Author’s Note: Yes, I went there. And there. And there. And to that place where everyone else has gone. Sort of.
To be honest, I scared myself a little, writing what I did for several of the other ponies. You'll have to read on to find out what I did, but know that I scared myself a little.
/*********************\
“My turn!” roared Spike as he drew a card. He glanced at it and a fire began to burn in his eyes. “I activate 'Cards of Consonance'. By discarding a Dragon-Type Tuner Monster from my hand with one thousand or fewer Attack Points, I can draw two new cards from my hand.” Spike slid the remaining card in his hand into the Graveyard and then took two new cards from the top of his deck.
“Next the effect of my discarded Tuner activates,” said Spike. “When the 'White Stone of Legend' is sent to the Graveyard, I add... a specific monster from my deck to my hand.”
“Before I forget, since you played a Spell, Dark Horus will revive Dark Valkyria,” said Discord. “Now, what monster did you add to your hand?”
“The one that I’ll be summoning in a moment,” replied Spike. “But first, I summon 'Totem Dragon' to the field!” A small dragon with a very long neck and a turtle-like body appeared. Its back seemed to be covered with multifaceted enamel, and a thin, curved crest rested atop its round head. Two long, yellow wings flapped as it appeared through the blue portal and settled onto the ground.
“Aw, it’s adorable,” cooed Fluttershy.
“The thing about Totem Dragon is that I can count it as two Releases when I summon a Dragon-Type monster,” said Spike.
“But you’ve already summoned this turn,” said Discord.
“Then I activate 'Double Summon', so I can Normal Summon a second time,” said Spike. “I Release Totem Dragon!” Totem Dragon vanished in a ball of multicolored light. “This is the ultimate power of dragons, Discord! You’ll never take Rarity while I stand in your way! For my friends! For my love! I Advance Summon 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'!”
Yusei couldn’t believe his ears, but he knew it was true when the white dragon emerged from the blue portal. It’s long neck writhed snake-like atop its ridged, segmented body. Two spikes rested on the sides of the dragon’s mouth. Long, sharp wings flared out behind it as the creature gave a roar Yusei had heard only once before- his duel with Paradox.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
ATK/3000
LV 8
“That’s... no way!” said Yusei. “Only three copies of that card exist, and Seto Kaiba has them all!”
“The cards Twilight made change based on the user,” said Spike.
“But why that card?” Yusei asked. “I mean, the crystal dragons I can understand, but... Blue-Eyes?”
“Why do you think?” said Spike with a smile. He looked up at Rarity, still smiling, then turned back to Discord. “This is the most powerful dragon in existence, Discord! Legends give birth to legends!”
“The White Stone of Legend,” said Yusei. “Blue-Eyes was the monster it gave you...”
“Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Dark Voltanis! Burst Stream of Destruction!” The white dragon opened its jaws wide. A ball of blue-white energy formed within. Arcs of electricity danced around the dragon’s sharp teeth. A stream of energy blasted out of the ball and struck the dark angel on Discord’s field, breaking through it as if it were nothing more than tissue paper. Voltanis exploded and Discord covered his face with his arms to shield himself from it.
Life Point Count
Discord: 800
“Yusei, your turn!” said Spike.
“Right!” said Yusei, drawing a card. “Stardust Dragon, attack Dark Valkyria with Shooting Sonic!” The white dragon roared and fired its beam at Dark Valkyria, destroying her. Discord growled, clearly frustrated.
“I’ll end my turn by summoning 'Sonic Chick' in Defense Mode,” said Yusei. A pink bird wearing red running shoes appeared, squawked, and hid its face behind its wings. Fluttershy began to coo over the tiny bird.
Sonic Chick
DEF/300
LV 1
“My turn!” roared Discord. “First, 'Dark Nephthys' is Special Summoned to the field!” The ground cracked and dark red flames erupted from the fissures. The floor exploded and another creature appeared. It was made of the same black metal as Dark Horus, and was shaped like a phoenix. It had two sets of wings made of dark flames burning long and wide on the edges of metal arms. The creature screeched out a metallic cry. Yusei raised his Duel Disk, readying himself for anything.
Dark Nephthys
ATK/2200
LV 8
“Dark Nephthys’ second effect activates,” said Discord. “When Special Summoned, it destroys one Spell or Trap on the field. Say goodbye to your Silver Wing, Yusei!” Nephthys flapped its wings and the dark flames raced toward Stardust Dragon.
“I activate Stardust Dragon’s effect: Victim Sanctuary!” shouted Yusei. Stardust Dragon glowed white and then vanished. As it did, the dark flames stopped in midair. “When an effect is activated that destroys cards on the field, I can Release Stardust Dragon to negate that effect and destroy that card. The only one saying goodbye is Dark Nephthys!” The flames from Nephthys’ wings turned around and sped toward their source. They engulfed the metal phoenix and destroyed it.
“What was the point of that? You still lost your card, and you’ll lose another as well! Dark Horus, attack Sonic Chick!”
“Sorry, but Sonic Chick’s not going anywhere because it can’t be destroyed by monsters with nineteen-hundred or more Attack Points!”
Dark Horus launched a black flare at the tiny pink bird, but it struck the ground in front of it instead. The flare exploded, but nothing happened to Sonic Chick.
“Fine then,” grunted Discord. “I’ll Set one card facedown and end my turn.”
“My turn!” said Spike. “I activate 'Dragon Heart'! I send three Dragon-Type monsters from my deck to the Graveyard, and a dragon on my field gains one thousand Attack Points!” Ghostly forms appeared around Spike’s dragon- two white orbs and the emerald form of Luster Dragon #2. The three specters flew into the Blue-Eyes White Dragon’s chest and disappeared within. A red light began to glow from within its body, pulsing with the steady rhythm of its heartbeat, which echoed throughout the room. The white dragon roared with its new found power.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
ATK/4000
“The only downside to Dragon Heart is that I can’t Normal Summon this turn,” said Spike. “But that’s a small price to pay.”
“A small price indeed,” grumbled Discord. “Dark Horus revives Dark Valkyria in Defense Mode.”
Two cards slid out of Spike’s deck and he took them. “Two of the monsters I sent to the Graveyard were White Stones of Legend, so I can add two more Blue-Eyes White Dragons to my hand,” said Spike, flashing the two cards he mentioned. “Time to end this! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Dark Horus with Burst Stream of Destruction!”
“He’s gonna do it!” said Pinkie. “Spike wins! Spike wins!”
“You show ‘im, partner!” cheered Applejack.
“Go, Spike, go!” said Fluttershy.
The blue-eyed dragon charged its attack and fired the blue-white beam of energy. As it sped toward the black dragon, the face-down card behind it flipped up, standing on its edge.
“I play 'Dimension Wall'!” said Discord. “Instead of me, you will be taking all the damage from this battle!”
“But Dark Horus is still destroyed!” said Spike as the white beam raced toward Dark Horus. It struck the dragon, piercing through it like an arrow. The beam continued toward Discord, but the air in front of him became distorted, twisting as if it was being wrung out. The white beam disappeared within it. Another distortion appeared in front of Spike and the white beam shot out of it, striking him in the face and knocking him to the ground.
“Spike!” cried Rarity.
“You okay?” asked Yusei.
“Yeah... yeah, I’m fine,” Spike groaned as he stood up. “Your turn, Yusei.”
Yusei nodded and drew a card. “Stardust Dragon, attack Dark Valkyria!” he ordered.
“I play a Trap: 'Chaos Burst'!” yelled Discord. The card he had placed facedown flipped up. “Chaos Burst lets me Tribute one of my monsters when you declare an attack. Your monster is destroyed and you take a thousand points of damage!” Discord laughed as his Dark Valkyria’s armor began to glow bright orange. She threw her arms out to the sides and screamed as she exploded into pure energy.
“Victim Sanctuary!” shouted Yusei. Stardust Dragon wrapped its wings around the blast and vanished with it. Yusei wiped his brow with the back of his gloved hand. “I Set a card facedown and end my turn. During the End Phase, Stardust Dragon is Special Summoned back to the field.”
“My turn,” said Discord. “This is where the fun begins. I Special Summon 'The Dark Creator'!” Another metal beast appeared, this one in the shape of a man with two giant, orange wings resting on his back. The metal that composed his body was black like Dark Horus and Dark Nephthys. A single blue gem rested in the middle of its forehead. The dark monster seemed to glare down at Yusei, as if it believed he was barely worth a fight.
The Dark Creator
DEF/3000
LV 8
“He summoned it in Defense Mode,” said Yusei.
“Yeah, but HOW did he summon it?” asked Spike.
“Simple,” replied Discord. “I can Special Summon The Dark Creator if I have at least five DARK monsters in my Graveyard, but no monsters on the field.”
“We’re gonna have a hard time getting around a monster with three thousand Defense Points,” said Yusei.
“Oh, you’ll have to get around more than that,” Discord chuckled. “I activate Dark Creator’s effect! By removing a DARK monster in my Graveyard from play-” Discord removed Dark Valkyria from the Graveyard, tossing it into the stormy portal above- “I can Special Summon a DARK monster from my Graveyard. Rise, 'Dark Simorgh'!”
The Dark Creator held his hand out toward the ground in front of him. A dark portal appeared on the stone floor and a monstrous bird covered in black feathers arose from within. A short little crown rested atop its head and long feathers waved behind it like thin cloth tassels. It screeched at Yusei and Spike, flapping its wings violently.
Dark Simorgh
ATK/2700
LV 7
“Dark Simorgh, attack Stardust Dragon!” ordered Discord. “You can try and negate the attack with Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, but it’ll be the last time you do! As long as Dark Simorgh is in play, neither of you can Set cards face-down!”
“Say what?!” said Yusei.
“Hey, no fair!” yelled Spike.
“Dark Tornado!” barked Discord. Simorgh flapped its wings furiously, creating a massive cyclone before it. It roared and the cyclone rushed forward toward Stardust Dragon.
“Use your Trap Card, Yusei!” shouted Discord, laughing.
“Not yet,” said Yusei.
The black tornado struck Stardust Dragon. It gave a pained roar and was destroyed. The tornado plowed onward, knocking Yusei back.
Life Point Count
Yusei: 1400
“Why?” asked Discord. “Why didn’t you use Scrap-Iron Scarecrow?”
“Because I have this: 'Miracle’s Wake'!” Yusei’s other card flipped up and a beam of light shone down on the spot where Stardust Dragon had been. The great dragon reappeared, fading into existence as light shone around it. “During the turn that a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon it from the Graveyard with this Trap Card.”
“So you used that instead and saved Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!” said Spike.
“Good show, Yusei!” said Rarity.
“Sorry about that, Stardust,” said Yusei. Stardust growled softly, but the growl didn’t sound at all menacing; rather, it seemed understanding. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy beamed up at the creature. Celestia smiled as well, then looked over at Discord, sadness beginning to cloud her features.
“Isn’t that sweet,” said Discord mockingly. “Sickeningly so, in fact, but at the same time, revealing.”
“Revealing?” Yusei asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Your cruelty, of course,” Discord said in a casual tone, gazing at his eagle claws with vague interest. “You are cruel in that you would allow your own monster- a creature that appears to be very loyal to you- to be destroyed to protect what amounts to nothing more than a tool. Then you bring it back, though you know it cannot defeat my own monster. Which means, you’re relying on Spike to do your dirty work for you. He’ll spend his resources trying to take me down and you’ll move in for the killing blow. You’re not a hero, Yusei; you’re a hypocrite.”
“He is NOT a hypocrite!” said Fluttershy, flapping her wings furiously and hovering above the ground. “And he’s not cruel either! He’s one of the kindest people I know.”
“Oh, is that right?” said Discord with a wicked grin. “He most certainly IS a hypocrite. How does his Stardust Dragon protect other cards? By sacrificing itself? No. It does so by destroying the destroyer! And then it returns to the field, making its sacrifice nothing more than a hollow lie.”
“I do what I have to do, Discord!” said Yusei. “I’ll try to save everyone, but some people just don’t want to be saved. If that’s the case and I can’t convince them to stop trying to hurt my friends, then...”
“Yusei, we get it,” said Spike. “You did what you had to do with Paradox. Don’t let Discord get to you.”
“P-Paradox?” Fluttershy stammered. “Who’s Paradox?”
Yusei looked at her uncertainly. After a moment, he sighed. “Paradox was the man who stole Stardust Dragon from me. He stole several other cards and then traveled back in time with them to kill the man who invented the Duel Monsters card game. He said it was because the world was destroyed by Duel Monsters in the future he came from.”
Fluttershy gasped, holding a hoof to her mouth.
“I met Jaden Yuki and Yugi Muto, and together, we battled Paradox,” Yusei continued. “But Paradox played a card that made it all real- not just holograms like what Twilight and I were using. Losing the duel meant losing your life. Then he merged himself with his most powerful monster and...”
“Yusei...”
“I had no other choice, Fluttershy. If I didn’t, he would have killed me and my friends, including my friends back home in my own time period.”
“Did you... did you try to get him to stop?”
“I did.”
“The duel, I mean.”
“...Fluttershy, he never would have stopped. I don’t know if what he said about the future is true, but whether or not it is, he never would have stopped trying to kill Pegasus.”
“But you don’t know that, do you? You didn’t try to talk him into canceling the game, did you?”
“...no,” Yusei said softly. “No, I didn’t. He just... he seemed so determined. I couldn’t talk him out of it before the duel, so I didn’t think I could talk him out of it during the duel, especially when he had the upper hand nearly every turn.”
“You are cruel... you do destroy others.” Fluttershy dropped to the ground and began to back up toward the wall.
“Only if I don’t have any other choice, Fluttershy!” Yusei protested. “What would you do?”
“Don’t ask me that... please...” said Fluttershy, closing her eyes.
“And therein lies the rub,” said Discord suddenly. “The kindest pony of all can be the cruelest. I remember overhearing some commotion at the Grand Galloping Gala about a crazed mare trying to get the animals to love her. But in the end, she only scared them into a stampede.”
“N-no, it’s not- I-”
“It’s exactly like that, my dear. You are kind to others, but when they do not show kindness in return, when they refuse and push you away, what do you do? You lash out! You punish them!”
“No! Please, stop! Please!”
“But you lash out not out of anger, but out of fear, fear that they will hurt you. So you try to hurt them first, so they won’t hurt you at all.”
Fluttershy curled into a ball and began to weep.
“This same fear is also the true source of your kindness,” Discord continued mockingly. “You are kind to others because you fear pain!”
“Fluttershy, he’s right,” said Yusei. Everyone stopped and looked at him. “But not for the reason he thinks. Everyone is afraid of pain. That fact is what makes you kind. You’re kind because you’re afraid of being hurt, but I believe you’re also kind because you don’t want others to be hurt the same way.”
“How would.. you know?” squeaked the yellow pegasus between sobs.
“Because I know someone who’s the same way,” he answered. “She’s a good friend of mine back home. She went through a lot of pain and hurt, and now she’s one of the kindest people I know.”
Fluttershy’s sobbing became softer.
“Everything about you is motivated by a fear of pain,” Discord said. “You’re a coward. Give up yourself and I can make the pain go away.”
Fluttershy uncurled herself and looked at discord. She nodded and her color slid away like water.
“Fluttershy, no,” said Applejack. “This isn’t right! Come on, Fluttershy, stand up! Yusei an’ Spike are out there fightin’ t’save our friends! You can’t give in to Discord!”
“She already has,” said Discord. “And what of you, Miss Prideful? You are one of the most dishonest ponies I’ve ever seen.”
“I am not!” Applejack shouted.
“Yes you are. Remember the maze? All you needed was a push in the right direction. Who would have thought that direction was a truth you wouldn’t like?”
“It wasn’t true, Discord! That vision ya showed me never happened and we still put your sorry hide back in stone!”
“Oh, what a lie! Perhaps it did not come to pass as I had shown you, Applejack, but your little group of friends still splintered easier than rotted wood. And the fact that you reunited and defeated me was always a moot point; all that mattered is that your friendship broke. And do you know what destroyed it, Applejack? The very things that make each of you who you are!”
“No! That was you, not us!”
“I only needed to give each of you a push toward a truth you wouldn’t like, and then tweak your minds so that you would only focus on that truth. You ponies did the rest.”
“No... no, that’s not true...”
“The one truth you cannot admit to yourself, Applejack, is that you are a liar, and until you admit that, you will ALWAYS be a liar. But then, if you do admit it, then you’re still a liar, aren’t you?”
“I... I...”
“Discord, stop this at once!” said Celestia. Discord ignored her.
“Refusing to admit to being a liar is, of course, worse than actually owning up to it,” continued the draconequus. “But to do that, you would have to swallow your pride, wouldn’t you? And your pride is an integral part of who you are... why, I dare say you would be sacrificing your identity.”
“Discord!” shouted Celestia. Again he ignored her.
“I’m right either way, Applejack,” said Discord. “Of that there is no doubt, not even in your mind.”
Applejack fell sat on her haunches, tilted her hat down and began to weep. The color started to drain from her.
“Applejack, telling lies isn’t unforgivable,” said Yusei. “My friend that tried to get revenge on me... I had lied to the authorities because I was trying to save him. He eventually forgave me.”
“And what about my pride?” asked Applejack. A single tear dripped off her chin. “I’d have to give up my pride to believe him... but I’m a liar either way...”
“Swallowing your pride doesn’t mean giving it up,” said Yusei. “It just means that you’re able to move past it when you have to. Pride is only a bad thing when it gets in the way of what’s important.”
“But...”
“You’ve done it before, haven’t you?”
“This isn’t about buckin’ apples by myself, Yusei! This is about who I am as a pony! I’m supposed to be honest, but I can’t even be honest with myself! And admitting that means that I’m not honest at all.” As she spoke these last words, the last of her color faded away. She now sat before them all, monochrome like Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Another tear dripped off her chin, and then another. Yusei clenched a fist.
“You guys,” said Pinkie Pie, “come on, cheer up! It’s not as bad as you think it is, and if it IS that bad, your friends are there to help you through it no matter what. You’ve still got me to make you smile, right?”
“Did they ever, Pinkie Pie?” asked Discord. “Why do you try so hard to make ponies smile?” Before she could answer, Discord continued. “I’ll tell you why: Because you feel you don’t deserve happiness if you can’t get others to smile. You’re as selfish as the rest of them. I see through your facade, Pinkie Pie. Why do you think I chose Twilight over you?”
“Because you spent more time with her than anypony else?” Pinkie Pie ventured. Yusei heard a a slight trembling in her voice.
“Because you are a selfish liar like all the others,” Discord countered. “Yes, I spent more time with Twilight, but that’s because she was the most honest of you all. She at least was able to admit when her friends had changed, and she didn’t even need my help! You could never make me laugh, dear Pinkie, because you would never truly want to. You would only want to make yourself happy, which makes it all a lie.”
Pinkie’s eyes began to water and her mane and tale slowly deflated like a balloon, becoming perfectly straight. Just like the others, her color began to slip away.
“Pinkie, Discord is the liar!” said Yusei.
“He... you told me I was your favorite!” said Pinkie with a small squeak.
“No, I said the Element of Laughter was my favorite,” Discord replied. “You are supposed to represent that Element, but you as a pony? No. My favorite little pony is in this room, but it’s most certainly not you.”
“He didn’t choose Twilight because he doesn’t like you, Pinkie,” said Yusei. “He chose her just to mess with your head! Don’t listen to him!”
Pinkie Pie’s color was receding quickly as she said, “Even if that’s true, everything he said about me is... also true. I never believed that I deserved to be happy unless everypony else was happy too. And since that’s why I try so hard to make everypony smile... it’s all a lie.”
“Everyone deserves happiness, Pinkie,” said Yusei. “Even you. Especially you. You make me smile without even realizing that you’re doing it.”
“That’s not true” she said as the last of her color vanished. “I DO realize it, and I don’t deserve to be happy anyway, not if being me being happy is the only reason I try to make others happy.”
“If you want something, then you go after it and earn it.”
“That’s just it! I went after it! I tried to make others happy just to satisfy myself! I didn’t do it for them, I did it for me! If you only try to make someone happy for your own benefit, then it’s a lie!” Pinkie fell flat on the floor, her front legs flung out beside her. “I’ve been lying to everypony and myself. That makes it all worthless. Who I am... is worthless.”
“I will not stand for this any longer!” roared Celestia. “Your quarrel has always been with me, Discord! Leave my subjects out of this!”
“You dare to bring THAT up, Celestia?” Discord growled. “You’re right, I do have dispute with you- a vendetta even. But you are not the only one who turned me into stone; your precious subjects encased me in that wretched prison as well.”
“I’m not talking about that, Discord,” said Celestia.
Discord blinked and tilted his head, confused. Then his eyes widened. “Oh,” he said with realization. “Yes, that IS when this all started, isn’t it?”
“Princess, what’s he talking about?” asked Spike.
“Discord... was once my friend,” said Celestia.
“And I loved her more than I love chaos and freedom combined,” Discord added wistfully.