//------------------------------// // Skirmish // Story: The Element of Corruption // by Fyronarion //------------------------------// As both of the Princesses wrestled each other, Rainbow Dash charged towards Twilight and tackled her against the hedge wall. Twilight grunted in pain as she stars in her vision. She pulled back her hooves and punched Rainbow Dash in the face, causing her to stumble back. She then stood up and powered her horn, getting ready to incinerate her. All of a sudden, she was pushed over by Applejack, who bucked her in the ribs. Twilight yelled in pain, and when Applejack was about to bring her hoof down towards Twilight, she rolled out of the way and grabbed her by the tail. She then lifted her up and threw her against the stone plinth, knocking Applejack out. Rainbow Dash quickly got up and growled. "You're gonna pay for that!" she shouted, swiping at Twilight's legs. She yelped and fell over, and Rainbow Dash started punching her in the face. All of a sudden, a black blur slammed into her and both of them went flying into a shrub. It was Nucleon, and when Rainbow Dash stared at him, horrified, he transformed himself into Rainbow Dash. He laughed as her eyes widened in surprise and he punched her in the gut. "Why are you hitting yourself?" he taunted. Rainbow Dash scowled and landed her hoof in Nucleon's face. He stumbled back, his cheekbones throbbing. She then got up and landed a kick in his stomach, and he flew back and crashed into a bench, destroying it. Twilight looked as Rainbow Dash and Nucleon fought each other. She then turned her gaze to Rarity and Pinkie, who were staring frightfully at her. "I'll go up and blast her with my baked bads!" shouted Pinkie as she hurled herself to Twilight, a rolling pin in her clutches. A few feet above from the fight... Discord watched from above, amused with the chaos that is going on. He ate another piece of popcorn and winced as Pinkie smacked her rolling pin in Twilight's face. "They will never learn." said Chrysalis, fluttering down next to Discord and watching the brawl below. Discord nodded. "Yes. But then again, this is some world-class entertainment." he said cheerfully, throwing popcorn at the Princesses and goading them on. She rolled her eyes. "You can say that. Wait-what's Nucleon doing down there?" she asked, peering over the edge. Discord shrugged. "Looks like he's helping Twilight. Two versus Five? Sounds fair." he said, offering his bag of popcorn to Chrysalis. She levitated a piece and slowly chewed, watching both of them fight off the five elements... Back on the ground... As Pinkie fell before Twilight, she turned her gaze towards Rarity. Rainbow Dash was leaning against the bush, her wings mangled and her body cut and bruised. Nucleon was out cold, his body limp on the ground. Applejack was still unconscious from the attack, and Rarity tensed back, her teeth gritted. "You will not be able to feel your limbs after I am done with you." she said before firing a beam of energy to her. Twilight deflected the first attack easily and quickly released another beam of energy. Rarity didn't have time to defend herself as the magic beam hit her directly in the chest. She gasped, suddenly freezing, with ice forming around her. Twilight smirked. "Simple freezing charm. Now let's see, I think an implosion spell would look nice here, wouldn't it?" she said sadistically, her horn starting to glow. Rarity could only watch in horror as Twilight was about to unleash a devastating spell. Suddenly, a squirrel clambered up to Twilight and started biting her. Birds soon followed and started pecking her flesh. Twilight yelled and started whacking the animals, but the sensation intensified. Twilight looked from the corner of her eyes to see Fluttershy directing the animals to attack her. "Free her, little ones. I will deal with Twilight." she said softly to the small animals. They nodded their heads in acceptance and started to chew on the ice around Rarity. Fluttershy turned to Twilight, who was bruised badly from the animals. "I thought you were too weak to fight!" taunted Twilight. Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't stand to see you hurt my friends." she replied, locking her eyes with Twilight's. She gasped. Whatever she was doing, it is something powerful. "No..you can't do that to me!" stammered Twilight, trying to break the eye contact. Fluttershy persisted, her eyes drilling into Twilight. She shook her head. "Yes I can. Don't avoid The Stare. I mean, if it's hurting you, you can turn away." she said politely. Twilight shuddered, and she suddenly got a vision of her past flashing before her eyes until she seized up and collapsed on the ground. Fluttershy lowered her gaze and stared sadly at Twilight. "It was for the best." she said sulkily before turning around to see Rarity scrape off the remnants of ice around her hide. "Thank you for your help, Fluttershy. I did not know you had it in you." she said gratefully. Fluttershy only smiled and and trotted to her other friends, waking them up. Rarity helped too, using her magic to revive her friends. To the princesses... Luna raised her horn and unleashed a sliver of pure energy towards her sister. Celestia quickly erected a shield of yellow energy that deflected the spell. She then fired a beam of arcane energy towards Luna, who gasped in surprise and fired her energy beam too. Both beams collided with each other and caused sparks to fly around. Celestia gritted her teeth in concentration. "You..will..never stop me!" she shouted. Luna smirked, but there was fear in her eyes. She knew that her sister's magic is superior to hers, and she can feel the beam slowly inching its' way towards her. "As if! I have chaos on my side!" she responded, sweat trickling down her face as she concentrated with all her might. But she started to worry when Celestia's magic started to beat hers as the golden rays overcame hers'. Above the two princesses... "Nightmare does have a point. I can just snap my fingers and knock out Celestia." he said smoothly. Chrysalis raised her eyebrows at him. "Then why don't you? You're telling me that you could've saved us a lot of trouble just by doing that?" she asked, her voice rising. Discord shrugged. "I didn't feel like it anyways." he said, but then he stood up and snapped his hands. The snap echoed throughout the maze. All the fighting ceased immediately as everypony suddenly fell into a slumber. Discord jumped down and walked leisurely through the bodies, a smug expression on his face. "That was quick." said Chrysalis, looking at the sleeping Celestia. He nodded. "Yes. Now, we must take them back to our base of operations. If the guards find out, it would cause too much problems." he said, snapping his fingers again. Twilight, Nightmare and Nucleon disappeared with a POP. He then turned to Chrysalis. "Go tell your minions that they will have to return." he ordered. She nodded and ascended towards the sky. Discord then turned to the sleeping ponies and raised his claw. Red sparks started forming around it, and he shot it towards the pitch-black sky. It exploded like fireworks, lighting the sky up with tinges of red. Smirking to himself, Discord disappeared with a poof, but not before the Royal Guard hurried towards the source of the flare... To the Royal Guard... "Hurry!" shouted one of the guards. Shining Armor quickly followed his lesser as they navigated their way throughout the garden maze. "What's the rush?" he panted, trying to keep up with the guard. He turned to him. "One of our patrols reported unusual activity in the gardens. They saw a flash of light and sparks flying everywhere. However, when they tried to get close, everypony around a four mile radius suddenly fell asleep." he explained hastily. Shining Armor raised his eyebrows. "Really? Then how come you weren't asleep?" he asked. The guard shook his head. "I wasn't in the radius, sir. It must've been a heavy spell, though. Everypony was in a deep sleep, and when the guards woke up, they found strange hoofprints and a couple of smaller hoofprints." he said, making a turn at a junction. Shining Armor thought for a while. "Well, it sounds serious. Are we there now?" he asked. The guard nodded as he made another left the hedge. Both of them walked into a large clearing, which was the center of the maze. He gasped when he saw the sleeping bodies of Princess Celestia, along with the Elements of Harmony. "What in the name of Celestia happened here?" he asked, looking around. The surrounding were destroyed, with dents and broken wooden pieces of benches. A shrub was completely flattened in the ensuing chaos. He quickly ordered his guards to wake up the unconscious ponies while he checked to make sure the Princess was alright. He quickly cast a small spell that woke her up and she quickly jumped up, looking around wildly. "You will never stop me, Luna!" she shouted. Shining Armor put his hoof on her shoulder and gently held her down. "Princess, no need to worry. What happened? Why were all of you asleep?" he pressed her. She looked up at him. "It was...Nightmare...she came." "You mean Nightmare Moon? But...I thought Twi and her friends stopped her a week ago. What do you mean she came?" he asked, his voice starting to rise. Celestia shook her head. "No, Shining Armor. I assure you, it was Nightmare Moon. Along with her were Discord and Chrysalis..and..and.." she faltered, her voice starting to tighten. How can she break the name of Nightmare Moon's last accomplice in front of her accomplices' brother? Shining Armor looked at her in concern. "Princess, if you're feeling sick, I can escort you back to the Castle. I'm sure Cadance won't mind with me staying a bit late out-" "The last pony that came here and fought us was Twilight. She works with Nightmare Moon." Shining Armor looked at Celestia in disbelief as she gazed at him sadly. He then started to chuckle nervously. "Ha, good one Princess. But Twilight is probably asleep right now in Ponyville. You confused her with somepony else, maybe." he said. Celestia stared pitifully at him. How unexpected can one take news about something terrible. "She's telling the truth, you know." said a quiet voice behind him. Shining Armor turned to see Rainbow Dash standing there, her figure battered. His eyes widened in horror. "No...it can't be...how can Twily..." he said, suddenly taking a seat and staring at the ground. Pinkie and Fluttershy exchanged nervous looks while Applejack took a step forward and placed her hoof on his back. "It's alright. We'll bring her back. She's evil, but ah'm sure-" she stopped when she saw Shining Armor's back stiffen. "SHE'S NOT EVIL! SHE'S MY LITTLE SISTER!" he shouted, shoving her away. Applejack stumbled and crashed into Rainbow Dash as both of them collapsed onto the ground. Pinkie and Rarity looked at him murderously, but they met Celestia's eyes and retreated. He then stood up and quickly wiped his eyes. However, while he was wiping her eyes, he looked down to see a strand of purple hair. He picked it up and observed it. He then concentrated, closing his eyes while his horn glowed, emitting a strange blue light to the strand. "I'm going after her. This is a strand of her mane. I've translocated her position through my horn. She will come back to me" he said, opening his eyes again. The Elements gasped at his outburst, but Celestia nodded understandingly. "I understand how you are feeling, especially about little sisters. I wish you luck on your journey, and can you do me a favor and bring Luna back to me too?" she asked. Shining Armor nodded. "Yes, I will bring her back too. Just...just watch and protect Cadance for me. If I don't come back, I want her to keep this." he said, handing his gold wedding ring to Celestia. She nodded solemnly and encased it in a glass box. Behind them, Fluttershy and Rarity teared up. Shining Armor looked at the Elements. "I'm sorry for pushing you two, but it's crucial for all of you to protect Equestria and the Princess. I'm counting on you all." he said. All of them shook their heads in acknowledgement as he turned and teleported out of sight. A flash later, he appeared on a hill at the outskirts of Canterlot. He groaned and rubbed his horn. "Twilight is better at magic than me." he muttered. His heart stopped when he mentioned her name, and he resolved to find her and bring her back to light, no matter what. Nopony makes his little sister an enemy of Equestria...