Spyra

by angelofrombelow

Chapter 22

The only sound audible was the bereft weeping of one of the two remaining Canterlot guards, openly grieving for his fallen ruler.

Lyra was breathing heavily through clenched teeth, blood pulsing in her temples. She was rooted to the spot, unable to look away.

Valiant Shield had a hoof to his mouth, so horrified that he could barely function. Princess Celestia had been Equestria's protector and founder. Ponykind would not be as it was now if it had not been for her intervention. She had set them free from tyranny and been a mother figure to ponies of every class and creed.

He had failed her. The one time she had needed protection, the one time there had been a situation she could not handle herself, he had failed her. His sense of guilt was insurmountable.

"Do something." Noteworthy's grief-stricken, rage-filled voice cut through the air.
He rolled forward into the room, his cheeks stained by tears. "Don't just stand there, help her!" he shouted, "She's not dead. She can't be dead. There's got to be something we can do!"

He looked down at the Elements of Harmony, clasped in his metal hands.

"The Elements. The Elements! Why didn't we destroy them? We knew what they were doing to her!" he cried, "We should have done this from the start!"

Berry saw what he was about to do and leapt at him, grabbing at his hands with the gloves she was wearing. He fought against her, trying to crush the six relics in his grasp.

"Let me go!" he shouted, "Let me do it! It could bring her back!"

"Stop it," she hissed, prying his fingers apart and knocking the Elements out of his reach. She dodged back as he swung a fist at her wildly, then caught hold his hands to stop him from striking out again.

"Noteworthy, we need them. There's still a chance we could use them to fight against Discord," she said, fighting back her own tears. "There's nothing we can do. We were… we were too late."

Noteworthy's anger dissolved as her words hit home. His face crumpled and he began to sob. Berry released her grip on him and held him close, allowing him to release his grief.

Lyra sank down onto the floor, her heart empty as all hope abandoned her. It was over. Equestria was lost.

She could hear a sound, just on the edge of her perception, behind the noise of her grieving companions. It was close, yet the tone of it was a million miles away from the atmosphere in the room.

Judging by its volume, she guessed that it was coming from the rear of the castle. She paid closer attention and realised what the sound was.

Laughter.

A deep, dark chuckle mixed with the carefree squeals of a joyful child.

Anger gripped her by the throat and she lost all sense of reason or self-preservation. Her grief was torn aside and she was filled with an all-controlling urge to make someone pay.

"Discord," she whispered, her voice trembling, her body shaking with rage. "DISCORD!"

She ran out of the room, the others following her as they heard the same sound she had. She raced through the corridors, brushing past crystallised statues and taking only cursory care not to hit into them, and slammed her body against the doors that opened into the courtyard.

The draconequus God of chaos was lying on the ground near his former pedestal, laughing as he threw a giggling, triumphant filly into the air over and over again, both of them delighted by their victory.

The scene more resembled that of a family playing, rather than a pair of murderous future dictators who had taken the life of a loving matriarch.

Beside them stood Dr Whooves, who was watching their fun with a half-hearted smile on his face.

That smile, that unsure yet happy smile, stabbed at Lyra's heart and drove her over the edge.

"YOU!" she screamed, a broken accusation of betrayal that echoed through the calm of the afternoon.

Whooves stared at her, shocked by her sudden appearance and the level of hatred in her tone.

Lyra surged forward without even thinking about it, running at the stallion who had abused her trust and doomed her country. She ignored the pain that juddered through her damaged leg with every step, lowering her head and aiming her horn at the doctor with the full intention of goring him.

Before she could reach him, gravity left her and she was plucked into the air by Discord's magic.

"You bastard!" she shouted at Whooves as she floated helplessly, her limbs flailing as she tried desperately to hit him, if only to make him feel a fraction of how badly she was hurting. "How could you do this? How could you do this?!"

Her rage overtook her to the point where she was no longer able to form words, her speech degrading to nothing more than screaming and sobbing.

The doctor watched at her, fear rippling through his entire being. He had expected her to be upset with him but nothing like this. There was something deeply, deeply wrong.

Discord looked at the upside-down, screaming unicorn with a bemused eye. "I had no idea you ponies were such bad losers," he said, "Please, at least try to have a sense of decorum."

"Put her down," said Whooves, his voice almost inaudible. Discord glanced at him, shrugged, then placed Lyra with the other ponies who had assembled at the back door to the castle.

"This is all you could muster for a welcoming committee?" the draconequus said while stroking his chin, almost seeming bored by the whole thing. He drew himself up to his full height, flicked his head back and adopted a dramatic pose.

"No matter. Allow me to introduce you all to the new rulers of Equestria – and by extension, the entire planet," he said with a grin, before placing his claw on his chest. "I'm sure there's no need for me to introduce myself – after all, nopony could forget all those wonderful changes I made to your precious Ponyville. Rest assured, they will soon be put back in place, with plenty more besides."

The ponies watched with barely contained rage as he preened himself. Everypony present yearned to wipe the malevolent smile from his face but they knew they didn't stand a chance, not even if they attacked as one.

He possessed the power to alter their surroundings, corrupt their very being. All they could do was let him continue his self-satisfied spiel.

"To my left sits the greatest daughter a draconequus could wish for," he said, ruffling Screwball's mane. "Now in proud possession of one half of Celestia's power, she's the pony to come to if you ever want to get yourself a nice, all-over tan."

The purple-coated filly grinned devilishly at her defeated foes, sparks of fire flashing from her raised hoof.

Discord vanished from sight, then his arm snaked up from the ground and wrapped itself around Whooves, before the rest of his body reappeared.

"And here we have the stallion who made it all possible, my friend and yours, the one and only…" he stopped, momentarily confused. "What is it you call yourself now? Ah yes, that's it. The one and only Dr Whooves!"

Lyra scowled viciously at the doctor, having only just recovered from her fit of anger. He cowered under her stare, unable to hide his shame.

"And there you have it," Discord concluded, "The three of us shall be your wise and mighty leaders for the foreseeable future. Consider the Parliament of Canterlot officially dissolved. It won't be meeting again for, ooh, another good eon or two."

He raised an eyebrow, annoyed by the lack of response from his audience. "Come on, give us a cheer. At least a round of applause or two. We are your Gods, your leaders – a holy trinity of the Father, the Son and the Filly with a baseball bat. Now show your appreciation, or face the consequences."

They were unmoved, feeling this small act of defiance was all they had left. Before Discord could respond, Whooves raised his voice.

"Discord," he said, trying to hide his concern. "What are you doing? The plan was for us to combine, become one again. We've been separated for too long, we have to become whole."

The draconequus sighed and patted his other self on the back to reassure him. "Whooves, my dear boy. Why should we want to do that? This way is much better. We get three for the price of one."

The doctor felt a prickling sensation run down his back, a sense that his master plan was falling out of his grasp. If he didn't link bodies and minds with his other selves, he would have no way of controlling them. He needed to sacrifice himself, he needed to become the voice of conscience in a reunified Discord. His two other selves were composed of pure id and he wasn't willing to let them roam free.

"Discord, we're incomplete," he said, "We need each other. We can't function properly by ourselves. If we join forces we'll have your power combined with that of Celestia, we'll be unstoppable."

Discord rolled his eyes. "I know what this is about. You're worried about the whole mortality thing, aren't you? I wasn't able to finish creating you before Celestia interrupted."

He ruffled the doctor's mane. "There's no need to worry. You have half of her power now, and Celestia was all about healing magic. Just ask Screwball nicely, cast a spell using your combined power, and boom! Instant immortality."

Whooves didn't respond. His plan to control Discord had failed and now Equestria was at the mercy of a being whose only interest was satisfying his own impulses. Even more worryingly, Screwball had shown signs of being unstable. So far she had only attacked Noteworthy, as far as he knew, but it had been with the intent to kill.

Discord frowned as a thought came to him. "Come to think of it, where is Celestia?" he asked, "This has been fun and all, but I am dying to see the look on her face. Defeated at last, subservient to yours truly. I'm positively salivating at the thought. Bring her out to me."

He pointed at Valiant Shield and the pegasus growled back. "Where is she?" he said, "Where is she? She's dead, you sick monster! She's dead!"

Discord jerked his head back as if he'd just been punched in the face. "She's dead?" he repeated, then chuckled half-heartedly, not fully believing it was true. The scowls and tear-stained faces before him told him that it was.

"Wait, she's dead?" he murmured in shock. "She's dead? Really dead?"

A wave of horror crashed over Whooves, drowning his senses. This had never been his intention. He believed that Celestia's empire was based on a lie and the original Discord was the true ruler of Equestria, but she hadn't deserved this.

Screwball had a mischievous smirk on her face and upon seeing it, he knew it had been no accident. This was cold-blooded, pre-ordained murder.

And the blood was on his hooves as well. It had been his idea to create Screwball, to ease the insanity Discord had suffered from centuries of being locked in stone.

He began to shake, the guilt infecting every part of his being. He was responsible, as much as her.

"She's dead," Discord repeated, saying the words simply to hear how they sounded, trying to come to terms with it. "Huh. I don't know whether I'm just disappointed or if I'm genuinely upset."

Screwball frowned at that, her joy giving way to bewilderment. Discord had been trapped as a sentient statue for as long as she had, he had experienced the same pain as she had. Why wasn't he rejoicing? Why was he sad to hear of the death of somepony who had caused them so much suffering?

If Whooves hadn't been so thunderstruck by the revelation, he might have seen her expression. He might have noticed the first danger signs.

"You know, our little skirmishes were the most fun I had in centuries," Discord said, reminiscing. "Up until then, rebellions had been tiresome little chores to deal with. They could gather great armies and come rolling up to my throne, but with one wave of my paw I'd turn them into chickens or whatever else I fancied. Celestia was different."

He smiled. "Oh, the conversations we'd have. She was so easy to wind up. So uptight. Her sister was fun in much the same way, but she wasn't as pure as Celestia. Luna always had that hint of darkness in her. Celestia was like the driven snow. Sure, she cheated in our final encounter, but nobody's perfect."

He paused, lost in his own thoughts. After a moment's reflection, he clicked his fingers as he came to a decision.

"I think she deserves a tribute. I'll name a season after her," he said, "It'll be marvellous. Blazing sunshine across the planet, all hours of the day. She loved the Sun, did Celestia. Sunbathing shall be mandatory all season long. Anyone who refuses will get sand kicked in their face. What do you think?"

The gathered ponies looked at him in disgust, revolted that he could make light of the princess' death so easily.

Discord felt a light tugging on his tail and turned to see Screwball, who was mightily confused.

"You want to make a tribute to her? Why?" she asked, her voice rising in volume as she grew increasingly upset. "How can you have any respect for her after what she, what she did? Why aren't you happy that she's dead? You should be dancing on her grave, you should be tearing these disgusting creatures apart."

She gestured towards the ponies by the castle door, who shrank back even as they readied themselves for a fight.

Whooves stepped forward, now truly frightened. Screwball had never revealed to him that she felt this way about ponykind. If she made any kind of attempt to hurt Lyra and her friends, he wouldn't stand for it. There was a growing possibility that he would have to fight his other self.

But the thing that really worried him was that she had this mindset at all. Her seeming appetite for destruction was at odds with the original Discord that he remembered, the being that he had been a part of.

The draconequus' talk of fighting rebels also struck a chord of concern – Whooves had always believed he had been given Discord's full memory of his time in charge before Celestia overthrew him.

But rebellions? Taunting the princesses? He could not remember that.

"That snow-white princess trapped us as a statue for centuries upon centuries," said Screwball, "Eons of torment. Only able to sense the world passing by, locked out from being a part of it. The frantic clawing of time tearing our minds apart, breaking us down piece by piece until there was nothing left but an empty, screaming void!"

Her voice rose to a shrill scream during that last sentence and the sound of it chilled everypony to the bone.

But not Discord. The draconequus frowned at the little filly, who was breathing heavily and on the verge of breaking down, then gave her a look of utter confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Whooves was rendered unable to breath for a couple of seconds, the implied horror of Discord's words dawning on him immediately.

When the draconequus had come to him those few days ago, he had been insane. Whooves had borne witness to his degrading mind over the centuries, speaking to him psychically whenever he had the chance to get close to his statue.

All of his fear and pain lifted when he created Screwball, and he had become completely carefree. Screwball had shown signs that she was not coping as well as him, which Whooves had put down to her being only a few days old.

The truth of the matter was now evident. Discord clearly had no recollection of those centuries he spent locked inside a statue. He hadn't shared his memories of his torment with Screwball – he had offloaded them all on her.

The worst thing was that he may not even have done it on purpose. He was a creature of pure id, a being that only did what he thought was best for himself, regardless of the consequences. He may have intended to share his memories with Screwball but, on a subconscious level, there would have been nothing he wanted more than to get rid of them altogether.

Whooves looked at Screwball and saw by her expression that she was starting to piece the truth together herself.

"You, you don't remember?" she said, her voice cracking. "How can you not remember? You didn't… you couldn't…"

The tears were coming now. "You got rid of all your memories when you made me, didn't you?" Her voice dropped to a heartbroken whisper. "You pushed them all into my head and forgot about them. Was that – was that all I was for? I suffer so you don't have to?"

Discord drew closer to her, showing concern for somepony for the first time since he divided himself.

"Screwball. Sweetie. Tell me, what's the matter?" he said, opening his arms wide for a hug. "I honestly don't know what this is about. Tell me what the problem is so Daddy Discord can make it all better."

The filly jumped away from him, her face suddenly filled with hatred. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" she screamed, "How could you do this to me? How could you do this to me and then pretend you cared about me? I thought you understood, I thought you were my friend."

She struggled to control her breathing as her anger gave way to sorrow. "I thought we were the same. I thought we wanted the same thing. But now… n, now… I really am alone."

She let out a sob, gritted her teeth, and then collapsed into an unrestrained, tear-soaked fit of grief. She howled and wailed as the collected pressure of countless centuries of loneliness and fear finally, irredeemably, crushed her spirit.

The sound of it was unearthly. Among those present, it disturbed Berry Punch the most. Being a mother herself, she had heard children cry before but never anything like this. It was unnatural to hear somepony so young giving voice to so much grief. A filly who had been born broken.

Discord went to offer her some comfort but was stopped by a hissed warning from Whooves. The doctor knew she would react badly to kind words from the being that had caused her suffering. It was up to him to try to calm her.

Whooves approached the sobbing filly cautiously, waiting for her to give vent to most of her sorrow before talking to her. Several minutes passed as her tears began to subside, with him watching her intently, fearfully.

"Screwball," he said finally, his voice hushed. "Screwball, I know you must be hurting but I want you to listen to me. I always tried to be there for you. Whenever I could, I would go up to Discord's statue and speak with him, try to soothe his mind by giving him company. Do you remember that?"

Screwball kept her face buried in her legs and shook her head no. Whooves swallowed past the lump in his throat, aware that his job had just become a lot more difficult.

"It's the truth. I was there for you. I do care, and you're not alone. Discord didn't mean to do this to you, it was a mistake. I mean, he has a bad track record for creating life, doesn't he? Look at me, I'm not even immortal like you are."

"I guess not," she replied, her voice quiet and her tone impossible to interpret.

"I know how to help you," he said, seeking a chance to put his master plan into action after all. "We are incomplete. All three of us. None of us can function properly unless we become one again, become whole."

Discord, who had remained impassive until this point, took offence at that past comment. He had no desire to merge with his companions, especially if it meant taking on whatever it was that was driving Screwball crazy.

"Forgive my impertinence, doctor," he said, appearing at Whooves' shoulder. "But I'm perfectly fine on my own. And you don't seem to have had any trouble getting through these past few centuries without us."

Whooves ignored him, determined to get Screwball to see things his way. There was too much risk of bloodshed to allow her freedom.

"What do you say, Screwball?" he asked, "We can be together. Forever. A family in body and in spirit."

The filly raised her head, scrutinised the doctor's face, then slowly nodded. "Yes," she said, "Yes. It's the only way."

Discord scowled and raised himself to his full height, looking down on his former companions. "I don't think so. I'm quite happy as I am without you two running around in my head."

"Your head?" Screwball smirked with contempt. "Oh no, no, no. Who said you get to stay in charge? Neither of you understand what ponykind has done to us. Neither of you have the will to give them the punishment they deserve."

The propeller on her hat began spinning and she flew up into the air, hovering at eye level with Discord.

"You're the one who made me. You're the one who put me though hell. The least you can do is give me your body as compensation."

He snorted with derision. "So, it's mutiny is it? Gah, it's reached the point where you can't even trust yourself these days," he said, then shrugged. "Like I care. We can't merge without my consent – it has to be a mutual thing. You can both consider yourself fatherless from this point on. As far as I'm concerned, I have no children."

He stuck his tongue out at the pair of them and turned his back, arms crossed.

Screwball growled, anger rising in her. "Who needs your consent? All I need to do is break you first," she hissed.

Whooves opened his mouth to make a call for peace, to end the fight before it started, but he didn't get the chance.

Screwball's mane and tail burst into flame as she summoned Celestia's power, then the air crackled as she thrust her front hooves forward and aimed a stream of fire at Discord's back.

The draconequus vanished before it could hit him, and didn't reappear. Screwball reverted to her normal state and furiously scanned the area around her.

"Come out!" she cried, "Out, you coward! Don't run away from me!"

"Screwball, please don't do this," said Whooves, "We can still work something out. We can…"

"Oh, you've done more than enough." Discord's voice rang out across the courtyard but it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.

Whooves and Screwball checked the skies, trying to spot the errant draconequus.

By the castle doors, one of the guards stepped forward and spoke to Valiant Shield. "Commander, we're awaiting your orders. What do you want us to do?"

"There's little we can do," he replied, "We're up against three beings of Godlike power. Our colleagues in Ponyville will no doubt have heard what's been going on, thanks to the bug Noteworthy put in the courtyard, so they can plan accordingly.

"Hold your position, unless we see a chance to attack." He looked to his team, and then something dawned on him. "Wait – Noteworthy, where are the Elements of Harmony?"

Before anypony could respond, Discord spoke again. "You seem awfully keen on getting us to merge, Whooves. I wonder why that is?"

"Discord, come out," the doctor said, ignoring the suspicious looks Screwball was sending his way. "We need to talk this through."

"I am talking," he said, "And I'm thinking, too. You've always been good at working things out ahead of time, manipulating things so they go your way. Now, you did a wonderful job of getting us into this position but I'm left wondering what your true goal was.

"After what Screwball said, I'm starting to believe you were afraid of me when I first broke free. Afraid of what I would do. Afraid, perhaps, that I would harm your pony friends."

"That's not true!" Whooves said, "I was worried about the effect your imprisonment had on your mind. I wanted to ease your suffering, that's why I suggested you split in two."

"Yes, yes, yes, that's what you've been saying all along, but I think the truth is quite different. You wanted to steal power from Celestia, of course, but you didn't want us two running about free either. I think you want us to merge so you can take full control. You want to be Equestria's sole dictator.

"And I know that's what you want, because it's what I want. We're two sides of the same coin. The only difference is you think your cause is noble, somehow. You believe you will be able to protect your pony friends from us, because they are more important to you than we are."

"It's not true, Discord!" Whooves said, but his tone of voice hardly sounded convincing. Screwball was staring at him angrily, gearing herself up to attack.

Discord laughed. "Don't try to deny it. Deep down, you know I'm right. After all, if you don't want to take over Equestria then why did you go ahead with your plan? Why didn't you double cross me, or try to merge with me the first time we met?"

Whooves wasn't able to respond. Discord's words struck home – he could have tried to stop him earlier, he could have prevented all of this. He could have avoided Celestia's death.

All his life he had told himself he only wanted the best for Equestria, but now he was starting to question his motives. Everything he had done for the benefit of the planet – had it actually been with the intent of creating an Equestria that he wanted to live in? That he wanted to rule? Was he actually no better than Discord?

It wasn't possible – he had done so much for ponykind, brought in so many advances in technology and medicine.

He was forced to abandon his line of thought when he felt the ground growing hotter underneath his hooves. He dived to one side just as Screwball summoned a column of fire that burst upwards through the earth. Fragments of scorched earth rained down, pattering against the ground.

The filly's swirling eyes were filled with hatred as she advanced on him. "You lied to me as well," she said, "You never cared, you just wanted the power all to yourself!"

The air temperature around Whooves began to rise – he quickly called upon his morphing ability, retracting into a white light and phase-shifting through the ground. The spot where he had been standing erupted into flames as he re-emerged a few yards behind it.

"Screwball, stop this," he said, "We're on the same side. Discord's the one you want!"

Valiant Shield, who until now had been distracted by the action, snapped his brain back into gear and addressed the guards. "The Elements are still in Celestia's chamber. They might be able to help us. Go!"

The pegasi tried to open the door back into the castle but it was stuck fast. They were confused by this at first – they hadn't locked it when they came out – but then they heard Discord's mocking laughter and realised it was his doing.

But that door was not the only way back into the castle. Spreading their wings, they flew up to try to find a window.

Screwball noticed them taking flight and turned her attention away from Whooves – he was too elusive a target and she wanted some easy payback. The doctor saw her taking aim and panicked.

"No!" he cried, hitting out with his magic and causing a small explosion that knocked the filly off her hooves.

She pulled herself back up, glaring at him viciously, and he realised the battle lines had been drawn. There was no room for negotiation now.

Meanwhile, the pegasi approached one of the windows only for it to slam shut in their faces. One by one, every window, every door into the castle were sealed shut. The guards kicked against the glass panes but their blows bounced off – the material had been rendered as hard as concrete.

"Oh ho ho, this is too much fun." Discord's voice filled the air. "In the blue corner, a spite-filled filly with an attitude problem. In the red, a megalomaniacal doctor who refuses to accept that he's the bad guy. And in the middle of it all, six mortal ponies caught in the crossfire. Who will win?"

Screwball narrowed her eyes, focusing her gaze on Whooves. "You know," she said to him, "He really should learn not to talk so much."

She suddenly turned and shot a bolt of flame into the sky – Discord had simply rendered himself invisible this whole time and she had worked out where his voice was coming from.

The draconequus was so over-confident that he had thought himself untouchable, so didn't have enough wits about him to dodge. Screwball's attack hit him hard and knocked him out of the air – he fell to the ground but quickly flipped himself the right way up.

A look of anger briefly flared on his face, but then he nonchalantly yawned and met Screwball's stare with a scornful eye.

"Oh please. You really think you can take me on? Me, Discord, God of chaos? I ruled this planet for longer than Celestia was alive. There's nothing you can throw at me that I can't counter."

She advanced on him slowly, her back arched, her teeth clenched. "I'm going to tear out your heart," she growled, "I'll flay the skin from your body and tear the flesh from your bones. I'll infect your mind and break you down until there's…"

She was suddenly cut off as Discord created a miniature rain cloud above her head and drenched her with a localised storm, making her curly hair so wet that it flattened out and covered her eyes.

He burst into hysterical laughter, leaving him barely able to speak until his mirth had subsided.

"Oh, my dear," he said, a chuckle still evident in his voice. "Such language from a young filly. Where did you learn to speak like that? I blame the parents."

Humiliated and soaked, Screwball seethed silently as her rage grew to uncontrollable levels. She rose into the air, past the rain cloud, breathing heavily as her body began to shake, every muscle tensed.

Discord fell quiet, curious as to what she was going to do next.

Whooves could sense the storm that was about to break and it frightened him – if Screwball truly lost control, he didn't know if he'd be able to protect Lyra and her friends from the fallout.

The small of his back flashed white and a pair of wings sprouted from it, which he swiftly used to fly up to the enraged filly.

"Screwball, listen to me. Keep calm, slow your breathing. This is what he wants, this is how he gets to you."

She was past caring and, in any case, she certainly wasn't going to listen to Whooves. There was only one thing she wanted and she was prepared to go all-out to get it. Discord's power would be hers, no matter who she had to kill.

The air around her began to fizzle with energy. Whooves only had enough time to realise he had to get out of the way, not enough to take action on it.

Screwball let out a shrill scream and burst into flame, burning with such intensity that it was painfully hot to the ponies below her, even from several dozen feet away.

Whooves was caught in the blast, the heat battering him before he even had a chance to cry out. He fell from the sky, his body limp.

Lyra had to squint to see past the brilliant blaze, but it was clear he had been severely hurt.

He only became fully visible when he crashed against the ground, and the sight of him caused her to turn away in disgusted horror.

One side of his face was gone, melted by the heat. There was nothing but exposed muscle, and his teeth were visible past his charred mouth. No mortal pony could have survived an injury like that.

Which is why, just a couple of seconds later, she couldn't decide what shocked her more – the severity of the damage done, or the fact that he was getting back up.

The flames blazing around Screwball grew even larger, forcing the ponies to back away to escape the heat.

Then, without warning, the onslaught began.

A rain of fire surged mercilessly from the sky towards Discord, an attack so ferocious that it could have levelled a city in moments.

But to a being that could manipulate reality, it was less than nothing.

He didn't give the fire a chance of reaching him – the attack was nullified by a powerful forcefield, which, to add insult to injury, he created in the form of an umbrella.

"You have nothing," he said, raising his voice so he could be heard over the sound of the deadly rain pattering against the forcefield. "Nothing you can use against me that Celestia hasn't tried before. I fought her several times before she defeated me, I know all her tricks. And I know how to fight back."

With a click of his fingers, day instantly turned to night. It was barely perceptible, but Screwball's attack grew weaker without the Sun's rays to draw power from.

She kept fighting, too blinded with rage to see the futility of it. Below her, Whooves was limping away to a safe distance so he could recover. His ability to change shape doubled as a healing factor but it was still taking time to repair the damage, even with the power he had absorbed from Celestia. New skin began to form, criss-crossing over his burnt flesh like a spiderweb.

Discord tutted at his demonic daughter's persistence. "This has gone quite far enough. Time to snuff you out."

There was a flash of magic, then a large glass jar dropped down and caught Screwball, forcing her down to the ground and trapping her inside. Any oxygen inside was used up instantly and her flames were extinguished. She pressed herself up against the glass, hammering against it as she demanded to be let out.

"What's that? Can't hear you," said Discord, holding a claw to his ear. He chuckled to himself then, with a mere thought, caused the jar to vanish.

He looked down on Screwball mockingly as she lay on the ground before him, exhausted.

"Do you finally give up?" he asked, casually inspecting the talons on his paw. "Let this be a lesson to you – father knows best. Now, if you're willing to apologise, I might…"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. With one last surge of energy, Screwball launched herself up at him, aiming at his head.

Moving too quick for him to dodge, she smashed against his face in a mighty impact.

Upon contact, her body burst apart like a chewing gum bubble and was reduced to nothing more than light purple gunk.

The sentient mass engulfed Discord's head. He grabbed it frantically and tried to pull it away but it was stuck fast, his screams muffled.

And then the remains of Screwball slowly began to seep into his skull through every available orifice.

Whooves, his face fully repaired, was too shell-shocked to do anything other than watch the grisly scene unfold.

"Do something!" cried Lyra, stepping away from the castle and coming as close as she dared. "You've got to stop her!"

Shaken into action, he flapped his wings and flew up to Discord's head and grabbed at the ooze in an attempt to pull it away.

But he couldn't get a hold. The last of it slipped between his hooves and disappeared into the draconequus's skin.

He backed away, unsure what was going to happen next. Discord was clutching his temples, in obvious pain, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to force it away.

A patch of skin on his left arm began to glow white, followed by another area on his neck, then his stomach. Screwball was beginning to fuse with him.

"No. No!" he cried, fighting the change with all his mental might. It continued regardless, thin streaks of light appearing on his torso. Once it had started, it could not be stopped.

Discord grabbed his horns, pulling down on them. With an extra exertion of force, he removed them from his head with a wet pop.

He reached up with his hands again, pressing his claws and talons hard against his scalp. Slowly they pushed down into his flesh, worming their way through until they had dug deep enough.

As the ponies watched on, horrified, he pulled his hands apart and opened up a hole in his skull.

There was no blood – the draconequus's anatomy had long since evolved beyond the need for vital organs. Instead, only the purple goo that had been Screwball was visible. He grabbed at it, trying to tear it away, but it slipped through his fingers like toy store slime.

"Get out of my head!" he screamed, mere moments before the light consumed his body completely.

Whooves hovered nearby, unsure what to do in his panic. His plan had always been to combine with his companions and control them from within, but after seeing Screwball's insanity firsthand he was far from certain he could exert any influence over her.

He hesitated, and then his chance was lost forever.

The light faded as the transformation became complete.

An aura of crackling energy surrounded the new draconequus that stood there, a being with more power than any creature that had ever existed. Sparks occasionally fizzled and hissed on its skin as the power of both Celestia and Discord flowed through it.

The ground by its feet shifted form constantly, rapidly changing from glass to metal to sand from mere contact with the draconequus, whose reality-shifting abilities were now so great that they could barely be contained. The creature's power to alter its surroundings was operating on a subconscious level.

The draconequus's body had changed in a way that frightened Whooves more than anything else – its facial features were now unmistakeably feminine.

She gave a sigh of relief as she raised a paw to her head and fixed her wounds. "That is so much better," she said, "Instant pain relief. Now I've got his memories floating around in there, I can focus on something other than my time as a statue. I can focus on what I really want."

She grinned malevolently and looked upon Dr Whooves, who nervously raised a hoof in self-defence.

"Listen to me," he said, "Discord… Screwball? You don't have to do this. You've already won. Celestia is dead, Equestria is yours. You have everything you wanted."

She put a claw to her chest and smiled cruelly. "Oh, you can call me Discord if you like. It'll save me the hassle of building up a reputation and it'll allow me to continue his legacy. I never liked the name Screwball anyway – I mean, who names their filly that? It's a good job I never went to school, I'd have had the tar beaten out of me."

She vanished, then reappeared behind Whooves with a thunderclap, scaring the hell out of him.

The other mortal ponies watched on fearfully, aware that they were hopelessly outmatched. Lyra was closer than the rest but was rooted the spot, too frightened to run.

"And yes, you're quite right – I have already won. But I want more." Discord's expression darkened, the night sky becoming swamped by clouds and lightning as her mood changed. "I want to tear it all down. I want to make these ponies suffer, like I have suffered. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me."

Whooves cowered as she towered over him. "And you know what the best thing is? I could never have done this if it hadn't been for you. You have planted the seeds of your planet's destruction – go on, take a bow. You may as well – after all, you wanted conquest just as much as I did. You're just like me."

"No. No I'm not," he said, trying to build up the courage he needed to face her. "I'm nothing like you. I always tried to do what was right. Can't you see – destruction is a much easier path to take than preservation, it's so much easier to tear something apart than create something new. Even the original Discord understood that. If you go through with this, it won't make the pain go away. You'll just feel empty inside."

She yawned, then melted into the ground and emerged underneath the doctor, snaking her body around him. The mere contact of her skin stung him, like rubbing up against nettles.

"Oh, my dear Whooves. Always so serious. Why don't you learn to have fun, lighten up a little? You are right, though. We are different. You're a schemer, always planning out every last detail. Everything has to be just so, you can't allow for any mistakes, any deviation."

She moved her head down so it was level with his, smiling as she watched him squirm. "Me? I prefer to make things up as I go along. That's why I don't want you to be a part of me, Whooves. We're incompatible. You'd just mess things up with your need for regulations and forward planning and all that other boring stuff. I want to keep things spontaneous."

He didn't get a chance to react.

In one sudden, swift motion, Discord grabbed hold of Whooves' head and yanked it sharply to the left, breaking his neck with a sickening crack.

The doctor stood there momentarily, his head flopping forward and his eyes wide open in surprise.

He blinked once, then his eyelids closed and he collapsed limply to the ground.

"Whooves!" Lyra cried in shock, still in her position away from the castle, about a hundred yards away from the vile draconequus.

She gasped with fright as Discord looked her way, chuckled at the prospect of a new victim, then slowly advanced on the terrified unicorn.

Comments

[Lightning Shaker]

[angelofrombelow]

1408634

[bahatumay]

[Lightning Shaker]

1408831 not at you but the situation, also would be the face on my OC if he was there, he'd rush in and fight bravely, he would also die quickly.

[Lifer]

I listened to this throughout the chapter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hjyuQFhAsI

It gave the story a dark feeling to it, making the story more epic

Well, the story alone was also very good, I loved it

Can't wait to see moar from you!

[Kalightortaio]

[BackgroundBrony]

So I started reading this at six o'clock pacific time. It's 1:55 right now. You, sir, are a great writer. Haven't been this engrossed in a fic since the original FoE, horizons, or background pony.

[PinkiePieGirl]