//------------------------------// // The Reign of Discord // Story: The God Empress of Ponykind // by iowaforever //------------------------------// The Reign of Discord Equestria was expanding, the once pathetic nation slowly filling in the unpopulated regions of the continent. Celestia and Luna watched as towns and cities popped up from coast to coast, some of them going as far north as the edge of the planet’s arctic regions. There were issues with the other races on the continent, primarily the Diamond Dogs, but now that they were united under one banner they could face these threats. Roads and trade had increased, and Celestia was happy that these ponies were getting along for once. She was sitting near the edge of a forest, Her eyes closed and Her wings drawn in at Her side. A breeze was coming in from the north, the wind blowing through Her mane and casting a few leaves onto Her. She took a breath in and sighed, allowing the natural scents to fill Her being and calm Her body. This tranquility was interrupted when a pink cloud buzzed past Her. She opened one eye and watched the cloud stop, change direction, and fly off in another direction. She stood and reached out with Her powers, snagging the cloud and pulling it towards Her. As soon as the cloud reached Her, it broke free of Her aura and began to rain on Her. “If this is your idea of a prank, Luna, it’s not very funny.” She grumbled as brown liquid ran down Her face and armor. Instinctively, She licked Her lips slightly, some of the brown liquid collecting on Her tongue. “Chocolate?” She closed Her eyes and reached out into the Immaterium, and She was shocked at what She found. Like the snow created by the Windigos, the cloud hovering above Her practically glowed with unnatural powers, only this was much more twisted. With a quick trust She destroyed the cloud, scattering its components to the wind, before turning towards Her shelter as more pink clouds began to gather on the horizon. A teleport brought Her to the entrance to the cave, where Luna was currently charging her powers for an attack. “Please tell me you did this.” She shouted over the sound of a blast of lightning as several more clouds exploded into nothing. “If I did, I would be laughing.” Celestia constructed a barrier and placed it over the entrance, sealing Her and Luna off from the rest of the world. The pink clouds continued to zip by, and soon herds of warped rabbits and pigs began to pass. “What’s happening?” Luna asked. “I don’t know exactly, but it has to be of Chaotic origin. Have you seen anything that might be identifiable as a cult?” “Other than the ones that worship you, no I haven’t.” Celestia began pacing, Her armored shoes clicking on the stone beneath Her. “This makes even less sense. Daemons can’t just barge their way into the Materium... well, some can, but usually they have mortals pull them in. Either we missed at least one cult, or we’re facing a threat that is way beyond most of what I’ve had to face.” She looked at Luna. “Grab your weapons and armor; we’re going to find the source of this corruption and slaughter them all.” ... Using the Immaterium as a beacon, the two sisters began their journey. The Chaotic forces at work threw off Celestia’s direction several times, and they began to drift off towards the west. Eventually Luna suggested following the chaos to where it was most concentrated, and the two began heading southwest until they reached a town. “Nopony’s here...” Luna said as they walked through the streets, which had been replaced by peanut brittle. “They are afraid; this is a force they have never seen before, and they are trying to hide until it leaves. You would do the same if you were in their position.” “How do you know?” “It takes a trained mind to stand against the forces of Chaos, Luna. You and I are naturally shielded from the effects of the Warp, but these ponies are not so fortunate. They must be trained before they can become effective.” “Fair enough.” they approached the nearest building, a small house with both windows darkened. Celestia tapped lightly on the door with an armored hoof, and after a few moments of waiting the door opened slightly. “Wh-Who are you?” a voice said from behind the door. “A friend.” Celestia said “I am here to help.” “You... You are?” “Yes. Now tell me, what exactly happened here?” “You don’t know?” “Let’s say, for a moment, that my sister and I were in a different country, unable to learn of what is transpiring here. How would you explain it?” there was a pause before the voice spoke. “Well... a few days ago this... thing showed up at Everfree Castle. It started doing some weird magic, and now everything has gone crazy.” As if to prove the voice’s point, the sun disappeared and cast the country into darkness. “Fear not, little pony." Celestia said "I shall go and purge this creature from the world, and you will be safe.” “Oh, thank you!” the voice said. “And... if it isn’t too much trouble, my sister lives near Everfree. Could... could you make sure she’s safe?” “Do you have a picture of some sort?” there was a rustle before a small portrait slipped through the crack in the door. “I shall make sure your sister is safe.” “Thank you. Best of luck, miss.” Celestia nodded before leaving, just as the sun returned to the sky. ... The two sisters landed on the edge of the Everfree region. The entire landscape had changed, and was now a mismatched collection of colors. Buildings and trees hung upside down in the air, pink clouds filled the sky, and hundreds of warped creatures ran by as if nothing was the matter. Celestia drew Her sword and advanced, Luna following close behind. “Don’t you have a spell or something that can clean this up?” Luna asked. “No. The best way to cleanse an area of daemonic corruption is to kill the offending daemon. Keep a sharp eye out; I bet there are Bloodletters and Nurglings watching us right now.” Luna drew her own weapons and pulled closer to Celestia, the elder sister sweeping Her gaze across the area. “Odd, I was expecting more dead bodies and less...” “Flying pigs?” Luna asked as a flock of the creatures flew past. “Yes. Compared to what I’ve seen of the Ruinous Powers, this is almost... tame.” She shook Her head and continued forward. “It’s a trick, it has to be.” “Maybe this is a younger daemon?” “No, daemons aren’t like ponies; they are not born in the sense that a pony is, and they are filled with malice and corruption from the instant they are spawned from the Immaterium.” Luna was silent after that, and they kept walking until they found their quarry. Just outside the castle, which had been painted a disgusting shade of pink, there was a black throne. Seated in the throne was a creature, snake-like in appearance but possessing the head of a goat, the wings of a bat, the tail of a dragon, the paw of a lion and the talon of an eagle. Its eyes seemed mismatched, and a small beard of white hair hung from its chin. And it was snoring. Fairly loudly, in fact. “It’s... asleep?!” Celestia planted Her hooves. “Why would it be asleep if it was trying to corrupt this world?” “Well, won’t it be easier to kill now?” Luna asked. “I suppose...” Before Celestia could act, the creature shifted and yawned. Its eyes fluttered open as it pulled itself up, eyeing the two ponies standing before it. “What’s this? I have guests now?” The creature chuckled. “I guess sleeping actually has its advantages.” “Enough.” Celestia said, taking a step forward. “You are corrupting this world, and I have come to defend it.” “Corrupt? Me?” the creature laughed. “This isn’t corrupting; this is just me trying to liven the place up. To be very honest, it’s kinda boring around here.” “You call destroying the natural order of things ‘livening the place up’?” the creature seemed genuinely confused at Celestia's objections. “Um, yeah? You have a problem with that?” “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.” “Well, maybe it was my exceptional physique that brought you here.” the creature vanished in a flash of light and appeared again standing on Celestia’s back, posing as if it were a bodybuilder. “Admit it, you’ve never seen a finer specimen than me.” “I think you are an abomination.” “Oh, you flatter me.” the creature disappeared again, only to reappear leaning against one of Luna’s pauldrons. “So, what brings you out here, miss...?” “I am Celestia, daemon. Although you may know me as the Anathema.” the creature looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking its head. “Nah, doesn’t ring a bell. Mind if I call you ‘Celly’.” “No.” Celestia growled. “Eh, it was good while it lasted.” the creature teleported back to his throne “Suppose I should introduce myself, right? You can call me Discord... or John, but I prefer Discord.” “Enough of this chatter!” Celestia aimed Her sword at Discord’s chest. “Undo your destruction and leave this realm.” “Uh, no. I’m having fun right now, and I don’t want some sore loser coming in and ruining it for me.” Discord looked at Luna. “Is your mother always this grouchy?” “She... She’s my sister, not my mother.” Luna said, pawing at the ground. “Keep telling yourself that.” Discord looked back at Celestia. “So, Celestia, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” “Yes." Celestia replied, never lowering Her sword for an instant. "You are a blight upon this world, and I will banish you back to the Warp where you belong.” “Yes, we’ve established that you don’t like me already." Discord emphasized his point by summoning a poster of his face with "Public Enemy #1" written on it. "But come on, you can’t just have the same old boring thing over and over again, now can you? I mean, at least that guy I saved had a sense for change.” Celestia froze, lowering Her sword slightly. “Who... who did you save?” Discord looked thoughtful again before shrugging. “Can’t remember; he wasn’t much for talking.” “It matters not,” Celestia raised Her sword again. “Defend yourself, Discord.” “Oh, we’re doing the fighting thing now? All right, have at it.” with a snarl Celestia lunged forward, arcane power running down the length of Her sword. She swung the sword towards Discord’s head, but the creature vanished and Celestia only managed to destroy his throne. “Aw, I liked that chair.” Discord said as he reappeared behind Celestia. “Well, chairs can be replaced.” Celestia twisted around and fired a blast of Warp energy, but Discord caught the blast and reformed it into another pink cloud. He tossed the cloud away and took off, circling over the sisters. “Well?” Growling, Celestia took off to face Discord, Her sword rising with Her. She charged forward again, but hit only air as Discord twisted around and appeared behind Her. She channeled more energy and shot a blast of Warpflame at the daemon, and once again Discord dodged the blast and disappeared. “Wow, you’re worse at this than I thought.” Discord appeared again, standing on Celestia’s back. “You dare taunt me?” “Sure, why not?” Discord was interrupted when a bolt of lightning struck him in the chest and knocked him from his position. He recovered quickly, just in time to dodge another rush from Celestia. “Can’t we talk about this for a bit?” “No.” Celestia growled. “Come on, what do you have against a little chaos?” “You warp and corrupt ponies’ souls. You drive them to insanity, and for what? So you can sit on your throne and ‘have fun’?” “Hey, insane ponies are funny.” Celestia spun around and swung Her sword at Discord, again missing as he dodged. The two began to circle, eyeing each other for openings. “Hey, quick question, whatever happened to that sister of yours?” “Behind you.” Luna said. Discord turned just before a silver-clad hoof slammed into his face, knocking him through the air. Celestia rushed forward and tackled the creature, the two twisting around before Celestia grabbed him and dove, hitting the ground and creating a massive crater. Celestia pulled away and climbed back into the sky, sword at the ready. Discord pulled himself out of the crater, dust and rubble dropping off his body. He twisted something around in his mouth before spitting out a fairly large tooth, which sank into the ground once it landed. He stared at the tooth for a moment before looking up at Celestia and Luna. “The lightning wasn’t actually that bad, but that hurt.” “I doubt you have a concept of pain.” Celestia growled. “Me? Not knowing pain?” Discord laughed before straightening himself. “Let’s remedy that problem, shall we?” with that, Discord threw himself into the air, his eagle talon glowing yellow with power. Celestia threw up a shield and dove, a small mach cone forming around Her as She neared Discord. The two beings striking against each other unleashed a force of the likes Equestria had never experienced. The earth shook as a massive explosion of light tore through the sky, the light blinding anypony that was unlucky to look up at that very instant. Trees were uprooted, mountains shook, and windows in far-off Fillydelphia were shattered as Discord and Celestia collided. Despite Her immense physical and psychic strength, the force of the impact was too much for Celestia. She could hear Her armor strain under immense pressure being exerted against Her, and the aura around Her sword flickered like a dying candle. With a cry, She was knocked back, losing the grip on Her sword and plummeting to the ground. Stones and dirt flew around Her as She landed, and She was forced to pull up Her wings to avoid injury. “Well, I’d have to say that was bracing!” Discord said as he twirled Celestia’s sword on one of his fingers. He flicked the sword away, watching with amusement as Celestia caught it in Her telekinesis and pulled Herself up from the ground, before turning towards Luna. “Now, for punching me in the face...” “Discord, your fight is with me!” Celestia bellowed, reactivating Her sword and climbing into the air. “Well, since your ‘sister’ hit me, I guess it makes it her fight as well, doesn’t it?” He flicked his wrist slightly, and an invisible wall of force knocked Celestia away as he advanced towards Luna. Luna raised her swords into a defensive position and backed up, at which Discord merely laughed. “You know you look really cute when you’re trying to act brave?” “I don’t fear you, daemon!” Luna shouted. “Of course you don’t. On a different note, since you knocked out my tooth, and I was fairly fond of that one, it only seems fair that you lose something in return.” Luna held her position as Discord vanished. This proved to be detrimental as Discord appeared right next to her, his eagle talon glowing with energy as he struck. A second explosion cut through the air as Discord’s attack tore through armor and flesh, severing Luna’s left wing and shattering a large chunk of her armor and one pauldron. Celestia dropped Her sword and rushed towards Luna, catching Her wounded sister before she hit the ground. Celestia tried to minimize the impact, but a quick blast of Warp Energy from Discord threw them to the ground faster than She had anticipated. Luckily Her armor held as the two skidded across the ground, dust and rocks failing to get past and contaminate Luna’s wound. “Amusing.” Discord said, floating over the two sisters and closely inspecting Luna’s severed wing. “I’d give it a 6.7 out of 10: Technique was great, but too much splash on re-entry.” He chuckled before landing, watching as Celestia pulled Herself up from the ground. “Oh, do you mind if I borrow this? The blue isn’t exactly my color, but that can be changed.” Discord snapped his fingers and Luna’s wing vanished, soon to appear where his left wing used to be, only smaller and a lighter shade of blue. Discord fluttered his new wing a few times before taking off again. “Well, what do you think?” “You mock my sister’s body, destroy the harmony of this land, and you ask what I think?” Celestia snarled. “Why not? I’ve always been open to outside opinions.” Celestia drew Her sword again, but Discord disappeared. “Now, are you sure you want to keep fighting?” “I intend to make your death slow and as painful as possible.” “I’m looking forward to that. But,” Discord reappeared next to Luna “What would your sister think?” “She would be more than happy to see you suffer.” “If she lives that long.” all the power drained from Celestia’s eyes as Discord teleported back to where his throne used to be. “I may not know medicine as well as I know chaos, but those wounds look pretty bad. So, are you going to keep fighting me and allow your sister to bleed to death, or should we just call this whole thing off and get on with life?” Celestia raised Her sword to strike, Her rage having reached a boiling point. Discord merely looked at Her smugly, his eagle talon still dripping with Luna’s blood. She continued forward until a thought stopped Her. Luna... I can’t abandon Luna... But then Discord remains free... No, there will be other chances to kill him. She sighed and lowered Her sword, the energy swirling around the blade dissipating into nothing. “You win this round, Discord.” “Yay me! Love to stay and chat, but I have some chaos that needs distributing and I’m running behind schedule. Arrivederci!” There was a pop and Discord vanished, his place soon being occupied by more pink clouds. Celestia made Her way towards Luna, not even realizing that the clouds had begun to rain on Her. “Tia...” Luna gasped. “I’m here, Luna.” Celestia scooped Luna up in Her hooves and took off, scattering the clouds as She ascended. “You’re going to be fine.” “... my wing... it hurts.” “I know. I’m going to help you, Luna... you’re going to be fine.” She turned towards Her shelter and flew as fast as possible, even as Luna lapsed into unconsciousness. ... “Philomena!” Celestia called as She re-entered the cave, placing Luna gently against a nearby rock and setting up a barrier at the mouth of the cave. Philomena swooped past Celestia and landed next to Luna, chirping in concern. “Discord proved to be stronger than I thought. Watch her for me.” a chirp. “I need to replace her wing.” Philomena chirped a few times in understanding before turning her attention back to Luna. Celestia ventured deeper, returning to Her genetics lab, now covered in a thin layer of dust from lack of use. A quick manipulation of the Warp saw the dust carted off to a small corner, and She began to inspect the pieces of equipment. If Horus had held off his revolution for a few more months, I could have had the Webway and Organic Limb Replacement available for use. She grumbled before turning to another part of the lab. I don't have the time or energy to grow Luna a new limb... But a bionic would frighten ponies. She grumbled again before an idea came to mind. She raised Her horn, encasing the machines in a yellow glow. Glass components and wiring were removed, set aside for later use, and the remaining metal was warped and molded into a vaguely winged shaped device. Next, Celestia brought forth the electrical components, reprogramming and rearranging them to better suit the task at hand. A bit of Luna’s blood that had splattered onto Her armor was added for DNA recognition, and soon the bionic was finished. Satisfied, Celestia focused Her powers again and reappeared next to Luna, the younger pony having regained consciousness. “What’s that?” Luna asked, slightly dazed from blood loss. “A new wing. Now hold still,” Celestia kneeled next to Luna. “This will probably hurt.” Luna nodded, closing her eyes and tensing slightly in anticipation. Celestia moved Luna slightly to better access the wound, flecking dried blood and shattered armor off the younger pony. Once the wound was cleaned, She gently pressed the bionic against the wound and activated it, watching as tiny wires and hooks clamped the new wing into place. Luna winced as the bionic finished installation, the new wing flapping gently on nervous impulse. “That could have been worse...” Luna said. “I’m not finished yet.” Celestia’s horn shimmered, a small light engulfing the flesh at the base of the bionic. With a quick impulse, the flesh was pulled up and began to wrap around the bionic, hiding it from view. Luna screamed as her flesh and muscle were pulled, with only a calming hoof to keep her from running off and ruining the process. More power was poured into the process, causing Celestia to sweat as more strain was placed on Her powers. As the flesh sealed away the bionic, a small layer of blue fur began to sprout up, hiding away any scar tissue and giving the wing an organic look. Her task complete, Celestia released Her power and collapsed, a small puddle of sweat having collected around Her. She lay there, panting as the stress She had built up left Her body. She could barely feel Her sister leaning over to nuzzle Her. “Thank you, sister.” Luna said softly, a pained smile gracing her lips. “You shouldn’t thank me.” Celestia muttered, resting Her head against the floor of the cave. “I failed, Luna; I couldn’t defeat Discord, and I couldn’t keep you safe.” “I went with you on my own accord, and I accepted the dangers that were present.” “I know. I wish there was more that I could have done...” Celestia sighed. “I need to rest, as do you. After that, we shall have to come up with a new plan to defeat Discord.” ... A few weeks had past, and Luna had grown used to the bionic wing. The new wing was now completely indistinguishable from a normal wing, especially when new feathers grew in to replace old. Celestia had spent Her time repairing armor and weapons, while Philomena kept constant vigil over the outside world and observed as Discord’s corruption spread. Discord himself never really left Everfree, allowing his natural chaotic energy to radiate outward and mess with the rest of the countryside. None of it really had an effect on the area surrounding their shelter, and Celestia was content to leave it at that for now. However, Discord’s encroaching turned out to be a bit more resilient than She had anticipated; every attempt by Her to undo some of the damage yielded nothing, sometimes causing the chaos to spread faster. Luna tried to help, but to no real effect. “Do you have any other ideas?” Luna asked after another failed attempt at rolling back the corruption. “Other than going back and killing Discord, no. And before you ask, I don’t think we’re quite ready for that.” Celestia turned away, heading back towards their shelter. “Well, what would you do in your past life?” “My followers would have dropped several thousand Space Marines here, and if that didn’t work issue Exterminatus. As I do not wish to see this world destroyed I cannot take the latter route.” “Well, can’t you at least raise an army?” “I can’t replicate the Astartes with what technology I have, and merely going from town to town is not going to produce the necessary skills to fight something of that level of power.” “Oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” the two continued to walk in silence back to the shelter. “I’ll go check on Philomena and see if she’s spotted any changes.” Celestia nodded as Her younger sister took to the air. Once She reached the safety of the shelter, Celestia sat down and closed Her eyes, allowing Her soul to drift through the Immaterium. She could feel the presence of Discord, a constant stabbing pain at the back of Her mind. She erected a few more shields and continued on, putting a considerable distance between Her and Discord. She was not really looking for anything, just a calm spot to collect Her thoughts. However, She made notice of a presence trailing behind Her. Unlike the presence of Discord, this one was much calmer. Still, She knew of the deception of daemons, and reinforced Her shields before confronting this new presence. “Who are you, and why are you following me?” She asked. “Please, your highness, find pleasure in us your servants.” a small chorus of voices replied. Celestia loosened Her shielding slightly when She recognized them. “You are the Founders of Equestria, are you not?” “Yes we are.” the voices replied. “And we want to help.” “How, though? You are not strong enough to confront Discord, even with my help.” “You gave us gifts, gifts that shaped us and made us who we are. These gifts are more powerful than even you realize, your majesty, and we would be honored if you would wield them against the forces of disharmony.” “I... I cannot accept this.” “You must, your majesty. We do this to save our home; without it, all will be lost. We empower you and your sister as our champions; you must preserve harmony in this world.” “I... I suppose I understand. Very well.” there was a shimmer in the air around Celestia as five necklaces and a tiara appeared before Her. Using Her telekinesis, She plucked the jewelry from the air and stored them away in a small pouch. She stood, turning towards the direction Luna had flown. ... “Are you absolutely sure that this will work?” Luna said as the two sisters once again entered Everfree. “It must, or Equestria is doomed.” “But Discord defeated us before; how will a few bits of jewelry defeat him?” “Have faith, Luna; we will be victorious on this day.” “I hope you’re right.” They continued on, walking through the mass of chaos that made up Discord’s realm. Now, though, Celestia began to notice ponies hiding away amongst what remained of the buildings, cowering as the two sisters walked past. Celestia paused for a moment, turning towards one group. “You there,” She said. “Come here.” there was a brief moment of silence before a small group of ponies, many of them foals, came out from the shelter of the building. With a bit of focus, Celestia recognized the leader as the mare the other pony had asked for her to look for all those days ago. “Y-yes?” the first pony said. “Are you scared of what is around you?” “Yes...” “Fear not, my child," Celestia gave the pony a smile, "For I have come to free this world of the Ruinous Powers.” “Aw, how touching.” Celestia and Luna turned to see Discord standing on a nearby roof. “I can almost feel my heart melting from here.” “You have come to witness your defeat?” Celestia said, raising Her sword. “Actually, I was just taking a stroll and I saw you and your dau... sister walking along, so I was thinking that maybe you just couldn’t stay away from me. So,” Discord conjured up a few slips of paper and a heart-shaped box “Do two movie tickets sound good for our next date?” “Your attempts to distract me are worthless, Discord; my soul is consecrated and cannot be swayed, even as the forces of Chaos beat against them.” “Yeah yeah, we get it. ‘Oh, look at me! I don’t like chaos and I’m going to make big speeches about it’! Seriously, do you ever do anything else? We’ve already established that you don’t like me.” “It’s not just the chaos, Discord.” Celestia took a step forward. “You don’t care for these ponies; they are merely your playthings to abuse at your leisure. You are no ruler, you are a confused, malicious child being placed in charge of an entire world.” “So what are you going to do? Spank me and send me to my room with no dessert?” “Perhaps.” Celestia rose into the air, summoning two of the necklaces and the tiara. “Attack me, if you so wish.” Discord looked at Celestia for a moment before chuckling. “Seriously? Just like that? Come on, you’re the one who wanted to do the whole ‘arch-enemies’ thing, aren’t you going to try and beat me up for a little bit?” “What, you mean like this?” Discord was blasted off the roof by a huge wall of Warpflame, hitting the ground with a wet smack. “Exactly!” Discord vanished and reappeared standing on a different building. “You and me are just going to chase each other around for a few minutes, then I’m actually going to care, and you go away and leave me alone. Why don’t you just leave and we’ll cut out all the rest?” “Why? Do you think that you are so powerful that you don’t even need to be bothered with someone like me?” Celestia laughed “I’ve seen Bloodletters cause more destruction than you.” “Was that an attempt to annoy me?” “Maybe, but I thought you, a practitioner of ‘chaos’, would love to know that he was being outdone by a mere weakling in the Chaos hierarchy. Maybe that’s why you’re alone; you aren’t actually that powerful. I mean, a Lord of Change or a Great Unclean One would have destroyed this planet in a few hours, but you? Cheap parlor tricks, nothing more.” Discord bristled slightly, but otherwise did not seem all that affected. “Yeah, your attempts to get me mad have worked so well. Now what, is Luna going to sneak up behind me and punch me again?” “No, but she did finish casting a null spell over the area.” As if on cue, the world became tinted blue, with Luna sauntering out of the shadows of a building with a smug look on her face. “And... that’s supposed to threaten me?” Discord asked, to which Celestia smiled slightly. “I don’t know; does it?” Discord chuckled a little before snapping his fingers. The blue tint flickered a little, but returned to full strength soon after. Puzzled, Discord snapped his fingers again, but once more nothing happened. He tried again several more times before looking back at Celestia. “What did you do?” “Nullification of the presence of the Immaterium," Celestia said. "Several psykers I knew of used similar techniques in battle against opposing psykers. Most of your powers have been cut off.” “Oh, and I suppose you are perfectly fine?” “Wrong. I have lost quite a bit of my own power, but then there are other forms of power besides manipulating the Immaterium, aren’t there?” Celestia charged forward, sweeping Her sword towards Discord. He dodged, but lacking the ability to teleport away meant he was tackled by Celestia’s armored bulk. He rolled away, but Luna pounced on him and pinned him to the ground. Celestia twisted around and bucked Discord in the face, metal boots colliding with his skull and stunning him for a moment. Discord recovered and twisted out of Luna’s grasp, taking to the air to avoid the two sisters. Celestia and Luna circled Discord, waiting for him to make the first move. He eyed them for a moment before rising higher, trying to find an area where the null zone would not affect him. Luna, not having that, raced up and grabbed Discord, slowing him down and pulling him back towards Celestia. Discord twisted around once more and punched Luna, knocking the younger pony back, but before he could get away Celestia had flown above him and cut off his escape. “So, if you kill me, what does that accomplish?” he asked. “With you gone, these ponies shall be able to live in peace and harmony.” She looked past Discord and saw that Luna had summoned the other necklaces. “But killing you is out of the question.” “... What?” “You will just respawn within the Immaterium if you die; it would be better if you were sealed away, under my watch. I don’t do this for my own pleasure; I do this so that all ponies may stay safe.” “Eh, I’ve suffered worse.” Discord smiled and took a pose “I’ll just break out in a thousand years or so and try again.” “I doubt it.” the necklaces and tiara began to shine, streams of light twirling around Celestia and Luna. The streams collected before a rainbow shot forth and enveloped Discord, who barely flinched even as his limbs were frozen in place. “I suppose you get full credit and poor Luna will just have to stay-” Discord said, but his words were cut off as his head was petrified. The statue of Discord hung in space for a moment before plummeting to the ground. Before he hit the ground, the rainbow that had turned him to stone flattened and exploded into a disk, all traces of corruption dissolving into dust as it rushed over the world. Luna and Celestia were wreathed in energy, their eyes and horn glowing bright as the powers of Harmony flowed through them. Soon, the power left and everything returned to normal. Celestia and Luna landed, dismissing the necklaces and tiara as they did. Luna looked around before speaking. “Looks better, although the castle is still pink.” “That can be fixed.” “I suppose...” Luna paused for a moment. “Sister, what Discord said, about you taking-” “Don’t tell me you actually listened to that monster?” “Well...” “Luna, I will always remember you and never take credit for your accomplishments. I am not that kind of pony.” “I know... I’m sorry for doubting you, sister.” Celestia smiled and turned, preparing to head back to their shelter, but caught Herself before tripping over a pony. The pony was bowing down before Her, quivering in fear, and Celestia saw that many other ponies were doing the same. “Rise, little ponies. Do not be afraid.” the ponies got back to their hooves, although they were still terrified. “Y-you saved us all...” the lead pony said. “Who are you?” “I am Celestia. In the past, I believe I was referred to as the Morningstar.” The ponies bowed down again. “Please, Celestia, we cannot stand against such threats. Lead us, guide us against these foes.” Well, this is going smoother than it has in the past. “Are you sure? I mean, wouldn’t you rather have-” “No one else has been able to fight against a foe this strong and live. You must lead us.” there was a chorus of affirmation from the gathered ponies. Celestia looked at them before smiling. “I suppose I shall have to accept.” Celestia drew Her sword and raised it high into the air. “Hear this, Ponies of Equestria! Gone are the days of Darkness and Chaos; today marks the beginning of a golden age of peace and harmony for all ponies, and I, Celestia, shall guide you! I swear on my life, and on my honor, that I shall do everything within my power to defend you from the forces of disharmony! I am the Empress of the Sun, and I swear that it shall never set upon Equestria as long as I rule!” The terror left the ponies and they stood, cheering as Celestia took to the air. “Hail Celestia! Hail the Empress of Equestria!” ... Luna watched as the ponies cheered her sister. She could not help but smile, proud that Celestia had finally defeated the forces of evil that She had always spoke of. Good job, Tia... Good job. Of course, wouldn’t it be better if they were cheering for you? A voice echoed through her thoughts. Luna staggered back, unsure of what had just happened. Who are you? My name does not matter. The voice said. But I am curious; wouldn’t you be happier if they were cheering for you? Well, I suppose... but, this is my sister’s triumph, not mine. “Not yours”? Why do you say that? You helped to defeat Discord, and if I am not mistaken you did more than your sister did. That... That’s not true; my sister forged those necklaces, she came up with the plan to defeat Discord. I just helped in the execution. So is that what you are? Just another tool in your sister’s arsenal? I am not a tool. Keep telling yourself that, little Luna. Stop this. Leave me now, and never return. There was a pause before the voice chuckled. So blind to the truth. Very well, I will leave you for now, but think of what we’ve talked about. I shall return. Luna could feel a presence leaving her, causing her to sway slightly. “Luna?” Luna looked up and saw Celestia hovering over her, a look of concern on Her face. “Are you alright?” “Wha...? Y-yes, I’m fine. Just a little light headed.” “You may rest later. For now, we have an empire to forge.”