The Cutie Mark Crusaders Bring About the Apocalypse

by BronyWriter

Bickering Demigods Like Making Lamb Stew: Everything Goes to Pot!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders watched with smiles as the wielders of the Elements of Harmony ran towards the train station, hoping to find the Elements of Harmony so that they could stop the Crusaders. Discord and Nightmare Moon watched the retreating figures with frowns on their faces.

"Are we really giving them a five minute head start?" asked Discord. "If I learned anything from my time against them last time it's that giving them the Elements always leads to disaster!"

"I agree," said Nightmare Moon with a solemn nod. "We should destroy the foals on the spot, the they cannot stop our plans!"

"Don't worry guys,” reassured Sweetie Belle. "Even if they do find the Elements, they can't do anything to stop us."

"Yeah, they already blasted us with the Elements and the book merely recharged us. They can't do anything." said Scootaloo.

"Speaking of that," said Discord. "May I ask what our plans are? What do you mean 'ancient undead army to take over all of Equestria'?"

"Oh that," said Apple Bloom with a grin. "Well it's quite simple really. See, all we gotta do is go to the ancient castle of the two royal sisters in the Everfree forest and chant the last words of the ancient ritual and the army of the undead will be fully awoken and we can take over all of Equestria! Once we do, the gods of the underworld will break through to this world and darkness and evil will rule the land forever!"

Discord's eyes widened when he heard this and to the surprise of the Crusaders, he took a step back.

"You would awaken the ancient ones?" he said darkly.

"Why of course!” said Apple Bloom. "What'd you think this was all for anyway?"

"We thought that you merely intended to bring chaos and darkness to the world through your own means," said Nightmare Moon. We did not think that you actually intended to awaken the ancient ones."

"What's the problem with that?" asked Scootaloo.

"The problem with that is that nopony will survive their rule," said Discord.

"Well duh," said Sweetie Belle, rolling her eyes.

"No, when I say nopony, I mean NOPONY. You three will not be spared the terrors that will come down on this lands of the ancient ones are awoken," said Discord.

"Sure we will," said Apple Bloom. "The ancient ones said so."

"THEY LIE!" said Nightmare Moon who almost looked afraid at the very thought of the ancient ones returning. "They will not spare you just because you are the ones who awoke them."

"But the book said that we'd be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams!" said Sweetie Belle.

"You were," said Discord. "But if you finish the ritual then they will take it all away from you."

"We cannot allow that to happen!" said Nightmare Moon angrily as she fired up her horn. "If you awaken the ancient ones, it will mean death for us all!" Discord also took a fighting stance.

"I'll grant that I've had even more fun than I had last time I escaped my stone prison, but the novelty has worn off! It's time to get serious. I cannot allow you to let the ancient ones rule the land."

The Crusaders glared at the two beings and fired up their horns as well.

"And who's going to stop us, you!?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Don't make us laugh!" said Scootaloo. "Not even Luna's Lunar Rising spell could stop us, nor could the Elements of Harmony!"

"While we have the book, nopony can stop us!" said Sweetie Belle. Discord and Nightmare Moon both narrowed their eyes.

"So be it," said Nightmare Moon. The evil alicorn immediately fired a spell at Sweetie Belle's saddlebag, causing it to split open. The book fell out and Discord snapped his fingers, causing the book to appear in his hands. Sweetie Belle fired a spell that hit him directly in the chest, causing him to fly back and drop the book. Nightmare Moon encased the book in the most powerful protection spell she could muster before turning her attention back to the Crusaders.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle began dueling Nightmare Moon while Scootaloo began working on breaking the protective shield around the book. She fired spell after spell at it but they all bounced harmlessly off the shield.

"I can't break it!" she said.

"Foals! Did you seriously think that you could defeat me without your precious book?" asked Nightmare Moon as she absorbed a green beam of light fired at her by Sweetie Belle. "I know that you are weaker without it in your possession!"

"We're still stronger than you are!" said Apple Bloom, rapidly firing bright red beams of light at Nightmare Moon.

"But not stronger than both of us!" said Discord who had gotten back up to join the fight. He raised his arms into the air and immediately all of the plants around them tripled in size and transformed into predatory animals that Discord immediately sent after the Crusaders. Scootaloo gasped and blasted one of the plants with a fire spell but it was quickly repaired by Discord. Discord then brought his arms down and all of the statues in the garden (Princess Celestia included) became animated and attacked the Crusaders as well.

"You cannot hope to defeat us," said Discord. "We'll crush you and leave you as nothing more than a statue in these gardens."

"Never!' said Apple Bloom who shot a powerful blast that disintegrated one of the statues. Nightmare Moon used the opening to fire a wall of fire at Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle only barely managed to put up a protective spell in time to prevent Apple Bloom from being roasted alive.

Meanwhile, Scootaloo was battling Discord by blasting aside all of the statues and plants he had brought back to life. However, Discord was repairing them as fast as she could destroy them and Scootaloo knew that she would have to increase the power of her spells to completely disintegrate them as Apple Bloom had.

Discord raised his hand to the sky and called upon his cotton candy clouds that formed a into one giant mass before he sent the mass hurtling towards Scootaloo. He scored a direct hit and Scootaloo found herself trapped in a giant, sticky mass. She began heating up her horn, hoping that the heat that it generated would cause the clouds to catch fire but it was a slow process.

Satisfied that Scootaloo was secure for the time being, Discord moved his attention towards the battle between the other two Crusaders and Nightmare Moon.

It appeared that of the three of them, Apple Bloom had the most power as she was able to fire spells at Discord's plants while at the same time protecting herself from Nightmare Moon's attacks. As it was, Sweetie Belle still had to jump in to block some of her quicker assaults while firing back some spells of her own. Discord noticed that Nightmare Moon was beginning to tire out and that he was running out of plant assailants.

He raised his hands to the sky once more and the very rocks of the ground began to tremble and rise up. Sweetie Belle saw this and fired a beam of red light towards Discord. Nightmare Moon noticed Sweetie Belle's attack and she countered it with a spell of her own. Seeing an opening, Apple Bloom began rapidly firing beams of green light at Nightmare Moon, all of which hit her in the chest and head, knocking her back and sending her flying. With Nightmare Moon stunned, Sweetie Belle fired a powerful blast at the mass of clouds, instantly freeing Scootaloo who on the whole looked no worse for wear.

However, Discord's rock projectiles had finally come out of the earth and he sent them flying towards Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom fired blasts at the rocks that proceeded to melt them in the air. However, the sheer size and quantity of them meant that at least a dozen of them repeatedly slammed into the Crusaders.

Scootaloo would have helped them, but she was busy fighting a newly recovered Nightmare Moon who was blocking every attack that Scootaloo threw at her. With the other two Crusaders down for the count at the moment, Discord turned to help Nightmare Moon fight Scootaloo. He raised a few more of his rock projectiles, as well as a few more statues and plants, and he attacked Scootaloo.

It was all Scootaloo could do to block their vicious assaults. She tried both blasting Discord's attacks aside as well as blocking Nightmare Moon's attacks. She unleashed a powerful spell that knocked her two combatants back for a brief moment and used it to catch her breath.

She saw that Sweetie Belle was flat out knocked out and Apple Bloom wasn't faring much better. The two made eye contact and Apple Bloom promptly looked at the book which was still encased in Nightmare Moon's shield. Scootaloo nodded and at that moment, Nightmare Moon and Discord recovered and advanced once more towards Scootaloo. Apple Bloom fired a red beam that hit Nightmare Moon in the side of the head and distracted Discord while he analyzed the new threat in the battle. It was all the distraction Scootaloo needed. She fired a spell at the shield which, since Nightmare Moon was weakened from the battle and stunned at the moment, shattered instantly. Scootaloo fired up her horn to retrieve the book but Discord raised his arms once more and the very ground opened up and swallowed the book. Scootaloo fired a spell at the book that made sure that it was still partially above ground before the Earth closed up.

Apple Bloom got back to her hooves and used the distraction to knock Discord back once more. Nightmare Moon tried rising to her hooves again but Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both fired powerful spells that hit her in the head, knocking her out.

At that moment, Discord stood back up and faced the Crusaders, now joined by a newly revived Sweetie Belle.

"Stand down, Discord!" said Scootaloo. "You can't beat us!" Discord narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps not," he said. "But I can make sure that you cannot find the book for a long time. By now the Wielders will have reached Ponyville and if I know Twilight Sparkle, she knows where you sent the Elements."

"But they already blasted us with the Elements!" said Scootaloo.

"Yeah," said Sweetie Belle. "And look at us now, we're stronger than ever!"

"Face it Discord, you've lost," said Apple Bloom. "We will call the ancient ones and they will destroy the world!"

"And you with it," said Discord. "Does not the fact that not even I or Nightmare Moon would dare awaken the ancient ones give you a clue as to their intentions? If they really meant for the ones who awoke them to keep the kind of power that you now possess then I would have awoken them a long time ago."

The Crusaders looked uneasily at each other. Was Discord telling the truth? He picked up on their unease and continued.

"Take it from someone who has been alive a lot longer than you: don't mess with the ancient ones!"

The Crusaders glanced uneasily at each other and then at the book. Discord slowly walked up to the book and took it out of the ground.

"If you blast it out of my hands, then this will all be over. The ancient ones will not wake up and we'll all get to go our merry ways. You just need to destroy the book!"

"Then what'll happen to you?" asked Apple Bloom. "We'll lose out power and you won't have anypony to stop you from takin' over. You or Nightmare Moon will come and take over."

"Well I..."

"If we destroy the book, you win. I know that you won't let the wielders get the Elements, you wouldn't willingly go back to your stone prison just to stop the ancient ones. You're too smart for that," said Scootaloo. Instantly, Sweetie Belle summoned the book to the Crusaders.

"If we awaken the ancient ones, you don't get to rule the world!"

"Neither do you!" said Discord.

"How do you know?" asked Apple Bloom. "Have the ancient ones ever awoken before?" Discord stayed silent. Instead, he just looked at the book, wondering how to get it away from them.

"I don't suppose I can stop you from taking over the world," he said. "But I can delay you for a long time."

With that, he snapped his fingers and the book vanished. The Crusaders gasped.

"Where did you put it!?" asked Scootaloo angrily.

"The same place you took the Elements," said Discord smugly. "By now the wielders will have found them and they can stop you from making a mistake that will destroy us all!"

With a snarl of rage, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all fired a bright beam at Discord. Before Discord could move out of the way, the beam hit him directly in the chest. His screams of agony at being hit slowly faded away as his stone form slowly began creeping up on him. Within seconds, he was a statue once more.

The Crusaders looked over at Nightmare Moon who was still knocked out. With a nod, the Crusaders fired a beam at her and instantly the mare in the moon appeared once more. The Crusaders all high-hooved each other now that their greatest threats were defeated.

Apple Bloom looked up at the night sky and gave a contented sigh.

"Come on girls; let's go get our book back!"

Comments

[Drawdex]

Three updates in a day...

You make me happy.

[Seether00]

Cutie Crusaders Betrayers, YAY!!

[pononymous]

"Are we really giving them a five minute head start?" asked Discord. "If I learned anything from my time against them last time it's that giving them the Elements always leads to disaster!"
"I agree," said Nightmare Moon with a solemn nod. "We should destroy the foals on the spot, the they cannot stop our plans!"

Yay, at least some villains have read The Evil Overlord List

[pononymous]

Awww, poor Discord, I wonder what would have happened if he had corrupted them? Wouldn't they be good again, but with all the evil powers still? and grey?

[Samurai_Shippo]

Holy shit. I never thought I would be rooting for both Discord and Nightmare Moon.

[Sweetiebellema121]

the crusaders turned discord to stone...ut oh that means they have the same powers as the elements

[RaptorCalloftheShadows]

So... so Twi can see us now? *peers at screen* .... *waves frantically* HI TWILIGHT! :D

[banjo2E]

You know, this should really have the [Random] tag...

[bahatumay]

I greatly approve of this series of events.

[Kiwi Brony]

Awesome, I was wanting Discord to turn on the CMC, they're not really his style; infinite chaos - Yes, unleashing Ancient Gods and their undead armies - Not so much.