//------------------------------// // Harmony // Story: Little Choices // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Chaos: It was something that Discord thought was a wonderful, wonderful thing. A touch of chaos in almost any situation would make it a million times better. Right now, sitting on a mangled and lopsided throne, looking out upon Ponyville with a pleased and delighted grin, it was safe to say he hadn’t ‘touched’ ponyville with chaos, he had outright slapped it with the stuff. And the small, quiet town was a million times better for it. A fact that was confirmed all the more when a house spontaneously transformed into a delicately balanced stack of cards, the ponies within crying out in fear before scurrying away on newly acquired lobster legs. Discord laughed merrily before a drinking glass was conjured in his claws. “Oh, I don’t think I will ever bore of such things.” he chuckled before holding the glass out so that a passing cotton candy cloud could fill it. As the spirit of chaos continued on with enjoying the spectacle he had created, six mares stood hiding behind a house, whispering amongst themselves. “Look, all I’m saying is that it would be best if we tried to get him without letting him know we’re here,” Twilight pressured at Rainbow Dash, who had insisted that they go and confront Discord directly. The rest of the group, including a freshly restored Pinkie Pie and Rarity, listened to the other two mares debating their plan of action. All of them had their elements around their necks, or, in Twilight’s case, on her head. “He’s a lot more powerful than all of us put together. If we want to stand even a ghost of a chance then we can’t risk letting him take the elements off of us.” “I’m pretty sure he knows we’re here already and is just humoring us,” Rainbow countered bluntly. “I mean, we’re pretty much smack dab in the center of his territory. I don’t think there’s a single thing going on in here that he isn’t aware of.” “We can’t know that for sure, though,” Twilight protested. “And I don’t think it’s wise to risk it.” Rainbow groaned and ran a hoof over his face. “Okay, point taken. I still don’t like it. It feels icky.” “Oh, we understand what you’re saying completely, darling,” Rarity nodded in agreement. “But I for one think Twilight has the right of it. This isn’t a hoof-ball court where there are rules and regulations to keep the playing field fair,” she then gestured around at Discord’s mess with a twitch in her eye. “This is war. A war against Discord’s incredibly unfabulous tastes. And all is fair in love and war.” “Like eavesdropping?” Discord’s voice snickered into their ears. Rainbow frowned. “See? What’d I tell ya?” In a flash of light, all six mares were teleported from where they had been hiding to stand directly in front of Discord, who looked down on all of them in amusement. “Well, congratulations on finding your elements, ladies,” he said with a playful smirk. “But really, how much do you think you’re going to accomplish here?” “Shut up and hold still.” Rainbow snapped, already focusing her mind on her element. She then grimaced when she realized that it had been plucked from her neck already. Everypony made similar exclamations of alarm and anger when they all discovered that they, too, were missing their elements. “Looking for something?” Discord asked with a cheeky little grin on his face, all six of the Elements of Harmony spinning lazily around his finger on a string. “Honestly, you would have been better off just marching up here and blasting me. Trying to be all sneaky about it simply clued me into the fact that you’re back to normal.” “Give those back, party pooper!” Pinkie seethed, bouncing forward a step. “Party pooper?” Discord held his paw up to his chest in shock. “Me? Oh, come on Pinkie Pie, surely you can appreciate everything around you?” “Only the chocolate rain, but not at the expense of everypony’s smiles!” Pinkie shot back, stamping a hoof angrily. Discord chuckled. He set the elements down on the armrest of his throne and lifted his claw, which began to glow with golden light. “Oh, don’t be like that, Pinkie Pie,” his claws flexed and, suddenly, Pinkie was lifted off of her hooves and brought forward at high speeds to stop right in front of Discord’s hideous smile. “You were only too happy to ruin everypony’s day and stomp laughter out wherever you found it only fifteen minutes ago. Why the change of heart, eh?” “Put her down!” Applejack growled, taking a step forward, though Twilight stretched out a hoof to stop her. “Why?” Discord asked flatly, twirling his claw and, in so doing, making Pinkie Pie spin in the air against her will. The pink mare began to let out disoriented shouts. “Ah think you know why,” Applejack snapped. “She’s our friend! If ya don’t put her down, we’ll make ya!” “Was that an honest threat, Applejack?” Discord asked knowingly before the glow around his claw got even brighter. Applejack was then, too, yanked forward in Discord’s magic. “Oh, I thought I had taught you better than that...” Discord then turned his eyes to the rest of them, his smile widening. “All of you, if I’m being honest. Come here.” the glow grew to almost blinding levels, drawing all but Twilight forward into his newly formed circle of spinning ponies. They all kicked and struggled, but were powerless. Now! Twilight’s horn lit up in magic before her entire body was swallowed in a bright flash of teleportation magic. She appeared in the air, surrounded by her friends, her horn enveloped in several layers of intense magic. With a grunt of effort, a large bubble of lavender energy formed around her and her friends, successfully breaking the link Discord had on them, the draconequus looking at them all with a surprised expression. With a groan of strain and sweat dripping down the sides of her neck, Twilight guided the bubble (and a certain set of five necklaces and a crown) back down to the ground. The bubble popped, releasing all of them to get their bearings. Twilight looked at her friends firmly. “Be ready,” she said quietly before turning her hardened expression to Discord. “You have taught us something, Discord. You’ve taught us that friendship isn’t always easy, but there is no doubt it’s worth fighting for.” “And how do you expect to fight me without your elements?” Discord chortled in merry amusement, resting his claws on the armrest where he had placed the elements. They were gone. Discord’s eyes widened. “Oh, no…” Twilight smiled. “Like this.” with a flourish of magic, all five of her friend’s elements were reconnected to their representative's necks. Then, her crown fell upon her head, the jewel embedded into it already glowing. Discord got up from his throne. “Oh, no, no no NO!” he lifted a claw and a beam of purple, orange and green magic shot out towards the group of mares. The energy stopped short and bent around them all uselessly. “NO, NO, NO! Don’t you dare!” The six friends said nothing. Their eyes lit up with white light, prismatic magic filling the air. Discord shuffled back but was unable to escape the wave of energy that shot outwards in a bright dome from the six ponies. He let out a defiant and infuriated scream as the energy washed over him, drowning out his cries with the rushing of wind and the ringing of the magic. There was a bright flash of light, one that could be seen for miles. As before, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie’s minds had all momentarily linked when they had used the elements. As the light faded and their awareness became individual again instead of collective, they each breathed a sigh of relief that they didn’t pass out this time. Slowly, they all touched back down, smiling warmly. Discord’s newly re-petrified body slammed into the ground face first, his eyes wide open. All around him, all across Equestria, his changes had been reversed and the world returned to normal. Albeit many ponies emerged from the chaos with deep-seeded confusion, most of them missing some pretty crucial context. But for Twilight, Rainbow and their friends, there was no confusion. Just contentment as they came together in a large group hug. They were content to not say anything. They had each other, they had won, and everything was alright again. Well, mostly. Slowly, Rainbow Dash peeled herself away from the group hug, earning questioning glances from her friends. She smiled sheepishly. “Hey, I’d like to stick around and hug some more, but I actually need to head on up to Canterlot. I need to make sure mom and Aunt Luna are okay.” “I’m sure they’re fine, darling.” Rarity pointed out, though she didn't protest. “Oh, I’m sure, too,” Rainbow agreed while lifting into the air on her wings. “But I gotta make sure. They’re my family just as much as all of you, and I know that you are all okay.” “Oh, Rainbow!” Twilight called up as the distance between them increased. She, too, peeled away from the group hug. “Sup?” “Can you take me with you? I want to check on my parents and Shining Armor!” Rainbow smiled before lowering herself back to the ground. “Sure, hop on,” she then turned her attention to the rest of their friends. “You all go check on your families and homes and stuff. We’ll send a letter via Spike when we’re sure everything’s alright.” “Oh, oh, if everything is alright, can I throw a big party?!” Pinkie asked excitedly, bouncing in place. “Why are you asking me?” Rainbow laughed before nodding. “It’s what you do, Pinkie. Don’t ever feel like you need to ask first, at least not with us.” Pinkie squealed in delight. “We’ll be back soon, everypony!” Twilight called by Rainbow’s side before looking over the other mare’s back with a small frown. “Huh… fitting back here was a lot easier when we were foals.” “Do you want me to just carry you by the legs?” Rainbow quipped with a small grin. “N-no, that’s fine!” Twilight dismissed quickly before awkwardly clambering onto Rainbow’s back. The pegasus grunted a bit at the added weight of the bookish unicorn trying to find a comfy spot on her back. “You need to work out more, Twilight.” “Shut up, Rainbow.” Twilight laughed before hooking all four of her legs around the pegasus’ midsection and nodding. Rainbow grinned and then shot into the air at high speeds, kicking up dust and dirt from the point of departure. The other four mares waved as the two vanished into the clouds before turning to head for their respective homes, each one eager to ensure the wellbeing of their own families or other such individuals. Up in the clouds, once vertigo had worn off, Twilight opened up her eyes and looked around at the incredible view that only a creature with wings could get. Equestria spanned all around them, the clouds adding spots of white texture to distant hills, far off mountains and cities in the distance. The sunlight of what was swiftly turning into late evening painted everything she could see in stripes of gold and cast dark shadows in long stripes. Lakes sparkled beautifully as the light reflected off of them. “Enjoying the view?” Rainbow asked after a few seconds of silence. Twilight jumped slightly, having been entirely entranced by what she was seeing. It was then that she realized they had stopped moving, Rainbow just hovering there to let her take it in. “Yeah…” “Well, maybe you’ll get those wings someday. I mean, we just trounced Discord, so I bet that counts as one of mom’s tests.” Rainbow said reassuringly before resuming her flight, albeit at a slightly more leisurely pace. Twilight frowned. unsure. “Maybe, but it’s also possible that I failed this test if it even was one. I mean, All of you wound up being corrupted by Discord. I got corrupted by Discord.” “Yeah? So? You turned it around, didn’t you?” Rainbow refuted, bumping Twilight gently. “I mean, I guess. But if Celestia wants to make me an alicorn or a princess someday, I’m going to need to do better than that.” Twilight said worriedly, her grip on Rainbow tightening a bit. “In what way?” “Figuring out from the beginning that the Elements would be in Ponyville, for starters. We could have saved so much time and dodged all of that nonsense Discord threw at us in the maze.” Rainbow stopped again and glanced over her shoulder at Twilight. “Twi, lemme ask you a quick question: do you think mom figured out that riddle when we got started?” Twilight blinked and leaned back a bit. “Huh? I mean… maybe?” Rainbow resumed her flight again, much slower this time. “She didn't. She was just as lost as the rest of us. Plus she didn’t start in Ponyville like we did. Even if mom is a lot better at all of this then we are, she still messes up. A lot more than you might think.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Yeah, really. She isn’t perfect, Twilight. And you don’t have to be perfect either. You just have to be you, and do your best.” Rainbow nodded before picking up the pace of her flight, swiftly closing the remaining distance between them at Canterlot. Twilight held on and took comfort in her friend’s words, returning her gaze to the land of Equestria around them.