Very different beneath the surface

by Slick Dash

She's too powerful!

“Come on! We’re almost there!” cried Rainbow Dash, slamming her hind legs into the face of a poor black furred soldier. There was only a thin line of dark warriors, between the girls and the battling Celestia’s. There was no way through however. Their battle through the centre of the conflict had tired the girls to the point of collapse.

Twilight’s horn still glowed, but it’s light was sputtering and fading with each passing second, her magic couldn’t last much longer. Rarity was in the exact same state, her horn screamed in protest in its constant use, her usually radiant mane was matted and clinging to her face with sweat. Rainbow, Applejack, and AJ were mostly the ones still fighting. They used every ounce of their athletic stamina to summon strength to push back the Celestial horde.

Pinkie and Fluttershy hung back, keeping the rear of the group safe. The pink mare was obviously distracted, she kept looking into the battle before her, searching for Pink, dyeing to know if she was safe or not. Fluttershy was simply shivering in fear, backing away from the many dark warriors as they passed with a soft and fearful squee.

“Rainbow! We can’t make it! Fall back!” Shouted Twilight helplessly as her horn finally gave out and her mystical purple cloud vanished from sight.
“NO! We can make it!” The cyan Pegasy protested furiously, refusing to back down from the evil creatures. She’d never back down! This was for Flutt! Rainbow wouldn’t stop until she saw the empress pay!

“Rainbow!” Yelled Applejack heatedly, tiredly batting away a pouncing Pegasy. “She’s right! We almost got there, but if we get through we’re gonna tire ourselves out too much t’ help!” The rainbow pony roared in frustration, she gave a vicious kick but her temper lost her focus. Her target ducked under her legs and then drove his thick earth pony skull into her side. She fell painfully to the ground with a yell of agony.

“Rainbow!” Cried Fluttershy, reaching out for her friend as though she could pull her away from such a distance. The cyan Pegasus looked up, staring into the dark eyes of the soldier towering above her. She looked to her friends, seeing each of them was trapped, Twi and Rarity were being cut off by a line of soldiers, cordoning them off from the rest of the group. Pinkie was squaring up to a reasonably sized guard, and Flutt was cowering behind the pink mare unable to reach her grounded fellow Pegasus.

The silver coated hoof rose above her skull, Rainbow tried to move but her side flared up in protest, her legs seized up and froze, leaving her completely open to the coming pain. She scrunched her eyes shut waiting for the contact, her it comes!

A blur of pink and brown shot into the clearing, bowling over the attacking stallion and saving Dash. Without pause, the two fighters charged at the guards approaching the unicorns. Discord silently grabbed his wife by the hoof, and threw her hard at the enemy. The pink pony kicked her back legs as she flew through the air and hit the group, adding to the impact and crushing the stallion’s helmet into his face.

Without even the slightest falter, the draconequus rushed at the final guard -the one baring down on Pinkie- while his wife saved the unicorns. The sly demon almost glided along the battle field as if on skates. He took hold of the stallion’s foreleg, and swung it up to his chest height. He then proceeded to waltz with the terrified guard. Pinkie –in spite of the situation, in spite of the battle raging around her- proceeded to giggle at the amazingly random sight. The giggle grew to a climax and the pink mare fell to the floor in merriment as the draconequus forced the stallion to spin like a ballerina before letting him go and causing him to zip away like a spinning top.

The chimera smiled at the laughing pony, slowly making his way to her. He reached down offering a paw to help her up. “I always have loved that laugh.” He said as the pony got to her feet with his aid. Pinkie tried to speak as her laugh died down.
“ Hehe. But you’ve never heard me laugh! I bet Pink’s is different.” Pinkie glanced back to the fighting mare who was now ushering Twilight and Rarity towards their target now her pray had been dealt with.
“Oh she does.” confirmed the chimera. “But I’ve always loved your laugh too dear Pinkie.” The pink bouncy haired mare looked up into those big red eyes and swore she recognized something behind them. Perhaps a hint of the idea of chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds?

“Many bodies, across many worlds, but only one mind, one consciousness.” Said the chimera cryptically. With a devious little wink that left the pink mare gasping in realisation. The chimera picked up the mare and rushed to reunite her with her friends who now made the final push for the princess and empress’s duel. Pinkie sat in his arms, looking up at the draconequus. He was the same discord? Or at least, a Discord with this world’s discord’s memories? ‘How... SUPER FANTABULOUS! THIS MEANS THIS WORLDS DISCORD IS NICE!’ Thought the mare happily as she was dropped back to the ground, reunited with her friends as they squared up to that final line of guards that stood between them and the Celestias.

...................................

“What are you going to do?” asked the princess beseechingly; trying to make her other self see that her force was failing. “You have nothing left now! You can see as well as I. You’re losing. Stand down!”
“NEVER!” screamed the silver coated empress, her eyes growing wide in maddening rage. “I’m never going to back down! You, and your ridiculous peaceful approach shit! I’m never backing down!” She pushed hard against the princess’s horn once again in one final desperate attempt of an assault. Those dark red eyes glinted as she stared into the soft pink of the princess’s.

“I know your full of it! Because I used to be like you! Then I realised: Fear, terror, punishment! All this is what it takes to become a true ruler! Not some dainty little princess! To become a monarch! AN EMPRESS! You must be prepared to do anything! ANYTHING!” She screamed madly. The princess tried to fight against the growing strength of the empress, but was easily being pushed back as the silver clad alicorn’s rage fuelled her strength and resolve.
“Then...” The princess struggled. “I-I’d rather never to be a monarch... to do what you have done would make me a monster! I’d rather die!”

The red eyes glinted manically at those words. “So be it!” Purred the empress. And then a single stone, a deep purple gem set in her breastplate began to shimmer and sheen. The same hew of purple seemed to glint in the corner of the whites of the empress’s eyes as her horn began to glow intensely with a strong magic yet to be seen. The princess gaped at the sight as she recognised the gem and magic.

“Them too?” The kind hearted alicorn asked in horror.
“Be prepared...to do anything.” The empress echoed her previous words, just as her horn scrapped down against her opponents. And with the contact to the princess’s skull, and explosion of magical energy sent her sliding across the ground in pain. Capitalising on her successful attack, the empress took to the skies and followed her quarry as she slid against the floor. As the princess’s painful grinding began to slow. The empress dived, aiming for her prey’s legs. She landed with a devastating slam on to the vulnerable princess.

“You’d rather die?” Asked the empress rhetorically as she raised her horn and gathered her magic for her final attack. “That I can do!” Just to the right of the battling alicorns there came a crash as the wall of black furred guards that protected their empress collapsed before a single being. Both their attentions stolen, the two Celestia’s looked on in awe. The empress’s face fell into rage as she saw the sight before her.

Discord stooped, surrounded by smoke and dust as it rose in shadowy tendrils into the sky. The fallen soldiers lay strewn across the grown like chess pieces at the feet of the chaotic lord. Behind him lay two of the fugitives the pink one (Discord’s wife) and the orange pony. Along with the fugitives stood their doubles and their friends, all of whom stood resolutely, staring at the silver armoured empress. From above, she heard the sound of a flying Pegasus, she looked up in horror to see her. The Rainbow mare, the one who had fled her camps so long ago, the only Pegasy of an entire generation to show promise.

The mare slowed to a hovering halt above the group of fighters. As she slowly decended and came to a soft landing beside a shaking terrified looking yellow Pegasus, Discord rose from his kneeling position, gazed up at the empress with a sarcastic smile draped over his face as always. “Knock knock!” He purred hatefully.

The empress’s horn had lost its glow of magic, meaning she was completely distracted. Taking advantage of the situation princess Celestia pushed her aching body to its limit and found enough purchase on the empress’s position on top of her to throw her aside and jump to her hooves. As the empress tumbled to the ground, the princess ran to her subjects! “RUN! TWILIGHT, RUN!”
“What?” Asked the magenta unicorn unsure of what was going on. She watched as her beloved teacher rushed to them.
“She’s too powerful, she has my power, Luna’s and my nephew’s, she’s too strong!”

“But we got the elements of harmony!” Cheered Applejack, trying to encourage their mighty ruler, while till keeping an eye on the empress, who had now gotten to her hooves lazily, and was swaggering towards them playfully.
“Oh you do?!” cried the empress, with a cackle of mad laughter. “Go ahead Tia! Discord? Aren’t either of you going to tell them?”
“Tell us what?” Asked Pink of her husband. Who sighed and gazed at the empress’s breast plate. The single purple gem began to glow, and around it, based in a pentagon, were five lumps of sliver. These now begin to melt away to reveal something beneath the surface. The chimera began to explain as the colours of red, pink, blue and orange began to gleam from behind the corroding bodice.

“She has...” The five gems began to shine as the last drops of melted silver fell and burnt the grass beneath the evil empress, sealing every Equestrian pony's doom with their arrival “...the elements of harmony of our world.” Discord finished miserably, as the empress began to cackle, in sickening, maddening, victory!

Comments

[Slick Dash]

578036 first three chapters are the prologue pretty much. This story is a complete experiment, nothing like any of my others (in length nor concept) and though i like writting this story, the rest of my stories will back to my old style :)
Want me try and clear up whats confusin yah? :) whats up?

[Fulgor Ignis]

Apparantly, Empress Celestia doesn't realize that Luna and Blueblood are still alive in the canon universe.....

Love the story and hope to see Luna and many other unicorns come to help Princess Celestia.

[Slick Dash]

589647 glad your really getting into this, woke up this morning, checked this and found out you pretty much red this entire long ass story so far in one sitting... This pleases Slick Dash!

[Thespurgin]

589679 Welllll I say we call in Discord #2 and Luna, and see how Tyranestia handles a 20 on one.

[Slick Dash]

589699Tyranestia... I like it! only ponies that use the harsher language are the nega-ponies kinda seperates them a little bit more is all :) well next chapter soon :)