Silver Spoon/Silver Tray's Interview
I never lost Diamond Tiara's crown. I never stopped holding onto it. I never let go of it. I never abandoned it. Even after her black magic tornado, I didn't lose it. Had I lose it, she'd never let me hear the end of it after we saved her.
Apple Bloom was in front of me. Sweetie Belle was beside us and Scootaloo above.
In front of us stood a big white bipedal billy goat. He had Discord's eyes, a sharp fang that didn't match all the other teeth in his jaw, and of course, his goatee. His eyes were like deep pits we could fall in and never escape. Even with the majority of his teeth flat as a pony's, he managed to grin like a shark.
"Hello, fillies!" His manic grin slipped. "Playing with foals is so boring. I'm going to give you a sporting chance, and change you all into adults!" He started to snap his fingers, then wiggled them mockingly instead. "I'm joking, of course. Let's play!"
"We don't need any cheats!" Scootaloo shouted. "We've beaten monsters like you before!"
Goatcord's neck extended like a rock'em sock'em robot, head-butting Scootaloo and knocking her to the ground.
"Scootaloo!" We rushed to our friend's side.
Goatcord's head sprang back into place, and he cracked his neck smugly. "That was when life was a video game! I don't have to give you any chances to win here!"
What? "Girls, what is he talking about?"
I heard Diamond Tiara, cold as ice. "Discord and I made a deal to change all reality into an evil, awful place. I got new friends who I made into royalty, but you were left far away, in a miserable place. You don't remember because Apple Bloom and her friends stopped me."
I looked at Apple Bloom and the others, shocked, and none of them would look me in the face. They really saved the world, and they hadn't tell anypony?
I couldn't see where Diamond Tiara was, but I knew she'd hear me. "If that really happened, then I'm better off not knowing. I'm happy I don't remember!"
"HEY!" Goatcord bleated. "THIS IS MY PLAY TIME! Wait your turn, Amethyst Crown!"
"Stop being so blind, Silvey. You're supposed to get fed up with me and abandon me."
"That's not the Silver Spoon I choose to be! I want to forgive you!"
"Only because you've been brainwashed into thinking that ponies always make up and hug and forgive. Some things CAN'T be forgiven."
This was crazy. I could get an army of angry strangers who had made hating Miss Twilight Sparkle their reason for living to not attack her, but I couldn't reach my best friend? So this is how Princess Celestia felt?
Scootaloo used this time to get up, bruised but nothing broken.
"Wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "My sister and her friends didn't use the Elements against Discord because our link might have turned both of us to stone! If Discord's monster hurts ME, won't that hurt you and Discord too?"
Diamond Tiara finally stepped forward, appearing behind the wall of black magic. Even if she was a new Nightmare Moon or something, I still thought she looked kinda pretty as an Alicorn. "You were in danger many times during my evil plan, yes? Clearly, the feedback doesn't work both ways."
"She's lying," I said.
"You're not the Element of Honesty, Silvey."
"No, but you taught me how to read ponies, remember Tiara? I know all your tells!"
-
That seems to be a universal constant among Silver Spoons.
"There's nothing inside me for you to read. I am empty."
-
"ENOUGH!"
Goatcord threw up neon-bright slime on the ground. Magenta, cyan, and yellow checkerboard patterns oozed across the walls of black magic. The goo spread over the ground too, forming a gameboard; a giant-sized Monopoly game but with squares like 'Go To Hospital, Sue For 10 Million bits', and 'Find Out Nopony At Work Actually Likes You, Never-Be-Heard-From-Again.'
I was worried about being infected by Goatcord's vomit, but the spreading goo went underneath my friends' hooves like they were standing on a glass sheet, while Sweetie Belle wrapped her cape around me until the 'wave' passed.
The goo even covered the ceiling, sealing us in with a 'sky' that turned a different color every time I looked at it, with clouds made of little white cubes or floating 2-D crayon scrawls that could have been drawn by a traumatized three-year-old.
"You're in my world now!" the goat monster cackled, waving his arms like wet noodles.
"We're not trapped in here with you," I growled, trying to sound all tough like Raw Shark the comic book masked vigilante. "You're trapped in here with us! We're going to clobber you for what you did to Diamond Tiara!"
"I'm not really sure what I did to Diamond Tiara. Batcord did most of the stringing-along and Griffcord helped grind her heart into dust. I might have taught her a few things, or was that Quazicord-or-whatever-his-name-is, or was that Deercord… oh, never mind! I'm not sure whose idea the 'adopted daughter' thing was. That's crazy, but not my kind of crazy!"
"Dodging responsibility for your actions? How typical of a villain."
"HA! I'd take every bit of credit for seeing that filly snap if I could!"
-
Discord conjured a diamond-tipped power drill and ground away at the checkerboard wall, but the drill bit spat sparks and shattered. Discord pulled up his one-piece workman's goggles, gaping at the ruined drill. "I thought diamonds were supposed to be unbreakable."
"Isn't that what you did with me?" the Nightfilly deadpanned.
"This is your own fault, Dissy, manifesting so many volatile aspects of your psyche simultaneously. You cannot control your actions when you are a whole being. What made you think you could control yourself subdivided?"
"Go away, Wind Whistler. You're not real. You're all in my head!"
"Father, who are you talking to?"
'I can see inside. They're Lonely, separated from the rest of the herd.'
'They're Angry at their enemy!'
'They Hate what was done to her, to each other, and to themselves!'
'Are they Scared they don't stand a chance?'
'She's Sad she hasn't been able to help her friend.'
'''''Call us to us.'''''
-
"Actually, perhaps I helped her with our pet Cockatrice, two insane Timberwolves, and the parasprites. Perhaps you can help me!" His tongue grew long and licked his lips. "I'm feeling a bit-" His grin NOW actually has shark teeth. "-peckish!"
I shivered.
= Aquatic Terror - Viewtiful Joe = / = Cosmic Wall Zone - Sonic Adventure 2 =
Everything went black, then blue neon lights flickered on as gravity went sideways, and we were standing on a bunch of glowing round-edged squares. Cheap blue ghost costumes fell onto each of us, but they dissolved as soon as they touched my friends' capes. I took off the blue costume only to find I was now dressed like a lettuce leaf. I yanked that one off too and found a third costume underneath, a disgusting 'face-in-mouth' centipede.
Sweetie Belle wrapped her cape around me again and the costume dissolved.
"WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA-WAKA!" Goatcord moved with his legs together and his arms at his sides, bending his body at impossible angles as he snaked among the glowing blue cubes, chomping his jaws open and closed tirelessly.
We soon realized that the blue squares had directional gravity, meaning ‘down' was whatever side we were standing on, but there wasn't any time to explore, he was chomping right for us! We galloped away, crying out in fear. Without even thinking about it, we scattered down different neon-blue paths, and that's how I found out Goatcord was chasing after me and only me, chomping away!
"This isn't how the game goes!" Sweetie protested. "We're supposed to chase him after ten seconds!"
"Ah think that's the point!" shouted Apple Bloom.
"Do we die if we touch him, or go back to a box like in the game?!" Scootaloo asked. As for me... I was running for my life while my friends debated about game rules that didn't exist.
Goatcord's jaws kept chomping down. He followed me like I was blazing a trail for him. Wait a minute!
I ran around a glowing blue square, with him hot on my hooves. I ran faster and harder than I can remember ever running before! With his jaws snapping at my tail, I saw his rear hooves in front of me! I leapt over his body, doing a cannonball, sprang off his back and flipped onto the next floating square over.
Goatcord's never-stopping jaws ate himself like an ouroboros, and he popped out of existence.
"WHOA, WAY TO GO, SILVER SPOON!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"Awesome!"
"Ya did it!" Apple Bloom shouted.
The entire maze shook like an earthquake. "Oh no she didn't, Pear Flower!"
The blackness ripped like cloth. The goat monster came through, and gravity yanked us in one direction while the blue boxes fell in another, tumbling out of sight. The backness was whipped away like a blanket and we were back with red, blue, and green splattered walls, all heaving like lava lamps, and the ground was randomly torn-out-and-pasted-together comic book pages. The 'sky' above us was an upside-down view high over a dinosaur-filled jungle.
Then our perception went... strange. It was like Goatcord got super-close up, growing larger the closer he got, taller than Discord. He dug hoof-like claws into the ground, and pulled it apart, revealing a lake of fire beneath the "ground." Fast as a whip cracking, he pulled out marionette crosses. Puppet strings wrapped around our necks, tails, and legs and swung us dangling over the fire like a griffon's roast!
"It's been two-thousand and two years since the last time I've done this!" He laughed as he made us dance. I'm sure the girls were okay in their magic capes, but I could feel the blistering heat… the fire was no illusion!
= Intertwined - Wonderful 101 =
Scootaloo twirled, slashing her puppet strings with the wing blade spell. Pumping her wings, she charged Goatcord, growing to his size as she closed in... against all logic. "Scootaloo Rising Corkscrew!" she howled, clobbering him in the jaw.
Goatcord's head spun in a blur until it actually 'unscrewed' and fell straight off his neck, leaving a light bulb socket where his head had been, and went back to his normal size, just like Scootaloo.
The fire went 'poof' and was instantly out, but I fell down, gasping and flailing my hooves, as soon as the strings and marionette crosses vanished. Luckily, the pit snapped shut and we landed safely on the ground.
Killer bees flew out of the hole in Goatcord's neck, making Scootaloo retreat. Spider legs grew out of the screw end of Goatcord's head and propped him upright, making him look like some kind of nasty cartoon virus in a doctor's office poster. A cannon barrel pushed its way out of his mouth.
= 'Star Scream Theme' - Transformers Devastation = / = Transformers Devastation Soundtrack- Soundwave Theme =
Apple Bloom shook a potion from her pack and uncorked it. The bottle spewed thick smoke that made the killer bees drop like stones.
"Killing innocent killer bees?!" said the headless Goatcord… somehow. "Tut tut! Whatever would your mentor say?"
"That Ah'm a good farmer!"
The mouth of Goatcord's head shot at us while our attention was on his body, Scootaloo acted fast, shielding herself with her cape. It was like Scootaloo wasn't even hit with anything!
Goatcord's head giggled and fired again and again. Scootaloo waved her cape like a bullfighter to keep blocking for us, and then some of the cannonballs began changing course mid-flight. Scootaloo was forced to react faster to intercept them!
Meanwhile... a swarm of singing flyders came out of Goatcord's neck, cracking sparks of fire and electricity... all of them swarming hungrily towards us.
Apple Bloom reached for another potion but Sweetie stopped her with a hoof gesture. Her horn glowed dark green, and a flash of black magic disintegrated the flyders.
"And using black magic?! Your sister would be so ashamed!"
"Hāmau!" Scootaloo shouted. Was that Haineighian?
Sweetie didn't even answer him.
Me? I was just trying to not get killed. "Goatcord! Two plus two equal four! One equals one!" I shouted.
His body belly laughed. "You think that if you chant enough of those so called 'facts,' it'll weaken little old me? Oh that's adorable! Wait long enough, and I can make math equate to anything I please!"
Apple Bloom threw another potion grenade. This one flew right into Goatcord's neck orifice. A ball of goo that expanded out from it until it blew up! When the smoke cleared, Goatcord's body staggered around and flopped over like a cartoon character, even holding up a bouquet of daisies, which promptly wilted.
Scootaloo had spent all this time still blocking one cannonball after another, but now the cannon in Goatcord's mouth retracted.
"You had one job here, Grey Fork, and you've sucked at it!" the head said.
"Don't listen to him, you stopped a battle Silvey, that's no failure!" said Sweetie. "He's just trying to make you give up without a fight."
"What? It's not as if she could harm me in the first place! I just think it's FUN to crush the innocent, empower the jerks, and drive the well-adjusted mad!"
The head laughed and giggled as its legs retracted too, and his neck's base grew a giant drill. His head spun super-fast, and somehow plunged the drill in the ground, throwing out the dirt everywhere.
We all got ready for him to pop up from anywhere... Except, 'anywhere' didn't say anything about a giant black drill hole in the sky!
"HAHAHAHH!" he laughed, like a comic-book villain who'd just summoned a giant monster.
His head-drill zipped right towards us, whirring like a dentist from Tartarus, and he laughed all the way. We scrambled out of the way in time, and he drilled into the ground again. Then he drilled his way out of one of the walls, which was now showing animated clowns with wobbly noodle limbs. We threw ourselves to the floor. He shot straight through yet another wall and over our heads, and then he finally attacked, coming up underneath me.
Sweetie pushed me out of the way with her magic just in time. After that, Goatcord tried to second-guess us by coming down the same hole he just went out of... and he didn't stop laughing! We could all tell this was gonna go on forever until he skewered one of us.
Sweetie ran over to where Goatcord's body was, her eyes blazing green and purple.
"Gift Of Pain!" she screamed.
Green lightning blasted from her horn into Goatcord's body. It convulsed and contorted so much that it made me cringe. We heard screams coming from one of the holes. His head popped out of one of the holes head first instead of drill first, and flew around everywhere but near us, writing out naughty words in the sky in crayon.
It made no sense, so of course it made perfect sense… but Sweetie's magic suddenly gave out, leaving her shaky and gasping for breath. Goatcord's body levitated into the air and grabbed his out of control head, screwing itself back on. With one twist, his eyes showed a scene from a cop drama. With another twist, it was showing a soap opera. With another twist still, an infomercial.
"S-sorry," Sweetie Belle panted. "That spells only lasts if you want to cause pain for causing pain's sake... "
"No prob' here with that, which makes me better than you Sugary Chime!" The goat monster giggled.
"It makes her better than you! Even Diamond Tiara didn't hurt others just for the fun of it!" I shouted.
"Oh, you liar!" The monster giggled. "You both loved being rotten little bullies!"
"It's not true!"
"Silly filly, you only wish it weren't true."
"Heleʻoe e pale!" said Scootaloo.
"Such language!" Goatcord grabbed the ground and whipped it like a carpet. All at once, we were flung into outer space then standing on a moving reel of film, not 'landing', we literally just appeared on it. We had to keep moving or we'd get eaten by the projector! The frames whipping past showed us as zombies, as demons, as buff armored bullies with way too much shadowing and more, each vision worse than the last!
Goatcord turned inside out and was dressed like a cowpony with a ten-gallon hat and very tight pants. "Yeehaw! Ya think yer a buffalo with that them there war-paint on yer face, Rover-High? Then let me be the cowpony!"
Then he drew a pair of revolvers (I think they're called) with a pencil and started shooting them. Scootaloo again had to shield us with her cape.
"Nā kauā a me nā po'e'Āina! He mau kēmu ka pāʻani!" Scootaloo shouted.
"'Games have rules?' HEH! Silly bilingual varmint! Too bad ya didn't get any USEFUL talents when you fused with Toddler-Jamaica's ghost!"
With all the deadly insanity around me, hearing more Crusader insanity didn't even register.
"Too bad you can't magically summon your scooter. I'd love to turn that into a piano and drop it out of a fourth story window on your head!"
Sweetie Belle fired more black magic spells at him, but he just twisted into pretzel shapes to avoid them. Apple Bloom threw another explosion potion, but Goatcord's head became a tennis racket that served it right back. Apple Bloom had to dive and roll to avoid her own bomb.
Goatcord melted and reformed, now wearing a tuxedo made of patches of different-colored cloth. He was also wearing patchwork shoes, and pudgy white gloves, but not any pants. The film projector exploded and we were on the moon, except it was made of mustard flavored rice cake.
= 'Master of Your Fate' - Teen Titans =
"Five six seven eight!" A band started playing from nowhere, and Goatcord burst into song.
"Don't bother getting up, you're in my control
No way for you to fuss and fight
You've lost all your powers - so, lucky you
You will be my toys tonight"
Giant light bulbs fell from the sky, and my friends huddled around, shielding me. The light bulbs exploded, destroying the moon. We fell and landed on an upside-down ship in a turtle-shaped spiral tunnel of light!
"You think you can defeat me - oh, how very droll!
Well, ponies, one thing you should know:
I am the one with chaos powers around here,
I am the one who runs the show!!!"
Giant drawing compasses fell and jabbed the hull of the ship, which began leaking packing foam. Then the other arms of the compasses moved like snakes, trying to stab us. I couldn't keep track of what was happening to who.
"I am the master of ceremonies,
So let me set you straight:
With just a twitch of my floppy magic ears, I'm...
Master of your fate!"
The ship sank (rose?), leaving us FLOATING in the now turkey-shaped tunnel ... giant weathervanes dropped out of nowhere and began shooting arrows at us! Scootaloo managed to grab all of us, and flew BETWEEN them, tricking them into shooting each other.
"With just some hocus-pocus and sleight of hand,
You all are under my command!
Put them in their cages,
Keep them all apart!
Places, everybody - the show's about to start!"
Cages popped around us... they touched my friends' capes, breaking them apart, and Scootaloo's wing blade sliced up mine... good thing too, because gravity had changed so it was pulling back the way we came, and a giant pony-eating furnace was scrambling behind us, metal teeth crunching!
I'm sick of things trying to eat me!
Sweetie fired a dark magic beam that snuffed out the flames. Apple Bloom smacked it with another potion grenade... don't ask me how she's keeping them all straight or how many she has in there. Vines grew like crazy and tore the furnace apart.
"
He is the master of ceremonies,
So let him set you straight:
With just a slurp of his magic tongue, he's...
Master of your fate!
(Master of your fate!)
Master of your fate!
(Master of your fate!)"
Gravity flipped again, but Scootaloo kept flying. Can't imagine how much adrenaline she's got pumping through her veins to be carrying us all! Maybe we're all super-light, like on the moon? We landed on a giant stained glass window, which depicted all of us dressed up as maids with swirly eyes.
Goatcord, riding a coffee table, waved his hands like a conductor. A giant letter 'Q' flew at us, but we jumped through the hole in the middle. I'm surprised the stained glass pictures of us didn't come to life and try to assimilate us. I guess that was too predictable for chaos.
Goatcord took off his gloves over and over. The discarded gloves grew to pony size, hopping over to try and grab us.
The others took down the gloves before they even got near us, lighting them on fire, and slicing them to ribbons.
I know those girls have been on all kinds of Cutie Mark Crusader adventures together, but it's kinda scary, seeing how well they fight as a team. What did Discord do to them in that other mixed-up world Diamond was talking about?
"Now for the greatest grand finale,
And the reason why you're here:
I will make these fillies...
Forever disappear!"
Scootaloo shouted, "Nuh-uh, jerk-face! It's your turn to disappear!"
"YOU'RE JUST TOYS! DO AS I SAY!" Goatcord kept waving his arms like a madpony, tossing more giant letters at us.
"I!"
But no matter how he tried.
"H!"
No matter how scared we got.
"I!"
None of his attacks hit us.
"N!"
"S!"
And we-
"L!"
-pulled through!
The creepy stained glass shattered, and we plummeted... just a few inches, landing on a nice green meadow. The walls were serene paintings of a beautiful valley under a rainbow and a fantastic pink mansion and castle. The 'ceiling' was made up of rows of pony dolls in a toy store, most of which I didn't recognize, but they seemed to be based off the fairy tales and myths we all heard as foals.
There was a display in the center of the dolls, like a frozen moment in some epic battle long ago: Tirek the Destroyer with a sword, fighting a white unicorn that I didn't recognize. She was really pretty, though… She had a blue mane and a blue flowers cutie mark, and she wore golden horseshoes and a bow on her tail. The backdrop behind them was a scary castle on fire, its top blown right off, and right behind her was a baby dragon who looked a lot like Spike.
Goatcord glided down and hovered before us, no longer in costume. He grinned madly, drool dripping from his exposed gums. "When I'm started with you Butt-Stamp-Riders, you'll be my adorable empty-headed dolls!"
Sweetie Belle didn't even flinch. "No," she said, firmly and bravely, like she was telling her sister's cat that the cat didn't own Sweetie's bed.
"I said yes..."
"And I said no!"
"And now you're boring." Lasers shot out of his nose, but Sweetie hid behind her cape in the nick of time.
"She said no!" Scootaloo's fur bristled, her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed.
Then I remembered... Sweetie Belle was Scootaloo's first friend.
Goatcord's eyes glowed red. "Toys that don't play along should be gotten rid of!"
A fancy dress from the era of the Three Tribes landed on top of me, and a guillotine rose out of the ground. Those things haven't been used in 2,100 years! The guillotine marched towards us, blade rising up and slamming down by itself, because of course it did!
Scootaloo zipped past Goatcord in a blur and kicked him from behind, at the same time Sweetie grabbed his fur in her telekinesis and yanked him forward, and Apple Bloom leapt and bucked the guillotine, which winced as it took a few steps backward. Goatcord toppled into the guillotine, the blade came down... and his head rolled. The guillotine broke apart. He picked up his head and nonchalantly screwed it back on his shoulders.
"Oh please, did you think that would work? EVERYTHING here is me!"
It was a fair point. And we'd already taken his head off before.
"Hey, Gray Knife, how about I turn you into a kitten with cancer? I'm sure Nightmare N*(!@(!( will care about you again then! Not that she ever loved you to begin with."
He was baiting me and it was stupid and crazy but I didn't care anymore. "You… you take that back!" I ran up to Goatcord and began kicking and stomping and headbutting him, screaming and crying. "Give me back Diamond Tiara! You took her! You stole her! You made her a demon! Give her back! You big bully! Give her back! Give me my best friend back!" I could barely see through my tears, and my hooves hurt like I'd been hitting a metal statue.
He just laughed in my face. "You can't hurt me unless I want you to! Understand?"
His roar sent me tumbling over backwards, but I didn't care, I got back up and kept hitting him.
I was still holding Diamond Tiara's crown... in my fury, it scratched him.
"Huh?" He stared at the bloody scratch, not laughing any more. He teleported away from me, up in the air again.
"Well! I'd say we've had enough fun, and by 'we' I mean 'me' and by 'fun' I mean 'you,' of course. You three toys are about to be rebooted, with completely different personalities and species and basically being yourselves only in name. Nudge-a-toilet?"
Scootaloo glared at him.
"I didn't get to play with you before, so to make up to it, this time I'll make you a chicken... and your friends into timber wolves! Perhaps I'll turn Pewter Spork to platinum and melt her into a necklace for Nightmare N*(!@(!(. Won't that be a great gift from you to her?"
"YOU!" I rose up, hefting Tiara's crown to throw it at him without even thinking. Apple Bloom stopped me. Then Sweetie Belle was at my side too, and so was Scootaloo.
"He's bluffing!" Sweetie Belle smiled, nuzzling me. "If he could do any of that to any of us, he'd have done it by now."
"This here is all stage props and painted backgrounds. He said so himself, everything here is him, remember?" Apple Bloom smiled too.
"Silver Spoon... " Scootaloo said with a wing around my shoulder. "I'll do my best to make sure you get your real chance to save Diamond Tiara. Just sit tight... I'll take this guy down."
"One orange horsefly half-breed freak against a god? That's wonderfully crazy! Oh wait, no... It's stupid, you're stupid, but please continue to show everypony how wonderfully stupid you are!"
"Do you trust me, Silver Spoon?" Scootaloo asked. "I think you just showed me how to win."
SCOOTALOO got an idea? It was Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle or me who got ideas! ... But that... that kind look in her eyes. The way she smiled. And it hit me... She knew what it was like. How could she not? After what Queen Chrysalis did to Sweetie Belle, of course we both knew what it was like. Your first friend stolen from you.
I smiled and nodded. I offered her Tiara's crown.
"Naw, I got it covered."
= 'Be The One' - Kamen Rider Build =
I put on Diamond Tiara's crown... and the old-fashioned dress dissolved into nothing. I heard my friends gasp. Except for Sweetie Belle, who smiled. She understood. Some part of Tiara still loved me, I'm sure of it!
Scootaloo took off her cape and wrapped it around her hoof.
Goatcord laughed and laughed at us, right up until Scootaloo flew and punched him in the face with her clothed hoof. His head snapped back and around… he slowly touched the filly hoof-sized fracture on his face. His eyes grew wide, pupils shrinking.
"W-what? I-don't... t-this isn't..."
Scootaloo punched him in the stomach.
Goatcord reeled, screeching like claws on a blackboard. "NO!!! GET AWAY!!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!"
All around Goatcord appeared an uncountable number of dragon heads on long necks from nowhere. All of them tried to eat Scootaloo while Goatcord teleported away.
Scootaloo didn't dodge those dragon heads, she danced around them like a filly at ballet! Her braid only added to the image.
As for the goat monster, he appeared at the edge of our arena, banging a hoof on the wall. "LET ME OUT!!!"
I know exactly what Scootaloo is thinking. I told him so myself… we're not trapped with him, he's trapped in here with us!
He flailed his arms like a chicken with its head cut off. Things made up of geometric shapes connected to long red cords from nowhere swarmed at us from every direction. I wasn't scared. I took Tiara's crown and used it like a brass hoofblade. It burned away whatever I jabbed with it.
The goat monster started randomly popping in and out, near, far, upside-down and sideways… "YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME! NO PONY CAN TOUCH ME!"
Scootaloo took a deep breath, closing her eyes and spreading her wings. Then she dove towards a seemingly random spot and caught Goatcord just as he popped in, breaking one of his horns off.
-
Rainbow Dash told me once, when unicorns teleport, they push away the air from where they're going just before they reappear. Even most unicorns don't know that, but we're pegasi, we're one with the wind.
-
Scootaloo punched him again, knocking him into the closest wall and breaking the other horn. The broken pieces of horn blackened and imploded, covered by a million dark spiderwebs. Scootaloo's next punch knocked him to the ground.
"NO!!! STOP IT!!!"
Scootaloo dive-bombed him, hoof raised. I looked at Tiara's crown, and then at Goatcord.
-
As Maud Pie read over her geology books, she suddenly paused, not understanding why.
"IT IS DONE." She blinked, then went back to reading, thinking nothing more of what she'd just said.
-
My Own Notes, Nightmare N*(!@(!(
My adopted father hadn't stopped trying to get inside the ever changing splash colored wedge that my barrier had been corrupted into. Did I worry about Silver Spoon? Of course I didn't. Did I wish I could be in there to help her? Of course not. Did I worry that I didn't know what was going on there? I don't have feelings, remember? Was I scared I'd never see her again? What did I just say? Did I want to be able to protect her somehow, someway no matter how small? Don't be absurd.
Due to none of our efforts, Goatcord's barrier... fell apart... blackening, like it was covered in cancer cells, which were then pulled into themselves, into nothing. Crumbling sand sculptures left in the wind, then swallowed by the tide.
When the dust cleared... there was only the green grass and Silver Spoon, who was unhurt. And the foals who had replaced me. Sweetie Belle was hugging Silvey and Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom was hugging them.
Oh. I forgot to mention one little detail. My adopted father suddenly clutched his head and screamed, flailing his whole ‘body' like a severed lizard's tail. Odd. Since when did his detachments being destroyed hurt him? Or did it, and he wasn't showing it before? How can a spirit with no body feel pain in the first place? He'd become slightly less hysterical by the time I could see that Silvey was fine, not that I cared about that.
Father still held his ghostly head as if a mere a pin drop would shatter it. He got up slowly, like he didn't know how his own body worked any more. What was that look on his face? Oh right, shock and alarm.
"You... " Discord said haltingly. "Where did he... you... you UNMADE him!"
The four of them didn't answer, standing close together, my arch-enemy's ears wilted.
Father clutched his head harder, looking ready to crush it himself. "My insanity! It's GONE! It's... it's all clear! Hideous! M-Mom was right all along... you ponies COULD destroy the universe somewhere down the line if you wanted." He trailed off, looking for all the world like a mortal pony staring Ponythulu in the face.
The Crusaders and Silvey just kept hugging each other.
"You did what you had to do," I said. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing to torture yourselves for. Father lost control of him. He tried everything he could to get inside, while I did nothing."
They kept hugging each other.
"SWEETIE BELLE!"
"APPLE BLOOM!"
"SILVER SPOON!"
And Spike and their big sisters came at a gallop, and so did Trixie and Pinkie Pie.
My shadows showed me that Twilight Sparkle had finished talking with the Princesses, and Twilight was looking at the wedge of ash where Celestia's 'fight' had taken place. I wonder if she's scared of her own teacher now? No. The time for dark feelings was over. The time for black doubts and shadowy mistrust and fear was done. And therefore, so was I.
-
Princess Luna
Tis as they say, foals are the most ruthless of all creatures. Even we had not considered this 'step' to 'fixing' Discord.
-
"Oh Sweetie Belle, you were so brave through all that!"
"Ah'm just happy yer fine Apple Bloom... sorry ya had ta do all that by yerselves again."
"Silver Spoon, Scootaloo, you gonna be okay?" Spike asked.
Silver Spoon looked at Diamond Tiara's crown. "I'm sure I will."
There was only one barrier left.
"I'm sure I will be, as Dash finishes kicking the flank of Discord's last spare part!"
-
Scootaloo
I'm not going to say which of us did it. But ... It wasn't for ourselves. It was for everypony everywhere that Discord hurt. Did I like doing that? Making a part of Discord Never-Heard-From-Again? ... If it was THAT part... Maybe. I know it's bad ponies who enjoy hurting somepony because they're the bad guys. But I think it has more to do with knowing ponies aren't going to be hurt by that... by that monster again.
We've got a lot of catching up to do and hugs to give around and... I've got some thinking to do. Isn't this the part where you watch Dash go beat that wicked witch?
+++
"Wicked witch? I'm at least a demon sorceress!" Eris snapped.
I tilted my head. "Um… Who are you talking to?"
(Rainbow Dash's Most Radical Adventure So Far!)
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Don't worry about it, darling. Scootaloo will emerge from her battle victorious. You believe in her, do you not?)
Well yeah, but she's still just a filly in all this, and so are her friends. She's my responsibility.
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): And that, darling, is why you'll make wonderful family for her. She has complete faith in you too, you know.)
Oh yeah, she does! I'm gonna trash Discord's ode-to-himself in ten minutes flat!
"Don't lump me together with those losers! I'm Discord, only sexier!"
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Excuse me, Not-So-Darling, but you aren't privy to this colloquy.)
"Hey! Who blocked me from the chat?!"
Wait a minute, you're not the regular unicorn who does these things.
(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn?): No dear, I'm not. My name is... oh yes, Prism Rush. The normal girls are all busy with your friends, so I felt I should chip in.)
Huh. Well, nice to meet ya!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): And a pleasure to meet you, dear. I just want to say, you're a wonderful pony who is always loyal and true to her friends.)
Heh, thanks!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): You should also thank you friends for coming for you even after you chose Cloudsdale over them, once they were free of Discord's evil. I know you had to make a choice, dear, but from their point of view-
Yeah yeah, don't worry, we've all gotten past that. We're friends to the end, no matter how many jerks try to smash us apart. The only way it's ending is-! Hey... are you crying?
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): It's nothing, dear. Just that you're everything a loyal pony like you should be.)
Heh, thanks again! Of course, even the Dash knows there's always room for improvement. It'd be, like, super boring if there wasn't. Just you watch… if there's a way to be even more awesome, I'll find it!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Maybe. It's the nature of ponykind to reach for perfection. I met a wonderful Earth pony stallion that way, Professor of Electromagnetic Phenomena at Cartbridge University.)
Electo-what Phenoma-who? I've never heard of anyplace like that.
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): It's... not around anymore. Things happened, and I lost track of him. By the time I remembered... sadly, it was all over.)
Oh. Sorry.
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Don't you worry about me, Rainbow. It was a very long time ago, and don't you have some 'kicking evil flank' to do?)
HEH! Don't worry! I got THAT covered!
Eris teleported in front of me, wearing a nightcap and yawning profusely on a fancy couch. "Are you going to stand there congratulating yourself all day? You should get in touch with your feminine side, just like I have… Dashie!" She snapped her fingers, and a giant bolt of pink cloth rolled me up and dumped me onto the lawn...wearing a girly dress with so many ruffles it was hard to tell what color it was.
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Well, I know colors, and I must say, dear, those colors aren't you.)
I knew that already! Out come my wingblades and ka-rip it goes, ladies and gents! "I don't have time for your games lady!" I shouted, shaking a hoof at her. "I have family to make sure are okay!"
"Well, too bad! This is my first time out, and I aim to show off everything I've got!" She jiggled her hips.
"Too bad for you!" I zoomed at her. She whipped out a giant trampoline for a shield, but I corkscrewed around it and bucked her head on, knocking her for a loop with the hardest sub-Sonic Rainboom force I could muster!
She clutched at her chest, coughing, and then... she grinned at me. "Aw, what's the matter, Dashie? I had such a splendid sleepover and a tea party planned for just the two of us. Did I strike a nerve, Miss Rainbow Dash?"
Just the thought of having a tea party with Discord made me cringe, but before I could tell her off, she teleported and reappeared right in my face.
"Do I make you ANGRY, Dash? Hateful? Wanna rip me to shreds? Are you shaking in your hoofprints, just thinking about everything Goatcord might be doing to your pet horsefly right this very instant, while we're playing around? Huh, do you, huh, do you, do you!?"
Eris clenched a fist dramatically. "Can you feel it? Feel your emotions contorting inside you, twisting your insides, making your blood burn! Show me the demon!" She giggled. "That is, unless you're chicken! Or maybe you don't love Scootaloo after all! Maybe 'keeping the moral high ground' is more important than she is! I mean, she could be DEAD now, and what would you say? ‘Sorry, Scoots, I guess I just wasn't willing to do whatever it takes.'"
And I heard them, voices that aren't voices, feelings that are mine, but at the same time fly about on their own. Innocent like a fire.
"Come on, Dash, you want to save Scoots, don't you? Can you really say you tried your best if you lose here? She's your responsibility. Do what needs to be done! Pay the price!"
"Play with us again, for real this time."
"We know you want to!"
I snorted... then slowly took a deep breath and let it out. "No."
"What?! Why not?!"
Eris blinked. "Huh?!"
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Bravo, little pony!)
"Don't you want to play with us?!"
Not happening again, not sorry. It didn't help me before, it didn't help Fluttershy before, and it didn't help Princess Luna before. "So get bent, Eris!"
"We thought you loved Scootaloo!"
I do, and that's why the answer is no! I've seen what happened to Fluttershy! I'll never betray Scootaloo by becoming a monster and destroying the mare she looks up to. Not if I have the smallest say about it, not ever!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): ... You are so strong.)
Hey. Heh. Doin' what ya gotta do.
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): To spite evil?)
No. Because loyalty isn't just to friends and family, but to who they are!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): ... It's my honor to be in your presence, dear.)
"Oh come on!" Eris threw her bag of popcorn away. "I. Want. An. Epic. Battle! I should be fighting the Goddess, or the Nightmare, or even the Traitor… at least she had some epic moves! But oh no, I have to fight you!"
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): You shouldn't think too hard about her babbling, dear.)
"Hah!" shouted Dash. "Already in one ear and out the other. Eris definitely has Discord's crazy down pat."
"Says the skittles pegasus who only barks because she's insecure of her own bite!"
"Stop pretending you understand how I tick, lady." I crossed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her.
"You're not hard to figure out!"
"Then ya oughta know this! You want a long, drawn-out super fight, lady?"
"Undead-Time-Fruit! Armor Transformation!" She snapped a fancy belt on and pressed the big button on the buckle. Or would have, if I hadn't snatched it away and dismantled it on the spot.
"Well, too bad! This fight is gonna be over in a flash, because that's the way this pony rolls!"
Eris narrowed her eyes. Darkness wavered around her and her eyes glowed red. Wailing pony faces appeared in the dark. An entire arsenal of weapons appeared, gripped in her paw and claw, and she bared her teeth at me. "It will be… it'll be over for you!"
"You want a battle of 'show-off-kung-fu?' Get ready to face the master!"
= Neon (feat. Casey Lee Williams) - RWBY =
Whoa. This feeling, it's kinda nice! Hey, did you just hijack my heart song?
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Allow me dear, I think this number is more my octave. Just focus on showing this brat how it's done, and send her back to Discord.)
You got it! Thanks!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): I know how much doing this on your own means to-)
Does this look like The Best Young Fliers Competition? This is the final battle against Discord! All help is welcome!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Thank you. Let's do this fast!)
You know it! She wants an epic fight? Then I'm gonna show her how powerful I really am!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Never miss a beat!)
Eris drew more weapons than there are pages in the Cloudsdale directory! A double-ended light saber and a giant nail-spiked baseball bat gripped in her tail, several scythes, a water gun with flames coming out of it, a chainsaw, a laser whip, a giant hammer, floating kunai connected by string, a extendo whip sword, more and more in every limb and... what the hay are those?
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Missile launcher and Gatling gun, dear!)
Yeah! Well let me tell you! With this armor, I felt like I could go ten rounds with Celestia! Don't quote me on that!
(Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): Less description, more action, dear!)
Got it! Eris fired cannonballs, rockets, flames, blades, and stuff I didn't even know the names of at me! While chasing me, limbs whirling like an insane eggbeater! I dodged and weaved through her barrage like I was playing hopscotch!
"We're all born with a dream
We wanna make come true"
I flew around one direction. Eris turned to follow, but I turned on a bit and rammed my hind legs into one of her arms, causing her to smash her weapons into each other. KA-BOOM! Pieces of hot metal went flying everywhere. I introduced her bat to a wing blade!
"The best will climb to the top like me
The rest will end up like you"
"SAND STORM!" The dust in the air turned to sand and billowed towards me with enough force to batter me senseless!
I fly around her fast enough to make a micro-tornado, and she ended up looking like a big sand sculpture of herself! I briefly bring my wings to the side of my head, wiggling them while sticking my tongue out at her!
I bet it's hard to live with
Knowing that you'll never be this fine
"Light!" A bunch of floating glass balls formed out of the light around me. Glowing rays like sunbeams shone from them, focusing on me and shining brighter and hotter, but I'm a pegasus, I know light (darling), and I zoom back and forth, kicking and punching each one like I was herding balled lightning, and the sunbeams blast Eris instead!
Don't be distraught, don't be sad
You gave it your best try
Her arms turned into a dragon head and a lion head. Purple fire spewed out of the dragon's mouth, a roaring shockwave came from the lion's mouth, and acid sprayed out of her own mouth.
I performed a cold start Sonic Rainbow Boom that was gonna hurt in the morning. The shockwave sent her attacks back at her and sent her cartwheeling!
Listen, girlfriend, can't you see?
I'm all of the things that you'll never be
She recovered and snapped her fingers, instantly dressing herself in the ugliest 'Dark Knight Vs Superstallion' armor I'd ever seen! She swooped in and reared back for a giant punch.
"Mini-Rainboom Punch!" I shouted, as I met her punch with my own. Thank goodness for the armor! My armor was better, and hers crumpled and fell apart as the bolts popped loose.
I'm cool like the rain and I'm hot like the sun
I'm a neon rainbow and you're no fun
Lightning leapt from her horns.
"Um, hello? Weather Team Captain!" I still was surprised when the armor of my wings actually assimilated the lightning from her attack without any effort from me!
Next she summoned a swarm of Fly-ders... I introduced them to Mother Nature's oldest bug zapper!
May be time to retreat
You need a diva review
Eris changed her body into rubber. She stretched out her arms and legs like Pinkie's silly strings, trying to pummel me and keeping the rest of herself far away. And she still couldn't hit me. I was just too fast for her! Okay, maybe my armor did take a few hits! But rubber's lightning-proof, not wing blade-proof!
"OW!" Eris regenerated her limbs and snapped back to normal. "You are so going to pay for that!"
You can see I never miss a beat
Your makeover's long overdue
I zigzagged around, making her twist her head around until she couldn't tell which way was up! I flew with a wing blade out right at the base of-
"AGGH! My tail!" Then she laughed. "SUCKER!"
Her severed tail turned into a female version of Seacord! "I just flew in from Aquastria, and my fins are so tired!" A drum set somewhere played a rimshot. "Ooh, have you heard the one about the pegasus who said ‘nope?'"
"Nope!" I channeled lightning from the storm clouds through my harmony armor and hit her with a lightning bolt that would have made Derpy wince!
"Aw, but I haven't done anything yet!" And she went -poof!-
Just try to understand this
It's not that I am trying to outshine
"Looks like a copy of the copy isn't so sharp!" I heckled. An angry Eris took a swing, a swipe, a clawing, and a bite at me, but her moves were all over the place with no discipline. My armor took more of the hits, and I gave her one solid punch square in the kisser, or three! She teleported a ways away.
= Neon - interrupted! =
"Giga-Terrazord Final Boost Mode Command Now!!"
"HEY! No hijacking my song!"
= Combattler V opening megamix with Vultus V (Voltes V) - Tribute video 2017 =
Stars twinkled in the sky.
I heard an annoyed sigh, and the whole ‘arena' expanded, until it seemed like half of Ponyville could have fit in here with us! Holes opened up in the dark barrier for an instant, letting an army of giant robots through, and then the giant robots started combining into even bigger robots. The dinosaur robots combined into a blocky warrior robot, some magic creatures combined into a super samurai bot, more robot animals and two saltshakers became a gold and blue robot, and on and on! A giant racer robot, a shogun robot, and a colossal green dragon robot with a matching white tiger. Then THEY all combined into one ginormous ultimate super robot! Eris somersaulted into the head-cockpit, wearing a pink flight suit with a crossed out pony symbol on the chest.
I noticed there were empty seats around her. "This cockpit is kinda empty with Tempt--ion, K-rma, and Ch-nce, whoever-they-were, gone," she muttered.
"Who?"
"Casualties of war." The giant hand of giant hands reached up. "Let's do it! Omi-power-sword!"
A sword the size of Canterlot Castle formed from a blazing nova in its hand.
"Omi-power activate! You're through!" And the weapon swept out in a horizontal slice!
But Eris was working controls meant for a team, and I saw it coming a mile away! A slashing beam shot out from the blade that actually cut through the dark barrier (or maybe it opened up for it). It zoomed off into the distance, so no harm done.
Meanwhile In Canterlot's highest building
"My roof!"
"My hat!"
-
"Infinite Missiles Barrage Victory!"
Hatches popped open on all the sides of the thing, and rockets launched, zooming at me from everywhere! There were so many they blocked out the sun! Okay, maybe this was gonna be trouble?
(Prism Rush's Promise: Don't be scared, dear. Let me help, let's finish this together.)
Yeah! Guess I'll just have to be awesome in the shade! Like I said, this'll be over in a flash!
= Neon - RESUMED! =
"Storm!"/"Storm!"
I gathered every drop of moisture in the air, my armor glowing rainbows so bright it was blinding. This wasn't about me, this was about my friends, what they meant to me, and what I meant to me! The ground and grass turned dry and brittle. A black storm cloud formed around me in a breath.
You've got your inner beauty
We can't all be divine
The missiles were struck by lightning as they got close, the explosions deafening, but the storm cloud didn't dissipate. I felt the lightning coursing through me! The armor protected my insides from the shock waves as my teeth rattled. I actually laughed.
Listen, girlfriend, can't you see?
I'm all of the things that you'll never be
I zoomed right at the Giga-Terra-Whatever-Zord. It pointed its hand at me and giant swords big enough for a regular giant robot shot out like throwing knives! I weaved and bobbed through them, spinning up the arm in a corkscrew pattern. I ripped out connection joints as I went, just trusting my instincts!
I'm cool like the rain and I'm hot like the sun
I'm a neon rainbow and you're no fun
The Giga-Terrazord's elbow exploded, and it lost a forearm. Way too many lasers shot from the head's million eyes. A tie-dye colored forcefield appeared around the head! I tanked the lasers feeling like every cell in my body was being told, 'Cease to exist!' but my armor held together! Barely! I actually felt it starting to bend under the force and my Element quivering. My body screamed at the strain, but I didn't give up!
No one likes a girl who wears a silly frown
Just wear a smile and you'll turn it all around
I tilted my head down. "SONIC… RAINBOOOOOM!!!!"
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The forcefield held, but the parts connecting the head to the rest of the body didn't. The rainbow shockwave blew the robot's head right off its shoulders, and crashed into the dead-wind barrier with a crazy huge explosion.
Just think of happy things, you'll see in no time
I hovered unsteadily, gasping for air. Everything ached. Even my armor felt heavy. Just need a minute to catch my breath. I think I bruised my everything.
The remaining arm with the sword spun around and tried to cut me in two! I went flying like a leaf in the wind.
A panel slid open on its torso. Eris had switched to a second cockpit in the chest!
Fun every day, the clouds roll away
Try it, you'll see, just be more like me
Okay... I... I can still do this... I'm... I'm not spent yet!
(Let me give you some of my strength, dear. Don't second guess yourself, just act. Lightning is your blade dear, your blazing sword. Let's end this cycle of evil.)
"Lightning Blade!"/"Lightning Blade!"
WHOA!!!!! What's this feeling! I feel like I downed a hundred sodas at once! Still hurts but I can keep moving! Yeah!
Listen, girlfriend, can't you see?
I'm all of the things that you'll never be
The lightning came, from where I wasn't sure, but it was rainbow colored, and the sword that formed... it was big, and it had a crown like trident on the end. It was too big for me to swing, so I rode the edge like a cloudboard!
(Eris! Enough! You! Bucking! Selfish! Bully!)
I'm cool like the rain and I'm hot like the sun
I'm a neon rainbow and you're no fun
The mega-giant robot tried to leap out of the way, but the arena didn't give it enough room for the clumsy movements Eris ordered, and down through the big machine it went!
-
From Discord I came, to Discord I return. No hopes or dreams before or after, only the end.
-
Then... I think it blew up, I think... I don't remember much for the next couple seconds. Everything went white. The robots separated and then separated again. I'm not sure what happened to them after that.
When it was done, through... Geeze did that take a lot of me. My body felt like my armor was keeping my atoms together.
(Prism Rush's Notes): You'll be fine, dear. You're Rainbow Dash, after all! I just want to say... that armor? It DOES look good on you, and I know the Wonderbolts uniform will look even better!)
Heh... thanks.
---
(Prism Rush's Private Notes): Why didn't Eris teleport away? Rainbow is too rattled to think of it, but you aren't.
Maybe she didn't think of it? Or maybe it happened too fast for her to try? Or maybe she did and she's faking?
Come now, you're much too intelligent for that. Eris showed she could create subparts, but she still tried to pilot that robot by herself. This has all been a 'final performance' Discord's been putting on. Celestia said so herself remember? She asked why Discord wanted to be never-be-heard-from-again. Eris told her not to compare her to the other detachments... maybe she was the only one who knew the real reason why she was created.)
--
The barrier is gone. It went poof when Eris did.
Then... it's like different rolls of movie film were lined up on top of each other. The black barriers were all gone. The gloomy faint drizzle was still going on, and... I'm with all my friends again.
They were blown apart when Diamond Tiara's magic hit, but now we're all together again.
Wait, does this mean that my battle took the longest? No way! Eris must have messed with time or something! Yeah, that's it.
Princess Celestia is nuzzling Twilight. Spike is hugging Silver Spoon. Princess Luna is hugging Fluttershy, who still has a horn. Applejack is hugging Apple Bloom. Rarity is hugging Sweetie Belle. Pinkie Pie is hugging Trixie, probably so Trixie won't feel left out. And then something small and orange tackled me.
"Scootaloo!" I gave my favorite little filly a hug. "Squirt, you okay?"
"... Good question." She hugged back.
I looked her in the eye. "... Scoots, if you want to talk about it, I'm right here. The Dash will never think less of you for opening up."
"Thanks, Dash." She nuzzled close, and her smile faltered. "Me and my friends, we... had to do what we had to do."
I held her shoulders. "Squirt, I want you to remember this and remember this hard: If it's 'what ya had to do', always, always make sure it is what ya gotta do. Not just what's easy." Then I realized that might not have been the best thing to tell a filly right now. "Scootaloo, I'm proud of you! You and your friends are standing here, and the bad guy isn't. You held on, you didn't give up, you didn't give in. That's definitely something to be proud of!"
Scoots found her smile again, and hugged me tighter. "Thanks, Dash."
Me and the rest of my friends didn't have time exactly to stand around and compare notes, because Discord tapped on a microphone. There was a wail of feedback, even though there were no speakers and the mic wasn't even plugged into anything. "Excuse me, evil god of chaos and brainwashed innocent minion, still standing right here! I'm shocked, simply shocked! Why, I never expected that you might actually defeat them all."
Nightfilly Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes.
No pony there expected who spoke next, or what she had to say.
"Well, Discord?" asked Princess Celestia, gently but firmly. "Are you satisfied?"