//------------------------------// // They took Fluttershy? Discord asked calmly. // Story: Passed the Chaotic save // by TheCatalistComet2005 //------------------------------// “Odd, I was trying to get us directly to Fluttershy but there is no Fluttershy.” Said Discord as he lifted a rock to see if Fluttershy was under it. The moment Discord had heard that Fluttershy was taken by the changelings he immediately decided to get serious. While the leaders of Equestria getting pony-napped was concerning, he didn't really cared all that much. Not that he didn't care about them at all, it was just that the girls often get into dangerous situations all the time. And time and time again the get out of it unscathed. This time though, all the important heroes were captured. And all that's left were an ex cult leader, a stage magician and a friendly changeling. He briefly considered letting them save the day, but then realized what they were up against (An army of shape shifting insects that somehow manage to pony-nap the princesses in Canterlot). And so it was decided that he ‘The Lord of Chaos’ would be the one to defeat the changelings and save Fluttershy. (And maybe the others as well as all of Equestria). ‘It should have been easy’ he thought. One snap of his fingers and he and the spectators would be sent directly to Fluttershy. Another would free her (As well as everypony else) . A third snap would incapacitate every ‘evil’ changeling in the area. So imagine his confusion when the first snap produced no Fluttershy. “um, I think I might have a good idea where she might be” Trixie said as she pointed toward what looked like black structures in the distance. “I had hoped to never see that place again” said Thorax with a hint of fear. It was then that they realized what that place was; The Changeling Hive. The place where the changelings called home, The base of their operations and of course the place where all their friends were being held captive. Where Fluttershy was held captive… “Oh this is so strange, were here and that’s there. But I clearly meant for us to be there and not here.” Discord said with a bit of confusion and annoyance. “oh, I could probably explain…” Thorax tried to say but was interrupted by Discord. “Oh well, if at you don’t succeed…” Discord said as he tried to snap his fingers but was interrupted by Starlight. “Maybe we should come up with a plan first.” She said as she held Discord’s lion paw in her magic. “ A what?” said Discord. “You know, figuring out the best way to do something before you actually do it” said Trixie, slightly annoyed at the draqonequus impulsive behavior. “I know what a plan is, what I meant was what plan besides the obvious?” asked Discord. “The obvious?” asked Starlight in confusion. “You know, the plan where I snap my talons and let my magic do all the work”. he said as he snapped his talons to conjure up some sort of flying pig in armor and let it charge directly at the hive. It didn’t go very far though as after flying a few feet closer to the hive the pig disintegrated into pure mana. Confused at what just happened, he snapped his talons to try again only to get the same results. Very familiar results. “ That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Nothing other than changeling magic works here. Chrysalis throne is carved from an ancient…” Thorax tried to explain but was once again interrupted by Discord. “Dark Stone.” Discord said in an annoyance. “A type of enchanted stone that can absorb magic from the spells made by any magic user other than the enchanter.” “ That’s correct… how did you know? Asked Thorax. “Well lets just say this isn't the first time I encountered this particular enchanted rock.” answered Discord sagely as he was dressed in a scholars uniform. “What do you mean by that?” asked Starlight who was a little curious as to where the draqonequus had seen this rock before. “ Well if you must know, Dark stone was one of the few things ponies used against me during my reign in Equestria that actually had an effect on me.” said Discord as he reminisces back to when he ruled Equestria. He used to look back at his reign rather fondly, but now that he had friendship all he could think about was about how lonely he had been back then. “Wait, If that’s the case then how come I’ve never heard about it?” She asked, a little confused. She had heard about Discords reign from Twilight and the other princesses but had never said anything about Dark stone. “ That would be because I made sure to erase its existence as well as how to make it from history” Discord said as a matter of factly. “ What… Why did you need to do such thing?” asked Starlight who was a little concerned after hearing Discord say he erased something from history. “Because Starlight, other than the fact that it uses dark magic, in order to make such powerful enchantments on some random rocks, you’re going to have to use the magic from several ponies to make it work. And the size of the ‘anti-magic field’ created by the Dark stone is dependent on the amount of magic you put in it.” said Discord, still wearing the scholars uniform as he educated the side characters. “On a related note, how big is the AMF anyway?” Discord asked Thorax . “The AMF?” “The Anti-magic field.” Answered Trixie, thinking it was obvious. “Oh right… well Chrysalis throne can soke up all foreign magic from here to the end of the valley.” answered Thorax. “Oh, is that right.” Discord said as he scowled in displeasure. “Wait, so you’re saying that we can’t use magic at all in there!!?” Trixie asked, clearly panicking as she realizes how hopeless the situation is. “Trixie, calm down.” said Starlight. “Calm down!? How can you expect Trixie to calm down!!? The princesses as well as Twilight’s friends have been captured by the changelings!! And the only creature who could have stop them is currently powerless!!” Trixie all but screamed into Starlight's ears. “Trixie, please just calm down! Freaking out about all of this isn’t going to solve anything!” “Oh no, by all means, continue to scream. I’m sure all of our problems will be solved if you yell loud enough.” Discord remarked mockingly. Trixie glared at him but wisely chose not to retort. Starlight on the other hoof decided to ask him a question. “Discord, you’ve dealt with Dark stone before right? Do you know any way we can counter it?” “Of course I do. In fact, I have several different methods when it comes to dealing with those pesky rocks.” Discord said as his scholars uniform somehow looking even more scholarly. “Well? What are they then?” Starlight asked with a bit of hope. She had to admit that she was a bit stumped about what to do. “See… about that. In order to understand what I can do about it, you need to first know about how Dark stone works.” said Discord as he snapped his lion fingers together. There was a bright flash and suddenly the trio of side characters found themselves in a strange classroom. The desk were unorganized, the chairs flew from the ground with their wings, and the walls were seemingly made of cookies. (Cookies plural. As in the walls were just a collection of cookies that were stacked together to form a building). Discord stood in front of a whiteboard, wearing a teachers outfit. In his lion paw he held up a black chalk and used it to draw a picture of a bunch of rocks stacked together to make a throne. Upon closer inspection, the trio realized that the whiteboard in question was actually a blackboard that had been turned white. “Now, the first thing you need to know about Dark stone is the fact that it can only absorb magic from certain distance. The distance of course is depended on how big the stone is and how much magic is put into the enchantment itself. “The AMF or anti-magic field around the stone often takes the shape an invisible sphere that encompasses it.” Discord said as the chalk he was hold flew out of his paw and onto the white-blackboard. Which then drew a perfect sphere around the throne. The bottom half of the sphere was underground. “In addition to reducing any and all spells into pure mana, it also sucks the mana from everything within it, from the ground, the plants and to the very air itself.” Discord continued to give the exposition as the black chalk continued to add more details. Drawings of plants dying, clouds evaporating and the ground becoming less fertile. Discord then cracked open a window from seemingly nowhere which led to the changeling hive. “As you can see, the absorption of magic from the surrounding area is doing wonders for the environment.” Starlight listened in to Discords lecture with rapt attention. She suddenly understood why Twilight would write down every little bit of information on parchment. She even had the urge to write everything down herself. Thorax was looking over the valley in realization and then regret. He had always wondered why plants such as grass and flowers wouldn’t grow anywhere near the hive. Trixie was having trouble paying attention. Of all the things she was expecting this adventure to turn out, getting lectured by the lord of Chaos was definitely not one of them. “Although it does throw a wrench into my little rescue mission, the Dark stone has plenty of weaknesses that I can exploit.” Discord said as he snapped his talons. The classroom disappeared and the group was now standing at the edge of the AMF. Discord, now no longer wearing any outfits walked up to the edge and spoke. “ The Dark stone is only capable of absorbing magic. Any spell you make would be reduced to pure mana before its can even do anything.” He demonstrated this by conjuring a cotton candy cloud and pushed it towards the edge and watched as it was reduced to pure mana. “However, if the spell was made by using something other than magic…” He picked up a nearby rock with his magic and turned it into chocolate milk and threw it into the field. Instead of turning into mana like the cloud from earlier, it continued to soar through the air until it hit the ground. “The AMF can’t absorb it!” said Starlight. She was glad to learn that they wouldn’t be completely useless against the changelings. Trixie on the other hoof was confused. “ Wait, how exactly is this supposed to help us defeat the changelings?” Starlight and Thorax looked toward Discord for answers. While this information was definitely something, they weren't really sure what to do with it. Discord just smirks at them as he snapped his claws together. He told himself the moment they told him that the changelings took Fluttershy that he would be taking this seriously. And he is about to take this very seriously.