Chapter Twenty: Discord's Return
Twilight Sparkle stared in shock as Discord and his kin laughed together, floating in the air above the commotion. He used his powers to lift the Unicorn into the air, beckoning her to the air before him.
"How has life been in Ponyville, Twilight? Have you made any new friends? I sure hope so. I'd hate for Celestia's star pupil to be failing on the one mission she was given." With a snap of his fingers, Twilight was released from his grip and dropped to the ground. Spike ran to her side as she stood up, regaining her strength and glaring at him.
"What do you want, Discord? The Elements of Harmony again?"
"Hmm, maybe. Maybe something else." He filed the talons on his bird-like hand, making the file disappear afterwards. "Maybe I'm also a teensy bit upset that you had my little helper banished to outer space?" Twilight cocked her head in confusion.
"Outer space? What are you talking about?" Spike tapped Twilight's shoulder.
"Uhh, when we ran into Queen Chrysalis in Twilight Town, Princess Luna banished her to the stars so Princess Celestia could deal with her later." Twilight quickly turned back to Discord.
"You were working with Queen Chrysalis? How did you find her?" She shook her head, still confused. "How did you escape your prison in the first place?"
"Ahh, Twilight, I have my ways. But, no matter, that story is for another time. Now, then, since my plan to send Equestria into a state of chaos once again didn't work, maybe stealing the Elements while they're all in one place will make things easier?" He grinned as Screwball, who had apparently left his side, flew up beside him, holding in her front hooves the six Elements of Harmony.
"The Elements! Fluttershy!" Fluttershy flew towards Screwball at Twilight's command, ready to tackle her to regain the Elements. Discord was too fast for her, though, and stopped her with a simple barrier which sent her cascading to the ground. The fillies made sure she was alright.
"Haha! That was much easier than I ever thought it would be! I'm really finding this much too easy, Twilight, can't you just try a little harder?"
"Hey! What do you think you're doing with the Elements?" Discord turned to stare at the source of the high-pitched whining voice.
"And who might you be, little filly?"
"Diamond Tiara. Wait, are you from the statue Cheerilee showed us that day we went on that really boring field trip?" Discord frowned at her disapprovingly.
"Ahh yes, I may remember your face. I'm not saying it was a pleasant memory, though." Diamond Tiara scoffed as he went past her, stopping at the place between the guards where Rarity was being held. He separated the stallions and lifted her into the air. "Rarity, you're here as well! I see half of your little gang is here, where are the others?" Spike and Sweetie Belle began jumping around to gain Rarity's attention.
"Big sister! Over here!"
"Rarity, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" She smiled weakly at them, too upset to speak. Discord looked between the two, then at Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich.
"Am I interrupting something here? I feel like there's something I'm missing."
"It's none of your business, Discord. Just give Rarity over to us along with the Elements and leave." Twilight said, sneering. Discord looked at her, then began laughing.
"There is something going on here! Has your precious Rarity been kidnapped by these ponies? How chaotic!" He set her back down in the crowd of stallions, who quickly held her down again, blocking her from Discord's view. "Oh my, if only Celestia could see this now! You're in quite a pickle now, aren't you, dear?" He picked up Twilight by her tail and brought her to his eye level. "What are you going to do now? Is there anything you even can do or have you finally been defeated? If your own friends aren't even going to be here to support you, then I can't imagine what kind of state you're in right now!" He laughed as Twilight's expression changed to one of helplessness. He set her back down on the ground.
"Could he… be right? Are we doomed to fail? Is there no way out of this?" Her despair brought her nearly to tears, but Spike stepped forward.
"No. We can't fail. We came too far, we can't fail now! Twilight, can't you see he's only trying to bring you down? That's just what he did to you in Ponyville, and you didn't let that stop yourself from defeating him! Sometimes being in the worst position doesn't mean you're going to lose, it just means you have to work harder to get there! That's what we have to do!"
"What wise words from a little dragon. Too bad words won't get you anywhere." Discord snickered as Spike tried to pep talk his friend.
"Oh yes they will!" A blur of color soared through the air, tackling Discord with little warning. He released the Elements from his arms, letting them fall to the ground before Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich.
"There ours, Daddy, get them!" Diamond Tiara was already reaching for the shiny objects, but the fillies had already had enough of her actions. They ran at her together, jumping through the air and smacking against her at full force. She didn't have time to shield herself and was knocked backwards away from the Elements. That didn't stop her father from gathering them for himself, though.
"Twilight, get the Elements!" Spike commanded, a plan already formed in his head. She galloped towards him, her horn glowing with a pink light. Using her magic to focus her energy and power, she tackled Filthy Rich and knocked him away from the Elements.
"Go, my daughter, get to the Elements before they do!" Discord told his daughter.
"Okey-dokey!" she said cheerfully, flying down to where they had fallen. Spike, taking notice of this, ran at them as well. He dove for them and luckily, got to them just before she did. Fluttershy quickly maneuvered over to Screwball and pushed her out of the way so she couldn’t attack Spike. Spike held up the six Elements as best as he could and took in a deep breath.
"Spike? What are you doing?" Twilight asked, a look of panic crossing her face. He ignored her question and blew his fire over the Elements. When it disappeared, the Elements had vanished with it.
"What? Where'd they go? Did you burn them all, idiot?" Diamond Tiara asked angrily.
"Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight praised. Diamond looked at him, still confused.
"What did you do with them?"
"He sent them away to the namby-pamby Princess Celestia. It doesn't matter, though, for you are still powerless if not even more so without them, Twilight Sparkle." Diamond Tiara stomped her hoof, but her father consoled her.
"We don't need them any longer, dear."
"I know, Daddy, but did you see how sparkly those jewels were? They were probably worth a fortune!" He shot her a strange look, but ignored her otherwise. He turned back to focus on the battle between Twilight and Discord.
"So where is your precious Princess then, Twilight? Is she still trying to clean up the mess I made in Equestria while she was on her little vacation I provided?" Twilight flared her nostrils.
"Yes, she is. Discord, why were you working with Chrysalis?" Discord raised an eyebrow.
"The Changeling Queen? Oh, I only found out she had a similar grudge against you little ponies and Princess Celestia so we figured it was only the best option to work together in defeating you. Sadly, it seems as though she couldn't work up to my standards and failed. It's almost too bad, though. It seems as though the fate she would have given you would be much easier to deal with than what I plan on. Being turned into statues? I've dealt with it almost all my life, it's boring but doable." Twilight had no idea about what he was talking about, but continued to watch him as he circled the area above them.
"What do you even want with me now, Discord? The Elements are gone, you can just leave and go back to where you came from." Screwball glared at Twilight with her swirling eyes, upset that she would talk to her father in that manner.
"Now, now, I already know that. No need to give me useless information. But besides that, I still have a personal grudge against YOU, Twilight. You did lead your little friends in the re-imprisoning of me, after all!" Twilight gulped, but tried not to reveal her fear in her expression. "Well then, what should I do to you, Twilight? Permanently remove your horn?" Twilight looked up and gasped to find her horn was missing. "Turn you into a helpless filly?" She reverted back into a Unicorn, but was now a helpless baby, sucking on her hoof. "Or maybe I should erase your memory of magic and your times spent in Ponyville with your friends and the precious Princess?"
"No, don't!" Fluttershy and Spike cried out simultaneously. Discord looked over at them and lifted them into the air with his magic.
"Fluttershy and Spike! Maybe I should punish you just as much? And maybe Rarity, too!" The stallion guards closed further in on Rarity, but she was lifted into the air as well. By now she looked exhausted, as though ready to give up.
"It doesn’t matter anymore. I don't care what you do with me."
"Big sister! No! You let her go, you monster!" Sweetie Belle ran and jumped off the back of Diamond Tiara, clinging onto one of the legs of Discord.
"What in Equestria are you doing?" He shook his leg, than inspected her closer. "Aren't you one of the little fillies that helped set me free?" Sweetie Belle looked up at him questioningly, but another small shape flew through the air and grabbed onto his other leg.
"Let them go, you jerk!" Scootaloo yelled. Discord laughed as he stared at the fillies who were clinging so desperately to him.
"What a joke! Screwball, take care of this!" Before she could do anything, though, Discord let out a yelp and released his magic, causing Twilight to change back into normal and send the rest tumbling to the ground. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were kicked away.
"Did you do something?" Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo. She spat onto the ground.
"He tasted terrible." Sweetie Belle shook her head, but playfully shoved her friend. Twilight shook her head, disoriented. Discord glared at her, more furious than ever.
"You will pay for your deeds, Twilight Sparkle. There isn't anything you can do to stop me." Sweetie Belle and Spike had run up to Rarity, who was now away from the confused looking stallion bodyguards.
"Rarity, I've missed you so much! I never gave away your Element, though, just like you asked me to!"
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, I've missed you too. I'm sorry I've been apart for so long, pray to Celestia it will never happen again."
"Rarity, you don't have to apologize! It's us who should apologize for not coming any sooner! It's all my fault, I should have done something more!"
"Oh, Spikey-Wikey, you did come to my rescue though! You're my little dragon knight in shining armor." She nuzzled the two, tears unable to flow from her eyes because of all the crying she had done in her prison. Discord faked a gag.
"Disgusting. That's something I'll have to deal with later." He turned back to Twilight. "Now, where were we?"
"You were leaving, that's what." She said menacingly.
"Oh really? And how is that?" With a magic spell, she struck Screwball. The mare was shocked as the wave passed over her. Once the magic had vanished, she had disintegrated into thin air. "What? Impossible! What did you do?"
"I knew she was just another one of your creations, Discord. I got rid of her, just as I can get rid of a Changeling's disguise. You couldn't fool me with something like that." He was awestruck, looking almost hurt.
"I will return, Twilight Sparkle. I will seek vengeance on you and the rest of Equestria. Just wait and see." With that he flew through the air towards the hole he had created in the ceiling. Before he even reached it, he used his magic to teleport away. The rest of her friends cheered as he was gone.
"What a great ending, huh Daddy?"
"Oh, not quite Sweetheart. We still haven't had our good ending!" With a clap of his hooves, Filthy Rich's minions split up the reunion between Rarity, Spike, and Sweetie Belle. They screamed as they were torn away, she dragged off into the other direction.
"Rarity!"
"Sweetie Belle! Spike! Help me!"