Chapter 13-Destiny's Spell
Sweetie rushed though the castle, the spell pulling her backwards. She struggled, but it was no use. The spell was connected to her back half, and she couldn't free herself from it. It pulled her out of the throne room and down a hall toward the royal family's bedrooms.
“Shade!!” The young filly yelled in anger. The spell whipped her in a door and dumped her on the ground. She jumped up and was about to dash out the room, but the door slammed shut. Stomping her hoof, the young filly looked around the room.
The walls were filled with drawings. Sweetie walked over and picked one off the wall. It was a drawing of Ponyville. Another one was the view of Canterlot that was visible from the window. Sweetie put the picture back and walked over to Shade's desk. There were two pictures lying there. One of them was Shade standing in his changeling form, with the princesses behind him. Shade had a determined look on his face, as if he was thinking hard about something, or looking at somepony he disliked. Celestia was smiling and Luna had a slight smirk.
Sweetie picked up the other drawing. It showed Shade asleep with Fluttershy also asleep. Fluttershy was sleeping on Shade's back, and they were both smiling. Sweetie smiled at that. “I never really knew how he thought.” She looked around the room again. “Even though his life revolves around emotions, he never really told us about what he personally thought.”
Sweetie jumped as she heard a bang. “Right! Shade said that there was a portal in here. But, where?” The unicorn walked over to a large drawing of the inside of Twilight's house. “It's like the real thing. No way he could have drawn this. Unless..” She put her hoof to the drawing, and her hoof disappeared though it. “Whoa. Well, here we go!” Sweetie jumped though the drawing.
. . .
Twilight and the other five holders of the Elements were at her house. “It doesn't add up.” Twilight said. “We've tried everywhere and haven't seen Sweetie or Shade at all.”
“Well there is the little thing that he's a CHANGELING.” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “We can't find somepony that could be anypony.”
Applejack nudged Rainbow in the side. “Relax, Rainbow. That don't explain the fact that we ain't seen Sweetie Belle either. She ain't no changeling.”
“Shade wouldn't take her into town.” Twilight thought. “He more then likely tells her to stay put, and goes into town himself.”
“Maybe...” Rainbow huffed. Pinkie fell out of nowhere and landed on her. “Pinkie! What were you doing?!”
“I was exploring the library!” The party pony said, smiling impossibly wide.
Rainbow rolled her eyes again. “Pinkie, we've been in this place tons of times. What could there possibly be for you to explore?”
“Everything!” Pinkie bounded away from Rainbow as Applejack started laughing at her.
Twilight smiled at her friends, but then saw that Rarity and Fluttershy were quiet. Rarity was looking though some books and Fluttershy was staring out the window. Twilight took a step towards Rarity, when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Go talk to Fluttershy. Ah'll talk to Rarity.” AJ said. Twilight nodded and went over to the yellow pegasus.
“Fluttershy? Is something wrong?” She asked. Fluttershy looked at her.
“They were both at my house Twilight.” Fluttershy said, her voice strained. “Shade and Sweetie. Sweetie looked fine, but Shade. He looked so tired.”
“He's probably fine.” Twilight said. “After all, there's lots of emotions in Ponyville.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “It's that mark on his neck. It's hurting him Twilight. I could feel it. Don't ask me how, but I just know.” The pegasus reached up and held her necklace. “And now he's going to fight Discord, all by himself. And with a filly with him. I don't think he'll...”
Twilight put her hoof on Fluttershy's mouth. “We'll find him.” She was about to say more, but at that instant the entire library shook. Twilight's wall shimmered and Sweetie Belle shot out of it, landing on her back.
“Sweetie!” Rarity rushed at her sister and picked her up in a big hug. “Where on Equestria have you BEEN?! You are staying at my side for the next month! Oh, I'm so happy to see you again!”
Sweetie endured the hug, but then wriggled free. “Not now, Rarity! Shade's at Canterlot Castle!”
Everypony gasped as Sweetie continued. “He told me to tell you that you needed to bring the Elements to the castle.” She pointed at Twilight as she said that.
“Spike! Where did we put them?” Twilight and Spike immediately started going though the shelves.
Fluttershy pulled Sweetie to the side. “How did he look?” she asked softly.
Sweetie was quiet for a moment. “He's tired, really tired. He wouldn't admit it, but he flew all the way from here to Canterlot, and fought his cousin. And I know that he didn't absorb any emotions on the way.”
“Found them!” Twilight yelled.
“You mean I found them.” Spike grumbled.
Twilight paid no heed to the dragon and instead started waving a book. “The Elements are in here! I made sure of it.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Applejack said. “Let's go!”
Twilight opened the book, and took out each pony's individual necklace that symbolized their Element. After she put the tiara on her head, she nodded to her friends. “We can use the portal that Shade and I made.”
“Alright!” Rainbow shot toward the wall. She slammed into it and fell to the ground. “Oww...”
As everypony rushed over to her, Twilight tapped on the wall. “The portal's closed? But who would close it?”
“We have to get there fast.” Rarity said. “But, I need to get Sweetie Belle..Oh.”
Sweetie Belle had curled up on the ground and was fast asleep. Rarity lovingly rubbed her head. “On second thought, maybe she could stay here?”
“I don't see why not.” Twilight said.
Spike walked by Twilight and sat next to the sleeping filly. “I'll watch her. You can go help Shade.”
Twilight hugged Spike. “Thank you.”
“How are we going to get there?” Rarity asked. “The portal's closed, and you can't teleport us all the way to Canterlot.”
Twilight disappeared for a moment, then reappeared holding a scroll with magic. “The princess gave me this spell three months ago, at Pinkie's part she held for Shade. She said to only use it in a emergency.”
Rainbow rolled over and stood up. “What does it do?”
Twilight opened the scroll. “It'll take us directly to the castle. Everypony stand close!” Everypony moved closer to Twilight except for Spike and Sweetie Bell. Twilight's horn glowed and with a bright flash, they were gone.
. . .
I stood in horror as the painting on the ground started to peel itself off. I braced to leap towards him, but I heard a voice.
“No, Shade. Wait to attack him.”
I shook my head. “Great. Now I'm hearing voices.” I jumped to the ground, but made no further moves.
The painting finished peeling off the ground. It put its hand to his mouth and appeared to blow. Suddenly, he inflated into his true form, Discord.
He laughed as I bared my fangs. “Well, if your going to give me that sort of welcome, you should at least look the part.” He snapped his fingers and I was in my changeling form.
Right. Forgot about that. I glared at him. “I don't have time for this. Let Celestia go now!”
Discord pouted. “I was hoping that you and I could talk first.”
“I have nothing to talk to you about.” I spat at him. Suddenly I was sitting in a chair made of marshmallows. Discord was on a sofa made out of...hair?
“Shade. I know that you want to fight me. And don't you worry, I'll give you your chance. But for now, I would like to talk with you.” He said.
“What do you WANT?” I snapped at him.
He pointed at me, suddenly serious. “Listen to me. You are a changeling.”
I rolled my eyes. “I had no idea. Thanks for letting me know that.”
Discord smiled. “I've been watching you. Even though everypony turned on you, makes you out to be a monster. Even though your race is looked on as horrible, you would fight for them?”
I nodded. “I'm not Chrysalis. She was the evil one, not me. I can show Equestria that all changelings aren't evil.”
“And you haven't done anything evil?” Discord asked me. “What about when you robbed souls to feed yourself? When you frightened ponies so you could feast on your emotions? How about forcing your own fear on others for your own gain?” He had me on the ropes now. “You aren't the amazing hero that you think you are.”
I was quiet. I had no rebuttal for his claims. Everything he said was true. Could it be true that even though I thought I was in the right, I was actually just as bad as Chrysalis?
“No Shade.” The voice spoke to me again. “You are better then that. I know this. Don't listen to anymore of his lies.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You're wrong. I won't let my mistakes get the better of me. That's what makes me different.”
Discord raised an eyebrow. “So what are you going to do?”
I smirked. “Stop you.”
Discord started laughing. I looked up at the ceiling at my mother. I was certain that the painting really was her. I took a step back, my horn started glowing yellow, and I shot Discord with a sunbeam.
He flipped around and landed on the ground. “Are you sure that this is the path you want to take?”
“I don't want chaos in my life.” I said calmly.
“Suit yourself.” Discord rose up into the air. I tensed up and shifted into my unicorn form.
Discord created a bow and arrow. He fired at me, but I saw that the arrow was made out of water. I cocked my head thinking that it wouldn't hurt me. The arrow slammed into the ground in front of me and exploded. I was flung away from the impact and slammed into the wall. He started to fire more arrows at me.
I shifted into Rainbow and took off. I flew in circles around him, dodging the arrows. Discord shot at the ground and a giant ice pillar erupted in front of me. I crashed into it and fell to the ground. Discord threw the bow at me and I ducked it. The bow hit the wall and created a black hole in the wall.
“What are you doing?!” I yelled. Thinking fast, I shifted into Twilight and teleported to the other side of the room. I then cast a difficult spell to cover the wall in stardust, closing the black hole. The strain dropped me to the ground and forced me to shift back to normal.
“Little tired, Shade?” Discord said.
“Shut...up.” I groaned. I checked my necklace and it was half full of emotions. I immediately drained the necklace, feeling better.
I shifted back into my unicorn form and stomped my feet on the ground. The ground shook and about a dozen stone pillars shot up out of the floor. I ducked behind one of them and felt myself shift into Fluttershy.
“Wonderful.” I thought. I loved Fluttershy but I didn't want to be her. It just felt weird. It was good though, because my marefriend was really good at hiding. She surprised me one time when I had to clean up her cottage for her. She had been in the house the entire time I had been cleaning and she had moved from place to place as I cleaned. I was in her room dusting when she jumped out of the closet and tackled me. That had been really funny.
I slipped behind one of the pillars as Discord shot a dark sword at me. “Grr. I can't really hurt him. Hope that spell I put on Sweetie worked.” I launched myself from one pillar to another as Discord blew up the one I had been behind.
“Shade. If you just accept and embrace the chaos you have, this will all be over.” Discord said.
“When will you understand?” I yelled as loud as I could with Fluttershy's voice. “I don't want it!”
“That won't change anything.” he said. “I need your power to complete my revenge.”
“You have plenty of power!” I yelled, shifting back to my unicorn form.
“You mean this little fight? You have no idea the real power I possess. And all of it, is inside you. Deep inside, all you need to do is find it, and accept it.” Discord said.
I didn't move, trying to think of a plan. Suddenly Discord broke the pillar I was hiding behind, and magically picked me up by the neck. He drew me close to him. “I'm going to kill Celestia, and you will help me!” He said between gritted teeth.
I was unable to free myself. My vision started to go dark, and I couldn't breathe. Discord smiled . “I know why you sent the filly back. You expect Twilight Sparkle and her friends to come and bring the Elements of Harmony to defeat me, don't you?” Great. I knew he had a card that he didn't play yet. “Have you ever wondered why Celestia and Luna didn't turn me back to stone when I was free again? Why she sent your friends to stop me? Let me tell you, the Elements can only be used once. That's why I'm not afraid.”
The only reason that I hadn't passed out was because I was drawing emotions from Discord, as little as I could. I tried to focus on what he said. Discord had been loose in Equestria three times before this. Once when my mother and aunt stopped him, one when I had been born, and when Twilight and the others had stopped him. If that was the case, then somepony had frozen him again when I had been born. But the problem was that there wasn't anypony that was connected to the Elements. Discord smiled again as I widened my eyes in realization.
Discord whipped his head towards the door as I heard an explosion. “Drop him Discord! Now!”
I fell to the ground as Discord clapped his hands together. “Well, well. Twilight Sparkle! How nice to see you, and your friends. And is that the Elements of Harmony that I see?”
From where I was, I saw my friends angrily spread themselves out so Twilight could start the spell, or whatever she did. I reached out with my senses and felt some love from them pout into me. Discord seemed to have forgotten that I existed for the moment. I took that opportunity to teleport away from him.
Discord snapped his fingers and rainbows washed over my eyes. I heard my friends yell as no doubt the same thing happened to them. When I could see normally again, I saw that Discord was holding Fluttershy.
“Let her go NOW!” I barked at him.
“Why, of course.” Discord pushed Fluttershy away from him, but she looked like she was restrained. She couldn't move or fly off.
“Why you....!” I heard Rainbow say. She lifted off to go help her, but Discord raised his hand. “That wouldn't be a good idea. Unless you want your friend to be shocked to death.” Lightning started to form around his arm. I saw Rainbow land and Twilight's horn spark.
Wonderful. He was going to kill Fluttershy with the one thing that frightened me the most. But I wasn't going to just watch her die. I turned away so Discord couldn't see my horn glow.
“You see, Shade. This wouldn't have happened if you had just decided to listen to me. Oh well.” My mind went back to when Celestia had taught me that spell to bring things to you. I wondered, could I change it a little bit? I sparked my horn brighter, knowing I only had one shot.
Right as the lightning left Discord's hand, I cast a switch teleportation spell, moving Fluttershy to where I had been and I where she had been. I ducked and the lighting slammed into my horn., throwing me to the ground. Fluttershy started to come over to me, but I yelled, “No! Go to Twilight!”
I vaguely saw her go over, and Twilight's eyes started glowing. Uh-oh. Discord laughed again. “Go ahead. I'm right here. Turn me to stone again.”
Twilight and the others lifted into the air. I knew that the Elements wouldn't work, but why? Then it hit me. The Elements were connected to whoever used them. It drew on that ponies power and all power was unique. All Discord needed to do was adjust to be stronger then that unique power source. Because my friends had turned him to stone already, he was ready for them.
With a flash of pain, I expelled the lightning from my horn. I had a really stupid idea, but it was my only shot. I saw a beautiful rainbow colored beam shoot from Twilight's tiara towards Discord. I flash teleported between Discord and the beam, and the beam struck me.
Heat. Intense powerful heat rushed though me, boiling every part of me. I forced myself not to scream and focused on forcing the magic to leave though my horn. I saw Discord's eyes widen in fear. He started trembling. “No...You can't! It won't work!”
“Watch me.” I said. Then finally, the rainbow beam shot out of my horn and into his chest. A gray patch appeared there, and started growing. Within seconds, he was completely turned to stone. I sensed that my friends were back to normal and I would be soon. Then the back of my neck flared and everything dissolved into white.
. . .
“Get back!” Twilight yelled. Fluttershy and the others looked on in horror as Shade stood alone, the beam from his horn growing brighter. The entire castle started shaking.
“What's happening?” She heard Rarity yell.
“I don't know!” Twilight yelled back. “He can't control the beam!”
Everypony flinched as they heard a loud “CRACK!” Fluttershy heard Shade utter a horrible gut-wrenching scream. Then Discord's statue burst in a flood of light. Everypony in the room was blinded.
When Fluttershy came to, she saw that every window in the hall was broken. Rainbow was sitting by her and the rest of her friends were by Shade. As Fluttershy raised her head, Rainbow noticed that she was awake. “Whoa, easy there. You OK?”
Fluttershy nodded. “What happened?”
“Can you walk? I think that the princesses should tell us all at once.” Rainbow said. Fluttershy nodded again and stood, just noticing that the princesses were by the changeling.
As they walked up, Celestia nodded to them. “Thank you all, my little ponies.”
“Princess, I don't understand.” Twilight said. “Why did Shade get in front of the beam?”
Fluttershy sat down by her unconscious changeling and rested his head on her leg as Celestia explained. “The power of the Elements has to be different every time if one hopes to imprison Discord. Shade let the power run though him so Discord would not be able to resist it.”
Luna spoke up. “He was ready for you and your friends power, Twilight Sparkle. The Elements would not have worked.”
“Wait a second.” Rainbow said. “Where is Discord's statue?”
“Did you send it away, Princess?” Pinkie asked.
Celestia shook her head. “It disintegrated.” As everypony was quiet, the sun princess sighed. “My little ponies. Discord is dead.”