News of the Parade
There were only two locations in the entirety of the Everfree Forest which had their exact location known to the five Stand Users who ventured into it. The first being The Castle of the Two Sisters. This was their destination. It was also the chosen lair of the evil cult of Stand Users. So it was safe to say that the closer they got to it, the closer the more danger they would be in.
Facing more danger alone wasn’t something that four of the five who entered the forest wanted to do. As for the fifth, she was not getting any closer to the castle no matter how hard she tried. For these reasons they all had the same idea. They would go to the other place which they knew the exact location of: Zecora’s hut.
Naturally, being the fastest, Rainbow Dash arrived first. She had tears all over her clothing from a time she’d prefer not to mention. She looked around for her friends, hoping that they would all have the same idea as she did.
She didn’t have to wait long, as it turned out. Twilight and Pinkie Pie arrived a few minutes after Dash did. The friendship princess walked with a limp, and she was forced to lean on Pinkie for support. Blood stained the center of her shirt.
Then, before long, Applejack and Rarity arrived as well. Neither of them were in particularly bad shape. But there were numerous subtle stitchings on their clothes that suggested that they, as well as the flesh underneath, had been repaired recently. Rarity was also holding one of her arms usually still, as if she was paranoid about damaging it.
Everypony was happy to see the others in relative safety. Rarity had her dogs tend to the wounds and tears that her friends had received while they all traded stories of their encounters within the woods. With each story being told, the others listened in silence as they took this moment to finally get a chance at reprise.
When everyone was up to speed on what the others had been through, Twilight put her hand to her chin and started to piece together all of the facts that they had.
“Well it’s obvious that we’re facing stronger Stand Users than we had in the past.” Twilight put forth firstly. “Ones who are more experienced, rather than our friends who were brainwashed and given them recently.”
“I can’t believe I'm saying this,” Dash commented. “But I think I preferred it when it was ponies that we knew.”
“Same here,” Rarity agreed. “Misguided impulses are certainly much easier to deal with than what I can only assume to be experienced killers.”
“We also somehow got separated from each other while we were making march towards the castle.” Twilight went on. “Pinkie, are you sure that you didn’t see Applejack and Rarity take a wrong turn?”
“Absolutely,” Pinkie affirmed. “I was paying attention to them the whole time. The second I looked away from them to you, they were gone!”
“And Rainbow Dash,” Twilight turned to her Pegasus friend. “You said no matter how fast or far you flew, you didn’t make it to the castle?”
“Yeah!” Rainbow threw her arms up in annoyance. “With the speed I flew at, I should have been nearly to Appleloosa by now! But I never even cleared the forest! I know it's not that big!”
“Ok,” Twilight scratched her chin more. “I think I’m getting close to figuring this out. But first, I think we’re going to need another opinion.” Twilight turned to the hut they all gathered at and knocked on the door.
“Zecora! Zecora, are you home?” Twilight paused for a response. There was none. “Zecora, it’s us. We need your help!” Still there was silence.
Twilight slowly opened the door and peered inward. It was completely dark. She lit her horn up and walked inside, illuminating the the hut as she did so. It was empty. The only creatures inside were the five that had come here. The hut’s owner was nowhere to be found.
“Perhaps she’s stepped out?” Rarity offered.
“This late at night?” Rainbow countered. “She’d probably be sleeping.”
“That’s correct Rainbow Dash,” Twilight nodded her head, her eyes fixed on Zecora’s empty bed. “It’s past midnight. Zecora should be fast asleep in this bed. But it’s empty. Why?”
“Um, because maybe she’s sleepwalking?” Pinkie asked.
Twilight shook her head and turned around. “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s because this isn’t Zecora’s hut.”
“What do you mean, not Zecora’s hut?” Applejack raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Exactly what I said Applejack. We’re not in Zecora’s hut. In fact, I don’t even think that we’re in the Everfree at all.” Twilight squinted her eyes and pointed upwards. “We’re trapped inside of an enemy Stand!”
Everypony standing in front of Twilight gasped and took a step back at this revelation. They all instinctively looked around them to try and look for danger.
“Are you positive?” Rarity asked.
“It’s the only explanation.” Twilight began to walk around the hut, examining everything. “I theorize that we entered this Stand the second that we walked into the Everfree. It created a copy of it, starting from the entrance, and ending just at the Castle of the Two Sisters.”
Twilight paused to think more. “And it’s been keeping us in here by moving us around it’s illusion. It’s probably able to warp the space inside its fake illusion. That way it could even keep up with 2 Minutes to Midnight flying at full speed. It just made the transitions seamless so we wouldn’t notice.”
“So why aren’t we being moved around right now like when we got separated?” Applejack asked.
“Probably because we’ve defeated all of the Stand Users they sent after us.” Twilight explained. “They most likely didn’t expect us to, and didn’t have backup planned. So the User is leaving us alone for the time being, until they can get more cult members to come in and attack us.”
“Then we’ve got to get out of here before that happens!” Rainbow shouted. “How do we do that Egghead?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I have a working theory.” Twilight faced Rainbow directly. “And it involves your Stand Rainbow Dash.
“This Stand can’t possibly have infinite space. I don’t think anything could accomplish that. Logically, it has to have boundaries.We just never reach them because we’re moved to different locations.”
“Alright, and how do I stop that from happening?” Rainbow’s interest was peaked knowing that she might be the most important one here.
“Don’t you see Rainbow Dash? Your 2 Minutes to Midnight has the power to reject anything. Friction, outside distractions, physical objects, and…”
“And enemy Stands trying to move it!” Pinkie excited added, to which Twilight nodded her head in confirmation.
“Exactly. So Rainbow Dash, if you could create a vacuum around all of us that rejects outside forces moving whatever is inside, then we could reach the edge of the Stand and escape.”
Rainbow’s face told Twilight that she didn’t fully understand what she had just said. But the quick change into a confident grin said that she got the just of it.
“Alright, you can count on me!” Rainbow hopped into the air and mounted a freshly summoned 2M2M. She had everypony come in closer to her Stand before closing her eyes and thinking. She tried to picture outside movement, and what that would be like. Strong winds blowing you back. A carriage running into you and sending you in the direction it was going. Somepony trying to push her back down to the ground. She visualized all of that in her head and rejected it. She would move in the direction that she wanted to and nothing would stop her from doing so.
“Got it!” Rainbow Dash felt the vacuum around her, her Stand, and her friends. “Hold on tight everypony, ‘cause we’re busting out of here!”
Before anypony could say that they weren’t ready yet, they all heard 2M2M’s engines starting to roar to life. They all grabbed onto the Stand as quick as they could. Holding onto its wings and shoulders tightly. They all closed their eyes and braced for the gforce to make them feel like they would plummet down the ground at any second.
But they didn’t feel that at all. They didn’t feel anything. When they opened their eyes, they all saw that they were high in the air. Zecora’s hut was rapidly shrinking as they went higher into the air. But they didn’t feel any motion at all. Gravity pushing downwards counted as an outside force. Nothing would stop them from going the way 2M2M wanted to go, which was up. Up and towards the edge of the Stand.
A Stand which was tucked away in the real version of the hut far below them. The cult member that controlled it didn’t want to be outside in the Everfree Forest, especially at night. But he needed to be in the area he was creating a copy of with his Stand, Two Doors Down. So he elected to take up shelter inside the hut of a sleeping Zebra, hiding inside of an empty black cauldron.
He was able to sense the victims he trapped inside of it all moving towards its upper limits. He simply tried to warp them downwards constantly so they would never make any progress towards those limits. But to his shock, he never felt them move. No matter how hard he tried, they would move in no direction but the one they chose to go in.
Soon, the small frog like Stand attached to his back started to cough. A large bulge formed in its throat before it threw up five ponies and one Stand. The sudden increase in volume caused the cauldron to loudly tip over, spilling out all seven of its occupants.
The sound of cast iron crashing onto the floor, as well as ponies shouting and surprise, was enough to wake the hut’s owner from her sleep. As soon as she awake she grabbed a staff from nearby her bed and waved it as she got up. Every candle inside lit up at once and she pointed the staff towards the center of the hut.
“Who dares intrude upon my home?!” Zecora shouted. “Speak up now, and let your purpose be known!” But she right where she stood when she witnessed the sight of five ponies she knew all surrounding a stallion she didn’t, along with an apparition holding holding said stallion by the neck.
“I must say, this is such a vexing sight. Your tears and tatters tell me you’ve all had quite the night.” Zecora lowered her staff and calmed down upon seeing who had woken her up. She was still slightly confused, but less so now.
“Zecora!” Twilight exclaimed. “Celestia, you don’t know how happy we are to see a friendly face.”
“Of how much, I am only left to guess. But before words are exchanged, take care of this pest.” The zebra ushered to the cultiest in 2M2M’s grasp. “And when doing so, I ask you show restraint with your power. I do not feel like cleaning my hut at such a late hour.”
“Wait,” Applejack widened her eyes in realization. “You can see Dash’s 2 Minutes to Midnight? Then that means you…”
“You have a Stand too!” Pinkie shouted to finish Applejack’s sentence.
“The Earth Ponies are correct in that I do, in fact, possess a Stand. And this intruder should be happy he didn’t force my hand.”
~~~
The absolute second Princess Twilight and her friends told her that the cultiest had kidnapped Fluttershy, Discord had snapped his fingers harder than he ever had before and teleported straight to the Castle of the Two Sisters. He knew better than to go anywhere else less he walk directly into a trap that might have been set up for him. Tonight, he was not playing any games.
In the past, Discord was always aware of this cult’s existence. But he never paid them any mind. They were just a bunch of silly, misguided ponies to him. At first, the constant praise he received from them was nice. He soon grew bored of it though. Boredom even sooner turned into annoyance. So he cast them off without a second thought.
But now they’ve crossed a line that they, nor anypony at all, should ever cross. They had messed with his Fluttershy. And now, they would pay the price for it.
When Discord entered the decrypted Castle, he found a mostly empty foyer as his first sight. Empty, save for the lone pony standing in the center of it whom the god couldn’t care less about. They had some sort of Stand manifested, but that mattered not to Discord. He didn’t even pay mind to the words they were saying. None of that mattered to him. Only Fluttershy’s safety did.
Apparently, they weren’t aware that Stands don’t work on him, as the confused look on their face told Discord that they didn’t understand why nothing was happening to him. This confused look only existed for the second it took Discord to snap his fingers, as that was how much longer their face did too. After that second, the pony cultist was no longer there and instead a literal worm cultist was in their place.
Discord did not linger in the foyer for much longer after that. He snapped his fingers once again and teleported straight to the dungeon. This was the most logical place to keep prisoners. And even if they weren’t being entirely logical, as any cult that had him as their object of worship should not be, it was the only place in the palace that came pre-equipped to do this.
With a flashlight which did not exist until recently in hand, Discord began checking each cell one by one.
~~~
Fluttershy hurt. Fluttershy shivered. Fluttershy wanted to sit curled up into a corner of the dank and wet cell she was being held in. But she couldn’t. Her arms were chained uncomfortably high to the cold stone wall. Her clothes were in rags. Dried blood stained her yellow fur.
Why was this happening to her? She didn’t want this to happen. She didn’t even want to think about what had just happened to her. She wanted to make it all go away.
But most of all right now, Fluttershy wanted to get out of this cell before he came back. The very thought of that made her shiver in terror. Waiting was not an option. She would have to escape now and hide so that he wouldn’t find her.
The only pony with the key to unlocking Futtershy’s bindings and cell was the cultist who was left in charge of guarding her. He had given them strict orders not to even look at her. So trying to convince him was out of the question. Fluttershy dreaded this, but she saw no other option. She would have to use Comfortably Numb.
The bound angel materialized on the other side of the bars, directly behind the cultist. It laid its hand on their shoulders and radiated a soft aura. The cultist didn’t have time to react to feeling Comfortably Numb’s touch before they froze stiff.
Sympathy was what Fluttershy needed. She needed to instill a deep sense of sympathy for her in this cultist. That way, they would feel so bad about keeping her in here that they would have no choice but to let her go.
Fluttershy focused on her negative emotions. Everything that made her seem pathetic and helpless. Something somepony would want to help. She channeled them through Comfortably Numb and into the guard. They were now feeling all of Fluttershy’s helplessness and pity.
At first, it appeared to be working. Fluttershy could tell that the guard’s expression was changing. They looked deeply hurt. Regretful for what was going on. But the look only deepened. Any semblance of hope left their face. Fighting back tears, the cultist drew a knife from their pocket.
“NO!” Fluttershy screamed. But she knew that she could do nothing to stop what she had caused. She closed her eyes tightly and turned her head away. When she opened them again, the cult now had one less member.
Everything seemed to stand still after that. Nothing moved. Not Fluttershy, not Comfortably Numb, and certainly not the guard. Fluttershy, much like the guard, wasn’t even breathing. Then she resumed her breath at an extremely heightened pace. She squinted her eyes shut and again fought back tears of her own.
At first, Fluttershy didn’t want to make the guard’s death pointless. So she had Comfortably Numb bend down and take the key from their corpse. Even if she wasn’t directly touching it, it still nauseated her to do so. Then she made her Stand use that key to unlock the cell. It slowly walked towards the far wall where Fluttershy was bound. There it paused.
Fluttershy stared at the key in Comfortably Numb’s hands, then at the chains around its wings. Should she unlock herself? It had happened again. Somepony was dead because of her. Because her Stand protected her from her own emotions. It nearly happened at the school, it almost happened with Spike, and it happened to everypony in the room when he was torturing her, except for him.
This monster had caused so much harm in the name of protecting Fluttershy. But, this monster was her. And it was using what she created to cause harm. Maybe it was best if she stayed in her cage.
Any further deep thinking was cut off by the bright flashlight of a Draconequus.
“There you are!” Discord shouted in relief.
“Discord,” Fluttershy cried in surprise.”What are you doing here?”
“Why I’m here to rescue you of course,” Discord snapped his fingers and Fluttershy’s chains disappeared. Then he looked to the corpse on the floor. “Though it appears you were doing just fine without me.” He shrugged and a giant broom and dustpan appeared, which swept the corpse up and disappeared. “Now let’s get out of this ghastly place.”
Fluttershy slowly walked out of her cell to join Discord. But then she froze in place when she looked down the hall. She saw him.
The pony that stood at the end of the hallway did not stand as if he was guarding it. In fact, the way he stood was still and frozen in place. His head leaned slightly backwards, looking up at the ceiling. His arms hung down at his sides, completely limp. In the darkness of the musty caverns, his coat color nor clothes could be seen. Fluttershy froze as she stepped out towards Discord, nearly within his embrace.
When she stopped, however, Discord raised an eyebrow and turned to follow her gaze. When he laid eyes on him, they shrunk down in thought.
“Come now, Fluttershy,” Discord extended his hand out towards her, “Let us be rid of this ghastly place and get you someplace safe.”
The second that Discord spoke, the pony’s head snapped back towards him. His body seemed to lag behind his head as it turned, but once he had his gaze could be seen. His deep purple irises were trembling, jerking as though they were creatures contained by a net too small for them. After a moment, his lips opened slowly.
“My… master…” He let out a breathless gasp., “You’ve… finally come back for… me!”
His last word was a shriek of joy, followed by him stepping forward into the hallway. His lips curled into a wide and unconstrained smile as he continued to step forward. With each step, it brought him closer to Discord. Closer to them. Fluttershy shook hard as each step made her entire body quake before she pushed herself against the bars, her breath turning into gasps.
“Come now, Fluttershy,” Discord moved to put his body between her and him, “A single stallion can’t do that much harm to you. Especially when you have me around,” With that, Discord raised his fingers.
“WAIT!” He screamed. His shriek was so loud and piercing that it made Discord pause. Immediately after, he dropped down to his knees, the sound of the thud it creating reaching the two of them.
“Wait! Please.. .be..before you show, your incredible, your wonderful power, please… please, my Master!” He leaned his head up, his eyes opened wider than saucers as he stared at Discord, “Look… look upon my face, let it, remember me, and let me show… show you everything that we’ve done…”
Curiously, Discord looked at the stallion, then to the trembling Fluttershy, His fingers snapped, causing a block in the nearby wall to turn into a little lamp. The lamp turned towards the stallion, illuminating his face.
Now, Discord could see that the stallion was a dull, deep brown. The lack of horn on his head and bump under his clothes indicated he was an earth pony. Beginning at the bottom of his chin was a set of three slash marks. As the light panned down, it revealed these marks to travel all the way down to his neck, where the deep red of his skin through his fur seemed to indicate that the scars were severe. His hair was long and matted, looking as though it hadn’t been washed in a long while. Droplets of red were dispersed throughout it. It hung in little strands over his face, obscuring his eyes when he moved it around.
“I know you… yes, I do remember you…” Discord rubbed his chin as a bit of flame formed from the friction of it, “Oh, but I don’t remember your name.”
“D-Derelict! Y-You wouldn’t know it, I changed it! O-Or rather, I forgot it…” Derelict opened his arms wide, “Y-You remember me, you do? I’m so glad… it, it, it never… Discord…” Derelict whimpered, like a filly in awe of a superhero.
“Y-You know him..?” Fluttershy whimpered from behind Discord. Her body shrunk down behind the draconequus.
“Yes, he started following me and eventually he started leading around that group of ponies that called themselves my worshipers,” Discord paused, “Oh, but I thought Celestia and Luna would have taken care of you by now. And certainly if not them…”
“They… did… they did, they did so much…” Derelict’s entire body tensed, “T-They took it all away. They did this to me…” Derelict leaned his head backwards, letting the two see the full extent of the scars across his neck, “They hurt us all, my Master, all all all all all all of us!!”
“Yes, I’m sure they did,” Discord nodded his head, “Listen, I would love to stay and reminisce, but right now, I have a few places to be, and you’re not in them.”
“NO!!!” Derelict screamed, his voice reverberating off the walls and causing Fluttershy to shriek and cower down behind her rescuer, “No you can’t leave, you can’t leave, you can’t leave! Not yet, not yet!!”
“And why is that, Deri...Derry… Derelict?” Discord fumbled for the name while a spark formed between his ready to snap fingers.
“I-I want through, all the trouble, to bring you here… t-to bring them all here… w-what was sealed away, what was lost from you, it must be found, it must be given form, it must be shown the light, you must herald it! Come, come please, follow, follow me, me down into, to show you what you need!”
“I’m afraid you’re getting rather lost there,” Discord’s eyes narrowed, “And given that you apparently went through some trouble getting me here, I believe you have just put yourself in a very dangerous position from where I stand.”
“Stand! Where you Stand, yes! Your Stand!” Derelict giggled, his fingers moving up to run through his hair. Almost instantly, his head snapped forward and whatever glee was there was immediately shot out, “Why did you abandon us…?”
Discord had little way of reacting to that, “Abandon you? I usually keep close tabs on the ones I do that to, so I would ask you be more specific there.”
“You… you left us… you left us all alone to face them…” Derelict raised his hands. Slowly, something began to form over his hands. A pair of fists. Black outlines with white scribbles began to sparkle over his own, “Gifts, you gave us these gifts but… but no, you still left…”
“If you’re referring to back then, I had a little case of, oh how you say, petrification going on. So unfortunately you will have to move on,” Discord put his hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “Come now, Fluttershy, let us not indulge the ravings of this pony any longer.”
“You can’t leave!!!” Derelict yelped, “You didn’t abandon us, you didn’t! Cast aside your trappings and come, come, join us!”
“Trappings?” Discord turned to look at Fluttershy. His gaze followed her trembling eyes to the sight of Derelict with his arms now held out wide, “It seems my earlier warning didn’t get through to you. I would make clear right now that you’re not insinuating you were the one that arranged all this?”
“I… did more, than just arrange, arrange it all!” Derelict nodded his head, “I-I, I did it, I found it! I found it, the news I’ve waited for so long, the one that rattled in my head, that consumed me, that couldn’t let me sleep, the one that I thought of every day since our defeats! You, you understand, don’t you? Don’t you?!”
Derelict’s grin was suddenly turned to a twisted terror as he saw his arms starting to writhe. Tiny little ropes sprouted from his skin, then turned to chains and launched back and dug into the wall, melding with it like water. Derelict had no time to react as the chains tightened, yanking him by the bone to the wall. When he hit the wall, he was completely pinned.
Discord was in front of him in an instant. The chaos god slammed his palms on either side of Derelict’s face, his eyes alight with flame. His snarl looked feral, his teeth growing wider, sharper and scarier. As his breath came upon Derelict’s chin, it stung of poison and malice.
“I will give you one last chance,” Discord spat, his saliva turning to acid on Derelict’s face to burn into his flesh, “I wanted to assume you were all insane and leave, but tell me right now. Did you do this to Fluttershy?!”
Derelict’s eyes widened. His entire body locked up. Everything about him seemed to freeze, to unfreeze, then freeze again. Tears began to well in his eyes as his fingers opened and closed. As he turned his head away, his eyes screwed shut. His lips opened and loosed a high pitched wail of utter unrestrained terror.
“BLACK PARADE!” Derelict shrieked out with all his voice.
In that moment, something materialized in front of him. What appeared in the space between them was a figure that looked like it only existed in two dimensions. It’s body was flat with long, circular, disproportionate limbs. While it’s whole body was black, it seemed only to be an empty void for the white scribbles inside of it to inhabit. They had nor definite form and were constantly moving. The only shapes that persisted were the white circles that made up its eyes and mouth. Even then the outlines jiggled and shook. The expression this face made looked to be constantly in pain.
“You and your followers should know that your petty little playthings won’t work on me!” Discord raised his fingers, “I’ll see how you like to spend eternity with your organs shuffling themselves about on a whim!”
Discord put his fingers up, bringing them down to form his snap. Yet just before he completed the motion, he froze. His expression softened, then it shattered. He turned towards Fluttershy, and what he saw brought him to his knees.
The Stand that Derelict had summoned had passed through Discord, but instead had turned towards Fluttershy. A hand was placed right above his eyes, holding them open. The two piercing red orbs were staring straight into Fluttershy, and the mare was utterly immobilized as she lifted her hand up towards Discord.
“C-C-Comfortably… Numb…!” Fluttershy gasped out as though she was being strangled. Just as she spoke, her Stand materialized in front of her, holding onto her arm. It shook and trembled like it was being held, restrained against its will. But both User and Stand pointed their full force towards Discord.
Pain. Discord felt pain. Not the physical pain, the mental one. The one that came of knowing what true fear was. The fear shot through the pain. The pain encased the fear. His entire body, it felt like he was stiff. Like if he moved, he’d be hurt. Punished. He felt it. He felt Fluttershy’s terror, her pain, her utter horrifying notion at something happening to her. To others.
Discord was on his knees, no on all fours. He couldn’t breathe. He felt suffocated. Suffocated as though breathing hurt. Breathing would hurt him. It would remind him of the pain in his throat. From the fear. The pain that came from swallowing too hard, that came from screaming too loudly. His body went limp.
“P-Please… s-stop…” Fluttershy gasped again. Tears were streaming from her eyes. Her entire body was held still, save for trembling.
The chains going through his bones that held him to the wall vanished. Derelict slumped down to the floor. He didn’t get up. Instead, Black Parade moved over. It opened its arms and drew his limbs closer to his body. It helped Derelict curl into the fetal position. Then he wailed.
“I WAITED FOR YOU!” Derelict yelled out, “I WAITED I WAITED I WAITED! THE PRINCESSES, THE MOUNTAIN, THE DEATH, THE FEAR! I WAITED FOR YOU! I WAITED FOR YOU!”
Discord tried to turn his head towards Derelict. Just doing that felt like moving a mountain. When he did look to Derelict, Black Parade was hovering over him. Wrapped around him. Comforting him. Derelict didn’t stop.
“I WAITED FOR YOU I WAITED FOR YOU I waited for you I waited for you I waited for your I waited for you I… I… I waited… for… you…” Derelict’s screams turned to sobs, his sobs to whimpers, and then to silence. He stopped moving.
Fluttershy stumbled forward, only to gasp as the pain of trying to stop herself caused her to slump forward. She gripped the wall, unable to breath. Just seeing the sight of Discord in front of her, on the ground and unable to move, another victim of her Stand, made her sick. She shook hard and then broke into tears again.
Her crying was interrupted by a hand on her throat. Her hands feebly reached out as she saw Derelict in front of him. His eyes were wide, tearstained with vengeance. His hand around her throat was tight, painful and concise. His other hand came to grab her face, dragging her eyes towards his own. He held here there, just off the ground, letting her suffocate for air.
“You… you defied me…” Derelict whispered, “You… you said no…” He cocked his head to the side, “Do not forget… what you signed…”
Fluttershy gasped for air. Her eyes shut tightly as she gagged and spat up for some semblance of air. After a moment, she was put down onto the ground, only to be slammed into the bars behind her. The pain stunned her, leaving her to fumble about for something.
Then she heard laughter. Laughter coming from Derelict. She looked down to see him, his head hung low and unnaturally slumped forward while his chest heaved in uncontrollable fits. When he stopped laughing, his head seemed to creep back up towards her like a spider on a web.
“Its ruined… you ruined it…” Derelict giggled, then he howled, “You ruined it all! You corrupted him! You took away my Discord! My lord! My Master! You… you ruined all the Black Parade stood for!!!”
“I-I’m… sorry I-I… I didn’t know!” Fluttershy shrieked.
Derelict stared at her for another moment, then he let her go. She fell to the floor unceremoniously. Derelict reached out with his arm, but form it extend that of Black Parade’s fist. It gripped behind Fluttershy, dragging out Comfortably Numb from her. After a moment, it used its other hand to pull its eyes open again.
“You will… You will keep Discord… in this state… if he attempts to speak… to move… to do anything that would allow him to snap his fingers, you will pour all of your fear into him. And let me remind you… if you leave this castle without your friends in tow… you will die, and your soul will forever be apart of my Stand…”
Fluttershy looked as though she was being constrained again. She nodded her head weakly, causing Black Parade to let her go. Derelict hovered over her for a few moments, before he flung himself towards the opposite wall and pressed his head into the stones.
“Discord, he’s not my Discord anymore! She took him!” He babbled to himself, “He’s gone, I can’t use him, I can’t, I can’t do it, the plan is wrong, the plan is failed. He’s gone, she did it! Have to, have to find something, something else! Something new, something to make it work! News, need news, the news must be spread, the Black Parade must rise, must rise!”
“Stands, Stands, the others, coming, the seal broken…” He continued, “Broken, without vessel, without User, Stand, not there, not worth it, nothing to recover… she did this! She, she must, break, seal must break, need to break, break break… break…” He put his hands on his head, “Discord only one, but, Discord corrupted, have to, have to find… have to find…”
“Master!” A refined voice called out from the end of the hallway. A stallion ran forth, skidding to a halt in front of him, “Master, two of our members have been reduced to insects, we need to-”
The stallion looked to the prone form of Discord on the ground. As he looked ot Derelict and listened in on his babblings, he sucked in a breath.
“It… It has already begun then…” He ruffled his hands together, “I’m… I’m so sorry, Master, I wasn’t around for this. Has… has he agreed to be the vessel?”
“NO!” Derelict groaned out, “He… refused… I will have to do it…”
“...Master,” The stallion paused, “Is that wise? We don’t know what it will… what it could do. We could fix him, I’m sure he just needs the right persuasion…”
“I’m the only one!” Derelict gaspepd out, “The… the only one who can… who can do this. Who can take this task on… I… I have a task for you…”
“Yes, Master!” The stallion bowed graciously, “Anything you ask of me.”
“I need… time… to rethink… to prepare myself… vessel…” Derelict sucked in a breath, “Delay the others when they arrive for as long as you can. I need their blood. Do not… do not take their corpses…”
“I see, I will do so for as long as I must!” The stallion nodded once more, “What of the siblings?”
“Stand-by, they be ready for the News…” Derelict lifted his head up, “Leave them ready for the News. I will spread the News myself.”
He turned towards where Discord lay, “If he will not do it… then the News… I will take on the task… the world will know once more… what it always should have been…”
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If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
9777015
I'm not the best at describing voices, but for Derelict at least, he'd sound somewhat like Arakune from Blazblue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YRRCwKW1cw
Fluttershy
Discord can not be effected by stands and he can not hurt them in turn. This chapter makes no sence...