Chapter 12: Evil Never Dies
Sonata flew as fast as she could, trying her hardest to ignore the battle raging beneath her.
As she approached the ‘enemy’ camp, she barely managed to avoid a streak of light hurled at her from the pretty yellow pegasus charging her.
“Wait!” Sonata cried out. “I surrender! Your friend’s hurt and Dissy’s going to get himself killed!”
Fluttershy came to a stop at the sight of Scootaloo draped across the other mare’s back. The tear streaked face only added to the mare’s credibility.
“Please... I never wanted this. I’ll take whatever punishment I get, I just save Dissy.”
Fluttershy Glared at Sonata for a brief moment before her expression softened and she pointed back to a white mare treating a yellow earth pony.
“Let’s get her taken care of, then you’re going to be restrained,” Fluttershy said in a kind voice that still somehow left no room for arguing. The spears of light hovering around her, pointing as Sonata didn’t help. “Please fly in front of me and don’t make any sudden moves. I really don’t want to hurt you.”
Sonata flew toward the two ground ponies, nerves growing with every hoof closer they got.
As they got closer, Sonata heard the yellow earth pony ask the white one, “Y’all need me to stick around, Redheart, in case she needs a thumpin’?”
“It’s okay, Applejack,” Fluttershy assured. “We can handle her. She surrendered willingly.”
“Go on back out there, AJ,” Redheart said. “And try to avoid the spears from now on.”
AJ shot Sonata a glare that sent shivers down the siren’s spine as they passed each other.
“Set her down here,” Fluttershy commanded.
“What happened?” Redheart demanded.
Sonata fidgeted as she answered “She tried to stop the Chaos Stone by herself. Some magic hit her and I don’t know what it’s doing to her, but now Dissy’s trying to stop it, and He made me promise stuff, and-and daddy’s dead, and he’s gonna die, and-”
“Calm down,” Redheart ended Sonata’s increasingly panicked rant. “What happened. Calmly.”
Sonata took a deep breath to calm down. “Okay, so I was helping Discord, who we kinda foalnapped last night, to find daddy-”
“Who’s ‘daddy’?” Fluttershy asked as Redheart started examining Scootaloo.
“Starswirl,” Sonata answered. “He made me, Aria, Adagio, and Discord.
“Anyway, I was taking him to talk some sense into daddy, but...” she took a steadying breath. “But Nag-Ta killed him.”
“Nag-Ta!” Fluttershy shouted in surprize.
“Yeah, that filly said you know him, somehow.” Sonata settled down and continued her story. “H-he killed daddy.
“That was when she attacked me,” Sonata said, nodding toward Scootaloo. “Dissy talked her down, but she tried to get the Chaos Stone herself and she got hit by stray magic discharge.
“So Discord told me to get her to you and surrender while he stopped the Chaos Stone from overloading.”
Redheart looked up from her work. “Well, it doesn’t seem to be doing any physical harm, but the magic is around her head. We’ll need Sweetie or Twilight to take a look.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said before turning back to Sonata. “Thank you for bringing her back. I believe you want to change, but we can’t let you run around free.”
Sonata kicked the dirt beneath her. “I know. I knew before I came here I was going to get arrested.”
“Alright, I’m going to restrain you,” Fluttershy warned.
Sonata nodded and clenched her eyes. Light seeped through her eyelids for an instant. When it faded, she dared peak and found herself in what she could only describe as a gilded bird cage of light.
“Alright,” Fluttershy said, inspecting her work. “I have to get back out there. You behave.”
As Sonata watched Fluttershy fly away, she slumped to the bottom of her cage and settled in for a while.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Sekiryu gazed at his foe. Never before had he encountered a being that could take as much punishment. No matter what he threw at him, Fenrir kept getting back up.
It was both invigorating and infuriating to have such a resilient foe.
Invigorating to have such a worthy foe.
Infuriating that it cost him his favorite kanabo.
A flash of light from his shoulder startled him briefly.
“Sorry, Mister Sekiryu,” came the voice of the little warrior being.
“It is not safe there, little one,” he replied.
“I know, but I have information for you,” she said.
Fenrir lunged at Sekiryu, trying to catch him while distracted.
The young warrior vanished in a flash of light, allowing him to react to the fullest of his ability without having to worry about her.
Sekiryu swung his open left claw forward in an arc from his right hip outward, striking the wolf with a ridge hand strike to the neck, and following up with a powerful front kick that sent the wolf back the way it came.
The small one appeared in another flash.
She spoke quickly. “Fenrir is wrapped in invisible, enchanted chains. They’re protecting and strengthening him.”
And just like that, she was gone again.
Sekiryu smirked. He liked that one. She did not dawdle with unnecessary frivolties, but remained dedicated to her duty.
Sekiryu reached out with his senses. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw them, if only barely, and scowled. He recognized the stench of the lords of hell all over the bindings.
“This battle is won,” Sekiryu declared as he raised his right claw into the air. “Mother, lend me your holy light.”
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Sweetie Belle watched from her perch upon a damaged, but standing, building as light seemed to seep into existence around the great dragon. It swirled and flowed around Sekiryu, gathering into his outstretched claw.
By the time a small orb took form in his claw, Fenrir had gotten back to his paws and reoriented himself.
The enormous wolf kicked off, sprinting toward Sekiryu with blistering speed and pounced, jaws wide.
Sekiryu closed his claws around the orb of light that had gathered and swung.
The light stretched and elongated into the form of a blade of light that struck Fenrir right in his chest.
Sweetie watched in fascination and mild confusion as the blade seemed to pass right through Fenrir harmlessly.
Then, a bright light infused the wolf, wrapping around him like...
“Chains!”
The chains glowed brighter and brighter before, in a loud crack, they shattered into millions of tiny shards that dissolved into the wind.
With his armor gone, Fenrir let out a soul piercing howl as streams of energy poured from his body.
With each burst, his body shrunk. Smaller and smaller he got, until he was little bigger than a normal wolf.
With a flourish, Sekiryu dispelled his sword of light and declared, “This battle is won, my power is spent. Farewell, young mortal. May you find peace before the grave.”
“Thank you, Sekiryu!” Sweetie Belle called.
With a nod, the great dragon began to crumble into dust, leaving only a glowing orb drifting slowly down.
Sweetie quickly ran down to the alley where she tucked Twilight away, being much closer than Applebloom. Thankfully, Twilight was still out, laying rather peacefully in the dumpster.
Sweetie quickly levitated her onto her back and ran back to the battlefield. She climbed over broken slabs of concrete, uprooted roads, and through craters to the spot where she saw Applebloom land.
However, there was a distinct lack of pony.
“Applebloom?!” Sweetie called. “Applebloom, where are you?!”
Sweetie set Twilight down and jumped up on a large piece of wall. “Dot, scan for Applebloom.”
“Scanning for Applebloom’s arcane signature.”
A green line passed Sweetie’s visor. Various readings and data popping up and vanishing as it passed.
“Found, six kilometers, bearing one-seven-two. She is flying at approximately eighty-nine kilometers per hour,” Dot reported.
“What?! But she can’t... Oh no...”
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
A swarm of flaming bullets peppered the ground just as the faux-dog leaped away and retaliated with a shard of obsidian.
Midnight deflected the attack with his shield and with a burst of speed, closed the distance.
His sword fell, trying to cleave his foe in two, only to be stopped by the black claw. Nag-Ta returned with a strike of his own, wreathing his right paw in black fire and swiping at Midnight’s belly.
Midnight twisted to his right dodging the claws but not the fire, smacking the dog across the back with the flat of his shield.
A quick spirit counterspell doused the dark flame, leaving only a painful burn.
Nag-Ta took that opportunity to charge. He thrust his claw forward, aiming for Midnight’s heart.
Before the attack struck home, he was forced to leap away by a spear of light.
“Midnight, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked as she hovered above, already forming two more spears.
“I’m fine,” Midnight replied. “Stay back and support from a distance. It’s Nag-Ta.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprize and fear before narrowing in determination.
“Well,” Nag-Ta grinned at the pair. “It seems I’m at a disadvantage and will have to call it a day. We’ll play again soon, though.”
“You’re not getting-” Midnight was cut off by Nag-Ta vanishing in a surge of black fire. “... Away. Damn it!”
“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said sheepishly, hurling her spears at the nearest mutants.
“That’s alright.” Midnight said with a sigh. “I’m not sure I could have beaten him, anyway.”
“But you were doing so well,” Fluttershy said.
“You don’t know him like I do,” Midnight glared at the spot where his enemy had vanished. “Thanks for the assist.”
“Oh, I almost forgot!” Fluttershy stated. “Scootaloo’s been hurt. One of the sirens brought her back and surrendered. She said Discord’s inside and he’s trying to stop that scary stone from exploding.”
“Can we get in?” Midnight asked.
“I can,” Fluttershy said, firmly.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” Midnight asked. “You’ll be in there alone.”
“I can.”
“Go. Retrieve Discord, assist in disarming the Chaos Stone if needed, and neutralize any threats.”
“Sir!” Fluttershy said strongly and took off toward the fortress.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
It had been so long.
For months, he felt like he was moving through a mute, colorless world.
Everything was so bland.
So predictable.
But now, he felt right. He could feel familiar power surging through him from the pulsing green stone before him.
All he had to do, was reach out and take it.
He could already feel himself siphoning the power.
But...
A surge of power blasted the right wall completely away.
There was just too much power.
He could take it, but not fast enough to keep it from exploding and taking everything in and around the fort for miles around with it.
Still, he would survive to reclaim his place as the rightful ruler of the world.
The only other option was to smash it, releasing the raw magic in a more concentrated blast, destroying and fort and killing him.
Retake my place as the king of chaos, or die.
Discord laughed.
The answer was quite obvious, after all.
The magic was his. It was stolen from him, so it should return to him.
Who cared if ponies hated him for it. What did any of them ever do for him, anyway?
“Come on, slow poke, before all the good seats are taken! If you can’t see, I can’t see, remember?”
Discord stumbled.
What was that? His eyes darted around, looking for the source of the voice.
“It’s easy, Dissy, hit it as hard as you can and candy comes out, but you gotta be blindfolded.”
Discord shook his head. What was going on? What is the chaos magic, messing with his head?
“Now, focus your magic through your horn. Let it flow, don’t force it. There you go! Keep it up!”
“No!” Discord yelled. “I’m Discord! Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! The King of Chaos! The Enemy of ponies!”
He reached out to the Chaos Stone, drawing in it’s power.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a flash, a glimmer of all the colors of the rainbow, and he froze.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to be. You don’t have to be a monster.”
His breath became laboured and his hoof trembled as he turned to stare into magenta eyes.
“You know what to do.”
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Fluttershy flew as fast as she could. She knew that if Discord was still inside, he would need help.
She readied her light spear and targeted a window half way up the side of the fort.
And then the fort vanished in an explosion of green fire.