Friendship Isn't Magic. . .In The Future?! | ✔️

Chapter 16: The Magic

Each pony felt triumphant with their victory over Discord. However, it was not to last.

"Great job, guys," approved Future Rainbow Dash. "See? Your Twilight believes there is only one way to defeat a villain. But sometimes even a princess is wrong!" As she spoke, Future Twilight rolled her eyes and touched her horn to the new Princess of Friendship. Starlight's eyes fluttered open and she groaned. "Did. . .did I sleep through the battle?"

"Yeah, you kinda did," Sunbeam laughed.

"Um, Rainbow?" Cinnamon looked at the Wonder Bolt uncertainly. "Blitz here is still unconscious. . ." Sky Wishes hovered hesitantly beside the altered Sunset Shimmer. ". . .and Princess Sunset is still a statue! How do we turn her back to normal?"

"Well, I turned Star back to normal." Past Twilight shrugged.

Suddenly, Discord stirred. Each pony gasped in shock and quickly jumped back. That was unexpected. His eyes opened and he frowned. Starlight, the Princess of Justice, immediately trotted forwards. As her horn lit up in a soft blue glow, Discord raised himself slowly onto his hooves. They glared at each other, although neither of them spoke. Then, with a click of his fingers, Discord compelled Starlight's horn to disappear. Suddenly, she found herself only with alicorn wings. She scowled at Discord, more than ready to pour insults at him like searing hot acid. Then Past Applejack leapt in. "If you think this is going to make Fluttershy love you," she announced, "it's not working! In fact, she probably likes you less than she did before!"

"Yeah, acting out of jealousy isn't going to help," Honey Berry called, joining the other earth-pony by her side. Discord ignored this. "Let's be reasonable here." He grinned, revealing his pearly white fangs. "All I ask is that you surrender."

"Then what?" Sunbeam demanded.

"Well, then I will become the new ruler of Equestria in the place of the princesses!"

Twilight and the two Starlights looked at each other, their expressions unreadable by the rest of the group. Then Starlight Glimmer spoke. "You don't really want that." Her words sounded slightly teasing and, of course, were directed at Discord. He immediately shifted his attention to the purple alicorn. "What?" He practically spat the word out. Starlight only gave him a sly smile in response, until his eyes unwillingly drifted towards Future Fluttershy. It was only for a second before he forced himself to look back at the Princess of Friendship - but it was enough to confirm Starlight's suspicions.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Starlight asked deviously. Discord glared at her, but she only continued to smile. "I'm right! You're doing this out of jealousy." Gasps and mutters could be heard from the Elements of Harmony. "You just want Fluttershy for yourself, but you can't have her!" Starlight went on. Discord seemed to be frozen as he could only gape at her, probably wondering how she figured this out. "She's in love with Big Mac, and you have to understand that. If you truly are her friend, you'll want her to be happy, no matter what." She paused, staring directly into Discord's helpless eyes. "You do what her to be happy, right?"

Still, the dragon-like creature did not speak. He did, however, look like he had weakened greatly, so the other Starlight prepared to blast him with another magical laser - but her namesake stopped her. "Starlight," she whispered, looking seriously into the younger alicorn's eyes, "maybe your mother was right. Maybe you're using too much violence instead of the magic of friendship to solve problems. You're showing her that you're not believing in the magic - and, remember, she hasn't met you until today so perhaps she thinks that is what you're always like: an alicorn princess of war."