No one would've ever guessed that Fluttershy of all ponies would've had what it takes to win it all. Just about everyone had been surprised when she made it past the first round. And yet here she stood, trimuphant, beaming with pride. The underdog story of the century, one that would be talked about for years to come.
"Mares and gentlecolts. Children of all ages. It's the moment you've all been waiting for." Princess Celestia addressing the crowd "Fluttershy Breeze please step forward."
Fluttershy didn't need to be told twice. She couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear as Princess Celestia levitated a trophy that depicted two ponies fighting each other.
"The winner of the Equestria Battle Tournament is" Princess Celestia said.
"Hold it!" an unfamiliar voice called out "Well isn't this cute? But it's wrong! I don't care what anyone says, that last fight was not amazing. It was cheesy and felt like a lucky break. And such a fight is not deserving of such a prize. This mistake cannot go uncorrected." There was a sudden blinding flash of white light, and when it had faded both the trophy,, and the prize money had disappeared.
"Where's the trophy?" Fluttershy asked "What did you do with it?"
"Oh, you want this trophy?" the voice asked.
"I guess." Fluttershy said.
"Speak up, I can't hear you! I said do you want this trophy?" the voice asked.
"Yes." Fluttershy said "I want it."
"Oh you want the trophy huh?" the voice asked "Do you really want the trophy?"
"Didn't I just say yes?" Fluttershy said "I want it back. So please give it back. If it's not too much trouble that is."
"It kind of is." the voice said "Unless."
"Unless?" Fluttershy asked, she had a bad feeling about where this was going. "Unless what?"
"Unless you agree to do one thing for me." the voice said.
"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh I don't know. Maybe agree to face me in my own dimension." the voice said "Hm I like the sound of that. If you agree to face me in my own dimension, and defeat me. I'll give you the trophy and the prize money. The choice is yours and yours alone. Take me up on my offer and agree to face me, otherwise take away nothing!"
"Don't do it Fluttershy! It's obviously a trap!" Rainbow Dash said "You don't have to do this!"
"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this one darling." Rarity said "You've come so far, everypony knows that. You don't have to prove a point."
"I don't trust that voice!" Applejack said "Whoever it belongs to is up to something. And it doesn't sound good."
"Something inside of me tells me that you shouldn't do this." Pinkie Pie said "We can still throw you a party even without the trophy."
"Fluttershy please listen to us!" Twilight said "No matter what happens you can't accept that voice's terms! Whoever is speaking to you is trying to trick you."
"Hey, wait a minute here!" the voice said "Since when I did ever tell you it was okay to talk?! Perhaps you all need to learn your place! And I've got just the thing for that." There was another blinding flash of light, and when it had faded all of Fluttershy's friends had their mouths duck taped shut.
"Remove that tape this instant!" Fluttershy demanded "My friends did nothing to you to deserve that!"
"Sorry but I'm not going to just take off the duck tape because you want me to." the voice said "But I will remove it if you agree to face me in my own dimension."
"You mean it?" Fluttershy asked.
"If it makes you happy then yes." the voice said "So what's it going to be huh?"
"I'll take you on." Fluttershy said "If only so you'll stop picking on my friends like the coward you are."
"Me? A coward?" the voice asked "Oh you're going to regret saying that." There was another blinding flash of light and when it had faded Fluttershy had disappeared.
The instant she opened her eyes Fluttershy was subject to a sight beyond her wildest imagination. In the distance she could see what appeared to be the buildings of Ponyvile. But they were upside down and floating in the air. The ground was made up of alternating black and white checkerboard tiles. And to top it all off chocolate rain poured down from pink cotton candy clouds.
"What kind of strange place is this?" Fluttershy asked herself "This feels like something straight out of one of Pinkie Pie's fantasies, except much more wacky."
"Glad you think so." the voice said "After all Pinkie Pie happens to my favorite pony. Though that isn't really saying much considering you ponies are all the same to me."
"Okay, enough with the supsense. Who are you and why have you brought me here?" Fluttershy said "I know you're out there."
"You had to spoil everything didn't you?" the voice asked "Oh well, I guess you can't win em all." It then revealed its identity in a blinding flash of light. "You may refer to me as Discord. And you should know that you are in the prescence of the spirit of chaos and disharmony."
"Spirit of chaos and disharmony?" Fluttershy said "But then that means you're evil."
"I wouldn't say that." Discord said "I'm more what you could call 'Chaotic Neutral'. Though I admit it's fun to play the bad guy sometimes. Because who doesn't love a bad guy?"
"I don't." Fluttershy said "And I know for a fact that my friends don't either."
"Guess the old saying is true. 'Every party needs a pooper. That's why they invited you.'" Discord said.
"How dare you insult me!" Fluttershy said "I'll have you know I love Pinkie Pie's parties. They're what makes her so special."
"Sure, sure. Just keep telling yourself that." Discord said "Now let's get down to business shall we?"
"What do you want from me?" Fluttershy asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Oh nothing much." Discord said "I just want to face you in battle. But we'll play by my rules, after all this is my dimension."
"What are your rules?" Fluttershy asked,
"Instead of a best two out of three format we'll only fight one round. With a time limit of course." Discord explained "Beat me and the trophy and prize money are yours. And you can request any one favor from me, and I'll grant it. And if I win, I'm free to do as I please with you. So do you agree to these terms?"
"Yes." Fluttershy said.
"You fool!" Discord said "You've fallen right into my trap! Prepare to lose!"
"We'll just see about that." Fluttershy said "I'm not going to be easy to defeat."
"Round 1, Fight!" Discord said.
Fluttershy felt extremely confident going into the fight. She was certain that she could take down Discord with little trouble. She wasted no time in flying forward and throwing what she believed was a strong punch.
"Ouch! That smarts!" Discord said "I think you broke something."
"And there's more where that came from." Fluttershy said.
"Well in that case I just want to say one thing." Discord said.
"Let me guess, you surrender?" Fluttershy asked.
"Nope." Discord said "You're a sucker! I was playing you for a sap! I didn't even feel that attack!" He then started laughing.
"But that can't be." Fluttershy said "I threw everything I had into that punch. This doesn't make sense."
"Oh what fun is there in making sense?" Discord asked.
Fluttershy didn't answer. She simply tried to hit Discord with "The Stare".
"Do you honestly think that stupid thing is going to phase me?" Discord asked "Because it won't work. It only works on the weak minded. Anyone with half a brain could shrug it off." He then fired off a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. It was so fast that Fluttershy didn't have time to dodge it.
The confidence that Fluttershy had been displaying disappeared as she took notice of how much damage Discord's attack did to her.
Discord quickly took advantage of Fluttershy's lack of confidence and attacked her again and again. Fluttershy tried on occasion to attack Discord with either a punch or a kick but Discord seemed to be unaffected.
"Well Fluttershy I didn't think you'd be this much fun." Discord said "However this is where it ends."
"This fight's not over yet." Fluttershy said.
"Oh, but it is." Discord said, pulling out a glass from seemingly nowhere, filled it with the chocolate rain, and threw it at Fluttershy.
"Your attack didn't work." Fluttershy said.
"You think so?" Discord said "Well I hate to break it to you, but it hasn't even begun."
"What are you talking about?" Fluttershy said, then she noticed the chocolate rain in the glass was starting to glow. "I'm dead aren't I?" Fluttershy asked.
"Maybe." Discord said. Fluttershy then let out a high pitched scream that didn't sound at all like her as the chocolate milk exploded. "Hm for some reason that I can't quite put my claw on that sounds familiar."
"You...haven't...beaten...me...yet." Fluttershy said, she was completly covered in bruise marks. She then fell to the ground.
"K.O.! I win!" Discord said, then he pulled out a pair of sunglasses from seemingly now and put them on "Well Fluttershy. It looks like it's, game over. Yeah!" He then proceeded to laugh wickedly.
"I lost." Fluttershy said "Looks like I'm not going anywhere. Oh well, I suppose all this fighting was fun while it lasted."
"Hey, are you going to just give up?!" a familiar voice asked.
"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked.
"No it's Rarity. Of course it's me, who else could it be?!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Where are you?" Fluttershy said "And more importantly how did you get here?"
"I'm not actually in this dimension." Rainbow Dash said "But somehow I can speak to you. I don't know how or why, but I'm not looking this gift horse in the mouth."
"Are you here to make me feel bad and encourage me not to give up?" Fluttershy asked "Cause if you are, you're too late."
"Too late?! Nonsense!" Rainbow Dash said "You can't quit!"
"Yes I can." Fluttershy said "What's to stop me from doing so?"
"You're going to give up just because Mr. Tall, Dark, and Ugly over there beat you with some cheap tricks?!" Rainbow Dash asked "I thought you were tougher then this."
"Apparently not." Fluttershy said "But this time I really did try my best. There's nothing I can do hurt to Discord, he's too strong."
"Stuff and nonsense!" Rainbow Dash said "No one's immune to pain, not even Discord! I don't care what he says! He has to have a weak spot, you just haven't tried hard enough to find it!"
"But what do you want me to do about it?" Fluttershy said "I'm not going to just get back up and let myself get beat up again."
"If you ever want to see me or our friends again you'll have to defeat Discord." Rainbow Dash said "But I know you can do it. You can't just give up! I know you're stronger then that. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and stand up tall! Show Discord who's boss!"
"Yes sir ma-am!" Fluttershy said, rising to her hooves. She suddenly felt her wounds being healed and her stamina being restored.
"That's a good girl." Rainbow Dash said "Now go teach Discord a lesson! I know you can do it!" her voice then faded away.
"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked but there was no reply. Rainbow Dash was gone.
"Ah, how cute, your so called 'friend' gave you a pep talk." Discord said "Too bad she's just trying to use you to get the prize money because she knows you'll split it with her. And the same holds true for all of your 'friends', they're only using you because they know you'll do anything."
"Liar!" Fluttershy said "I know that's not true! My friends would never do something like that! They know I'm not weak and helpless! And they know they can trust me as much as I trust them! But you wouldn't understand because I'll bet you don't even have friends!"
"Oh yeah?!" Discord said "Well why don't you come over here, and we'll see just how strong your 'friendship' really is?!"
"Careful what you wish for Discord." Fluttershy said, smiling once again "You might just get it."
"Round 1, Fight!" Discord said.
"Why don't you make the first move this time Discord?" Fluttershy asked "Or are you too afraid?"
"I ain't afraid of you or anypony!" Discord said "Take this!" He proceeded to fire off a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. Fluttershy dodged it with ease and hit Discord with a flying kick.
"Hey, that actually hurt!" Discord said "Take it easy on me ya killjoy!"
"Take it easy? I don't think so!" Fluttershy said, attacking Discord with an uppercut.
"Okay you asked for it!" Discord said, pulling out another glass, filling it with chocolate rain, and flinging it at Fluttershy. Fluttershy flew forward, grabbed it, and threw back at Discord, who screamed like a little girl as the blast overwhelmed him.
"Not so tough now are ya?!" Fluttershy said "Wanna throw in the towel now and save yourself the humilation? Or do you want more?"
"Actually I was just about to ask you the same question." Discord said, pulling Fluttershy towards him.
"Put me down! I'm afraid of heights!" Fluttershy said.
"Oh how ironic. A pegasus pony who's terrified of heights. It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic." Discord said.
"What are you going to do?" Fluttershy asked as she found herself in Discord's grasp.
"Well for starters I'm gonna do this!" Discord said, and he began to strangle Fluttershy. "What's the matter? Got nothing smart to say now? Cat got your tounge?"
Fluttershy tried to break free but no matter how much she squirmed and thrashed about Discord's grasp remained firm.
"I would've waited an eternity for a moment like this." Discord said "It's all over for you Fluttershy."
"Never!" Fluttershy suddenly shouted, attacking Discord with a low kick.
Discord screamed and dropped Fluttershy. "Right in the solar plexus!" he groaned. As he recovered Fluttershy attacked him with a few more punches, "This can't be happening! Not to me!" he said and fell to the ground.
"K.O.! I win! Flawles victory!" Fluttershy said "Okay Discord you've lost. Now give back the trophy and the prize money this instant"
"But what about your wish?" Discord asked "What do you want to request from me?"
"I want all of the reasons for my friends entering the tournament to be taken care of. And by that I mean I want my friends to not have to worry about them. So don't even try to get rid of somepony or something."
"Okay fine." Discord said, snapping his fingers "Everyone's a winner. So are you happy now?"
"Yes." Fluttershy said "Now please give me back the trophy and the prize money."
"I don't think so!" Discord said. He proceeded to erase the events of the tournament from Fluttershy's mind as well as the minds of everyone else. They would all assume it had been a dream. He then sent Fluttershy back to her own dimension. He began to gloat and laugh wickedly "Just you wait Equestria." he said with a smirk "Soon you'll see what real chaos is like!