//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Mission Failed // Story: I am Ruin // by XHunter //------------------------------// Throughout Sweet Apple Acres unimaginable power could be felt. The water of the nearby river was a collage of colors emitted from six mares floating in the air surrounded by a halo of color. At the center was Twilight encircled by her six friends,  their eyes glowing white with power. The immense magic of the Tree of Harmony flowed through Twilight, her body a conduit of The Elements that connected her with her friends beyond physicality. They were the tools with which the Tree influenced the world. This system symbolized the power and purpose of harmony: to unite all things. Right now that power was coursing through Twilight and her friends' very beings. Together, they formed a powerful spell that rose into the sky as a beam for all to see. Discord was unaware of the attack forming behind him, too careless and deep into thought to notice. The beam ceased its movent upwards and within a blink of an eye struck him. For a second Discord could be heard yelling, but Twilight could not understand him, for The Elements dulled her senses while being used. Discord's voice ceased as his body turned to stone. Once the spell finished, the beam dissipated leaving a statue of the draconequus several yards away. The six mares could feel the extra magic within them leaving, returning them to the ground full of vigor and energy. “Whew, well I’m glad that’s over,” Applejack immediately said, “I just knew a thing like Discord couldn’t be reasoned with.” “Agreed. I was getting tired of being ‘courteous’ to an uncouth maniac like him,” Rarity said walking towards Applejack. She lowered her head and whispered as though Celestia could be listening in on her, “I don’t mean to question Princess Celestia’s judgment, but I don’t think Discord could do any good for Equestria.” “I don’t knoooooow, Discord makes a pretty neat statue,” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced passed Rarity and Applejack, and headed towards the statue of Discord. Twilight and Rainbowdash didn’t join in on the banter. Instead, Rainbowdash immediately went to the side of Fluttershy, while Twilight simply stood in thought. Twilight was thinking about where she went wrong in reforming Discord. She had lost sleep trying to devise the perfect plan and now it was for naught. Because of the failed plan, she came to a conclusion.  If Celestia gave her the task then there was no doubt in the princess's mind that she could do it. There could only be two reasons why the plan failed for Twilight: Either Celestia was wrong or Twilight made an error, and she was more inclined to believe the latter.  “I’m sorry princes, I failed you,” Twilight somberly sighed, uttering the one word she hated and feared the most: failed. Fail, failing, failure, failed—a series of words she wished to never associate with herself. She was the princesses’ protege who could not nor should not fail…and yet she did. Twilight’s breathing began to quicken. She would’ve started descending into thought about the many ways Celestia could punish her, however, she caught herself from overthinking. Now’s not the time, Twilight, you have…you have important things to do. She thought as she began taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. Once Twilight had collected herself, she stood tall, and spoke aloud, “Alright girls, I’ll be sending the Princess a letter to inform her of our fail-” she slowly stopped when she heard a soft weeping come from behind. She turned around and saw the sad sight of Fluttershy crying. She was laying down curled into a ball while Rainbowdash was comforting her quietly. Normally, Rainbowdash would never be seen doing something so ‘uncool’, but Fluttershy was her foalhood friend, and she always made an exception for her. Oh, Fluttershy, how could I forget, she admonished herself. Twilight made it halfway to Fluttershy when Rainbowdash spoke, stopping her, “Don’t worry, Twi, I got this.” She lightly nuzzled the weeping pegasus, “Com’on Shy, let’s get you home.” The only response Rainbowdash got was Fluttershy shrinking further into herself, “Don’t worry, I got you both,” she softly said, spreading out her wings. She slipped under Fluttershy and lifted the crying pegasus onto her back. Rainbowdash turned her head to face Twilight, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for Fluttershy to stay here considering-” she looked at the statue “-you know” “I understand,” Twilight responded, closing he eyes as she nodded her head. She was seething with hate for what Discord had done to Fluttershy. Stone imprisonment for years to come wasn’t a fitting punishment. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be staying at Fluttershy’s for the week,” Rainbowdash said as she began to walk away. “Okay Rainbow,” Twilight called back. She turned to face her other friends and could see Pinkie poking around the base of the Discord statue, investigating it. Twilight herself held some curiosities as well. How could a creature composed of so many different beasts even function? It was already rare enough for chimeras to be composed of two or three animals without the differing magical signatures interfering, but Discord was composed of six or more.  Twilight shook her head, We can run tests later, she told herself. Right now, she needed to speak to Rarity and Applejack about what they were going to do next. As she made her way to her two friends she could hear the conversation between the fashionista and southern workhorse. “Oh, but I implore you, darling!” Rarity insisted, “It’s not fair for you and Big Macintosh to clean the mess Discord made. After all, we were all responsible for keeping his chaos to a minimum and thusly should all help you; even if I have to get my hooves dirty.” Applejack exasperatedly sighed, “Rarity, I’m tellin’ you, me and Big Mac have got this handled. It’s our farm and ya’ll don’t need to be using your time to help when we can do it ourselves.” Applejack’s stubbornness and pride were a double edge sword. It gave her the fire to help anyone with anything, and Twilight admired that, but, it would also cause Applejack to be unreasonable at times; especially when it came to her farm. Twilight couldn’t understand it even when Applejack tried to explain: ‘It’s just how our family’s done it since the beginning. If it involves the farm, we’ll handle it. And if we can’t, we’ll learn how,’ she had told Twilight when asked. There were only a few times when Applejack lamented about accepting help. Twilight, foreseeing that the two would go in circles, interjected, “But, Rarity, you haven’t asked if we wanted to help in the first place,” she said while feigning anger. “Oh, well, o-of course I would ask you all,” Rarity blurted out. Twilight giggled at her flustered response, “Don’t worry Rarity I’m just teasing. Of course, I would help and I’m sure the others would be happy to as well. Nevertheless, I do think you should respect AJ’s refusal.” “Thank you Twilight. Rarity, I appreciate the offer. I really do, but the farm's something we Apples hold close,” AJ said with a warm smile. “Oh alright Applejack. But you will be coming to the spa with me afterward—My treat,” Rarity relented. “Well if you’re treatin’ I won’t say no,” Applejack replied. “And Twilight you’re welcome to come as well. Don’t worry, I'll pay for you too,” offered Rarity. “Thanks, Rarity, I’d be delighted to join. But right now I need to discuss with you two what we do next,” worry was now evident in Twilight’s voice, “I don’t think the princess will be very happy that we couldn’t reform Discord and I’d like to deliver the news as lightly as possible.” “Twilight,” Applejack said with authority, “whatever you’re thinking is without a doubt most certainly wrong. The princess will understand.” “I agree, why else would she leave us with The Elements darling,” Rarity added. “B-but girls you don’t understand! This was one of THE biggest tasks I’ve ever received from Princess Celestia! This isn’t just any failure. It’s…it’s-” before Twilight could continue she was interrupted. “Girrrrrrls! We’ve got a problem!” yelled Pinkie Pie over from the Discord statue. Twilight was cut off from her soon-to-be rant. Immediately the trio ran to the call of their friend. Pinkie Pie was sitting in front of the statue looking down at its base. The three gathered behind her. Applejack was the first to ask the obvious question, “What is it Pinkie?” Pinkie Pie stood up and turned around, “I think Discord had a baby!” The three remained silent. Until with a twitch of the eye, Twilight yelled, “WHAT!” “Pinkie now’s not the time to joke.” Applejack chided, “Twilight’s already worried about telling The Princess what happened and you don’t need to be freaking her out more with any unfunny jokes.” “No, I’m serious! Look!,” Pinkie Pie stepped to the side and pointed to where she was blocking. Twilight could now see the creature Pinkie Pie had found. Laying on its side was a small unconscious draconequus that shared a similar visage to Discord. The new creature possessed Discord's signature, grey-furred, pony-like head. However, this one didn’t have as long of a snout. Its mouth was agape, and Twilight could see a plethora of distinctly grouped teeth; one of which was unique, a singular fang slightly bigger than the rest. Atop its head was messy, neck-length, black hair that was splayed onto the ground. Poking from the back of the hair were the individual sproutings of a goat horn and deer antler, both only reaching two inches past the hair. Connecting the head to the body was a grey-furred neck. The body the creature possessed appeared to be less elongated than Discords. Where the neck met the body was a fluffy ring of white downy feathers which were puffier and narrower at the back. The front half of the downy tapered to the bottom of the chest in a rough ‘V’ shape. Past the downy were two objects that hid the rest of the body. They were the biggest distinctions from Discord's body. Instead of the mismatched pair of arms, the creature possessed a pair of dark auburn wings with white patchy stripes near the tips. The wings were spread out in front of the lying creature showcasing each layer of feathers. The legs of the creature were the same, mismatched, horse-dragon combo as Discord. Past those was the long tail that was nearly equal to the entire length of the head and body. It was almost exactly like Discord’s tail, except the scales were each more distinct, and the white fur at the end was proportionally bigger. To Twilight, she could only see the creature as a smaller copy of Discord. And seeing any form of Discord was an outcome that should’ve been impossible. She began to ramble, pacing back and forth as she did, “No no no no no, this can’t be happening! I let Discord survive! What would The Princess think! She would think I lost my connection to The Elements—it’s the only way he could’ve survived,” she paused as a realization dawned upon her, “If I can’t use my element then…then… PRINCESS CELESTIA DOESN’T NEED ME ANYMORE!” she yelled aloud. Twilight’s mind raced with several thoughts: What would be her punishment for failure, what would she do once she lost her apprenticeship with the princess, and why was there a sweet taste in her mouth? Wait, sweet taste in my mouth? She thought as she snapped back to reality. Pinkie Pie had shoved a cupcake in Twilight’s mouth, “Calm down Twilight. I don’t think it’s Discord,” she stated. “Pinkie, how in Equestria could you know that?” Rarity inquired. “Easy! Pinkie Sense.” Pinkie Sense was her signature extra sensory power. It allowed her to predict the future to a limited degree; such as a twitching tail indicating something was going to fall. “When I found her I got an itchy back and ear flop, which means I was going to meet someone new.” Although Twilight begrudgingly believed in it, Pinkie Sense was always accurate. She couldn’t deny what Pinkie Pie predicted, however, that didn’t mean what was in front of her was the new pony. She stood in thought, staring at the creature, and made a decision. The safest thing to do was to blast it with The Elements, but with the possibility of hurting someone innocent, it was too risky. “I’m not sure what to do girls. But at the very least, I’m going to get the guards Princess Celestia left with us and inform The Princess of the situation. Applejack, do you have any rope?” “Eyup, up in the tool shed. Want me to tie ‘em up?” “Yes, please. I’m going to believe that it isn’t Discord. I’d rather not blast someone who’s possibly innocent with The Elements, even if we had Rainbowdash and Fluttershy here to use theirs.” she explained. “Wait where’s RD and Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you, girls. Rainbowdash took Fluttershy home.” “Oh of course! How could I forget!” Rarity cried. “It’s okay, Rarity, but it’s not important right now. We’ve been idling too long,” Twilight pointed to the creature, “Whoever that is, I don’t want to risk them doing anything harmful in case they wake up.” “But Twilight, I don’t think ropes could hold someone like Discord,” Pinkie said. Twilight’s horn went alight. She attuned her magic to the ambient magic around her. The Tree of Harmony had gifted each of them a small boon that was aligned with their elements. For Twilight, it was the ability to sense magic since she was bound to the Element of Magic. For the most part, the ability was typically useless, as magic was like an ocean that surrounded everything. Most ponies didn’t have enough of their own to differentiate themselves, beings like Discord and the princesses were like Lighthouses in the sea, easily visible and distinctive from the rest of the metaphorical ocean. Right now, Twilight couldn't sense any powerful magic nearby, just the ocean of ambient magic. “They’re weak right now. I can’t tell if they’re completely magicless. At the very least, you three can handle it if it fights back,” Twilight assured. “Now Applejack, get that rope while I go get the guards. Rarity and Pinkie, keep an eye on them until Applejack gets back.” “Right!,” the three friends said in unison. Applejack immediately galloped toward the farm shed while Twilight went the opposite way towards Ponyville. As she ran she could hear one last bit of conversation between Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “So Pinkie, ‘She’.” Rarity interrogated. “Oh! I checked.” Pinkie replied nonchalantly. Twilight could hear one last, loud, “Pinkie,” from Rarity before they were out of earshot.