Equestria's chain of conflicts

by Dranz_89

The plot behind the curtain

The Observer and his new crystal pony companion were standing on a marble tower's balchony south from Canterlot Palace. The city looked like a circus show, with music, fireworks and spotlights illuminating the skies over the city as elephants, bears, gorillas and giraffes paraded across the streets. The unicorn and the crystal pony stood silent, waiting for somepony to appear, the crystal pony was gazing at the city, with horrified eyes. The Observer, wasn't impressed, constantly tapping her right front hoof against the ground, she was getting impatient.

A few minutes passed, the Observer stopped tapping her hoof, and let go of a sigh of annoyance, she turned her sight to the south. Seconds later a chariot pulled by a cloaked pegasus came flying from that very same direction, it landed on the balchony, exactly in front of the Observer. The chariot was transporting another three cloaked ponies, judging for the complexion of their bodies, they were all mares. They all approached the Observer. The crystal pony stepped back, invaded by confusion and fear. One of the cloaked ponies started talking.

"I see you are punctual, as always, as always", she said to the observer, her eyes hidden in the cloak's shade, her mouth was visible showing a friendly smile and a long white horn was piercing through a hole in her hood.

"May you remind me why are we doing this?" said the Observer, she was completely annoyed.

"We are doing this because we want to see what the future may bring", responded the cloaked unicorn, "you, on the other hoof, are doing this because I, am commanding you to", she and the other cloaked ponies laughed for mere three seconds, then she talked again, "So... is Twilight coming? And more importantly, does she know your true identity?"

"She suspects... no. She KNOWS I'm hiding the truth from her, but she still has no idea, and there is no doubt she's coming", nodded the Observer, "the Tiara of Magic is on her head, and Discord is keeping things around here... quite colorful. Are you sure this little plan of yours will work?"

"It's not a plan, it's not a plan", said the cloaked unicorn, "it's more like a... test... of some sort. Times are changing, Equestria is changing, and so is the world outside. The news of the recent war, the fall of Equestria before King Sombra, and Discord's return. These events will not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. Though changing may be a good thing, it can also bring disaster, or have unexpected side effects, leading to terrible consequences. I have no doubt that Celestia and Luna are great leaders, and they keep a good relation with other lands, but I want to see if they can keep the kingdom afloat, not to mention their nerves, while the walls are crumbling down around them. I trust everything's ready, yes?"

One of the cloaked pony's companions stepped up, the tip of her golden tail poked from behind her cloak, she responded, "the calculations are correct, Discord is holding Luna and Celestia, leaving them vulnerable, as expected. However, the Queen of Changelings has allied with Discord, a variable that we did not consider."

"My queen!" the crystal pony gasped, "what is going on here?! what are you ponies plotting?!"

"Hey look at that!" the third cloaked pony exclaimed, "she brought a crystal pony! why did you bring him?"

"He said he wanted to know", said the Observer, "and I welcome everypony that seeks knowledge. Besides, I sense that he still has a role to play. Speaking of roles, I can't help but see that we're one pony short."

"Don't worry, she'll come", replied the pegasus who pulled the chariot.

"So everything's going well", said the cloaked unicorn.

"Yes... because everything went well with your last test, right?" said the Observer, sarcastically. Then she turned to the crystal pony beside her, who was freaking out, his knees shaking in terror, she made a little smile and said, "I believe you must leave, now. You look like you need your queen, I wonder if it's not your queen the one who needs you."

The crystal pony, quickly turned around and sprinted away from the cloaked ponies as quickly as he could. His face turned pale, his heart was racing, and the chill down his spine was colder than a lonely winter night on the Crystal Mountains.

The cloaked unicorn turned her sight to the north, to Canterlot's palace, and with a huge grin, she said, "now that we have all the actors set on stage, it's time to make them dance!"

Meanwhile, in the palace, Celestia was holding a reunion in the dining room. Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, General Shining Armor, Spike and Trusty Link were present, more than ninety six hours have passed since the mane six and their parties ventured themselves in search of the Elements of Harmony. And the tension was increasing each second.

"I can't believe this is happening", said Luna, "at last I can finally stand on my own hooves and Discord shows up and takes it from me! And to top it all, Chrysalis has the nerve to back stab us!"

"Chrysalis wouldn't have done this, if you hadn't gone crying for her help, Luna!" Celestia claimed.

"I did what I had to do to defeat Sombra!", Luna replied, "what were you doing at that time? Oh! that's right! you were under his influence trying to destroy me! Yet again!"

But Celestia replied even angrier, "you let Twilight go and seek that witch, the Observer! You bring the changelings! And also you let yourself open to Nightmare Moon's powers! Everything you've done is bringing enemies to our land!"

"At least I'm trying to do something! The only thing you've done so far is getting yourself captured, first by the dragons, then by King Sombra, and now by Discord! And now, Twilight Sparkle is gone to save you once again, just like she always ends up doing! She's going to end up dead by your negligence one day, assuming she's not dead yet."

"Princess Luna!" Shining armor shouted, "my sister is not dead! I bet she's got the Element of Magic in front of her, right now as we speak! Besides, she has the best bodyguard to protect her!"

"Yeah, because her brother was too scared to protect her himself!" said Spike, "Twilight needs no protection, she is the one who protects! She'd be a hundred times better general than you!"

"I don't see you protecting her either, Spike!" exclaimed Princess Cadance, "Twilight asked you and Shining Armor to stay and take care of Princess Celestia, becasue there are bigger responsibilities! But you wouldn't understand that, you're just Twilight's pet!"

From this point, the insults just became more personal, and not a single solution, or even a single idea was proposed. Slowly, their colors began to fade, slowly changing to grey. The only one keeping her colors was seated in the middle of the offenses. Trusty Link looked at the others with dismay and confusion, as they seemed to be speaking in a foreign language. Not much time passed until she finally exploded, she raised her voice louder than everyone else, "THAT'S IT! ENOUGH!", but she was ignored.

"PRINCESS CELESTIA! CAN YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH THE HAY UP?!" Trusty link exclaimed, and immediately the room was quiet again. Trusty Link noticed that all the sights were set on her, "with all due respect?" she tried to turn invisible, with no luck, she is no unicorn. She cleared her throat and spoke once again.

"Discord is affecting us all. And turning one against the other", she said, "Princess Celestia, cool your head, take a deep breath and think, what can we do to stop Discord? I don't want to think about it, but the ponies of harmony... isn't there a plan of contingency in case the Ponies of Harmony don't come back?"

"The Elements of Harmony were created only to stop Discord, Trusty Link", said Celestia, "there is no other way. Discord is too powerful for a frontal battle. Even joining forces with my sister, if she was any help, he'd wipe us out without even trying. Just look at us, hornless and wingless, there was just nothing we could do. That's why I wanted him as an ally, rather than as an enemy."

"What about you, Princess Cadance? You still have your horn and wings. The Crystal Empire is supposed to have very powerful magic, right? isn't there a spell that might help us out?"

"Actually, there might be one!" Princess Cadance gasped, "but we need a crystal... a big one... but the spell is really complicated, and honestly, I'm not sure I can pull it off."

"A spell you can't pull off, what a big surprise", Luna replied, sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"I think it's worth a shot", said the earth pony "Princess Cadance, Spike and the General will come with me, I know where we can find a big crystal. Princesses, you stay here and please try to not banish each other to the moon, ok?"

"Not that we could without our horns", Luna sisters replied, as Celestia looked at her very angry.

Discord was not the one to keep guards or constant vigilance over his captives, so the party walked towards the main entrance of the palace like any other day only to find out that the whole palace whas upside down. So instead of going out from the lower exit, they were on the highest one. They didn't fall, though. They were still standing on the palace's floor, as if it had its own law of gravity.

After a long and exhausting walk through the halls, corridors and climbing a considerable amount of stairs, they finally reached the last room of the tallest tower. Trusty Link opened the wooden door, which creaked with a loud shrill sound. The room inside was all dusty and there were all kinds of books well placed on the shelves, there were three small wooden table benches placed in line, and a large desk in front of them. A big blackboard placed behind the desk, showed that the room served as a classroom, of some sort, and next to it, there was a large and tall window, with a stained glass portraiyng a young white unicorn with emerald mane and tail, showing a big smile on her face.

Being in there felt like standing in the middle of an abandoned old photograph. Time had forgotten about this room. Apparently, not even Discord had redecorated it.

After contemplating the room for a while, Trusty Link led the way and opened the window, and poked her head to see how far it was from the ground. A little far, but she could manage the jump. "It's good", she said, and jumped down, landing hardly. Shining Armor jumped next, he landed harder, making a small crag on the ground. Shortly after, Spike landed stomach first next to the unicorn, and then Princess Cadance, elegantly softed her fall with her wings.

Trusty Link's plan became more evident to her companions when she led them to the Crystal Caves, they wandered for a few minutes, and found countless crystals. Princess Cadence wasted no time in looking for the perfect crystal, "according to the ancient scripts in the Crystal Empire, in order to cast the spell correctly, the crystal must be big, shiny, and symmetrical", she described.

"T...this one...?" Spike showed a big crystal he could barely lift on with his arms and holding it with his chest, like lifting up a barrel.

"Not big enough..."

"What about this one?" Shining Armor casted telekinesis and pulled out a huge crystal that was nailed on the ground, he efforlessly lift it up over his head.

"It's not symmetrical, honey..." the alicorn made a small smile.

"That one looks good" Trusty Link pointed at a crystal behind Princess Cadence, it was a huge crystal, also nailed to the ground. Big and like a hexagon prism with a pointy end on top. Its faces reflected everything around like mirrors, and it shined like a diamond, even though it also looked fragile like... well, like a crystal.

"It's perfect!" Candence responded, contemplating the beautiful crystal, "gentlecolts, dig this one out", she commanded.

"Yeah... gentlecolts..." Spike lifted an eyebrow as he and Shining Armor began to dig beside the crystal.

The crystal was taller than expected, the digging extended for a few minutes, until the unicorn could pull it out of the ground with his telekinesis spell. It was heavy, even Shining Armor had trouble lifting it up, he began to sweat and breath heavily. Spike discovered a room behind the crystal, where a pony was apparently trapped.

"Wait! Somepony's there! Looks like a statue", he shouted. Shining Armor carefully placed the crystal laying on the ground, and proceeded to investigate. Princess Cadence and Trusty Link followed him, as Spike was already there, "it's... Dia... Diamond Tiara!" he gasped, realising that she was petrified.

Diamond Tiara had a gasping expression on her face, surprised or scared, turning her face away from watever she was watching and her right front hoof was like trying to stop what was in front of her. "A cockatrice. maybe?" said Shining Armor, "No... i don't think a cockatrice could sneak in here. Until a few days not even I knew this place existed." He then, pointed his horn at the statue and casted a spell. Piece by piece, the stone around the young pony began to crumble like a broken ceramic vase.

"PLEASE DON'T!!!" Diamond Tiara screamed, as she covered her face with her right hoof, she stood like these a coupe of seconds, trembling. Upon realising that nothing happened, she opened her eyes again, very confused. Her eyes only pictured a mix of purple, blue, pink and yellow stains in front of her. She quickly shook her head and looked again, gazing upon the young dragon in front of him, "Spike? What happened?"

"That's what we want to ask you", said Spike, "we found you here petrified!"

"There's a pony! An evil one", Diamond TIara gasped, she was breathing desperately, "I found her here! I... she was laughing, and then... then I heard something I shouldn't have. Revenge! She said, and I was shocked, and then she, looked at me, and then... then..."

"Calm down", said Princess Cadence, palming Diamond's back, "take it easy! Inhale... exhale", she said, and Diamond Tiara obeyed, for she felt great respect for Princess Cadence, maybe even more than for Celestia or Luna. "Good, now tell us exactly what happened", said the princess.

Ditzy Doo and I barely escaped them Dark Ponies. Ditzy fainted when the changelings came to help us. I thought we were their prisoners, and brought us here to the Crystal Cave. When Ditzy woke up, she was greeted by a Changeling, and Ditzy screamed and flew as far as she could, but she crashed against a crystal and fell in front of Scootaloo. That's where we found the Crusaders.

Wherever the Crusaders are, disaster cannot be far. That's an old motto in Ponyville, and as usual, it was proved right, again. Scootaloo decided to find the Crystal Heart, so Ditzy and I decided to follow them. That's when I got distracted by the laughter of a filly. "Who could be laughing at this time?", I thought. So this little giggling brought me here... where I found... her... the cloaked filly.

"Is there something wrong?", I said, but she didn't respond. As I got closer behind her, I heard her voice. She said something like, "they will pay! I will make them pay!", and something about her daddy. I got closer to her, but when she turned around... I realised my mistake... but it was too late.

"Are you in such a hurry to stop breathing?", she said. I remember those awful words perfectly.

I was paralyzed, I was scared, I couldn't believe such words came out from a little filly's mouth, and her eyes... her terrifying purple eyes... I remember them clearly... both of them were loose, and empty as if they held no conscience, and those spirals... they slowly turned red... and then... I knew that my life was in danger... and... and... that's the last I remember.

"Yep, that's Discord's daughter!" Spike stated.

"Discord's daughter?" asked Diamond Tiara, her voice and her whole body were trembling "just what is going on? What happend to King Sombra? Where is Princess Celestia?"

Everyone made a serious face, as they explained everything they knew up to this point to Diamond Tiara. The explanation was rushed and confusing, they interrupted each other as they told the tale. Diamond Tiara made various questions conerning about King Sombra's defeat, and the whereabouts of the Ponies of Harmony, and specially about her friend, Applebloom. Though the news about them were mostly unknown. The last thing they mentioned was their little plan to defeat Discord.

"I think we can imprison Discord within this crystal", stated Princess Cadance, "It's more or less the same spell that the dragons used to seal Princess Celestia. There will be an internal magical barrier that will absorb the prisoner's magic, that way, everytime the prisoner tries to escape, the barrier will get stronger. However, unlike Skyclaw's prison spell, the crystal will still be vulnerable on the outside. Also, it requires a lot time and magic to cast it."

"Meaning?" asked Spike, very confused again.

"Meaning that if his daughter attacks the crystal, Discord will be released immediately. And that is the hard part..."

"So... If we want this to work. Then that filly has to go, right?" said Spike, not very excited.

"Well, looks like we need a strategy, then. The perfect job for me." General Shining Armor stepped up, and the rest sit in front of him, with their ears perked up. The unicorn cleared his throat, and said, "let's recap what we know, first. Discord is in Canterlot Palace, he is smart and sharp, so he will not let Cadance cast her spell if he knows she's doing it. His daughter left to pursue the ponies of harmony, so this might be the perfect chance to strike. However let's not forget about Chrysalis. Discord is powerful enough, and now he has an alicorn on his side, and she holds the Crystal Heart."

Shining Armor, paused for a while and sighed, and his companions stared at each other with uneasiness, then, he spoke again, "Cadence you'll be waiting at the Magic Court Chamber, preparing the spell. I'll distract Discord until the spell is ready, then you give me a signal and I'll lure him there to you. But we need to create a diversion for Chrysalis, too..."

Trusty Link responded immediately, "I'll do it. As an earth pony I'm a fast runner and I've lived in the Palace almost my entire life. I know the halls like the back of my hooves."

"Good! I'll distract her", Spike stood up and pointed himself with his thumb, "and you snatch the Crystal Heart."

"Wait! Are you all conscious that if it doesn't work, you're all going to get destroyed?!" Diamond Tiara objected, she was hysterical. The silent, serious looks they all gave to her, made more than evident that they weren't only conscious, but they were also prepared for it.

And so, they decided to put their plan into motion. As they marched back to the Palace, they were all sweating nervously, and their bodies were trembling. When they reached their destination, Diamond Tiara was shocked upon seeing the Palace turned upside down. They found the first obstacle in their plan, which was perfectly described by Spike.

"How the hay are we getting that enourmous thing there..." he said, pointing at the crystal, "...inside the small hole over there?", he then, pointed at the window of the tower from where they came from.

After several failed tries to get the crystal inside the palace, an idea striked Spike's head, like a pebble hitting him in the back of his head. He cleared his throat, he cracked the fingers of his hands, and finally took a deep breath, and finally blew his green fire at the huge crystal which started to disintegrate, consumed by the flames, and Cadance gasped despair.

"There! The crystal is now with Princess Celestia", said the dragon, "not bad for Twilight's pet, huh?"

"Oh, I see! Good thinking, Spike", Cadence sighed in relief, "but you should have told us what you had in mind!"

Princess Cadence teleported everyone back inside the dining room. For Trusty Link's relief, both princesses were still there, and to her surprise they were unharmed, however they were plain black and white now, and each one standing on opposite sides of the room and turning their backs at each other.

Shining Armor informed the princesses about their new plan, but their reaction was unimpressed or indifferent, it almost felt like disapproval. Princess Cadance lifted the crystal with her own spell of telekinesis with ease, "Wait for my signal, honey. And... don't do anything too dumb, ok?"

"Who? me?", responded, the unicorn, smiling, "don't worry, I'm just going to defy the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony who can pretty much rearrange the world and reality itself whenever he wants."

Cadence cleaned her eyes, and teleported to the Magic Court Chamber, where she immediately started focusing magic on her horn toward the crystal. Shining Armor and Spike walked out the west door of the dining room, and headed to the Throne Room, and Trusty Link was leaving from the east door. She stopped and turned to Diamond Tiara, "please, take care of the princesses, ok?".

Diamond Tiara nodded silently, and gazed upon Trusty Link leaving the room. It was the first time she ever met her, but she was haunted by the feeling that it could also be the last one.

Once in front of the Throne Room's door, the door opened before Shining Armor could put his hooves on it, as if it was inviting them in. The Throne Room was decorated as a forest, there were tall trees with rainbow colored leaves all over the place, and there were hippos hanging on the trees' branches like monkeys, and roaring like tigers. Spining around the thrones, there were a small sun with a smily face, and a small moon with a frowny one. Discord and Crystalis were seated on the throne, and Screwball was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you enjoy your little tour?" asked Discord, with that mocking smile on his face.

"You know?!", Shining Armor and Spike gasped in shock.

"I could have known, but I simply love surprises!", stated Discord, "so tell me... what do you have prepared for me?"

"I challenge you to a game!" said Shining Armor, "if I win, you'll admit defeat and leave Equestria forever!"

"Very well, but if I win, I stay forever, and I'll make you our personal assistant! Deal?"

Shining Armor hesitated for mere seconds, then, he gulped, and said, "deal."

"Wonderful!" Discord stood from the throne with a hop, and landed in front of the unicorn, "what game do you have in mind?"

"I can beat you in any game you want!" Shining Armor defied him. And Discord laughed like a maniac. He snapped his eagle fingers and Shining Armor shrank in size, his ears became round and big, and his front teeth grew up larger poking out from his mouth. His nose transformed into a black sphere, his hooves turned into small hands and feet, and his hairy tail transformed into a long hairless tail and thin like a wire. Shining Armor looked at himself, wondering what happened to him. He turned to Discord and saw that he had transformed into a big brown and fat cat.

"Oh... I get it now..." Shining Armor watched a cat that was ten times bigger than him, "I'm a mouse, right?"

"Let me give you a piece of advice", said Discord, after laughing once again, "never let your opponent pick the game!". Discord leaped onto Shining Armor, but the mouse quickly moved away by jumping backwards. Shining Armor quickly turned around and dashed away from Discord and toward the Throne Room's door.

"You have to admit that was funny", said Crystalis, laughing discreetly, and walked towards Spike, "so I suppose you're the one that's going to entertain me", she said, leaving the Crystal Heart unguarded on the throne,

A small door opened behind the thrones, and Trusty Link's face poked from it. She sneaked as quietly as she could to the throne, and the Crystal Heart was finally at the reach of her mouth, she slowly moved head closer to it, and just one inch away from it, a mysterious force pulled her and Spike from their tails, and they were both brought to the Crystal Queen, hanging upside down from their tails.

"But unlike Discord, I don't like surprises" she glared at the earth pony, "normally, I wouldn't care if you imprison Discord. But thanks to him, Molestia and Luna are powerless, and I rule over Equestria. I'll find a way to take care of Discord, later. Right now, I need those two former alicorns out of the way. I can't let you ruin everything now!"

"My queen!" a strange voice yelled from the door. Crystalis recognized the voice, she turned around, and watched a crystal pony standing there, panting.

"I know you", she smiled, "you were one of my changelings! How do you like being a crystal pony again?"

"Is this what it takes?", said the crystal pony, looking very disappointed, "is this the price to be a crystal pony again?"

"Whatever it takes to return my ponies to their former glory!", said Crystalis.

"What glory?! Look out there!", the crystal pony pointed with his hoof to a window, "They are crystal ponies, yes. But they are not glorious at all! I followed you not just because you were my queen! But because you wanted a better life!"

"We'll get our better life eventually! This is a just another step on the road!"

"Very well... I believe you, my queen" said the crystal pony, he stood adamant before his queen, "just answer me this question, and I'll follow you unconditionally. Is this the perfect day you had envisioned during all these years?"

Crystalis widened her eyes, and stood breathless. She dropped Spike and Trusty Link on the floor, as she moved her mouth looking for the words to answer the question. After a short moment of silence, only a few words came out from her mouth.

"No... no, it isn't..."