//------------------------------// // 10 Monochrome // Story: Errant Finale // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// “It is okay, Twilight,” Celestia says reassuringly, nuzzling her student as Twilight slowly recovers. “I will stall him while you gather your friends.” “Are you sure?” Twilight shudders as she watches Discord; the draconequus now has an old-fashioned horn sticking in one ear, a claw plugging up the other as Lemon rambles about how cool Discord’s house is. Meringue is flipping through sheets of paper, equations written upon them that she is sure would drive anypony to madness. “I think he’s just toying with us!” She motions to the hoof marks carved into the floor where Celestia skidded back. Celestia nods, though she can’t hide her lack of confidence. “Back when Luna and I challenged Discord, we had the Elements of Harmony. He underestimated their power then; I fear he will not do so this time.” “Yes, that’s true, very true,” Discord says from between Celestia and Twilight, an arm wrapping around each of them. They glare up at him, though he ignores their displeasure at him touching them so casually. “But a game would not be fun without an element of risk, hmm? After all, what is the point of gambling on a sure thing?” “And what are you risking, Discord?” Twilight grits her teeth, pulling her head out from under his arm. “I already told you, of course! I’m betting my freedom from being Celestia’s lawn ornament again.” Discord rubs his paw against Celestia’s head, the alicorn trying to stay non-plussed. “But since I’m up against your ability to stay true to yourselves and your Element, I’d say there was never any doubt.” Twilight confidently states, “Well, my Element is Magic, and while Magic might not be enough to defeat you, Magic is Friendship! And with my friends by my side, I know we’ll be able to defeat you!” “Yes, yes, run along, go gather your ‘friends’. I’ll be surprised if you still have any left by tonight.” Discord sneers as Twilight glares, a wave of his paw as she leaves. He turns to Celestia, a lascivious grin on his face that looks completely out of place. “So, tell me more about this ‘Doug’ character. A little birdie told me that you want him to put a bun in that furnace of yours. That just seems so… vile. Even more little half Terrans infesting the place?” Celestia’s smoldering gaze merely prompts the draconequus to pop his sunglasses back on. Twilight races towards the main party area, nearly bowling into Applejack and Fancy Pants. She skids to a stop, looking her herdmate over as Applejack and Fancy Pants regard her just as concerned. Twilight gasps at Applejack’s dull pallor, though the expression on the earth pony doesn’t seem to indicate anything is wrong. “Applejack? I need your help!” Twilight looks over Applejack’s dress, though she can’t seem to find the object she is looking for. “Were you able to find your Element?” “Um, Ah can’t say that Ah did,” Applejack returns, slightly nervous. “We were just going outside.” “Outside?” Twilight returns a raised eyebrow. They were just walking inside, towards the main ballroom. She shakes her head, growling to herself. “It doesn’t matter. Discord’s back.” “Discord?!” Applejack and Fancy Pants exclaim, exchanging terrified looks. Fancy Pants bolts away while Applejack turns to Twilight. She motions to her dull orange coat. “Discord must’a did this to me! How’r we gonna stop him?” “Together.” Twilight grimaces at Applejack’s bare neck. “Hopefully, we can find the Elements of Harmony before he does too much damage. Do you know where the others ran off to?” “Ah’m sure we’ll find the Elements lickety-split! And, yeah, Ah’ve seen the others.” Applejack forces a smile at Twilight, the two of them standing in the hallway. “I… don’t suppose you want to lead us to them?” an exasperated Twilight nearly yells. “Oh! Right. Um, this way!” Applejack calls, heading towards the main ballroom. The two race in, finding Pinkie Pie in the middle of the ballroom. Around her dozens of ponies are paired up and waltzing. It would be perfect, except that the dull pink mare has a look of utter disdain on her face, like she is dancing through garbage instead of at the highest class event in Equestria. Nopony else seems to notice, and Twilight and Applejack roughly push their way through. “Pinkie Pie!” Twilight shouts, her tone nearly bringing a stop to the music. Except that Pinkie Pie glares at the band so venomously they start the waltz back up, everypony nervously dancing along. Twilight’s eyes trace along, sighing at the dull pink. “We need you! Did you find your Element?” Pinkie Pie responds in time to the cadence of the waltz, her voice only going up and down with the beat. “Found and lost. All for naught. Why you ask?” “Because Discord is back!” Twilight’s reveal draws a few gasps from the dancers, but nopony dares leave. “We need to use the Elements to defeat him!” “Busy here. Good luck, though.” Pinkie Pie twirls in place, dancing without a partner, unconcerned. “Unacceptable!” Twilight grits her teeth, haphazardly following the pirouetting mare. “We need everypony, or it won’t work.” Pinkie Pie huffs, her motions taking her towards the main entry hall. “If you say. Must be quick!” She turns, pointing a hoof at the band and the ponies on the dance floor; her voice carries even without being raised. “Best not stop!” The three spot Rarity and Prince Blueblood entering the ballroom. “Rarity!” Twilight shouts. “We need your help!” “Hmm, yes, that dress could use a little sprucing up. While the white stars complement the blue, I could have done so much more, don’t you think?” Rarity taps her hoof against her chin, mulling over the possibilities. “It really would have made me stand out as a designer.” She glances up at Lunaris. “Don’t you agree?” His blithe shrug is met by Twilight fuming. “No, not about my dress! Discord returned, and we need to stop him! Did you find your Element?” “That old thing?” Rarity snorts in derision. “It clashed horribly with my ensemble.” “So would anything,” Applejack derisively adds. “You what?” Twilight slams her hoof into her head. Lunaris raises a hoof and opens his mouth, but Twilight cuts him off. “Anyway. It doesn’t matter. I need you to come with me.” “Are you sure? I would much rather be seen out here by all those wonderful ponies.” Rarity poses for a few of the dancers, though none react. “You can do that later!” Twilight roughly grabs Rarity, the white unicorn gasping at the near despoiling of her dress. Rarity bats her away. “Please, darling! Hooves off! If it means that much to you, fine, we can take care of a little chaos. Plus, it will make us - well, me especially - look absolutely fabulous, yes?” The four race off, leaving Lunaris standing around and confused. He pulls the Element out of his bag, cocking his head to inspect it, as Fancy Pants and one of the servers walk up to him. Twilight and company spot Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Soarin leaving the Wonderbolts VIP section. “I knew I’d find you here!” Twilight happily exclaims, sidling up to her herdmate. “Rainbow Dash, we need your help!” “Sorry, Twilight, but I’m kind of busy right now.” Rainbow puffs her chest out, grinning. “I’m about to show off my moves to the Wonderbolts! Can you believe it!” “Yes, it’s very exciting.” Twilight sighs at Rainbow Dash’s dull cerulean, the same as the others. She remarks to Applejack, “Does Rainbow Dash look different to you?” Applejack shrugs. “Looks the same as always to me.” “Right.” Twilight sighs, turning to Rainbow Dash as she preens. “Did you find your Element, too?” Rainbow Dash nods, guarded. “Sorry, Twilight. But the Wonderbolts are a bigger priority than official Element business. They require dedication, and I’m nothing if not loyal!” “What?” Twilight shouts exasperatedly. “Sounds like she's a bunch of nothing to me,” Applejack snorts. Rainbow Dash glares, gritting her teeth. “Say that again.” Twilight steps in between them. “Look, we can’t be fighting each other! We need to work together to stop Discord!” “Sorry, Twi.” Rainbow Dash shakes her head, backing up. “She isn’t worth it, anyway. Besides, I’ve got a performance to get to!” Spitfire turns to Rainbow Dash, “Well, this isn’t really an official Wonderbolts performance, so it’s okay if you go take care of that first.” “Ugh, fine.” Rainbow Dash follows Twilight. “How long is this gonna take, anyway? I’m missing out on precious Wonderbolts time!” Spitfire flies back to the table Rainbow was sitting at before as the five Element bearers race off. Only for Fluttershy to charge through an open door, chasing a green jay. “Get… Over here!” Fluttershy yells, frustrating at the bird’s non-compliance. “I just want to be friends!” “Fluttershy!” Twilight says happily, the yellow pegasus swerving to a stop in front of them. “We found you!” “Was that hard for you, Twilight?” Fluttershy nastily replies, smirking. Her eyes trace over the rest of the Elements. “And what’s wrong with them?” “Nothing!” Applejack shouts back with a glare. “Rrrgh!” Twilight growls, eyes flicking between the two. “Fluttershy, you’re coming with us!” “No, I’m not.” Fluttershy sticks her tongue out. “You can’t make me!” Twilight grins. “Rainbow Dash, the sooner we stop Discord, the sooner you can go fly with the ‘Bolts.” “Well, why didn’t you say so?!” Rainbow Dash soars behind Fluttershy, pushing the startled mare towards the entry hall. “Let’s go!” The green jay wings out the way it came, a determined call as he gets outside. The six burst into the entry hall, Discord and Celestia still at the center. The occasional glimpse of another pony can be spotted, but none dare advance at the two. Twilight races forwards, the other Elements right behind her. “Discord! I’ve come to…” Discord is pantomiming… drinking out of a straw while thrusting his hips. Celestia has a hoof over her eyes, sighing loudly. “...What are you doing?” “Oh, just chatting with ‘Tia here about ancient pony traditions.” Discord winks at Celestia before lazily covering his mouth with a paw, yawning loudly. “Please, carry on with whatever it is you are doing.” “Um,” Twilight says awkwardly, glancing at Celestia. “Do I want to know?” “Sadly, yes, but now is not the time.” Celestia removes her hoof from her eyes, frowning at the lack of Elements on everypony. Twilight shakes her mane, clearing her head. “Okay, Discord! We’ve come to put an end to your reign of chaos! And fix whatever you did to my Friends?” “What I did?” Discord laughs in Twilight’s face, a claw depressing her nose. “That’s the best part! I haven’t done anything to your ‘friends’!” Discord’s mocking air quotes only serve to further infuriate Twilight. “They did it all to themselves! I just found the color to be an excellent indicator of how ‘in tune’ they are with their Element.” He flicks a claw at them. “You ponies are so dull, and now you have the coat to match!” “But Applejack said that you did this to her!” Twilight turns, pointing to the dull orange mare. “Yeah! Discord made me give up my Element!” Applejack’s eyes flick from side to side. Discord sneers. “And poor Applejack hasn’t spoken a word of truth since you’ve been with her, has she?” Twilight turns to Applejack. She hesitantly asks, “Applejack? Is that true?” She says, slowly, “I thought you told me you didn’t find your Element.” “It, um,” Applejack stammers, eyes darting every which way. “Discord’s a filthy liar!” “Well, if the Element of Honesty says so.” Discord bows mockingly. Twilight resolutely stands regardless, her five fellow Element bearers standing with her. “Well, the important thing is, that we don’t need a physical representation of the Elements of Harmony to stop you! Because the Elements of Harmony are right here!” Her hoof touches her chest, smirking confidently. Discord coughs, motioning to his chest. “Your Element crown… tiara… thing… isn’t there.” His claw motions to his head where the two fillies rest, each watching with wide, happy eyes. “It’s up here.” Twilight ignores him, and the crown of Magic on her head, calling to her fellow Elements. “Ready girls?” “No!” “Yes, I am!” “Fine, darling.” “Let’s get this over with!” “Alright, meanie! You’re going down!” Discord whistles nonchalantly as the six Elements raise their hooves into the air.