//------------------------------// // Discovery in Greed // Story: No Elements, No Harmony // by Fret //------------------------------// She wasn’t going to say anything else, but even so, Twilight’s mouth was met with a lion paw slamming it shut. “SHUSH!” Discord scolded her. Her chest began to slow its rise and fall motion, but the enlarged version of her assistant was impossible to stay calm over. The alicorn and the others then risked glancing towards the Queens again. It was unlikely they hadn’t heard Twilight scream, but they could only hope otherwise. Guilt nabbed at Twilight’s heart as her eyes came into contact with Nightmare Moon’s. “Oh dear, looks like they’ve already given themselves up.” She cackled, turning her head to Celestia, who scowled back at her. “And just how exactly do you plan to capture all of them?” she retorted. A smirk grew on the ebony alicorn’s face. “Simple, really.” She turned to Solar Flare. “Sister?” “Yes?” Celestia answered sarcastically. “Not you! The other one!” Nightmare spat at the princess. She faced the fiery alicorn once again. “You know what to do.” Solar Flare nodded, then trotted over in front of the huge reptile next to them. “Look, boy! Go fetch!” She grinned as she pointed the ponies and draconequus across the gorge. A forked tongue stroked across the edge of his lip as he stared at them. Almost hungrily, Twilight might add. “Uh… guys?” Everyone turned to Rainbow Dash. “Don’t you think we should… you know… run?” “...Oh,” They all answered flatly. The all spun around and began to gallop away from the dragon, but Twilight remained rooted to her spot a moment longer. “Wait! What about…” She glanced towards Celestia and Luna. Celestia shook her head. “ Twilight, run!” she ordered. The young princess hesitated, but the rampaging dragon was enough to get her to scram. Spike’s claw was now grappling onto her side of the gorge. She could hear a low growl rumble from his throat, raising her adrenaline. She began to run faster. Twilight was no athlete and struggled to catch up with her friends up ahead. She had barely reached half of the distance they had covered before she began to pant with exhaustion. The trees she had to dodge did not help either. “Come on Twilight…” she gasped out loud. “You've beaten Rainbow and AJ in a race before…” The alicorn felt a warm breath brush over her hindquarters, causing to glance over her shoulder. Spike’s muzzle was inches away from her tail. He paid no heed to the trees being crushed under his claws around her, and neither did she. Most of them were dead. All she cared about was escaping the perceived jaws of death. But she would be achieving anything but that if she continued to run at her increasingly slow pace. “Okay, Twilight… focus…” Her eyes remained glued to the reptile, but this did not stop her from sparking up her horn. She began to concentrate on a place to go to in her mind, and almost got a clear image, but was interrupted by a claw swinging towards her. She gasped and managed to duck under it before it could touch her, then tried to cast her teleportation spell once again. In the process, the lavender mare forgot to look ahead. Too focused on Spike and her spell, she slammed into a tree standing directly in her path. She lifted a hoof to rub her head before she was snapped back into the current situation. She flinched her head up to the dragon towering over her, as he roared in amusement. “Oh Spike… What did they do to you?” Twilight croaked. Then she shook her head back into reality. “Right… about to get eaten by my own assistant’s counterpart…” She stood up shakily, only just scarcely dodging his attempt to grab her with his claw. She finally found the right moment to spark her horn, before disappearing from another attempt to trap her in his hand. She reappeared a few tail-lengths behind him and began to run in the opposite direction. “Over here, Spike! Your prey is escaping!” Spike let out a frustrated snarl as he struggled to spin his whole body around to face her - giving the alicorn a head start. I can’t let him touch my friends… she thought as she focused on running. Again, she dodged the trees as best she could without tripping until she reached her original starting point. She glanced up, seeing the queens, who were still in the same place, except this time they gripped Celestia and Luna’s chains possessively. Nightmare Moon lifted a brow in surprise. “Hm. Pretty quick, that one.” “...What planet are you from,” Twilight said dryly. The sound of crushing trees behind her made her swing her head around. Spike had caught up with her. She backed away slowly, wondering if she could lose him or tire him. His eyes narrowed as he stomped an arm down on the floor, crawling towards her as she moved. One of her hind hooves hit air as she took another step back. She froze and glanced behind her, seeing there was no ground left - just a cliff. She lifted her head back up, aiming to look at Spike, but something behind him caught her eye. A gap between the ground and his belly allowed her to spot a familiar face. The orange mare’s mouth opened. No sound escaped from it, but Twilight knew what she would have heard if there were a voice. She couldn’t help but give a slight smile - she had done this before. She looked up at Spike. Even if I escape, they’ll have to stop you somehow. “Sorry about this.” She closed her eyes, then let herself fall back, off of the edge. “Twilight!” She heard Celestia yell. She hated to scare her, but Twilight knew that nothing would happen to her. The alicorn wasn’t at all scared of meeting the rock-hard ground below. She knew she’d meet something else. Because of this, she didn’t even open her wings. After a few moments of gravity taking its toll, her back landed on something soft. She finally opened her eyes and smiled as she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carrying her upwards, far faster than she would be able to fly herself. They flew far above Spike, until Fluttershy let out a tired sigh. “Err… I think this is high enough…” she stuttered, looking down. Rainbow ignored her plea, instead looking out for something in the lower clouds. “You can fly too, you know,” she muttered to Twilight, who blushed, embarrassed. “Oh...sorry.” She let go of the two pegasi. Her brow raised as Rainbow continued her search. Finally, she stopped her head from moving, and nodded to something Twilight couldn’t see. “Okay, the three of us start flying towards the ground as quick as you can in three...two...one.” “Wait, straight down?” Twilight blinked. “Yep, just do it!” Rainbow ordered, already starting to flap her wings as she dived below. Both Fluttershy and herself did the same, struggling to keep at the blue mare’s speed. The three continued to fall for a little while longer, which began to panic Twilight. They were far too close to hitting the ground than she would have liked. They were at about Spike’s height when something metal was thrown in front of her. “Grab it!” Rainbow instructed as she trapped the chain in her mouth. Twilight and Fluttershy did what she said, before unexpectedly being yanked by the blue pegasus across the air. “We need to hook this thing around that dragon’s feet!” she mumbled through gritted teeth. It was only then when Twilight realized just how long the chain really was. Spike let out a loud growl, as he reached out a claw to drag them down from the air. The winged ponies dodged it by flying over his grip. They managed to hook the chain around the first limb. Twilight moved herself away from the middle of the chain to leave space for his limbs. As she did so, she let out a regretful sigh. “I’m sorry Spike...” “What was that, Twilight?” Fluttershy perked her ears. Twilight glanced in her direction, then shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.” She and Fluttershy were about to wrap the chain around the dragon’s second limb, when a blast of magic flew just above Twilight. She looked to where it had come from and saw that Solar Flare was coming straight for them. “Oh no, you don’t!” she yelled, her horn sparking again. The smaller alicorn almost dropped the chain from her mouth as she called to the yellow pegasus next to her. “Fluttershy! Watch out!” Fluttershy glanced towards where she was looking at, then accidentally lost grip of the metal when she let out a startled cry. The fiery alicorn’s attention turned away from Twilight and onto the yellow pegasus. “YOU!” she spat. “You little traitor!” One thing Twilight had noticed about Celestia’s counterpart is that her eyes always had a translucent flare escaping at the corners, but now they seemed to become more opaque and intense as her anger grew. Twilight spat the chain from her mouth, seizing it instead with her magic. Her mind becoming clearer with what was happening, she found the focus to be able to hover in place while wrapping the chain around Spike’s hind legs. For a split second, she took her eyes off Fluttershy and Solar Flare to check on Rainbow Dash. The pegasus had already flown around the dragon as far as she could go and was waiting for the other side of the chain. In the small amount of time it took to look at Rainbow, Twilight also realized that Spike was spinning around, trying to keep up with her own end of the chain. This caused Rainbow Dash to be dragged around in a circle along with the dragon. Twilight quickly pulled the chain around Spike’s hind legs and wrapped it around the opposite end tightly. “‘Bout time!” She heard Rainbow Dash mutter. Twilight ignored her, instead looking for the fiery queen chasing her friend. She eventually spotted her chasing the yellow pegasus around the large reptile that she hovered under. Her horn sparked as she prepared to fend off her former mentor’s counterpart. She eventually spotted Solar Flare again, floating just above the ground. Fluttershy had seemingly escaped. Twilight was about to blast her with magic, when the sound of her name distracted her. “Twilight!” She heard Applejack call. She turned her head searching for the voice, and spotting Applejack, Pinkamena and Rarity yanking at a different chain, which interlocked with Rainbow’s and her own. “Get out of there!” The alicorn froze in place for a moment, confused. She then looked up to see Spike’s belly falling down towards her. She wasn’t sure how to move. She was about to get crushed by her own- A heavy weight crashed into her before anything could suffocate her. She and the mass rolled across the ground and well out of Spike’s way. It took her a while to comprehend what had just happened; not just a few moments ago, but all together. Everything happened so quickly, she couldn’t take it in. A hoof nudged her, but it didn’t feel friendly. In fact, it felt annoyed. Twilight blinked open her eyes, only to be surprised as the first thing she saw was Solar Flare lying next to her, panting. “You idiot - why would you stand under a gigantic dragon, like that?!” she hissed, getting back onto her hooves and shaking out her fiery mane so that it would return to its normal flowing motion. Twilight was still in shock. “But… Why did you… Why did you save me?” she gasped. “You were trying to kill us all a few seconds ago…” Solar Flare snorted. “What makes you think that?” “You sent out a dragon after all of us!” She also stood up, glaring at the queen. “You also tried to zap Fluttershy to the ground personally!” Twilight hadn’t taken any notice of her rising volume. It was hard to believe she was talking to Celestia right now. The queen raised a brow. “I sent the dragon to fetch you, not eat you.” She turned and began to stalk towards Spike, who lay helpless on his belly, unable to move his limbs. Everything else, however, he had in full control. His tail furiously lashed back and forth, knocking down any vegetation there was, dead or alive, while he simply kept his head still, letting out enraged roars from his throat. Twilight shyly walked over to him. It wasn’t her assistant - but it was still Spike, regardless. And she had helped bring him down to the floor. Twilight saw her friends gallop up towards her, worried and shocked expressions glued on their faces. “Oh dear me… Twilight, are you okay?” Rarity gasped. “You were almost crushed!” Fluttershy whispered. “You ain’t hurt, are ya?” Applejack held out a hoof. However, Twilight ignored them. She was fine - but Spike wasn’t. Solar Flare got to Spike first. “You foalish dragon… how hard is it to catch a pony?!” The reptile narrowed his eyes at the queen, a low growl rumbling in his throat. “Don’t give me that look. Ugh… even this size and you can’t do anything right…” The alicorn turned her back on him, ignoring the smoke he flared from his nostrils. Twilight scrunched up her muzzle, then stormed up to confront the queen. “Don’t you dare speak to him that way!” she scolded her, her tone icy cold. “Big or not, he’s anything but useless!” Solar Flare stared down at her and raised a brow. “As if you’ve ever owned a dragon, little pony.” It was the same voice who objected to her statement. “Indeed she does! Just so happens that it’s the same one you’ve turned into a mindless beast!” Like dogs on leashes, Celestia and Luna were pulled forward by Nightmare Moon - except they were hooked by chains. “What a lovely story.” Nightmare mocked her alternative sister, sitting down not too far from the others. Twilight hadn’t heard her friends trot up behind her. “Twilight! Okay, one, how do you have a huge dragon as an assistant, and two, we’ve got to get the hay out of here. The dragon’s down, we better go. Right now,” Rainbow said, flying up next to her. The young princess opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a blue aura wrapping around the pegasus’ wing. “Ah ah ah!” Nightmare Moon tutted, taking a few steps closer to them. “Now that I’ve gotten you all into view… it’ll make it a bit easier to keep an eye on you all.” Twilight raised a brow. “Oh really? Would it saved the hassle of foalnapping us before?” “The dragon doesn’t usually miss. Then again, it’s probably because usually the victim doesn’t run, or they can’t escape. I’m still surprised you managed.” Rainbow growled. “Well, if we can escape a huge beast like that, I’ll bet we can run from you.” The ebony alicorn’s response was to slam the mare’s wing to the ground, causing her to yell in surprise. “Would you like to repeat that?” The pegasus glared at the queen, but said nothing. Nightmare Moon gave a deceiving smile, then patted her on the head. “Good girl!” she praised her. “And I must say, Princess Twilight, I’m surprised you have such courage to keep a huge beast like this as your ‘assistant’.” Twilight scrunched up as she gave an icy stare at the queen. “He’s not a beast! Not in my universe!” She cried. “He’s my number one assistant. He’s always been there for me, his whole life. He’s never left my side, not for anyone.” Her mind suddenly flashed back to when he left her for Applejack, for the sake of being a noble dragon. “At least… not for long. No one is perfect…” “But… how can he possibly assist you? He’s a dragon! And a really big one at that!” Pinkamena protested. “He’s not actually… Well, he’s not quite as old as he may look.” Rarity spoke up, her voice thick with guilt. Twilight tilted her head, waiting for her to continue. “There’s a reason my job was always kept secret from everypony…” She glanced at her cutie mark, the lavender alicorn following her gaze, and almost instantly understood what she was getting at. Rarity could find gems. Spike liked gems. And he is a dragon. “Y...You did this to him?!” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “You just kept feeding him gems until greed consumed him?!” Rarity’s head drooped. “I never wanted to… I just had no choice.” Twilight continued to glare at her for a few more moments, but she managed to calm herself by breathing in deeply, then out again. “I...I know. You were forced, I can only assume…” “But that doesn’t matter!” the unicorn protested. “I’m still the one who fed him greed until he turned into a completely instinct-driven dragon! I’m the reason why disobedient ponies are easily pushed aside and eaten by him! I’m the cause of all of it!” Tears began to form in her eyes. But a blue pegasus nudged her on the shoulder. “Hey, the queens forced all of us to do things we don’t want to do. Sure, what you did was bad, but you’re not the one eating ponies!” She flew over the dragon, hovering directly infront of his face. “Look here, mister! I don’t care if you’re normally like this, under a spell or what! You should just back off when it comes to punishing ponies who haven’t done anything wrong! You’re nothing more than a cowardly monster!” The dragon’s pupils turned into thin slits as Rainbow finished. He lifted his head off the ground and curled his lips. The growl escaping him grew louder. However, it didn’t phase the mare. “Rainbow, get back!” Twilight told her, yet she didn’t seem to hear her. “Yeah, yeah, growl at me all you want. You might as well just start thrashing your tail again, not that it’ll get me!” Spike began to growl, baring his teeth as a green light began to glow brightly in the back of his throat. That’s when Rainbow realized her mistake. “Uh oh…” she rasped as the threat of being burned alive came even more clear. Twilight gasped, as she was sure that he would actually do it, but somepony interrupted them. “NO!” Another pegasus screeched, flying up to land on the dragon’s muzzle. “Don’t. You. Dare,” she growled, before she widened her eyes and stared directly at the reptile. At first, the young princess had no idea what Fluttershy was doing. But then she realized, once she got a closer look. “No… Fluttershy… stop… you can’t!” she begged. “Please Fluttershy, don’t use your stare on him, please!” The pegasus didn’t move. “Please!” Finally, the mare shook her head. Spike was still stuck in his trance, however. “Oh… oh no…” she whimpered, floating back down to the ground guiltily. “I don’t know what got into me…” she murmured. “You’re just used to it, that’s all,” Rainbow snorted, trotting back to the others, leaving Fluttershy looking hurt. Twilight shook her head. “Ugh… none of this would be necessary if it weren’t for-” She glanced at the spot where Solar Flare originally was, but was no longer there. She looked at Celestia. “Where did-” She saw Celestia’s ears droop as a cry of pain was heard from behind Spike, who was still on the ground. His tail had stopped moving, and no more growls were heard. Instead, he just glared hatefully at the ponies who had gotten him in this state - including Twilight. It pained her to see him do such a thing towards her, whether he knew her or not. Solar Flare coming back into view drew her attention once again. Her horn glowed as she dragged a certain someone across the ground by his cuffs. Twilight watched as Discord refused to get back on his feet. “Did you think that I’d let this slide, Discord?” the queen growled, slamming his cuffs on the floor. The draconequus grunted in pain. “Because I won’t. Not at all.” Discord clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. “I’ve had enough of you…” he snarled. “I’ve had enough of you!” The words were screamed as if he wanted the whole world to hear him. The six friends, Celestia and Luna stared in horror as the embodiment of Chaos pounced on the queen and pinned her to the ground, his chain clamping over her chest, making her unable to fight back. His limbs held her hooves, so she wouldn’t be able to hit him. A groan escaped through her gritted teeth. She blinked, looking a little dazed. Twilight could only guess that she had hit her head pretty hard. However, the draconequus took no notice of her hazed expression. “Everyday! You just torture me over and over again! Every night, you throw me out like I’m a worthless piece of trash! And I’ve had enough of it!” Twilight could see that there was liquid beginning to drip from his eyes. Yet he still went on. “Whenever you want to ‘tame’ me, you just throw me in somepony elses hooves! You make her like yourself, you make her cruel! Easy target as well - you choose the most cowardly pony you know, someone who just can’t bare to say the word ‘no’ to anyone!” He pressed her further against the ground. “If I’m so useless; so worthless; so… disgusting to you, then why don’t you just kill me? It’s not like it will change anything for either of us!” For a while, nopony, not even Solar Flare, knew how to react. Discord just kneeled there, huffing his rage. She shook her head to regain full focus, then managed to pull the draconequus off of her with telekinesis. Then a smirk appeared on Solar Flare’s face. “If that’s really what you think, then why would you even bother helping her?” She tilted her head to her own counterpart, who was still in awe by what Discord had said. Discord raised a brow. “She’s not you, if that’s what you’re getting at. If anything, she’s better than you could ever be.” A grin with a mixture of amusement and irritation spread across her expression. “Is she though, Discord? Is she?” Twilight never thought she’d hear such a tone in her mentor’s voice. “Shouldn’t you be grateful that I let you at least roam - well, not freely - but be able to move throughout all these years?” She stood back onto her hooves. “I at least acknowledge your existence… do you think she does this at all?” She took a step towards him. “Do you think that she uses the freedom she has? Do you think that she can stand to be seen with you in public?” Her voice began to shake, sounding all the more intimidating as she descended further and further into enragement. “Do you think that she can trust you to not commit a crime? That she knows you feel you should stay true to your nature of chaos?” Her eyes flared more furiously. “That she doesn’t think you’re no good? That she doesn’t throw you on somepony else when she can’t be bothered with you? That she didn’t even consider freeing you from a stone prison until she could find a use for you?” Discord didn’t reply. “Well? Do you?” Twilight’s gaze drifted from the two, instead her eyes landed on her mentor. She looked aghast at everything that her counterpart had said. “Answer me,” Solar Flare ordered. “Look me in the eye, and tell me she hasn’t done any of those things to you.” He did no such thing. He instead stared at the ground, not letting a single word slip from his mouth. “Oh my, are you not able to?” The queen chuckled. “And I’ll tell you something else, dear.” She lifted his head with a hoof. “She’s worse than me. You know why?” Discord was silent. “Because she claims she’s the good guy.”