As we made our way towards the point which I thought I had heard Scootaloo's scream from I looked towards Shining Armour before I said “Where is Scootaloo?”
“I don’t know.”
“She must be somewhere, I just hope we’re not too late” I replied before promptly skidding to a stop near the end of an alley as I heard the sound of someone coming down the road.
I then gripped the hilt of my sword in my right hand before slowly looking around the corner of the wall as I saw Scootaloo running down the street with Discord in tow trying to hit her with what seemed to be paving slabs and bricks from the road.
I then quickly unsheath my sword before bolting forwards skidding to a stop just as Scootaloo passed me before turning to face Discord before punching him in the ribs as he flew towards me causing him to stumble back before I span before kicking him in the chest again sending him flying backwards before I shouted “Scootaloo follow Shining!” before I pointed to the alleyway I had come from then once again shouted “Go!”
Scootaloo then nodded to me before following my orders as she disappeared into the alley as I turned towards Discord before I said “you mad.”
He then glared at me “how are you alive? I watched your kind for nine hundred years, I learned all your weak spots, destroyed the life you had and left you with nothing but pain and suffering. This makes no sense.”
“Sense? What fun is there in making sense? No Discord I am here to get revenge for the innocent lives you have harmed both here in Equestria and back on earth and besides at the moment we are at a draw in this little game of yours. we’re sort of tied at one win each at the moment,” I mocked.
“You see this as a game”
“No Discord that is what you saw it as when you were screwing around with my life, and anyway third time's the charm. All I have is one question I want answering. Where did you pull me from and why?”
To this, he just laughed and said “You are from a completely different reality and I didn’t bring you here, I manipulated your life into a living… how do your kind say it… hell.”
I then looked down to the floor before I said “that's all I needed to know. I now only have one more thing to say to you.”
“And that is?”
I then brought my hands to my side before I shouted “Kame, hame, ha!” causing a bright blue beam of energy was launched towards Discord.
He then quickly snapped his claws and teleported away just before the beam hit before and reappeared behind me before he spluttered out “What the.”
I then turned back to Discord “So your fast Discord but can you hit what you can't see?”
I then placed my hand on the indentation of Luna's cutie mark on the blade of my sword causing the area around us to go black before Discord shouted “what did you do?! Where are you?!”
I then began to chuckle before I whispered as I ran past him “I am everywhere, and yet, I am nowhere.” I then quickly jumped and somehow landed on a nearby roof whilst Discord was trying to work out where I had gone.
I then took a deep breath before I brought my hands together before creating a cross symbol using my fingers before I whispered “Shadow Clone Jutsu” to multiply myself before each of the clones jumped to the floor whilst others floated above Discord or were standing on the surrounding roofs. I then jumped off the roof and landed in the nearby alleyway that I had come from previously to see that neither Scootaloo or Shining Armour were there before the illusion fell and all the clones said in unison “Well then Discord come find the real me.”
He then looks around before he shouted “Stop being a coward and fight me alone!”
“Nah, I’ll let you figure it out. Let's see if you can find me before this song finishes?” I admit before I turned my sword back into a guitar before I began to sing a song I faintly remembered.
As the song began all of the clones began to charge towards Discord before I began to sing as his clones began to approach Discord before slowly surrounded Discord as I could see him looking around at each of the clones as they tried to surround him. It was then that all of the clones then started to strike Discord randomly from all angles before he knocked them back as over three-quarters of them turned back into wood that faded away.
After this the remaining clones the grouped together before one of them created a smoke bomb down which caused me to realise that they each had my powers and could manipulate them at will, as it hit the ground as the clones were concealed by the smoke.
After a few seconds the remaining clones all reappeared paired in threes as two members of one of the trio’s created two white orbs in the thirds hands before the one holding the orbs charged Discord and once the orbs collided with him sent him flying backwards as some of the other clones struck him as they approached them.
It was then that Discord clicked his talons before he pulled the same trick he had with me as he systematically began to kill off each of the clones one by one.
I then stopped as I looked at the remaining clones before turning my guitar back into a sword as I charged into Discord as a white ball of light appeared in my hands which I released in his back sending him flying forwards away from me before I said “Well, you can outlast clones, but they are different to the real thing.”
I then heard a voice behind me say “Let's see how you like being hit in the back” before I heard what sounded like an object breaking before the same voice shouted, “What the!”
I then spun my body around before saying “Sorry Discord I won’t let you do the same thing twice” before my elbow came around striking him around the head before my other hand came around that was holding my sword as my fist struck him in the face before I quickly sent my knee into his chest causing him to stumble backwards.
He then looked at me before he grunted “What are you?”
“I’m the guy that's going to stop you,” I remarked “and you know what, I'll give you one free shot, but if you waste it…” He then cuts me off as he punches me in the face before I began to chuckle as a bit of blood trickled from my lip before I grunted “You're gonna regret it.”
Discord then slowly walked back before saying “How? How? How did you get this strong?”
“Why would I tell you, maybe I’m just better than you,” I mocked.
“Oh you think you’re being cute,” Discord shouted.
“Nah, you're just not worth the effort,” I replied as I shrugged my shoulders.
Discord then glared at me angrily before she shouted “get out here you freak! First I'm going to kill you then I will go after everything you care about.”
I then sighed before I said “So, that's how it is then? I guess I need to stop holding back.”
“Wait you were what!” Screeched Discord.
I then smiled as I closed my eyes before opening them again before my hair began to stand on edge before turning golden as I looked back to him before I said “I won’t let you hurt my friends Discord.”
He then slowly began to back away before he shouted “What in Tartarus are you!”
I then smiled at him before I said “I am what you caused. You changed me when you tried to kill me earlier. Thanks to you a lot has changed about me including my limitations, all thanks to a little Saiyan trick called Zenkai. You almost killed me boosting my power exponentially… you know I guess it is true that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.”
He then glared at me before he screeched “That's it I am going to kill you!” he then charged towards me whilst he shouted “DIE!”
I then just chuckle whilst stepping back or turning out the way of his attacks and knocking his arm away each time before I asked Discord “Why are you so sadistic?"
He obviously was ignoring me as he just kept shouting “Why won’t you die!” as I dodged each of his blows.
I then just sighed before I quickly unsheathed my sword holding it in my right hand as a purple ball of light appeared in my left before I clicked my fingers before an almost see-through version of the sword I used yesterday appeared in my hand before I swung both of the swords up the first strike knocking one of Discord's oncoming strikes aways whilst the second stopped a hair's breadth away from his neck.
He then once again began staggering backwards away from me as I slowly approached him with both of my blades drawn as he said “Stop, we can talk like this… you're not a murderer, you wouldn’t kill me it wouldn’t be worth it.”
I ignored him and continued walking towards him as he backed himself against a wall before both of the swords were on each side of the neck almost placed like a pair of scissors. I then stared at him and said “have you got any last words.”
“Please, don’t kill me.”
“Give me one good reason why I should spare your pathetic life” I replied anger dripping from my voice as I slowly inched the blades closer together towards his neck.
“I’m sorry, I never wanted to do this to you, I wasn’t given a choice,” He whimpered.
“Who?” I asked him as the blades inched slowly closer.
“I, I can’t tell you her name, If I did she’d kill me”
“When and what did she tell you to do?” I asked as the blades inched closer almost touching the skin on his neck.
“She said if I didn’t cause someone to suffer that she would destroy me when I was stuck as a statue,” he admitted.
I then sighed before I removed the blades from his neck before the purple sword disappears and I sheath the other before my hair turned back to normal before it fell back flat before I smiled towards Discord before I said “Discord, I may be angry at you for what you did to me… but I'm not one to turn my back on those that need help.”
“Huh, what do you mean?” replied Discord as he looked towards me as I placed my hand out to him.
“I know enough about you to know that what you need is a friend, Discord, can you turn into an astral presence?”
“Are you saying I can hide within you and you'll protect me,” Discord asked me in surprise.
“Yes, Discord I will protect you as long as I live. I know better than anyone that all you need is a friend,” I admitted before he slowly reached towards my hand before pulling his claws away before I continued to say “Come on Discord you might as well help ponies with someone who wants to help you, or would you rather be back in stone again?”
He then just stared at me before he slowly placed his claw in my open hand and said “I’m sorry about what I did, and I want to sort out the pain I caused you.”
I then smiled towards him before slowly pulling him up before saying “well then, you got a friend in me.”
We then heard a voice behind us shout “Craig what are you doing!” which caused me to quickly turn around before I saw everyone back together and everyone but Fluttershy glaring at Discord before he slowly shrunk behind my back trying to hide from their gaze.
I then smiled before I whispered “Discord, I’ll sort this out you just hide for a bit” before he nodded to me before disappearing as I turned back to everyone else before I said “Don't worry about Discord, that problem is sorted. It seems that someone was manipulating him.”
Twilight just looked at me and asked “and who was that then?”
“He didn’t say, he was scared of whoever it was, though, they had said they were going to destroy him when he was in stone,” I explained.
“And what was he asked to do, ” Twilight asked me.
“I was asked to cause someone to suffer” A voice replied as Discord appeared beside me.
“Discord!” Everyone shouted before moving towards each other.
I then sighed before I stepped in front of Discord with my arms spread before I said “If you want to hurt him you’ll have to go through me.”
“Why are you defending him! He ruined your life, made you hate yourself! Why would you help him!” Shouted Rainbow Dash.
“Because, he wasn’t given a choice in the matter it was a matter of survival, besides if I live on all of the merits that I grew up with back home the scars he left me with will never heal, but I will be able to let them fade.”
Discord then looked down at me before he said “always looking on the brighter side aren’t you.”
“Well yeah, if I didn’t I’d probably break down remembering what you did,” I replied.
“Ah, yes I guess you have a point” agreed Discord as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Rainbow Dash then stares at me before saying “I don’t trust him, Craig, you sure this is a good idea?”
“Honestly… I don’t know, but I won’t unless I try.”
“Uhh fine… but anyway, what was that strange light we saw when you were fighting?” Asked Rainbow Dash.
“Oh that, it was something I remembered… I believe it was called ‘Super Saiyan’,” I admitted.
“And that is?” asked Twilight as she pulled out a notebook.
“Let me see if I can do it again.” I replied before closing my eyes before I muttered “I think it was this?” before my hair stood on edge and turned golden like before causing everyone except Discord to jump back in surprise.
I then opened my eyes before Rainbow Dash shouted “That's so cool!”
“Not really, I wouldn’t call it that amazing.”
“Craig, ya gotta stop being so modest, that is pretty amazing” replied Applejack.
“It’s not that good,” I replied as my cheeks began to go red from embarrassment before my hair fell back flat to my head.
“Have you mastered anything else?” Asked Twilight.
“Umm… well, not mastered to be exact, the more accurate term would be learnt,” I admitted.
“And that is?”
I then looked behind me before two of the clones that remained walked next to me causing everyone’s jaws to drop in surprise before I said “these are shadow clones.” before they disappeared into thin air.
Twilight’s eyes then began to twitch before Shining Armour said “There was also that ship you made out of thin air.”
“Oh yeah and that,” I admitted as I rubbed the back of my neck.
“What in the name of Celestia,” screeched Twilight before she stopped remaining as still as a statue before I said, “Umm I think we broke your sister.”
“She’ll be fine, it’s not the first time this has happened,” Shining Armour admitted.
Fluttershy then looked at me before she said “Umm, so what are you going to do now?”
“Well, I guess me and Shining Armour need to go back to Canterlot. but you know what, I believe that you girls should be there as well. Oh yes and Shining I want it to be clear that everyone helped to stop Discord.” I then turned to look at Discord and continued to say, “and no offence to you Discord, but it sort of makes you sound like more of a threat than a wimp that I didn't need to put my full energy into.”
Discord and Rainbow Dash then looked at me in shock before they both shouted “wait. What! You didn't try!”
I then nodded my head before I said “Well considering the fact that Discord was backing away like a scared animal and I then let him punch me kind of proves my point.” I then stopped before looking towards Discord who looked shocked before I continued to say “Wait... did you honestly think I was focusing on defeating you? I was only trying to protect Scootaloo and give her time to get away from you.”
I then heard a voice behind me say “you really care for me that much” before I quickly turn around to see Scootaloo walking out of the alley I told her to run down before she continued to say “Why would you care for a homeless foal like me?”
“Scootaloo” I calmly said as I walked towards her and kneeled down before I continued to say “I’ll be honest you remind me a lot of my younger brother. If I was responsible enough I would adopt you in a heartbeat. But I can't because I have nothing, no safe home for you to go too, and no way to look after you. I'd be the worse father possible.”
“But you'd still care for me, and for my safety. You proved that today,” Scootaloo said.
I then heard Rarity say “to be completely honest darling I think you'd make a good father to Scootaloo.”
“It doesn't matter how good of a father I could be because I couldn't be a father to her. I will never be able to teach her to fly. I'm not a Pegasus, I can't teach her something I don't know how to do myself.”
Rainbow Dash then raised an eyebrow before she said “you do realise me and Fluttershy could teach the squirt right?”
“But would you Dash? Would you remember to keep it up? Or would you just go for a nap in the middle of the day in one of Applejack's tree's?”
With that everybody excluding Rainbow Dash started laughing as her face began to turn bright red before she said “not cool Craig.”
I then laughed before I declared “Oh come on, it's not like you don't prank me later on. Just so you know when you get round to it hit me with your best shot.”
“You just wait,” replied both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie said as they looked towards each other mischievously.
“I look forward to it. Anyway, I guess we all better go to Canterlot and tell the princess everything” I then knelt down and kissed Scootaloo's forehead before I whispered, “stay safe.”
She then proceeded to hug me before she whispered back “you too.”
I then smiled before I stood up as everybody turned and began to walk toward the station. However, before we get out of Scootaloo's view I turned back around before I turned my sword into a guitar and said “one song couldn't hurt, besides I think everyone in town needs to know it’s safe.”
Everyone then looked back at me as Twilight said “we have time, go ahead.”
I then turned my sword back into a guitar before I said “I guess we all have only one life… I say I live it my way.” I then began to strum the first few notes to Boyce Avenue’s One Life.
Once I finished playing the song I looked up to see that I was surrounded by multiple members of the town including Spike, Mrs Cake and an Earth pony mare with a light brown coat and a grey mane.
The mare then looked up at me before she said “Did you help to stop that creature?”
“Well, you could say that,” I admitted.
“Well as Mayor of this town, I would like to personally thank you what you have done for us if there is ever anything I can do in return for you help just ask.”
I then looked towards Scootaloo as I contemplated what I had said just minutes before. I then looked back to her before I said “There are two things you could do for me.”
“What is it you need?” She asked me.
“Well, first I would like to get a house in town… but I’m afraid I don’t have any of your currency, but I want to give something back to the community.”
She then rubbed her chin before she said “How about this, when required you perform as a musician at festivals and events and in turn you will be able to live in town free of charge.”
I then smiled before I said, “I agree to your terms the second thing I wanted to ask you is if you could do anything in the terms of an adoption.”
Scootaloo’s ears then perked up before she ran over to before and asked me, “You don't mean that you want to adopt me... do you?”
I then smiled before I asked her “Scootaloo, do I know any other homeless foals?”
The mare then looks at me before she said “well, I know my way around the system, I could bend the rules and allow you to adopt her without having to deal with foal services.”
I then smiled before saying “So you’ll let us cheat the system… I never expected a government official to be up for something like this.”
“Well we’ll still need to fill out all the paperwork, same will go for making you a resident of the town.”
“Well, we may have an issue then… I don’t have any actual paperwork saying who I am, so will that be a problem?”
“I can create some legal documentation for you if that's an issue, I would need some information which we can sort when we get everything else sorted.”
“Well then it looks like I will have to see you later, I have some business in Canterlot to deal with and then I will be back to sort everything out.”
“Well then umm.”
“Ah I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself, My name is Craig… I don’t use my surname, and it a pleasure to meet you miss?”
“Mare, Mayor Mare”
“So your title makes you Mayor Mayor Mare, Well then Miss Mare, I will most likely get back early tomorrow, will we be able to get everything in order then” I admitted.
“We will. When you get back to Ponyville come to the town hall and my secretary will tell me you're here, I'll make sure she knows I'm expecting you.”
“Okay then, I will be back tomorrow and will see you then” I then looked down to Scootaloo who was still holding onto my legs before I said, “Scoot’s I need to get going, I’ll see you later okay?”
She then released my leg before up to me and said “Just make me a promise.”
“Name it.”
“Just don't get killed by lightning like my old dad” begged Scootaloo.
My smile then dropped in shock and I thought her dad was unlucky unless someone wanted him dead but who would want that? I then looked back at Scootaloo and said “I'll do my best.”
She then looked back at me before I smiled and said “okay then I'll see you later”
I then smiled before I rubbed Scootaloo’s head before saying “You too, Scoot’s.” I then stood up before I turned around and looked towards everyone else as we made our way towards the station.