//------------------------------// // Chapter 36 // Story: The Darkness Shard // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// The Ink Demon dragged Discord back into the throne cave by pulling his antlers and with Rani walking next to them while glaring angrily at Discord. Once they were back in the cave, the Ink Demon threw Discord forward before he turned back into Oliver’s normal alicorn form as he glared at the idiot. “Ow!” Discord said as he stood up while rubbing his antlers, “Oliver, you pulled my antlers too hard!” “And you had that coming!” Said the voice of an angry Twilight Sparkle. Discord looked around and saw that everyone, including Yozora and the young six, was glaring angrily at him for what he had just done. Cosmos was also mad at him, but she kept her glare away from him so he doesn’t see that she was actually on their side as a good guy. Lightning was hiding underneath Silverstream while hugging her talon arm as he was afraid what he might do next that could including hurting him. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Discord!” Said Princess Celestia in an angry tone, “Starting with the reason you brought Ardyn to Lightning Twister!” “Yeah, why in Equestria would you tell Ardyn where Lightning is and give him those nightmares?!” Princess Luna asked furious, “Was that another one of your fake tasks for Twilight and Oliver? Didn’t your last one proven how much you messed up?!” Discord shook in fear while saying, “N-No, not really. It was for Lightning Twister.” “What?!” Everyone shouted in unison. “What do you mean it was for Lightning?” Fluttershy asked. But then, she started to realise what he meant by that. And boy, was she angry now. “You were setting up a test for him!” “Well, yes,” said Discord in a nervous and fear tone, “It was a test for him.” “For what reason?!” She asked angrily, “What sort of test did you have planned for him?!” “I planned to have him face through nightmares of his fears so he could face them so he wouldn’t be such a scaredy pony anymore.” “By sending someone who is unstoppable and wants his darkness?! You could have gotten him killed if you didn’t see what he truly wants! And how dare you call my son that! He can’t help being scared after what Cold Wind did to him!” “I bet this was to make Lightning leave Fluttershy after he faced his fears so he wouldn’t need her anymore,” said Rainbow Dash. “Yes, that is correct,” admitted Discord, “I plan to have Lightning face his fears so that he can show he’s ready to leave and I can get back to hanging out with Fluttershy again.” Fluttershy gasped before glaring at him even more. “You did all that just so he can leave me and you can hang out me?! How could you?!” “I don’t want to leave Momma yet,” said Lightning Twister, “I want to still be with her and Papa Capper.” “Stay out of this!” Discord shouted causing Lightning hide his face in Silverstream’s talon arm. “Don’t you dare shout at my son like that!” Fluttershy said crossly. “He’s not even your son!” “I don’t care! Adopted or not, I love him ever since I found him! And he’s allowed to stay with me and Capper as long as he wants! He can leave when he’s old enough and believe he is ready!” “And not only that you put her son in danger,” said Kion angrily, “You also put our son in danger too!” “He wasn’t supposed to be part of this,” said Discord, “He was only meant to give Lightning nightmares to make him face his fears, but he just went after the evil inside of your cub like he just wants more darkness. But it isn’t really that all bad.” “How is it not that bad?” Gallus asked crossly, “What could be more good than an evil king wanting the darkness from our friend and the evil from Roni?” “Well, think about it,” said Discord, “With someone who is just after Lightning and Roni, they can both work together to take him. Then they’ll be able to let go of their fears once they’ve taken down the one that gave them the nightmares.” “How is that good?!” Rainbow asked angrily, “You’re not only putting their lives in danger, but everyone else’s! And they’re just children!” “Not if they work together to defeat him, they won’t be.” “They don’t know how to fight like we do!” Sunburst said crossly. “It’s true,” said Roni, “I still haven’t learned how to protect everyone or fight bad animals like a Night Pride yet.” “And I’m scared of what Daddy would do if he takes me away again,” said Lightning in fear as Smolder gently stroked his mane in comfort. “See?! Not only did you brought in a most dangerous being in the world, but you also made them even more scared!” Said Donald angrily. “And you also let him bring in threats that know nothing of them or their world!” Added Doctor Strange. “And Grindelwald holds the most powerful wand than any of ours!” Theseus said. “And since Makucha and his two friends are with him, you’ve also brought our new friends here as their next dinner!” Baliyo said. “That’s it! You’re off the team!” Bunga said crossly while pointing at Discord. “I’m sorry,” said Discord. Twilight angrily pinned Discord to the cave wall while saying, “No, you’re not! Not yet!” Discord was struggling to break from Twilight’s magic grasp as he said, “Princess Celestia, tell her to let me go! Please!” “You brought this on yourself, Discord,” said the sun princess crossly, “Don’t try and make me stop her and make the same mistake I did to her long ago.” “Pinkie?” “Nope,” said Pinkie while looking at her hoof, “Not gonna make the same mistake either. Especially after you put my cute nephew in GRAVE DANGER!” Discord looked around to see any of the others would help. But seeing as they were all mad at him, he can tell he wasn’t going to get any help from any of them, including Fluttershy. But then, he remembered someone who was also a draconequus and can help him. He turned to Cosmos and said, “Cosmos, quick! Use your chaos to set me free and we can get out of here!” Cosmos worriedly looked at Discord before looking at her true friends, including Lightning Twister. She didn’t want to betray them or show Discord her true self and see what he’ll do to her if he discovers what she’s been hiding from him this whole time. “Come on, sis! Help your brother out!” Cosmos continued to look at her brother in a worried way. She didn’t know what to do. She closed her eyes and shook her fist until she decided what she was going to do. She opened her eyes and stared crossly at Discord while saying, “No.” Discord was surprised by her response. “What did you just say?” “I said, no! I will not help you! Not after what you did to poor Lightning and Roni, and to everyone else!” Everyone was surprised by what Cosmos was doing, except for Twilight, Fluttershy, Celestia and the young seven since they knew already. They couldn’t believe that Cosmos was actually disobeying Discord like she wasn’t anything like him. “What? But why? Why won’t you help me after what they did to us in the past?” “You mean what YOU did to yourself in the past? These ponies did nothing to make us look like we’re the bad guys!” Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared from Twilight’s grasp. He reappeared in front of Cosmos and said, “But you heard what Grogar said! They think we’re freaks and threats to their land!” “That’s because you made them think that when you started spreading chaos in Ponyville!” Said Cosmos angrily, “Grogar lied to you! I was the only one that saw he was lying to us from the moment he created us!” “Wait, he was lying to you?” Sunburst asked. Cosmos turned to Sunburst and nodded her head. “Yes. All Grogar ever wanted was to rule Equestria. But with Princess Celestia and Luna becoming the new rulers, he knew they would get in his way. That’s why he created me and Discord so we can get rid of them with chaos. I, however, knew he was lying about you ponies thinking we’re nothing but freaks and evil. You lot won’t never think to judge other creatures before you meet them and get to know them. Though, I did hear some of you did think a zebra named Zecora was evil once. And I have to admit, that was racist. Even with that quick but confusing song that would have hurt her feelings.” “Hey!” Pinkie said. Twilight and Celestia couldn’t help but laugh at what Cosmos said about Pinkie’s song about Zecora. “We really shouldn’t be laughing, but it is funny from what Cosmos said,” chuckled Twilight. “That I can agree on,” chuckled Celestia. “So, you’re a good Draconequus?” Princess Luna asked earning a nod from Cosmos in response. “But how come we’ve never seen you before?” Pinkie asked. “After refusing to spread chaos in Ponyville, Grogar banished me so I could never leave or even escape my prison,” answered Cosmos. “That explains it,” said Pinkie. “Why couldn’t you just secretly teleport away from Grogar and tell the princesses that you’re not evil?” Asked Applejack. “Because of what Discord did,” answered Rainbow, “If she did that, the princesses would have thought she was part of the attack or trying to continue what Discord started.” “What? No, no we wouldn’t,” said Princess Celestia nervously. The sun princess saw Twilight tapping her hoof while raising an eyebrow. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow as well. “No, you’re right. We would have.” “You see, the truth is, I don’t want to be a mistress of chaos or use chaos to solve problems when they’re not the answer to anything,” said Cosmos which made Discord gasp in shock, “I just want to be a good Draconequus, be friends with everyone, and only use chaos if really needed. That’s why I didn’t do what Discord did and said to Lightning Twister, because he did nothing wrong and I have no reason to treat him badly.” “It’s true,” said Fluttershy, “She told us everything when we still journeying our way here.” “And to us as well,” added Ocellus. “Yona still enjoyed nice Draconequus’s singing,” said Yona kindly. “So all this time, you weren’t finding the right time to treat Lightning badly, you were just trying to protect him without Discord knowing,” said Sunset. “Yes,” said Cosmos, “I didn’t know what Discord would do if he saw I was nothing like him. And I didn’t want Fluttershy to lose Lightning. He’s been through enough to be treated so badly when he did nothing wrong.” “Well, you did a pretty good job doing that,” said Gallus while smiling. “Yeah,” said Smolder, “You made Lightning happy after singing that song and offering him that chocolate milk.” “Not only that, but you also kept your promise for Fluttershy,” said Twilight. “As for that, you deserve to be part of the team!” Pinkie said happily. Cosmos was about to smile at everyone who believed her until Discord angrily shouted, “OH NO, SHE DOESN’T!” Everyone saw Discord was now glaring at Cosmos while breathing heavily and his eyes were burning like mad. This made Lightning very scared as he climbed onto Silverstream’s back and hid behind her mane. “HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME! AND HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR OWN RACE! YOU’RE A DRACONEQUUS! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO USE CHAOS FOR EVERYTHING AND WANT TO BECOME THE NEXT RULER! AND AFTER ALL THIS TIME, YOU’VE BEEN LYING BEHIND MY BACK FROM THE START?! OH YOU ARE SO GONNA GET IT NOW, SISTER!” Discord raised his lion paw up ready to slap Cosmos in the face. But just as he was about to slap her, his paw was stopped by a golden magic grasp. Discord tried to break his paw free, but wasn’t able to. He turned and saw an angry sun princess glaring at him with her horn glowing to show that she was the one who stopped him. “Don’t you dare, Discord!” She shouted angrily, “Cosmos may have betrayed you, but she chose who she wants to be! That was her decision, not yours! She has every right to become good and use her chaos whenever it is needed!” “And you’ll be the one getting punish once this is over!” Princess Luna said crossly, “But thanks to you, we don’t know how to defeat Ardyn! And he’s probably getting more powerful by now!” “You’re right, he is,” said a familiar male voice, “Even before he has Lightning’s darkness and the evil within Roni.” Everyone turned to the entrance of the throne cave and saw Shadow walking towards them. Sonic and Knuckles started to glare at the hedgehog, thinking that he’s here for the two kids Ardyn was after. “You again?!” Knuckles said as he and Sonic started to charge up, “You just don’t know when to quit!” Rainbow was ready to charge and attack Shadow, thinking he was still coming after him as well as Roni. Shadow can tell they think he’s here for Lightning and Roni. So he calmly said, “Wait. This is not what you think it is. I’m not here for Lightning and Roni.” “Wait,” said Twilight calmly while placing a hoof in front of Rainbow before she could even start to attack Shadow. “Listen, I’m not here to fight,” said Shadow, “I’m here to talk. I know I did try to hurt you all and try to take Lightning Twister away, but please just to hear me out for what I need to say.” “Should we hear him out?” Asked Bunga. “Even though he did try to bring harm to us, we should at least hear what he needs to say,” answered Kion. “Thank you,” said Shadow, “Look, I know I tried to hurt you guys, take the two kids away and tried to kill Sonic. But after being knocked out, I saw a vision that showed me everything. Sonic, you were right. You had nothing to do with Maria’s death or trying to ruin my life. Ardyn was the one that killed her. He did it, so that I would easily help him before he backstabs me when he has the colt and cub. I have seen the error of my ways, and I wish to be on your side now. And you are right about Ardyn. He’s getting too strong and won’t be so easy to defeat. You have to trust me.” “Trust you?! Why in the name of Mufasa would we trust you?!” Surak asked angrily. Shadow looked at Surak before saying, “Because I’m your only chance.” Everyone looked at Shadow, while letting his words sink into their heads, and realised he was telling the truth. Sonic and Tom looked at each other and both agreed to give him a chance and let him help them.