//------------------------------// // Discord's Mask // Story: The Legend of Spike: Discord's Mask // by DiabloGuapo //------------------------------// Spike ran up the stairs of the clock tower that stood in the center of Clock Town. The building shook as another tremor rocked the city. The frequency between each quake increased as the moon drew ever closer to the planet. The dragon reached the observation platform on top of the clock tower and saw two Alicorns facing each other. The white Alicorn mare with a mane that resembled the auroras stared up at the black Alicorn mare with a mane that resembled the night sky. Both panted from exhaustion as the first light of dawn started to appear at the eastern horizon. Apparently, they had been battling all night. “Oh, I see that the whelp decided to join us,” mocked Nightmare Moon as she looked down at the dragon. Princess Celestia turned to look at Spike and gave him a smile when she saw that he had all of the Elements of Harmony. “I knew you could do it, Spike,” Celestia told him before she returned her attention to her evil-possessed sister. “And he has the Elements of Harmony,” the Mare in Moon said in a haughty tone as she raised a brow. “How quaint. You little fool; do you think those old relics can stop me? They may have been able to banish me for a millennium, but now, I have the power of this mask. Do you really think your precious Elements can stop me now?” “I know they can!” Spike defiantly yelled up to the ruler of the night. Nightmare Moon’s amused look was replaced by that of one of pure malice and the mismatched eyes of the Discord Mask glowed. “So be it,” the dark mare growled with a double layered voice. “If you think you have the power to stop me, try to stop this!” Waves of power flowed from the mask as the dark Alicorn screamed to the heavens. The moon with the image of the its mistress on its surface suddenly accelerated its descent. The ground shook violent as the celestial body raced towards the planet. “Sister!” Celestia desperately pleaded. “Please, stop this! You will kill us all!” This scene seemed familiar to Spike, for he had experienced it before during his first three day cycle. As she had done before, Nightmare Moon laughed in an insane cackle that could chill anyone’s blood. Celestia was crying as she continued to plead. “Luna, please! I love you! Don’t do this!” “I… Don’t… Care!” the double voice roared. Even though she knew she had little to no chance of stopping the combined might of the Mare in the Moon and Discord’s Mask, Celestia reached out with her magic and sent a golden beam of power at the falling moon. Her efforts appeared to be working, for the moon started to slow down. Enraged, Nightmare Moon poured more power into the moon and the giant rock started to push back against Celestia’s power. The two Alicorns seemed to be in a stalemate, but the white sister began to be overwhelmed and started to buckle under the pressure. We got to do something! shouted Soarin. Spike! the other Spike called out. The Elements! Use the Elements! It’s our only chance! added Big Macintosh. Spike rushed to the Princess’s side and concentrated on the Elements of Harmony. The gems on the golden pieces of jewelry glowed and Spike was lifted into the air. He opened his eyes and revealed that they were shining with a bright, white light. From them, a rainbow made of the Elements’ power shot forth and caught Nightmare Moon in its light as it struck the surface of the moon. “Nooooo!” the black coated Alicorn howled as she was consumed by the Powers of Harmony. There was a blinding light and Spike found himself on knees on the observation platform. He looked beside him and saw an exhausted Princess Celestia resting next to him. Both of them looked at each other and then up to the moon, which was frozen in place over the city. “We did…” Celestia panted. “We stopped it…” They then looked front of them and saw Nightmare Moon lying unconscious a few feet in front of them. “She… She’s still Nightmare Moon…” Spike panted as he rose to his feet and helped Celestia to her hooves. They carefully approached the fallen dark mare. She seemed to be knocked out, but the mismatched eyes of the mask stared up at them. Spike reached down with a claw to take off the mask. He barely grazed the mask before the eyes suddenly lit up! Spike yelped in surprise and jumped back. The dark mare rose to her hooves as Celestia and Spike watched in disbelief. How could the Elements of Harmony fail to defeat her? “You…” the double voice of Nightmare Moon growled. She staggered forward, shaking violent with each step. “You… can’t… stop… me…” Celestia and Spike backed away from the weakened Alicorn, wondering if she would try to attack them. Nightmare Moon’s right foreleg gave out and she nearly fell onto her face. Black mist began to rise from her body and midnight blue patches started to spread across her black coat. “It seems… that … Luna can… no longer handle… the power…” A vortex of dark magic swirled around Nightmare Moon and headed up to the moon. The mare was lifted by the conduit and rose to the moon. “I can no longer… use… her body… Let’s try this one… on for size…” Nightmare Moon disappeared into the moon and the image on the moon’s eye glowed yellow and red like the mask’s eyes. “I… I shall consume. Consume… Consume everything…” the moon boomed in Nightmare Moon’s and Discord’s voice. The ground started to shake again as the moon continued on its collision course. Oh no! the other Spike exclaimed. We didn’t stop it! What are we going to do!? panicked Soarin. What’s Celestia doin’? asked Big Macintosh. Spike looked over to the Solar Princess. The white Alicorn strained as she once again used her magic to try to stop the moon. Despite her best efforts, her strength was spent and the moon barely slowed down. Spike look in front of him and saw that the vortex of magic leading to inside the moon was still there. Spike ran forward and jumped into the swirling magic. The young dragon could never have predicted what happened next. He found himself in a grassy field. He looked around the seemingly never-ending field. He could see white, fluffy clouds sailing around the horizon. He looked up and saw the sun shining warmly down on the dragon. He could hear the peaceful sound of birds chirping and butterflies floated by. There was only one hill in the field and a single, gigantic tree on top of it. Am I… dead? Spike asked. Is this Heaven? I don’t think so, answered the other Spike. If this was Heaven, we wouldn’t still be stuck inside your head. Then, are we inside the moon? asked Soarin. I don’t know, the Unicorn Spike said doubtfully. I wouldn’t think that inside the moon would be like this. Listen, Big Macintosh said to get their attention. Do y’all hear that? Spike listened and could hear something along with the sound of the birds chirping. It was the sound of someone crying. The dragon panned around the grassy field and saw a figuring lying under the tree that was on top of the hill. The young dragon quietly walked up to the crying figure and saw it was a pony. The pony was lying amongst the flowers that were growing around the tree. Spike noticed that the pony had a smoky blue coat and a light azure mane. When he saw the crescent moon on a black field cutie mark, he recognized who it was. “Princess Luna?” he address the weeping princess. She looked a lot younger than the version of her in Equestria. He then remembered that she had reverted to an almost filly like appearance when Elements of Harmony had purged her of the evil essence of Nightmare Moon, but later grew into an adult size when her strength recovered. Back on the clock tower, he had seen the darkness living her body before she rose to the moon. The Lunar Alicorn looked up to the young dragon with tear-filled teal eyes. “I’m so sorry…” she whispered. “I never wanted this to happen.” Spike sat down next to her, feeling pity for the Princess. “I’m sorry what I have put you through, Spike.” “You know who I am?” he asked her, surprised that she knew his name. She nodded her head and sniffled, holding back her tears. “Yes, I could see everything,” she said sorrowfully. “When the Elements lifted the curses, I was shown what you had done. I had to watch all that they had done to all the citizens of Trotina.” “Watch?” he asked the small, blue Alicorn. “What do you mean?” “They made me watch as they used my body,” she told him as she shed bitter tears. “Who did?” “The Nightmare Forces and Discord,” she explained. “The Nightmare took over my mind and my body a thousand years ago. As an incorporeal entity, it was only a concept of hatred with no focus or drive. It needed a host to make itself complete. It saw my sorrow, my loneliness… my pain... It exploited it and used it to enter into me. It merged its malice and will to dominate with my resentment… my jealousy… to change me into Nightmare Moon. It used our combined powers as a weapon to impose its dark will upon the kingdom and to betray my sister. The whole time, I was forced to watch. I watched as it tried to cover the land in eternal night and as my subjects cowered be for me. Then, I was banished to the moon. For a thousand years, I suffered all alone on my own moon. The only company I had was it and its wrath. When we escaped, we found Discord’s Mask and combined our power with the mask’s power. The powers of hatred and chaos merged and it used me to use the moon to try to destroy everything and it was all my fault.” “No, it wasn’t your fault,” he tried to calm her, but she continued to cry. “Yes, it is…” she said through her tears. “If I wasn’t jealous of my sister, the Nightmare wouldn’t have been able to enter into me. I gave it the means to attack Trotina. If I wasn’t so weak…” “Your Highness, please,” Spike tried to comfort her. “It attacked Trotina, not you. You were just another victim of its evil. It made you do those things that you would never do. It is responsible, not you.” “But… I…” she tried to counter, but Spike didn’t let her. “Listen to me, it’s not your fault,” he reinforced. “It may have used your emotions as a weapon, but it could have used anypony’s. Everypony has bad feelings from time to time. You can’t be blamed for being hurt that everypony ignored you and your wonderful night. I would be hurt too if I was ignored and no one appreciated my talents. You can’t blame yourself for having your feelings hurt and you can’t blame yourself for something that someone else has done.” “Do… Do you mean it?” she asked with a sad but hopeful smile. He returned the smile and placed a reassuring claw on her shoulder. “Yes, I do,” he told her. She reached up and pulled him into a hug, which he returned. “Oh, isn’t this sickeningly sweet,” a dark, contemptuous voice mocked. Spike and Luna gasped in surprise and looked up to see Discord’s Mask. Since it was no longer on Princess Luna, the mask didn’t resemble Nightmare Moon’s helmet anymore. Now, the mask looked like Discord’s face. It had a grayish brown, equine face with bushy white eyebrows. It had one, large fang and two mismatched, yellow and red eyes. It had an antler and a goat horn coming from the top. The dark tendrils of the Nightmare Forces flowed from the back of the mask. The dark entity hovered in the air, staring down at the pair. Spike stood in front of Luna and held out his arms as to shield her from the abomination. “You think that you can protect her from me? You think that you can protect anything from me!?” “I won’t let you hurt anyone anymore,” Spike declared. “We’re going to stop you!” “We?” the mask mocked. “Do you mean… them?” The dark tendrils formed a shadowy hand and snapped. There was a flash and then the masks of the Unicorn Spike, Big Macintosh, and Soarin appeared in the air. The masks fell to the ground with a thud and Spike started at them in disbelief. He couldn’t feel his friends in his head anymore. He had been separated from them before when he was in the crystal tower, but he knew that they were waiting for him. Now, they were forcefully taken from him. “Hey!” Spike shouted and ran to grab the masks, but they vanished with a flash as the evil mask teleported them away. “Bring them back!” “Oh, come now,” the mask sneered. “Four against one is hardly a fair fight.” “You’ve never fought fair!” Spike retorted. “Besides, it’s two against one!” “Not anymore…” the mask replied and began to shake. The sky darkened as thunderclouds rolled in. A strong wind blew through the field and the tree swayed in the breeze. Cracks started to spread across the surface of the mask and tendrils of dark magic seeped through. With an explosion of malevolent energy, the mask burst apart. In place of the mask, a towering creature stood before Spike and Luna. It was Discord, but not the one that the young dragon knew. This draconequus had merged with the Nightmare Forces to create something far more sinister. Instead of having a long, serpentine form, it had a dragon’s build. It had a violet dragon tail that ended with four bone white spikes. Its torso, left wing, and left arm was covered in iron eagle feathers and its left hand was a gray eagle claw. Its right leg and wing were that of a black dragon’s and its left leg was a red devil’s leg with a cloven hoof. Its right arm was a bronze lion’s paw with massive claws. The draconic head and neck were covered horse hair that resembled the night sky and it had eyebrows and a goatee that were made of comets. The right dragon horn was forked like an antler and the left curved like a ram’s. The mane flared like a black flame on top of its head. The eyes were no longer mismatched, but still glowed yellow and red. The pupils were now slits like a cat’s and they glared at Spike with a manic glee. Spike continued to hold his arms in front of Luna protectively as the dark draconequus reared back its head and laughed manically. Lightning struck all around the tree to accompany the monster’s laughter. When the creature stopped laughing, its stepped towards them with murderous intent. “Discord…” Spike addressed the beast before him. “You may call me Discord,” the creature acknowledged. “But, I am more than that now. I am Anarchy and Anger, Havoc and Hatred, Madness and Malice, and I will kill you. Yes, and once I have killed you I will then destroy all of Trotina.” The creature snapped a claw and bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of Spike, knocking him back. “Spike!” Luna shouted as she rushed to his side. There was another snap and the blue Alicorn was trapped in a giant crystal. She struggled to break free, but wasn’t able. “Now, now, Princess,” Discord teased. “No interfering.” With a casual flick of his wrist, he levitated the crystal with its captive above the battlefield. Luna looked down at Spike with fear for the young dragon’s life. Spike groaned and tried to stand back up, but the violet dragon tail smacked his body. The impact sent him tumbling down the hill. The young dragon groaned and stood back up and saw the draconequess standing on top of the hill, laughing at him. Spike growled in anger and started to charge the chaos fiend, but something grabbed his feet and he tripped. He looked back and saw the grass had become thousands of tiny pythons. The green snakes wrapped around his ankles and more were starting to wrap around his arms and body. “Let go of me!” Spike yelled as he thrashed about. He ripped them out of the dirt and clawed them away from his body. Spike continued his charge but jumped back in time to avoid an egg from landing on him. The egg exploded like a miniature bomb when it landed on the ground, leaving a small crater in the ground. Spike looked up and saw a flock of ravens flying above him. “Bombs away,” Discord laughed as the birds started to drop explosive eggs on Spike. Spike swerved as he ran up the hill, evading the falling eggs. There was a stinging pain on his back as an egg exploded on it. Spike seethed in pain and looked back to his that some scales were blackened but were otherwise undamaged. Discord snapped a claw and the flowers that were around the tree rose up and transformed. The petals became razor edged crystals and started to launch themselves at Spike. The diamond hard petals would have torn through a pony with ease, but the young dragon’s scales saved him. However, the petals stung as they pelted Spike. He shielded his face with his arms, but persisted to make his way up the hill. “You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?” the draconequus sneered. “I’m not going to let you win,” Spike declared in defiance. “What makes you think that you can defeat me?” Discord said with contempt. “Your precious Elements? The ‘magic’ of friendship?” Discord howled with laughter. “How amusing.” “They’ve stopped you before, they can stop you again!” Spike started to concentrate on the Elements of Harmony again, but Discord’s devil hoof kicked him in the chest. The wind was knocked out of the young dragon and he struggled to regain his breath as he lay on the ground. As Spike tried to catch his breath, Discord pinned him down with his dragon foot. The draconequus twisted his foot as he started to grind Spike into the ground. Spike tried to push the massive foot away, but he wasn’t strong enough. “You’ve got heart, kid,” Discord complimented. “That’s why I’m going to rip it out and use it as a knickknack to decorate my fireplace.” Spike eyes rolled to the back of his head as the life was being squeezed out his body. “As for the Elements, can you honestly say they have been of any help to you? All they have done was caused you misery. Think about it; what did they show you? Everypony you know will die long before you do and the mare you love finds you revolting. Why would she ever want a disgusting, worthless, infant dragon when she can have a real stallion? A rich and powerful count, no less! How could you ever hope to compete with that?” Discord lifted his foot and Spike gasped desperately for air. He rolled to his side and coughed violently. Discord picked up Spike with his eagle claw and raised the barely conscious dragon to eye level. “Hmm, maybe it’s for the best. Why would you want a selfish, petty, self-centered mare like her? She has only used you for her own needs. Besides, why bother with any mare in the first place? Why waste your time with ponies? Their lives will be but a mere moment in your long, lonely life. Why burden yourself with relationships that will only give you pain and sorrow? Wait, pain and sorrow? On second thought, go ahead, and pursue her! Well, I guess that won’t work, seeing how you’ll never leave here alive.” Discord laughed at the dragon that he was gripping in his claw and then started to squeeze him. Spike screamed in agony from the pressure. His short life started to flash in front of his eyes. He could see Ponyville. He could see Applejack bucking apple trees in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. He could see Fluttershy wrapping a bandage around a wounded raccoon’s paw in her cottage. He could see Pinkie Pie laughing as she served cupcakes to customers in Sugarcube Corner. He could see Rainbow Dash soaring through the sky with an excited grin on her face. He could see Rarity smiling down at him and leaning down to give him a kiss. Then he could see a room with pieces of purple eggshell on the floor. He looked up and saw that he was in the embrace of a filly Twilight Sparkle. My friends… My family… Spike thought as both tears of happiness and pain fell from his eyes. Suddenly, the Elements of Harmony glowed and a blinding light enveloped Spike’s body. Discord let go of the glowing dragon and backed away, shielding his eyes from the light. The light faded and the draconequus could see a colossal figure standing over him. It was a muscular, adult dragon that dwarfed Discord’s size. The dragon had amethyst scales and curved emerald spikes running down its spine. Two large wings were flared from the dragon’s back and he wore golden armor that had the Element of Harmony embedded into it. A gilded helmet was on the dragon’s head and the Element of Magic was set in it. The dragon’s eyes glowed with the brilliance of lightning. Discord first gawked at the transformed Spike, but then smirked. “Neat trick,” Discord mocked and snapped his fingers, causing him to grow to Spike’s colossal size. “But nothing more. Just because you’re bigger now doesn’t mean you can stop me.” Spike didn’t respond, but stared at the master of chaos with a scowl. Discord raised a glowing paw and the ground trembled. A monstrous bull made of earth burst forth from the ground and rammed into the dragon in an explosion of dirt and rock. Spike was unscathed and simply shook of the dirt. Discord growled in frustration and raised his claw to catch a bolt of lightning from the sky. The dark draconequus swung the lightning at the dragon like a sword, but Spike effortlessly avoided each blow. He then slapped the weapon out of Discord’s claw and it struck the ground with a thunderclap. Discord grabbed the tree by its branches and uprooted the tree. He swung it like a club at the dragon’s head, but it shattered like glass against a stone wall on impact. Discord snapped his fingers and the splintered tree formed into a gigantic Timberwolf. It snarled at Spike, but the colossal dragon casually looked down at it with little interest. Spike raised his tail and brought it down on to the wooden canine, crushing it. Enraged, Discord slashed at Spike with his lion claws, but Spike grabbed his paw mid-swipe and squeezed. Discord could hear the bones pop in his paw and growled in pain. He then gagged as Spike gripped his neck with his free hand. Discord struggled to free himself from the vice like grip, but Spike wasn’t letting go. “I’m putting an end to this,” Spike declared in a booming voice. Suddenly, Discord threw a swirling beam of dark magic at his head and Spike flinched a bit. Recovering, Spike growled and head-butted the evil being in his grasp, stunning the draconequus. Spike released the lion paw and reached to the crystal that was floating beside their heads. Princess Luna had been watching the battle in amazement. Spike held the crystal in his palm and the crystalline prison vanished, freeing Princess Luna. Spike lowered his massive hand to the ground and the Alicorn filly hopped down to the field. Spike waved his hand and the three masks that contained his friends appeared beside Luna. Spike’s claw glowed and the masks started to shake. In a flash of light, the Unicorn Spike, Big Macintosh, and Soarin were standing beside Princess Luna, alive once more. Spike’s claw glowed again and Luna and the Unicorn Spike felt energy coursing through their bodies. Light emitted from their bodies as their forms changed. The counterpart transformed from a Unicorn colt back into a young dragon. Luna’s body grew and her coat became a midnight blue. Her mane once again resembled an ethereal cloud made of the night sky and her body was adorned her proper regalia. She was now restored to her proper state and resembled the Princess Luna that Spike knew from Equestria. Now that the four were restored to their proper forms, Spike returned his attention to Discord. With angry growl he slammed the draconequus to the ground. Discord groaned in pain, but then started to laugh. “Don’t think that you have won,” Discord laughed as he struggled to his feet. “You may defeat me, but your victory is hollow. No matter what you do, everything will die. They may not die today, but they will all die someday. Their lives are meaningless and you will come to understand that. I will make sure of it.” Discord’s body shook as he cackled with insane abandon. Spike frowned and took in a deep breath. He opened his maw and a multicolored flame was unleashed upon the Demon of Madness. Discord continued to laugh uncontrollably even as he was consumed by the flames and a blinding light filled the field.