//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: A Chaotic Clash 6/7 // Story: The Curse of Discord // by Creative Charmer //------------------------------// Nothing less was to be expected from the ponies and Spike after that array of power. Twilight's magical abilities had grown to such an immense volume that she managed to dispatch Princess Celestia with the utmost ease! Seeing their princess suffer such a harrowing defeat brought to the surface the conclusion shared amongst the Equestrians: if not even the princess could stand up against the deleterious force beget by the malefic Twilight, what hope did any of them have? Notwithstanding, the collective belief that none could win against the draconicorn's might was soon reduced. From the sense of doubt the Equestrians were linked to, a single link was severed: the one whom was the root of this unforeseen action just about had all they could take of Twilight's reprehensible comportment. It was time for this pony to stand up to the boisterous Twilight—and they were the last pony anyone would expect to do so. "Hey!!" Twilight's smile vanished in an instant at the sound of the abrupt bellow. She turned towards the source of the shout, and was greeted with an unexpected sight to behold: a very ticked-off Fluttershy. Even though the fumed pegasus had shown her indignation in the past, it was still as surprising as ever for Fluttershy's friends to witness her in this state—and she was not holding back(which still does appear exceptionally huge in the case of Fluttershy). "You listen here; right now! I may not mind as much if I'm the one being picked on, bullied, or browbeaten, but when somepony is mean to my friends, then I get upset! We don't like your nasty tricks, or being used as targets for what you think is funny! It's not nice! It's crude and deplorable to behave that way to others, never thinking about how they feel when you bring harm to them, and only caring about what you want! Well, I've had enough! You are going to stop what you're doing, and you're going to stop right now!!" Twilight was just as speechless as everybody else, just as she had done before with Celestia—and, just like before, her stupefaction lasted only so long. Slowly, the trademark smile of evil Twilight appeared on the draconicorn's face. Fluttershy felt a bit confused as to what Twilight could be smiling at, but she did not let herself appear to be wavering in her firmness of stopping her cursed friend. Twilight placed both arms behind her back, and, step-by-step, began to walk over to the seemingly assertive pegasus. Twilight was not using any magic of any kind—she was simply walking over to Fluttershy, holding the same haughty smile on her face all the while. Fluttershy grew more anxious with each step Twilight took towards her, as the draconicorn showed not even an ounce of fear—it was as if Twilight was immune to fear in this form—never being intimidated by any power display put off by anybody. Thought none would say it, Twilight knew what they all saw her as: an unstoppable force of which no source of strength, magic, or ingenuity could overcome. The mad creature believed full well that none could measure up to the power she possessed—no matter what it was they would try, not a single being in this world could ever stop her—and she was quite content with that thought. Finally, Twilight had ceased her striding. She was now directly in front of Fluttershy, leering down at the clearly frightened pony. Every ounce of ire drained from Fluttershy's body like blood seeping out of an open wound, leaving an empty husk devoid of any true undaunted essence. It seemed that as quickly as it had came, the boldness was gone, leaving Fluttershy with nothing left to aid the hapless pegasus in standing up against her probable aggressor. "Well, well, everyone: doesn't this come as a surprise? Little Fluttershy being so uncharacteristically brave. Usually so diffident, but now so bold and aggressive. How confident she must be in believing she can take me on—especially after witnessing the defeats of everyone else who attempted the same. Color me impressed!" Each word uttered by the nefarious Twilight only made Fluttershy sink lower and lower into her own personal pit of consternation. "You know, this could make for a spectacular show! Come, everyone! Gather around and see the event of the season! A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle: Twilight the undefeatable verses Fluttershy the less-than-undefeatable! Will she be able to pull off a stunning victory? Or will Twilight defeat her without even trying like everyone knows she will? How will this all play out? Anything's a possibility!" Everyone was glaring at Twilight—wanting to stop her but still having that part on the inside saying there was no way for any of them to do so. "So, what will it be, Flutters? You ready to show your stuff and step up against the almighty, the powerful, the unstoppable Twilight Sparkle??" Fluttershy said nothing and did nothing—she only wished on the inside for this all to stop and for everything to be okay again. "Because I don't know about everyone else, but I for one..." Twilight bent down, moving her smiling face right up in front of Fluttershy's, her appearance both baleful and manic—more than it had ever been before. "...would just love to see you try." It had built up to such an extent, that Fluttershy could contain her augmented terror no longer. As deafening as the screech of a maddened thunderbird, Fluttershy's scream reverberated amongst the walls of the throne room, with everyone becoming immobilized by the ear-splitting din—even Twilight cringed from the severity of Fluttershy's booming vocals(mainly due to her being so close to Fluttershy at the time). The resounding screech roved out and into the connecting hallways of Canterlot, resonating throughout each and every corridor the sound found its way into. The sound of the shriek went so far that it managed to reach the chambers of Canterlot's other princess. In the instant the noise had reached the outer doors of the room, the doors were both swung open by none other than Princess Luna! "There is a pony in need of help!" and on that proclamation, Luna swiftly extended the length and width of her night mane wrapping it all around her body and transforming her body into a stream of blue-violet smoke, which promptly took to the air and bolted off in the direction of Celestia's throne room. The smoke flew straight into the chamber and landed on the floor, re-materializing back into Princes Luna. Her gaze was instantly placed upon Twilight, who had yet to notice Luna's presence in the room, as she was so focused on fixing her hearing after Fluttershy's earlier ear-splitting scream. Naturally, Luna did not know the true identity of this beast standing before her, but she knew that they were the cause of Fluttershy's torment, and they would not leave this room unpunished. "Away from her, foul beast!" Luna proclaimed as she soared up into the air, high above all watching in astonishment below. It was also now that Twilight's attention had finally turned to Luna, looking as surprised as the others to see her here. "Creature!" she announced in her booming voice. "Thou darest to encroach the lofty citadel of Canterlot and terrorize the innocent inhabitants who occupy this capital city? Such illicit acts will not be tolerated by I or any other lawful beings of this land! I know not of who you are, creature, but because you choose to impel thy malevolence upon the good people of Equestria, you have forced my hoof, and in consequence shall receive no less than the most appropriate of punishments for this atrocity!" Princess Luna's philippic was indeed shocking for everyone to hear; especially so seemingly out of nowhere, but would Twilight share the same reaction as all the others? That was certainly the appearance being given off by Twilight as she stared back at Luna in astonished silence. But, as most would expect, silence was never to last in the presence of Twilight the draconicorn. "Oh yeahhhh," she spoke, as if having just recalled an old memory. "You're that other princess, aren't you? The one hardly anypony ever remembers? How hard it must be for you that Celestia still gets all the attention, while nopony ever comes to you for any kind of help. So very sad," Twilight stated with feigned sadness and fabricated tears. It didn't involve much difficulty for Twilight's fraudulent array of sympathy to swell the anger inside Princess Luna, which intensified owing to each passing second sited in the presence of the disreputable draconicorn—and she would weather this unsavory experience no longer. "Silence, you odious creature! I have tolerated your presence far too long! If you know what will be the least harmful to your well-being, you will be quick to surrender immediately!" "Quick to surrender immediately? That seems rather redundant, wouldn't you say?" "Do not change the subject! You are simply trying to stall what may be your inevitable fate if you do not yield to me this instant! The power capable of vanquishing you is here, and I will not hesitate to use it!" Everyone was adequately intimidated by Luna's broadside, as the power she has shown in the past makes her a force to be reckoned with—although, not surprisingly, there was one who was not so easily dragooned into submitting to the power of the princess of the night. "Well, I would...but I don't seem to see such a thing here currently. Would you be a lass and point out where this incredible power is?" she inquired, sporting an arrogant grin. That was the final match in the powder barrel for Princess Luna. Twilight had her chance, but that derogatory statement had tossed it out the window. The time to end this was now, and true to her word, Luna's forthcoming strike showed no marks of dithering.