//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Discord // by PurpleWonderPower //------------------------------// Chapter 13 Twilight Sparkle lay on her bed, her body as still as a statue. Cadance and Shining Armor gazed down at her with tears in their eyes. Suddenly, the double doors opened, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo fluttered into the room. Their faces fell at the sight before them. "You!" said Shining Armor, furiously, striding forward, "Just look at what you've done!" He jabbed his hoof at Twilight. Cadance was sitting by the side of the bed, sobbing into her hooves. "She's just sleeping," said Scootaloo, with a weak smile. "Just sleeping!?" breathed Shining Armor, "JUST SLEEPING!? You three have ruined everything! You were supposed to keep her safe! And now my daughter will never wake up, thanks to you!" With that, Cadance burst into tears, and galloped out of the room! "Cadance, honey!" exclaimed Shining Armor, "It's OK, I'm coming!" He galloped after her, following her streams of sobbing, then stopped and looked back at the Breezies. "And then I'm going to give you three a piece of my mind!" he said, fiercely, before slamming the doors shut and running after his sobbing wife. "Aw, shoot," said Apple Bloom, guiltily, "We really went and did it, girls." ... The palace doors slammed open, and Discord strode boldly down the corridors, with a deadly expression on his face! The palace guards gasped and charged at him with their weapons raised, but with one snap of his fingers, they were flung into the walls and chained there! Discord rushed through the palace, ridding his path of anypony who tried to get in his way, before he finally reached the room that held Twilight. With a loud SLAM! he flung the doors open and stepped into the room! Startled by the sound, the Breezies looked up to see Discord standing in the doorway! They screamed in horror, then leapt in front of Twilight and all channelled their magic, ready to blast the Lord of Chaos with everything they had! A look of fury on his face, Discord raised his eagle claw and sliced open a portal in the air! He clenched his fist and yanked the Breezies over, hurling them into the portal! They screamed as they were hurled info the vortex, before Discord snapped his fingers and it vanished! The look of fury faded from his eyes and he walked up to Twilight. She was lying on the bed, her eyes closed for good. Discord drew back the covers slightly and placed his hand on her chest. Her skin felt as cold as ice. If it weren't for her heart gently beating beneath his hand, he would have thought her dead. Discord's eyes welled up with tears as he gazed down at the alicorn he had cared so much about. She clearly wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. Her skin was colder than death, and her body was as still as stone (and thanks to Celestia and Luna, he knew exactly what that felt like). Wiping away the tears, he remembered all the things he and Twilight had done together. The time they had raced each other to the middle of the magical labyrinth. The time they had had that picnic on the cotton candy clouds with upside-down gravity. The time they had played Ogres & Oubliettes. So many wonderful memories. And thanks to him, there would never be any more. This was his fault. He had never felt so guilty in all his life. "Twilight," Discord said, in a slightly choked voice, "I'm so...so...sorry. I did this to you. I was filled with evil and hatred, wanting nothing more than to take Equestria for my own. And when I escaped from my prison the first thing I wanted was revenge. But now..." tears were streaming from his eyes now, "I've lost you forever. I always promised myself I would never care about anypony else. But I do. I care about you more than anything." He caressed Twilight's cheek with his lion paw and cradled her lifeless head in his arms. "Goodbye, Twilight," he whispered, "I promise I'll never forget how much you meant to me." As he gently lay her back down on the pillow, a tear from his eye dripped into Twilight's mouth. He turned away and hid his face in his hands. Suddenly, Twilight stirred. Then she licked her lips and swallowed. Her eyelids fluttered, and her eyes slowly opened. "Discord?" Twilight said, wearily. Discord froze, unable to believe it. Slowly, he turned back round and saw the purple alicorn smiling up at him from the bed. He swallowed and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Hello Twilight," smiled Discord. No more time for sappy moments. With tears of joy, Discord grabbed Twilight in his arms and buried her head in his chest, squeezing her as tightly as he could! Twilight laughed and hugged him back! "Oh, Discord!" laughed Twilight, tears of joy streaming down her face, "You came back for me!" "Well, of course I did," said Discord, stroking Twilight's cheek, "If it weren't for me, you never would have been cursed in the first place. Some friend I am." "You are," said Twilight, hugging him round the neck, "You're my first, best, closest friend." Tears formed at Discord's eyes. "Then it's lucky I brought these," he said, snapping his fingers. The two BFF necklaces Twilight had made appeared in mid air. He picked up Twilight's and hung it round her neck. "Friends forever, Discord?" said Twilight. Discord smiled. "Friends forever, Twilight." She smiled. "So are we going back to the Everfree Forest?" she asked, hopefully. "If that's what you want," replied Discord. "Oh, it is!" exclaimed Twilight, "It is!" Discord smiled. "It's what I want too." That old goofy grin crawled back onto Twilight's face, and she began to twitch in excitement, her hooves tiptoeing up and down on the duvet. "Three...two...one..." counted Discord. "Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!" squealed Twilight, bouncing around Discord, before leaping into his arms and hugging him tightly, "YES!" Meanwhile, in the throne room, Princess Cadance was sitting at her throne, tears streaming down her face, and her eyes slightly swollen from crying so much. Shining Armor had his arm around her, and he, Celestia and Luna were doing their best to comfort her. Cadance wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sniffled, "I know I need to be brave." "You don't have to be brave," said Luna, compassionately, placing her hoof on the pink alicorn's shoulder, "Not at a time like this." "I suppose I knew it was going to happen," said Cadance, a fresh surge of tears streaming down her cheeks, "I was foolish to think we could prevent a curse from coming true." There was a thunder of hoofsteps from outside the throne room, and the doors were flung open! "Your Highnesses!" exclaimed one of the castle guards, "Discord is in the castle! We believe he has come for the princess!" In that moment, the melancholy atmosphere around the princesses ceased, and Celestia leapt to her hooves! "Get me the wielders of the Elements!" she ordered, "We may not have been able to save Twilight Sparkle, but we will save Equestria!" "I can't wait to go back to the forest!" squealed Twilight, as she bounced down the stairs with Discord close behind, "Then we can have fun and play games and fly and use magic together forever!" Discord smiled. "That sounds wonderful," he said, "I'm happy if you are." "Then stop dragging your cloven hooves and come on!" exclaimed Twilight, trotting down the stairs. They reached the bottom of the staircase and headed towards the door that lead to the entrance hall. Twilight opened it with her magic and they both strode in. Unlike its normal bright and colourful appearance in the daytime, the entrance hall was dark and gloomy, giving it a spooky feeling. Suddenly a shiver pulsed through Discord's body and he could sense something was wrong. "Twilight, get back!" he exclaimed, throwing out a hand and shoving his friend back out into the corridor. Four huge blasts of unicorn magic hit Discord square in the middle, and he crumpled down onto the floor! Princess Celestia and her five wielders of the Elements leapt down from the balcony, followed by Cadance and Shining Armor! Discord struggled to get to his feet as they approached him with a look of fury on their faces! "You took our daughter away from us!" shouted Shining Armor, patting Cadance, who was in tears, "Now it's time for you to pay!" Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy spread out, making a circle around Discord, and their Elements began to glow! "You may have taken Cadance and Shining Armor's daughter away from them, Discord!" said Celestia, fiercely, "But I will ensure that Equestria does not fall under your rule once again! Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy!" "Time to rid Equestria of you forever!" declared Rainbow Dash! "You're darned tootin'!" declared Applejack! Discord's eyes widened in horror as the ponies' necklaces lit up with their signature colours! Celestia's eyes glowed bright white, and the rainbow connected all the Elements! "I'm going to stand here and watch you be defeated, Discord!" cried Cadance, tears streaming from her eyes, "You deserve nothing less! You placed a curse upon our daughter and now she will never be ours again!" There was a bright blast of light as the rainbow from the Elements struck Discord in the chest! He gave a yell of anguish as the power enveloped him! There was a loud cracking sound as stone began to coat his body, starting at his lizard foot and goat leg, spreading up to the rest of his body! Just as the stone casing was about to coat Discord's face and complete the spell, the nine ponies heard a voice shout "NO!" With a flash of light, Twilight Sparkle teleported in front of Discord and with an colossal explosion of pink magic, Celestia, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor smashed into the wall! They looked back in amazement to see Twilight Sparkle standing boldly in front of Discord with a look of fury on her face! "No! Pony! Touches him!" she shouted, her horn fired up with bright pink alicorn magic, "NO! PONY!" "Twilight?" exclaimed Cadance and Shining Armor, in shock! Everypony in the room's jaws dropped! "Twilight!" exclaimed Cadance, "You're awake!?" "What are you doing!?" exclaimed Shining Armor, "Get away from him!" "No!" snapped Twilight, lighting her horn and standing protectively in front of Discord, who was no longer almost coated in stone, "If you're going to kill Discord, you'll have to kill me too!" "No," said Discord, quietly. Twilight looked back at him. "What?" "No," repeated Discord, gently pushing Twilight aside and stepping forwards, "I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger because of me. Not again." "But you woke me up!" protested Twilight, "You saved me from the curse!" "I was the one who put that curse on you in the first place," said Discord, "And I don't want you to get caught in this." He glanced over at the royals, feeling very guilty. "I know there's no excuse for what I've done in the past," said Discord, shamefully, looking up at the princesses, "I just want you all to know that I'm sorry. And, if you want to turn me back to stone, then..." he sighed, "Well, that's fine by me. Just take care of Twilight." He waved his hand over his stomach, creating a bright red target. "Fire when ready." He placed his eagle claw across his chest in defeat. Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor's jaws dropped. There was a moment of silence, then Rainbow Dash jumped up. "Yeah!" snapped Rainbow Dash, "Come on, let's blast him back to stone!" "Works for me!" snapped Applejack. "Here, here!" snapped Rarity! "Oh, I don't know," said Fluttershy, worriedly, "I wouldn't want to do the wrong thing." "Who wants a cupcake!?" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, holding up two trays of cupcakes. Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie, weirdly. "What?" Pinkie Pie protested, taking a bite, "Cupcakes are delicious!" "No," said Twilight, her eyes brimming with tears as she turned to the princesses, "You can't turn him to stone. He's my friend. Isn't that what holds Equestria together? Friendship?" Celestia, Luna and Cadance exchanged glances and whispered for a moment, then all nodded. "Discord," said Celestia, facing the Lord of Chaos, "You once tried to take Equestria for your own, and placed a curse upon my niece's daughter." Discord hung his head, shamefully. "But," added Celestia, "I definitely see now that you really have changed. And since Twilight Sparkle is safe and awake, we are prepared to forgive you and grant you your freedom." "Aw, come on!" protested Rainbow Dash, but she was silenced. "On the condition that you will only use your magic for good, instead of evil," said Celestia. Discord let his breath out in a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you, Celestia," he said, gladly, "You're not so bad after all. And I honestly don't think taking over Equestria is in me anymore. So I promise I won't ever use my magic for evil." "Then it appears things did not turn out so badly after all," said Celestia, smiling. She stepped back, and Cadance and Shining Armor stepped forward, their eyes brimming with tears. They opened their arms. With a look of overwhelming happiness on her face, Twilight galloped forward and threw her arms around them, squeezing them tightly! Tears streamed from her eyes as they hugged her back. "We're so glad you're back, Twilight," whispered Shining Armor. "We missed you so much," said Cadance, tearfully. "Now that our newest princess is back," said Celestia, smiling, "I think a little celebration is in order."