Colours of Dusk

by AlphatheGriffin17

The Strongest Prevails

The princesses moved to either protect or do battle, but Discord acted first. He snapped his fingers and they were gone.

From where they had reappeared, they could still see the blast in the distance. It burned through the spot where they had once stood and everything else in-between. A long, smoking scar was left upon the ground, visible even from this far away.

“Alright folks, that's enough sightseeing!" Discord clapped his hands to get their attention. "It's time for you all to be home or you'll catch your death of cold. Or just death, in this case."

"Agreed," said Luna. "We must withdraw at once, devise a new plan."

"Then I'll leave that all to you." Discord walked out in front of them. "I, meanwhile, have some leftovers to clean up."

"What? No!" Fluttershy clamped onto his side. "Discord, you can't! He's too powerful!"

Celestia went to him too. "She's right, Discord. Don't throw away your life like this."

"Oh, ye of little faith, both of you." He patted Fluttershy's head and winked at Celestia. "You and I have both seen what Wrath is fully capable of, Celestia, and that little blast was practically a love tap in comparison. If Fallen were wielding the Beasts' full strength, I wouldn't even be considering this. But if he's limited in how much of their power he can wield, then I think I can just about manage."

"Then we should all fight together!" Luna asserted. "If you truly believe you stand a chance alone, then surely you would stand a greater chance with all of us here to aid you. There is no need to-"

"Luna. Lu-Lu. Please," Discord shushed her with a finger to her lips, his hand having detached to cross the distance. "You all know what I'm about, how I operate. If we all fought together, I'd just hinder you more than help. With none of you around, I don't have to hold back. I can show this would-be tyrant what true chaos is."

"No, please, don't!" Fluttershy begged, her tears already falling. "You're still my friend, Discord! I-I don't understand why you didn't just tell us, but I'll listen to whatever it is! W-We can work it out, just please, don't do this because of that! Because… because of me…"

She buried her face in his side, weeping into it. Even Celestia's composure looked about ready to break, with a few steady trickles coming down her cheeks. Discord looked at them, his cheeks turning a little red. Then, he chuckled humourlessly.

"Do you know why I didn't tell you? Why I didn't just do the normal pony thing and be straight with you? Well, aside from being anything but the normal pony thing," he added. "It's selfish and petty and, thinking back on it, a little pathetic. I… I wanted to see if you would trust me."

Applejack blinked in confusion. "The hay is that meant ta mean? Ya wanted ta see if we'd trust ya by keepin' somethin' like what ya did under wraps?"

"But not entirely, did I?" He held a paw towards Dusk. "It was a funny little test of sorts. If we were truly friends, Dusk would let you all know what I told him and that would be that. If he didn't, well, I had hoped the results would be a little amusing. But we all know how that worked out, didn't we?"

"Yeah, because the way you went about it was even crazier than the guy who just tried to blow us away!" Rainbow yelled. "If you don't trust us enough to trust you, how are we meant to start trusting you in the first place?!"

"All rather chaotic, isn't it?" remarked Discord. "I made a mistake, I'll readily admit that. But the best thing you can do is learn from them and this is the way I choose to do it."

"But you don't have to." Even Pinkie was crying now. "Come back with us. P-Please."

"Oh, now Pinkie, don't lose that smile over me." He reached out to wipe away her tears. "There are better things worth crying over than something like me. Even if I can't stop him, I can buy time for you. Time to do something utterly splendid and no doubt heart-warming that'll beat the villain and save the day. You've managed just fine before."

"But we need to stay together!" cried Twilight. "What you're suggesting, it just… it doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh indeed, but as I've always said, Twilight…" A ghost of his old smile came back. "What fun is there in making sense? But here's something that does: you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Whatever road you go down, I know you're going to be just brilliant."

Twilight choked on a sob and threw herself at Discord. They all did, his arms elongating to encompass them all in a hug. Those directly beneath his face might have even felt a tear of his own splash onto their heads.

"Look after one another. And Dusk?" He reached a third arm towards him. "I'm sorry. For what I did."

"I…" Dusk stared for a moment, then shook it. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. And Fluttershy. Dear, dear Fluttershy. You who trusted me and showed me the value of friendship." He touched her chin gently. "I'm sorry to you as well. Please, don't blame yourself for this. I do this gladly and not because of you, but for you. All of you. But don't fret. I'll be alright. Of course I will. It's me, remember?"

She hiccupped and hugged him tightly. "You… you promise?"

"I'll do my level best," he said. "Besides, you need to go riding off to save Mr Strike. I don't think he'd forgive me if I didn't do all I could to keep you safe."

"W-We'll… we'll have a big tea party. T-To celebrate."

"I'll bring the cucumber sandwiches. Now, you'd best be off. Farewell, my friends. I'll see you soon and if I don't… thank you. For everything."

He pulled away and snapped his fingers before anypony could object and before Discord could change his mind. In a flash, they were gone. He snapped them again, encircling himself and Fallen in a little bubble of chaotic reality. It would ensure Fallen wouldn't be able to leave beyond it without going through him and would stop those little ponies from doing anything silly. Like trying to save him.

A metal clanking on the ground met his ears. He turned to face Fallen Soul, his blade now drawn.

"Thou will not stop me, Discord." Soul angled the sword towards him. "Entrapment in stone was too good for thee. I will ensure there will be no trace left."

Discord shrugged. "Wasn't really the biggest fan of it myself, honestly. Now, shall we see if you are the master…?" Discord was suddenly garbed in brown robes, holding a glowing blue sword and speaking with a Bridish accent. "… or only a master of evil?"

With powers of Beast and chaos crackling all around them, the two beings clashed. Fallen's sword resounded off Discord's. It hummed as he swung it, sparks flying with every strike. Bringing his full skill as a swordsman to bear, Fallen attacked with a speed very few ponies could match.

But his opponent was the lord of chaos, which he was only happy to remind Fallen of.

Fallen cut at Discord's arm. It detached and zipped aside. He tried to bisect Discord's middle. The spirit did it for him and stitched it back together. A slice at Discord's neck and the spirit's head flew right in his face with a sneer.

"Oh come now, old boy! You should know that, in the realms of chaos, I hold nothing less…" His outfit changed into a hooded, black robe. "… than unlimited POWER!"

This declaration was accompanied by lightning bursting from Discord's fingertips. Fallen grunted inside his helmet, weathering the attack before he was blasted backwards.

Discord chuckled. This little upstart really thought he could get the best of him? Celestia really was overselling it. Sure, he'd beaten the Elements of Harmony but they were predictable little things, easy to manage if you knew how. Discord was anything but.

Still, better to end this quickly. He snapped his fingers, intending to vanish the tacky little necklace Fallen had picked out. Maybe his horn as well.

But instead of either of those things happening, the Amulet flashed black. The Beast of Gluttony appeared behind Fallen. Discord could feel it, latching onto his very essence and beginning to gorge on it.

His first two attempts to end his magic did nothing. Discord actually had to make an effort to cut off his connection from the Beast. Even when he broke it off, he felt something he hadn't for… well, he honestly didn't know.

He felt… fatigued. Not that much, he was still in the game. But even that point of prolonged contact had been very much felt.

Alright, Discord thought, don't use magic directly on Fallen himself. Lesson learned.

"Not entirely unlimited, it seems," said Fallen, recovering and standing once more. "Let us venture to see how much."

The necklace flashed red, and the Beast of Wrath took Gluttony's place. White hot beams of concentrated magic assailed Discord. He snaked and moved his body in impossible ways to avoid them. He knew from experience the kind of destructive power the grouchy wolf used couldn't be touched, even by his magic. Redirected and avoided yes, but not withstood.

A blast came directly at him. He summoned a portal in front of him just in time to swallow the blast, and immediately opened another behind Fallen. The alicorn only just managed to avoid his own attack, flying away.

"Just returning to sender!" called Discord. He twirled one hand in front of him with the other behind his back.

That hand was currently smoking and he shook it out, grimacing through the pain. As ever, that wolf really had it out for him.

A bellowing roar caught his attention. Discord caught a flash of something deep blue before Fallen charged for him. Which colour was that one again? He tried to think, preparing to easily dodge his sword.

But Discord instead cried out when the sword thrust through his lower body. From behind him. He turned his head about to see Fallen, driving the point home.

Of course. The Beast of Pride and its blasted illusions. He kicked himself for failing to see that, then used his own disembodied leg to kick Fallen right in the flank.

"Oh come now, that was just cheap," chastised Discord.

"As thou wouldst know," returned Fallen.

Discord could see the blood dripping from the blade. His own tartan blood! He snapped his fingers to heal it, bearing his teeth.

This arrogant twit really thought he could get the best of him, of Discord? Time to put him in his place.

Fallen charged and Discord flicked his finger. A herd of flying pigs slammed into Fallen's side, sending him right under a cloud of very heavy chocolate rain. Drops the size and weight of cannon balls clanged off his armour, forcing him from the sky. Fallen didn't have time to recover before a giant pink foot squashed him with the sound of somepony blowing a raspberry.

Discord thought he saw something flash orange within the mayhem, but he didn't relent. He sent down everything he could think of at the little edge lord. Anvils, safes, pianos, a rock and also a hard place. Then, just to finish off, he gathered it all up in a digger, dropped it in a hole and buried him in it. He even added a tombstone for good measure.

"And there we have it!" He dusted off his claws. "Nothing to it. Now, off to make my heroic return and…"

He became aware of that orange glow again. He turned to see Fallen, literally walking out of his own grave. The Beast of Sloth floated behind him, the oversized ursine curled up asleep as it usually was.

Discord's eyebrow twitched. He had used it to completely negate all of what he'd just done! That was… that was… well, it was frankly rude.

The spectral bear let out a growling yawn and faded away.

"Thy nonsense may have meant something a thousand years ago, mine old enemy," he said. "But now, thou art little more than a jester, relying too much on old antics and japes."

"Japes? Jester?! Why you… you uppity little-!"

But Discord was interrupted again by Wrath, firing more beams. Multiple, smaller beams that managed to singe him wherever he managed to move. Discord summoned a giant mirror, reflecting them back at Fallen.

Fallen called upon Sloth and allowed the beams to pass ight through him before another new contestant, the Beast of Greed, took his place. The golden-yellow snake coiled around the alicorn and hissed.

"Mayhaps 'tis time for me to try my hoof at some chaos. Let us see how well you taught me!"

Greed slithered through the air as Fallen soared at Discord. The snake passed through clouds, turning them into swarms of stinging, biting insects. Discord ducked under Fallen's swings, wincing and twitching from the bites. before turning the bugs into bubbles.

The bubbles flew at Fallen, sticking to his armour and expanding. It restricted his movements, pinned down his wings and sent him falling. But the snake coiled through them just before he hit the ground. He took off skyward again, the bubbles transformed into dozens of flat, razor-sharp discs.

Once again, Discord dipped and danced around them and Fallen's sword. The discs would boomerang around again and he got himself a few new cuts. Not appreciating parts of his body being separated without him wishing for it, Discord turned the discs into pizzas. Pizzas that flapped like bats and swarmed Fallen. Taking advantage of the distraction, Discord took a step back to think.

Now, he felt even more angry. Fallen was actually making Discord take him seriously and actually make an effort! Even with the power of Greed to shape matter as he wished, this was the best Fallen could come up with? It was insulting, degrading! This simply wouldn't stand. If it weren't for those blasted Beasts, he could…

Then, it hit him. As it stood, Fallen had six Beasts to call upon. Five strictly speaking, Envy's power was next to useless outside of groups. The toad's ability to incite overpowering, envious anger in those around it wouldn't do much for him one-on-one.

The other five were quite formidable, however. And yet Fallen had only used them one at a time. Was that deliberate? If so, this left only one conclusion: he could only use one at a time.

Discord allowed himself a grin. Now, this was something he could work with. But he had to take a moment to teleport away. Fallen had disintegrated the pizzas with Wrath's beams and turned them on Discord.

"Oh come, Fallen! We had something fun going on there!" he called out. "Do you know how hard it is to find a good player for transformation tennis? And that pizza was freshly made!"

"Then I apologise," replied Fallen. "I always preferred my food to be well done, but mayhaps overdid it."

Discord focused on the glow on Fallen's chest.

That Amulet. That was the thing that allowed him to channel their power. If he couldn't use his magic to remove it, Discord would have to simply get his hands dirty and pry it off himself.

He just needed a chance to get in close. Time to get really crazy.

"Then perhaps I can be of assistance." He manifested himself in a firefighters outfit. "Help dial back the heat a little."

"Thou art too kind," said Fallen and sent out a fresh volley.

Discord coiled through them, sending out a jet of boiling water from his hose. Giving the hose a will of its own, he moved around Fallen's back. While the alicorn turned the hose into slag with Greed, Discord summoned an entire fire engine. He blasted the siren, driving the vehicle straight at Fallen in the air.

It crashed into him at full force. Discord extended the ladder up top, making it spring out and hit him right in the head. But the alicorn pushed back against it, slicing down the ladder with his sword.

"Hey, that's an official government vehicle!" Discord made himself a suit, complete with briefcase and pen that he waved around. "You can expect to hear from my attorneys!"

He opened the briefcase and copies of himself, dressed in the same manner, all filed out. They raised their briefcases and pens like swords, charging towards the foe. They beat him with the briefcases and prodded him with the pens, all the while quoting nonsensical rules and regulations.

"Bureaucracy! The definition of organised chaos," remarked Discord.

He winced as Fallen retaliated, cutting through his copies. Not because he could feel their pain. He just didn't like to see himself get hurt. After all, he was his favourite person.

"It doesn't matter how many of these false copies you make!" Fallen declared, slicing through a couple more. "I consider it practise before the real thing!"

"Very well then. Time to call in the team!"

Discord took off his goat horn and blew into it. The sound of a mouth organ echoed like a trumpet. From atop a hill that hadn't been there earlier, a version of himself stood. He was dressed in white robes and astride a horse. Or he pretended to be. Another version of himself was behind, with two coconut halves to bang together.

"Our king Discord stands alone," the white robed copy said.

Another appeared next to him. This one wore a conical helm with a blonde plume and fine armour.

"Not alone." He drew a balloon sword. "Chaos Company!"

An entire army of copies, all dressed for battle rode up behind him. The banging of coconuts could be heard for miles around.

"I knew they would come!" cried the genuine article, gazing at them in awe.

"To the king!"

At their command, the army charged. The real Discord took the chance to again slip out of sight whilst Fallen began his 'practice.' He blasted through them with Wrath, absorbed copies with Gluttony, transformed some into fleshless skeletons with Greed which he set upon others. He phased through strikes with Sloth and summoned an illusion with Pride, tricking the copies with something.

Discord heard the roar and stopped in his sneaking towards Fallen. He appeared to still be cutting through his copies and yet…

Deciding on a plan, Discord continued to creep towards Fallen. The blade whistled and carved through copy after copy. Discord caught the eye of a copy. They exchanged a nod and he led a bunch of his fellows, diverting his attention.

His back was turned. He could see where the Amulet was clasped around his cloak. Discord darted forward, his paw outstretched. Just a bit closer!

Then, he stopped dead. He made his face appear out the back of his own head and grinned at the seemingly empty space behind him.

"Here's one I learned from Pinkie Pie, just with an improvement!" He whipped out a large metal barrel, attached to a set of struts. "Party howitzer!"

With a boom, it fired and exploded against thin air. Only not so thin, as Fallen Soul suddenly winked into existence. Black smoke was billowing from him, his fancy cloak in flames and a rather sizeable dent in his side where the shell struck.

Discord watched him fall, feeling a sense of satisfaction. He made himself some clothes of a bright red riding coat, black helmet and those odd looking white trousers. He took out a telescope and spied Fallen when he hit the ground.

"View halloo!" he cried. He tooted a small bugle and appeared next to Fallen. "Well, my old Soul, this has truly been enlightening. You had me going for a moment there. I actually thought you might present a challenge!"

Fallen breathed raggedly from the ground. His aura flashed around his sword but Discord yanked it from him. The rigid metal immediately went limp and floppy.

"Thou… shalt pay for that," he growled.

"There's no need to be ashamed." Discord examined it with a viewing lens whilst dressed like a doctor. "Eight out of ten stallions experience something like this in their later years. You'll feel much better when you have this removed, should help with circulation."

He grasped the Amulet. Grinning fiercely, Discord went to pull the wretched thing off. But it wouldn't budge.

"Come on, this should be…" Discord tried again. Not even the faintest bit of movement. "Oh for goodness' sake!"

"This is what the Lord of Chaos is reduced to? Attempting to pilfer jewellery?" Fallen laughed, a green glow appearing from the Amulet. "How far the mighty have been felled, it seems."

Discord felt an irrational anger that was not entirely his own. Even as he processed this, he acted on it.

He channelled a bit of his magic into his grip to give him more of an edge. He'd not be beaten by this!

He did this as the green glow he hadn't registered prior suddenly vanished, and blackness filled his vision.

Realising his mistake, he tried to release his grip. But he couldn't. The Beast of Gluttony took form behind Fallen. It took hold of that little sliver that Discord had given and didn't let go.

As Discord struggled and groaned, Gluttony gorged itself on his chaos magic. His beautiful chaos magic! The struggles weakened, the groans became hoarse and ragged. By the time Discord was finally released, he barely had the strength to stand. The reality bubble around them faded with what little of his power remained.

"An enchantment," said Fallen. He summoned Greed to restore his blade to normal. "None but I may remove this Amulet. Had you finished me off, it would have belonged to thee. Celestia has made you soft."

"So… it seems…" Discord managed to gasp out, collapsing to one knee.

As his mismatched eyes wandered skyward for what was most likely the last time, he caught sight of something that made him smile in bittersweet optimism. He carefully moved one of his hands out of Fallen's line of sight while the alicorn approached, and channelling what little power he had left, twitched his fingers and quietly took hold of the clouds overhead, twisting them about. Once the white puffs were arranged to his satisfaction, he returned his attention to his opponent, just in time to see the alicorn standing over him, sword in hoof.

"Well… played… my old servant."

"My thanks, mine former master," replied Fallen.

Then, he swept his blade clean through Discord's neck. The draconequus's head was still sliding off the body when Fallen did the same to his arms and across his body, thrice.

The pieces hadn't even settled on the ground before Fallen leapt back and called upon the power of Wrath. Beams of white hot rage burned at what was left.

The rage died away. Fallen's eyes never left the spot until the smoke cleared. There was nothing. Not even dust. He tapped into the same sense that warned him of his master's initial return and felt nothing.

Discord was no more.

He called upon Greed to repair his armour. The wound he'd received pained him to breathe and move. But he would heal quickly enough and it would serve as a reminder until then. He would allow himself an hour or so.

He had almost been caught off guard, overestimated himself. But he had prevailed, regardless. And that moment had been worth waiting for.

He became aware of somepony watching him. He cast his eyes up to see Celestia, hovering high overhead behind a thin, dispersing layer of clouds. The look on her face told him all he needed to know. She knew. She'd seen it.

Fallen watched her teleport away. He could have stopped her, but this was better. He'd be with her soon enough and she would pass on what she'd witnessed. If they doubted his power still, they wouldn't now.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Fallen Soul tapped into his magic and went to work on his injury.

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