//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: The Age of Bedlam 3/3 // Story: The Curse of Discord // by Creative Charmer //------------------------------// From the sidelines near the entrance of the throne room, everypony and Spike watched with baited breath each at the cosmic clash about to unfold before them all. "Shouldn't we do something to help?" Fluttershy asked with worry in her voice. "There's nothing we can do at this point," Celestia says to the fretful pegasus. "None of us are a match for Bedlam but Discord; we would simply be putting ourselves in harm's way to no avail." "But..." "My sister is right,' Luna appended. "I had difficulty defeating her even before she fully transformed into her Bedlam persona, which I believe may have made her vastly more powerful than before." "But..." "Ah think it's best to listen to the princesses, Fluttershy. Even though it pains me tuh say it, we should just stay out of Discord's way so none of us can get hurt again." Fluttershy's other friends seemed to be in agreement on this—even Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy decided that the others knew what was best, and that she should allow Discord to do his thing without any distractions. The pegasus turned her head back over to Discord. As she watched him standing his ground against Bedlam, she raised a hoof to her chest and placed it over her heart, her eyes stirring concurrently. Bedlam takes a step forward as she spreads her arms to the side, taking her fighting stance. Bedlam's sinister yet haughty smile denoted her aplomb in that she believed she was more than prepared to meet any challenge her draconequus opponent would throw at her. "So, shall we begin? Or would you like to do the smart thing and give in to the clearly superior draconequus?" Every condescending word she spoke was like venom dripping into Discord's ear canal: only a moment of relief was felt between each stinging drop burned his flesh, irritating the already smoldering draconequus ever more. But Discord had had enough of taking Bedlam's verbal maltreatment. She thinks her larking about is so amusing? Well, this draconicorn was about to get a lesson in true lesson in japing... "Sorry, Bedlam," Discord says as he magics up a cowboy outfit on himself. "This world ain't big enough fer the two of us," he swishes the saliva in his mouth around before spitting off to the side, inadvertently eliciting Rarity to recoil in disgust. "I couldn't agree more," Bedlam replied, donning a cowgirl outfit herself. "But I do rather enjoy the theme you've chosen—a bit archetypal for a showdown, but still classic." "Enough talk! It's time to draw!" Discord readies places his hands by his holsters, wriggling his fingers in preparation to draw his weapons. Despite her appreciation for Discord's devotion to the theme, Bedlam did not feel the same about herself. "If you say so!" she shouted, following up by pulling two revolvers from her own holsters and aiming both at her draconequus opponent. Discord ceased his finger waggling after seeing Bedlam unveil her choice of armament for their duel. "Don't you think that's a bit violent for this show?" "I just felt we should start this off with a 'bang'," Bedlam replies, pulling the triggers abruptly, with tiny poles springing out of the barrels of both guns, followed by flags unraveling on each, the word "Bang!" shown on their sides. "...okay, now it makes sense," Discord said, Bedlam merely responding to him with a larger of her minatory grins. Without warning, both flags fired out of their respective guns straight at Discord. While shocking to the others, Discord didn't even bat a eye as he raised his hands and caught both projectiles effortlessly. Discord examines the flags for a bit, then looks back at Bedlam, "While your joke was adequate, I'm afraid puns alone won't be enough to—" and then both flags swiftly exploded in his hands. "I guess my joke works on two different levels," Bedlam said, snickering afterwards. Though seeing Bedlam use the guns was already surprising to the ponies and Spike before, this time they felt they had even more reason to contract this sense of dread infecting each and every one of their psyches. Discord was not entirely shared in this feeling himself. He was more...unamused, as one could tell by the expression he was currently holding underneath all the after-explosion residue. Rather than saying anything, Discord summoned forth a vacuum cleaner and used it remove the residue from his body, poofing away the appliance afterwards. "Did you make sure to get behind your ears, too?" Bedlam sniggered. Discord glared back at his opponent for a second, then smirked, "Yes I did, but you look to be dirty yourself, Bedlam, so allow me to clean you up!" he proclaimed, snapping his fingers Bedlam looked up as a small rain cloud suddenly appeared over her head. Immediately following its creation, a downpour drenched the unsuspecting draconicorn in rainwater, and as soon as that finished, a second downpour doused Bedlam with liquid soap, cleaning her thoroughly and getting behind her ears as well. With the actual cleaning part finished, an additional deluge of rainwater soused Bedlam, completing the entire rinse cycle. "Please: allow me to dry you off as well," Discord says, and the cloud zaps Bedlam with a bolt of lightning, effectively drying her off and scorching her body a bit. "I'd say that makes us about even for earlier, wouldn't you say?" Discord was the one being smug now, and he was enjoying every second of it. Bedlam didn't look to be too happy herself, but the duplicitous draconicorn was up to more than she was letting on, and it would be her turn to be the one smiling once more... "In terms of playing childish pranks, but now..." Bedlam replied, sounding most ominous. She then got down on all fours and shook the ash off her body in the way a dog would, even shaking her hiney up in the air for last. "I will say that your retaliation was pretty good—for amateur hour; but that ended about..." she checks her watch. "...17 seconds ago, sooo..." she suddenly claps her hands together, and sections of the floor on both sides of Discord swing up and smash together around him. "...the hour for the real fighting has just arrived..." "Discord!" Fluttershy cried out for her fallen friend, as she rushed forward to aid him. The fraught pegasus suddenly found herself immobilized: held back by the combined efforts of Rainbow Dash and Spike. However, this impediment did not coerce Fluttershy relent in her efforts to tear away from them, frantically endeavoring to rescue her imperiled companion. Bedlam flicked her wrists downwards, setting both pieces of the floor back into their respective slots. Between where the slabs had done their dirty work, stood Discord, who was flatter than a pancake that had been but through a wringer and subsequently stomped on. Slowly, his two-dimensional body wobbled down like a piece of paper, ending up in a folded-up pile of his own body. Fluttershy ceased her struggles against the restraining pegasus and dragon. She turned her face away—the sight of her friend having been trounced so severely was far more than the sensitive pony could endure. Though it was naught but for a few seconds, that dreadful scene beheld by the young Fluttershy was more horrible a sight than she had ever seen(even if it was a tad goofy). And even though Discord was the only one Fluttershy had treated as a real friend, none of her other friends took in any sort of pleasure or satisfaction from seeing Bedlam maltreat anybody. As Discord remained ensnared in his stupefaction, Bedlam sauntered over to the debilitated draconequus, hands held behind her back in a casual manner. After reaching Discord, Bedlam summoned forth a bicycle pump, inserting the nozzle into Discord's mouth, and used her magic to begin pumping away, oxygen flowing through the rubberized tubes down into the gullet of the once proud and peerless master of all things chaos! Oh, most humiliating of humiliations! After only a matter of seconds, Discord's body had become engorged with the sufficient amount of air necessary to return the draconequus to his rightful form! On the surface, this would be the cause for great relief amongst Discord's allies, but that time had yet to pass, as Discord's head had taken quite the whopping blow, and his mind was not in the same place as the rest of his body. With visible exertion, Discord lifted himself up from the split throne room floor, figure trembling and vision hazy. His mind was in such a state of stupor that he almost couldn't remember what was happening. He staggered when attempting to stand up straight, his motor skills enfeebled by this lapse in mind functionality. Back and forth Discord's body undulated, feet stumbling around in a small circle as he dazedly attempted to keep balance. While all this activity had transpired, Bedlam came up to Discord, staring down at her innocuous opponent. Needless to say, Fluttershy felt nothing but terror for her friend's well-being, and that same fright is what held the pegasus back from saving the unfortunate fellow. "I must say, I'm disappointed in you, Discord," Discord turned to Bedlam as she began her monologue. "I know how you are—I understand it, but still I feel rather let down. So much raw power exists inside you, but even when the time comes, do you use it right? No...you use it to fool around and make a fool of yourself! It is truly a waste..." gradually throughout her speech, Discord's memory was coming to the surface, and he was able to discern what it was that Bedlam was saying to him. "I'm sure there was once a time when you were feared by all who knew your name, as ridiculous as your torment was. It may have been the prime of your life back then, but that time has long since passed," Discord had finally come to completely, and could perfectly understand all that Bedlam was saying to him. Needless to say, he did not enjoy it; and though the contemptible Bedlam knew Discord had regained consciousness, she still kept going, "You've been having fun and enjoying your absurd form of chaos for so long that now...you're just a joke yourself..." Bedlam's finger prodded Discord's chest, maddening the draconequus further, who refused to keep quiet at this point. "Now see here—"Discord's planned reproach was cut short when his muzzle was abruptly seized by Bedlam as she squeezed it tight between her fingers. "There's nothing more to talk about. Everything has been settled, and you are of no more concern to me," Bedlam pulled Discord's face to her own, her eyes mere centimeters from his face. "Equestria has a new master of chaos, Dripcord; but here's a little something for ya," Bedlam says as she pulls on Discord's muzzle, stretching it out for several feet like an oversized rubber band. The draconicorn whirls her hand over Discord's head, twisting the elongated mouth all around his body and tying him up nice and tight, the bound draconequus unable to move a single extremity. Pleased with her handiwork, Bedlam concluded her performance by yanking on Discord's muzzle like a string on a spinning top, which of course sent the ensnared man gyrating throughout the room for a short time before slowing to a stop. The draconequus unwillingly returned to his woozy state; after just having gotten out of it, no less. Similar to before, Discord's muzzy state forced him to collapse onto the ground, though this time he looked more akin to a pile of noodles. A collective gasped emanated from the ponies and Spike, but nobody's gasp was more audible or distressed than Fluttershy's. The pegasus could no longer stand idly by while her friend was subjected to this torment. With a powerful tug, the resolute Fluttershy broke free from the respective grasps of her friends and hurriedly darted to Discord's side, clasping his head in her hooves and cradling the incapacitated draconequus. As the other companions of Fluttershy rushed over to the fretful pegasus, Bedlam floated up into the air. Everyone's attention was soon drawn back to Bedlam, who was gazing down at the daunted ponies and Spike with a gaze so foreboding it sent shivers down their spines. This creature...she wasn't like anything else they had faced before. She was something...something so fiendish that these simple Equestrians could hardly comprehend it. Even when she was acting in the manner of a clown, she had this aura of malevolence wafting in the air around her body. Without needing to utter a single syllable, the others could sense how much she was willing to hurt others—and how she thoroughly enjoyed every second of doing so... "I really should thank you all for giving me such a stimulating time," Bedlam spoke, her tone holding no indication of malice. "But as I said several pages ago: play time is over, and I've got quite a bit of work to do," Bedlam lifts her hands to the sky, and the entire throne room begins to quake. The ponies and Spike huddled together in alarm as they apprehensively awaited what troubles were about to come. Ruptures in all corners of the ceiling began to form, with debris scattering all along the bases of the walls. Everyone looked on in horror as the roof tore away from ceiling of the throne room and twirled off into the sky, all the while a massive windstorm tearing through the landscape outside. There wasn't even any underlying gag in all this: it was just pure, unadulterated, unrestrained, chaos...and frankly, nobody was prepared for it. "Well, I best be heading off now," Bedlam turned herself around and faced up at the room-sized skylight she just installed. She started to float away, then abruptly stopped, "Although, if any of you think you can still stop me," she turned her head to face everyone, "I'd just love to see you try..." she said in the most doomy of tones, instilling fear in all those who heard her. Bedlam turns back around and soars off into the sky like a jet-propelled eagle, leaving a sonic boom in her wake the almost blew the ponies and Spike out of the throne room, if not for the shield put up by the princesses. After Bedlam's departure, the windstorm died down a bit, but was still present. The shaken Equestrians could hardly move as each of them kept their eyes fixated on the area where Bedlam had flown off to, speechless in the aftermath of her unimaginable prowess. Not only was Bedlam more intelligent and powerful than Discord, but she was for more violent and destructive than the former lord of chaos. It was the most haunting realization that dawned on all who resided within the confines of the defaced throne room: if one of Discord's power could do nothing to stop her, what chance can the rest of them have...?