//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine // Story: Mending Bonds:Daddy's Little Girl // by atomicpuffin //------------------------------// Fluttershy screamed again as the green aura surrounded her. She had never felt such pain before. When it subsided once more she collapsed to the ground. Coughing she glanced up to see Chrysalis smiling in satisfaction. Fluttershy looked back at Kibou and forced herself to her hooves once more. "My, I'm surprised that you are able to still stand after that last one. I'm almost tempted to see how far you can go…but personal fun will have to wait." She chuckled and turned to look at the door. She frowned as she waited and then hissed and turned to glare at Fluttershy. "Seems I may have to increase the power anyways. I need him and the others to arrive or there is no point in all this." Fluttershy coughed again and was horrified to see she had coughed up a small amount of blood. I won't last much longer like this. Still I have to protect Kibou…if I fall she may turn to him next. That thought forced her to turn towards the changeling. "Others? What are you waiting for Chrysalis? Are you waiting for Discord to come here and to take your bait?" The queen turned at the questions and snorted. "He is merely needed to be dispense with right away. No…the ones I need are much more important to my plan." "Which is what exactly? So far as I can see you don't have one!" Fluttershy hissed and then howled in pain as the green aura engulfed her once more. This time twice as intense as the others. Her eyes welled with tears and she couldn't hold back the scream of pain. "There is no need to speak of my plans with you. You will know your part when the time comes." Fluttershy looked down at her son. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, completely unaware of what was going on around him. She felt her heart constrict at the thought of harm coming to him and his sister. I only have one more chance at this…without his magic…there's no guarantee that Discord can win…I have to protect them…it's what he would want me to do too… "Fine…you win…just…please Chrysalis…" Fluttershy's soft voice caught the queen's attention again. She turned to see the mare leaning down and nuzzling the sleeping draconequus. This made the queen frown as she turned to face the pegasus completely. Fluttershy lifted her face up to meet the changeling's eyes. Her own were filled with tears, but not of pain like before. "Please…don't hurt my children…do what you must to me…just leave my babies alone…" Chrysalis watched as the pony leaned down and rested her head against her son's and cried gently against his fur. Any other creature would have been moved by such a display, but Chrysalis? Fluttershy looked up again as the changeling queen began to laugh. "What kind of fool do you take me for? If I let that thing live he will stop at nothing until all my plans have been for not!" Fluttershy shook her head and began to plead with the queen. "No! No he won't! I'll make him promise to never fight you! He will not go against you so long as you let him and Flitterbee live! Please, I give you my word that he will not fight you." "Hmph…your word means nothing to me. Besides…I cannot allow either of the Chaos Children to live. Their powers will be more than my army can handle, even after I obtain the…" Chrysalis cut herself off and glared down at Fluttershy. However Fluttershy had caught enough to start putting the pieces together. "Both their powers? Flitter doesn't have magic…not on her own…unless…" Her eyes widened in realization and she looked up to see Chrysalis' eyes flashing in anger. "You're going after the-" Fluttershy screamed again in pain and fell to the floor next to her son. Her vision now began to fade again and she felt her breathing begin to shallow. Her body was taking too much abuse and she felt that…soon she would fall into an eternal sleep. Discord…please…you have to find Flitter before it is too late. Take her and Kibou far away from here where you'll all be safe… "This isn't right." Dusk mumbled for the tenth time as he walked around his room. Cheese was sitting on the floor watching the alicorn pace. He sighed and shook his head. "I know it's bugging you DL. Something is telling me that there's more to this than the adults are telling us too." Dusk shook his head in frustration. "It's not that! We should have gone after her! What if Flitter is in real trouble? We should have gone after her to make sure she's okay ourselves. If anything happens to her…" He stopped and sat down with his ears back. Cheese also drooped a bit at the reminder that something could have happened. But he shook it off and smiled at Dusk. "Everything's fine! Remember this is Flitterbee we're talking about! She's amazing and can handle anything thrown at her. I'm sure she'll be fine until Uncle Spike finds her." This made DL smile as well and he sighed as he fell back to lie on his side. "She does have this amazing habit of getting into trouble doesn't she?" He asked and Cheese laughed as he lay down as well. "She sure is the daughter of Discord in that fact. Trouble follows her around like a faithful pet." "Hmm…but even so…she handles it with the grace of Aunt Fluttershy." Dusk mused and Cheese nodded in agreement. The two colts fell into silence after that, both thinking of their friend and silently worrying about her. Cheese broke the silence by chuckling and looking over to Dusk. "Even with all the trouble she causes…and all the stress she'll cause as she gets older…I'm still willing to stick by her side through it all." Dusk looked over at his friend and recognized that spark shining in his blue irises. He chuckled and sat up. "Me too. I made a vow to someday make that mare my bride…and that means sticking with her through everything! Good and bad!" He jumped up as he realized what he had to do. "What are we doing here!? We should be out there looking for her right now! She needs us by her side!" Cheese nodded and rose up as well. He grinned, "Besides, you can't split up the Terrible Trio." He held out his hoof and DL smiled and placed his own on top of it. "Friends forever. Come on, we have to sneak out without dad-" He stopped as a loud crash rang through the halls. Dusk sighed and walked to the door. "Wind Chime must have run into something again. That mare is so…" He stopped as he opened the door and heard shouts from below. "That sounds like dad? Come on Cheese, let's see what's going on." The two trotted down the hallway. They were reaching the front of the castle when Wind Chime came around the corner and blocked their paths. She was holding Shining Star in her foreleg and was panting heavily. "Prince Dusk, CheesePie! Quickly, come with me." "Wait. What's going on? Where's my dad?" Dusk asked as Wind Chime ushered them in the opposite direction. "I will explain on the way sir. But for now I have instructions to get you foals out of the castle." "But I don't under-" Dusk was cut off as he heard his mom calling to him. "Dusk! Come here! That mare is a fake!" Dusk looked up at the unicorn holding his sister. She looked down at him worried and whispered, "Don't believe her. I know that looks like your mother, but she-" "Dusk, Cheese get away from her now!" Flash Sentry shouted, coming to join his wife's side. Dusk looked between his parents and the mare next to him. Unsure of who he should trust. Wind Chime saw him faltering and so handed baby Star to Cheese and stood between the other ponies and the foals. "Run! Now! Get as far from here as you can!" She fired her magic at his parents and Dusk shouted, afraid to see his family hurt. His mother put up a shield and fired her own shot of magic, which in turn hit a shield from Wind Chime. "Mom, dad! What's going on? Why are you all fighting?" He asked as he watched the adults in their standoff. Wind Chime turned to glare back at him and shouted once more. "They aren't your parents! No matter how they look and sound just like them! They're changelings come to take you and Cheese! Now run before they succeed!" "Don't listen to her Dusk! She's the changeling! She attacked me and your father and now she's leading you to a trap." Dusk closed his eyes as he struggled with who to believe. He felt terror rise inside him as he tried to figure out what was happening. "Dusk…" Wind Chime whispered, getting his attention once more. He looked up at the mare and was surprised to see her smiling. "It doesn't matter who you believe. Just take your sister and Cheese, then run as far and as fast as you can." His eyes widened and in that moment he knew she had to be the real thing. He looked over to his parents, to see them growing angrier. He had never seen such fury blazing in his mother's eyes and it actually scared him. He turned to Cheese and nodded. "Let's go…I can lead us to the emergency exit." "No! Dusk please don't!" "Enough! Run now, I'll hold them off as long as I can while you get away." Dusk and Cheese turned away from the fight and baegan to gallop down the hallway. Dusk took Star from Cheese and used his magic to keep her safely on his back. They heard shouting coming from behind them. "After them! We can't fail our queen!" This made the two colts gallop faster towards the hidden exit. But as they neared the final turn they were forced to stop. Their path was once more blocked. This time by several more changelings, all grinning at them. "Come here quietly and nothing will happen boys. We just need to have a friendly talk with your mommies." Cheese moved closer to Dusk and whispered, "What do we do now?" Dusk looked at the small group of changelings in front of him and got into a fighting position. "We do what Flitter would do." Cheese looked at the group and grinned. "Time to cause some trouble." Chrysalis was growing impatient with waiting. The mare had passed out and so she couldn't continue with her torture. Despite her threats, she couldn't afford the mare to die just yet. She needed her for the rest of her plan. By now her captain should have dealt with that filly and the rest of her swarm would be capturing the other pieces. However…one variable had yet to show up. She had been sure that Discord would have stormed into the place by now. The fact that he had not was very troublesome. She had sent one of her soldiers to bring him here over an hour ago. So the delay meant that something had gone wrong and Discord was not aware of his wife's position. Chrysalis growled in irritation and began to pace as she tried to think of a back-up plan in case there was opposition. "Your majesty!" She turned at the voice and frowned. It was the soldier she had just been pondering on. "What happened!? Where is he?" She demanded and the changeling swallowed nervously. He stuttered for a minute. "H-he w-wasn't there…but…but some of the others have returned and brought with them their targets." Chrysalis frowned, it was a relief to hear that part of the plan was going smoothly. However, Discord was a loose thread that she had to cut immediately. She looked out the window and growled again. If it turned out that the brat had gotten away again… "We need to speed things along much faster than this. Send several troops to find the remaining bearers and lead them here. Hurry!" She shouted the last part suddenly, making the creature jump and take off to follow her orders. Chrysalis turned to the window once more and glared at the colors spreading across the sky, indicating that evening was setting in. "Time's running out. You better not have failed me again captain." Flitter screamed as another bolt of magic shot past her and this time it caught her wing. She fell to the ground as her feathers were singed so bad that they couldn't support her weight. She moaned as she struggled back to her feet. She gasped as a heavy weight fell on top of her and forced her back to the ground. "Captain! We've got her!" The changeling holding her down shouted. Flitterbee struggled against the beast holding her, even trying to tap into her magic. Silently cursing the fact that nothing was happening. Why doesn't this stupid magic do what I want it to!? Probably because it's not your magic genius… Flitter gritted her teeth and pulled all the years of experience wrestling with her older, and much bigger brother. She bucked her back as hard as she could and managed to fling the changeling off her. She tried to jump away and take off once more, but she didn't manage to get far. This time three changelings leapt on her to hold her down. The biggest of the group stepped forward and glared at the others. "Got her this time?" He asked sarcastically and the others growled in response. The captain looked down and grinned. "We've got you this time girlie. No one around to hear you scream." "That's what you think!" The captain was slapped away by a long, slender tail. The other changelings turned just as they were grabbed and thrown from her body. The only thing that reached her ears was the sound of their bodies hitting the surrounding trees. A welcome and familiar body crouched over her as he growled at the enemy. "Daddy…" She whispered as tears filled her eyes. He glanced down at her and gave her a quick smile before turning back to the threat. The changelings were gaining their footing as they turned to face Discord. The captain's eyes widened as he took in the draconequus. "Well, seems that this will be more of a challenge than I had planned. You were supposed to go to the queen." Discord growled low again as his hackles raised and he bared his teeth at the changeling. "Trust me. After I deal with you flies…she's next." He lowered his head closer to Flitter and whispered, "Baby…I want you to stay down. Don't move unless one of these creatures gets too close. Understand me?" She nodded and he smiled, "That's my girl. One more thing, if by chance you start to feel my magic act up…warn me first to duck." Flitterbee's eyes widened as she looked up at her father and he continued to smile softly at her. "It didn't take me long to figure it out when I was tracking you through the forest. I may not have my magic, but I recognize it anywhere." He turned suddenly, cutting off his explanation as he grabbed a changeling by its throat and tossed it away from them. It seems that the group had taken the time he was talking to her and tried to surround him. However, he was about to prove what he had told Twilight. "Like I said…" He growled, "I don't need magic to protect those I love." Flitter crouched down further under her father. All she could do was watch as he fought off the six changelings at once by himself. Discord however wasn't worried at the moment. They seemed more intent on fighting him with brute strength than magic. However, he would have to keep an eye out for when they figured he could easily over power them. Unlike with Morgana, his life force had not been drained with his magic. So he still had his natural size and speed on his side. He whipped his tail to the side, effectively knocking the two at his backside away. While at the same time he slashed out at the four in front of him. He snarled as one avoided his claws and leapt onto his back, digging its fangs into his fur. Not wanting to move from his spot above Flitter and thus exposing her to the danger; he whipped his head around and latched his jaws on the thing's tail. He tossed it as hard as he could, happy when it crashed into another changeling and the two stayed down. That only left four more. He growled again at the others as they moved in front of him. He wondered why they were huddling so close and tried to figure out what their next move was. The biggest growled something too fast for his ears to catch and without warning they all fired their magic at him. There was no time to think, so Discord did what his instincts told him and he shielded Flitter completely with his body. The force of the blast threw him away from her and he crashed through a tree before rolling to a stop. He groaned as pain rocketed through his body. He tried to stand and growled as his limbs protested. "Daddy!" Flitter shouted as she ran to his side and tried to help him stand. Discord looked back to the changelings and noticed them building another blast between them. This one was strong enough to kill anything in its way. "Flitter run!" "No, I can't just leave you! This is my fault and I need to-" "Flitter! For once, forget you're my daughter and do as you're told!" He looked over, the blast was already reaching its peak. "Now Flitterbee!" Discord growled and used his remaining strength to stand over Flitter once more. "Run Flitter…I will keep them busy. Go to your Aunt Twilight and get help." Flitter looked up at her father to see tears falling down his cheeks as he whispered, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Fluttershy…" Discord looked down at his daughter and smiled, "Go now…before it's too late…" "It already is too late! Say your goodbyes!" Shouted the captain, and Discord turned to see them firing their magic. "DUCK NOW!" Discord just managed to grab his girl and drop to the ground as a bright blast of magic flew from behind them to meet the changeling's magic. The result of the two strong magical blasts connecting caused the ground to tremble and several trees to be uprooted. Discord dug all his claws into the dirt and held Flitter down with his weight to avoid being swept away in the blast. When the earth had settled back to normal he took a chance to raise his head. He sighed in relief and grinned at the unexpected rescue. "What took you so long? You're late to the party." Celestia turned to smile down at them as she folded her wings. "I will take that as a thank you…Are you two alright?" She asked and Discord raised himself up to look down at his daughter. "You okay kiddo?" He whispered. Flitter lifted her head and nodded. He then turned to see the changelings laying on the ground, knocked unconscious by the blast from the princess' magic. "Stay here and rest for a minute sweetie." He said as he turned to the princess. Discord grimaced as he forced himself to his feet, grateful that nothing seemed to be broken. He was only scuffed up a bit from the fight. "I take it that you received Twilight's letter." He asked and Celestia nodded. "From what I read, I assume a spell has been cast. There is no such disease that would target an immortal's magic. I assumed it was one of Twilight's experiments gone wrong. Now…" She looked over to the changelings and frowned, "Now it seems that the situation is worse than I had originally thought." Discord nodded in agreement as he turned back in the direction of his castle. "Now to deal with the source of the problem." He growled and clenched his fists in anger. "I have a small group of soldiers here with me, among them Prince Shining Armor. We should be able to use his shield magic again. With a boost of power from the rest of us it can repel them once more." Celestia said, but he shook his head and looked at the princess. "You know that we are beyond that Tia. She's gone too far this time. I won't let her get away with threatening my family. It's time for new leadership among the changelings." "Hmm perhaps you are correct…it does seem that we cannot reach any type of diplomatic solution with Chrysalis. Very well…I will help you defeat her." "No…I will face her alone." Celestia frowned at him and whispered so Flitterbee couldn't hear. "Discord…you can't possibly beat her without your magic. Don't be prideful…let me help you. For old time's sake…" This caught him off guard and he looked into the princess' eyes, remembering another time when the sight of them caused so much anger to rage inside him. Now he felt something of equal strength filling him. Compassion…He hadn't wanted to acknowledge it before, but the two of them had finally reached a point where they could be more than enemies. They could finally be friends. He felt his lips lift into a small smile as he turned away. "Fine…I could use your help with something." She smiled and let out a small breath in relief. Then she lifted herself to her full height and whispered, "Looks like for once…we'll be working together to save Equestria." He snorted, "Don't count on it happening again. It's only for Fluttershy and Kibou that I'm even allowing you to follow me." Then he turned and lifted Flitter into his arms, "First I have to get her somewhere she'll be safe." He moved past Celestia and didn't catch the sparkle in her eyes as she watched him cradle the filly in his arms. She chuckled and turned to follow, whispering under her breath. "Of course…we wouldn't want to ruin your reputation now would we?" She moved to walk beside him and glanced up at the sky. "So, what exactly is your plan?" She asked. Discord grinned, "Plan T." She raised her eyebrow at him, but before she could ask the filly in his arms giggled. "Take them by storm." Flitter whispered.