Chapter Only
It had been such a pleasantly normal day in Canterlot before the sky tore itself open.
Princess Twilight Sparkle had dealt with a few busybody nobleponies, signed off on some new public works projects, and listened to the concerns and complaints of her citizens in the open court: all run-of-the-mill daily duties for Equestria's reigning princess. Better still, today was one of her Summit Days, which meant her friends would be coming to visit her to discuss matters of state, and more importantly, to hang out and relax, giving them all a little time to unwind and catch up. Twilight had just set the table for tea in anticipation of their arrival when her ears involuntarily swiveled towards the distinctive sound of ponies screaming in the streets.
Taking to her wings, Twilight raced out of the castle as fast as she could manage, but was frozen in horrified fascination at the sight which awaited her.
A great tear had opened in the sky, like a great quill had been poked through the parchment of the sky. Within the tear an angry red light shown, casting Equestria in a strangely dark glow. Twilight saw beyond the red a series of colors and shapes that caressed her retinas and tickled her brain with a loving caress of madness, and she slammed her eyes shut in response. She was driven to carefully open her eyes again when she realized she could now hear another sound apart from ponies screaming.
Someone was laughing. It was a high-pitched, screaming cackle of a laugh that seemed to echo from all directions and teased her ears with the same madness the rift had visited upon her eyes. Twilight's eyes went wide and she whipped her head around, searching for the source of the maniacal noise. She saw no source for the noise, but she did spot something much more pleasant.
"TWILIGHT!" her friends were all galloping (or flying, in Rainbow Dash's case) towards her at high speed, and she raced to meet them.
"Girls!" she cried as they all met on the cobbled street just outside the palace grounds. Pinkie Pie rushed forward in a blur of pink and snatched Twilight into a bone-crushing hug.
"Hiya, Twilight! What's new?" she said as if it was their normal teatime meeting. Applejack and Rainbow Dash approached next, concern etching both their faces.
"Ah think we can save catchin' up fer later, Pinkie. Twi, what's goin' on? What's up with the sky?" Applejack inquired, prying Pinkie away from Twilight as gently as she could. Twilight shook her head.
"I have no idea, but I already feel a lot better knowing you girls are here to help me deal with it." she said with a smile. Her friends smiled back at her, but an ear-piercing laugh from the sky above them shattered their good feelings.
"Wow, what a nice sentiment!" the voice seemed to shout as they all turned to look at its source. There above them floated a being unlike anything any of them had ever seen. It was a bright yellow triangle wearing a top hat and bow tie, with four thin pitch-black limbs, a cane, and a single wide eye staring at them malevolently. It had no mouth, but every time the voice spoke the strange creature would pulse with yellow light in time to the voice, leaving Twilight quite certain it was the one who was speaking.
"What's next? Are you all going to sing a song about how friendship will always win the day?" the triangle mocked.
"Nah, we'll save the song for after we've blasted you with our rainbow laser of friendship!" Pinkie exclaimed helpfully.
The triangle seemed to pause a moment.
"You... you're serious, aren't you? That's actually how you think this is gonna go!" the triangle laughed again, "Oh, this should be fun! First I get to give all of you namby-pamby critters a reality check, then I get to start my reshaping of the multiverse! There's no dumb weirdness bubble keeping me locked in place this time!"
Twilight spread her hooves beneath her, firming up her stance as her friends gathered around her, preparing to overcome yet another evildoer the way they always had.
"I'm not certain what you mean," she admitted, "but we're not going to let you get away with whatever you're planning!"
This elicited more laughter from the triangle. "Oh please, pony princess, you're embarrassing yourself!"
"Am I?" she asked, and nodded to her friends. She felt the magic of her connection to them begin to warm her from the inside, and she saw they were beginning to glow with the ethereal light of Harmony. She began to smile, almost involuntarily, as the warmth of their love and friendship filled her to bursting. But before it could overflow towards their foe in a torrent of raw magical power, she felt the magic falter. Confused, Twilight glanced around. Four of her friends were suspended off the ground, but not buoyed by the light of Harmony. Instead, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were glowing an eerie red, and their eyes were rolling back in their heads, tinged a sickly yellow. She gazed back at the triangle in open-mouthed shock.
"Yeah, no." the triangle said, "I have no idea whether whatever you were about to do would have affected me or not, and I'm not about to waste time finding out. The only reason I'm here is because some multiverse-meddling morons want me to kill somebody here. Luckily for you," the triangle's eye seemed to sneer, "it's not you! Unluckily for you, well, you're the first stop on my new train of Weirdmageddon!"
Twilight felt a strange sensation overtake her then, and she swiftly blacked out.
"Discord?"
Twilight awoke to Fluttershy's voice. Her mind was hazy, and she couldn't for the life of her understand why she seemed to have fallen asleep on the pavement. Blearily, she blinked her eyes and stood up. She was in Canterlot, and everything looked as it always had. Her friends were all around her, most of them lying unconscious or just beginning to stir, but Fluttershy was standing among them all, looking fearfully about.
Twilight stood slowly and approached her timid friend. "Fluttershy? W-what happened?" she asked hazily.
Fluttershy's gaze shot in Twilight's direction. "Twilight! You're okay! Please, help me find Discord!"
"Discord? Why?" Twilight's mind began to clear more fully, and in a flash of panicked realization she remembered the mysterious triangle creature. "That triangle thing! Where is it?! What happened?!"
Fluttershy was frantically scanning her surroundings as her words tumbled out of her in a rush, "He called himself Bill, he was here to kill Discord! He wanted to use me to make sure Discord showed up! Now they're both gone!"
"Kill Discord? Why would he-"
"I don't know, Twilight! Just help me look, please! Discord? Discord?!" Fluttershy seemed nearly frantic now, and Twilight decided helping her friend was more important right now than figuring out what had happened. As Twilight looked around, she noticed something strange: a single scroll, unrolled, moving with a faint crinkling sound in the light breeze. She would have sworn it hadn't been there moments ago.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight said, and gestured vaguely at the scroll. Fluttershy trotted slowly over to it before taking it in her hooves and beginning to read. She stayed completely silent for several long moments, moments which Twilight used to rouse their other friends. When she looked back over at Fluttershy, she was still sitting with the scroll, holding very still. Twilight approached Fluttershy slowly from behind.
"Fluttershy? What is it? What does it- Fluttershy!" Twilight gasped her friend's name when she saw that silent tears were pouring down her face like twin waterfalls. The gasp seemed to reach Fluttershy, as she snapped her attention to Twilight, leaving her grief-stricken face bare for all her friends to see. They held frozen like that for a minute. Fluttershy's lips parted to let out a quiet whimper, which then built slowly to a moan, and then to a scream, and she flung herself violently at her friends, clinging to them fiercely with one forehoof and beating at their chests and backs with surprising force with the other. Twilight, caught in the brunt of Fluttershy's grip, was horrified. She had seen Fluttershy cry numerous times, but it had never been anything like this. Her other friends all gaped at her, and Twilight found herself picking up the scroll with her magic and bringing it to where she could just read it over Fluttershy's violently quaking shoulder.
My Dearest Fluttershy,
I am afraid I probably won't survive to see you alive and well again. Don't get me wrong my dear, you look lovely as a tapestry, but I must admit I prefer the genuine article any day, and this Bill fellow's tastes are much too broody for me at the best of times.
I'm joking, of course, about the tapestry, but sadly not about my probable death. Say what you will about this particular interdimensional interloper, but he does have the power to back him up, and I daresay it may be more than I can handle. Still, if I'm right, I'll be more than able to send him back to where he came from and ensure he never troubles Equestria again before I'm gone.
Honestly, if I knew you were safe before I died, I think that would make it all completely worth it to me.
I suppose this is goodbye then, Fluttershy. I do hope somehow we can see each other again someday.
Much Love Always,
Discord
P.S. Do tell the others I say goodbye to them as well, won't you?
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity gazed at the letter before them, eyes wide and growing wet.
"He... he didn't." Rainbow Dash murmured. A few tears leaked down her cheeks. She took no notice of them.
"I... I do believe he did." Rarity intoned. Her mascara was running. It didn't matter.
"He saved us." Applejack finished. She pushed her hat down over her eyes. "All of us."
The friends gathered around Fluttershy, holding her tightly as she wailed her sorrow to the world, each of them quietly sobbing along.
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Honestly..this is a good little end to the battle. Bitter sweet. The ponies are saved but at the cost of a friend.
I had hoped for a fanfic in regards to this death battle and I am glad to say this didn't disappoint in the slightest and was even better than I had hoped for.
That end got me nearly in tears and I am not one that cries easily, so great job OP.
I only lament that I can only hit the thumbs up button once on this story. Thank you, for this marvelous chapter. Still I worry how Spike is going to react, considering it was inferred that he was the one who made a deal with Bill, and in doing so lost his friend.
I do have problems with the verdict, but I can’t be too mad because Discord screwed over Bill in the end anyways.
And hey he’s the embodiment of chaos. He can’t die permanently he’ll be back eventually.
Good story, a nice opening and conclusion to the battle.
👍
11697113
Quite right. Plus, if Twilight can come back after losing a Death Battle (and her appearance in this story means she definitely did), so can Discord.
And I could see Rainbow commenting about how pathetic Starscream was and Pinkie reflecting on the impromptu birthday party she threw for Deadpool. Before Twilight comments, "This is rather bad, yes, Fluttershy, but it's not hopeless. After all, we already know that enough chaos can eventually bring him back. And *I* was able to come back from the dead after losing to Raven."
Okay this was a pretty nice follow-up but also sad as well I still think Discord should have won that but whatever those guys know what they're talking about so what do I know about power anyway it looks like Twilight and the others tried to stop bill but he became way too powerful for them but Discord made the ultimate sacrifice to trap him with him and knowing that he will clearly will die he did it anyway basically sacrificing himself to save everybody in Equestria and Fluttershy was devastated and heartbroken that she lost him again this was a very good story keep up the good work
11697144
Well maybe death battle have some abilities to bring the characters who were defeated back from the dead and put them back where they belong in their own universe and probably not remember what happened but that's just my theory but I would like to say that's happen
On that Death Battle I wish Discord could have stuck Bill Cypher in his reconstructed Home Dimension inside the Absolute Safe Capsule from Earth_Bound/Mother 3. Can any fictional being break the Absolute Safe Capsule?
I still that’s a bunch of ballsh
discord should have won that Bill cheated i’ve always hated that triangle freak.
11697113
I wonder what will happen if he comes back. will that be a completely new Discord with no memory of his past life or the same one?
the series never tells us how that works
I like to think it won't be the same Discord because if he will be back, he just has to write it on the paper, there no need to let the M6 sad
Awesome death battle and I'm clinging to the fact that they said discord has a chance to come back since he's the spirit of chaos
A friend of mine worked on this Death Battle, so it's really nice to see fic written for it! Great work!
My one complaint with the fight is that they gave Bill the ability to destroy souls.
He’s never shown being capable of that in the entirety of Gravity Falls. They basically gave him a free power.
Foolish Bill Cipher, don't you know death is the servant of chaos?
11697216
They did show a clip of him harming a soul
11697216
My problem with the death battle even though it mostly made sense, was the fact they downplayed the bewitching Bell, if that thing could drain discord's power it would have definitely dreamed bills
Ah, I'd been waiting for a story to capitalize on it. It was really cool in how it made for some great story fodder, IMO, regarding the aftermath.
I had gone into it thinking Equestria was completely done if he lost, but I was pleasantly surprised that they actually had some really good narrative beats/character contrasts involved on that front, and having the "winner" lose in all but name.
Anyway, this story did not disappoint.
11697113
My biggest issue in that regard is they very, very conspicuously listed a feat in the afterfight (as shown at this timestamp) from the MLP RPG regarding Discord's perception, and it should be noted that for something they also cited, Bill Cipher pretty much never used his "KALEIDOSCOPE OF TEMPORAL PROBABILITY WITH FLUCTUATING RANGE" ability in any meaningful capacity, and the only real indication, IIRC, that it even exists is in an in-character AMA from Bill Cipher himself, which it probably... would be in-character for him to lie or play it up to begin with (which when coupled with the lack of demonstrable feats, never using it to double-check deals, or in fights, or things he's saying possibly backfiring at least twice...).
Meanwhile, from the same RPG it'd cited, there was this gem of an excerpt from it, which was entirely ignored.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/268609735035584512/1085861803449401374/image.png
...knowledge of Every. Spell. By extension, this does mean soul destruction spells of a higher caliber than anything Bill (supposedly
, but I'll get to that in a sec) pulled off.11697216
11697245
The only time Bill had any feats remotely along those lines was with putting a hole in Dipper's mental form in Stan's mind... which was healed by Dream Stan anyway based on "it's just a dream." That's basically it, unless someone can correct me there on that front. By that logic, Stanley Pines has the capacity to heal soul damage, as a normal human.
Not to mention that if we're being technical, when Dipper got ejected from his own body by Bill via possession, Bill's gloating suicide note to himself and Mabel calls it his "mental form," as opposed to a soul.
11697262
A finer response than any I could’ve worded myself.
11697100
Wait, Spike made a deal with him?
11697262
Agreed had massive problems with them using the Reddit AMA, and using bill damaging the dream version of characters as soul damage and regeneration. I would also point out that the weirdness shield was more about negation rather than absorption, but they treated it as the same. Grogar’s bell should be able to work on Bill and Discord could have used that to power himself even more.
Not to mention discord didn’t need to put himself in danger by going inside bill’s mind to erase it. He’s been shown doing it outside of ponies bodies.
Good find on the spell it out for you. Can you provide any examples of spirit damage with a spell. There’s gotta be something I just don’t remember.
I still hold up, Discord and Bill were about equal, according to the comics which scales Discord, when he's taking it all seriously, to Cosmos, who did everything Bill did, plus a little more.
Which is the biggest difference. Discord can do two things Bill statedly cannot do. He can hope universes at will, opening portals or just moving to them without issue. No invites needed. And he can read minds(Well, that might be more medium awareness given he was reading the thought balloons, but even then, his power reacts to thoughts at times, like when he tried to help the CMC).
Those two should have easily won him the battle by knowing Bill had a weakness, knowing where he could hop to to find it, and then hoping back with said weakness. I'm sure Dipper and Ford would willingly share that info, and unlike most, he'd have reason to learn it.
11697312
11697262
I agree with both of you.
Three things I find truly perplexing. When it comes to assessing weaknesses, it's crystal clear that Discord's sole Achilles' heel is his arrogance. On the other hand, Bill Cipher, despite his arrogance, harbors additional vulnerabilities. So, let's distill it down to one crucial factor: who would approach a fight with utmost seriousness, Discord or Bill?
In my estimation, Discord would undoubtedly take the battle more seriously. His motivation stems from a dire situation - the safety of Fluttershy and his other cherished friends hangs in the balance. This emotional drive alone would compel him to be deadly earnest.
Now, onto my second point: Discord is a manifestation of chaos and discord itself, an entity virtually indestructible. You can no more obliterate chaos than you can extinguish Discord. In fact, he thrives on it, drawing strength from the chaos around him. Imagine the colossal power at his disposal if Bill Cipher were in the same room – it's your logic that suggests Bill would inadvertently bolster Discord's might.
Let's also remember that Discord's transformation from chaos to order is an internal choice. It's not imposed by external forces but a reflection of his decision to forsake chaos.
Lastly, consider this: if Discord could cunningly deceive Bill into the nightmare dimension, why not trick him into Discord Chaosville, a realm where Discord reigns supreme in utter chaos? Even if Discord couldn't outright vanquish Bill, he could entrap him in this dimension for eternity. And if things truly escalated, Discord's ability to manipulate reality could make unicorn hair the currency of doomsday.
Bringing it all together, Bill Cipher bears a plethora of weaknesses, including having to seek aid from a more potent entity for his survival. This alone demonstrates that Bill is far from being the mightiest force in the universe. In stark contrast, Discord has consistently proven himself as the apex entity in his realm. His only 'losses' occur when he intentionally dials down his omnipotence. As you've noted, Discord's power is virtually boundless; he can manifest anything he imagines. In the end, it's evident that Discord's trickery far surpasses Bill's abilities, potentially sealing Bill's fate in a prison of Discord's own design by the conclusion of their conflict.
11697382
Let’s not forget all Discord had to do was send Bill back into the Nightmare realm and close the portal. Discord can do that and that’s more likely how he would handle the situation. He can be a cheap guy and will cheat if he has to.
I loved the intro and epilogue, but there are two things that would make this even better.
I feel like after Bill Cipher knocked Twilight out, Bill would tell Fluttershy what he was planning to do when they were imprisoned in flags.
(My Opinion) I feel like we need a longer conversation for the Mane 6 to mourn for Discord...especially Fluttershy.
Eh, Death Battles have been annoying to me for some time now. They tend to pick and choose what constitutes an advantage rather arbitrarily, while ignoring aspects which logically place the 'loser' of the fight at a clearly higher advantage.
For instance, Bill had to be invited into the Earth realm. Until then he had no physical form. And when Bill had a physical form, a simple particle cannon was able to injure him and a robot was able to tear his eye out. Stan even said that particle cannon COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE KILLED BILL had he been able to aim it perfectly.
Meanwhile, Discord is IMMUNE TO PHYSICAL DAMAGE and routinely dismantles his body. His one physical weakness was to a magical infectious disease apparently spread by Tatzlwurms, which are monstrous entities that can take Alicorn-level horn blasts without injury.
Seems like everyone forgot these canon facts.
11697310
It was implied through the notes and pop ups during development of this episode that the most realistic way Bill would have gained access to Equestria is by tricking Spike into making a deal. I think there are some of the notes in the episode as well explaining this
A very nice fic to go along with the Death Battle. But I'm sure Discord would return because he's linked to chaos itself and would revive if there's enough.
That really got me right here
seriously really great expanded start and aftermath to a fantastic death battle
Bill said that putting all that bootleg merchandise together took a lot of glue but where did Bill even get the glue from
11697530
Did they show where is he afterwards?
11697405
In fact, it wouldn't necessarily have to be the Nightmare Realm he trapped Bill in; if you sent him to another dimension and shut the portal behind him, it would quite possibly cut him off from the source of Bill's power, as long as there isn't a connection to the Rift/Nightmare Realm, which would leave the Rift wide-open to then being closed. Speaking of that would likely be something a sufficiently skilled and powerful unicorn/alicorn could really ruin his day on in general. Magically close/seal the Rift, and he's probably more of a sitting duck at that point, less Weirdness to use. That's not a weakness Discord has on his part.
11697492
The Quantum Destabilizer was canonically more complex than a simple particle cannon in nature/specifics, but yes. The fact is, Bill Cipher almost died on at least three occasions before he actually did, and it was out of pure luck that he didn't, not out of his competence. Ford got sucked back through the portal, then the hat shot, then the Zodiac got screwed up from Stan and Ford fighting. It's a situation where it feels like there's more methods that could hypothetically kill/stop him than what came up in the series (or were viable given the means at their disposal; they obviously didn't have magic, for starters, and what did kill him was a method that induced a complete memory wipe that could be reversed within a week via reminders, and Fiddleford McGucket was way worse off on reminders and still managed to piece himself back together over time).
11697609
Spike? Nope, they just had the ending scene of Bill winning. You can watch the vid to double check, but I didn't see him around the Mane Six at the end.
I loved this Death Battle. It was really creative and I thought it was clever how even though Bill won the traditional battle, Discord won pretty much every other category.
In fact, the pop up info boxes at the end state that since Discord can never die for good as long as chaos exists. That more or less means he'll reform eventually while Bill remains trapped seemingly forever, since he is still stuck and out of patience by the end of the episode. Which basically makes Discord the true "winner" of the episode.
I always believed that meant that Discord would reunite with his friends eventually, since Dluttershy could probably help restore him like she did once before. But this was a pretty sad take of if they never would see him again before he reforms, and remember him for how he heroically sacrificed himself to save them all.
11697638
That is true. Bill in another dimension pretty much gets rid of him getting more powerful while Discord gets stronger with any kind of chaos anywhere.
So yeah, discord should be able to wipe Bill’s mind especially since his memory wipe lasted over 1,000 years.
Is there a mlp spell capable of destroying a spirit?
i expected this after i saw the video and like i said in the video... Bill may won the Death Battle, But Discord properly deserves the Win for Saving Equestria, a Humorous Chaotic Trickster to the bitter end, even when he was close to dying, he made sure to send Bill Back so he could never hard his friends ever again, and honestly the best part from that death battle for me, was how dark he sounded, like his final plan has been completed when he said "But I'm surprised, you don't recognize, YOUR OLD HOME!!" and how when Bill tried to get back and failed, his Final Words were "Oh Well" with a Mocking laugh at Bill, in his canon show bill lost because of family willing to scarifies himself and even punched him away, but im pretty sure, Discords Laugh will haunt Bill for millennium to come... After all... Discord is the Spirit of Chaos, and Disharmony... this little story didn't disappoint me at all... rest in piece Discord... Equestria's Chaotic Friend
Nice little take on the video! You considered doing the others? Twilight vs raven, pinkie vs Deadpool, dash vs starscream?
A little list I made for Death Battle's mistreatment of this fight:
1st) Bill Cipher could not, in any sense, open a portal to another world. Discord could. Ergo, Discord is more powerful than Bill.
2nd) Bill Cipher himself said: "I control reality, matter, and now that baby's (Time Baby) outta the way, time itself!" meaning if there is someone with greater control of something, he cannot compete with them in that regard. If Discord has greater control of reality, than Bill cannot compete with him in that regard.
3rd) If Bill Cipher could destroy souls, then HOW did Time Baby regenerate in the future??? Meaning he cannot destroy Discord's energy
Sorry about the rant, but i ran the simulation a hundred times in my head cause i love both characters to death and had to split it fairly, and every time, Discord won. So when he lost, I was kinda upset at Death Battle's judgement.
11697247
I don’t buy it because as wiz and Boomstick showed the barrier wasn’t able to purge bills powers and i don’t think it would work on bill since his powers isn’t really magic by definition of mlp logic in that it’s a different source with different rules. Cosmos powers that’s similar in use to chaos magic but different
11697555
Tv tropes pointed out the answer and while he could just poof it but the real answer is much darker:
He’s in a land of ponies and let that say it all
11698136
true, but throughout that whole fight it was shown that bill and discord were close to equals, and I'm pretty sure the bewitching Bell is is far more powerful than the unicorn hair
11698141
Yes but if it was created to absorb magic then there could be a case that it can’t do the same to powers they isn’t really magic; like mr mxyzptlk from dc who has similar powers to the both of him but he doesn’t have any magic powers and it’s just from another plane of reality with different rules
11698197
That could be the case, but it has been shown magic can affect bill example the unicorn hair. And if you look back into that fight against the shack Bill only won because he targeted the weak spots of it you know like on the spots that wasn't protected by unicorn hair so there's nothing stopping the bewitching Bell from affecting him,🤔
11698206
Not saying that magic couldn’t affect him but if his powers aren’t magical by nature then we can’t say that the bell would affect him
11698217
True but it has never been stated that the Bell can only job magical power
11698253
Never stated that it could and it’s not like Grogar when creating it or whoever did could think of any other energy to pull in so it couldn’t be tested
11698259
So it's basically a 50/50 chance I'm guessing
11698217
I’ve heard apparently bill cipher’s powers have been classified as being magic. So it should affect him.
11697851
It would be delightfully nonsensical for him to just poof back into existence one Thursday around 2pm when it was time for tea with Fluttershy.
I still say Discord won that fight given in the end, Bill was imprisoned again.