//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Tears // Story: The Melody of Love // by Sapphire Rose 12 //------------------------------// "Is this a cart?" Rarity asked. "Yes!" Pinkie Pie replied. "We used to use it to get around!" "We can use it to see if Discord has Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash continued. "But we need to hurry!" "A real adventure!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheered in agreement. "Come on, get in," Rainbow Dash beckoned. The triplets and Rarity hopped into the cart and Pinkie Pie followed them. Rainbow Dash began to push the cart and it began to gain speed. "It's going downhill, so soon it will be able to go on its own," Rainbow Dash said. As soon as the cart was barreling down the hill, Rainbow Dash used her wings to hurl herself into the cart. It launched out of the aura and everypony screamed. It landed safely continuing. "Is everypony okay?!?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Everypony moaned, but Pinkie Pie knew they were fine. "We only need to reach the end of the Everfree Forest," Rainbow Dash said. "He said if he failed to get back home, we could meet up in the Everfree Forest." "Then, what are we waiting for?!" Apple Bloom said. Discord was teleported, but he didn't reach his house. "Uh-oh," Discord said. He snapped his claw again, but his magic seemed to fail. "What is going on?!" "I altered your course," a familiar voice said. "And disabled your magic, so you didn't get any smart ideas." Fluttershy gasped and clung to Discord. "Who is that?!?!" Discord narrowed his eyes. "That," he said. "Is my brother. Misfortune." "It's been awhile," Misfortune said smugly. "So, is this the pony that you love so dearly?" "And I love him, too," Fluttershy said, defensively. "Ah, I see," Misfortune said annoyed. "How unexpected. Oh, well." Misfortune snapped his claw and glowing yellow eyes appeared behind him. Discord gasped. Misfortune had used his chaos powers to get Timberwolves under his control. Fluttershy looked at Discord, fear running through her heart. "Discord?" "Run!!" Discord exclaimed. Discord took Fluttershy's hoof and they began to sprint away from the timberwolves. Misfortune yelled something at them and the timberwolves began to race after them. They were quickly catching up. "They're too fast!!" Fluttershy cried. "Then, I'll fight them!" Discord said with a newfound determination. "You'll what?!" Fluttershy exclaimed. Discord turned to find that Misfortune had disappeared, but the timberwolves surrounded them menacingly. They growled deeply. Discord tried to get them back. "Come on, back! Back!" Fluttershy got an idea and threw a stone in one of the Timberwolves mouth. It swallowed it and began to choke on it. It burst and sticks flew everywhere. All, but a few timberwolves ran away. A few timberwolves were still brave enough to try to fight. Discord and Fluttershy worked together to throw stones into the other Timberwolves mouths. All of them burst, except one. One timberwolf was smart enough to not swallow the stone. "Uh oh," Fluttershy said. "Oh, for chaos's sake!" Discord shouted. The timberwolf growled and got closer and closer to them. Fluttershy screamed as the timberwolf got closer and closer to her. She could feel its hot breath on her face and cringed in disgust at how horrid it smelled. It's over for me, Fluttershy thought. The cart continued to race downhill. "Are we almost there?" Scootaloo asked. "I think so," Rainbow Dash replied. "Just a few more miles and we should be there!" "Uh, Dash? I have good news and bad news," Pinkie Pie said. "What is it, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked. "The good news is that we're entering Everfree Forest!" "And the bad...?" "There's a bunch of timberwolves ahead of us," Pinkie Pie said. "What?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "It looks like they just reassembled themselves!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. One of the timberwolves scratched at one of the wheels on the cart. They all looked at it in alarm as the other timberwolves continued to scratch the cart. It slowly started to break. Pinkie Pie stood up and knocked back one of the timberwolves and sent it tumbling away into the bushes. The other timberwolves were angered by this and growled at her. Rainbow Dash knocked another one of the timberwolves backwards and it was out of sight. Scootaloo tried to do the same, but she wasn't strong enough for it. It snapped at her hoof and she yelped pulling it away just in time. Rainbow Dash knocked it away for her. "Last one!" Rarity cried, keeping the triplets safe. Just before Pinkie Pie knocked it back, one of the wheels fell in on itself. "Hang on!!" Rainbow Dash shrieked. "We're going to spin out! Just hang on tight!!" The cart began to swerve, spinning in multiple circles. Everypony in the cart screamed and yelled until it finally skidded to a stop. "Is everypony okay?!" Rainbow Dash asked, frantically. She saw everypony else's shaken nods. "Looks like we'll have to continue on hoof," Pinkie Pie said, dismayed. Discord threw himself in front of Fluttershy in an attempt to protect her. He succeeded by disabling one of its paws, but before it limped off, it scratched him in a vulnerable spot. Discord cried out in pain and Fluttershy gasped. "NO!!" she screamed, rushing over to his side. She realized the sickening truth that Discord was dying. His eyes barely remained open. His breathing was extremely rapid, but dropping fast. His healthy brown color was turning a sickly white. "Why did you do that?!" Fluttershy cried, tears welling up in her eyes. Discord looked at her. His response was very faint, but she could hear it. "I love you." Tears began to slip down Fluttershy's face out of her control. Discord's breathing came to a stop and his eyes closed. A faint smile appeared on his face as he fell limp. Fluttershy gasped. Discord. Someone everyone thought was a monster and someone incapable of love was dead. Sacrificed himself for her. She threw her arms around him and sobbed. Pinkie Pie arrived with the rest of the team behind her. "Ha ha! Here to save the day!" She gasped in horror as she saw the scene in front of her. Everyone else gasped in horror as well. "Discord, wake up," Fluttershy begged through her sobs. "Dad..." Sweetie Belle said, trailing off. Tears filled the triplets eyes. Sweetie Belle burst into tears and clung to Rarity who gave her a hug back. Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo a comforting hug and Pinkie Pie came over to comfort Apple Bloom. As a tear slipped down Fluttershy's face, it landed on Discord's. The tear turned a healing golden. After a few moments, Discord coughed. Fluttershy gasped in hope. The triplets looked at him. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity did the same. Then, Discord slowly sat up dizzily. "Ugh, I feel like I just died." Rainbow Dash smiled and giggled. "Uh, you did just die." "Oh, that's nice," Discord said, not yet fully alert. "Wait, what?!" Now, he was back in reality. Fluttershy started crying again, but this time it was tears of relief. Fluttershy kissed Discord. Discord was surprised, but then he kissed her back. Pinkie Pie started cheering and clapping. The triplets ran over to him and hugged him. "Dad!" they exclaimed in unison. Rarity smiled. "Welcome back, Discord." She winked. "You truly are a hero." Discord smiled and he was aglow in all the happiness he received from his friends and family. Discord knew that everything would be alright. "Come on, girls," Discord said. "There's a few changes that need to be made."