"What in the name of Celestia..."
Rarity was beside herself with numbing fear as she gazed upon the black clouds rising amidst the Equestrian Capitol from the window of her Boutique.
Her breath became shallow and elusive, and she felt her heart sinking with every erratic thump. The first minute, all was as it should have been. The next, Canterlot was in flames.
In a continuous lapse of confusion and fear, Rarity sputtered over her words, unable to form any semblance of coherence. This caught the attention of her beloved sister, Sweetie Belle.
"Um, Rarity? Is everything okay?"
The sweetness and innocence of her little sister's voice was enough to restore understandability to Rarity's speech patterns. All at once, memories and recollections smashed into her in a dizzying geyser of thought.
"No... Applejack...", the white unicorn squeaked.
Rarity clearly recalled the urgency in which Applejack had told her friends of her departure to Canterlot that very day. She wasn't clear as to why she was going, but neither of her friends, despite egging questions, opted to stop her.
A costly mistake, as it seemed.
"Hey, sis? A-Are okay? Whats going on out there?", Sweetie Belle persisted.
Suddenly, a cornucopia of facts drowned her. Canterlot was under attack. The Foundation of Equestria was under attack. Her friends and family were now in mortal danger, whether the storm had reached Ponyville or not.
And it shook her to tears.
Due to years of closeness that she had sought after, Sweetie Belle keenly detected her older sisters distress, and her chest tightened when faint sniffs and shudders came from her.
Before she could utter a syllable of a question, the little filly was startled as her sister whirled around and leered at her with a tear-stricken face. Sweetie Belle instinctively bit her lower lip as her eyes glistened with confusion.
"Listen to me, Sweetie Belle.", Rarity's voice was a hybrid of despair and stern care, "Rarity has to go on a trip. I need you to lock the doors and windows and stay here. Is that clear?"
"Wha-I... Huh?! What are you talking about, Sis? Why are you crying?", she pleaded with worried eyes.
Rarity nearly broke in the face of her little sister's innocence, and was grimly reminded of the severity of her decision.
"Don't argue with me, Sweetie. Take care of Opalessence. I'll... I'll return shortly."
As stern and strong as she made herself out to be at the time, Rarity chastised herself for lying to her sweet sister. In truth, she had no idea how bad things were, nor whether or not she would, indeed, return.
But in the grand scheme of things, she deemed it necessary to lie.
Sweetie Belle on, the other hoof, was not going to make it easy for her to leave. She launched herself onto Rarity forelegs and refused to let go.
"But-! B-B-But Rarity?! Where are you going?! You're scaring me!", she squealed, now in her tears of her own.
As the fear that she had instilled in Sweetie Belle dawned on her, Rarity collapsed on her belly and found it rather difficult to subdue the oncoming sobs of anguish.
"Oh, Sweetie! I love you so very, very much!", she nuzzled vigorously into her foal sister's tearful cheek.
"But I... I... I...!", she sputtered; starting to cry harder.
No longer allowing the shackles of hesitation to hold her, Rarity shot to her hooves and pulled Sweetie Belle into a powerful embrace.
"Listen to me. No matter what happens, I've always loved you, and I always will! Stay safe, Little Sister."
Fearing that her resolve would crumble at any moment, Rarity tore herself from her now terrified sister and bolted out of the Boutique. Sweetie Belle scurried after her, and stopped just short of the door; watching as her beloved Rarity shrank into the distance.
"Rarity...?", her tears fell more fierce than ever.
It was only upon a quick blink did she finally notice the distant blaze that engulfed Canterlot.
Gasping long and loud, Sweetie Belle gaped on in the greatest and most heartbreaking confusion she had ever experienced.
xxxxxx
Terror descended upon Ponyville as the masses gathered in one collective herd.
Confused chatters, sputters, and screams resonated the atmosphere as they stared hopelessly unto the sight of the smolders and flames rising from the distant Canterlot.
Among them were three of the Mane Six, who shared equal expressions of bewilderment. It was only upon Rarity's frantic entry, did her friends turn away from the disaster.
"Rarity! Are you seeing this?!", Rainbow Dash screamed; pointing a shaky hoof at Canterlot, "Am I hallucinating?!"
"I was going to ask you the same thing!", Rarity cried, "What in the world is going on?! And where is Twilight?!"
Pinkie's speech was now degenerated into a blathering constant of 'Ohmygosh!' as she hopped up and down with horribly contained adrenaline.
As the event played itself out, the terror had thickened ten-fold. Fluttershy lamented a horrid scream as the distant specs of winged creatures descended from the clouds above Canterlot, and magnified the assault.
Many of these specs held the unmistakable profile of dragons.
"Girls! Applejack is down there! What do we do?!", the saffron pegasus wailed.
Pinkie's slew of 'Ohmygosh!' instantly morphed into 'Applejack!'
"We must go to the train station, at once! The sooner we get there, the better!", Rarity claimed.
"But that train ride takes hours! How in Equestria would we make in time?!"
Rainbow was just as downcast by her own answer as much as the others. Muscles tensed and thoughts racked with failed ideas, the ponies' growing desperation nearly consumed them.
Unit...
"You can start by saying 'please'."
Neither pony could even think to question the resounding voice, before Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all vanished in a hot white flash of light without a trace.
"WARRIORS! TO ME!"
Princess Celestia's cry thundered the halls of the entire Palace, and she launched herself through the large window before her.
With her majestic wings sprouted stoutly, and horn aglow with vibrant flare, the Monarch of the Sun darted into the air and was soon accompanied by a platoon of synchronized Royal Guardian Pegasi.
"Defend Canterlot! Drive these creatures back!", Celestia commanded.
With weapons at the ready, and a unanimous call of proud compliance, the well numbered platoon hurled themselves into the fierce storm of battle.
Twilight Sparkle, who worriedly stared after her beloved mentor from the windowsill, was consumed by spine-chilling fear. Her insides felt as though they had been frozen solid as she witnessed the embers of Dragon Fire steadily consume her hometown.
The crumbling of buildings, and the wretched screams of ponies down below poisoned the air; thickening it with despair.
Still visibly shaken by what was happening, Applejack steadily regained sense of herself. With Celestia's last, soothing words to them resonating in her mind, the orange mare shook Twilight out of her trance.
In an instant, the lavender unicorn had soundly concluded what needed to be done.
"Applejack! We have to get to Canterlot Study! We have to destroy the Artifact!", Twilight said.
"But, what about the others?!", Applejack protested through encroaching dread.
"We can't wait! The more time we spend here, the more Canterlot burns! We gotta move!"
"Twilight, I-... What in TARNATION?!"
As if the chaos outside wasn't evident enough of strange goings on, the remainder of the Mane Six flashed into existence and came plummeting to the ground in yet another undignified heap.
Unfortunate enough to be crushed beneath the gaggle of her friends, Twilight popped her head from the pony-pile in sheer confusion.
But before she could think to question it, another flash destroyed her train of thought. What she saw in the wake of this, was someone she'd never thought she'd be so happy to see.
"Discord!", she practically squealed before squeezing herself from the pile.
The wide-eyed draconequus peered around the crackling walls of the Royal Hall and looked outside with unpleasant and unwelcome surprise.
He turned to the approaching lavender unicorn.
"Twilight! What the Hell just happened?!", he demanded.
"The Artifact was a trap this whole time! As soon as I brought the other one close it-... Discord, whats going on?! What is the Conduit?!", Twilight bellowed.
Discord's eyes mimicked that of dinner plates as he heard that statement.
"The Conduit?! You are kidding me?! That's what those damnable Machines have been plotting?!"
Though his rage was clearly visible on his features, Discord couldn't help himself as he grinned widely.
"Clever Reaper bastards. Right under our noses... Look, there's no time for details! Understand that as long as the Conduit is open, we're all in grave danger!
Despite mulling over countless plots and plans to rectify the situation, Discord couldn't shake the feeling that he was being viciously glared at. He lifted his vision slightly only to see Twilight's friends establishing these glares, defenses at the ready.
"I thought you told them, Twilight Sparkle...", Discord dead-panned.
Catching on immediately, Twilight whirled around and shot to her hind legs in a defensive gesture.
"Girls, wait! Discord is our ally! Remember when I said he helped me learn things about the Humans? A-And Sovereign? He's here to help us! Please understand!", she pleaded.
Discord crossed his mismatched arms, thoroughly unconvinced that the mares in question would grant Twilight's request.
"That's what this is? That crazy cuttlefish is behind this?!", Rainbow Dash gawked.
The Spirit raised an eyebrow at this sudden change in atmosphere.
"Indeed. Elements, we can clear the blur between friend and foe another time. Right now, you have to get to Canterlot Study and destroy the Conduit!"
"Hold on there, Discord!", Applejack stubbornly interjected.
Predicting this outcome didn't seem to deflate Twilight's dread or disappointment.
"Applejack, no...", she whispered pleadingly.
The blonde farm pony trotted up to the unicorn and the Spirit; eying the latter warily.
"How do we know this ain't just another one o' your schemes? Y'all are famous for those, and what not.", she accused.
Once those words were uttered, Discord's composure had been all but destroyed. Applejack's accusations sent familiar surges of disdain through his being, and he sputtered wildly at a reoccurring deduction.
"Are you-gah! ha-ba-da-da-da! WHAT?!"
Twilight nervously backed away from the suddenly enraged draconequus, and Applejack slightly scrunched back.
"What kind of monster do you take me for?! I'm the buck motherin' Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, you simpleton! Not a war-criminal! Not a murderer! I've collecting knowledge and information about these events long before any of you derelicts were even conceived! I tried to convince everypony of these events long before today!"
Twilight was intimately familiar with Discord's fits of rage, thanks, in large part, to the days she had spent studying with him.
"Discord, please calm do-"
"No, Twilight Sparkle! It hasn't changed! 2,000 years of growth and development, and NOTHING HAS CHANGED! Ignorant foals, ALL OF YOU! You understand nothing, even when you need to the most! Well, maybe you'll understand THIS!"
Upon his distasteful shouts, Discord snapped his talons, and before anypony knew, an outrageously large chunk of the Royal Hall's wall was missing.
Filled with energy from anger, Discord continued his point as he randomly slipped, poked, and peered around the Twilight's friends.
"Look at what is becoming of your precious Kingdom! Behold the fires that consume the rich essence of Life! Double that for the rest of Equestria! QUADRUPLE THAT FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD!"
The Mane Six looked on in blood freezing horror as they witnessed the raging battle that tore through a sky blackened with smoke and reddened with fire. The echoing screams of ponies abound, assaulting their ears and hearts.
"If Sovereign isn't stopped, here and now, this world is dead! HISTORY! Do you understand that?! The Reapers will turn your perfect home into a lifeless, burning tomb! Everyone you've ever come to know or even care about will perish! Friends, Family! All of them destroyed by the Machines! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?! Can you stomach the thought of a smoldering grave housing six billion corpses?!"
His words raked and tore into each of their souls. The fact that his sudden outburst was shocking, to say the least, wasn't even a factor anymore. The simple fact of the matter was... he was right.
Nopony in that hall could speak as quieted sobs escaped their mouths. Rainbow Dash attempted harder than the others to suppress her boiling emotions; not wanting to give the Spirit any more leeway than what had been taken.
Twilight felt the warmth of fur against her shoulder; briefly shaking her from her haze.
"You seem to be the only pony after 40 ignorant generations to truly understand, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you can bring an end to this repugnant Cycle of Order."
With another snap of his talons, Discord restored the walls, and broke the tearful trance of the young ponies.
The Spirit needed not elaborate any further in the importance of this event, for he had made it all too clear.
Vacant eyes became suddenly glued upon the floating chest that carried the Elements of Harmony.
"Destroy the Conduit. End this pointless waste of life.".
Discord held up a silencing paw; sensing a prepared interjection from Twilight.
"Believe me. If I could teleport to the damn thing, I'd do it myself. But there's some kind of interference. Can't get through.", he flatly explained before smirking despite himself, "Besides, I think its high-time I showed these little Equestrians how to fight a real enemy.
Twilight's horn illuminated it's magenta aura as she summoned her Element, the golden tiara, and her friends gathered before the chest and took their respective necklaces.
"Discord..."
The draconequus arched an eyebrow at Twilight.
"Thank you... for everything."
He said nothing. There was no need.
Turning back to her friends, Twilight observed each and everyone of them. It didn't take long to realize that, despite their best efforts to keep brave faces, they were scared witless.
She smiled with grim content; knowing that at least she wasn't the only one.
"Let's go!"
Facing the crippling fear of what horrors awaited them from this point onward, the Elements of Harmony galloped away.
With Twilight on point, she would lead them to their most sensitive... and dangerous task.
Putting the Mane Six behind him for a time, Discord sighed long and low; staring out into the blood-stained sky through the shattered window that was once the decorum of his first humiliating defeat.
His mind vacant yet translucent, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony broadly unfolded his wingspan; erupting a powerful wave that shattered all other stained windows. In the wake of their destruction, a subtle hint of symbolic reckoning filled the air, causing Discord the smallest and most entertained of smirks.
"Oh, Irony... You vixen, you."
And with that, the hall faltered and quaked apart upon a devastating take off.
Howls of battle and laments of death thundered throughout the burning skies of Canterlot.
With their targets honed upon, and their killer intent at an all-time high, the deadly usurpers of the sky were hell-bent on taking the Capitol by storm.
But the Defenders of the Royal Land would see their plans fail.
Led by a slightly battle-torn Princess Celestia, whom was now assisted by Princess Luna, the platoon of heavily trained pegasi held fast their resolve, and kept the Dragon-Gryphon assault at a tolerable low.
Through her tunneled haze of battle-honed adrenaline, Celestia thoughts raced at an incalculable speed, whilst trying her damnedest to subdue her opponents without ending their lives.
The Dragons and Gryphons forming an alliance? When did this happen? Why was she not informed?
She was sure that the Equine had a sturdy alliance with the Gryphons. And, to her knowledge, the Dragons were in a league all their own; allying with no one. What, then, was the purpose behind this blind-side assault?
What could have possibly sparked this act of War? What could have drove former allies to strike the very heart of Equestria?
Where did it all go wrong?
"TIA!"
Celestia's thoughts were wrested from her by the reverberating call of her younger sister, who blasted an unseen assailant from behind her.
"Be watchful, Dear Sister! There is something odd about these creatures!", Luna pointed out.
Celestia heeded her fellow Monarch's words as she vaguely recalled a strange shade of piercing blue embedded into enemy eyes. She chose not to dwell on this, until the battle was won, however.
"You have my thanks, Luna! Let us be rid of this menace!"
As if answering to her statement on the most ironic sense, a poor, unfortunate Gryphon shrieked as it plummeted to it's doom; both wings missing via forceful removal.
Both Princesses gawked at the sight; knowing full well that ponies weren't capable of such vicious methods. They whipped there heads upward, and nearly lost all manner of feeling in their faces as their eyes crossed paths with none other than...
"Discord!"
Smiling mirthfully at his former enhancers' shock, the wily draconequus lifted his lion paw and blasted a strange orb of glowing essence into the air. Rupturing with ripples and spasms, the orb unleashed a massive wave of energy that blanketed the entire Capitol of Equestria in a matter of seconds.
A smooth luster of impregnable energy shone around the smoldering Canterlot, scratched, rammed and scraped by the enraged creatures that were now bound behind it.
Confusion gripped among the guardians of the Royal community; each of them exchanging chatters of concern about the strange phenomenon. It seemed that only two among them, were wholly certain.
Knowing how or why wasn't important to the Guardians, however: there were thousands of ponies that needed their help.
Celestia, strained by contemptuous distrust and disbelief, glared daggers at the mismatched Spirit. Luna, for all elements of surprise, harbored a somewhat... softer expression.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time before you showed up.", Celestia hissed.
"And I suppose, 'I told ya so', doesn't speak in volumes quite like a dying community. You're welcome, by the way...", Discord scoffed.
"Surely you don't mean to imply that this is related to your outrageous predictions.", the Sun Goddess narrowed.
"That's exactly what I'm implying, Sweet Celly. I thought it'd be painfully obvious by now.", the draconequus retorted.
Celestia, despite her now consuming doubts, was still holding firmly to the belief that this was a spontaneous act of war. She found it ridiculously hard to believe her ages old nemesis, despite contradicting evidence.
"Hn. To be honest, I was expecting to be angry with your stubbornness, Celestia. Predictable as it may have been, however, I find this pointless animosity to be very... entertaining", Discord grinned.
For the first time, in what seemed like an eternity, Celestia was at a loss for what to say. Used to be, it was second nature to berate and chastise the Spirit for the way he was.
But in the face of her growing doubt, she could only glare at him.
"Wait just a second, here...", Discord sneered behind Celestia, "By Starswirl's Bushy Beard! Little Lunnie?! Is that you back there?!"
His red eyes rested upon the dark alicorn in sheer amazement, genuinely surprised, and somewhat pleased, by what he saw.
Though she tried unbelievably hard to retain a solid, non-phased expression, she averted her gaze and blushed.
"My goodness, look at you! You're all grown up! Fightin' battles, kickin' flanks, takin' names! Oh, most glorious of reunions! Hah-Haaah!"
In a familiar and somewhat uncomfortable rush of protective aggression, Celestia zipped right in front of Discord with clenched teeth and hateful eyes.
"Enough, Discord! Explain yourself, at once!", she commanded.
God, it was so easy.
If there had been a record for, 'most likely to push Princess Celestia to a murderous rage', Discord was certain he'd be the proud holder. His urge to prod and invoke further anger from the alabaster alicorn was boiling to take over.
But even a trickster such as he knew when more important matters were at stake. As such, he demonstrated his rare (to the precipice of nonexistent) self-restraint, and complied.
"Come on, Celestia, be honest with me. Do you really think that this assault is a random, nonsensical act of War? Because it's really starting to seem like you do.", he said with a barely contained grin.
Like an open book.
Celestia's expression hardened all the more as Discord expertly depicted the fear that she mulled over only minutes before. How the hell did he do that?
"Wow! You did, didn't you?! Well, scratch that, my dear. The creatures you face are Indoctrinated. Slaves of the Reapers. Don't believe me? Or didn't you notice the weird shade of blue in their eyes?"
It was all coming together. Slowly, but surely, Discord's assertions, both previous and current, were starting to make sense. And that oxymoron wore on Celestia's nerves all the more.
Discord dipped beneath his noble counter-part, and began coiling around her as he laughed quietly, tortuously close, but not touching.
"As much as I'm sure you distrust and despise me, Celestia, you know better than anypony that this is a battle that can't be won alone. Lets face it: you need me as much as I need you."
Luna's face fell into the tell-tale expression of caution as she watched the two, indecisive about what to do at that moment.
Despite her chilling disgust at having the draconequus at such a close proximity with her own body, Celestia remained solid and unflinching. It was unnerving to realize that she was still at a loss for an adequate response.
What would she say? What could she say?
"Join me, Celestia. Let us bring an end to this Cycle before it begins anew. Let us save the purity of Life. Let us save Chao-SWEET MOTHER OF CREATION, WHY?!"
Startled beyond rational thought, both Princesses sputtered at Discord's sudden outburst, noting the uncanny twist of horror on his face.
They followed the trail of what the Spirit was gawking at... and lost all sense of proud posture in the presence of what they saw.
The clouds that smothered the sky ahead flashed sporadically of red and white. Moments later, an enormous shade of black consumed the clouds, and a metal colossus tore through the sky... straight toward Canterlot.
"That shape... It can't be...", Celestia managed to whisper through her own fear.
Luna, swallowed by dreadful familiarity, turned to the draconequus with a pale hue to her face.
"Sovereign... Sovereign is here..."
"Oooh no! This is gonna hurt!", Discord shouted.
Unhindered in it's bold advance, the gargantuan dreadnought came in direct collision with Discord's protective energy-field. Thus, shattering it out of existence as though it weren't even there.
Discord reeled in the air, and slapped and tight grip on his now throbbing lion paw; glaring at it with seething anger and pain.
The blood parched swarm of Dragons and Gryphons reignited their attack, engaging the Royal Guardians with hasty aggression. Exploiting the element of surprise, the assailants went for the throat of the Canterlot Elite's defenses.
The Almighty Three stared after the metal behemoth as it soared directly above them in straight proximity of Canterlot Palace.
"No! We have to stop this monster!", Celestia screamed.
"Faster girls! We're getting close!"
Fueled by both fear and noble determination, the Elements of Harmony galloped their way through the hollow corridors of the Palace in their trek toward the Conduit.
They had given their best attempts to ignore the rumbling disturbances that quaked throughout the infrastructure. Discord's words had effectively resonated within each of their minds; quickening their steps and strengthening their resolve.
Even if Twilight's friends didn't fully understand, they knew one thing for certain.
Their home was at stake. Loved ones were at stake. Whatever they had to do to destroy the Conduit, they each needed, more than anything, to believe they could succeed. For Equestria's sake.
"No WAY!"
All thoughts and shuffles of the hoof came to a screeching halt as Rainbow Dash bellowed from behind a window; gazing at a particularly troubling sight.
The other ponies instinctively gathered around the cyan pegasus and immediately shared her mind blowing surprise at what they saw.
"What the-... Twilight its-"
"Sovereign...", Twilight finished Applejack's sentence through her own awe.
Rainbow Dash's irises dilated to the shape of pen-head as she backed away from the window.
"Guys, its, uh... hah hah... heading straight for the Palace.", she laughed nervously.
The speed at which the massive monster was flying beckoned a hasty reaction.
"GAH! EVERYPONY GRAB ON TO SOMETHING!", Pinkie Pie shouted with flailing hooves.
Scurrying from the window, they each latched onto the sturdiest thing they could find as a MASSIVE earth rattling tremor lacerated through the halls and rooms of every cranny of the Palace.
After several seconds, the trembling receded, but the fear that it induced had not. The Mane Six hurriedly huddled toward one another, relieved beyond all reason that neither were harmed.
"We're running out of time! Sovereign's on top of the Palace!", Twilight exclaimed.
"Are you serious? ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Did you see the size of that thing?!", Rainbow Dash bellowed with bulging eyes, "What are we supposed to do against THAT?!"
"We ain't gonna find out flappin' our gums! Lets get a move on before-"
A disturbingly familiar tingle drowned Applejack's words as Pinkie Pie's tail began twitching madly. Confused at first, the suddenly frantic mare squealed sharply.
"Twilight, look out!", she yelled.
It was too late.
Before any of them could react, Twilight was viciously smashed into by another body from above. Throwing the ponies apart from each, the tumbling Twilight and her mysterious attacker ended up a fair distance from the others.
The lavender mare found herself slammed and pinned to the floor with a hoof planted firmly upon her muzzle; forcing her face into the tile as she howled in frustrated discomfort.
She was barely able to crank her head to the appropriate angle to gander a decent look at the culprit before a glowing horn loomed over her face.
"I'll do away with the likes of you myself, Twilight Sparkle!"
And with that, and the livid protests of her friends, Twilight and her assailant vanished without a trace.
xxxxxx
A sharp, body numbing jolt of pain enveloped Twilight as she came into undesirably intimate contact with the floor. Again.
With a light bounce upon her landing, she immediately tried and failed to lift herself with shaky limbs.
It was only at the audible blast of a deadly magic attack, did she find the strength to roll out of harms way. Now alert, Twilight planted her hooves wide apart and rose quickly; finally coming face to face with her aggressor.
With her mane now ruffled and stranded out of normality, Twilight was on the edge with blood boiling rancor.
There, standing before the very object she sought to destroy, was Trixie Lulamoon.
"You know? It almost makes me feel sorry for you, Twilight Sparkle; to see you prancing around, and fighting a losing battle. But a part of me just can't get enough of it.", Trixie mocked as she stood in readied opposition.
"YOU! Ugh, I've had enough of this! Don't you realize what you're doing, Trixie?!", she griped.
"Preparing the world for the next Cycle, of course. I expected my partner in crime to be a little more proud."
The presence of Trixie's mocking aura was enough to snap whatever decency Twilight possessed. She spit on the ground as though trying to rid her taste-buds of the air that she shared with the azure unicorn.
"You're insane! I'd NEVER help you!"
As if ignoring her fellow unicorn, Trixie fired a concentrated blast to the ceiling of the Canterlot Study, freeing the light that the Conduit beamed.
From the gaping hole, any could see the sky up above. Or, at least, they would if Sovereign wasn't blotting out the view with its tremendous mass. As the light shined unto the center of the monstrous Reaper's jointed arms, a strange dark energy clouded the air.
Time was running out.
"Watch in awe, Twilight Sparkle. Watch as Sovereign summons our Saviors."
That was the last straw. The perturbed mare swiped a fore-hoof at the floor in a threatening gesture; snorting like a angry bull.
"I'm warning you, Trixie.", Twilight hissed with an undefined air of intensity, "Get. Out. Of my way."
The arrogant showmare scoffed haughtily at this aggression and slowly closed the distance between them.
"Were those adorable squeaky noises supposed to be intimidating? Believe me when I say that you don't want any of what I am right now."
Trixie smiled in self-satisfied content at the audible grow rumbling from Twilight.
"Behold, frail creature, the wonderment that is the New and Improved Trixie!", she boasted in her usual, unforgettable flare.
It was only upon this call, did Twilight's mind clear just enough to notice the changes.
Trixie's eyes had adopted a cerulean hue that wasn't her own, and a rather thick, flexible conduit ran from inside her chest to her back. Yet, in light of these now obvious changes, the hostile protege was not convinced of any augmentations.
"You haven't changed at all, Trixie. Yet here you are, letting this happen... Discord was right. You're a soulless puppet now. A shell of what you were.", Twilight hissed again.
"Oh, don't be so short-sighted, Twilight Sparkle. With these upgrades Sovereign has bestowed upon me, I'm now more powerful than you could ever hope to be."
"Pretty big talk for a predestined failure."
"This coming from a nerd-linger bitch."
Now face to face, Twilight's voice became hoarse as she growled louder and more agitated.
"Oh, You're SO gonna get it!"
"Yeah? And whose gonna give it to me? Hmhmhm. You?"
With horn ablaze from no longer controlled fury, Twilight finally snapped.
"ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!"