestrians on Terra.

---

In another world, in another time in a familiar Empire, Princess Flurry Heart stepped through an oval portal to connect two similar worlds.

The peaceful stillness of death in that world was quickly forgotten as the portal closed, allowing Flurry Heart to admire her collection of stolen artifacts as she used a small spell to clean her body.

The tallest tower of the Crystal Empire had once held only one Crystal Heart during King Sombra’s reign, hiding it from everypony to ensure his position as king. The Crystal Heart was eventually liberated from its prison and returned to the streets below, but other hearts and artifacts remained locked away.

The once empty tower held a large collection of glass cases, each displaying a set of familiar necklaces, crowns, amulets, and assorted magical relics with only slight differences between them. The jewelry pieces and recently acquired heart soon joined the others in her collection, becoming one of many relics from dead worlds.

She admired her collection closely, touching the glass panes that separated them. Bright cracks raced up the length of her foreleg, spilling light onto the floor as if it were blood. Flurry Heart either didn’t notice her own disfigurement, too enraptured with her own morbid display, or didn’t care.

Her foreleg was still marred in colorful cracks as she stepped away, each one slowly crawling up her front limb to wrap around her tuft and barrel.

Her eyes never left her menagerie of stolen trinkets, even as a flash of light erupted behind her to summon this world’s most powerful ponies. A collective gasp rung in the air before a deafening silence fell over the intruders.

Flurry turned to look at the creatures who had encroached on her home. The first thing that drew her attention were the two yellow coated pegasi and the pair of Discords. The other worlders were noticeably younger than their counterparts on Flurry’s world.

The rest of them weren’t a surprise for her. Princess Twilight, the Element Bearers, the Royal Sisters, and her mother, Princess Cadence, stood stock still as their eyes traveled across her collection.

“What… No, no, this can’t be real,” Cadence quietly pleaded before allowing her gaze to rest on her daughter.

“I guess the other Discord and Fluttershy already told you what happened, didn’t they?” Flurry mused, returning her eyes to her many trophies and tools. “I guess I was wrong when I said he’d stay away. I really thought you were smarter than that, Discord.”

…
She exclaimed as she gestured wildly to the many different Crystal Hearts around them.

“There are monsters out there that can survive the Elements of Harmony, the two princesses, the god of chaos, andthe power of the Crystal Empire all at once. I’ve seen them with my own eyes!

“A golden-haired demon that can slaughter entire countries in a year, an armored warrior who could crush nations with his thumb, an eldritch god that is the embodiment of death that lurks in the shadows, a demon golem made of bubblegum that eats ponies! They’re real, and they’re out there! If we don’t prepare for them, then we’re just asking to be slaughtered!” Flurry argued.

Cadence couldn’t help but recoil as her daughter’s words struck her ears. She watched as the young alicorn looked at her display cases, turning her back to her mother as she trotted closer to the wall to admire her hoof work.

“I did this. I’ve made sure that Equestria was safe.”

The cracks seemed to only grow as her magic began to resonate with the hearts.

“Flurry, you’re hurting yourself! Get away from it!” Cadence cried out, summoning her magic to pry her daughter away from the display. Before her spell could connect to her daughter, she felt it suddenly swerve to the right of the display case as one of them opened, revealing a golden Bewitching Bell that was stealing her magic.

“I’m not hurt, mom. They’re healing me. They know that I’m trying to help.”

One of her eyes had completely dissolved into a ball of light, shining as brightly as Flurry’s other open wounds as light bled from her one remaining eye.

“Flurry, please, we can talk about this. You, you need help.”

“I don’t, mom. I’m fine, I’ll be fine,” Flurry reassured her as she placed a wing around her mother’s back.

Cadence felt revolted by the touch of her own daughter, something that she could never even dream of in her worst nightmares. She hated herself for shying away at her daughter’s embrace, but a more primal part of her brain was screaming at her to run.

Either ignorant or unconcerned about how her mother felt, Flurry Heart guided Cadence closer to the display as she went on. “They’ve healed me, because they understand me. I saved them from the other Empires, and they healed me whenever I was hurt.”

“Hurt doing what?” Cadence asked in a hushed voice. Her daughter’s blinding gaze caused Cadence to flinch as she looked into her mother’s eyes.

“Not all of the worlds I went to were already dead. But most of them were already dying, so I saved the elements and other artifacts. None of them could ever understand. Their worlds were already destined to die, I was just going to ensure mine didn’t.”

“Flurry, did…. No, no you couldn’t have. Please, please you can’t.”

She couldn’t have. Flurry Heart was sweet. Sure, she made mistakes, but what filly didn’t, she was just dealing with her grief in an unhealthy way. She knew better. She was better. She—

“I killed ponies, mom,” she bluntly stated.

…
“You’re saying that what I’m doing is wrong, but you’re not giving me an alternative! What do we do when one of them comes to our doorstep, offer them the gift of friendship?! Look at those Elements!” She commanded as she pointed at a side collection of necklaces and tiaras that looked like replicas of the Elements of Harmony. “Those used to be worn by naive ponies who thought friendship would fix everything, but it clearly didn’t since they’re DEAD!

“Fuck those worlds, most of them were dead or dying. We don’t need to care about them because they’re not us! They don’t live on our Terra, they don’t fight the monsters that come to our door, we do! Look”

Summoning her magic, Flurry plucked a folic object made of crystals out of the case. It was love that was twisted into a perversion of lust, a stain that became more prominent against the backdrop of the holier relics surrounding it.

Cadence peddled away from the crystal as Flurry Heart drew it closer to her face.

“Look at this, do you know what this is?! It’s a Crystal COCK! One reality was overrun by Caribou who overwhelmed the Empire’s defenses and did this to the Heart. With it, they controlled every single stallion on the planet, and forced them to enslave the mares.

“They died because they only had one Heart. But if ours gets taken and reshaped into a dick, then who cares?! We’ve got dozens more!” She joyfully exclaimed as her wings shot into the air. “Discord or something else corrupts the Elements? Fine, we’ve got more to spare. There’s something that can survive the Elements of Harmony? Well, strap these on our soldiers and fire them all at once!

“Most of the worlds I went to were either dead, or they were going to die eventually. Why? Because they didn’t prepare! They weren’t ready for somepony like me, somepony who could shrug off any Element Blast or Friendship Cannon. How long until we ended up like them, mom? Can you tell me that you know somepony or something out there won’t suddenly appear? ‘All the villains are defeated’. That’s a load of crap, and everypony knows it.

“There’s always a bigger threat, always something that scares the monsters, something that just wants us to suffer.

…
“The Empire fell into my hooves when you abandoned it!” Flurry Heart spat. “You left me! You betrayed every one of my subjects!”

…
“Flurry… What are you talking about?”

“… Right… Right, right, right,” she eerily chuckled. “I forgot… I forgot you’re not her. You kind of look like her, and you definitely sound like her. But you’re not her. None of you are.

“Tell me something. Do you really think that you’re the only Discord who had this plan? Follow me back home, try to get the elements, and attack me?” She asked, earning a few more horrified stares as the implications made themselves known.

Cadence, now looking at her alleged daughter in a new light, could only ask

….
“… Where’s Flurry Heart?”

“You’ll see her soon,” the imposter promised.

In a week, Flurry Heart had found another world to call her home, promising to protect it better than she had with her last several worlds as she slipped into the comfortable role of a princess.

---

Good and evil, right and wrong, heads or tails. While many people believe in grays and in-betweens, one criminal only sees the world in black and white. Torn from Gotham and sharing a body with someone pretending to be Harvey, Two-Face forges forward to see what the techno-colored world of Equestria has to offer. Tales From the Trash Bin 3. (Two-Face)

The Dazzlings daring plan to conquer the continent with a concert of chaos isn’t stopped by a band of heroes, but by a corrupt conductor. Can the Dazzlings out preform the sinning singer, or will they join his concerto of crime? Tales From the Trash Bin 5. (Music Meister)

After finally graduating from high school, a twenty year old man is reborn as a high school student in a cartoon. What’s worse, is that he’s become debatably the worst character in it. No, not the villain, not even some random background character. He’s Flash Waifu-Stealing Sentry, and he really hates… Everything at the moment. Watch as Flash Sentry is forced to relieve the nightmare that is high-school while attempting to use what little knowledge of the show he has to his advantage. Tales From the Trash Bin 6. (Flash Sentry)

When you’ve been abandoned by everyone you love, is it wrong to lie to someone so that you can find some small sense of compassion? Sunset Shimmer’s life had taken a turn for the worse. Abandoned by her friends, she finds comfort in a misunderstanding and becomes friends with a group of rather strange humans. Tales From the Trash Bin 7. (My Street)

An Iron Golem’s one job in life is to fight evil and protect their village. Only death can stop these titans from pursuing their objective. Nothing, not even being teleported to a village full of only colorful horses in another dimension, will stop these sentinels from protecting everyone from the forces of evil. Tales From the Trash Bin 8. (Iron Golem)

The tragic end of Anon-A-Miss leads to the ominous beginning of a new threat, Onymous. Will the students of Canterlot High find the perpetrator, or will Sunset be trapped in their claws? Tales From the Trash Bin 9. (Anon-A-Miss)

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life decides to screw you over time and time again, add a splash of vodka to your lemonade to feel better. And when life decides it’s not content letting you wallow in self pity, go to a bar and meet a strangely sympathetic centaur. Tirek may not give you a shoulder to cry on, but he will give you something to wash your woes away. If you're lucky, or if you’re considerably unlucky, then he might even offer a piece of advice as well. Just don't expect it to be free of charge. Tales From the Trash Bin 10. (Tirek)

There’s a mysterious pony with an equally strange life. The mare of mystery, the walking questionable copyright infringement, the hero of all Equestria Mare Do-Well Mystery Mare (For copyright reasons) debuts with a worrying case of amnesia on her mind and a heart thirsting for justice! Tales From the Trash Bin 11. (Mare Do-Well)

Zephyr Breeze liked to consider himself as a normal person. However, after getting amnesia, Zephyr learns about his disturbing hidden shrine to his next-door neighbor and begins to question what kind of sick creep he was. Tales From the Trash Bin 12. (Zephyr Breeze)

Good and evil are not always black and white, despite what one “evil” simian has to say about it. After being defeated once again by a trio of trifling heroes, Mojo-Jojo attempts to return to his evil mountain lair and sulk. However, by some twisted sense of fate, the depressed villain is flung into another world where he crashes into a grey town full of downtrodden ponies. With renewed vigor, Mojo-Jojo plots to conquer the alien planet and return to his own world with an army standing at his side! Will the evil simian be recognized for the evil mastermind he is, or will his villainous plots reveal something else to him? Tales From the Trash Bin 13. (Mojo-Jojo)

A certain villain tries to replace Princess Celestia with a robot. Luna can’t tell which of the two is her sister. Tales From the Trash Bin 15. (Sir Ratagin)

Local Human is trapped in Equestria, and is annoyed that the only close cure to her boredom is reading books. After lamenting to Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony she knows, Rainbow Dash invites her to do something “really cool”. She would have said no if she knew it was cloud watching. Tales From the Trash Bin 14. (Erebus)

Human arrives in Equestria as Berry Punch. Unoriginal hijinks ensue. Tales From the Trash Bin 16. (Berry Punch)

A man arrives in Equestria as Thor, the God of Thunder… Except everyone aside from him can lift the hammer because he’s unworthy. Tales From the Trash Bin 17. (Thor)

A second person story following Kite Man’s adventures with a little communist pony that really likes kites. Tales From the Trash Bin 18. (Kite-Man)

Flim and Flam have Starswirl's Time Tiller, and end up meeting a few bad creatures throughout history. What could possibly go wrong for the villainous siblings? Tales From the Trash Bin 19. (Flim and Flam)

Duke Nukem, the Man, the Myth, the washed out has been has rediscover his life purpose. Kicking ass, chewing bubblegum, and stealing references while decking a few alien fucks. This is Duke Nuk-M, For Mature. Tales From the Trash Bin 20. (Duke Nukem)

(Displaced Stories)
Tales From the Trash Bin. (Dani Phantom. Pt. 1)
Tales From the Trash Bin. (Dani Phantom. Pt. 2)
Tales From the Trash Bin. (Scott Howl)
The First Tales From the trash Bin. (Pearl)
Tales From the Trash Bin 22. (Combo-Man)