//------------------------------// // The Fall of the Elements // Story: The Breaking of a Non-Brony // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// Fluttershy screamed. Rainbow Dash flared out her wings to protect her pegasus friend, but her legs were shaking in fear. Spike, who had not been privy to Discord's mind games before but had heard about them, was hiding behind Twilight who had a look of pure horror on her face. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were holding on to each other for dear life and Applejack's jaw was nearly on the floor. Discord just laughed. "Oh you ponies are absolutely priceless!" he crowed. "I know I've said this before, but you should see the looks on your faces! They're absolutely marvelous!" Hearing his voice once more snapped Twilight out of her shock. "What are you doing, Discord?!" she growled. "Come now, what does it look like, Twilight Sparkle? I've borrowed the body of your friend here for a teensy little bit while I search for the elements." Discord's face darkened and he took an imposing step forward. "And you will give me the Elements, Twilight Sparkle." "Why would we do that?!" said Applejack. "Why I need them is a matter mostly between Celestia and myself, but since the seven of you are the only ones who know where the Elements are, I thought that I'd ask you first. We wouldn't want things to get nasty now would we?" "Go to Tartarus!" spat Rainbow Dash. Discord let out another crow of a laugh and shook his head. "I'm afraid that I can't, Rainbow Dash. Even if I could I wouldn't. But that's another story for another time." He reached out his hand and the staff flew into it. "Where. Are. The. Elements?" "What could possibly possess us to tell you that?!" said Twilight. Discord's grin widened. "I'm so glad that you asked, Twilight Sparkle. You see, I don't like being encased in stone. I mean, would you like it? It's the most uncomfortable thing on this planet, and I mean that literally. The last time the two of us faced each other, I was my usual happy, wonderful self, content to cause chaos throughout the world without being too, shall we say, cruel about it." Discord took another step forward and touched the tip of Twilight's horn with the staff, something that caused her to flinch backwards. "You used my overconfidence to defeat me, and I tend to learn from my few mistakes. So, if you could give me the Elements, I wouldn't have to tap into my, shall we call it, darker side." Applejack glared at him. "What, what would ya dare do while Celestia is watchin'!" "What can't I do while Celestia is watching?!" said Discord. "Think about it, Honest Applejack, what did it take to defeat me the first two times?" Discord paused for a moment but continue on when he realized that he wasn't going to get an answer. "The Elements of Harmony, of course! I'm not like Chrysalis or even our dear mutual enemy, Sombra. I can't be defeated by a powerful blast of magic or else Celestia would have done it without the Elements. Even when that jealous little sister was by her side, it still took the Elements of Harmony to defeat me. I doubt that your brother and sister-in-law's love could defeat me, Twilight Sparkle. I do not see why you think so yourself." Twilight glared at Discord but didn't say anything. Discord let out a slight chuckle and shook his head. "I have plans, Twilight Sparkle; I have means of creating chaos that you couldn't imagine in your wildest nightmares. I can turn the entire world against you and your precious princesses and the best part is that I won't even have to expend a shred of magic to do it." "Celestia will destroy you!" said Rainbow Dash, flaring out her wings. "Don't be silly, Rainbow Dash, it's quite ridiculous," said Discord. "If she could then she would have by now, am I correct? She wouldn't have called you to Canterlot, telling you to bring the Elements." He turned back to Twilight. "Which brings me back to my original question: where are they? You obviously know where they are or Celestia wouldn't have asked you to bring them." "We'll never tell you!" said Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, do your worst, Discord!" said Applejack. "We ain't never gonna tell ya!" Discord let loose another laugh and he leaned over Applejack. Applejack stared directly into his eyes and was horrified to see that TD's natural eye color had been replaced with Discord's vivid yellow and red eyes. "It is unwise to ask the god of chaos itself to 'do his worst' when you have something that he wants," said Discord with more than a little menace in his voice. "Do you realize how long it would take me to have you begging for the end, knowing that I would never oblige because every dead pony is one less pony that cannot be privy to the chaos of the world?" Despite her best efforts, Applejack gulped and took a fearful step back. Discord straightened back up, satisfied that he had gotten his point across when out of the corer of his eye, he saw Spike with a scroll in his hands just about to send it off to Celestia. With a snap of his fingers, the scroll was in his hands. "Ah ah ah," he chided. "That's a bad dragon, trying to correspond with the princess when we're not finished here!" Twilight gasped softly as Discord unfurled the scroll. "Let's see what he have here, shall we?" Discord cleared his throat. "Celestia, Discord is here. He's holding the seven of us and is demanding the Elements. Get to them as soon as possible." Discord clicked his tongue and crumpled up the note. "Really, Spike, it was a good effort but--" Suddenly, Spike pulled a second scroll out from behind his back and before Discord could react, he engulfed it in a jet of fire. He turned to the possessed human and smiled triumphantly. "Guess you won't be able to get the Elements now, huh?" he said smugly. Discord's eyes narrowed and he took a step towards Spike. "That, my dear dragon, was very, very, very foolish of you." Before anypony could react, Discord extended his hand and Spike was lifted off the ground. He flew into Discord's hand as Discord clenched it around his neck. The dragon gurlged in Discord's grasp and the Elements began rushing forward in the defense of their dragon friend. Discord held out his other hand and encased him and Spike in a forcefield not unlike the ones Shining Armor was adept at conjuring. Twilight and her friends pounded on the forcefield, desperately trying to save Spike. Discord grinned evilly at the dragon who looked at him with fear in his eyes. "Any last words?" whispered the god of chaos. Spike's eyes went wider and he desperately tried to struggle out of Discord's grasp. Discord merely snapped his fingers and Spike let out a howl of pain before he let out a final gasp and went limp. "SPIKE!!! SPIKE!!" cried Twilight. "Let him go you monster!" "As you wish, Twilight Sparkle," said Discord. He opened up his hand and let the dragon fall to the floor. Twilight bolted towards him and picked up the baby dragon in her forelegs. "Spike! Spike are you okay?!" Spike shuddered in Twilight's grasp and she turned him over to check on him. The Elements gasped when they saw what Discord had done. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" screeched Rarity. Discord laughed. "I thought that the sight of it would be enough to answer that, Rarity," he said. "I took his mouth so he can't send any more of those pesky letters, nor can he receive them." he looked down at Twilight and grinned. "I heard how Celestia sent those friendship reports back to you to restore your memories of your friendship. Gracious, I hope she doesn't do that this time or who knows what might happen!" Twilight's horn fired up and she desperately shot a spell at the dragon. His head was engulfed in a purple glow, but when the spell faded she saw that her efforts had been in vain. "Do you really think that your magic, powerful though it may be, can undo the works of a god?" asked Discord. "Although come to think of it, you're welcome to keep trying. Your futile attempts are very amusing!" Twilight hugged the mute dragon and looked up at Discord with rage in her eyes that would have made a lesser being wilt in fear. "I. Will. Make. You. PAY for this, Discord," she growled. "If it's the last thing I do, I will make you suffer for this." Ooh, that's a bit nasty, don't you think?" said Discord. "He's still technically perfectly okay. He can still breathe just fine and all. Still, I suppose that this is as good of a time as any to make a deal. If you tell me where the Elements are, then I'll give him his mouth back. It's as simple as that." Twilight was silent as she continued to glare at Discord, tears of pure fury falling from her eyes. "Don't do it, Twilight," pleaded Applejack. "We can fix Spike, Ah promise we can." Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh let her make her own decisions, Applejack," he said. "She's a big filly and can decide how much she wants to let her pet dragon suffer all on her own." Discord looked back down at Twilight who was still holding the shivering dragon close. "Of course if she wants to let him continue to suffer then more power to her." The tears fell faster from Twilight's eyes as she took a deep breath. "If I give you the Elements, then he'll continue to suffer regardless," she whispered. She pulled Spike into a tighter hug and whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry." Discord frowned and leaned back on the table. "If that is your final answer, then," he said. Twilight nodded sadly. Discord shrugged and straightened back up. "It's your choice then," he said. "If you won't tell me where the Elements are, then I guess we know what has to happen now." Discord snapped his fingers. * * * * The front door of the library opened, and the possessed TD stepped out into the Ponyville sunshine. He closed the door behind him and snapped his fingers. The doors and windows of the tree library instantly vanished, replaced by solid wood. Satisfied, TD walked away and began whistling a tune to himself and adjusting a mysterious box underneath his arm that he hadn't walked in with.