//------------------------------// // Alternate Ending: Not Quite as Good but Ultimately More Satisfying // Story: The Breaking of a Non-Brony // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// If you liked the original ending for how powerful and bleak it was, don't read this ever. In fact, you might not want to read it because it's kind of dumb but in a fun way. If you didn't like the original ending because TD really needs to be cut a break for once for goodness sake, I present you with... TD continued staring at the wall for a few more seconds. This really was it, wasn't it? He was essentially about to die if not physically then mentally. TD sighed and slowly got to his feet. No reason he couldn't face it like a man. He turned around and walked up to the window. Sure enough the Elements were there, saying something to Discord. Huh, Rarity looked beyond livid right now. It was probably because she had found Sweetie Belle. TD supposed that he couldn't blame her for that. He would have been pretty mad too and he supposed that on some level he was but... There was nothing left. No emotions anymore. His own mental death was about to occur one way or the other, and he couldn't bring himself to care at all. The Elements and Discord were talking to each other, probably some stereotypical good guy/bad guy schlock. It'd be soon now. They looked determined but at the same time there was an unmistakable hint of sadness and pain in their demeanors. The Elements were firing up now. They were...they were glowing and shooting out... uh, their beams of... No...no this couldn't actually be happening! TD took a frightened step back away from the window. This was it, it wasn't a dream, it was reality. Despite himself he really wanted to... scream. Tears of fear were already welling up in the corners of his eyes as he continue to back up as if the only thing that gave him hope was the notion that getting as far away from the inevitable blast would somehow free him if he... The bright rainbow blast shot out of the individual Elements and just as they did, TD found himself in control of his body once again. He knew the Elements could see that. Discord's confidence and wild eyes would be replaced by his fear and normal ones. Suddenly, TD was thrown back with a bang, The feeling he experienced was akin to somebody grabbing him by the waist and pulling him backwards to protect him from a speeding car in the middle of the road. He hit the ground, banging his head on the soil dazing him for a moment. He took several deep breaths. If this was what being encased in stone was like, it wasn't quite as bad as he imagined. He didn't dare open his eyes for a moment, expecting to find Discord standing over him with a smug grin on his face, extolling the positives of being trapped with him and what they should do together when they get out as they inevitably would. But... that wasn't happening. Discord wasn't commanding him to open his eyes, he wasn't getting the feeling that he was dead and... it almost sounded like Twilight was talking. His eyes shot open revealing the Elements of Harmony standing in front of him, their mouths open in shock. Twilight's was moving up and down, she was speaking to him. TD rubbed his temples to clear his head and Twilight's words slowly became clearer. "TD? Are you okay?" TD slowly got to his feet and looked around. "Did...did the Elements just free me?" The Mane Six stared at him in silence for a moment before Pinkie Pie let out a loud squee of excitement and tackled TD in a giant hug. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!! You...YOU'RE OKAY!!!!" For the first time in a long time, a genuine smile appeared on TD's face and he returned the pink mare's violent hug. "Yeah.. I guess I kinda am, aren't I?" The Mane Six all joined in with the hug and soon they were all laughing joyfully at TD's freedom. After a few moments, a snarky voice cut through the joy, bringing them out of their happiness. "If you all wouldn't mind paying attention, I'd like you to either free me or finish the job." The Mane Six and TD looked over to the source of the noise and to their surprise they saw none other than Discord; encased in stone from the waist down, hands included, encased in stone. A sly smile spread across TD's face and he got to his feet and half skipped over to Discord. "Well, looks like the shoe is on the other foot, wouldn't you say?" Discord's scowl deepened. "Oh as if you could hurt me anyway. You forget, TD, that I am a god and you are simply a human and a weak one at that." TD sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yes, but I can't begin to imagine how good this will feel," he said. "I don't recall it hurting my hand at all when I punched you." Discord snorted. "It would after a while. You are as weak physically as you are mentally." "I'll concede that," said TD with a nod, "but that's why I'll switch from my hand to..." TD paused and looked around. Discord had carried his walking stick with him for the most part and as far as he was aware, he had it before they had hit him with the Elements. He frowned and scanned the ground for it and his eyes eventually landed on it. To his absolute surprise, the walking stick was glowing with a bright rainbow glow. Twilight gasped when she saw it as TD picked it up. "I've heard about this!' she whispered. "But I wasn't sure if it was true!" TD cocked his head. "What? What happened to it?" Twilight walked up to the walking stick and examined it for a moment before nodding. "Clovevellian staves cannot break and as such occasionally will absorb something that strengthens them even more. Discord used it to try to block the Elements of Harmony so unless I'm mistaken..." Twilight turned to TD. "Your Clovevellian Staff has absorbed some of the powers of the Elements of Harmony." TD's jaw dropped ever so slightly as he looked from his staff to Discord. "Does that mean...does that mean that if I hit him with this it'll hurt him?" Twilight's ears flattened slightly. "Well yeah I think..." But TD had already walked off. "I'll be right back!" he called over his shoulders. The Mane Six didn't ask where he was going, they didn't want to. When he walked off it was apparent that TD had a plan and they didn't want to interfere with it. Discord had been privy to their conversation and as such he was looking a little nervous. "You know people can change, see the errors of their ways," said Discord nervously. "Wasn't that supposed to be a plan that Celestia had for me?" "We're not talking to you," said Rarity coldly. "Sweetie Belle will have been changed back, but whatever TD is doing I want a part of it!" They didn't have to wait for more than five minutes before TD came back. Under his arm was his laptop computer of all things. "I remember that you dropped a lot of things off at my house before you started my rampage," said TD as he walked up to Discord and placed the laptop on the ground. "I figured that if I was going to do this then I had better do it right." Discord shifted nervously as best as he could. "TD I want you to know--" TD fixed Discord with the biggest glare that he could. "Shut. The. ****. UP!" The Mane Six gasped but TD was in the process of opening up something on his computer. Twilight walked up to him and nervously placed her hoof on his shoulder. "TD, we can just turn him back to stone and you don't need to do anything bad." "I know," said TD. "Have you ever heard the phrase 'the straw that broke the camel's back?" Twilight nodded. "Well, then you can imagine that being possessed by Discord and watching him do all of those things to ponies I've legitimately come to care about right after I was told that I'm stuck in Equestria for the rest of my life... Well, you can imagine how that might be more like the boulder that broke the camel's back." "TD I know..." TD raised a hand and cut Twilight off. "You remember the song that I played at the Gala, right?" he said. "It's one of my personal favorites. It's by Steeler's Wheel and it's in a favorite movie of mine." "TD--" TD ignored Twilight and pressed play on his computer as the familiar melody began playing from his speakers. TD rhythmically began dancing to the music, just like in the movie. Before long TD began singing along to the music, readying his Clovevellian Staff for the penultimate moment. Discord for his part was growing steadily more nervous but as his nervousness increased so too did TD's mad smile. Clowns to the left of me. TD swung his staff backwards like a baseball player aiming for a home run Jokers to the right. TD moved closer to Discord and got into the proper stance. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you. ... ... ... I'll let you fill in the blanks.