//------------------------------// // Unleashing the Marble Statue // Story: The Element of Corruption // by Fyronarion //------------------------------// "Wait, so you're telling me that the Princess wants to see us again?" asked Rainbow Dash, hovering next to Applejack, who was busy setting up the balloon for the trip. Applejack sighed. "Yes. How many times do I have to tell ya?" she said, exasperated. "Yeah, well it seems weird that she just called us out randomly like that. Usually, she sends us a notice before we go to her." said Rainbow Dash, scratching the back of her head. "Well, this is an emergency and whatnot." said Applejack reasonably, with a rope in her mouth. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Alright, sure. Should I get the others?" she asked. Applejack nodded, busy fixing a sandbag on the balloon. Rainbow Dash stuck her wings out and took off, racing to gather the other girls. The rope that Applejack was working on suddenly unfurled, causing the sandbag to fall right next to her. Applejack cursed and lifted the sandbag up, getting ready to tie it up. Again. Meanwhile, back to Twilight and Nightmare... The entire castle garden was like a maze, with hedges running in all directions. The garden was surrounded by ten foot bushes, and a small gate was on the other side, providing a exit. Above, Royal Guards were hovering lazily, aiming searchlights in the hedges. In the background, the Castle was shining brightly, the many lit windows making a dazzling appearance of a magical realm. At the northern side of the garden maze, Twilight and Nightmare Moon were standing silently, waiting for the guards with the searchlights to pass them. Finally, the light moved away from their direction and Nightmare beckoned Twilight to follow her. "Stay silent. Be careful of corners, and stay away from the searchlights. We do not want to get captured by those guards." she whispered. Twilight acknowledged the order and followed her through the swerving maze... In the skies above the maze... Nucleon and two of his teammates were providing overwatch for Twilight and Nightmare. So far, they didn't find anything interesting. All three of them morphed into Royal Guards and were pretending to search for both of the mares. "Any activity?" asked one of the changelings. Nucleon shook his head. "Nope. All sides are clear. Got sight on both of them?" he informed, looking at the castle. The changeling to the right of him nodded. "Yeah, they're almost at the center. I wonder what they are after?" he asked. The other changeling waved his hoof in disregard. "Meh, it's probably something that the Queen wants. Probably nothing interesting for us." he said. "I don't think so..." trailed off Nucleon, almost falling asleep. He was tired from a restless night of no sleep and early training, so naturally, he was exhausted. However, he was suddenly shaken awake by one of the changelings yelling something. "Over there! Two guards have spotted them!" he shouted, pointing at the eastern side of the maze. Indeed, the searchlight was aimed down by one of the pegasus guards, and the other one was about to dive bomb them. The guard holding the searchlight shouted at them to hold their hooves in the air and stay silent. Twilight and Nightmare Moon had their hooves up in the air, looking shaken. Nucleon scowled. "Not on my watch" he growled, suddenly jolting with speed and flew towards the guard. His friends followed suit, and he tackled the guard with the searchlight, knocking him straight out of the air and into the ground behind the hedge. The other guard was also tackled by the other two changelings, and they both disappeared over a shrub. Back to Twilight... Both of them watched the guards being knocked out of the sky and into the shrubs. All they heard were muffled yells and the sound of hooves hitting hides. Twilight couldn't help but appreciate the perfect timing by Nucleon. "Thanks!" she yelled towards the source of the grunts. A moment later, Nucleon yelled out "No Problem!" and they both continued on towards the center... At Canterlot Royal Castle, Princess's Chamber... The five Elements walked into the Princess Celestia's chamber, and the Royal Guard behind them closed the door. They looked up to see the Princess sitting on her throne, a forlorn expression on her face. Another pony was briefing her with news from a recent attack. "...Manehattan reported strange activity near the border, and the Cloudsdale just intercepted a message from one of those fly-like pony things." she read from the scroll. "Thank you for your report, Red Velvet. I shall send a squadron of my guard to investigate this matter. For now, you are dismissed." she said. Red Velvet sighed in relief and walked past the Elements. She nodded at them and went through the door. Rainbow Dash turned to Princess Celestia. "So, you called, Princess?" she asked. Celestia shook her head. "Yes. I'm afraid my worst suspicions have come true. My sister has plans to awaken my long lost nemesis, Discord, from his eternal slumber. Once he awakens, I doubt we can defeat him. We will require all six of the Elements of Harmony to stop him. Since Twilight left us, this greatly reduces our ability to stop the Lord of Chaos. That is why you five will come with me to the Castle Gardens. My guards have reported somepony breaking in, and it will most likely be either Twilight or my sister." she said grimly. All five of them stared at her agape. "Then why dont'cha take the statue inside, Princess?" asked Applejack, puzzled. Celestia shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't. You see, his statue is casting an aura of ancient magic. Magic that even I do not know that prevents me from moving it. I don't know why, but he knows that he will be free, so he is using the last of his energy to protect himself." she explained. "That sounds dreadful. We must stop him!" exclaimed Rarity. Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "That is why I shall appoint Rainbow Dash as the new leader for the Elements of Harmony. You will be the team leader, and they will follow. Our first priority is to stop Discord from coming back. If that fails, then we have to get Twilight back. And if that fails..well..we will have to go into hiding." said the Princess, her face dark. "Don't think like that, Princess. You can count on me!" encouraged Rainbow Dash, saluting her. Her friends cheered in response, and Celestia smiled. "Then we should make haste to the gardens. Follow me, please." she ordered, her horn glowing. Behind her, the walls shimmered and a door formed. The Princess opened it and it lead to the garden. "How come we haven't seen that door before?" inquired Rarity. The Princess chuckled. "Oh, you won't believe how many different secret passages are littered around this castle. Back to the point, let's go to the garden." she said, beckoning them to follow her. The five mares looked at each other and followed the Princess into the garden... Again to Twilight... "Here he is. The Statue of Discord." said Nightmare Moon, beholding the grand marble statue. The being was a Draconequus, a combination of all the creatures in Equestria. He was in a strange position, as if he was gloating. Small cracks were appearing on the body of the statue. "Wow." whispered Twilight, amazed by the statue. Nightmare Moon grinned maliciously. "Yes, he is very clever with his tactics and mischief. And now, we shall unleash him. See those cracks growing on his body? He is slowly starting to break free from his bonds due to the chaos that is going around in Equestria. It will not be long before he is free." she explained, gazing at him. "That sounds nice. So, how are we going to set him free? Obviously, we can't have ponies brawling in front of his statue at this hour." asked Twilight, confused. Nightmare shook her head. "Oh, Twilight. Remember, I am an immortal goddess. I can find a way. All I need to do is cast the Bond Break spell, and he will be free. Be warned, though. The spell will drain me of my energy. You will need to help me out after I cast it. Do you understand?" she said, giving Twilight a steely gaze. Twilight gulped and nodded. "Very well. Stand back; I will cast the spell." she said importantly, her horn glowing with arcane energy. A moment later, a pale blue beam of magical energy burrowed itself into the base of the statue. Fine cracks started appearing from where the beam hit, until it started climbing up and around the statue. Crackling was heard, and bits of marble flew off from the statue. Nightmare gritted her teeth in pain. "Almost...there..." she groaned, putting up every bit of strength she had to the spell. Twilight just watched, amazed by the statue slowly starting to take shape. The cracks kept climbing until it reached the head of the statue, and a bright flash of light occurred. Twilight yelped and covered her eyes from the sight until the light died down. She removed her hoof from her eyes to see Nightmare on the ground, panting and dripping with sweat. She looked up to see the stone pedestal, but now, there is no stone figure resting on it. Standing in front of them was no other than Discord. He gazed around the surroundings, taking it in as if he was starving. He then averted his gaze to Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle, who were staring at him, mouths agape. "Well well well. Look who we got here. If it isn't Nightmare Moon." he said, eyeing her and stroking his beard. Nightmare stood up importantly and looked at him haugtily. "A pleasure to meet you, Discord. I believe you haven't met my apprentice, Twilight Sparkle, have you?" she asked, pointing her hoof at Twilight. Discord turned to look at her and gasped. "An Element of Harmony! And she possesses the magical one too!" he hissed, eyes burning with malice. Nightmare quickly shook her head while Twilight glared at him. "No! She is on our side. Her magical element has been corrupted. Even if she does betray us, which I assure you she won't, the element will not work." she explained, coming to Twilight's rescue. Discord calmed down, but still eyed her suspiciously. "Very well. Now that I am free, I can finally go around and cause some good chaos." he said happily, stretching his arms and legs. Nightmare coughed and Discord looked at her. "Let me guess. You want something in return for freeing me?" he asked, bored. She nodded and walked up to him, whispering something to his ear. A moment later, he broke into a mischievous grin. "I love that idea! Marvelous! We must get to work!" he shouted, dancing in the air. Just then, the grass behind them thudded and quickly turned to see Princess Celestia standing there, stunned. Behind her were the Five Elements, and they too were staring at Discord in terror and awe. Discord snapped his fingers and a chair appeared in midair. He then sat on it and looked at the ponies below him with an amused expression on his face. "I cannot wait to see how this ends up." he said, waving his hand. A bag of popcorn popped out of thin air as he sat back and started eating. "Sister...what have you done?!" asked Celestia, fear in her voice. Nightmare laughed in ecstasy. "I have done what you have feared, Celestia. Discord is out. Chrysalis is rallying her army against you. Us three shall reign supreme in Equestria. You and the Elements of Harmony shall be crushed." she said, glowering at them. Celestia growled, pawing the ground with her hooves. "That will never happen!" she shouted, charging towards Nightmare and locking horns with her. Both sisters yelled insults at as they bashed each other with their horns. Twilight turned to look at her ex-friends, who were giving her a dirty look. Twilight smirked. "Time to finish what I didn't do earlier." she said, her horn glowing with energy. Rainbow Dash flew in front of her. "I'm going to buck you up for what you did to Fluttershy." she threatened, punching her hooves. Applejack came up next to her. "Ah will help ya on that one, Rainbow." she said, glaring at Twilight. Pinkie Pie hopped up to both of them, not even glancing at Twilight. "So will I!" she said cheerfully, cradling a rolling pin. Rarity came up and looked at Twilight as if she were a slug. "As much as I think fighting is for ruffians, I shall stoop to your levels and enjoy pulverizing Twilight." she said disdainfully, her horn glowing. Only Fluttershy remained in the back, quiet. When the others asked her to help them, she just squeaked and jumped into a nearby bush. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "That's Fluttershy for you. Prepare to be sent to the hospital!" she said. Twilight smiled. "I think you should go there first." she said calmly before charging towards Rainbow Dash. Dash grinned and launched herself towards Twilight, her friends cheering her on, intent on getting revenge... Up in the skies... "Bro, is that who I think it is?" asked one of the changelings. Nucleon nodded gravely. "Yeah. Looks like Discord is out. The Queen must be really desperate if she needs his help." he said. "Yeah...hey, what's going on down there?" he asked, pointing a few feet below him. Nucleon looked down to see an all out brawl going on. His eyes widened in surprise. "Ooh, a fight! Hey, isn't that..." "TWILIGHT!" shouted Nucleon, voice full of worry as he quickly descended upon the fight...