//------------------------------// // Return to Night's End // Story: Harmonics // by ezra09 //------------------------------// Discord, Spike, Thistleroot, and Mimic appeared before Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. “—doing what?” Thistleroot asked, eyes wide with panic, head whipping around to get his bearings. “Oh. Okay, I thought you meant like, right now. Oh, hi girls.” Spike sat on an empty chair, taking a long, calming breath. “Don’t just teleport us like that.” “Are you two okay?” Scootaloo asked, fighting the urge to smile. It seemed Discord was energetic as ever, despite the early morning. “Oh, they’re fine,” Discord said. “Anyway, that’s everypony, so let’s go fight Nocturne.” He raised his arm, but Thistleroot’s and Spike’s eyes went wide, and both jumped up, grabbing his arm and pulling it back down. “Wait!” They cried together. “Can we maybe just get a little context first?” Thistleroot asked. “Uh, yeah, what’s going on now?” Apple Bloom asked. Discord rolled his eyes. “Fine. An army of changelings are on their way here. They’ve probably got specters with them as well, and windigos are blowing in from the North. This camp is going to be over run in a matter of minutes.” “What!?” Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom leapt to their hooves. Thistleroot let go of Discord’s arm and fell back into his seat, and Mimic gave a hiss of displeasure. “Our only hope is to defeat Nocturne now, while she’s vulnerable,” Discord continued. “So while the princesses and the Royal Guard protect everypony here, the seven of us will go to Night’s End.” “Why us?” Thistleroot asked. “If you need ponies to go with you, wouldn’t trained Royal Guards be better?” Discord waved his paw in a dismissive gesture. “And leave my friends behind? Don’t be silly.” “Friends?” Apple Bloom asked, skeptically. “Well, Scootaloo and I are friends, at least,” Discord said. “And you’re all friends of hers, so I guuuess you can come along.” “Well, glad ya said so, cause we were coming with or without yer permission,” Apple Bloom said. “Yeah!” Sweetie Belle said. “I’m going,” Mimic said simply. “Me too,” Spike said. Thistleroot leaned back in his seat, looking defeatedly into the sky. “So, what’s it going to be, Lord Thistleroot?” Scootaloo asked, fighting back a smirk. Thistleroot sighed. “Well, I guess the right hoof of Princess Celestia can’t just sit back, can he? Fine, I’m in, but this is a terrible idea. We all know that, right? If anything, we’ll just slow Discord down.” “I remember saying something similar before we went into the hives,” Mimic said. “And look how that worked out.” “Ya need to have more confidence,” Apple Bloom said. “We can do a lot more together than we can alone, even Discord.” “Exactly,” Discord said, raising his talons to snap. “Haven’t you heard? Friendship is Magic.” And then he snapped. ***** They appeared in a large, arching hallway just in front of an ornate set of double doors. Scootaloo recognized the building as Night’s End, though she hadn’t seen this particular hall. “Odd, I meant for us to appear inside the throne room.” Discord traced a single talon across the door. “Oh, I see.” “A dimensional lock,” Thistleroot guessed and Discord nodded. “A what now?” Apple Bloom asked. “A force field that prevents anypony from teleporting through it,” Thistleroot said. “Canterlot Castle has one they can turn on during emergencies. Rosalia and Nocturne could still teleport inside it though,” he added hastily. “Just not through it.” “They know we’re here now,” Discord said. “So much for the element of surprise. Everypony ready?” Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle nodded. Spike and Thistleroot both looked like they were going to be sick, but after a moment did the same. Mimic hesitated, and then in a flash of green magic returned to her changeling form. She nodded. He raised his paw and pounded twice on the throne room door. It opened. Scootaloo stood back with her friends, letting Discord stand between them and whatever waited on the other side. She could see Nocturne, sitting regal as ever on her throne, with Rosalia standing beside her. Between them and the throne room doors stood a dozen changeling soldiers and overseers, and another dozen specters. Discord walked forward while staying still, an action that caused Scootaloo to blink and try to refocus her eyes. Several copies of Discord entered the room, each simply stepping out of the real Discord. There were hisses of confusion and bursts of changeling fire in the room, and then the Discord copies walked back out of the room, each carrying two or three confused looking changelings and specters in their arms. Once outside the dimensional lock, the real Discord snapped his fingers and the changelings and specters vanished in flashes of light. The Discord copies stepped back into the real Discord, vanishing from sight. Within thirty seconds, Discord had completely removed Nocturne’s guard. Nocturne continued to watch, unmoving, but spoke, and Scootaloo could almost hear a hint of amusement to her voice. “E dumt oui.” Rosalia rolled her eyes. Discord walked into the room and Scootaloo and her friends followed. “I’m surprised,” Rosalia said. “I knew Discord would come, but I thought the rest of you would stay behind to protect everypony you could.” “We are protecting them,” Apple Bloom said. “By beating you.” “Is that so?” Rosalia asked. “And if you do defeat me, do you believe the changeling army will just fall apart? Even if by some miracle you succeed here, it won’t save anypony.” The bottom seemed to drop out of Scootaloo’s stomach. It had only been a few minutes since she’d heard about the approaching changelings, so she hadn’t had time to consider that, but Rosalia was right. Even if they beat the changeling queens, how would the changeling army know? They couldn’t— A hoof settled on her shoulder and she turned to see Mimic, eyes burning as she stared at Rosalia. “Don’t listen to her.” A memory tugged at the corner of her mind. A stone wall, and a message left for her and Mimic to read, a message created by one of the eternal spirits, one that had helped Discord design the prison. “Don’t believe the Queen’s lies.” “If we beat her, the overseers will know,” Mimic said. “Ah, Mimic,” Rosalia said, leaning to get a better look at the changeling. “You disappoint me, child. I had been hoping my efforts would not go to waste, or that you would at least be smart enough to flee, but—” “Shut up!” Rosalia blinked. “It seems your efforts were not entirely wasted,” Nocturne said, and Scootaloo could have sworn she saw a small smile threaten the queen’s face. “Well, I love banter as much as the next Draconequus,” Discord said, “but I’m afraid we actually are on a bit of a time crunch here. So, what do you say we get this over with?” He flipped a taloned hand and the tablet appeared in it. “Very well,” Nocturne said. “We think this time you will have a harder time. You will not take us by surprise while our daughters distract us.” Discord flipped his paw over, and a folded rectangle of white paper appeared in it. Rosalia’s and Nocturne’s gazes instantly tracked to it, and their postures became tense, ready for Discord’s trickery. Discord flipped open the paper and started turning it, folding it, and holding it up to the nearest torch sconce. “Just a second, sorry. These things are always in so many languages, and Equestrian is never the first.” Several moments passed. The only sound was the shuffling of paper as Discord tried to find the appropriate page. “Is... is that the owner’s manual?” Spike asked. “Of course,” Discord said. “It’s been over a thousand years since I’ve used this. Hmmph, and everypony made fun of my for keeping the manuals. ‘You’ll never need them. They’re just gathering dust in your end table drawer.’ Ahah, Equestrian.” Discord read for another few seconds before waving his paw, and the owner’s manual vanished. “Okay, I’m ready.” And then Discord moved, faster than Scootaloo could have believed of him, twisting through the air like a striking snake. As he did, the tablet flashed with the same lines she’d seen before. The lines seemed to lift off of the tablet in a tangled net that arced toward Nocturne and Rosalia. The changeling queens seperated, and the lines from the tablet twisted harmlessly across the throne. Discord swept the tablet through the air toward Nocturne, who kept moving, trying to open space between herself and the spirit of chaos. Rosalia landed behind him, horn flaring, but he twisted his paw in a sharp upward motion toward her without so much as looking, and the carpet beneath her came to life. It rolled up toward her, trying to smother her and forcing her attention away for just a moment. Nocturne summoned three spears of black glass and launched them as she threw herself backwards. Discord twisted his paw around and raised it. The spears became umbrellas. The umbrellas flared open as Discord blew. They caught the sudden gust of wind, changing direction and hurtling toward Nocturne. Discord dropped his paw, and the umbrellas became spears again. The spears hit Nocturne, shattering against her and throwing her back several steps. Rosalia incinerated the carpet with a burst of magic and then started moving again, not toward Discord, but toward Scootaloo and her friends. Scootaloo’s eyes widened, and in the peripheral of her vision she saw Thistleroot stagger back half a step. Her gaze swept over to Discord, who had half turned. Their eyes locked, and Scootaloo felt a moment of recognition at the same time she saw it in his own face. He winked. And then Discord pressed the attack against Nocturne. Rosalia’s course changed instantly, charging even faster toward Discord, a snarl of anger rising in her chest as her distraction failed. Discord waved again, and then pointed at the stone floor to his right. Rosalia leapt, high into the air. At the same time, a section of the ceiling swung down, a pie somehow fastened onto it. Rosalia slammed into it at full speed, jerking to the side and bouncing off the wall across from Discord and Nocturne. Discord took another swing at the same time, the magical net cast from the tablet forcing her back just as Rosalia fell. The changeling queens collided and Discord moved again, landing beside them, tablet outstretched, too close for either of them to dodge it. They stood that way, the battle over, as the single moment seemed to stretch out for an eternity. Except, Scootaloo realized, it wasn’t a single moment. Nopony moved, but Discord still hadn’t used the tablet. After a few more seconds he straightened and pulled out the owner’s manual. Everypony watched in confusion, the sound of shuffling paper filling the room again as he searched for the section written in Equestrian. He read, and then looked back at Scootaloo and her friends. “So, I have good news and bad news.” “What’s the good news?” She asked. “The good news is that the battery on this thing is rechargeable,” Discord said. “Those are a lot better for the environment, after all.” “Battery?” Spike asked. “And that’s the bad news.” Rosalia hit Discord with a burst of changeling fire. He staggered away, coughing, face covered in black soot as Nocturne circled to his other side. The shadows cast by her form writhed and formed themselves into living chains that twisted around him and jerked him sideways. He hit the wall, cracking the stonework, and the tablet fell from his grasp. It bounced once and landed in the corner of the throne room. Rosalia leapt into the air, horn flaring with magic, and she sent an intense beam of concentrated fire toward the tablet. She couldn’t destroy it, Scootaloo thought desperately. She would have done it earlier, if she could. The beam didn’t hit the tablet, instead shearing through the wall several feet above it. Rosalia guided the beam of fire in a large circle around the tablet. Stone ground against stone, and a small section of the throne room corner fell away into the dark night outside, carrying the tablet with it. Discord could just grab it again, Scootaloo thought. She turned back toward him, but Discord hadn’t moved. He pulled against the chains, but they held him steady. He shifted, and managed to snap his talons. Nothing happened. Rosalia straightened, breathing heavily, but a cold fire burning in her eyes. “My lady?” Nocturne turned, looking at Scootaloo’s group. Scootaloo looked from Discord to the hole where the tablet had been, and then back to Discord, her heart jolting with a sudden surge of fear and adrenaline. “You promised,” Rosalia said. Nocturne frowned, but nodded. “They chose a foolish fight. Do what you will.” Rosalia turned and leapt, crossing the room with blinding speed, and before Scootaloo could react, she was upon them.