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Twilight Manages to Screw Up More Than Usual

by Fire Gazer the Alchemist

Chapter 23: Chaos

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Twilight recoiled, cursing herself for forgetting the other changelings. Her jaw stung from the impact as she stumbled, bracing herself against the wall. She pried one of her eyes open, just in time to see the changeling wind up for another hit.

Only to be socked in the face by Vinyl.

“You all right, Smart Mare?” she called back, the changeling before her thumping to the ground.

Twilight rubbed her tender jaw and winced. “I’ll liv— Vinyl watch out!”

Three more changelings had already rounded the corner. Without even a second of delay, they pounced at Vinyl, who had just enough reaction time to let out an ‘eep’ of surprise.

Twilight’s reflexes ended up being a little more useful. Her horn sparked back to life and she managed to fire off a single paralyzing shot. It struck the nearest changeling, stopping him mid-leap.

Unfortunately, neither Twilight or Vinyl had the reflexes to take out the other two. Fortunately, they weren’t the only unicorns of the group.

Twin golden beams rocketed forward and slammed into the changelings. They weren’t powerful enough to knock them out, but they did send them spiraling into the wall.

As those two recovered, Twilight shot a look back. Lyra’s wide eyes were bathed in the light of her horn’s glow and she looked completely surprised at herself.

“Nice job,” Twilight told her. Lyra managed a nervous smile. “Hope you got a few more in you.”

“S-sure.”

Before turning back around, Twilight glanced just beyond Lyra to see Derpy struggling to lift Nightmare Moon up the last leg of the incline. A nice gesture, but ultimately pointless if the changelings broke through their line of defense.

“Derpy, we could use your help,” Twilight called out.

Derpy’s ears flicked and she whipped her head around to see the changelings. “Oh, right!”

She spread her wings and leapt over, letting go of Nightmare Moon in the process. Nightmare’s eyes bulged as her support left her and she struggled to get a footing on the slope with her chains impeding her movement. It wasn’t long before she tumbled back down, screaming out a few choice words the whole time.

In any other circumstance, Twilight probably would’ve laughed.

Instead, she whipped her head around to face the changelings Lyra had held back. Vinyl had taken the initiative to wrestle one to the ground, but the other was getting ready to pounce on her.

Twilight zapped him with a paralysis spell before he had time to do it. She would’ve also cast it on the other one, but its scrap with Vinyl was causing both of them to roll across the floor and she didn’t want to risk hitting her friend.

Instead she turned her attention to the next wave of enemies. At this point the changelings knew charging in was probably a bad idea and the next few opted instead to stay back and start shooting.

Twilight had previously hoped that the horns on their heads were mere decorations, but the volley of green magical blasts headed her way punched a few holes in that theory. To make sure that was the only thing to get holes, she threw up a barrier in the middle of the tunnel just as the first attack whizzed by her face.

The rest harmlessly clattered against her shield, but Twilight knew it wouldn’t last for long. The weak-in-the-knees-out-of-breath feeling that was slowly gripping her meant her magic would need a break soon. At first she was confused, but then realized that the paralysis spell she’d been using was taking a lot more energy out of her than she first thought. If she’d had the time she probably could’ve trained herself to use it more efficiently, but she didn’t have the time.

I’ll just save it for a last resort now. Twilight thought. Standard magical beams would probably do the job just fine anyway.

“Grragh!”

Twilight whipped her head down to see Vinyl still wrestling with her changeling. Derpy was right over top of them, her forelegs wrapped around the midsection of the overgrown bug as she tried to pry it off.

“Just. Get. Off. Already!” Vinyl yelled, punctuating each word with a punch.

As its face took a beating, Twilight could see its grip starting to wane. That, coupled with Derpy’s pull, was enough to rip the two apart.

And send the changeling flying face first into the ceiling. He fell to the ground a second later, out cold.

“Ooh.” Derpy winced.

Vinyl got back on her hooves and dusted herself off. “Thanks, Derpy. What gave you the idea to throw him into the ceiling?”

“I-It was an accident.”

Vinyl grinned. “I’ll take it.”

“How long do we have before your shield gives in?” Octavia asked.

Twilight looked back to her magical barrier to inspect it. Her stomach flopped when she noticed that the unrelenting barrage of attacks was already chipping away at it. The cracks sprouting on the outer layer were thin and tiny, but it wouldn’t be long before that changed.

She bit her lip. “A couple of minutes.”

“Give or take?” Vinyl asked.

One of the cracks split further along the shield, causing Twilight’s heart to skip a beat. “Take. Definitely take.”

“We better think of something quickly, then,” Bon Bon said with a frown.

Twilight’s brain whipped up a storm of thought in an instant. Much like she had back in the cell, she quickly ran through their surroundings and possible plans of attack. The only difference between this and the cell was that she had far less time to work with.

Oh goodie, pressure.

Twilight blinked, shook her head, and reprimanded herself. Now wasn’t the time for wasting brain power on sarcastic quips nopony would hear; now was the time for planning.

“Okay, if we wait for a period of time when their attacks lessen, we can—”

“Like right now?” Derpy asked.

The rest of Twilight’s plan caught in the back of her throat with that interruption. Her vision whipped to her shield and her jaw hit the floor. All the changelings had suddenly stopped firing, giving them a brief respite as they turned their attention back around.

“Huh, that was easy.” Vinyl turned to her. “I like this plan already, Smart Mare. What’s next?”

Queen Chrysalis stepped into view and started barking orders at her underlings. Her magic briefly flashed and the unconscious changelings on their side of the barrier suddenly popped out of existence only to reappear near her. A few changelings quickly dragged away their fallen comrades while Chrysalis’ shouting grew in volume.

Twilight strained to hear through the muffling of her barrier, but she wasn’t left guessing for long. The changelings clamored to duck or get away as their Queen’s horn began glowing.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “RUN!”

Vinyl raised her eyebrow in confusion. “Run? How’s that gonna help us beat ‘em?”

Not having the time to explain—and not wanting to risk losing any of them—Twilight’s horn ignited and she grabbed all of her friends and jumped down the slope, hauling them with her.

It was a good thing she did too, because half a second later a magical blast ate through her shield, tore through the tunnel and narrowly grazed the tops of their heads.

Twilight could feel the heat from the blast on her face as she tumbled down the slope. Her hold on her friends cut out and they were soon tumbling with her in a heap of yelps and groans.

As they skidded to a stop down at the bottom, Twilight glanced up to the see the green beam still tearing through the walls of the cave all the way on the other side of the room. A few seconds later it dissipated, leaving a gaping hole.

Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as her eyes widened. Even a millisecond later and they would’ve been vaporized.

With that power, Chrysalis could easily rival Celestia! Twilight realized, her stomach flopping in anxiety. How are we supposed to beat her?

“Hmmph. It’s about time somepony came down here.”

Twilight blinked and shifted her sight down to Nightmare Moon. The self-proclaimed ruler of the night was lying on her side enjoying a face full of dirt. She probably would’ve stood back up by now if it weren’t for her restraints preventing her from getting a good grip on anything.

“Are you going to help me up or not, peasant?” Nightmare demanded.

Twilight didn’t respond. Her eyes were instead honing in on Nightmare’s restraints. One particular restraint to be precise: the magic inhibitors.

She gulped. Was freeing Nightmare their only hope at this point? She didn’t see a way to stand up to Chrysalis’ power otherwise. Twilight turned to her friends.

“Nice save back there, Twilight!” Derpy exclaimed as she stood back up. A chorus of agreement joined her.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, standing herself up. “But we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

“You got that right.”

A chill ran down Twilight’s spine. She, along with her friends, turned back to the blast zone to see Chrysalis. Her insect wings were beating rapidly to keep her hovering in the air and a scowl dominated her face.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you it’s rude to interrupt someone’s dinner?” she seethed.

“Didn’t yours ever teach you it’s rude to kidnap somepony?” Octavia returned.

Chrysalis scoffed. “Of course not. They taught me it was illegal.” She shook her head. “Honestly, what parent tries to dissuade their hatchlings from kidnapping simply because it is rude?”

“My parents did,” Vinyl tossed out.

Chrysalis pressed her lips together in a thin line. “I will never understand ponies.”

She hovered lower before touching down on the ground in front of the group. Nightmare turned her face to be able to see what was happening only to roll her eyes when she saw the Changeling Queen. Twilight had a much less laissez-faire attitude about the situation, however, as her heart was pounding with terror.

Forcing back the desire to run away, she clenched her jaw and lit up her horn. With the amount of magic she had left, Twilight estimated that she’d be able to get off at least one more shot of her new paralysis spell.

Hopefully one would be enough.

Sparking her horn to life, Twilight took a deep breath and got ready. She blinked and suddenly found herself staring at the ceiling. Wind whipped past her, flinging her hair in all directions as the world violently spun.

Not until she hit a wall and the sensations stopped did she realize Chrysalis had picked her up and flung her back with magic.

Twilight would have retaliated, but the sudden pain explosion in her everywhere had other plans. “AH!”

“Twilight!” Her friends turned to look at her, each sporting matching faces of shock.

Twilight sucked in air through her teeth and limply slumped to the ground. Everything, everything, hurt right now. She didn’t even think she could stand up until it all subsided.

Through it all, she still tried to process what had just happened. Chrysalis had been so fast. Twilight hadn’t even seen her horn glow before the attack happened. How was she supposed to keep up with that?

Chrysalis let a snarky grin creep on her face. “This is the end for you.”

“Wow, what an original line,” Nightmare Moon quipped from the ground. “How many brain cells did you have to rub together to think of that one?”

Her grin morphing into a scowl, Chrysalis stepped over to Nightmare and put a hoof on her head. “You know, I have the distinct memory of you telling me that I don’t give off the impression of royalty.” She started pressing down on Nightmare’s skull, eliciting a yelp of pain. “Well how about now, huh? I think that crushing the skulls of my enemies looks pretty freaking regal!”

Nightmare grunted as her face was pushed further into the dirt. Twilight winced, though it was mostly from her own pain.

“Let her go!”

Derpy flew forward, suddenly tackling Chrysalis. It certainly helped that the she was an expert at crashing into things, but the sheer difference in size between the two meant Chrysalis only had to step back to counter the pegasus ramming into her chest. Still, that step back freed Nightmare.

“Get off of me!” Chrysalis demanded.

“No!” Derpy shouted, wriggling around in an attempt to fling Chrysalis to the ground.

“Insolent piece of garbage!” With a flick of magic, Chrysalis whipped Derpy into the ground. She bounced off, tumbling into the wall not far from Twilight.

“Derpy?” Twilight stumbled over to her friend to make sure she was okay.

For a moment it appeared that she was unconscious, or worse, but then her hind leg twitched, she coughed, and her eyes opened back up.

“Derpy?” Twilight asked again, less frantic but still worried.

“Don’t forget to… muffins a hat…” Derpy mumbled.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She was dazed, but alive.

Looking up, Twilight’s gaze met Nightmare’s. The dark alicorn’s eyes were wide with concern and she shifted her line of sight back and forth between Twilight and Derpy.

Before Twilight could dwell on what that meant, Chrysalis interrupted. “Now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, is there anypony else who wants to challenge me? Or can I finally get on with recapturing you all?”

A blue beam of magic sliced through the air directly at her. With a groan, Chrysalis deflected it into a wall.

The source of the beam, Vinyl, grunted with determination. She was quickly joined by Lyra, Bon Bon and Octavia as they all stood their ground against the queen of the changelings.

Chrysalis groaned. “You know, I’m starting to think that you ponies aren’t even worth the trouble.”

“You’re freaking right we aren’t!” Vinyl shouted.

Chrysalis frowned. “No, that’s not a good thing you moron. It means I want to k—”

She didn't get the opportunity to finish. Vinyl and Lyra both unleashed a flurry of magical blasts. Neither had much power behind their attacks, but power wasn’t their goal.

In tandem with the magic, Bon Bon and Octavia rushed forward, each belting out a war cry. Or rather, the closest a baker and a cellist could get to a war cry.

Twilight smiled at their impromptu strategy. It just might work…

Except for the fact that Chrysalis easily overpowered them.

In a flash, she sent out a wave of magic, dissolving each attack that sailed toward her and knocking Vinyl and Lyra down. Her telekinesis hooked on to Octavia and Bon Bon right after, whirling them around and throwing them halfway across the room before the shock could even register on their faces.

As those two faced mouthfuls of dirt, Chrysalis turned back to the unicorns. Her horn fired off a single blast wide enough to encompass both of them. Vinyl and Lyra barely had enough time to get out of the way, but the thunderous explosion that resulted from the blast striking the ground tossed them both through the air.

Twilight’s jaw clenched at the sight of everypony being so casually assaulted. She stood back up, her horn alight with rage.

In that moment, protecting the Elements that Chrysalis wore didn’t matter to Twilight. The only thing that mattered was keeping her friends safe.

“Chrysalis!” she yelled.

As the queen turned around, Twilight unleashed a furious attack. It was by far the biggest beam she’d ever conjured, double the height and width of its target. It sailed through the air at a lightning quick rate and met its target in just a second.

Twilight could feel the sudden jut of the impact, but what she hadn’t expected to feel was resistance.

Through the overwhelming lavender light, Twilight could see the faintest hint of Chrysalis' green magic. And it was getting brighter.

Then she felt her attack jerk.

Chrysalis roared furiously as she pushed back against Twilight’s attack. Her whole body glowed with power as she halted the beam.

Twilight ground her teeth together, unable to do anything else. Her last drop of magic had been poured into this attack; it was all they had left.

But unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

Chrysalis pushed once more and redirected the blast skyward. It tore through the ceiling of the cave and kept going after it burst through to the surface. Once it was gone, light from outside poured in, forcing Twilight to squint. She breathed heavily, raspily, as the strain of the blast descended upon her. Around her, everypony else just remained silent.

Then Chrysalis started laughing.

It was soft at first, before erupting with victorious glee. She cackled as if she had just conquered all of Equestria, her face fused with pure delight.

Twilight slumped her back against the wall, exhausted and in awe that her attack had failed. Just how powerful had Cadance’s love made Chrysalis?

Legs wobbling, Twilight felt tears well up. She’d failed everypony… again. Her friends, Shining, Cadance, Spike… all of them were doomed now.

Her gaze shifted to everypony. Nightmare was furious; if looks could kill then changelings would be extinct.

Nopony else really came close to matching Nightmare’s rage. Vinyl and Lyra were huddled back against the corner they’d been thrown into, both with grim looks of uselessness. Octavia wasn’t faring much better. Only Bon Bon was moving, as she crawled toward the saddlebags that had been flung from her body.

Chrysalis finally calmed down, her laughter fading to giggles and then eventually nothing but a smug grin.

“That was a noble effort, Smart Mare, but ultimately pointless. It seems you won’t even be a challenge now that I have all of this power. Though I suppose I should rub a little salt on the wound and show you just how little of a chance you stood.”

Chrysalis’ horn sparked to life and enveloped her whole body in her sickly aura. She levitated off the ground, shining brightly as she called upon her full power.

The air hummed as energy rushed through it, and Twilight found she could practically taste Chrysalis magic power.

This is it, Twilight realized, heart racing. We’re all going to die.

Electricity sparked around the changeling queen and she laughed as all the hope was slapped from Twilight’s face.

“You see now, you foal? This is the true power of Chrysalis.” She cackled again. “At this point, I have surpassed the limitations of mere mortals. I am invincible!”

CLANG!


Celestia fought back a wave of exhaustion. Sweat dripped down her face as her knees wobbled. Each breath of hers was ragged and raspy, but even so she still poured as much magic as she could into her spell, desperately trying to hold Discord’s prison intact.

Unfortunately, it was proving to be a futile effort. The cracks had already snaked along the body of the statue, going as far down as his feet and as far up as his chin. It wouldn’t be long now before the stone broke or her magic gave out; whichever came first.

She’d made the decision to have all her guards evacuate a few minutes ago. In all honesty, there was little any of them could do against a spirit of chaos and it would be best if they remained at a safer distance. She would’ve had the whole city evacuate, but there wasn’t anywhere they could go that he wouldn't find them. Instead she’d declared a state of emergency and had her assistant strongly recommend to everypony to stay indoors.

Now the last of her strength was quickly fading away. She doubted she would even have enough energy to lower the sun tonight, assuming she even got the chance.

Another crack split the statue in front of her, wresting away a few more precious seconds before the seal broke. Celestia gasped as her magic fluxed and twisted, trying to dissipate. Only sheer willpower kept her spell from snapping. Right now she needed to focus all of her attention into—

A powerful magic rippled into existence. Celestia gaped, fearing the worst, only to find that Discord had yet to break free. The immense power, whoever it was coming from, was emanating much further away, possibly from the Everfree Forest.

Blinking, Celestia realized in horror that her attention had been torn away from her spell. It had only been a brief second, but it was all he needed.

The statue rumbled before her and Celestia retracted her spell in defeat. The rock finished breaking down the middle before shattering entirely.

As gravel and dust flooded Celestia’s vision, the figure that used to be a statue began stretching.

“Ohoho boy!” Discord grunted as the dust cleared to reveal his discombobulated form. He placed one of his hands to his neck and rubbed it, sighing. “One thousand years gives you such a crick in the neck.”

“Discord!” Celestia yelled.

“Celly!” Discord joyfully called out, as if he was being re-united with a childhood friend. He paused and frowned at her. “Oof, you aged terribly.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, but didn’t stoop to his level. She didn’t need to fling around petty insults and she certainly didn’t need to point out that she looked exactly the same as she did one thousand years ago.

“You shouldn’t have returned,” she said instead.

Discord made a big show of rolling his eyes. It was so big, in fact, that one of his pupils kept going, spinning faster and faster as the other focused on her. “Oh please, what are you going to do? Turn me to stone again?”

“Maybe.”

“Hah! You and what Elements?” He asked. “Last I heard those little trinkets were broken beyond repair.” To emphasize his point, he grabbed his arm and snapped it in two. Celestia tried not to cringe at the bone jutting out, while Discord seemed wholly unconcerned.

Before she could think of a reply, he popped his arm back into place. “Well, since you can’t really stop me in your current state, I believe I’ll just—oh!” Discord’s whole body wobbled like flicked gelatin.

What is he doing? Celestia thought.

“Hmm, now that’s a little concerning,” Discord mused, stroking his beard. “Celly, I’m afraid we’ll have to play catch up some other time. Right now I want to take care of whomever it is causing all that magical ruckus. Can’t have any potential challengers for when I take over Equestria. You understand, right?”

Summoning up her remaining strength, Celestia lit up her horn and blocked his path. “I’m not letting you leave here—”

“—Until I tell you my secret to looking so young?” Discord sighed. “Well normally I wouldn’t, but seeing as how you desperately need it…”

“Don’t play games with me, Discord!” Celestia yelled.

“Oh, don’t worry, Celly. You’ve already twisted my arm enough.” He extended his arm, twirling it into a few loops before letting it swing back to normal length. “Now, the secret to staying as ravishingly handsome as myself is simple: a millennia-long full body rock cast. Here, let me help you get started.”

Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw Discord about to snap his fingers. She immediately poured her dwindling magic supply into a counter spell, shutting her eyes as their bright magic collided.

She opened her eyes back up a second later only to drop her jaw in horror. Her counterspell had barely done any good, as everything below her neck was now completely encased in stone.

Discord snorted in amusement at her dismay, but otherwise seemed annoyed. “Hmm, seems I’m not quite back to full strength yet.” He shrugged. “No matter, I’ll recover momentarily. Until then, I’m afraid we must part ways, Celly. We can finish your spa day some other time.”

“Discord!” Celestia furiously yelled, struggling to move her lower body.

He gave her a mock salute. “Toodle-lou”

With a flash, Discord was gone, leaving Celestia to her fate as one of the garden’s newest and most sentient statues.


CLANG!

The sudden noise made Twilight wince.

Following it came a moment of silence. Nopony moved for those brief few seconds, each wondering what had happened. Chrysalis’ eyes crossed before she fell to the ground in a heap, her magic dimming in an instant. Standing over her unconscious figure was Bon Bon.

With a frying pan in her grasp.

Based on the fresh, Chrysalis-head sized dent in it, it was not hard to deduce what had happened.

“Bonnie!” Lyra broke the silent disbelief in the room by running up to her friend and tackling her with a hug.

Twilight helped Derpy stand up so they could join everypony else as they gathered around the unconscious Queen.

“Did you seriously… With a frying pan?” Octavia struggled to comprehend.

“Hehe, yup!” Bon Bon joyfully replied. “I told you guys it’s a dangerous weapon.”

“Well yeah… but we thought you were joking!” Twilight exclaimed. A dangerous weapon was one thing, but knocking out the Queen of the Changelings in one hit? Disbelief didn’t quite cover how Twilight felt about it.

Bon Bon waved her hoof dismissively. “Don’t be silly, I wouldn’t joke about that. Laughter is Vinyl’s Element after all.”

“So I guess this means you gave her a generous beating, then?” Vinyl asked, earning some giggles.

Speaking of the Elements… Twilight’s gaze fell to Chrysalis and her jaw dropped. The Elements were slapped haphazardly on her body, some around her neck, a few around her forelegs, and one on her head.

However, Chrysalis’ poor fashion choices were not the cause of her jaw-droppage. It was instead the Elements themselves. They weren’t sparkling anymore; instead they were… glowing.

Even hers.

“What the…” Twilight didn’t know what to say, or even how to feel. Shocked? Awed? Confused?

Angry that she’d missed yet another Element activation?

“Hey, Twilight, your Element is glowing!” Derpy said.

“I, uh… I’ve noticed, Derpy.” Twilight chest tightened as her emotions began to settle. Did this mean they were fixed? Was everything okay now?

“Nice, does this mean we don’t need to go to the Tree anymore?” Vinyl asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “But it certainly means something.” She tried to ignite her magic, but earned only a full throb in her head to remind herself she was tapped. “Uh, could one of you…” She gestured to Chrysalis.

Lyra nodded and her horn sparked to life. In an effort not to accidentally awaken the maniac who wore them, she carefully pried the Elements free from Chrysalis’ body and set them down.

Twilight gave them a skeptical look over, just to be on the safe side. Her eyes hadn’t been lying to her, however, as it was clear that even the Element of Honesty was faintly glowing.

“What does this mean?” Octavia asked. “Are they… working?”

“Maybe?” Was the only answer Twilight could offer.

“If you all are done gawking at those stupid trinkets, I would like to get out of the dirt!”

Six heads swiveled to face a seething Nightmare Moon.

“Oh my gosh! Sorry!” Derpy darted over to her and started to lift her up. When Nightmare was able to stand up fully, Derpy switched to brushing away the dirt on her sides. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Nightmare grunted. She curled her lip in disdain and looked away. “Thanks for dropping me.”

Derpy’s ears folded down. “S-sorry. I didn’t mean to, I—”

“Whatever.” Nightmare grunted and tapped her hoof into the dirt. “And… thanks for protecting me. I guess…”

Derpy beamed, perking up immediately. “Really? Well, you’re welcome.”

Twilight smiled at the exchange. She doubted Nightmare would bother thanking anypony else other than Derpy. In fact, she was surprised even Derpy could manage to get a thanks out of her. Who knew, maybe it was a sign that Nightmare’s icy heart was starting to thaw.

Even if it is, that doesn’t matter. If the Elements really are fixed then we’ll be able to reform her soon enough. Her smile grew at the thought of this long journey finally coming to a close.

“So, Elements are looking good, Chrysalis was introduced to a frying pan and Twilight made us an exit,” Vinyl said, gesturing to the hole Twilight’s magic had punched into the ceiling. “Looks like things are finally going our way, huh?”

“Sure does,” Twilight replied. “But we should probably check on Cadance before we get out of here.”

“What about her?” Bon Bon asked, pointing with her frying pan down to Chrysalis.

Twilight pressed her lips together. What should they do with her? They couldn’t leave her be after everything she’d done, but at the same time they didn’t really have a plan for her.

“Wanna just leave Bon Bon here and have her whack her again whenever she wakes up?” Vinyl jokingly suggested.

“Uh, no.” Came Bon Bon’s curt reply. “I have to get back to my shop eventually.”

“Hmmm…” Derpy tapped the ground in thought. “Would the Elements work on her?”

“Maybe,” a voice suddenly said. "But it's not like you'll get the chance."

Everypony froze at the sudden intrusion. “Uh, Smart Mare, did your voice just get a whole lot deeper and sinister-ier?” Vinyl asked.

She shook her head. “Of course not.” Looking around the room, Twilight tried to pinpoint the source of the voice. “Who’s there?”

“Oh, sorry.” A bright flash of light dominated the room for a split second. As it faded, Twilight got her first look at the creature behind the voice.

And it was terrifying.

He—It looked like an amalgam of all kinds of creatures. Each part of its long, winding body seemed to encompass a new type of animal part; from its lion paw to its bat wing, dragon leg to goat antler. It was like an asymmetrical modern art sculpture. Completely alien.

And yet, somehow familiar to her in the same way. As if she’d seen this unique design before.

The creature laughed at the shocked looks that everypony donned at the sight of it.

“W-Who are you?” Twilight asked, trying to fight back the shakiness in her voice.

“You mean you don’t know?” The creature tsked with disappointment. “Twilight, don’t you recognize me at all? You’ve spent so many days studying in the palace garden that I thought my likeness would be burned onto your retinas.”

Twilight tried not to flinch as fire erupted on the creature's eyes for a brief second. As they burned out, he grinned, not the least bit harmed.

“What’s he talking about, Twilight?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah, do you know this… thing?” Bon Bon shuddered.

“Hey, this ‘thing’ has ears you know!” The creature wiggled his indignantly. “He also has a name, five hearts, and an appendix in his elbow.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint where she’d seen him before. It was on the tip of her tongue but…

“Oh, I can see the gears in your brain turning so hard they might break.” He grinned.

Twilight felt something fall from her ear and land to the ground with a clink. She turned, surprised to see a few tiny, metal gears had just fallen from her head. Whipping her head back to the creature, she blinked in confusion. Had he done that somehow?

“Too late,” he laughed. “Since you don’t seem to be getting it anytime soon, how about a hint? I was a statue at the palace.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as the puzzle pieces suddenly clicked together. That’s why he looked so familiar! I remember now, I always saw a crazy looking statue in the garden whenever I went there! I meant to ask the Princess about it so many times but always forgot!

“Hey, that wasn’t a hint, that was the answer,” Derpy said.

With a roll of his eyes, the creature sighed. “Yes, yes, and the sky is purple and water is dry. No need to tell us things we already know, Googly Eyes.”

“Uh, what?” Lyra asked.

“Googly Eyes?” Derpy blinked, half offended and half confused.

“So what exactly are you?” Twilight asked, plowing ahead. “What do you want?”

“Ah, more questions. My third least favorite thing in existence.” The creature sighed. “Well, since you’re clearly dying to know I guess I’ll tell you. My name is Discord. And I’m here because I was expecting to find a powerful magic user. Instead, I found—” He looked down at the Elements on the floor. “—my second least favorite thing in existence.”

Twilight felt her heart thump wildly in her chest. He was here for the Elements of Harmony? “Well you can’t have—”

Discord snapped his fingers and all six of the Elements vanished.

“—them…” ...Dang it.

“There we go,” Discord clapped his hands together with delight. “Sorry, but I just couldn’t have those things ruining all of my plans… again.”

“Hey, give those back!” Bon Bon yelled.

Discord snorted. “Or what? You’ll whack me over the head with that frying pan?”

“Dude, I wouldn’t test her if I were you,” Vinyl warned.

“W-What did you do with them?” Twilight demanded.

Discord shrugged. “Oh, I just made sure that they won’t be bothering me as I spread chaos throughout the world. You know how it is.”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but no words came. She just couldn’t believe it. All that work and now the Elements of Harmony were… gone.

The rattling of chains interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see Nightmare Moon stepping forward.

“Discord, you worthless wretch, you will not interfere with my revenge plans, you hear me?”

Discord narrowed his eyes for a moment, before his whole demeanor brightened. “Luna, is that you?”

“My name is Nightmare Moon,” she growled, clenching her jaw.

For a moment, Discord was completely silent. And then he burst out laughing.

“HAHAHA, Oh this is marvelous! Simply marvelous! AHAHA!” He wiped a tear from his eye. “You’re going through puberty, aren’t you?”

Nightmare recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “What?”

“Oh come now,” Discord sighed as his laughter died down. “The new look, the angst, the revenge. You’re so clearly a teenager! This is gold, Lulu, simply gold!”

“He’s kinda right,” Vinyl told her, earning a fierce glare.

“I will not stand here and be made a mockery of by you!” Nightmare roared, stomping the ground.

“Then sit down.” With a snap, a massive pillow appeared beneath Nightmare Moon and Discord pushed her onto it. “So what’s with all the chains, Lulu? They part of your new look?”

“No,” Nightmare grumbled. “They’ve been keeping me in these, because they fear my power.”

Discord snorted. “Sure, okay.”

“I mean it,” Nightmare said. She likely would’ve crossed her hooves at that point if she could’ve. “And you’re lucky I’m in these, otherwise you’d be long dead, demon. You, and my sister.”

Discord raised his eyebrow. “Oh, you have a bone to pick with your big sis, do you?”

“I have unfinished business with that traitor, yes.” Nightmare narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care?”

Discord grinned. “Well, I happened to have left Celly back in Canterlot half encased in stone, if you must know.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You WHAT?”

Discord held up his finger, demanding her silence. “If you’d like to finish her off for me, I’d gladly release you from these restraints.”

That caught Nightmare Moon’s attention. “What?”

“What?” Twilight reiterated.

“What?” Derpy echoed.

“Oh yes, getting rid of chains is fairly easy for me,” Discord replied. “And inhibitor rings? Ha! Don’t make me laugh.”

Nightmare snorted. “Unless they’re made of stone. Then I’d bet it would take you a thousand years or so to get me out.”

Discord’s smile dropped. “As I was saying, would you like to be free? All you have to do is kill your sister.”

Nightmare pinched her lips together, starting to give serious thought to his offer. Twilight’s heart pulsated as she realized how dangerous this was getting.

“Nightmare, don’t do it!” Everypony’s attention turned to Derpy, who ran forward to the alicorn. “Please, don’t! You aren’t a bad pony deep down, I know it. You don’t have to—”

“Oh, be quiet!” Discord stretched his arm out, latching onto Derpy and tossing her across the room.

“Derpy!” Twilight called out. Luckily, her friend managed to open her wings and start flying just before crashing into a wall.

Nightmare looked back to the pegasus and then turned to Discord. “You’ll really free me?”

Discord grinned. “Oh, definitely.”

She grunted. “Then fine. I was going to kill Celestia anyway.”

“Nightmare…” Derpy called out.

“Wonderful!” With a flick of his wrist, Discord turned all the restraints on Nightmare Moon into snakes. The dark alicorn flinched as the slithering creatures fell from her body and onto the pillow, but was quick to recover.

She stood back up and stretched out her wings. Then, she lit up her horn, grinning wickedly.

“Dude…” Vinyl whispered.

Lyra shrunk back, followed quickly by Octavia. Bon Bon gripped her frying pan but didn’t look too sure of herself. Twilight wobbled a bit and swallowed.

Nightmare Moon was free.

Twilight could feel her raw magical power radiating from her horn. It was up there with Chrysalis’ and she could tell Nightmare was itching to use some of it. To make matters worse she already had a target in mind.

“You know, once I finish off my sister, I’ll be coming for you, Discord,” Nightmare said, voice dripping with confidence.

“I know,” Discord replied with a smile. “And I look forward to it.”

Nightmare scowled at him before turning to Twilight and her friends. “As for you six…" A flicker of... something passed through her eyes. "I’ll deal with you after him.

Twilight bit her lip as Nightmare spread her wings and took off, aiming for the hole in the ceiling.

“Nightmare!” Derpy called as she flew back, but was too late to stop the dark alicorn from leaving them behind. She paused as that last of Nightmare Moon’s ethereal tail vanished out of the hole and then she slowly sunk to the ground in defeat.

Twilight wanted to comfort her friend, but she had a far more pressing concern. She turned back to Discord, who looked far too giddy for someone who’d just released an unspeakable evil on the land. “What’s got you so happy?”

He took a deep breath and sighed. “Oh, nothing much. I just love it when chaos is on the rise.” He rose a few feet off the ground, not even bothering to use his wings. “Speaking of, I best be going. There’s still quite a lot of chaos for me to create.”

“What, you’re not going to try and finish us off?” Vinyl asked, earning herself a fetlock in the ribs from Octavia.

Discord laughed whimsically. “No, no. It’s clear Nightmare wants you all to herself, so assuming she does defeat me, I’ll let her have all of you.” He went to snap his fingers, but paused. “Oh, and you might want to watch out for those snakes.”

Twilight looked down to Nightmare’s former restraints as they slithered off the pillow and onto the floor. She took a step back and winced. “What, do they breathe fire or something?”

“Breathe fire? Oh ho ho ho, no. No, don’t be silly, Twilight. They don’t breathe fire.” Discord smiled and shook his head. “No, they breathe other snakes.”

“What?”

Before Twilight could even ponder the bizarreness behind that, one of the snakes opened its mouth and dozens of smaller snakes began pouring out and darting across the ground.

Discord laughed as the horror struck Twilight full force. “Well, I must be going now. Ta-ta.”

And with that he disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Next Chapter: The Worst Kind of Snakes Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes
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