The Ultimate Element

by Akamaru01

Take-Over

        The exploring ponies decided to bring the strange creature back to where the tribes had made their settlement, believing that it could be helpful. When they had returned, the beast saw the myriad of ponies, and hatched an idea. It convinced the leaders to gather all the ponies together, and soon, each had met in the center of the main city.  The ponies believed that the creature would impart important wisdom onto them. Instead, it announced its rule. The ponies were alerted, and guards went on the attack. The beast performed strange feats of magic, making it impossible for anypony to get near it. The ponies resisted at first, but none could face it. They had no choice but to surrender, throwing Equestia into a new, terrible rule.

        In almost half an hour, Lightning had reached the outskirts of Ponyville, panting heavily. “Hey, it’s Lightning.” The stallion looked over to see a grey pegasus with a blonde mane standing on a dark cloud.

        “Ditzy! Thank Celestia, am I glad to see you.”

        “I knew you’d come back,” she said, smiling. The mare began jumping on the cloud, causing small bolts of lightning to shoot out.

“Ditzy, listen, I need-” The stallion was interrupted by her yelps of delight. He tried to get her attention, but she wasn’t focusing on him, she instead continued bouncing, not listening to his calls. “Ditzy Derpy Doo, I need you to listen!” Few ponies knew her full name, fewer still ever called her it unless they urgently needed her attention. She stopped bouncing and stared at him. “Thank you. Now then, I need you to get Twilight and the others and bring them to town square, and tell them to bring the Elements of Harmony.” She nodded and flew off on her mission. The blue pegasus floated down to the ground, too tired to fly. He galloped to the center of town, ignoring all the nasty looks he got from onlooking ponies.

He had only to wait a few minutes before Ditzy had returned with six mares in tow. Five of whom were decorated with a golden necklace, each with a jewel in the shape of their cutie marks. The sixth was wearing a tiara of the same material and jewel style.

“Yay! Lightning’s back! We should-” Lightning placed a hoof over the pink pony’s mouth, silencing her before she started off on a rant.

“Pinkie, we can talk later. For now, I think we have a problem.”

“You know, the Elements of Harmony are really beautiful and all, but they always mean trouble,” chimed Rarity, looking at her necklace with both glee and disdain.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight inquired, too concerned to hear the fashionista.

“I’m not entirely sure. Less than an hour ago, I felt a strange power coming from Canterlot. I think something happened to the princesses.” The mares stood gaping, unsure of what this meant. “And whatever caused it is on it’s way here.”

“Oh my. How scary.” Fluttershy curled into a ball on the ground, trying to hide herself.

“Well, come on then,” started Rainbow Dash after a few seconds of silence. “Let’s go find this thing and save the princesses!”

“Hold it Rainbow,” shouted the purple unicorn as the multi colored mare started to fly off. “We don’t know what we’re up against. Lightning, when is this thing supposed to arrive?”

“Right now,” called a voice from nowhere. The wind turned cold, and gained speed, trying to pick up smaller ponies. Large, black clouds moved in, and condensed above the square. The clouds swirled together in a vortex of pure nothingness, and that’s when things took an unexpected turn. The black vortex turned pink, and the wind turned into sideways rain. Lightning and the others stood gaping, confused, when a dark silhouette appeared from the clouds. It came down to the ground, and suddenly released a flash of light, blinding the ponies. When they had regained sight,  the ponies saw a strange beast in front of them. The creature had the head of a pony, but the rest of it’s body was a mix of several different animals. Its eyes glowed a deathly yellow with red pupils. The mares recognized him in an instant.

“Discord!” yelled Twilight, preparing to go on the offensive. The mares stood ready to fight, while Lightning stood by, staring. “I thought we trapped you in stone permanently.”

“Oh, please, Twilight Sparkle. I will admit, i did not expect you little ponies to trap me like that, but I was still prepared, just in case. Before I was completely turned to stone, I gathered my power together, so that I could escape again later. It wasn’t that hard, and gathering the magic like that seemed to only increase my capacity. Now, I am more powerful then ever before!” As an example, Discord raised his arms, and placed his hands together. The Sun and the Moon came together over in the sky, forming a solar eclipse. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he spoke, magically making sunglasses appear on his face, as he looked at his handy work.

“No,” she responded quickly.

“Ah well. You’ll love it soon enough.”

“We beat you once, we can do it again!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Right guys?” She looked over the faces of her friends, each of them ready to fight. However, she saw Lightning staring at Discord, silent, and looking as if ready to run. She followed his gaze, and realized he was not looking at the monster in front of them, instead his gaze fell beyond. She let out a gasp, and the others looked as well and saw what terror Discord had already caused. Behind the beast stood two statues, each of a tall pony with a horn and large wings. The faces twisted in fright. It was the Royal Sisters, Celestia and Luna. “That’s it! Now you’ve crossed the line!”

“Alright ladies,” Twilight yelled, “let’s finish this.” The ponies concentrated hard, and light began to come from their Elements, but before they had a chance to attack Discord, he snapped his fingers, producing a sharp sound, cutting off the magic, and removing the Elements from the mares. Surprised, the ponies saw that Discord was now holding the artifacts.

“Come now, my little ponies. Did you think I wouldn’t be ready for this? We haven’t even had our game yet. And it’s not going to be the same little maze game as last time. I have much bigger ideas.”

“They can take anything you throw at them,” Lightning stated, finally brought back to reality. “I know from personal experience, that these ponies can face any challenge.”

“And who, pray tell, are you?” Discord looked from over his sunglasses, eyeing the stallion unerringly. “Wait, let me guess. You’re their new friend, oh how sweet, a new pony for me to play with.”

“Leave him out of this, Discord,” cried Rainbow Dash. “He’s got nothing to do with these stupid games of yours.” She took a step forward, trying to turn Discords attention away from the blue and yellow pegasus.

“Oh really?” he asked with mocked curiosity. “In that case, how about I give you ponies a little more incentive to win? Hmm?” In a split second, Lightning was trapped in bubble of energy, floating next to Discord.

“Hey, what gives!?” he screamed, pounding against the walls, and even shocking it with lightning, trying anything to get out.

“Well that’s interesting.” Discord seemed more curious in the pegasus then before. “I shall take this pony has my trump card. Until the end of the contests, I shall hold on to him. He can only leave if you win.”

“Contests?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes, contests. Plural. And here is the arena!” With a wild, and unnecessary gesture involving all four limbs, his head, and tail, a coliseum rose out of the ground, large enough to hold all of Ponyville. With a snap, they were all transported inside, and everypony in Ponyville was now sitting in the stands. Discord stood on a balcony, high above the ground, next to him a throne and the statues of the princesses, Lightning still floating nearby. The mares found themselves standing in the center of the arena, easily visible from all sides. “Attention everypony!” he yelled, using magic to amplify his voice. All chattering immediately stopped, and all eyes turned toward Discord. “Welcome to my arena. Tomorrow, this will be the site of the greatest set of challenges in pony history! Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash will face six challenges which will test their skills. The prizes are the Elements of Harmony, and the return of their friend. We shall begin the first contest at noon. At that time, you will all be teleported back here, and until then you are all free to go.” The ponies in the stand went back home as quickly as they had been sent there. “Except you six,” he spoke to the mares on the ground. “You shall all be given special quarters here in the arena.”

“Stay here!? In this dusty place? That is unsanitary,” Rarity screamed out. The thought of staying in a place built out of the ground horrified her.

“Oh don’t worry Rarity, I have a place for you six to stay all prepared. See you tomorrow.” With a clap of his hands, Discord sent the mares to a large chamber. The room was separated into six equal parts, each obviously meant for a specific pony.

“Is that mah bed?” Applejack asked, looking over to a spot with a farmhouse look.

“Wait a minute, I think this is part of the library,” remarked Twilight, seeing her own area. “These don’t just look like our beds, they are our beds! He took an entire part of each of our houses!”

There were no exits from the chamber save for a window near Rainbow’s bed. The multi-hued pegasus had already attempted to escape, but the window was just small enough to prevent her from leaving. From there, the ponies could see that Ponyville was in a state of confusion. Parts of it detached from the ground, some upside down, and others going in all sorts of directions. The weather shifted from wind, rain, sleet, snow, chocolate milk, cats, dogs, and pretty much anything else in the world. It was impossible to judge how much time had passed, for the solar eclipse stayed in it’s place in the sky, never moving or changing how much light reached the ground. It stayed in a permanent state of dusk.

“They will win tomorrow. I hope you know that.” Lightning had settled in his little bubble in Discord’s own quarters. The size of which constantly changed from large to small to medium, and every size in between. The color could not be determined, because it twisted and turned like a tie-dye animation on the walls, which turned and moved all around, changing gravity with as well.

“It is not about whether they win or lose, it’s about how much fun it is for me to watch.”

“But if they win, they get the Elements back, and then they can stop you.”

Discord let out a light chuckle, responding with a wry smile. “You ponies don’t seem to get it. The Elements of Harmony are powerless against me now. My power far surpasses those little trinkets. Even if they did win them back, they wouldn’t be able to stop me. My reign shall last an eternity.”

“I highly doubt that.” Lightning sat, unimpressed, thinking about an escape plan.

“There is no escape.” The pegasus almost freaked out, wondering how the monster had known his thoughts. “It’s not that hard to do. My abilities are incalculable, and reading minds is simplicity itself. Which brings me to you. Your powers are most unique. Electricity. Powerful. Uncontrollable. Chaotic.”

“What are you getting at?” he asked, annoyed.

“Oh, nothing. However, this is not the end. I will have to take a closer look at your ability tomorrow. However, I’m sure I already know the answer to my own question.” Lightning sat perplexed, unsure of what the creature meant by his words. He watched Discord jump and lay on the ceiling, where he quickly fell asleep. The stallion had no choice but to curl up and sleep. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, and he would need sleep.

It had happened again. Lightning had a nightmare. He expected one, of course, but this one was different. Instead of a clear, simple strand of a dream, it was a mismatch of images, and thoughts. He had seen many things in his dream, and each image he saw terrified him more than the previous one. It had started with his friends, in the arena, tired and covered in dirt and dust. He saw a glimpse of himself, or should he say his other self, standing with Discord, watching the chaos, and smiling about it. He faced his friends, them looking ready to fight, though slightly hesitant, but him in full on attack mode, like a manticore ready to pounce upon its prey. He only caught a glimpse, but he saw that his other self wearing something on his neck. The images continued. He saw his friends again, each one looking sad and beaten. Only Rainbow was not with them. It moved on and showed her in her own room, looking out into the sky. He then saw himself, deep inside a dark cave, sweating, and holding his hooves to his head. The last image he saw was the same one from his previous nightmares, Rainbow with grief, terror, and pain on her face, covered in bruises and burns, and the horrible scream. The scream that shook him deeper than anything ever had, or ever will. He wanted it to stop, he wanted to end his own suffering, he didn’t want to hear it anymore, but it continued. It never stopped, it seemed to last an eternity. When at last he awoke, the only thought in his mind was the noise that shall never leave him.

“Welcome everypony, once again, to the Discord Coliseum!” Noon had come quickly, and time had come for the first challenge. “Let us meet the contestants, the Spirits of Harmony!” Twilight and the others walked in from a side entrance in silence, not a single sound could be heard. “Is everypony ready? No? Well too bad, because it’s time to get started!” A barrage of candy and toys shot straight into the sky. They exploded and transformed into a glowing liquid, raining down on Ponyville, bathing everything an eerie glow. However, a quick blast of upside down rain washed it all away. “Let the games begin!”