Oblivious to the situation rising, Celestia and Luna were sitting in a lounge, drinking tea and chatting. Celestia had of course told Luna of their decreased magical prowess. Luna's reaction had been... Expected
”You mean... we're weaker?” Luna asked her sister in a small voice. ”Discord must have had a part in this! He-” Celestia silenced her sister with a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
”Discord didn't have a part in this, Luna.” Celestia shook her head. ”As strange as it may sound, but the reason we're weaker is because the Elements of Harmony are no longer connected to us. Their strong magic boosted ours.” The solar princess sighed.
”Aren't you afraid that Discord will use this to his advantage?” Luna's ears splayed back as his words invaded her thoughts. She shuddered. ”I don't trust that... Snake with anything. He's just trouble, and has always been trouble...”
Before Celestia could answer her, they were blinded by a sudden flash. They covered their eyes with their wings. A smell of slightly burned fudge accompanied the light. As the light faded, Discord stood there with his arms behind his back. He smirked. ”Hello little goddesses...” He took a step forward.
”What are you doing here?” Luna sneered.
”We are not gods!” Celestia's left eye twitched. ”We were having a private conversation, which means that nopony, or nodraconequus is allowed to interfere.”
Discord laughed. ”You really think that I would obey your rules?” He wiped a mirthful tear off with his lion paw. ”That's a good one...”
”Leave at once, or we will have to call our guards.” Celestia stood up and flared her wings. Luna imitated her. Discord just laughed even harder then before. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other.
”You really think your pathetic polished tincans would be able to evict me?” Discord held out his talons. ”Then by all means, send them in. It would be fun to see what they would accomplish...”
Celestia called out to the guards, and almost immediately a pair of unicorn royal guards stormed into the room. ”Guards, escort this... gentlecolt out of the premises.” The guards glanced at each other nervously.
”R-really, your highness?” One of the guards spoke up. Luna's glare was the answer they needed. The guards took a deep breath each, then charged.
Before the princesses could react, a golden sphere of pure force shot out from Discord's eagle talon, knocking both of the guards out through a seperate window. Their jaws dropped as Discord shook his talon, then polished it to his chest. Luna was the first to react by flaring her horn to life and assuming a defensive position.
Discord walked to one of the broken windows and peered down. He whistled. ”Lucky for them that this room wasn't far from the ground, or else it would have been two nasty stains down there right now...” He snickered.
Celestia was fuming. First, Discord had interrupted her talk with her sister. Second, he insulted them. Third, he had injured two of her little ponies in such a casual manner. It made her sick... Before she could find her voice, a sudden mist of magic appeared in front of her. She noticed that Discord scowled momentarily, but grinned again after a few seconds. As soon as the scroll materialized, Discord snatched it away from her.
”Well, well, well... What do we have here?” Discord ripped the seal of it, then unfurled it. ”Ah, very interesting...” He tapped a claw to his chin.
”Give me that!” Celestia focused her magic on the parchment and tried to take it from him, but he simply swatted away her magic aura. Her eyes narrowed. ”I'm warning you, Discord...”
”And what can you possibly do to harm me? You're weak, Celestia when I have my full powers at my command. Everything I can do is just a snap of a talon away.” Discord held up the scroll. ”And within this little message from your precious student, there may be some... Alarming news...” He flicked his talon and threw the scroll toward Celestia, who caught it in a telekinetic grasp.
She started reading it immediately.
'Dear boring Celestia,
Discord rules, Celestia and Luna drools.
Loathe,
Discord.'
Celestia glared at Discord, who was twirling the original scroll in his lion paw. Without warning, she snatched it away from him. ”Oh come on, is your funnybone really fractured that bad?” Discord drawled. ”You're absolutely no fun, you know...”
She ignored his teasing and was finally able to read the scroll her student had sent to her. Luna peered over her sister's shoulder.
'Dear princess Celestia,
Fluttershy is at the library right now. She's crying and saying something about Discord and to warn you. Her left front hoof is injured pretty badly and... And her wings are gone, much like the time we first encountered Discord.
He's up to something, try to hold him there. The girls and I have all gathered our Elements of Harmony and will take the next train to Canterlot.
Be safe.
Your friend and student,
Twilight Sparkle'
The eyes of the princesses widened in horror. Discord laughed again but this time it was a quiet, dark laugh. ”I allowed you two to have your little fun for some time but I have other things in mind, you see...” Discord took a step forward. ”The revelation that you two were weaker was just the thing I needed to hear!” He bared his fangs and narrowed his eyes. ”But now... I am done playing around. I have been tossed around and toyed with for far too long now.” He teleported next to Celestia and cupped her cheek in his eagle talon and lowered his head.
”Don't you remember our younger days, Celestia? On the fields outside of Amstermane?” He shook his head. ”I've had several nighmares about that, and many, many other things... You thought of me as being nothing short of a monster. A rugged, untamed beast...”
”And you know what?” Discord released her and pushed her away. Celestia stumbled, but regained her balance.
”You were right.”
Before Celestia or Luna could react, Discord lunged forward with his talons blazing and a manic glint in his eyes. He brought his talons in front of him and blasted a barrage of bolts of them. Celestia was barely able to raise a barrier around her and Luna in time. The bolts bounced off the barrier harmlessly. Discord scowled. ”Nothing wrong with your reaction time, little goddess...” He chuckled.
”Stop this at once, Discord! This is madness!” Celestia shouted and lowered the barrier. Luna scraped a hoof to the floor and lowered her head, as if she was readying herself to gut him using nothing but her horn.
”Of course this is madness, Celestia!” Discord exclaimed. ”And I'm loving every single second of it! There's just so much beauty in the minds of insane ponies, you wouldn't believe the possibilities if they're used... Even little Luna had a little brush with insanity which lasted a thousand years...”
”I am not a monster!” The younger sister snapped. ”I am nothing like you, and I will never be!” Luna's eyes narrowed. ”We should have sent you to Tartarus instead of imprisoning you in stone...”
”Foolish little Luna, not even the beasts of Tartarus would be able to hold me back. Why, they may be a rowdy bunch, but all of them have their fears which can be used against them with a simple snap.” He started circling the princesses. ”And think about all the chaos that would be brought upon the world if the gates to Tartarus would fail... All those ponies suffering and then there's just me, laughing away at their misery.
”Enough!” Celestia silenced the spirit, who looked ready to burst into laughter. ”You may insult me, Discord... But when you treat my sister like that and threaten our subjects... I was a fool to think that you could be reformed.”
”You are a fool, Celestia... Come to think of it, you helped me find out that both of you are weakened! You two hold no opposition against me this time...” Discord chuckled. ”Isn't it ironic, dear Celestia? You wanted me to defend Equestria as you attempt to regain your former prowess, when I will cause the downfall.” He tapped a claw to his chin.
Luna had enough. Discord was mocking them, nothing else... All she needed was just one clean hit and it would be over. She lowered her head, scraped a hoof to the floor and smirked. She spread her wings and with a powerful flap, she shot toward the spirit. Discord just raised an eyebrow and sidestepped with time to spare. As Luna passed him, he latched onto her throat with his strong lion arm and held her up.
”Luna, no!” Celestia screamed. Luna kicked and struggled against the spirit, but he was just too strong. ”Release her, Discord!”
Discord's grip on her throat tightened and he waggled a claw on his other hand. ”Now now Luna, look where being aggressive led you...” The manic glint in his eyes made Luna freeze. Celestia prepared to charge him, but Discord turned to her. ”I wouldn't do that If I was you, Celestia...” He squeezed Luna's throat, making her wheeze.
”Let. Her. Go.” Celestia's glare could be described best as a vacation to the surface of the sun itself, but Discord found it quite humorous. ”I may not know what it is you have planned, Discord... But mark my words, if you hurt her I will take you down myself.”
”Oh you can try, Celestia...” Discord chuckled. ”But if you want your sister to not be harmed, you will do as I say. If you fail to do as I say there will be...” His grip on Luna's throat tightened momentarily. ”...consequences.”
Celestia knew that she didn't have any other choice than to do as Discord said to keep Luna out of harm's way. She bit her lip, closed her eyes and lowered her head in defeat. Discord scowled. He almost wanted Celestia to face off against him. Discord released his grip on Luna, making her fall to a heap on the ground beside him. He took a few steps back and allowed Celestia to run to her sister. Luna breathed heavily and rose to her hooves with help from Celestia.
”Now Celestia, you must stand by your promise to keep your precious sister safe.” Discord smiled slyly. ”You must lift your spell from the Elements of Harmony. Unless... You like seeing little Luna suffer from your choices once again.” He laid his talons behind his back. ”What will you do now? If you remove the spell, you make the Element bearers vulnerable... If you don't remove the spell, one of the last true alicorns will fall.” Discord chuckled and snapped his eagle talon, materializing an oversized clock next to him. ”The clock is ticking, my dear Celestia...”
Celestia glanced at the clock, then back at Discord. She sighed and focused her magic. ”I'm sorry, Twilight... I am so, so sorry...” She thought as the golden aura around her horn expanded, then burst into golden sparks. The spell was gone, and all that was left of it was some residual magic. Discord could sense the spell releasing and grinned.
”That wasn't so hard, now was it?” Discord gloated. ”Selfish little Celestia, throwing away the fates of six mares like they're thrash just to save one pony...” He shook his head. Celestia growled and considered attacking him.
The whistle from a train sounded in the distance and Celestia's eyes widened. Discord grinned wider than before and clapped his talons together. ”Oh! Seems like I have a train to catch and hopefully derail somewhere along the way!” He laughed, but stopped. He turned to the princesses with a wicked snarl and snapped a claw.
Golden webs from his chaos magic wrapped themselves around the princesses' wings and legs, impairing their movements. Luna screamed and fought against the bonds with all of her strength. Celestia attempted to use her magic to rip them away, only for the webs to attack her glowing horn, snuffing out the aura.
Discord watched them struggle against his magic in almost a sadistic pleasure. After losing his powers and being forced to endure undescribable pain... He had waited for countless years to see the same happen to them. After a while Celestia and Luna were lying on the floor, panting and occasionally wincing from the pain spreading through their bodies.
”How does it feel to have your powers ripped away from you? How does it feel to know that both of you are nothing more than an annoying nuisance?” Discord leaned over the princesses. A grim scowl was on his face. ”I could do much worse than just restraining you like this... But I don't turn ponies into stone.”
”I...” Celestia gasped and screwed her eyes shut. ”I'm...”
”Hm? What was that? You better speak up, Celestia.” He cupped a talon over his ear.
”I'm... S-sorry...” Her body started shaking uncontrollably and she gritted her teeth. Discord paused. His eyes softened, but he shook his head and turned away from her.
”You're pathetic, Celestia... The moment you're weakened and helpless, you attempt to apologize to make everything better just like that.” He turned to her, leaned down and lifted her head to his while glaring at her. ”Remember our youth?” He seethed. ”You saw me as nothing else than a monster, so I became one. This is what I became, Celestia.” Discord dropped her head and held out his talons. ”And you know what?”
”I'm loving every single second of it. Not caring about anything gives you so oh-so many fun ideas and games. And with the power to make everything I come up with happen...” He chuckled ”...Why, one could say that I am a god, when you ponies are nothing but puppets made for my own amusement.”
The whistle from the train sounded once again, but this time much closer then before. Discord allowed a dark chuckle to escape him. ”Would you look at that, my guests have arrived... Time to welcome them then. You girls play nice now, you wouldn't want another punishment...” He raised a talon, blew a raspberry at the princesses and teleported away.
Celestia sighed and glanced over at Luna, who was still struggling against the bonds restraining her. Celestia recognized the look in her sister's eyes. Fear. She hated seeing Luna like this, so she attempted to worm her way to her. After a few attempts, Celestia was next to her. Celestia laid her tired head on Luna's neck, humming an old song their mother had taught them when they were nothing but fillies.
Luna calmed down eventually, and nuzzled her sister's head. Celestia smiled, despite the horrible pain which ravaged her body and head. She could barely even think without a wave of pain rolling through her. One single thought was clear though;
”If the girls can't defeat him, at least Luna and I will be together until the bitter end...” Celestia thought and finished the song she was humming.
Fluttershy had barely said a word during the trainride to Canterlot. It wasn't strange that she was quiet, but this time she was... Too quiet. She would usually comment on something they passed, or join in on a conversation. But not this time. She was just sitting alone, staring out the window and would occasionally glance down at her bandaged hoof.
Rarity shook her head and sighed. ”I'm not sure what happened between Discord and her, but from what I gathered the last time he was on a rampage he never actually hurt somepony physically... He even said it himself.”
”Yeah, because Discord of all ponies is somepony you could totally trust with anything...” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. ”I mean c'mon, I actually expected that something like this would happen sooner or later. Once a bad guy, always a bad guy...” She rubbed the back of her head. ”Well, except for Princess Luna...”
”Like Rarity said, it doesn't really seem like Discord would do that, but he's a slippery one, so he could've changed his approach at things to better suit his own benefits...” Twilight shrugged. ”He hurt Fluttershy, and as far as I know, he threatened her as well.”
”Doesn't matter how Discord plays th' game, we have an upper hoof with th' Elements of Harmony, and with Princess Celestia's spell, he can't touch 'em. Ah guess all we have to do is ta' play it on th' defense and zap'm the first chance we get.” Applejack tipped her hat back, then rubbed the necklace around her neck.
Pinkie Pie, who had tried to cheer up Fluttershy and failed miserably was now standing next to the window, staring at the quickly approaching city. ”Uh, girls... You better come here and see this...” She gulped. The girls crowded around the window and looked up at Canterlot. Their eyes were drawn to one of the castle towers where a golden light shone. The light became brighter and expanded past the tower walls, until it exploded into sparks which rained down to the town below.
The girls noticed that their respective elements started glowing like the castle, and rained sparks after a few seconds. The horrifying realization that the only failsafe they had against the spirit didn't exist anymore dawned on them.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the first ones to react by cursing. Pinkie Pie's mane deflated slightly and she bit her lip. Twilight and Rarity glanced at each other nervously and Fluttershy was still quiet.
”Well... I guess we gotta play it even safer now... Fluttershy will stay in the back with her injured hoof, I will stand up front, ready to activate the elements at any moment. Rainbow and Applejack will stand next to me, with Pinkie and Rarity behind us.” Twilight glanced at her friends, who nodded at her plan.
”You should have seen him...” Fluttershy finally spoke up. ”He was so... different... He acted much more hostile than ever before, and his eyes... Something was wrong with him.” Fluttershy looked away from her friends and became quiet once again.
They closed in to the train station, and the whistle of the train sounded. The doors opened, and ponies began filing out from the train. The girls hurried out of it, but Rarity helped Fluttershy walk without stumbling whilst Twilight scanned the crowd. Rainbow Dash shot up into the air and surveyed the area, but landed shortly after and shook her head.
”Discord's not here, so we should get moving before he shows up.” Rainbow looked behind her back.
To the horror of the girls, all of the ponies walking around on the train station slowly turned into dust and blew away in the breeze. The ponies screamed, and the girls had to look away as a young filly tried to run to her mother, only to be turned into dust just before the mare stretching out her forelegs. A heartbroken wail came from the mare, who witnessed as her daughter turned into dust and blew away.
Fluttershy whimpered and hid her face with her hooves, when Rarity tried at the best of her abilities to comfort the pegasus. Pinkie's mane deflated as she watched everypony meet their demise, and there was nothing she could do to help them. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the situation unfolding in silent horror.
The dust from all the ponies gathered into one giant pile and after a few seconds of silence, the pile rustled and started shifting and changing shape. Two mismatched legs were formed, and a long snake tail slithered into existance as the upper body began growing and morphing into shape and the wings grew out one at a time. An eagle talon and a lion arm grew into place. The rest of the neck formed, along with the head. The last things to appear were the horns, mane and finally the closed eyes. It was a complete ashen gray statue of a certain draconequus.
After another few seconds of complete silence, Discord's eyes shot open with an eerie crimson glow. The girls stepped back and scrambled to get into position. A cruel smirk made its way over Discord's features. He could feel the fear and trepidation coming from the mares. He put his talons behind his back as the ashen gray dust fell off him and revealed his colours. ”Why, isn't it rude to drop in unannounced?” He stalked toward the girls.
”What did you do to all those poor ponies?!” Pinkie stomped a hoof, demanding an answer from the spirit. Discord laughed.
”Oh, there never were any ponies here, beside from you girls. The other ponies were just a quite simple illusion spell. I must admit that it was hilarious to see your terrified faces...” Discord stepped forward.
”Get back!” Twilight warned as she lit up her horn. Discord tsked and continued walking toward them. ”Girls! Forma-” Twilight was interrupted by Discord, who snatched the tiara right off her head. He snapped eagle-talon, and the rest off the elements disappeared from their respective bearers and to a golden orb levitating above him.
”Hey! Give those back!” Rainbow Dash shouted and attempted to swoop in and grab the elements from him, but was stopped by Applejack. Discord chuckled and started juggling with the necklaces.
”Oh, that would just be so boring to give them back to you just like that!” Discord pouted. ”I won't be hiding them this time, nor will I play any games with you. But I have to say the thought is quite tempting...” The necklaces suspended mid-air, and Discord tapped a talon to his chin. ”...No. That would be repeating, and that's something I'm not a fan of doing...”
”Oh would you just quit rambling and get on with it already!” Rarity snapped and narrowed her eyes. Discord rolled his eyes.
”Fine... You see; I am bored of playing nice with you all... If I hold back, you all just get it much easier to defeat me.” Discord closed his eyes, took a deep breath and focused his magic to his talons, making them crackle and become surrounded in a golden aura. ”If you want your precious elements back, I'm afraid you will have to go through me.” A cruel smirk stretched across his face.
Rainbow Dash splayed her ears back, spread her wings and shot toward him. With a shrill battlecry, she held her forelegs in front of her, ready to tackle the spirit. Discord faked a yawn and sidestepped. Rainbow zoomed past him and tried desperately to brake her momentum. Discord snapped a claw and a giant slingshot materialized in her path.
She flew into the string and was shot back to her friends dazed and confused. Twilight caught Rainbow with her magic and eased her down to the ground. As Twilight started tending to her friend, Applejack darted off to the side and withdrew some rope from a crate.
She tied the rope into a lasso and started swinging it as she took a few tentative steps toward Discord. With a flick of her neck, the rope shot toward the spirit. Discord smirked and just before the lasso would ensnare him, he snapped a claw and the rope turned into a noodle which he ate. Applejack stared at him dumbfounded but shook her head after a moment. She charged toward him and spun around when she was just in front of him and prepared to buck Discord in the gut.
She heard him snap his claws as she bucked, and her hooves made contact with something soft. Without warning her hooves bounced back, making her tumble forward. Discord laughed.
”Nice one, dear Applejack!” Discord clapped his talons sarcastically. ”Now, who's up next?” His gaze wandered over the ponies still standing before him. Rarity took a deep breath and stepped forward. ”Ah! Little miss prissy unicorn!” He grinned, ”What a surprise!”
”Do not get any ideas. I am a lady and a true lady would never descend to the level of those who settle their differences by ugh... Brawling.” She sneered. ”But when the situation truly calls for such a brutish act...” Her eyes narrowed as her horn was encompassed in an azure aura. ”...Then so be it.”
Several tools answered to the tug of her magic and levitated around her. She slashed the air with a shovel. Discord raised an eyebrow and shrugged. ”Well then... Tally-ho!” Rarity was the first one of the two to act by thrusting the shovel toward Discord, who easily avoided her attack. Discord gulped as three more tools flew against him. He was barely able to evade them and took a defensive step back as Rarity smirked and took another step forward.
In slight panic, Discord lifted his eagle claw and balled it into a fist. He stretched out his index claw and lifted his thumb whilst aiming at the unicorn's horn.
”Pow!” Discord shouted and a golden string shot from his claw. As the strange string made contact with her horn, Rarity screamed and collapsed. The tools she was levitating dropped to the ground around her. Discord stared at the unicorn, then at his claw, then back at Rarity. ”Well that was new...” Discord muttered.
Twilight focused her magic and ripped the magic string from her friend's horn, who sighed in relief. Twilight turned her glare to Discord, who just stared back at her with an amused smirk. Pinkie Pie stepped forward and glanced at the lavender mare, who nodded.
Pinkie Pie reached behind her back, and in some strange way she brought forward her party cannon, primed and ready to be fired at her will. Twilight raised an eyebrow.
”Where... Where do you keep it when you're not using it?” Twilight questioned. Pinkie rolled her eyes and sighed.
”You don't want to know, Twilight.” Pinkie's tone was oddly serious. Twilight nodded and turned her attention back to the draconequus, who was impatiently tapping his lizard leg to the ground. Twilight charged the magic in her horn.
Then she unleashed the barrage.
Several purple beams shot from her horn in rapid succession. Discord was forced to roll out of harm's way. He flared his mismatched wing and balanced himself. Before he was able to retaliate, he was shot in the stomach by Pinkie's cannon. Discord wheezed and held an arm to his gut. He growled and stood up slowly, glaring daggers at the small pony who had hurt him. He raised his lion arm slowly, and the paw was encased in a golden aura. A manic glint in his eyes alarmed the ponies, who once again raised their guard.
Instead of attacking any of the ponies, Discord confiscated the cannon from Pinkie. He brought it to himself. Discord balled the glowing paw into a fist slowly, making the cannon crumple into a small, blue ball of metal. He lifted his eagle-talon and snapped a claw, making the remains of the cannon burst into flames. Without warning, Discord chucked the flaming metal ball against the ponies. Twiligt reacted and raised a barrier around her and her friend, making Discord's attack explode into a thin layer of fire coating the dome surrounding them.
As Twilight lowered the barrier, they found themselves surrounded by a ring of fire. Twilight snuffed out the fire with a thought and looked behind her back to make sure that her friends were okay. Pinkie smiled at Twilight and nodded, Twilight did the same to the pink mare. Pinkie ran over to Twilight and grabbed her tail with her right forehoof as if it was a handle and started cranking her tail. Discord raised an eyebrow as Twilight's horn started glowing with more force the more Pinkie cranked her tail. Discord focused his magic to his talons, which started glowing with pure magic at his command.
Another barrage of purple magic rained upon the spirit, who managed to evade every single one of the blasts. He growled, raised a barrier around him and stood up. The barrier absorbed the magical attacks from the ponies. He started walking toward the ponies slowly. When Discord was close enough to Twilight, he released his hold on the barrier, making it explode outwards and knock away the purple mare and her pink associate.
Discord couldn't help but to allow a smug smirk to embrace his features as he glanced down at the fallen Elements of Harmony. He felt an odd sense of pride well inside of him as he watched them squirm beneath his might. ”How adorable! You honestly thought that you could defeat me. Me! The Spirit of Disharmony! The five of you... Wait a minute... Fi-” Discord wasn't able to finish his sentence as a hoof connected to his jaw quite brutally. He howled in surprise and slight pain as he fixated his glare at his aggressor.
He wasn't sure if he should laugh or prepare himself to fight as the remaining Element of Harmony glared daggers at him. Even without wings and an injured hoof, Fluttershy refused to stand back and allow her friends to get brutally beaten senseless by her former 'friend'.
”And what, pray-tell, can you do that your friends failed to do?” Discord sneered. ”Your wings are gone, your hoof is injured so you can barely even stand up properly on your own.” He lifted his lion paw to his mouth and chuckled. ”I apologize, but I must say that you must be stupid for even considering to do this.”
”I-I-I can't l-let you do this to my f-friends...” Fluttershy felt her sudden courage deflate at his words. ”A-And you're right... I can't do much to stop you when I'm like this...” Her ears splayed back. ”But if we fail here, all of Equestria will probably be doomed... That's why I have to do this.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and steeled herself for what to come.
Discord chuckled at the small pegasus' bravery. ”A noble cause, but also a lost cause my dear. You see; I have the power to defeat your pony princesses, when you have barely the power to persuade a stubborn prick of a bunny to do as you please.” Discord cracked his knuckles. ”So tell me, just what can you do against my might?”
”I can distract you.” Fluttershy smiled as a flash around her neck lighted up her surroundings, and the Element of Kindness faded into existance around her neck. Discord's jaw dropped and he whirled around to see Twilight and the girls standing in formation, smiling viciously at him. Twilight teleported Fluttershy to stand at her place amongst the rest of the Elements.
”Clever...” Discord said as he focused his magic to his talons and in a last desperate move, he roared and dashed toward the Elements of Harmony. Twilight poured all the magic she could manage to activate the Elements.
The girls felt the connection to eachother they had experienced several times before as the Elements powered up and expelled their elemental magic. Their respective Elements of Harmony started vibrating from the massive input of magic coursing through them. At long last, the signature harmonious rainbow erupted from them, along with a blinding white light.
Discord screamed, a wail of a trapped beast realizing its fate.
Intense agony ripped through his body and nerves, paralyzing his body. The familiar feeling of stone creeping over his limbs entered his mind. He sighed heavily as he realized that there was no point in fighting against the elemental bonds ensnaring him in his eternal prison once again.
He couldn't move his legs or arms anymore as he looked up at the floating Fluttershy, who had regained her wings. He felt the stone creep over his neck and reach his jaw. He took one last breath before his mouth and nostrils became stone.
After what felt like hours of paralyzing agony of turning to stone, Discord closed his eyes and allowed the stone to completely enclose him in his prison once again.