Discord
The journey to Canterlot was a blur to Flash.
Throughout the trip, he and the girls had watched the many different yet impossible occurrences happen outside the train windows. The viewings included floating trees made of cotton candy, a house that looked like it was painted and made out of plaid, (This made Rarity faint for half the trip) and Pinkie's favorite sight: another train that was floating, upside down, and made out of chocolate cake. Luckily, whatever was causing these unusual events had chosen to ignore the train for now, allowing them to reach Canterlot in no time at all.
Once there however, they found that it was doing no better than Ponyville. The street lamps had been replaced with popsicles, some of the streets were now made of jello and a nearby flower stand was transformed into a giant pile of fudge. The houses were even worse, as some were now floating in the air...and were upside down while doing so. The very sight made Flash scratch his head in pure confusion. As he did, he looked at his friends, only to see that they were the same.
"This is awful," Twilight commented as she saw what had happened to their home town.
"Don't worry," Flash told her with a quick pat on her back, "once we know what's going on, we'll fix everything."
"Then let's get to the castle quick," Rainbow said while the others just nodded.
With this, they rushed off towards the royal castle. A few minutes in, they arrived at said castle, and were escorted by some guards towards the main chambers. Once there, they found Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance and Grand Hoof waiting for them.
"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed as they rushed inside. "We got your message and came as fast as we could!"
"Thank you Twilight, its good to see you again." Celestia replied, though her expression was not exactly what they wanted to see. "If only it were under better circumstances though..."
"We had hoped another incident wouldn't occur so soon after the last one," Luna added with a slight grimace, "but is seems we are not so lucky."
"What's happening out there?" Flash asked them while pointing at the window, "its like the laws of physics decided to take a day off or something."
"As you've probably seen," Grand Hoof said while ignoring Flash's statement, "Equestria is in crisis."
"We guessed that." Rainbow replied with a roll of the eyes.
"We wanna know what's causing this crisis." Applejack finished.
"We will explain on the way." Celestia said before she and Luna turned, motioning them to follow them.
"On the way to where?" Twilight asked, only for Celestia to say nothing. Instead, she began walking away with Luna, Cadance and Grand following. The seven ponies shared a look, before following as well. They made their way up to a part of the castle none of them had even been to before, a large corridor with several stain glass windows along the side.
"We have brought you here for a matter of great importance," Celestia explained as they walked. "It seems an old foe of ours, one we had thought we had defeated long ago, has returned."
"Who?"
"His name," Luna said as she looked over at one of the windows, "is Discord!"
The seven of them followed her gaze, seeing an image on the window of a creature made out of multiple animal body parts. Seeing this, Flash's eyes went wide as he instantly recognized the figure. "Wait...I've seen this thing before." Flash added as he pointed at the window. "It looks just like a statue in the palace gardens."
Celestia however, just shook her head as she replied to Flash's comment. "That was no statue Flash. That was Discord."
The ponies went silent while hearing this, not sure what to say to that. That is, till Pinkie broke the silence. "Is anypony else lost?"
"Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony," Celestia continued, "before Luna and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness."
"We saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike," Luna added with a slightly bitter tone, "so we knew we had to do something to stop him."
"Indeed," Celestia agreed, "Luna and I searched and eventually discovered the Elements of Harmony, which we used to defeat Discord."
"How?"
"You are all familiar with the forbidden spell of petrification?" Luna asked, causing the girls and Cadance to shiver.
"We don't exactly remember it, but yes." Twilight replied.
"That spell is one of the weaker ones," Celestia explained with a slight grimace, "and can be used should the need arrive, as a last resort of course."
"So that's it," Flash said while crossing his hooves. He glanced back at the decorated window. "You used that spell to trap Discord in stone."
"Exactly," Celestia said before her gaze became serious, "we had hoped the spell would keep him contained forever. Unfortunately, something has caused the spell to weaken and now Discord has finally escaped."
"But what caused it?" Twilight asked, "what could overpower the Elements of Harmony?"
Celestia looked at Twilight with a sad expression. "I'm afraid to say that the cause was all of you."
"US?!" The seven of them screamed.
"Despite Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon and her thousand year banishment, she and I remained connected to the Elements," Celestia said before looking of at one of the windows. It showed the seven of them, wielding the Elements against Nightmare Moon. "But when you all defeated Nightmare Moon, you all became the new wielders and as such, any spell me and Luna cast using the Elements was undone."
"So this is our fault," Twilight gasped, looking down at the ground in shame.
"No Twilight," Celestia shook her head as she walked up and patted Twilight's shoulder. "The fault is mine. I should have known of Discord's return and prepared you all accordingly."
"Prepared us for what?" Flash asked.
In that moment, they arrived at a large door. "This is Canterlot Tower," Luna explained as she pointed to the tower, "where the Elements have been kept since you retrieved them. The only hope we have at stopping Discord is to once again trap him the way we did before."
"And only we can do this?" Twilight asked, sounding nervous.
"It is," Celestia replied with a nod, "the Elements are the only thing that can stop him, and so it is only you who can defeat Discord!"
The seven ponies all looked at each other, knowing this was the only way. Seeing this, they all nodded before Twilight spoke up. "Princess Celestia, we'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again."
Celestia nodded before turning to the door. Placing her horn inside a small indent and released a blue colored aura-styled magic. As the energy flowed inside, the door soon unlocked and slowly opened. Once fully open, it revealed a jewel encrusted chest which seemed to literally shine like a bunch of stars.
"Whoa," they all said, all staring at the majestic-looking chest.
"You can keep the Elements," Rarity joked, "I'll take that case."
Celestia just smiled as she levitated the box over to them. "Have no fear ponies, I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord." She then opened the box to reveal...nothing!
Everypony gasped at seeing this.
"Well," Flash said with a slight grimace, "that complicates things." Twilight then smacked him with her tail.
"I don't understand!" Celestia's eyes shrunk as she examined the empty case with short breathing. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only Luna or I can break! This doesn't make sense!"
"MUHAHAHAHAHA!"
Everypony froze as they heard a deep and sinister laugh echo through the halls.
"Make sense?" a voice then asked in a snarky tone. "What fun is there in making sense?"
"Discord!" Celestia yelled, looking around to find the voice's owner. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
The voice laughed again as the group looked around the room for any sign of somepony new. "Did you miss me Celestia?"
"There!" Flash said as he pointed at one of the windows, which had Discord smiling down at them.
"I missed you," the window replied in a still snarky tone. "And little Luna too of course."
"The feeling is not mutual," Luna growled.
"Oh I'm hurt," Discord chuckled as he moved over to the window showing the mane seven fighting Nightmare Moon. "Its quite lonely being imprisoned in stone you know. But you wouldn't know that, would you? Because I don't turn ponies into stone."
"ENOUGH!" Celestia yelled, slamming her hooves into the floor. "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"
"Oh, I just borrowed them for a tinny little while," Discord replied with a giggle. "What, did you think I was going to let you keep the one thing that can actually beat me?"
"He's got a point," Flash said with a shrug.
"You'll never get away with this Discord," Celestia told him. "I will make sure-"
"Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you can be Celestia," Discord interrupted as waved his claw at her. "Its really quite...boring."
"HEY!" Rainbow exclaimed as she flew up, shaking her hoof at the 'painting'. "Nopony insults the princess!" She shot towards the window, but the image of Discord disappeared, causing her to just slam into it.
"Oh!" Discord said once he'd reappeared, "you must be Rainbow Dash. Famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent."
"That's right," Rainbow replied, "I'll always be loyal to the princesses!"
"Tch. We'll see about that," Discord shrugged once he'd disappeared again.
"I can't believe we're wasting our time, talking to a tacky window," Rarity added, only for Discord to appear behind her.
"The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity if I'm not mistaken."
"So you know who we are, big deal." Applejack grumbled next. "How about we-"
"Oh, I know much more than that," Discord interrupted again as his image grew. "Honest Applejack."
"You seem to know our strengths too," Twilight said as she glared at the monster, watching him continually shift around the window that showed them as the Elements of Harmony. That is, till he started floating over Twilight in the window.
"Yes...this one is Twilight Sparkle. Yours is the most powerful and illusive Element...MAGIC!" Everyone continued to glare at him as he continued talking. "Fluttershy's is kindness and Pinkie's is a personal favourite of mine, laughter." This statement made the other two want to shrink back at his knowledge.
That is, till Flash spoke up in a gruff, angry voice. "You know, I'm starting to agree with Rarity about this being a waste of time."
"Ah!" Discord clapped his claws, glaring at the orange pegasus as he did. "And of course, the illustrious Flash Sentry. Apprentice knight and the one who not only wields, but forged the new Element of Courage. My, how far you've come. Your parents must be so proud." Flash just growled at him. "Did I strike a nerve?"
"Enough stalling Discord!" Celestia exclaimed again. "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"
"Oh, so boring Celestia." Discord moaned with a slight yawn, "Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way." With that, he then hopped to his original window as he said one last thing. "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense to this change of events. Twists and turns of my master plan, then find the Elements back where you began." With that, his image became part of the glass again, indicating that he was gone.
"That was creepy," Cadance shuddered. "And...unpleasant."
"Can we go home now?" Fluttershy asked with a raised hoof.
"What do you recon' he means?" Applejack asked as she scratched the side of his head, interrupting Fluttershy. "Twists and turns and then back where we started?"
"My best guess is that he hid the Elements somewhere...and he was giving us a clue to finding them." Flash remarked as he crossed his hooves. "Though it sounds like he's treating this like its some kind of game."
"That's because it is," Luna told him with a growl. "This is a game he's using in hopes of stalling for time. And the only way to beat him is to win this 'game'."
"Then that means we need to solve his riddle." Twilight commented before she started rubbing her chin. "Twists and turns, twists and turns....hmmm...." She then looked out the window and saw something that gave her an idea. It was the palace's garden maze. "Twists and turns, that's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth." She exclaimed as she pointed at the garden below them before turning back to her friends. "Come on girls and Flash, let's go!"
The others nodded and followed her as they rushed out the room. As they did, Celestia said one final thing to elements. "Good luck my little ponies, the fate of Equestria is in your hooves."
"Thanks princess," Twilight called back, "we won't let you down."
Once they were gone, Luna turned to Celestia with a mixed look of worry and despair. "Do you believe they can do it?"
"Yes, I do Luna." Celestia replied with a slight sigh. "After all, they are the elements. That alone shows they can do it."
It wasn't long till the seven of them arrived at the maze. It was here that Twilight and Flash looked at each other in confusion, as the maze looked a lot bigger than it had from Canterlot Tower. Flash in particular remembered going through the maze a few times in the past as a colt, and he knew the walls were never this high up. However, before he could comment on the strange new look for the maze, somepony else spoke up.
"We have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked in fear, her whole body shaking as she did. "Its looks scary..."
"Nope," Rainbow replied as she flexed her wings, pointing at her back as she did. "Dopey Discord forgot about these." She then quickly shot into the air, "I'll just do a quick fly over and we'll have the Elements in no time." But, in that moment a flash of light occurred around the mare. As the flash of light happened, Rainbow quickly fell to the ground with a thud.
"You okay?" Flash asked as they ran over to her. The others quickly let out a gasp as they saw that her back was now bare. Her light blue wings had disappeared, leaving her ability to fly to be completely gone.
"MY WINGS!" Rainbow yelled in horror as she looked at her back. Before they could comfort her though, three more flashes of light quickly shined around the others. Reactions were delayed as Fluttershy's wings, along with Twilight and Rarity's horns vanished. Fluttershy screamed, while the unicorns stared at each other in pure utter horror.
"Your horn!" they said before looking up at their heads, "my horn! AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Flash looked back as a flash of light occurred around him. However, when it faded, his wings were still there. His blade Lightbringer though, was now gone. "What the-huh? Why did-"
However, before he could say another word, laughter filled the air. Another flash of light occurred in front of them, causing them all to backpedal. When it faded, a large hulking figure stood in front of them. The figure was the same creature that had been in the windows, Discord! The draconequus laughed as he looked down at the seven ponies. "You should see the looks on your faces," he roared through his laughter, "priceless!"
"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight yelled back, growling as she did.
"You'll get them back in good time," Discord said before vanishing and reappearing between Flash and Applejack. As he did, he began to walk past them with a big grin on his face as he started to talk. "I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see..." the draconequus's starting rant suddenly came to a halt. He turned around and stared at Flash, noticing that his wings were still on his body. "That's odd. One moment please." he said as he snapped him fingers and another flash of light occurred. However, when it faded, Flash still had his wings. Discord then 'took' his eyes out of his head, summoning a handkerchief to rub his eyeballs before putting them back in. "Okay, making sure I'm not seeing things here. Let's try that again." With that statement, Discord let out a small growl as he stared at Flash, looking like he was really concentrating before once again snapping his fingers. A stronger flash of light occurred, and when this one faded, Flash's wings were gone.
"HEY!" Flash yelped, patting his now bare back. All seven were now earth ponies.
"That was weird, I must still be rusty." Discord grumbled as he began to rub his wrists, letting out a small snort as he did. "Guess spending a few centuries locked away in a stone statue makes one a bit...off at the start. Anyways, allow me to explain the rules of our game. First rule, no flying and no magic."
"The second rule," Discord said as he warped to the top of the hedge, a giant grin on his face before summoning a bucket of popcorn in his claw. "is that everypony has to play or the game is over and I win. And the third is...eh, there's no third rule."
"That's it?" Flash asked with a cocked eyebrow, "what part of that is difficult?"
"Oh you'll find out," Discord replied as he gave a gentle chuckle, "good luck, everypony." With that, he was gone, leaving the seven alone.
"Nopony panic," Twilight said as she turned to her friends, determination all over her face. "We have each other. There's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together."
Flash nodded, a big grin on his face again. "She's right, stick together and we'll win this in no time." The others all nodded at this before moving over to the mazes entrance. As they did, they got in a line with Twilight at the start. "Alright, let's do this!"
"TOGETHER!" They all said in unison as they took their first step.
However, before they could make another move, a new maze wall shot up from ground, separating Twilight from the others. Then a second one appeared, doing the same to Rainbow Dash, then Applejack, then Rarity, then Pinkie Pie and finally Fluttershy disappeared. Flash looked around as he heard his friends screaming, his own face now showing a tinge of fear.
"That's not good. What the heck just happened?" Flash said to himself as he found himself alone. He rubbed his chin as he saw that the maze only showed one direction for him to go now.
"Stay calm girls," he heard Twilight yell over the others, "everypony head to the middle as fast as you can and we'll regroup there."
"Good plan Twilight!" Flash replied, also increasing his voice's volume. "You heard her girls! Let's move out and meet up there."
"Moving out," Rainbow's voice called, saluting as she said that.
"See you in the center everypony," Rarity said next, concern showing in her voice. "Do be careful though."
"Yeeha!" Applejack exclaimed, quickly running off as she did.
"See you guys there," Pinkie finished. "I know we'll win!"
With that, Flash shot off into the maze. As he did, his ears quickly picked up a scream from Fluttershy, but he knew he couldn't help her. Their only hope was to find the Elements and to find each other. Knowing this, the pegasus turned earth pony made a mad dash through the maze, ready for any new danger.
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Opposite of courage is cowardice, so we'll see a wimpy Flash in the coming chapters.
Ugh, Flash, you are such a dude.
8354788
Not entirely true, you see courage is doing what needs to be done especially when scared. Cowardish in the form of 'wimpy' is actually the opposite of bravery. Bullying is actually the opposite of Courage. It's an easy mistake to conflate them.
8354793
Having a sense of humor is an evolutionary necessity for males since we tend to be the more expendable of the two sexes, it's how we coup with a situation because we don't have any other venue for our emotional releases that is not otherwise destructive.
So Discord's power seems to not work on Flash as well as it does on the Mane 6.... There is something about Flash... interesting.
8354865
Alright then.
Discord's game has begun, and things are going to get worse before they get better. Looks like even Discord's magic doesn't affect Flash unless he concentrates. Which just continues the mystery of what exactly is with Flash.
Interesting that Discord had trouble taking Flash's wings away.
Flash will get discorded in maze like the rest of the girls, right?
So far it's getting interesting. Keep it up.
Th effect of the Elements of Harmony has no connection to a petrification spell since the bearers don't seem to have much control on it's effect. It's most likely that the Elements of the Tree decide what the effect is.
So we're not going with the whole Pinkie Pie has a not so secret admiration for Discord?
I suppose that's one way to make Discord more sympathetic, at the expense of Pinkie Pie's uniqueness.