Chaos and Courage

by SabreXio

Elements, Assemble!

"Let's see, If I was hiding the Elements of Harmony..." Rarity said as she searched through the boutique "...where would I put them?"
The last twenty minutes had been spent frantically searching for the necklaces that Rarity had taken while she was under Discord's spell.

"Here they are!" Pinkie squealed as she produced the jeweled necklaces from behind a chest.
No pony was interested in how she found them as the six mares donned their Elements.
"Ok girls, now we just need to get to the Town Square" Twilight said

"Sh-shouldn't we wait for Archangel?" Fluttershy asked "I mean, he is an Element"

"He'll be there" She replied as the group exited the boutique "He said he just needed to get Discord's 'surprise' ready"

"Has anypony else noticed the Captain acting a little...strange?" Rarity said

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked

"I don't know" the designer replied "he just seems to be acting a little odd"

"C'mon Rarity" Rainbow interrupted "Arc's too awesome to abandon us now"

"Discord did nearly make him hurt Twilight" Applejack added "He's probably pretty mad"

"I just hope he doesn't do something scary" Fluttershy added "I don't want him to get hurt"

"I'm sure he'll be back" Twilight said "Besides, he said this 'surprise' would be worth it"

"What do you think it is?" Rainbow asked "Some kind of robot? A weapon?"

"How should I know?"

"I bet it's some kind of super-sized cannon that shoots other cannons!" Pinkie said energetically "and those cannons..."

"I'm pretty sure that's not possible, Pinkie" Twilight said

"Why not?"

"Because that's not..." She replied "...Look is this really the time to be talking about this?"

"Pinkie dear, I'm sure whatever it is he's doing, it is in the best interest of everypony"

"He does always put others first" Fluttershy added

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure" A disembodied voice taunted
The ponies all formed a circle back to back, a look of determination etched on their faces, trying to find the voice's source.

"Discord, show yourself!" Twilight commanded,

"You didn't say the magic word" he replied in a sing-song voice

"Show yourself, NOW!" She repeated

"Not what I was going for" he said as he poofed into view "but if you insist"

"Give up Discord" Rainbow said as she hovered over the group "WE have the Elements now"

"Yes, I can clearly see that" he replied as he stared off into space absentmindedly "But you don't have all of them"

"Archangel will be here" Twilight assured him "I know it"
Discord just shook his head and chuckled
"It's cute how much faith you have in that monster" he said

"You're one ta talk" Applejack retorted

"Compared to him?" Discord said as though offended "He's the one that deserves to be imprisoned in a statue"

"It would look a bit more elegant then you did" Rarity scoffed

"If he was such a good friend, wouldn't he be here?" Discord said as he took a step forward "You know, to protect you from a 'monster' like me?"
"H-he will be" the lavender unicorn replied slightly shaken "And then you'll be sorry"
Twilight would never admit it, but she was a little worried: why wasn't he here yet?
Discord ran his talons along the bridge of his nose.

"Here, let me fill you in on something you clearly missed" Discord said in a condescending voice "He's afraid that he will be abandoned by 'friends' again"

"We know that" Twilight said "But we would never just abandon him"

"Maybe not, but does he know that?" Discord asked "his friends always abandon him when it suits them, why would now be any different?"

"O-of course he does" Applejack interjected "He knows we wouldn't jus' leave him"

"If that's true" Discord's face grew into a sadistic smile "Then why did he agree to betray all of you to me and save the pain of..."

"That's a lie!" Dash exclaimed, bolting forward and going face to face with Discord "There is no WAY he'd do something like that"
Discord snapped his talons and a small tornado formed, pulling the multicolored Pegasus back to the group

"I happen to know for a fact that one of you sees him as a monster" He said with a devilish smirk "Isn't that right, Fluttershy?"
The other Elements turned to find Fluttershy cowering behind the group.

"That's not true, is it?" Twilight asked
Fluttershy stood up and walked to the front with an air of determination surrounding her. Taking a deep breath, she explained.

"I don't agree with what he does, or how he does it" she said "To be completely honest, he scares me sometimes with how brutally violent he is"

"See?" Discord said "at least one of you sees him for the monster he is"

"But that doesn't change the fact that he has a heart of gold, and would do anything for us if we asked"

"Say wha?" the god of Chaos said confused

"I now he would never hurt us" Fluttershy continued "And I value him as a friend"
To say the rest of the group was stunned would be an understatement. Fluttershy and Archangel hadn't exactly become fast friends: him being a government sanctioned war machine who showed no apparent value of life; and her, a timid animal caretaker who wouldn't hurt a fly. Seeing her stand up to Discord on his behalf was astonishing

"Look, I don't have time for this" Discord complained "So I'll just finish the six of you off, then get back to my precious Chaos"
Discord was no longer playing games. He stalked toward the six forcing them Into a tight group, their previous determination eroded by the menacing creature in front of them.

"I am about to see my dream come to fruition, and I will not let you stupid little mares get in my way"

"Archangel!" Twilight called "If you can hear me, we need you!"

That's when something big landed like a meteorite right in front of them. The impact launched the ponies back a few yards and kicked up a dust cloud and debris from the hard packed dirt road. A few seconds later, the debris cleared enough to see what had landed; and what they saw was unlike anything they had ever encountered. It was definitely some kind of a machine, but a big one, on par with a Titan, but completely different in design. From the back, it was a dark forest green with a red spinning light in the center. Twilight knew what these things could do, so she decided to check it out before it came to life. As she walked around it, she took note of the massive arm and the attached four finger hand. She also noticed the black writing on it: "ATLAS". As she rounded the front, the bright orange plate jumped out at her and she also became aware of a slowly growing hum from it, as well as the other arm, a pincer mounted on it. The mech lurched as the humming became louder and the light on it's back began to spin furiously. Twilight jumped back as the massive vehicle stood to full height on its heavy legs.

"Captain?" she asked, hoping this wasn't one of Discord's tricks "Is that you?"
It responded in a deep synthesized voice.

"What gave it away?" It said jokingly "The eight-ton battle-suit? Or was it the dramatic entrance?"
Yep, that was the Captain alright.